Chapter 196: Exploration of the Dragon Crystal Land (Additional Chapter 8)
After the fire dragons had finished eating, Jié Jié transformed back into the Sky Dog Beast and climbed onto the back of the Porcelain Bowl, feeling around its two wing bones.
There was nothing to be seen beneath the rough shell; its toughness had healed the previous injuries completely, leaving only a few creases alongside the simple splints that proved the earlier wounds weren’t mere illusions.
It seemed the pain had subsided as it began flapping its wings uncontrollably, eager to try flying again until a bump on the head quieted it down.
After climbing down from Porcelain Bowl’s body, Jié Jié still held onto the tip of its wing, unwilling to let it fly freely.
Finally, after casting a glance at the Terror Tyrant’s corpse that none of the dragons cared about, he pulled Porcelain Bowl along with the fire dragons downward.
As the sky was obscured by rock layers, the fire dragons that could still fly instinctively lowered their altitude and landed on the ground.
Actually, the underground caverns of the Dragon Crystal were quite large, allowing the fire dragons to fly, but they needed time to adapt to this environment entirely different from the Ancient Tree Forest.
On the ground, one could see some scattered teeth fragments of the Terror Tyrant; it had come up from here earlier.
Previously, it was in a rush searching for food, but now relaxed, it carefully admired the scenery of the Dragon Crystal Land.
The weathered rocks had neat textures, and the hardened black magma stones were clearly visible.
Its claws touched the uneven texture of the ground, and Jié Jié bent down, discovering that the ground here was also made of black magma stones, with the flow patterns of molten magma before solidification clearly visible.
Even though the magma had already cooled and solidified, these magma stones still gave off warmth underfoot, and this warmth was widespread throughout the environment.
Stepping on a protruding magma stone, the scorching heat made Jié Jié jump back. He looked at the singed fur on his footpad, then at the magma that revealed faint light after rubbing off the surface ash.
Some similarly protruding magma stones lay not far away. He raised his head and caught sight of some light emanating from the rock layer above, where magma was dripping like water droplets.
Avoiding the protruding magma stones on the ground and moving forward, as they ventured deeper, more slowly flowing magma appeared on the surrounding rock walls, leaking out and sliding down the slope.
Occasionally, they could see groups of stopped magma flows. The front part had solidified, and the rear couldn’t break through, lacking force and thus solidifying too. It resembled a traffic jam scene.
Subsequent magma expanded horizontally, spreading out into a flat area.
Everything was so novel, and just like the nature of the Sky Dog Beast, Jié Jié even tried touching the magma with his nails, poking and prodding at impurities within the magma.
He felt thirsty.
But would there really be water in an underground area filled with so much magma?
He vaguely detected a hint of moisture in the dry air, feeling dizzy from the heat.
The fire dragons seemed equally thirsty and also smelled that trace of moisture, heading towards the direction from which it came.
“Swish swish…”
Unlike the magma that flowed so slowly it almost became solid, a series of crisp sounds reached their ears.
Slowing down their steps cautiously, what flowed out from the rock seams wasn’t just magma—it might also be clear spring water.
The sound of the spring was crisp, filtered through the rock layers and crystal clear, eroding a small pool below.
It was clean natural water, possibly sterilized by high temperatures due to the geothermal environment.
However, considering the surroundings, it might also be a sulfur hot spring.
With the lower jaw still deficient and not yet repaired, the Sky Dog Beast’s lower beak was incomplete, exposing its tongue directly.
This wasn’t suitable for drinking water.
Transforming into a long Sea Dragon, Jié Jié lowered his head into the pool.
The water was warm but not a sulfur hot spring, making him feel a bit regretful for not being able to soak in a hot spring.
Or… how about trying to soak in magma? Wouldn’t that be cooler than soaking in a hot spring!
Jié Jié’s eyes lit up in the water, transforming back into the Sky Dog Beast and quickly pulling his head back, signaling the fire dragons to drink water while he thought about the magma lake where he had previously found the Magma Dragon.
Unfortunately, he only took a bite of the Magma Dragon and didn’t unlock its form.
After the fire dragons had drunk their fill, he turned into a Bite Fish and swam around in the water for a while, satisfying himself psychologically before continuing downward with the fire dragons.
As they adapted to the environment, the fire dragons finally dared to attempt flying in the underground caverns.
Above them wasn’t the sky but rather a tightly sealed rock layer. This sensation was entirely different from flying under the vast open sky, with height freedom restricted.
Worried about colliding with the rock layer, they felt somewhat confined.
However, this was only temporary. They soon realized that they wouldn’t always have to fly constrained beneath the rock layer.
Even Basin flew toward the “sky,” and his female fire dragon was better at flying than other female fire dragons.
He suddenly felt a pang of jealousy, turning his head to see the envy coming from Porcelain Bowl whose wings were being held back.
Porcelain Bowl shook its restrained wings, its straightforward desire plainly expressed in its gaze.
Fly.
There was truly nothing he could do about it.
After checking the sturdiness of the makeshift splint, Jié Jié transformed into the Floating Dragon.
Since the Floating Dragon doesn’t need to accumulate airflow in its mouth, the airflow naturally gathers in its air sacs.
Releasing the airflow allowed Porcelain Bowl to rise off the ground.
Jié Jié still walked on the ground, leading them downward.
Moving forward, they finally encountered smaller monsters besides the Acid Winged Dragons—Assault Dragons.
These small monsters were extremely similar to their close relatives in the Ancient Tree Forest, but in detail, Assault Dragons possessed both horns and head hammers, with more irritable temperaments.
Irritable prey, they finally found some meaty-looking food!
They killed the male Assault Dragons and drove away the females.
The physiological structure of the Assault Dragons was similar to that of beast dragons, with rich protein in their meat. However, due to the environment, the meat was somewhat dry and lacked moisture, not exactly delicious.
But at least there was meat. Jié Jié, looking at the surrounding magma, suddenly had an idea to suspend a piece of meat over the magma, attempting to use the geographical advantage to directly grill it.
The extremely high temperature of the magma rose upward, causing the heat-resistant meat of the Assault Dragon to sizzle audibly, with the aroma rising together with the heat.
The temperature of the magma was much more stable than flames, and while stable, it grilled very quickly. In no time, the two sides of the steak were hardened and browned, torn into strips and eaten.
The outer layer was roasted hard, making the inner dry meat softer in texture, with a taste and flavor far superior to raw consumption.
Jié Jié roasted all the remaining meat of the Assault Dragon. Meanwhile, the fire dragons beside him watched and learned, but their methods were so crude that they barely counted as techniques.
They simply threw the Assault Dragon onto the magma, as if doing so would automatically make it taste good.
