He emphasized these four words, saying: "——This means that any so-called victory obtained by relying on the opponent’s pity, charity, leniency, or any lucky opportunistic means is invalid and is a desecration of the oath."

"I must, in a fair and square, open and upright, head-on confrontation without any external interference or favoritism, defeat you completely with absolute strength for it to count."

Then I’m afraid you have no chance.

Galos calmly assessed in his heart.

His adaptation and evolution talent is essentially a long ladder towards ultimate strength, theoretically accumulating advantages that grow exponentially over time, eventually forming an insurmountable chasm.

Now, in his adolescence, even Alberto cannot defeat him.

So as time progresses, as Galos continues to break through life’s shackles, completing adaptation evolutions time and again, the gap between them will only widen, making victory increasingly out of reach for Alberto.

However, for the time being, Galos felt that the Golden Dragon’s self-imposed pressure seemed a bit excessive. What exactly was the wording of that oath that could bind him so tightly?

Driven by intense curiosity, Galos demanded the Golden Dragon to repeat the oath verbatim to him.

At this point, Alberto also understood that hiding it was meaningless and only made himself appear more embarrassed.

With a kind of resigned calmness, no longer hesitating, he candidly recited the content of the oath that bound him word by word to Galos.

[Before completely surpassing——Red Iron Dragon Galos Ignas.

Refuse all entertainment and leisure, no longer allow any meaningless rest or sloth, tirelessly honing claws day and night, tempering scale armor, forging will and power.

Until becoming indisputably stronger than Galos.]

Alberto’s voice was filled with melancholy: "The oath I swore is too harsh, leaving myself almost no way out besides defeating you." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Red Iron Dragon did not respond immediately.

His massive head slightly bowed, thinking carefully in his heart.

In his eyes, the oath that seemed to corner Alberto into a dead end was actually full of loopholes, far from being as foolproof as he imagined.

Firstly, the most core punishment for oathbreaking—transforming into a White Dragon? That was a colossal joke.

With how the Platinum Dragon God Bahamut favors and has high hopes for the Golden Dragon Race, how could He possibly watch as His most favored child, symbolizing justice and order, falls into the Evil Faction due to an impulsive oath, becoming the lowest, most ignorant White Dragon?

In Galos’s view, such a punishment clause:

Its binding power is nearly zero, more a manifestation of Alberto’s intensely twisted pride and unblemishable arrogance, scaring himself.

As for what Alberto thought as harsh, to Galos it was full of exploitable loopholes.

[Deny all entertainment, forbid meaningless rest and sloth]

——What is entertainment?

If an activity can objectively improve combat skills, strategic literacy, and on-the-spot reaction capabilities while also subjectively relaxing and delighting the tense nerves, can it still simply be defined as entertainment?

——What is meaningless?

Planned rest can greatly restore energy, repair hidden injuries, and enhance the efficiency and quality of subsequent training, accumulating strength for higher-intensity honing; how can that be crudely categorized as meaningless?

And that requirement of complete surpassing.

Does that merely refer to physical strength and combat skills?

Wisdom, strategy, depth of understanding the world, even charm, shouldn’t these also be included? The oath’s intent should be comprehensive transcendence.

Thus, actions like reading knowledge books (to gain wisdom), socializing with powerful beings (to understand the world, enhance influence), appreciating art (to cultivate the mind, enhance charm), and even sunbathing to maintain Dragon Scales (to enhance charm), are by no means meaningless and completely align with the broad premise of the oath.

"The oath, ultimately, is a force originating from the heart, stemming from the heart, bound by intention."

Galos’s gaze fell on the Golden Dragon, calmly contemplating in his heart.

"Strictly speaking, the boundary between entertainment and meaningfulness, its final interpretation, is actually tightly held within the heart of the oath-taker, Alberto."

As long as Alberto can truly persuade himself from the bottom of his heart, believing that a certain level of rest or some purposeful entertainment is an indispensable part of his training plan,

He can actually cleverly circumvent the constraints of the oath.

Of course, that kind of pure, aimless, time-wasting sleeping or zoning out definitely won’t work.

That would be self-deception, something even the oath-taker himself cannot believe.

The key lies in that Alberto needs to find those actions and reasoning models that his heart truly accepts, completely free from any self-doubt, and logically coherent.

"So, here comes the question."

Galos extended a claw covered with hard scales, gently stroking his own sharply defined jawline, weighing in his heart.

"Should I awaken this Golden Dragon, who’s evidently cornered himself, help him identify and analyze these backdoors in the oath, and aid him in escaping this current dire situation?"

Just then, the Golden Dragon emitted another deep breath, his enormous body finally unable to support itself, collapsing with a loud thud, too exhausted even to move the tip of his tail.

"Alberto."

Galos looked at his appearance, calmly stating the facts, saying:

"Trying to resolve the predicament your oath brings by defeating me head-on is almost an impossible task, a difficulty probably a hundred times greater than you imagine."

However, the exhausted Golden Dragon clearly didn’t think so.

He managed to lift his heavy head slightly, panting, saying: "No, I still have a chance. Once I complete the youth stage’s slumber and undergo that leap and transformation in the essence of life, by then, I will have a great probability of defeating you head-on!"

Alberto placed his hopes on the most critical transformation node coming up next—youth stage slumber.

He firmly believes that as long as he can enter and complete this slumber before Galos, achieving a leap in life level, he will be able to reverse the situation and defeat Galos with the absolute advantage of life level.

However, Galos dismissed this inwardly.

Alberto is about sixty years old now, and the youth stage’s slumber usually doesn’t begin until around eighty according to the normal growth rate of the Dragon Race.

Even with intense training, bringing the sleep stage forward is extremely difficult to achieve before seventy.

While Galos himself will surely soon enter youth stage slumber, advancing to the youth stage.

By the time Alberto awakens from the youth stage slumber, Galos’s life level may have already risen.

The gap between them will not only fail to close as Alberto fantasizes, but might even become more unbridgeable due to Galos’s continually active talent.

"Since you are so convinced."

The corner of the Red Iron Dragon’s mouth slightly lifted as he made a decision in his heart: "Then I shall wait and see."

He suppressed the initial thought of advising Alberto on how to exploit the loopholes of the oath.

Since Alberto has his own ideas, Galos decided to respect his choice and let him face the wall he believes he can break through his way.

Although the Golden Dragon’s training intensity is indeed extremely high, it’s not entirely unendurable for someone with the robust physique of a Golden Dragon.

At most, with the absence of normal leisure time, the days are just exceptionally grueling.

Furthermore... Galos pondered in his heart.

If, in the future, he encounters some tricky adversary in the crisis-ridden wilderness, he might as well bring along this straightforward and capable Golden Dragon as a reliable shield.

The stronger Alberto trains now, the more useful he will be then.

He seems tough enough, so let him endure more hardship.

"By the way."

During the rare moment of rest, when Alberto’s panting calmed slightly, he remembered something and asked: "On the way to this Border Area, I noticed your followers were preparing for battle earnestly. Are you planning to venture deep into the wilderness?"

Galos nodded slowly, his black eyes gazing at the rolling mountains in the distance.

He said in a deep voice: "Yes, I plan to first establish a foothold on the edge of the wilderness."

"Then you should be careful." The Golden Dragon seriously reminded.