Chapter 136: Thoughts on Raising a Dragon

"Everyone, you may disperse!" Since his objective had been achieved, Zhou Tian had no intention of keeping anyone behind. With a wave of his hand, he signaled for the others to leave.

Once all the irrelevant people had departed, only Zhou Tian and his inner circle remained in the chapel.

"Were those people from the Dungeon?" Because Zhou Tian kept nothing from those he trusted, Vivian and the others were well aware of the Dungeon's existence. They also knew that not long ago, Zhou Tian had used the Church of Light to sabotage the Dungeon. Seeing how the spies, who had been flushed out by the Buddha relics, had behaved, it was impossible for them not to guess the intruders' origins.

Zhou Tian did not intend to hide anything from them either. He nodded affirmatively and confirmed, "They were indeed from the Dungeon. Hmph! They thought we had no way of discovering them; this time, they tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice."

Vivian and the others nodded in realization. Just as they were about to speak, Zhou Tian interrupted, "I almost forgot. Since I broke the restrictions they had placed on themselves, the people in the Dungeon must have noticed. To prevent them from silencing their own people or evacuating their outposts, I think we should question them now and see what they know."

"Agreed!" Without any hesitation, the group answered in unison.

With no objections, Zhou Tian led them toward the interrogation room.

Fortunately, while the Dungeon was a powerful force, they were not truly omniscient or omnipotent. Although in the past, no one Zhou Tian captured ever survived, the enemy had not expected him to possess something like a Buddha relic. Having never anticipated this outcome, the Dungeon could not have sent reinforcements to silence the spies immediately.

Capturing live prisoners might be a good thing for others, as it allowed for the extraction of intelligence. However, because Zhou Tian had the ability to make the dead speak, he saw little difference between a living captive and a corpse. In fact, capturing them alive only served to alert the enemy. If he were being honest, the live captives were less valuable to him than the corpses of the assassins he had collected earlier.

Naturally, Zhou Tian didn't dwell on it; he couldn't control the outcome. He led Vivian and the others to the interrogation room in silence, ordered the prisoners to be brought in, and began the questioning.

Pressed for time, Zhou Tian didn't waste words. Once the prisoners were brought up, he immediately utilized the "Heart-Questioning Water." With only a few questions per person, he extracted everything the spies knew.

The Dungeon’s repeated provocations had thoroughly angered him. He had already offended the Dragon Clan, so he didn't care if the Dungeon found out about his actions.

As soon as he obtained the information, Zhou Tian transmitted the intelligence to the Church of Light without hesitation. Since he lacked the manpower and energy to deal with the Dungeon himself, he would leave the task to the Church. He believed that the Church, which viewed demons as their mortal enemies, would be more than happy to accept this "assignment."

Getting someone else to do the heavy lifting while reaping the rewards—why wouldn't Zhou Tian do it?

With the intelligence sent, he took no further action. He didn't know how far the Church would go, nor did he care to find out. The extent of the damage inflicted on the Dungeon was the Church's business. He had his own hands full; unless the Dungeon declared war on the capital directly, he had no energy to spare for them.

After watching Zhou Tian finish his work, Vivian and the others finally spoke up.

"I didn't expect the Dungeon's influence to be so vast. We've wiped out so many of their outposts, yet they don't seem to have suffered any significant damage. If only we knew where their headquarters were. I suspect that once the Dungeon is eradicated, the Demon race's influence among humanity will suffer a devastating blow."

"Regrettably, they won't give us that chance." Hearing Vivian’s sigh, Zhou Tian calmly concluded, "Those demon-kin may be inferior to the Church in terms of overall power, but their strength is not to be underestimated. Not to mention their various rule-based abilities, which are impossible to guard against, it is difficult to pin them down. Even if we knew where the Dungeon was, given their strength, it would be difficult for the Church to wipe them out completely. The best-case scenario is that while the Dungeon suffers a heavy blow, the Church will not emerge unscathed. If the various branches of the Church don't act in unison, we might not even achieve ultimate victory."

"They're that strong?"

"Of course. Did you really think that the scattered demon-kin you’ve been wiping out for years could stand against the Church for so long without being defeated? If the Demon race weren't powerful enough to make the empires uneasy, how could those empires have remained so peaceful with the Church all this time?"

"Then we..."

Before she could finish, Zhou Tian guessed what she wanted to say and refused without hesitation: "Don't even think about it. With the meager strength we have in the capital, if we were to go to war with the Dungeon, we wouldn't have even a sliver of a chance of winning. Unless the Dungeon comes looking for trouble, I have no intention of provoking them. Perhaps when we grow stronger, we can consider helping the Church, but for now, if we recklessly insert ourselves into the struggle between those two powers, we'll be swallowed whole without leaving even our bones behind."

"But..."

"There are no 'buts.' It's decided. We'll deal with future matters in the future, but we are not participating in this conflict between the Dungeon and the Church."

Seeing the firm, uncompromising look on Zhou Tian's face, Vivian realized further persuasion was useless and sighed in silent resignation.

Perhaps sensing the mood had grown heavy, Aphra changed the subject with a chuckle: "Brother Tian, what was the deal with those divine statues earlier? I don't recall us having anything that powerful in our possession."

"That?" At the mention of the statues, Zhou Tian felt a pang of heartache. Although he now had a stable source of spiritual energy, it still took time to accumulate. To set up the 'Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods Formation' to deal with that Dragon Elder, he had spent 15 million points of spiritual energy—most of his life's savings. And yet, the opponent had summoned a Divine Dragon's head, and a single breath had nearly destroyed his formation. At least 12 or 13 million points of energy had gone down the drain. Even if the formation had served its purpose, the loss still stung.

However, he kept his heartache to himself. He simply nodded casually and replied, "That was a trump card I prepared specifically for the Dragon Clan. I just didn't expect them to have an ace up their sleeve as well. While I managed to injure them, I couldn't keep them here."

"That's for the best. If we had actually detained them, the Dragon Clan would have come looking for trouble! Given their strength, we are no match for them. I just hope this matter ends here and they don't bother us again."

"That is likely impossible," Zhou Tian said. He knew that with the Dragon Clan's personality, they had suffered a significant loss at his hands. They might be more cautious when facing him next time, but this was far from over. It was only a matter of time before they came to settle the score.

Aphra, clearly realizing the nature of the Dragons, looked worried and self-reproachful upon hearing his words.

Seeing her expression, the others shot angry glares at Zhou Tian. Even if he was speaking the truth, it was cruel to say it in front of Aphra, who felt responsible for bringing the dragons there in the first place. The others had tried to avoid the subject, and they were furious at Zhou Tian’s bluntness.

Zhou Tian, however, acted as if he didn't notice. He glanced at Aphra and muttered to himself, "Don't worry. The Dragon Clan may be powerful, but I'm no pushover. If I could repel them this time, I can do it again. Besides, don't you think it would be quite beneficial for our capital if we could capture a few dragons?"

He wasn't joking. The Dragon Clan’s fame wasn't just due to their raw power. They were one of the few powerful races on the continent that were willing to partner with humans to form new classes, such as the Dragon Knight, which had elevated their reputation significantly. Furthermore, their biology made them highly valuable.

The Dragon Clan was one of the few powerful races that brought immense benefits to those who killed them. Bathing in dragon blood could improve one's physique, and dragon scales, horns, teeth, and claws were top-tier materials for weapon crafting. Dragon meat could improve cultivation, and dragon tendons were the best materials for bows.

To put it bluntly, dragon-slaying brought not only fame but also immense strength and wealth. That was why, despite the danger, many ambitious adventurers would risk their lives for a chance to slay a dragon.

Anna’s battle with the dragon whelp had been a prime example. She had been willing to be covered in blood just to seize the chance to improve her strength.

Zhou Tian had seen that even the lucky adventurers who had only managed to bathe in the residual blood of the three dragons had mostly achieved breakthroughs. If he didn't have some ulterior motives, he wouldn't be Zhou Tian.

Seeing his expression, Aphra asked with curiosity, "Brother Tian, are you thinking...?"

"Exactly. I'm thinking of capturing a few dragons to raise."

Upon hearing this, the entire group was petrified. Dragons! The apex predators of the continent! Usually, it was a blessing if they didn't come looking for *you*, yet Zhou Tian was planning to raise them like livestock?

Raising dragons wasn't impossible, but only the strongest deities or Demon Gods had the power to do so. For anyone else, even attempting it—let alone the insulting act of "raising" them—was a surefire way to invite the wrath of the entire Dragon Clan.

Even to them, Zhou Tian was just a talented individual, not on the level of a demi-god. For him to harbor such thoughts was, in their eyes, madness.

Zhou Tian noticed their expressions but didn't see anything wrong with his idea. He looked at them nonchalantly and said, "Don't think I'm joking. I'm serious. Think about the dragon blood. Anna regained ten percent of her strength from a whelp's blood, and others improved their cultivation just from residual blood. If we could raise a dragon, we could provide an endless supply of blood to our subordinates. We could turn even a pig into a divine beast of immense power!"

The group was tempted, but Vivian jumped up to oppose him: "This absolutely cannot happen! If not for those twelve statues, the capital would have been leveled by those three dragons. The Dragon Clan may not be numerous, but they can easily field thousands of dragons. If you do this, once they fly into a rage, not only will you be destroyed, but the capital, the Church of Light, and all of humanity will suffer because of your dangerous idea!"

"Fine, forget it then." Zhou Tian kept his true thoughts to himself. Since Vivian was so strongly opposed, he wouldn't push the issue. After offering a few perfunctory words of comfort to appease her, his mind drifted away.

Raising dragons would be wonderful. Beyond the benefits of dragon blood to improve his subordinates, he could use them to earn massive amounts of fame and wealth.

Opening a zoo—capturing dragons and phoenixes for people to visit—just the thought of it made Zhou Tian feel it would be both prestigious and profitable.

Of course, he was just fantasizing for now. As Vivian said, the Dragon Clan wasn't to be trifled with. Without absolute power, such ideas were just that—ideas. If he really tried it now, he wouldn't be gaining benefits; he’d be throwing his life away.