Chapter 254: Making Landfall Among Human Settlements
As the Compiler and the Hunter sailed along the coast, a Sea Dragon had already crawled onto the damp land of the primeval forest.
The eye lost in battle with the Spiny Dragon had regrown in another form, now adapting to the light once more.
This forest was dense, with neither sightlines nor environment offering much openness.
Jié Jié transformed into a Fire Dragon, stamping his legs to break through the emerald canopy and soar into the sky, hoping to get an overview of the primeval forest.
“Whoa.”
At the heart of the primeval forest lay a massive skeleton, impossible to be concealed by the lush trees, spanning nearly half the forest. It was hard to imagine what kind of monster it must have been in life.
After confirming the Compiler’s position, he flew towards the colossal skeleton at the center of the primeval forest. A journey that would take hunters days to traverse on foot only required him to fly for half an hour.
However, there were other monsters in the airspace. The familiar Male Fire Dragon roared at him as he approached but fled hastily upon his nearing.
His size was undoubtedly monstrous, a freakish figure too intimidating for the Male Fire Dragon to entertain thoughts of victory.
On the ground, disturbances were frequent. The movements of monsters caused tree canopies to collapse, leaving trails behind, while loud roars echoed through the skies.
No need to guess—it was definitely the Hōng Lóng.
In some areas with shorter trees, one could spot long-necked Shouming Dragons peeking out.
Behind the barren mountains seemed to lie another forest, and further still, vast plains stretched endlessly.
Jié Jié descended from the air, just in time to see a Poisonous Wyvern bound in place, its surroundings revealing numerous silk threads.
The Poisonous Wyvern, covered in dark bluish-green scales, sported a bullet-shaped head crest, with wings disproportionately small compared to its body, seemingly unsuitable for flight.
Upon seeing the Fire Dragon descending from the sky staring at it, the Poisonous Wyvern grew tense, roaring and struggling fiercely, yet the silk threads only tightened around it.
The violent struggle awakened the trap’s setter. Six blue gem-like eyes flickered, as if it wanted to emerge but chose to remain hidden due to the presence of the Fire Dragon.
But hiding proved futile; Míng Dēng Lóng’s Energy Perception had already locked onto it. A burst of flame tore apart the shadows, forcing the lurking creature to reveal itself.
The monster had eight limbs and three pairs of eyes, undoubtedly a spider in appearance, though its back bore purple crystal clusters, and its torso was wrapped in the skin of a Poisonous Wyvern—clearly a Large Monster.
Its habit of hunting in dim environments earned it the name Shadow Spider.
When its concealment was broken, the Shadow Spider emitted an angry hiss. Its second pair of forelimbs controlled the silk, pulling the trapped Poisonous Wyvern as it retreated and leaped, completing a mutual escape.
Having secured its prey, the Shadow Spider leapt further away, showing no intention of engaging Jié Jié in battle.
Fierce as it was, the Shadow Spider harbored no thoughts of hunting something several times larger than itself that breathed fire.
A fireball landed where it had leaped, missing its mark. The Shadow Spider was about to burrow into the dense forest.
But a second fireball arrived swiftly, correcting the misjudgment of the Shadow Spider’s agility from the first shot, exploding precisely at its landing point, creating a fiery field.
Neither the Shadow Spider nor the Poisonous Wyvern were creatures Jié Jié had tasted before, so encountering them meant they couldn’t be let go.
Just because you like stripping Poisonous Wyverns for clothes, enemy shamed, I’ll strip you!
Amidst the flames, the Shadow Spider trembled and hissed, the captured Poisonous Wyvern still struggling in its grasp. A splash of venom hit the Shadow Spider but failed to hinder it in any way.
The third fireball soon arrived, blasting the Shadow Spider away, disappearing from sight.
Only severed limbs of the Shadow Spider remained at the scene.
“Hmm?”
The rapid-fire fireballs lacked sufficient power to instantly kill the Shadow Spider.
But the energy perception of Míng Dēng Lóng proved invaluable, locking onto the fleeing Shadow Spider perched above the treetops.
Flapping his wings to ascend, after adjusting the trajectory based on previous shots, this slightly charged fireball struck true at the Shadow Spider’s center of gravity.
One of its hind legs separated from its main body mid-air, both eventually hanging limply on the treetops. Only the barely alive Poisonous Wyvern continued to struggle, losing all reason as it shot venom towards the Male Fire Dragon.
Thus, the Poisonous Wyvern and its natural enemy died together, entering Jié Jié’s belly.
Both were toxic creatures, but transforming into the Spiny Dragon made their poison vanish without a trace. Unfortunately, neither the Poisonous Wyvern nor the Shadow Spider produced any gems.
In the form of a Spiny Dragon, Jié Jié decided to stay active along the coastline, keeping track of the small boat.
The two aboard were quite safe in the shallow seas. Jié Jié had seen Sea Dragons near the primeval forest, but they missed the pair.
“I saw that Spiny Dragon again. It seems to be traveling, from the New Continent to the Tree Sea, then from the Tree Sea to this forest.”
The Compiler didn’t think the Spiny Dragon was following them, assuming it had crossed the ocean earlier to reach the Tree Sea, or possibly migrated from there even earlier.
“Cough cough.”
“Cough.”
With the hunter’s cough, the Compiler snapped back to reality, shifting his gaze from the Spiny Dragon to search diligently for signs of human habitation or fleets along the shore.
They entered the center of a bay, perfectly positioned to observe both coasts.
True to expectations, the Compiler spotted smoke rising from the southern coast and began heading that way.
After confirming the direction, his telescope returned to the last known location of the Spiny Dragon.
When he saw the Spiny Dragon last, it was sleeping, its dark green shell almost blending completely with the forest.
Now, a layer of pale green shell covered the dark green, indicating the Spiny Dragon had been entangled by some monster during sleep.
The monster wrapping the Spiny Dragon could only be glimpsed partially, and the Compiler couldn’t identify it from memory. There were many unknown monsters with only fragmented records.
A flicker of concern arose unnoticed, after all, this Spiny Dragon was somewhat familiar, having appeared on the Old Continent from the New Continent, serving as living proof of the New Continent’s ecosystem for the Guild.
As the small boat reached the shore, the distant scenery blurred, merging the monster and the Spiny Dragon into one indistinct mass.
Had the Spiny Dragon not woken up yet?
A faint tremor came as the boat docked, and the Compiler put down his telescope.
They needed to find human settlements and contact the Guild.
255
