Chapter 148: Ecological Garden, Super Large Breeding Zone
Ryan City, a mountain forest in the north.
The once desolate mountain forest was now heavily fortified with armed troops, and unauthorized personnel were strictly prohibited from entering.
Deep within the forest, in a certain cave, Su Nan's figure slowly materialized.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he hadn’t informed the Lord of Ryan City and had quietly arrived without alarming anyone along the way.
The interior of the cave was dimly lit and utterly silent, save for the faint echo of his footsteps.
As he exited the cave, a desolate expanse of hills came into view.
Su Nan activated the Levitation Spell on his Magic Robe, and he floated upward, flying toward the location of the Sword Crystal Dragon mentioned in the intelligence report.
Along his route, Su Nan’s gaze swept in every direction.
Just as the intelligence suggested, there were Sub-Dragon Species footprints everywhere.
"So many different races of Sub-Dragon Species—they're likely to have escaped from somewhere."
"If I'm not mistaken, there should be an Ecological Garden for the Sub-Dragon Species nearby."
The so-called Ecological Garden refers to a large breeding zone.
Some powerful wizards establish a super-large protective barrier and transform the interior into a stable and complete self-sustaining ecosystem designed to cultivate specific species.
These species are often rare and precious creatures that are seldom seen in the outside world.
Thus, an Ecological Garden is often referred to as a species cultivation farm or a super-large breeding base.
It is worth mentioning that Ecological Gardens are usually closed semi-dimensional spaces, isolated from the Material World, and only those who know the key or access code can enter.
Su Nan guessed that there was likely an Ecological Garden nearby specifically breeding Sub-Dragon Species, but this Ecological Garden had somehow developed a flaw, causing it to connect to the Material World, which allowed many Sub-Dragon Species to escape.
This could explain why this area, which clearly was not a suitable environment for so many different races of Sub-Dragon Species to coexist, had suddenly become home to a large number of them.
"An Ecological Garden for breeding Sub-Dragon Species, huh?"
"If that's true, then that's quite the undertaking!"
Building an Ecological Garden doesn't cost much less than a Wizard Tower. Especially when cultivating an Ecological Garden of Sub-Dragon Species, the cost is astronomical! It's comparable to a medium-sized Large Wizard Tower. Even a formal wizard rarely incurs such a significant expense.
While pondering this, Su Nan had already arrived at the location of the Sword Crystal Dragon. Just as he was about to search for its whereabouts, a roar suddenly erupted from ahead. In the next moment, a giant beast resembling a lizard, its back adorned with fiery red crystals, emerged from behind the mountain wall.
This colossal creature was estimated to be about twelve meters long and five meters high, with thick and powerful limbs, a tail lined with sharp barbs, and red crystals resembling swords standing upright on its back. Sparks danced between the crystals as they collided.
"Sword Crystal Dragon!" Su Nan's eyebrows perked up, as this discovery saved him the trouble of searching.
"Roar!" Upon spotting Su Nan, the Sword Crystal Dragon let out a fierce roar and, without hesitation, charged toward him. Its mountain-like body stirred up violent gusts of wind, and the howling sound resonated like thunder. The oppressive aura alone was enough to cause weaker individuals to collapse on the spot, rendered powerless to resist.
"Although it's faint, I can already sense a trace of Dragon's Might." Su Nan noted. "This Sword Crystal Dragon has a remarkably high bloodline concentration."
Discovering this high-level Sub-Dragon Species brought a hint of pleasure to Su Nan's face. Unaware of the threat posed by the figure before it, the Sword Crystal Dragon rushed forward and suddenly opened its bloody maw. Sparks flashed between its teeth, and in the next instant, a burst of flame, carrying the scent of sulfur, erupted.
Boom!
A surging wave of flame engulfed Su Nan’s body! The Sword Crystal Dragon roared with excitement, but then it froze, startled. When the flames dissipated, Su Nan’s figure had vanished, leaving only a patch of scorched earth behind. Just then, a sharp whistling sound surged from behind.
Screech screech screech! A sky full of silver spikes suddenly swept over, torrent-like, engulfing the Sword Crystal Dragon's body.
That level Second-Ring Legend, Sub-Dragon Species only had time to let out a short, pitiful cry before its entire body exploded in a shower of blood, collapsing to the ground with a loud thud.
The dense, silver spikes reabsorbed back into Su Nan's body.
Looking at the Sword Crystal Dragon on the ground, struggling feebly and powerless to resist, a smile crept onto Su Nan's lips.
In that very moment, he used both the Mirror Image Technique and the Invisibility Technique, obscuring his figure.
The Dragon Breath of the Sword Crystal Dragon had struck only an illusion.
“The combination of Instant Spell Casting and Composite Casting is truly effective!”
Su Nan smiled slightly, retrieved a metal cage, and shoved the Sword Crystal Dragon inside. Then he summoned ten Stone Golems and one Elite Stone Golem, directing them to carry the metal cage near the entrance so that they could bring it back to his base when he returned.
Having dealt with the Sword Crystal Dragon, Su Nan followed the trail it had left behind and continued flying forward.
He did not encounter any other Sub-Dragon Species along the way.
It seemed this area was the territory of that Sword Crystal Dragon, and other Sub-Dragon Species dared not enter.
Before long, a dense mountain wall came into view, and there was no path forward.
Rather than being alarmed, Su Nan felt a thrill of excitement and quickly began to search carefully around the area. After a moment, he finally made a discovery behind a massive rock.
This giant rock stood roughly twenty meters high, resembling a small hill. While the front appeared unremarkable, the back revealed a pitch-black void.
Not the blackness of color, but a darkness that seemed to swallow everything like a black hole.
If one looked closely, they could even discern that this darkness was slowly rotating. However, due to the dim lighting and the depth of the shadow, it was easy to overlook if one didn't pay close attention.
“A Spatial Channel, is it?” Su Nan's eyes flickered with intrigue.
It was clear that, for some reason, the backside of the giant rock connected to a Dimensional Space, forming a Spatial Channel.
And on the other side, it was highly likely to be the origin of those Sub-Dragon Species.
Su Nan pondered for a moment, then took out a Stone Golem and sent it into the dark Spatial Channel.
Almost instantly, his connection with the Stone Golem was severed, rendering it impossible to control.
This kind of situation only occurred when dealing with different dimensional planes.
Having confirmed that the darkness ahead was a Dimensional Space, Su Nan no longer hesitated and decisively activated his Magic Pattern Core, enveloping his entire body.
Following that, he activated his Extreme Protection Ring, providing himself with Elemental Protection and a Shield Spell, and consumed a Greater Earth Rune Gem to bolster his defenses.
After making all the necessary preparations, Su Nan took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.
A strong sensation of weightlessness instantly enveloped him.
It felt as if he had passed through an invisible curtain of water, and when his consciousness returned, he heard the clear chirping of insects nearby.
As he opened his eyes, a strange and magnificent scene unfolded before him.
Before him lay a forest of tall, lush trees.
Each towering tree, dozens or even hundreds of meters high, blotted out the sky, while the underbrush was densely packed, with even the shrubs reaching two or three meters in height.
Overhead, the thick canopy interwove, obscuring the sky above.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, creating mottled golden patches on the ground.
In the distance, the faint sound of flowing water could be heard, accompanied by strange rustling noises from deep within the forest, making it feel as if he had entered a mysterious tropical jungle.
"As expected, it’s an Ecological Garden!"
Surveying the scene before him, Su Nan could finally confirm that he had indeed arrived in an Ecological Garden.
A Stone Golem stood quietly to one side, motionless. Su Nan stored it back into his Magic Cube before examining the passage through which he had come.
Behind him, a faint purple hue reminiscent of distorted space stretched upward, vanishing into the dense canopy.
The black entrance was embedded in the purple void, as eye-catching as a black dot on a white sheet of paper.
Su Nan flew upward, breaking through the canopy to gaze above the sea of trees.
As anticipated, the sky was also purple, stretching to the far horizon and seemingly enveloping the entire forest.
This layer of purple was actually a massive protective shield, isolating the entire Ecological Garden from the outside world and maintaining the balance of the internal ecosystem.
It appeared that a leak had occurred for some reason, allowing the Sub-Dragon Species to escape.
Descending back to the ground, Su Nan flew deeper into the forest, ready to explore this Ecological Garden thoroughly.
In an Ecological Garden, a vast array of rare Magic Plants would typically be cultivated to make the most of the unique environment it provides.
These rare Magic Plants alone would yield significant benefits.
Additionally, the Ecological Garden is home to various Sub-Dragon Species, each one a living repository of materials!
"If I could control this Ecological Garden..."
Su Nan's heart surged with excitement.
While establishing a complete Ecological Garden requires immense energy during its initial setup, once operational, it can generally self-sustain most of its energy needs through self-circulation, only requiring a minimal external supply.
However, this "minimal" requirement is relative; to a single Wizard, it still represents a significant energy demand.
If it were any other Wizard, obtaining this Ecological Garden under current conditions of energy scarcity would render them unable to maintain its operations.
But Su Nan was different; he had the Magic Stone!
At worst, he could always produce more Magic Stones, which should be sufficient to support the operations of the Ecological Garden.
After all, the cost for him to create Magic Stones was extremely low.
As long as he could find a way to command this Ecological Garden, he would essentially possess a breeding ground capable of continuously producing all sorts of rare materials.
This was far more advantageous than establishing a hundred Magical Plant Gardens or raising a dozen Sub-Dragon Species!
"But come to think of it, the Wizard who managed to build such an Ecological Garden must have been incredibly powerful, likely one of the esteemed Wizards from a thousand years ago."
"But if that were the case, why didn’t the builder relocate the Ecological Garden?"
"They couldn't have just left it for future generations, could they?"
Su Nan chuckled at his own musings; even the kindest Wizard would not be so extravagant.
That was an entire Ecological Garden!
He leaned towards the idea that the builder had perished prior to the Wizard expedition, which would explain why the Ecological Garden was abandoned.
However, this raised a new question: where had the energy come from to keep the Ecological Garden operational for the past thousand years?
Could it be that someone else had been supplying energy to the Ecological Garden?
Or was there something unique about its own energy supply system?
More and more doubts began to cloud his thoughts.
Su Nan shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it any longer. The information available to him was far too limited to draw any conclusions. It would be wiser to explore further and gather more data before delving into speculation.
Right now, the focus is on collecting materials first.
In just a few hundred meters, Su Nan had already discovered no less than ten types of magical plants.
Dragon Saliva Grass, Jade Frost Flower, Mutated Devil Vine, and Golden Thorn Grass were among the many second and third-tier potion materials!
These materials, rarely seen outside, were abundant here.
“These magical plants must have been planted here originally. Sustained by the energy of the Ecological Garden, they have multiplied and survived until today.”
Su Nan didn’t hesitate, gathering every magical plant he encountered along the way and storing them in his Space Ring.
Crunch! Crunch!
Strange sounds suddenly emanated from the bushes ahead.
Su Nan immediately stopped and looked cautiously in that direction.
The sounds grew more frequent, as if many creatures were approaching.
Soon, a group of creatures burst forth from the bushes.
These creatures resembled small, slender miniature dinosaurs, about a meter long, with mouths full of fine, sharp teeth, two curved fingers on their forelimbs, and much thicker, powerful hind limbs.
“They’re Compsognathus,” Su Nan said, relaxing slightly.
Compsognathus belonged to the small dinosaur class, a type of low-level sub-dragon species.
Adults only possessed the combat power of an Elementary Knight, which was not particularly strong. The only caution required was that Compsognathus often traveled in groups.
When you spot one Compsognathus in front of you, don’t doubt it; there will definitely be dozens more nearby.
Crunch, crunch!
These Compsognathus, living in the Ecological Garden, seemed to have never seen a human before. They paused upon seeing Su Nan, staring at him with their cloudy yellow eyes, curious. Then, they let out excited cries and rushed toward him with surprising speed.
They clearly regarded him as a novel source of food.
Su Nan smiled wryly, raised his hand, and launched a Magic Missile.
Seven missiles instantly blasted the heads of seven Compsognathus into pieces.
Because they were inside the Ecological Garden, it wasn’t easy to capture the sub-dragon species alive. Additionally, Compsognathus were the lowest of the low-level sub-dragon species, not worth capturing and raising. So, Su Nan showed no mercy.
In a short while, more than thirty Compsognathus had been completely annihilated.
After quickly gathering materials, Su Nan activated the Invisibility Technique on his Magic Robe, causing his figure to vanish instantly.
The most pressing matter was to investigate the state of the Ecological Garden and locate the core controlling it, rather than hunting Sub-Dragon Species. If battle could be avoided, it was best to do so.
Although the Invisibility Technique couldn't evade the perception of all Sub-Dragon Species, it was sufficient to conceal him from the majority of low and mid-tier Sub-Dragon Species.
But just as Su Nan was about to leave, he suddenly noticed an extremely faint red light emanating from the corpses of the Compsognathus. The light gathered together to form a thin beam that zoomed away into the distance.
Su Nan was momentarily stunned but quickly reacted and gave chase.
However, the crimson beam flew incredibly fast, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't keep up. Just as he hesitated about whether to use the High Rune Gem, the crimson beam had already vanished from his sight.
"What kind of thing was that?"
Su Nan stopped in his tracks, confusion flickering in his eyes.
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