Yserazor suddenly raised his head, and spatial power abruptly surged at the tips of his dragon horns, instantly turning the hundreds of meters of space between him and Cantia into a solid block.
“Senior You, how much longer will it take to break this barrier?” Starlight turned to You and asked anxiously.
“There isn't enough time. It looks like I'll have to...”
Just as You was about to exert his full strength, Imira suddenly let out a pained dragon roar.
Under everyone's stunned gazes, her body began to twist violently, and blue scales surged from beneath her skin like a tide. In the blink of an eye, she transformed from her human appearance back into her dragon form.
“Forgive me, everyone, but please bear with it!” Before anyone could react, she suddenly opened her massive, gaping maw—her dragon jaws, several meters wide, were like a large sack that swallowed Starlight and the others whole.
“Lord Yserazor, take care!” Imira gave a low grunt and charged headfirst into the entrance ahead.
The moment she vanished into the darkness, an earth-shattering explosion echoed from behind, and a blinding light illuminated the entire passage as bright as day...
...
Starlight felt his vision go dark as he was swept up by a warm, long tongue. The surroundings were suddenly filled with the heavy scent of the Dragon Race.
Surprisingly, Imira's mouth didn't have the stench he had expected; instead, it carried a salty tang similar to a sea breeze.
He could feel himself bouncing up and down with the rhythm of the Blue Dragon's run, the deafening sound of a heartbeat echoing in his ears—though he couldn't tell if it was Imira's or his own.
After a long while, Imira finally stopped and spat them out of her mouth, landing them beside Little Gold and Xia Duo.
Starlight performed a forward roll to steady himself and immediately looked back.
The passage behind Imira had completely collapsed. Massive boulders blocked their retreat so tightly that not even a crack remained.
“Alright, we don't have to worry about the Frost-Glow Dragon King catching up for now.” You lightly brushed off non-existent dust from his sleeves and turned to Imira. “What's our next move?”
“Is that fat idiot really okay? That explosion just now was...” Little Gold muttered in a low voice, clearly still worried about Yserazor's safety.
“Rest assured. While Lord Yserazor may not be as skilled in combat as the other Dragon Kings, he is second to none when it comes to survival. Since he said he would be fine, then he will be fine.” Imira leaned down and spoke, sensing Little Gold's unease.
Perhaps because her body had recovered significantly, and because the interior of the Dragon Nest was designed for the movements of giant dragons, Imira did not ask Little Gold to help her transform back into human form.
Seeing that everyone was unharmed, she immediately began to explain the internal structure of the Dragon Nest to the group.
The core area of the Dragon Nest was actually a massive labyrinth located deep underground, divided into several layers.
The first layer, where they were now, was the hatching area for most dragon eggs. Geothermal heat was channeled up by magic formations to provide sufficient energy for the eggs.
The second layer served as the resting place for the Dragon Kings and adult dragons stationed here. This allowed them to look after the hatching chamber at any time and provided immediate access to the third layer.
The third layer was a storage room reserved exclusively for descendants with pure Dragon King bloodlines or special treasures. At this level, ordinary rotating dragon guards did not have the authority to enter.
If they weren't mistaken, Little Gold had been stolen from this very place.
“The structure of the entire Dragon Nest is roughly like this. However... it is said that beneath the third layer, there is a fourth layer. But none of us have ever been there. Perhaps only the Dragon Kings know for sure...”
Imira had been somewhat hesitant about this information at first, but considering Little Gold's identity, she eventually revealed everything she knew.
As she led the way and explained, Starlight already felt waves of scorching heat rushing toward him.
To facilitate hatching, the first layer of the Dragon Nest not only had temperatures comparable to a midsummer afternoon, but the humidity was also kept exceptionally high.
Starlight felt as if he had been thrown into a giant sauna. Before long, his undershirt was completely soaked, sticking to his skin in a cloying, uncomfortable way.
As luck would have it, among the group present, he was the only one affected by the environment.
Needless to say, You and Wu Hua were Saint Rank experts; at their level of strength, they could basically ignore environmental factors.
As for Lian and Xia Duo, one had received the blessing of the Night God, and the other had the blessing of the World Tree for a full century. Environmental changes were basically child's play to them.
As for Little Gold... he was a dragon himself and had been hatched in a place like this. This temperature was like being a fish in water for him, and he even found it comfortable.
“Phew—this godforsaken place. A normal person would probably get heatstroke within ten minutes.” Starlight wiped the sweat from his forehead and condensed a thin layer of water elements over his skin, which slightly eased the discomfort.
“What a pity. If I had shared more of the blessing with you back then, Brother Starlight, you wouldn't be suffering so much,” Lian said with a smile as she observed their surroundings.
“This guy has plenty of little tricks; you don't need to worry about him.” Xia Duo waved her hand without looking back, her eyes scanning the area warily.
Suddenly, she stopped as if remembering something. “By the way, Starlight, when you were up there, did the terrain outside the Dragon Nest look familiar to you?”
“Familiar?” Starlight wiped his sweat, frowning in confusion. “Familiar how?”
“Oh right, when you arrived, that tornado had already blotted out the sky...” Xia Duo tapped her chin thoughtfully with her fingertip. “I mean that giant pit in the middle. It's exactly the same as the one in the restricted zone of Night Lotus Valley!”
Hearing her analysis, You frowned slightly, a flash of surprise appearing in his silver pupils.
He had intended to offer a rebuttal, but on second thought, there were indeed many similarities between the two.
Both were located in the core territory of their respective races, both were bottomless circular pits with nearly perfect cuts, and both were situated in the dead center of a basin... These similarities were indeed impossible to ignore.
However, You also knew very little about the origin of the giant pit in Night Lotus Valley; he only knew it was the place where the royal family had received blessings since ancient times.
In contrast to You's thoughts, Lian didn't care much about it, simply thinking that the two might just be a coincidence.
“Speaking of which, isn't this the hatching area? How come we've been walking for so long and haven't seen a single dragon egg?” Lian asked.
Her question immediately put everyone on alert. Indeed, according to Imira's description, this layer should have been filled with indentations for dragon eggs. Now, however, they were empty, with only some broken eggshells scattered on the ground, stained with suspicious dark red marks.
Imira's tail lashed the ground uneasily as she whispered, “Perhaps... the other clansmen moved them after discovering the anomaly...”
As far as she knew, there were many protective mechanisms within the Dragon Nest. If a problem occurred, most of the dragon eggs would be properly secured.
However, given the Frost-Glow Dragon King's betrayal, it was hard to say whether those measures could still be successfully activated.
Rounding the final bend, the scene before them suddenly opened up as they finally reached the central hall of the first layer.
In this circular space with a high dome, scorching geothermal energy flowed through patterns on the ground, illuminating the entire hall in a molten-red glow like a lava cavern.
In the center of the hall, a massive red figure was curled into a ball. It was a Red Dragon no smaller than Imira, its scales radiating a scorching luster like red-hot iron.
“We're here. Let me introduce him. That is the Red Clan warrior in charge of guarding this place, Seraykage...” Imira let out a visible sigh of relief upon seeing the red dragon.
Since there was still a dragon on guard here, it meant that the dragon eggs were at least safe.
Just as she was about to introduce everyone, You suddenly waved his hand to cut her off. His eyes were fixed on the Red Dragon, and his face was clouded with a cold frost.
“Wait! Don't go over there yet! Something is wrong.”
Rate on N.U.
