A week passed after Isha's visit, yet Leon still hadn’t seen the legendary grandmother he had heard so much about.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the old Dragon Queen had gotten lost trying to find her granddaughters’ home.

Rosvisser, however, reassured him, explaining that dragons with the same bloodline and power could sense each other’s location to some degree, so there was no such thing as getting lost.

Then, in her usual teasing manner, she asked, “Why are you so eager to talk about my grandmother lately? Are you that anxious to meet the family?”

General Leon waved his hand dismissively and, with practiced ease, denied, “I’m just curious about the kind of dragon that could raise someone as strange as you.”

Rosvisser, not in the mood for banter, let his comment slide.

And so, day by day, the couple waited for the grandmother’s visit.

In the meantime, they also dispatched scouts and spies to gather information from the Red Dragon Clan's territory. If things were even a little more stable there, they would immediately set out to find Constantine’s trusted aide.

Of course, Leon wasn’t idle during these waiting days.

He began studying the martial arts manual his master had given him during their last exchange of information a few days ago: *The Gate of Nine Infernos*.

Leon sat cross-legged in the training yard, with some snacks Moon had just brought him lying nearby.

The young dragoness had wanted to play with her father for a bit, but seeing him focused on a book she couldn’t understand, she left the snacks beside him and obediently ran off to play with the maids.

His daughters were growing up and becoming more sensible, which filled General Leon with pride.

He opened the first page of *The Gate of Nine Infernos*, which started with an introduction to the inspiration and the historical context behind the creation of this body technique.

“It’s said that there are nine levels of hell, each representing a different human sin. For each sin, there’s a corresponding form of physical punishment inflicted by the envoys of hell.”

“Only those who survive the trials of all nine levels and achieve redemption have the chance to pass through the deepest level and return to the mortal realm or… ascend to heaven.”

“Upon reaching this point, one who has endured all nine levels of hell will emerge as if reborn from the flames of nirvana. With nothing but their physical body, they will be invincible, undefeated in all battles.”

Reading this introduction, Leon couldn’t help but smirk and mutter, “The title sounds intimidating, and the backstory is even more exaggerated. So, basically, if you master this technique, you can push your physical body to surpass human limits, even without magic?”

The old ancestors who created various magical arts, illusions, and body techniques always liked to embellish their ancient texts with myths and legends, making their creations seem grander.

What was worse, this way of recording things was still mainstream today.

People loved analyzing the ancestors' fabricated myths, and some even went so far as to develop religions and belief systems based on them.

There was even a specialized program at the Dragon Slayer Academy dedicated to studying the myths and legends left behind in ancient magical texts.

Leon had taken this elective in school and graduated with full marks.

The old professor in charge believed Leon had a special talent for the subject, and upon his graduation, had earnestly requested Leon to stay at the academy and help them analyze more myths and legends, to explore the secrets of humanity’s past and recover forgotten relics from the river of history—*balabala* and all that.

Leon had responded, “Sir, you’ve got it all wrong. I only took that course to learn a broader variety of magic. As for the metaphors and myths... I just wrote a few quick reactions to them.”

*"A few quick reactions" = "Graduated with full marks."*

If Rebecca had been in the same class as him back then, she might have realized sooner that Leon was a master of hiding his brilliance.

After finishing the introduction, Leon flipped to the table of contents.

Just as he had taught Noa, the first step to reading a book was to check the contents. If he came across something he already knew, he marked it with a green line; for things he was unsure of, he marked them in yellow; and for things he hadn’t learned yet, he used a red line.

This study method worked wonders for both him and Noa, given that they were both geniuses and tireless perfectionists.

After scanning the table of contents, Leon flipped to a section toward the middle.

The last sentence on this page read:

“By this point, your body should meet the following standards (just one is enough to qualify):

- In a severely injured, near-death state, you should still be able to maintain steady breathing for over twelve hours.
- Your speed should rival that of a Dragon King in human form.
- Your self-healing ability should show significant improvement compared to before you practiced this body technique.
- You should be able to fight continuously for more than five hours.”

Leon clicked his tongue, shaking his head, “So just one of these is enough? I think I meet... all of them?”

Three years ago, after Victor pierced his heart and he was imprisoned by the Silver Dragon Clan, he had lasted far longer than twelve hours.

Even before his body had fully recovered, he had sparred with Rosvisser and, despite being in a weakened state, had managed to keep up with the speed of the Silver Dragon Clan, which was known for its agility.

His self-healing ability was even more impressive. He still remembered the days when he and Rosvisser would spar, and as long as she let him rest for a few days, he’d make her suffer a little during their next match.

As for the final point—fighting continuously for more than five hours.

General Leon had a lot to say about that.

Whether it was slaying dragons or... “riding” them, he could keep going for over five hours.

The former was thanks to his excellent instructors at the Dragon Slayer Academy;

The latter, well, that was thanks to Mistress Merkwis’... unique teaching methods.

In any case, Leon was a good student!

“Once you meet these standards, you can officially begin practicing *The Gate of Nine Infernos*.”

Leon turned the page to the detailed introduction.

“The body technique, *The Gate of Nine Infernos*, divides the human body into nine stages, each represented by a different ‘gate.’”

“The first gate, the Steel Gate—wait, what gate?!”

Leon thought he must have read it wrong, so he put the book down, rubbed his eyes vigorously, and looked again.

No, he hadn’t seen it wrong.

...

...

“Caw, caw…”

Two crows flew overhead, their calls perfectly mirroring Leon’s current state of mind.

Seriously, the introduction had talked about hell and heaven, making it sound so grand.

And then, when it came to the actual technique, they dropped a pun out of nowhere?

While it wasn’t referring to *that* part of the body, Leon couldn’t help but chuckle at the sudden, unexpected wordplay.

“Of course... leave it to my master to find a martial arts manual that’s as cryptic as this,” Leon muttered, taking two deep breaths to steady himself before reading on.

Thankfully, the names of the later gates were normal, which gave Leon some relief.

But when he reached the final gate, his hand froze as he flipped the page. His eyes fixed on those two simple words:

“The Death Gate.”

Leon’s pupils dilated slightly. “It sounds like one of those moves that lets you hurt your enemy but at great cost to yourself…”

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he refocused.

There was no need to worry about the final gate yet. He had to master the first eight gates first.

“So, how do I open the first gate…”

Leon continued flipping through the book until he found the corresponding instructions.

“To open the first gate, you need the assistance of a powerful external force, preferably someone you trust who has the strength of a Dragon King…”

“Hmm… Dragon King… Dragon King…”

He repeated the words aloud, and before he knew it, a name slipped from his lips.

“Rosvisser?!”