Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 110 Cultivation

Chapter 110: Chapter 110 Cultivation

Before entering the Primitive Forest, Leon transformed into his human form.

There was no helping it; the body of the Red Dragon was simply too massive, indeed inconvenient for wandering freely in the Primitive Forest, unless he would walk while destroying, conveniently burning down the forest with a blast of fire.

Moreover, the identity of the Red Dragon was too distinctive, as the arrogant tyrant stood out wherever he went, heaven knows how eye-catching, making it impossible to settle down.

Leon had left the desert not to cause a commotion but for a quiet cultivation, aiming to reach Foundation Establishment without drawing attention, and his inconspicuous human form was relatively suitable for that.

Right, there was also the most important thing: in mythical stories, whenever demons and devils had the chance to become enlightened, they would gravitate towards assuming human forms, the reason being that the human form was more suitable for cultivation, as all the cultivation methods were created for humans. Even though many people say, mythological stories were all written by humans, of course, using humans as the standard.

Regardless, Leon had turned into a human and then proceeded from the edge of the Primitive Forest toward its deeper parts.

Layer upon layer of mountains, the primeval forest, ancient trees reaching for the sky, tree trunks standing tall, and the dark green leaves shrouding the firmament made the surroundings deep and tranquil. Having grown accustomed to the desert landscapes, Leon was utterly astonished by the scenery of the Primitive Forest.

As he walked on, traversing a path lush with branches and leaves, where not even sunlight or a gentle breeze could penetrate the thick foliage above, Leon decided to take a break. Not because he was tired, but simply wanting to sit and enjoy the view, as rushing through everything was not conducive to quiet cultivation.

"Who are you?"

"Come over here."

Leon faintly heard someone speaking, but despite looking all around, he saw nothing and promptly activated his Heavenly Eye Technique, quickly spotting a frolicking Pixie.

The Pixie was tiny, shaped like a miniature elf with wings like thin gauze, wearing a flowing silk dress, shimmering like the moonlight sparkling on the surface of a lake.

Leon knew that Pixies were little mischiefs who liked to observe from afar, understanding the disposition ofunexpected visitors, or play harmless pranks to then watch the reactions, such as tying the visitor’s shoelaces together or leading them astray with dancing lights.

What was beyond Leon’s imagination was that he was the evil Red Dragon, the kind that could stop children from crying at night, just hearing his name was enough to make those Pixies tremble with fear. Although he was currently in human form, and the Pixie certainly had no way to see through his true identity.

"I see you," said Leon. He was not a Red Dragon of chaotic evil; if others were kind to him, he reciprocated, but if someone bore ill will against him, he would be even more ruthless.

The Pixie flitted about, saying, "I don’t believe, I don’t believe."

"You’ve just flown to the treetop, hidden under a leaf... Now, you’ve moved to a stone covered with moss," said Leon with a chuckle, "Do you still not believe that I can see you?"

"You can actually see me..." The Pixie dropped her invisibility, a power inherent to her kind, "How did you see me?"

"With my eyes," Leon pointed to his eyes with two fingers, "What else, with my ears? The ears work too, by listening to the sound of the wind."

When the Pixie revealed herself and flew across the sky, there was always a trail following her like a comet’s tail, or like drifting rain—shining dust, also known as fairy dust. No matter if that fairy dust could confound others or make enemies fall into a magic-induced slumber, it was genuinely beautiful.

"Truly beautiful." Leon couldn’t help but praise.

"I like what you say," the Pixie, delighted by Leon’s words, tirelessly circled around him, "My name is Lulu, what’s your name?"

"My name is Leon," answered Leon, thinking to himself that the Pixie’s name truly had a fairy-like feel to it.

"It’s not as nice as my name, which is to be expected," Lulu said with her hands on her hips, "You’re human, aren’t you?"

Leon neither confirmed nor denied, saying, "You’re very clever."

"Isn’t that obvious?" Lulu was not pleased by this, "But if you’re human, why do I smell our fairy scent on you?"

Leon immediately thought about how he breathed in nature’s spiritual energy every day and had the chance to consume Sun and Moon Essence. After over a decade, he had long become an enlightened creature, so having a fairy scent was nothing out of the ordinary.

Lulu suddenly wrinkled her nose, saying, "I smell something, a hint of evil, have you done many bad things?"

"Good and bad are subjective, related to the position you occupy. For a cat, eating fish is good, but for the fish, it’s bad," Leon, adept at sophistry, said, "Do you think the cat is good or bad?"

"Stop preaching to meeeee," Lulu covered her ears, "I get it, you’re so handsome, you must be a good person."

Leon just smiled.

"What are you doing in the forest?" Lulu, always curious, asked, "Hunting?"

"Mainly settling down, I plan to stay here for a while," Leon said, "Do you have any recommended places? I want somewhere with a beautiful scenery, and nearby water."

"I know the place, follow me," Lulu said with enthusiasm, "Hurry, hurry."

Leon rose to his feet and followed Pixie Lulu all the way to a clear stream.

Listening to the babbling of the stream, looking at the stone-filled creek, and gazing upward to where the sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees onto the moss-covered rocks of the quiet forest, Leon nodded in satisfaction; it seemed Pixie Lulu had not played a prank on him.

Leon took out an axe, startling Lulu so much that the Pixie’s face paled.

"What do you want to do?" Lulu’s voice trembled a bit; Pixies were afraid of weapons.

"I’m going to chop down some trees and build a house," Leon said matter-of-factly.

"Can’t you not chop down the trees?" Lulu said, "The big trees will cry."

"If I don’t chop down trees to build a house, I’ll just have to freeze and shiver. Could you bear that?" Leon counter-asked the Pixie.

Lulu was caught in a dilemma.

Leon, finding it amusing to tease Pixie for being single-minded, said: "You pick petals and leaves to make skirts, you eat fruits. Don’t the petals, leaves, and fruits feel sad?"

Lulu felt her brain wasn’t functioning well enough and said, "Go ahead and chop. If you anger the Treants, I won’t care... I’m leaving now. When you stop chopping trees, I’ll come find you again."

The Pixie fluttered away, leaving Leon alone to chop down trees. He fell a tree in just a few strokes, no skill involved, just pure strength.

Just as Leon had felled a large tree, a sleek black panther emerged silently, stepping on branches and leaves without making a sound, eyes filled with scrutiny.

Leon had actually noticed the black panther long ago, following him not long after he entered the Primitive Forest. He could even tell it was a Druid but simply couldn’t be bothered to care.

Sure enough, the black panther soon transformed into a rare, muscular Wood Elf with copper-colored skin and brown hair.

Leon didn’t want to fight and kill. Otherwise, he believed that as a Red Dragon, he could slap the Druid dead, even if it were a powerful Great Druid. He said, "I’m just chopping a few trees to build a house, not logging to sell for money."

"You didn’t harm Lulu, and since she’s willing to trust you, I believe you too," said the Wood Elf Druid. "I just came to say hello."

Druids protect nature, or more precisely, they maintain the balance of nature.

The leaves and fruit grown by plants provide food for insects, which in turn become the food source for birds. Birds lead to the existence of eagles and snakes. With eagles and snakes, rodents won’t become a plague... Druids don’t singularly protect any species of animal or plant; if deer become rampant, eating grass and damaging bushes, they don’t hesitate to cull them.

Some extremist Druids don’t care. Usually, whether you hunt or chop trees, as long as it’s not a massacre of wild animals or burning down forests and doesn’t disrupt the local natural balance, Druids won’t interfere."

Leon got rid of the Wood Elf Druid in a few words and continued working, and in a few days, he had built a medium-sized wooden house.

Lulu came back and told Leon news of a small village in the forest home to many Elves.

Leon went to the village, meeting many Elves who were delicate and graceful, with ethereally exquisite features, slightly shorter on average than Humans, with little difference in height between men and women, and males only slightly heavier than females... Thankfully, the Elves had no prejudice against him and sold him quite a few things.

After about half a month, Leon had settled into a decent place to live, a wooden house paired with a garden or vegetable patch, then every day gathering fruit and hunting, taking walks in the forest...

Leon made a wooden bench, and his meditation still did not enter the right state today.

Lulu brought her friends over today, and Leon told them a story.

The meditation failed again, and Leon angrily smashed the table.

Leon tried to learn wood carving and crafting from the Elves.

Leon felt a bit indifferent to continuing his spiritual practice without the Inner Core Dual Cultivation Method; he was still very strong.

It rained today.

Leon befriended an Elf Ranger, teaching the Elf Ranger how to play Go.

Breathe deeply, remain calm and composed.

Don’t rush.

He seemed to be getting into the right state, but then got too excited and failed again.

...

After nearly half a month of adapting to his new life, Leon woke up well-rested one morning and remembered it was about time for him to resume his spiritual practice. He found a large tree to sit under and began to meditate. The most important aspect of meditation was Concentrating and breathing, which depended on a calm mind and even breath... your mind stabilizes when it’s calm, and your breath regulates when you’re harmonious...

About fifteen minutes later, Leon opened his eyes, somewhat in disbelief. He had successfully completed a meditation session.

The issue now was that to complete his Foundation Establishment, it would take at least a hundred days, if not half a year or more.

Of course, as a Dragon, Leon had a long lifespan, so this amount of time was trivial to him. However, he did care somewhat. He, the chaotic and evil Red Dragon who should be marauding and pillaging, had instead come to the Primitive Forest for contemplative retreat, which was absurd and laughable.

He wondered if Tassie, the Storage Dragon, would mock him if she heard about it, laughing so hard she’d double over. Then again, with Tassie busy reading and conducting research most of her time, effectively a shut-in, she probably didn’t have the right to mock him.

Thus, the days passed one by one, with Leon’s spiritual practice progressing in an orderly fashion. To complete his Foundation Establishment would probably require a bit more time, but it was merely a matter of a little more time.