However, General Kai Long laughed.

"Good, it has been a while since anyone has questioned my command abilities on the battlefield. Perhaps, we could exchange a few pointers?"

He had such a terrible laugh. To Long Yi, General Kai Long’s grin resembled that of a poorly made robot with a dry and false mask proffering a smile. It made him wonder how long it had been since General Kai Long last laughed; that laugh was truly repulsive.

Long Yi said, "I dare not question your command abilities, but are you using what you are good at to challenge me? How about we have a hand-to-hand combat without the use of fighting aura instead? Even if I only use my right hand, you won’t stand a chance."

"So?"

General Kai Long scoffed coldly.

"Absolutely."

Long Yi laughed foolishly.

Bang!

Without warning, General Kai Long threw a punch. Long Yi sidestepped and spun around, a sweeping punch headed straight for the general’s face. The general’s expression unchanged, he lifted his leg and lashed out a kick. Long Yi, rather than advancing, retreated, standing up in time to effectively block Kai Long’s kick. At the same time, he reached out and grabbed General Kai Long’s incoming punch. Kai Long stomped down, attempting to retreat from Long Yi’s body, but Long Yi took a step back first. Kai Long’s foot missed its mark, causing him to stagger. But then, Long Yi’s fist was already in Kai Long’s face!

"Look, you’re no match for me."

With a bent waist, General Kai Long halted his fist in front of his face, slowly opening his palm.

"Not bad."

General Kai Long commended sincerely, pulling Long Yi’s hand and helping him straighten up. As he straightened his back, he heard two cracking sounds from it.

"For an old man, your physical prowess is quite impressive. I initially thought that I’d win with just one punch."

Long Yi said with a chuckle.

At this, Kai Long was speechless. Being a general, praising his adversary should be a face-saving grace. However, this young man quite pretentiously returned the favor.

This kid, he is quite annoyingly high-headed.

"You guys may leave."

Kai Long declared.

The two guards turned around and left. Ai Lin looked warily at Long Yi, then left the dorm, closing the door behind her.

"Do you know why I’m here to see you?"

General Kai Long asked.

"You see me as a talented individual and are considering promoting me to a deputy general position."

Long Yi responded immediately, quite fast and loose with his words.

"Bullshit!"

Kai Long laughed and cursed.

"Alright then, if that’s not the reason, surely it’s not the Emperor seeking revenge through you. So, I suppose it must have something to do with your granddaughter, Ai Lin. But let’s be clear, the relationship between Ai Lin and me is currently as simple as that between schoolmates. I have a girlfriend. Besides, I’m no match for Ai Lin."

Long Yi pointed out seriously.

Kai Long was left crying and laughing by the comment. Long Yi’s girlfriend was Elsa, a fact he had heard from Ai Lin. Initially, he couldn’t believe it, given Elsa was one of the Four White Dragon Knights, the strongest of the empire’s younger generation, and the pride of the empire with boundless future prospects. She may even ascend to a higher plane and become one of the powerhouses. How could she and Long Yi, whose greatest achievement was picking fights with the Crown Prince, be together?

Plus, he was quite bothered about Ai Lin’s relationship with Long Yi.

If Long Yi were so handsome as to floor someone, it would be understandable. But a close look revealed that Long Yi displayed an innocent face. His tough, sinewy flesh like a tough meat chuck that wouldn’t tenderize even if stewed for ten days; he was from a blacksmith’s family after all.

He didn’t possess any of the typical traits that would attract the attention of the girls. This was strange indeed. First Elsa, and then Ai Lin; what did they see in Long Yi?

That self-confidence that coursed from the soles of his feet to the tips of his hair?

Or the tendency towards violence that seemed to permeate from his stomach to his skin?

However, after brief interactions and further descriptions from Ai Lin, Kai Long learned that Long Yi was firstly, a person with a strong sense of justice, seen from the day he helped Ai Lin out of trouble.

Secondly, he was selfless. If Long Yi hadn’t helped, Ai Lin would never have been able to regain her power. Of course, to this day, he still hasn’t told them the reason behind the loss of Ai Lin’s power in the first place.

A hesitant General Kai Long wanted to say something several times but didn’t know how to start. In the end, it was Long Yi who broke the silence first.

"If you think I’m not suited for Ai Lin, you can rest assured, I’ve never pursued your granddaughter," I told him.

General Kai Long suddenly laughed. He sighed heavily, then started speaking slowly:

"All four of my sons died on the battlefield. My eldest and second son perished at the Southern Border. My third son was killed by monsters, and my youngest son snuck into an enemy nation, was betrayed by a traitor, and publicly executed. But, they all died in service to their country, and I regret nothing. Now, it’s time to send my grandsons into battle..."

"So, you actually don’t want Ai Lin to go to war—wait a minute, the loss of Ai Lin’s power, could that be your doing?" Long Yi seemed to uncover a not-so-small secret.

"Yes, it was me!" Kai Long admitted. "When I first uncovered her talent, I was overjoyed. But as she grew older each day, I found it harder to let her go away. Ai Lin has always been a well-behaved child and never dared to make me angry. One day, I realized that I couldn’t bear to send her into battle! So, I requested an old dragon friend to help me with a solution, I made the Mithril Dragon transform into a hybrid breed of Mithril and Shadow Silver. This way, its scales and body would gradually transform into Shadow Silver and it would ultimately not be able to release any Dragon Power. I originally thought she would give up, but to my surprise, she never gave up all these years."

Long Yi looked at Kai Long’s expression, knowing that all he said was true, but it was still somewhat hard to accept.

"General Kai Long, at first, I thought you were a decent person, but why do I now think of you more and more as a scoundrel?"

"I am a general, yes. But I’m also a grandfather. Can’t I keep my granddaughter in the safest place in this country?"

Long Yi suddenly laughed: "In this world, aside from one’s own dragon back, where is the safest place?"

This was a straightforward question—if you don’t have your own power, who in this world could provide you with absolute safety?

Kai Long laughed too. He looked at Long Yi up and down, suddenly understanding why Ai Lin liked him, why Elsa did. They were all the same, craving power, desiring to create greatness through their own abilities. They hated being restrained and wanted to have control over everything!

General Kai Long clapped Long Yi’s shoulder: "Boy, are you interested in joining a legion? I could recommend you."

Legion?

Long Yi took out the badge of the third Legion’s Bone Crushing squad from his pocket.

"I have joined one."

Kai Long glanced at it—it was indeed Bone Crushing squad. His face flickered, he couldn’t imagine his granddaughter joining the Bone Crushing squad. But, he could practically foresee that when Ai Lin sees Long Yi’s badge, she absolutely wouldn’t back down.

"Boy, promise me that before Ai Lin acquires a power that you can accept, don’t let her see this."

Kai Long reminded.

"Don’t worry!"

Long Yi pocketed the badge, looking a little bemused. Why was General Kai Long behaving like he was about to marry off his daughter? Weren’t we just pure classmates? Even if he stumbled upon something, it was not intentional, was it?

General Kai Long left, just as he had arrived, without bringing any gifts or taking any clouds away.

It was not too long before Ai Lin ran back.

"What did grandpa say to you?"

Ai Lin asked curiously, a little nervous inside.

"In essence, I’m not sure entirely about what he said, but one thing is clear, he loves and cares for you unconditionally."

Long Yi said.

"Of course! He is my grandpa, he has to love me!"

Ai Lin said happily.

"When you first told me about your grandpa, I thought he was some terrifying figure."

"When grandpa gets angry, he can be very scary, but he has never been angry at me. I’m afraid of him only because I fear disappointing him. But generally speaking, he’s very kind to me!"

Okay then, it seems like I have read too many novels. The heads of families are often depicted as cold-blooded and ruthless characters, an image deeply ingrained in my mind.

Long Yi has decided to advance to the next level, the curriculum for the first year is of no use to him now. The only course in Dragon Language, although Long Yi is slow to learn, he should be having a good grasp of the required knowledge.

The first year is basically laying down the foundations with barely any practical content. Real combat courses will be taught in the second year. Usually, to enter the second year it’s required for Dragon Knights to evolve their dragons into juvenile ones. But Long Yi’s situation is a bit special, firstly he has the surprising Seventh Layer of Fighting Aura, secondly, he has two dragons.

The academy had issued a special advancement order signed by Dean Long, allowing Long Yi to advance early. The premise is that, in the dragon language test in two weeks, Long Yi must pass.

Now, Long Yi was preparing for advancement. Under the strange eyes of the Elf instructor, Long Yi was desperately cramming Dragon Language. For some reason, he had a very hard time learning Dragon Language. At least he felt that if he took a Dragon Language exam now, he would flunk.

He managed to memorize the written parts of Dragon Language, but the oral part holds significant importance in the test.

Unfortunately, his tongue was not very cooperative.

The Elf instructor’s face was almost touching Long Yi’s as her small mouth gently opened and closed in front of him, uttering the beautiful Dragon Language. Long Yi couldn’t help but feel upset, the Elves’ mouths were so small, yet the Dragon Language they spoke was so pleasant. He had a rather big mouth, was it only good for eating?