Chapter 166: Seeking Radiance.
After leaving the range shrouded in dark clouds, the scorching weather was not only blinding but also draining moisture from Jié Jié’s body.
Looking down, the sandstone and sand of the wasteland sparkled with gold. The falling sunlight and heat seemed to be reflected back into the sky upon touching the ground.
The distortion of air under high temperatures was visible to the naked eye.
Perhaps a significant portion of this heat rose from the ground.
The Spiny Dragon landed and scanned the remains of gold and massive footprints on the ground.
The persistent hot weather transformed Jié Jié, his unicorn-like horn at the tip of his nose turning crimson and spiraling forward.
The small horns behind the Spiny Dragon’s head began to expand, eventually forming a thick bone plate.
The jet-black spines on his emerald shell contracted, completely changing into a grainy and dry brown color.
Indeed, it was a Horned Dragon suitable for activity in arid lands, but not the common Bicorn Dragon; rather, it was the rarely seen Unicorn Dragon widely mentioned in legends.
In the past, he had gained much from rolling dice, ranging from squids and thoroughbred beetles used as consumables to powerful monsters like the “Crimson Horn” with special significance.
Unfortunately, the Queen Mantis, Electric Dragon, and Thousand Blade Dragon he longed for were absent.
But that didn’t matter; he could search for them later.
Pursuing gold and footprints on golden sands, he moved forward until he finally saw the sealed cave where the Glittering Dragon had departed.
The sand at the edge of the cave had been baked by high temperatures into charred crystals, breaking into glass fragments with just a light step.
The ground of the Giant Ant Hill Wasteland was much easier to dig than the Ancient Tree Forest. He dug downward from the side of the cave, using the traces left by the Glittering Dragon’s underground passage as guidance, continuously penetrating deeper underground.
The loose sand was swept by the bone plate behind his head, plowed into a relatively solid and neat ceiling, and the broken sand was thrown backward along the trajectory of wing movements.
Whether it was the Unicorn Dragon or the Horned Dragon, underground digging was always a process toward achieving goals, and one couldn’t stop before reaching those goals.
Swimming underground and becoming a fresh fossil often lay on a fine line.
Just like some sharks can’t stop moving in water, because movement is as important as breathing for life.
The rock walls shattered under the impact of the unicorn horn and broad wings, revealing the dimness beyond.
Caves, mines, these are all cracks left behind by changes in the earth’s crust, or passages that have constantly shifted and dried up over time.
However, the cave ahead was spacious enough to accommodate several large monsters.
The stalactites at the top were ground into powder due to the movement of a massive creature, scattering golden fragments everywhere.
Cracks left by changes in the earth’s crust are never regular; they’re not designed to provide convenience for living beings.
They lack any semblance of order, wide caves might suddenly narrow into tight crevices, and the directions they lead to aren’t consistent with initial estimates.
A turn could transform a downward cave into an upward straight path.
Fortunately, everything here could be destroyed, and there were traces left by a massive creature to guide him.
Ignoring the complex terrain, Jié Jié followed the footprints and found the marks left by the Glittering Dragon while digging again.
Following her traces, the world gradually opened up.
The vast underground world wasn’t as dark as a cave. Golden ores coated the surrounding pillars and plains, with sunlight streaming through from the distant dome above.
This place… was the subterranean Golden Land.
Gold, representing wealth, was everywhere here, piled and smeared to form undulating hills, clinging to rock columns and stalactites to create a golden shrine.
The wealth-filled plains were dotted with uneven trenches, formed by the Glittering Dragon’s passage, with scattered gold embedded in the rock walls.
These energy-rich metals even influenced the evolution of organisms; numerous golden bread crabs climbed around.
“Praise Wokin.”
Jié Jié couldn’t help but mutter. The wings of the Unicorn Dragon curled upwards, its shell replaced by black scaly skin with spines, the crimson horn shrinking to make room for the giant horn protruding from its forehead.
“Roar!”
The Extinction Dragon roared but did not rush to find the Glittering Dragon’s trail.
His gaze passed over the Golden Mountain and the golden shrine, looking towards the sunlight falling from the dome.
Wings beat powerfully against the air, lifting off with four-legged stomps, successfully flying.
The flight of the Extinction Dragon relied purely on strength—first leaping high like a sprout emerging from parched land, then flying.
Jié Jié flapped his wings, colliding with the sunlight streaming from the high dome, ascending from the underground world to the sky, surveying the current position.
It was evident that this was the lowland of the Giant Ant Hill Wasteland, devoid of any vegetation, only clusters of rock spikes stretching out in all directions, a place no creatures would tread.
Looking far away, the Grand Canyon was clearly not far, with part of the Golden Land even located within the canyon’s interior.
Then flying vertically upwards, his vision surpassed the upper layers of the Giant Ant Hill Wasteland, locking onto the relative positions of the swamp and the Ancient Trees in the sky.
Good, now he knew where the Golden Land was, so he could visit more often in the future.
Jié Jié retracted his wings in mid-air, beginning a rapid vertical descent, only spreading his wings again after entering the airspace of the Golden Land, searching for the Glittering Dragon’s trail.
The vastness of the Golden Land defied simple description as an underground cavity; it should rather be called a “world.”
Its height reaching the surface could be referred to as the sky, similarly indicating its profound depth.
The Glittering Dragon’s footprints were spread throughout the trenches, making it difficult to track her by time alone. Yet, finding such a massive monster on the plains from the sky shouldn’t be too hard, right?
But the Glittering Dragon seemed absent from the Golden Land, with not a trace of her presence visible.
The biological diversity in the Golden Land was quite scarce, the largest creatures being the golden Odd-Faced Tribe residing there.
Lacking high-nutrient food sources, catching the small monsters fleeing and burrowing everywhere was too laborious, meaning he often needed to fly out from the dome to forage.
The Extinction Dragon gave way to the Fire Dragon, faster flight speed meant quicker foraging and searching, and lower consumption.
Even after thoroughly exploring the entire Golden Land, Jié Jié failed to discover the Glittering Dragon’s trail.
So… ask the locals?
Jié Jié slightly lowered his altitude and saw the golden Odd-Faced Tribe on the ground pulling out paralyzing throwing knives and shouting.
Even performing the Step Dance in front of them wouldn’t elicit any friendly response.
A round object was tossed over, exploding on Jié Jié’s body.
The Odd-Faced Tribe’s explosive pot, made possible by the many potent mushrooms and nitre underground, allowing them to produce explosive pots.
Before they pulled out rocket launchers, Jié Jié repelled them with wind pressure and tail whips, watching them flee underground.
These golden Odd-Faced Tribes were far more xenophobic than their counterparts on the surface.
After landing, he didn’t take off again but started walking across the golden plains, trying to find what he had overlooked in the air.
