Chapter 142: Gathering Strength

It was not that Isolde deliberately intended to keep secrets from Huang Ze; she simply hadn't found the right moment to explain everything clearly.

At the current stage, the black dragon was indeed incapable of helping that mysterious golden egg become fertilized. The quality of his dragon essence was still clearly insufficient.

However, quantity could make up for quality. As long as Huang Ze mated with the little red dragon some three to five hundred thousand times, providing three to five hundred tons of premium life essence, then sincerity would surely prevail and even metal and stone would open up.

Good grief!

Three to five hundred thousand times, plus three to five hundred tons!

Huang Ze felt his scalp tingle upon hearing this, and he immediately and sternly refused, bluntly stating that Xia country's medical technology for treating infertility was quite advanced, suggesting that the little red dragon would do best to go and get checked out.

At the same time, Huang Ze recalled his own exceptional electrotherapy skills and thought he might try them on the little red dragon the next time they met; perhaps it would yield some miraculous effects.

Having her request for courtship rejected by the black dragon, Isolde was deeply dejected. She could not comprehend why such a reasonable and wonderful proposition could be turned down by the black dragon. It was a severe blow to her self-esteem.

"Don't be too upset... I just haven't mentally prepared myself for it yet."

Since his number one subordinate was feeling emotional, Huang Ze naturally needed to soothe her, so he gently and comfortingly advised,

"Even though I haven't agreed to you now, it doesn't mean I won't change my mind in the future. As long as you obediently listen and perform well, perhaps I will have a change of heart very soon."

"Really?"

Upon hearing this, Isolde instantly perked up.

"Of course! I, Dius, am no scumbag dragon. My word is my bond!"

Huang Ze said with absolute certainty, though he felt a bit guilty on the inside.

After all, that was a workload of three to five hundred thousand times and three to five hundred tons.

Even if he were more diligent than a lion and could check off a hundred times a day, it would still take three to five thousand days and nights—toiling away for a full dozen years... Just thinking about it felt terrifyingly daunting.

"You said it yourself, it's a deal!"

Isolde happily hooked her claws with the black dragon. She had always learned things from the Xia people very quickly.

"Um... Mr. Dius, do you plan to keep practicing celibacy like this for the foreseeable future?"

Isolde couldn't help asking. She figured that since the black dragon couldn't even muster any sexual interest in her, the same was likely true for most other young female dragons.

"Celibacy..."

Huang Ze paused for a moment, realizing that for quite some time now, he did indeed seem to have been walking the path of celibacy. Having been a black dragon for over half a year, he didn't even know how long his spear was or what his ammunition volume was...

"You could say that. At this stage, I do intend to keep both my mind and my body in a relatively peaceful state."

Huang Ze said with a profound expression. He had always believed that any male creature capable of keeping his spear under control was worthy of high praise.

"Well, I happen to have a rather exceptional spell here. Mr. Dius, you might want to look into it."

"What spell?"

"The Essence Refining Technique!"

"???"

At first, Huang Ze thought the little red dragon was joking, but after examining it closely, he discovered that such an absurd spell actually existed!

Moreover, within the circles of certain mighty beings, the Essence Refining Technique was a very popular spell!

There was no helping it; propagating the species was an instinctive psychological and physiological need for the vast majority of life forms, one that even gods and demons could not escape.

However, the more advanced a life form was, the more severe their infertility problems became, leaving the activity of their sperm and eggs extremely weak.

Faced with this situation, the Essence Refining Technique naturally came into being.

Its principle was somewhat similar to raising *gu* insects: one selects the healthiest and strongest sperm and focuses entirely on nurturing it.

All other sperm, once secreted from the body, are immediately devoured by it. After absorbing a massive amount of life essence, the activity of this chosen sperm naturally and gradually increases. Storing up momentum like this for a few decades would grant even a creature with the poorest reproductive capability the possibility of hitting the target in a single shot.

Therefore, upon discovering the black dragon's tendency toward celibacy, Isolde decisively suggested that he try practicing it for fun, thinking that perhaps it might eventually breed a powerful baby!

At first, Huang Ze thought this spell was bizarre and utterly unreliable, but after pondering it carefully, he began to feel it was actually quite scientific.

There was no need to cite extraordinary creatures; take human beings themselves as an example.

In the natural world, human reproductive capacity is not particularly strong, basically yielding one child per year, and only one or two per birth.

Yet the problem is that the cost paid by males in this process is far more than just one or two.

To ensure the success rate, males release hundreds of millions of bullets every time, and their monthly bullet production can even exceed tens of billions!

However, this is of little use, because females can only release a single egg each month, and billions of bullets end up wasted in vain.

If humans could also use this Essence Refining Technique to fuse those hundreds of millions of bullets into one, that single bullet would undoubtedly become immensely strong!

The more Huang Ze pondered, the more interesting the Essence Refining Technique seemed to be. Thus, he decided to follow Isolde's suggestion and give it a try for fun.

...

Huang Ze checked the time and realized that, without noticing, he had been chatting with the little red dragon for nearly two hours. Figuring it was about time to leave, another question suddenly popped into his mind.

"Isolde... how much do you know about the Goddess of Love?"

"Freya?"

The little red dragon had been feeling a bit drowsy, as maintaining the operation of the spiritual world was indeed quite energy-consuming. But the moment she heard the black dragon ask a question, she instantly perked back up.

"I'm quite familiar with her actually. In fact, my relations with many female deities are quite good."

Huang Ze had originally intended to ask about Freya, but suddenly a new doubt arose. "Why do most deities possess a gender?"

"At their level of existence, isn't gender something rather dispensable?"

"As for that... I really don't know."

Isolde said with a hint of embarrassment. "Perhaps it's influenced by divine authority. Just like the Yin and Yang the Xia people talk about, divine authorities also have their focal points. For certain domains, female deities might find it easier to leverage their advantages."

"Alright then..."

Huang Ze thought about it for a moment, and it did sound somewhat reasonable. After all, Goddess So-and-So versus God So-and-So... Goddess So-and-So definitely sounded much more approachable.

"Do you know about Freya's plan to... share her divine authority?"

Huang Ze asked with a somewhat solemn expression.

"I do know about that."

Isolde replied, "Freya is a deity with a lot of ideas. Although she only possesses lesser divine power, she is the daughter of the Goddess of Destiny, so her divinity is rather unique, and her mind has always been quite sensitive."

"She once complained to me that being the Goddess of Love is the most exhausting and troublesome divine duty in the entire world, and how wonderful it would be if someone could take over her job."

"Especially after the appearance of the Xia people, the divine authority of the Goddess of Love became even more intricate and complex. Freya has complained to me more than once about wanting to share the divine authority in her hands. If I weren't still lacking in qualifications, she definitely would have ended up dumping it on me..."