Chapter 262: Spirit Mountain Dragon.
Jie Jie locked onto the three individuals as they walked into the depths of the guild, stealthily following through a blind spot on the ceiling.
The guild’s supervisor was especially enthusiastic toward the two members of the investigation team and also familiar with the village chief of Mojia Village.
After expressions of welcome and an exchange of some intelligence, the compiler clearly received a satisfactory response.
“The flying airship traveling between Tangjia and Loke Clark already departed last week. By calculation, next week an airship should return from headquarters.”
“If the three of you are willing to wait for the airship, you can stay a few more days in Tangjia Port. I will personally arrange accommodations.”
The supervisor was a middle-aged man dressed in noble attire, polite and quite charming.
“If my memory serves, there should be sand ships that can also reach Loke Clark from Tangjia Port.”
The hunter asked, having been to Tangjia Port before and naturally aware of this.
“That’s correct. If the three of you wish to take the sand ship, preparations can be completed tomorrow for departure. In terms of safety, I will commission the hunter group to escort you.”
“Sand ship or wait for the airship?”
Both the village chief and the hunter looked at the compiler.
“Hmm… let’s take the sand ship.”
The compiler hesitated for a moment but decided to depart quickly via the sand ship.
“Alright, I’ll make the arrangements immediately. Thank you both for your outstanding contributions to humanity. Tonight’s Tangjia hot pot at the guild hall—please enjoy it thoroughly.”
The guild supervisor bowed earnestly and left with a smile.
The three were led by a receptionist to their respective rooms, where they rested well in preparation for the desert winds.
In the evening, a massive pot of red soup was surrounded by various ingredients, looking very rustic.
The compiler ate heartily while still glancing around, searching for something.
He didn’t know exactly what he was doubting, appearing rather preoccupied.
“Still thinking about the smoky snow weasel?”
The hunter had heard the compiler mention it and didn’t consider it a mere coincidence.
The Water Ancient Dragon, Spiny Dragon, and Smoky Snow Weasel—these creatures they encountered in the New Continent seemed to have followed them to the Original Continent, which was truly bizarre.
But when they deliberately investigated, everything vanished without a trace.
Jie Jie, hidden in the ceiling’s blind spot, saw the two’s subtle movements clearly and would not expose any flaws again.
Thus, he chose to steal fresh ingredients from the kitchen tonight.
…
The next day, the guild supervisor arranged the sand ship and the hunter group’s escort. The two arrived at the sand ship launch point and set off toward Loke Clark.
From their arrival at Tangjia Port until their departure, no earthquake occurred here. Jie Jie did not see that imposing black-clothed dragon person again, nor did any prophecy suddenly spread—a great fortune for Tangjia Port.
Loke Clark is located right in the desert, and the sand ship is its famous facility. With the help of sails, these specially designed vessels can navigate across the sands.
There are indeed monster activities in the desert. Through a telescope scanning the distance, a Sand Earth Dragon was seen using its head to smash rocks, capturing beetles hiding beneath.
“The Sand Earth Dragon isn’t much of a major threat; the most dangerous in the desert are the Horned Dragons and Sand Kings.”
“Although the chosen route is one the guild maintains frequently, who can precisely predict the movements of monsters lurking beneath the sands?”
The leader of the hunter group chatted beside the compiler. He had already been informed of the identities of those onboard and was happy to socialize with these elites.
The leader of the hunter group was a renowned hunter who had single-handedly completed the hunting task of a Horned Dragon, cutting off its crimson horn and earning much renown, scaling his hunter group to its current size. He personally took charge of this mission.
“I hope for smooth sailing. I heard from the receptionist that you attended this year’s Loke Clark Harvest Festival?”
This was the content the compiler was most interested in.
The Harvest Festival is Loke Clark’s annual grand ceremony, held to repel the Ultra-Large Ancient Dragon, the Peak Mountain Dragon.
Situated in the center of the Great Desert, Loke Clark often observes signs of the Peak Mountain Dragon’s activity. Besides protecting Loke Clark, as an Ultra-Large Ancient Dragon, the Peak Mountain Dragon offers significant economic value from its rare minerals and materials on its body.
This economy promoted Loke Clark’s development, and with each successful repulsion, the Peak Mountain Dragon transformed from a dangerous ancient dragon into a moving mine. The birth of the Harvest Festival further boosted economic vitality.
During the festival, stores and restaurants in Loke Clark offer big discounts, attracting hunters from all over the world seeking wealth and fame.
Loke Clark has thus turned from passive to active; even if the Peak Mountain Dragon shows no tendency to collide with Loke Clark, the Loke Clark Guild actively seeks out the Peak Mountain Dragon to hold the festival. This is a good omen, a sign that humanity is beginning to reap benefits from its struggle against natural disasters.
Jie Jie, transformed into a seagull, flew from the mast of a sea ship to the mast of a sand ship, looking around trying to find traces of a sandstorm.
He was also very interested in the Peak Mountain Dragon, but this route was safe. The Loke Clark Guild had many people observing every sandstorm during the Harvest Festival behind the scenes.
With frequent observations, the safe routes listed were highly likely to be secure.
But… just highly likely. There were still more unknowns hidden beneath the sands, beyond human capability to observe.
Just like how whales leap at night in the sand seas.
A monster far larger than the Great Sea Dragon leaped out of the sand sea, speeding across it and splashing up sand waves.
The sand dust raised by the Ultra-Large Monster blew into the line of sight of everyone on the sand ship. The leader of the hunter group lifted his telescope, catching a glimpse of a magnificent purple reflecting the night sky amidst the distant sand waves, trembling with excitement.
“Purple, purple, it must be the Spirit Mountain Dragon!”
As a hunter who participated in the Harvest Festival, such sand waves could only be caused by the Peak Mountain Dragon’s surface activity. The ordinary Peak Mountain Dragon is entirely sandy yellow, but there exists a subspecies known as the Spirit Mountain Dragon.
The most prominent feature of the Spirit Mountain Dragon is the splendid mineral vein formed by concentrated minerals on its back.
The materials and concentrated minerals of the Spirit Mountain Dragon give it higher economic value than the Peak Mountain Dragon. Once Loke Clark discovers traces of the Spirit Mountain Dragon’s activity, it will immediately begin tracking, attempting to harvest its materials and minerals.
“What a beautiful color.”
The compiler marveled, but if they didn’t pursue, the Spirit Mountain Dragon was moving away.
He was concerned about the overly excited leader of the hunter group. Hunters are humans too, prone to irrational behavior due to fame and profit.
Fortunately, the leader of the hunter group quickly adjusted. The Loke Clark Guild mobilizes forces to treat the Peak Mountain Dragon as a mine, but every year hunters die during the Harvest Festival, with hunter groups suffering shipwrecks and casualties.
Whether the Peak Mountain Dragon or the Spirit Mountain Dragon, the awe and pressure brought by their hundred-meter-long bodies are not easily forgotten.
The sand ship continued forward, but the seagull on the mast disappeared.
Jie Jie was puzzled too. Meeting the Great Sea Dragon and then the Spirit Mountain Dragon—one nearly sixty meters long and the other over a hundred meters long—the forty-meter-long Míng Dēng Lóng suddenly seemed less impressive.
Still, the original world’s Spirit Mountain Dragon remains unmatched.
263
