Chapter 226: The Soil-Eating Giant Rock Dragon |
Du Yu said, "Master, we'll know once we go and see."
"Alright, let's not bring too many people this time."
Qin Ziwen then took the Crowned Eagle, Du Yu, Shi Hu, and Zhang Meng, and grabbed a flashlight.
The four men and one eagle arrived outside the cave where the Giant Rock Dragon came and went.
A day had passed, and the flames on the ground had long since died out, leaving behind a thick layer of accumulated ash.
Zhang Meng took out a shovel and cleared it away, revealing the enormous cave entrance.
Qin Ziwen took out the Solar Flashlight, switched it to the highest lumen setting, and shone it inside.
The pitch-black cave instantly became brightly illuminated.
Under the flashlight beam, they saw yellowish-brown sandstone similar in color to the outer walls of the fissure.
At the bottom was a broad, flat platform. In the distance, the sound of an underground river's flow could be heard.
"What does it eat?"
Qin Ziwen swept the flashlight around, but within this underground space, he found no signs of any life.
With a body that large, the Giant Rock Dragon couldn't possibly survive by eating dirt, could it?
"Master, it seems it really does eat soil."
Zhang Meng crouched down, feeling the gray-brown mineral mud before them. The color of this mud was completely different from the surrounding walls.
On the surface of the mineral mud grew many dark brown things resembling moss or fungal clusters.
At the same time, there were many gnawing marks on it.
Judging by the size of the gnawed portions, it was likely the Giant Rock Dragon living here that was responsible.
Their current location was at the edge of a karst cave, about seventy or eighty meters deep into the underground space.
This mineral mud had a yellowish hue, felt soft to the touch, and its surface was covered with dark brown moss, like a moldy cake.
Qin Ziwen looked around. Based on the footprints on the ground, the Giant Rock Dragon must have lived here long-term, surviving by consuming this mineral mud.
"Does eating this stuff make those crystals grow on its back?"
Qin Ziwen frowned in deep thought. If consuming this mud could cause Earth Spirit Source Stones to grow on its back, then this mud was truly an incredible treasure.
He cast Insight on the mineral mud on the ground.
[Spirit-Absorbing Fungus: Long-term consumption of this fungus allows one to draw spiritual energy from the body and condense source stones of corresponding attributes.]
The result of the Insight shocked him.
Because what was identified was not the mineral mud on the ground, but these moss-like things growing on the mud.
So, the things on the Giant Rock Dragon's back were not condensed by itself, but came from a strange organism in nature.
"Master, look here!" Du Yu's voice suddenly came from the side.
Following the direction Du Yu pointed, Qin Ziwen was greatly startled.
Because where Du Yu pointed, there was a symbol resembling a ship's anchor embedded in the wall, emitting a fluorescent glow, flickering faintly like breathing.
After a moment's hesitation, Qin Ziwen cast Insight on it.
[Anchor point discovered. Analyzing... Analysis failed. Insufficient authority.]
Qin Ziwen's movements halted. He stared fixedly at this deep blue, intricately shaped anchor symbol.
"Insufficient... authority?" Qin Ziwen understood these four words.
Combined with the Giant Rock Dragon living here and the Earth Spirit Source Stones growing on its back.
This forced him to consider more possibilities.
Perhaps the Earth Spirit Source Stones growing on the Giant Rock Dragon's back were not a coincidence, and these Spirit-Absorbing Fungi growing on the mineral mud were not necessarily naturally occurring native organisms.
No wonder so many rare treasures could grow on the Giant Rock Dragon's back.
He led the others to explore the underground karst cave further. Besides the Giant Rock Dragon, near the underground river they also discovered small insects like blind spiders and cave crickets.
The pitch-black underground river resembled a ribbon, passing right through this karst cave space.
The Giant Rock Dragon presumably wasn't good with water, so its activity was limited to this cave chamber.
"Let's go."
Qin Ziwen withdrew and left.
As for these Spirit-Absorbing Fungi, they didn't have suitable tools this time, so they didn't collect any.
They would come back to take some when they brought proper tools next time.
...
Returning to the residential complex, Qin Ziwen could hear many people cheering from afar.
Getting closer, he heard from their discussions that news of the Qin Alliance's card rental benefit activity had spread.
It sparked discussions among many residents of the complex, with some Qin Alliance members cheering excitedly.
They eagerly asked others how to apply for the cards.
Upon seeing Qin Ziwen, quite a few people crowded around, trying to get on his good side in various ways.
"Guild Leader Qin, look at me, am I suitable?"
"Guild Leader Qin, is your younger brother still single?"
A crowd surrounded him in the middle, blocking his path.
Zhao Pu, who was registering people not far away, saw the situation and quickly came over to help him out.
Then he escorted Qin Ziwen to the fifth floor.
"Doctor Zhao." Qin Ziwen called out to him, and Zhao Pu turned back.
Qin Ziwen handed him a Level 1 Tailor Shop card. "You've worked hard lately."
Zhao Pu quickly waved his hands. "Guild Leader, I can't accept this. The alliance now has a reward and punishment system. I'll get cards from the alliance."
"I know. This is a personal gift from me, unrelated to the alliance. It's also what I promised you before."
Zhao Pu fell silent, then bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Captain."
The moment he stepped into the Home, Jia Liangcai followed right behind him, reporting in a low voice, "Master, that Student Council member who discovered the Giant Rock Dragon's lair requests to cash in the favor you promised."
"Sure, what's his wish?"
"He wants to join the Qin Alliance."
Qin Ziwen waited two seconds, and seeing nothing else was said, found it strange. "That's it?"
"That's all."
Qin Ziwen pondered for a moment. "Fine, let him join then. If he hasn't activated a Home, give him a slot for renting a card."
"Understood." Jia Liangcai grasped his meaning and withdrew.
After sitting for a while, Qin Ziwen suddenly thought of something.
He went to the storage warehouse, retrieved the Earth Spirit Source Stones.
After counting, there were a total of one hundred and thirty-two Earth Spirit Source Stones.
They varied in size, distributed across the Giant Rock Dragon's back.
The large ones were comparable in volume to a basketball, the small ones only the size of a broad bean.
And only Earth Spirit Source Stones with a diameter greater than 20 centimeters met the Home's criteria for Level 1 Curio standard.
A total of sixteen source stones met this standard.
Picking up two Earth Spirit Source Stones of similar volume, Qin Ziwen thought, cards can be synthesized, I wonder if these rare treasures can also be upgraded like cards.
As the two source stones were brought close together, the next moment, the Home's little glowing ball appeared.
[Detected Home Master authority greater than Level 1. Can activate Rare Treasure synthesis function.]
[Synthesize Earth Spirit Source Stones?]
Qin Ziwen silently agreed in his heart.
The next moment, the two Earth Spirit Source Stones in his hands merged into one, becoming a single entity.
The synthesized Earth Spirit Source Stone was of a moderate size, increasingly transparent. Inside the clear crystal, several golden threads appeared.
Repeating this process, he eventually synthesized all sixteen Earth Spirit Source Stones into one.
[Level 5 Curio] Earth Spirit Source Stone (Can be embedded in vein resource points)
Within the pale yellow crystal, the size of a basketball, were distributed over a hundred slender, straight golden threads.