Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire-Chapter 999 - 547

"Isn't it too late to talk about this now?"

Faced with the surrender and submission of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes, Noah did not accept it, nor did he let Her go, but he also did not swallow Her like he did with the Sun Snake, for he doesn't swallow everything he encounters.

The Sun Snake was swallowed because its power was close to His, which benefited His growth, but the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes was different. Swallowing this Snake Mother would be a pure waste and burden, with no gains, so Noah preferred to suppress Her.

Noah thought and acted accordingly. According to his plan and assumptions, he prepared to capture the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes alive and seal Her in the Dragon Realm, right under his watchful eyes.

Unfortunately, the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes, although inferior to him in power and rank, was still an old epic snake with rich experience. Upon realizing the situation was hopeless, she exploded on the spot.

That massive serpent sphere celestial body exploded on the spot, transforming into millions of serpents and dispersing infinitely into Void, and despite Noah witnessing this, after slaughtering and annihilating eighty million snakes, a million serpents still managed to escape into different worlds.

None of these million serpents were the True Body of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes, yet each could be said to be Her. As long as any one is left out, the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes has the opportunity to be resurrected.

Even if not a single one is missed, if all the divided serpents are killed, the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes still has the potential to resurrect.

That arises from those Favored who carry the bloodline of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes and inherit Her power. As long as there is any residual bloodline, the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes can resurrect.

However, resurrection and returning to the peak are two different things, much like the hiding and elusive remaining soul of the Flame Sun Sovereign.

Though He survived and mingled under Noah's banner, over nearly a thousand years, even without Noah deliberately targeting Him, He remained stuck at the Demigod Rank, unable to return to His former peak.

Because He is Divine, and for Divines, the path to returning to their position after falling involves spreading the divine name, gathering faith, reigniting Divine Fire, and raising the Divine Throne — things unattainable by one's sheer strength.

Yet, He no longer dares to reclaim His past divinity. Even as He gradually becomes aware that He has long been discovered, there remains some wishful thinking in His heart, hindering Him from taking a gamble on it.

"There's still one more!"

Although the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes still poses resurrection risks, having defeated the most peak Snake Mother on the battlefield, Noah trusts his offspring and Favored will resolve the remaining threats, relying on the wisdom and abilities of his descendants.

Besides, Noah's focus shifted to the third Great Snake. He recalled that when he struck against the Snake-man Empire, three Big Snakes emerged. Yet this snake, even during battles, hid itself well, revealing little.

Yet, all this means nothing to Noah. He has ample time, more so as certain pressures Noah exerted on some Great Snakes have become quite substantial, leading them to desire an end to the war.

Thus, after receiving discreet information from some beings, Noah captured the Big Snake traversing invisibly in Void, truly suppressing it, giving it no chance to escape.

This led to the Snake-man Empire declaring outright defeat in the Material Realm layer. Nevertheless, though the Snake-man Empire was defeated in war and lost vast swathes of Void Realm, the Empire did not perish.

This nation venerates multiple Great Snakes and Snake Gods. Despite the war waged by Noah, most Snake Gods and Great Snakes remained passive, unwilling to intervene, watching silently as the Sun Snake and Snake Mother were suppressed by Noah, but this does not mean they would watch the Sitra Empire's demise.

Though many Great Snakes lack concern for the secular world, merely a minority interference suffices to ensure the Empire's continuity.

A truly potent Empire does not collapse due to external pressures; it usually ends due to internal chaos.

Thus, with the war's end and Dragon-men beginning to organize their spoils, the Snake-man Empire, freed from external threats, quickly fell into unprecedented chaos.

Or perhaps, signs of chaos emerged as soon as the last Big Snake supporting their war was suppressed. Once the war with the Dragon-men concluded, outright chaos erupted.

Amidst internal factional conflicts and confrontations within the Snake-man Empire, the Emperor who stood firm even during war, fell, ending the Snake-men's feudal rule, transitioning into a council union governance phase.

But none of this matters to Noah. He cares not for the power structure shifts within the Snake-men. It only matters to some Dragon-men who still have interest in the Snake-men's territories.

Despite having seized numerous worlds already, enough to avoid resource concerns for millennia, Dragon-men's greed remains boundless. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

No Dragon-man Noble or Legion Leader believes territories and resources in their control are abundant enough; all Dragon-men yearn for more.

But this is their own pursuit. Noah doesn't focus on this aspect; what he now focuses on most is the Realm of the Creator.