Chapter 306: Chapter 192: Entering the Hermit’s Canyon for the First Time, Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon_2
"Is the Hidden Valley this far off?"
Lin Xun suspected the game was stuck, with all the occurrences of "You feel very bumpy," "You’re getting sleepy," and so on.
The carriage was constantly shrouded in fog, obscuring the view outside.
Finally, by afternoon, the game text displayed new information.
[The carriage gradually came to a halt. After a long journey, you finally arrived at your destination.]
[You step down from the carriage, surrounded by the thick mist, only seeing a broad expanse of whiteness in your field of vision...]
???
Lin Chen was exasperated.
Given its name, you would expect the Hidden Valley to be an outdoor map covered in mist.
But... but he had no means to see through the fog. Wandering blindly into the ’Knowledge Barrier’ would only get him lost.
"How do I go about exploring this place?"
For a moment, Lin Xun was stumped.
[In the depths of the darkness, you are guided by the memory of the ’Dark Dragon Knight’, stepping forward in a specific direction within the fog.]
[You take a step forward, and the surrounding mist gradually becomes sparse...]
[...]
[With the fog becoming thinner, you can barely make out the environment around you.]
[Beneath your feet, crumbled dry yellow dirt gradually turns into pitch-black hard rock.]
[You are in a massive valley. Both sides of the valley walls are composed of pitch-black rock. At a glance, it appears as if you’ve entered an abyss.]
[The strange thing is the endless fog seems blocked by an invisible force, unable to spread into the valley. This allows you to see most of the valley’s landscape.]
[You look up and see numerous small caves along the valley walls in the distance. You think you see figures moving at the cave entrances.]
[Do you want to go forward to investigate?]
Lin Xun refrained from haphazardly choosing the option.
The journey to the Hidden Valley from his respawn point took a full day and night. Dying here would mean triggering a 24-hour anti-addiction system reset.
It’s worth mentioning that Lin Xun’s soul currently had 2/3 vitality, and he had reincarnated as the Valkyrie.
[You’re traveling in the shell of the ’Fallen Ancient Theatre Dancer’!]
[You open an eye filled with darkness and take elegant dance steps...]
[Your shell skill ’Blood Shadow Dance’ gets an additional effect from ’Dark Shadow’, significantly enhancing the stealth effect.]
Once the dancer’s eye defect was removed, it got a chance to find employment again.
Lin Xun reverted to his default mode--stealth and exploration.
[You maintain your stealth mode, moving your feet without making a sound...]
[You approach the nearest cave entrance and get a clear look at the ’figure’ in the cave.]
[It’s an exceedingly strange monster, with the head of a dragon on a human body. The monster is stark naked, with a menacing head, protruding jaw, sharp fangs, and curved horns on its head.]
[You have discovered the ’Hidden Valley’s Descendant - Up-Looking Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon!]’
[Do you want to take advantage of its solitude and launch a surprise attack?]
Up-Looking?
Lin Xun furrowed his brows.
He had come across the ’Up-Looking’ prefix a few times before. Once was the ’Up-Looking Stargazer’, and the other was the ’Up-Looking Multivision Association President’ who had defected to the Stars.
The ’Up-Looking’ prefix indicated that the monster belonged to the Stars’ camp.
"Something’s not right!"
Lin Xun clearly remembered that the ’Dark Dragon Knight’ had arrived at Hidden Valley under the guidance of the ’Servant of God’, then tamed the ’Ancient Hermit Black Dragon’ to become a Dragon Knight.
The Ancient Black Dragon should belong to the ’Almighty True Knowledge’ faction, so why had it become affiliated with the Stars?
He was tempted to launch a surprise attack but worried that the Dancer was too weak and that failing to do so could lead to his defeat.
From the game’s previous descriptions, he knew that there were many small caves in the valley, so there might be more than one monster. If he alarmed the others, he would be done for.
"If only I had a scouting ability..."
[The ’Up-Looking Mixed-Blood Dragon Man’ lingered near the entrance of the cave for a while then, stepped into the dark cavern. Do you want to follow it quietly?]
Lin Xun’s eyes brightened, and he quickly chose ’yes’.
[You maintain your stealth mode and quietly follow it...]
[You’ve just followed the ’Up-Looking Mixed-Blood Dragon Man’ for a few steps when you reach the end of the cave.]
[They’ve excavated a rather small space within the depths of the cave, furnished with primitive stone beds and tables. Like the cave walls you’ve seen, all the furnishings are of the same pitch-black color.]
[You notice some old copper pickaxes and big linen bags scattered in the corner of the cave. They contain some black ore.]
[The ’Up-Looking Mixed-Blood Dragon Man’ walks to the stone table, picks up an object, holds it up to its forehead, kneels down, closes its eyes, and begins to pray...]
[You quietly shift your position to get a clear view of the object in its hand.]
[It’s a palm-sized miniature statue, a statue of a rotating elliptical galaxy, dotted with countless tiny stars.]
[Looking at the familiar statue, you remember what you saw in the ’Chasing Star Corridor’. You immediately realize that the monster is holding the statue of the ’Bright Stars’!]
[Do you want to take advantage of the monster being unguarded and sneak attack it?]
This monster is clearly not just an instinctive beast, but a tribal creature with a certain level of intelligence.
Infiltrating the enemy is the optimal solution for conquering the map.
Lin Xun squinted his eyes and finally launched a sneak attack.
He is ready to switch to the Earth Giant in case the first strike fails.
[You silently step behind the enemy, a sharp blade silently pops out of your gauntlet.]
[You abruptly stab the blade into the monster’s back...]
[Blood spatters, the monster’s body twitches twice, and then collapses on the ground.]
[You defeated the ’Up-Looking Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon’, and your experience has slightly increased.]
[You got the ’Small Star God Statue’ (junk).]
"This weak?"
Lin Xun didn’t expect that the monster would be killed with one hit from the dancer.
According to his assumption, the Hermit Canyon is obviously a high-difficulty map. How can the monsters here be so weak?
[You look at the body of the half-dragon man in front of you...]
[’Up-Looking Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon’s Shell’: A deformed monster with a dragon-headed human body, retaining a tiny trace of the great hermit’s bloodline. The bloodline has been diluted after countless generations and no longer possesses its ancestors’ great power. It died from a fatal blow piercing its heart. Compatibility: 88% (+45%)]
[Do you wish to inhabit this shell?]
Lin Xun, without hesitation, tosses aside the student shell and presses ’yes’.
[You inhabit the shell of the ’Up-looking Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon’!]
He waited for a while and when the text showed that there were no memories of the shell, he opened the panel to check.
[Shell-- Up-looking Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon]
[True name: Unknown]
[Compatibility: 88% (+45%)]
[Shell Quality: Excellent Level]
[Shell Level: 40]
[Shell Equipment: None]
[Shell Skills: Poisonous Bite (Excellent+ Level): With its strength inherited from the bloodline, the mixed-blood half-dragon has venomous saliva. As long as its fangs can pierce the skin of the enemy, it can poison the enemy fatally. When you use this ability, you will initiate a very close range bite attack. This attack has a poisonous attribute.]
[Exclusive item ’Omniscient Aspect’ takes effect!]
[You have learned the true name of the shell of the ’Up-looking Mixed-Blood Half-Dragon’-- ’Bashaku Tree’!]
[You can manifest this shell in reality!]
Lin Xun’s lips twitched slightly.
The feeling was like throwing a heavy punch at cotton or winking at a blind man.
If he had known that this little dragon was so weak, he would have inhabited the Earth Giant long ago and gone on a killing spree.
"Wasn’t this supposed to be a high-difficulty map? Just this?"
[You try to search for useful items in the cave.]
[Searching...]
[You got an ’Old Cross Copper Pickaxe’ (item).]
[Searching...]
[You got an ’Empty Linen Bag’ (junk).]
[Searching...]
[You got an ’Inferior Black Glowing Poisonous Ore’ (junk).]
Lin Xun quickly opened the item bar to check.
The Cross Copper Pickaxe is shown to be a mining tool with nothing special, but some key information is found in the two pieces of junk.
[’Empty Linen Bag’ (junk): A linen bag full of black stains, with some black gravel and powder still remaining.]
[’Inferior Black Glowing Poisonous Ore’ (junk): A shiny black ore, which can be seen everywhere in Hermit Canyon, containing a trace amount of poison.]
As Lin Xun was pondering the information revealed by the items, the game text suddenly changed.
[A dull bell sound suddenly comes from outside the cave. You listen carefully and the bell rings three times.]
[Hearing the familiar bell, the memory in the shell slightly recovers...]
[As a mixed-blood dragon in the lowest lineage among the half-dragons, and the lowest-ranking miner among the mixed-blood dragons, the meaning of three bell rings has been deeply ingrained into your bones.]
[It’s time for you to gather for mining!]
