Days had passed but the little life was holding on. Lind cleaned up both bodies once it was safe to do so. The egg had resumed its protective duties after the first day.

No beast came near as Lind’s draconic aura alone was enough to keep them away.

The mixture of ice and forest now seemed to help the little beast. It no longer needed his help.

He simply stood guard. Many beasts would have left it to die on its own merits or eaten it if they were so inclined, but Lind was never like that.

The deep of night held many stars as he cultivated next to the egg. Unlike other dragon eggs, it needed no flames but the cold to nurture it at that point. He found it fascinating and humbling to see a little life conquer the odds.

Even though he helped it, it may still have died. Only if he had taken over and guided its process would that have been completely averted but it also would have made it something entirely separated from its parent.

All that was left was to ensure it survived.

Lind saw the eastern horizon brighten slightly when the first crack was heard. He quickly acted to grasp the ice and cold to bring it closer and mix it with the forest energies.

It was a delicate balance but the little life inside absorbed it like a sponge at the critical step. The egg had now become a dark blue mixed with grey. It was only recent but showed the baby had stabilized.

The shell now broke as tiny clawed feet poked out followed by a shimmering scaled tail.

Had the dragon blood won out? Lind looked on as finally a tiny beast broke free and howled at the sky.

Howled was the right word too. A wolf’s head was on the body of a dragon! The scales were dominant but a faint coat of fur that might thicken in the future was present.

The scales were pale blue, almost white but the eyes were the dark of a wolf. Its maw was a kind of vicious mix of both beasts.

A dragon’s teeth were razor sharp and like knives but a wolf had more variety and chomping power.

It was so prey could not escape and the pack takes them down once latched on. The tufts of fur were a mix of blue and gray on the head but not too puffy. If anything, the shimmer of scales could still be seen.

The truly odd moment was when the young beast looked up at Lind and began wagging its tail! It leapt at him not like a dragon but a wolf!

He took it into his arms and let it rub its head against him as it took in his scent. He had already known it would happen but it seemed the dragon imprint still recognized him as a superior bloodline.

"It is all right. You did it." He patted its head and was gentle. The happy sounds made him smile.

He tried to assess its state but it was still settling so he held off. He did pull out a few strips of soft meat. It was a safe bet it was a carnivore.

Sure enough, it leapt at the chance to chew on the food. He saw it had no issues and let it eat at its own pace. The tricky part was the other half. Water would be fine regardless but a baby needed the equivalent of milk.

He had softened the meat as he knew a baby dragon could eat right away, yet the wolf side might need more than just protein. Pure milk would not be enough also.

The beast was in the Soul Realm. It was powerful too.

Earth and water qi were prevalent but he would bet darkness or light might be in the mix. Powerful combinations if he was right and he would need to nurture it enough to survive.

He had no intention of taking in the child forever. It was born in a place it could thrive and Lind could not stay. He would not abandon it, however, to random chance after coming so far.

It could take centuries for it to reach the next realm unless he figured out what it needed. Consumption was normal for beasts but the wrong food could slow down or cause Qi deviation no matter how tasty it was.

If it was pure dragon or wolf, the answers would be easy, yet a mixed breed had possible issues that would need to be addressed.

Technically speaking, it was still a dragon that had taken in a wolf bloodline. Assuming that stance was accurate, then the solutions were not too bad. If it truly mixed its bloodlines at its core, that would lead to complications.

[Divine Lord?] Lind looked up as he saw a man with large horns seem to emerge from the ice fields nearby. The dragon knew him on sight and bowed low. Lind did not need to confirm why the man had come.

The baby was born and had called into the world. Howl or not, its family would have heard.

[If you are looking for your clan member, she was killed feeding the egg her essence. The one who killed her was gutted in her final moments.] He held nothing back and a brief sense of grief passed.

[She was stubborn for such a young one. Her mate was killed and she left in anger. The egg?] Lind paused as he knew what was about to happen.

[The child lives but not without consequences from the battle.] His words caused the man to scrunch up his face in confusion. His features were well worn from the winds of ice and snow.

He approached and his robes of shimmering white stood out starkly. The instant the baby smelled him, it became excited. Its tail wagging up a storm.

It recognized its own bloodline.

The man, however, looked disgusted.

[What is that thing?!] His aura surged but shattered with a wave of Lind’s hands. Shock flashed on his face at his audacity in front of a Divine Lord. [F–forgive me! I reacted out of instinct!]

That much was true. No matter how muddied a dragon bloodline might be, so long as one strived to improve it, no one complained about the results. Failure might drop them to a flood dragon but that was a risk all accepted.

The flood dragon would keep fighting but act appropriate to its new status.

The new beast was of a category many would not accept. A hybrid race. Getting stronger was always the goal but also trying to reach back to ancestral power at the same time. If another beast race could facilitate that, it would be attempted, yet only with the goal of a single bloodline improving.

They would never attempt to take in both in equal measure. While the current baby was not equal, it was still far from a step up.

Lind explained what he had found when he arrived. It was clear the wolf had attacked at the perfect moment to kill the snow dragon.

Yet, the egg had been splashed through no fault of its parent.

The man looked pained and conflicted. By all rights, the baby was innocent no matter what and his lost clan member had simply fought to live as they should.

The result was unintended.

The baby survived which meant Heaven and Earth acknowledged the mixture as well. Beasts put far more stock in that than other races. Even Elementals were not as reverent as beasts could be.

[What are your wishes, Divine Lord?] The man knelt but Lind knew far better than he what was being asked. Lind saw the excitement of the small baby and felt bad about the future. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

[What name would she have given it?] His question gave the man pause as naming was not something Soul and World Realm beasts really thought about.

Dragons, however, did often impart names from the race memory. The man stepped closer to the joy of the baby. Even the man, despite his disdain for its impurity, softened.

He knelt down and gently held out his hand. The baby happily rubbed his hand against the callused fingers.

While having the head of a wolf, the features were still draconic. It seemed the man saw something familiar and smiled sadly.

[She was fierce from the day she was born and none of us expected the meek Rael to catch her eye. I know only she would remember him, her beloved who rose up when duty called for the hunt and died bringing back more than we needed.] Beasts were not babying their younger generations.

They would not hand food to them unless invaders came from above. Similar to how more powerful cultivators normally let the lower realms face each other without interference, beasts were the same.

They must learn to fight and feed themselves. If they die, they were not strong enough. It was as simple as that.

It seemed the young snow dragon had not wanted her child to be born in a place that let her mate die.

[I will raise them. They lived and I was here to ensure they hatched. They will have to learn to stand on their own.] Lind’s words made perfect sense to the man. He bowed and turned to leave before he paused.

The little baby was rumbling! So they could howl and rumble at the same time?! It was similar to a whimper but what a young dragon would do to make an older family stay.

A ghost of a smile flashed on the man’s face.

[Definitely her child. Syla commanded all to obey even when only a Soul Realm baby.] Lind realized who the dead snow dragon had to be.

His grandchild. A direct child of an Immortal would also be an Immortal in quick succession. The purity of the bloodline was clear to Lind so it meant that one of his children had mated with a different dragon race.

That result would greatly reduce the speed of cultivation until the bloodline could be refined.

[I will raise them well. If one day they seek their family, at least hear them out.] It was not an order but the man could only nod barely.

Lind heard the said rumbling from his lap and could only pet their head until they calmed down. It would be a long road ahead for the little beast. Dragon or wolf? What would it become?