Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 360 The Land of Flowing Flame and Ice
"Traveling among the mountains is too dangerous. Now I understand why those people are like mole."

Walking on the mountain, despite the presence of dark clouds, storms, hail, thunderstorms, and ice storms—in short, despite a series of extreme weather events—the visibility was still relatively good.

At least, with farsightedness like that of a longan, one can find some clues about direction.

"The compass has turned into a propeller, and the crystal ball used for the divination spell just exploded twice. I dare not use it now. Even if it does work, I probably wouldn't dare follow the guidance. How am I supposed to find my way in this godforsaken place?"

Rean and his companions entered a cracked canyon entrance. When they stepped inside again, they found themselves in a completely new world.

The surrounding area is filled with crystals and minerals in red and white, with all sorts of exotic flowers and plants scattered throughout, and cold and hot air are surprisingly in the same area.

"Feet are burning hot, scalp is cold, what a disgusting place." Some mercenaries were already cursing, wanting to go naked from the waist down and wearing a padded coat from the waist up.

Whether it's the two-colored crystals on the rock face, the geothermal heat constantly rising from the earth, or the increasing cold winds in the air, all seem to indicate that the elements of "fire" and "ice" are in perpetual conflict.

Rean carefully observed the road ahead, and he could feel the almost volcanic heat underground.

Its extremely high affinity for fire elements allowed it to sense the "volcano" beneath its feet, which could erupt at any moment and wipe everyone out in one fell swoop.

Rean did not use the "Eagle's" X-ray vision ability; the spirits had warned him before he came that when you see someone, they might naturally sense you.

In a demonic realm of this level, who knows what monsters you might attract if you look around recklessly? Even adult dragons only dare to roam the outer perimeter.

"According to them, the formation of this Great Demon Realm is due to the collision of two elemental entrances, which created a natural high-concentration elemental tidal circulation. Under normal circumstances, individual elemental entrances would often be gradually eliminated by the plane."

Rean casually picked up a red crystal and could feel the boiling pure fire element within it. The white spots inside the red crystal indicated that there was also a certain amount of ice and snow impurities.

"What a pity. If it weren't for the erosion from the ice and snow, this could have served as a high-quality catalyst, a very fine elemental crystal."

It still works now, but the price might have gone from a few gold coins to a few silver coins, making them completely incomparable.
"You can make a lot of money mining here, right?"

"You can make money but not live to spend it. The existence of these crystals indicates that this place is in a state of equilibrium after 'elemental elimination.' If you take away a large number of these elemental crystals, the balance will be broken, and the ley lines will experience a massive elemental eruption."

While checking the elemental indices to find a possible path, the mage Marton stopped the mercenaries who were trying to mine the crystal.

However, the unspoken rule of these adventures is that whatever you get is yours. If you don't let these scattered mercenaries and adventurers hoard their spoils, you're just waiting for a mutiny.

"Moreover, these crystals don't sell for much money. They contain too many impurities. The cost of purification is less than buying some high-purity derivatives. There should be quite a few high-value ones among the surrounding derivatives."

Some of those colorful plants are magical versions of ordinary plants corrupted by elements, while others are quite valuable materials for magical potions.

Removing these derivatives won't disrupt the balance of this area or lead to everyone's demise.

In fact, such herb gatherers have always existed.

The realm of demons often represents the opportunity to become rich overnight, but those who enter it usually don't live very long.

“Victoria?” Rean asked the alchemist, who might have more authority to speak on the value of the surrounding herbs.

"No need, let the mercenaries take it."

For this trip, Rean also hired some mercenaries, including Emma, ​​who could provide the support that Rean's camp needed most.

"Captain Marcel?"

"Since they haven't sensed any danger, let them make a little money. Only when the mercenaries have a guaranteed income will they stop causing trouble." The old mercenary with silver-gray hair oiled his mechanical crossbow with one hand while observing the surrounding situation through his other eye.

Above the group of people, three mechanical birds floated slowly, providing Marcel's mechanical eyes with additional views from different directions.

"The Undying Eagle" Marsil, a combat-oriented grand alchemist, or rather, a bizarre profession combining mechanic and ranger, is a veteran mercenary deeply trusted by the noble circles of Radiant City. In fact, without the letter of introduction from Dania, Rean would never have been able to enlist this veteran's help. He is also the commander of this scattered mercenary force, and the powerful mercenaries, including Emma, ​​are nominally under his command.

Veteran mercenaries understand their peers best. They risk their lives for money, and while force is acceptable, they must be wary of backstabbing. These freelance mercenaries often derive over 30% of their earnings from loot. If they don't receive their loot quickly enough, they become impatient and prone to making mistakes.

This is a one-off team activity, and there's no need to emphasize discipline at this time, lest it disrupt the already manageable atmosphere within the team.

Rean nodded, having no intention of getting involved in these trivial matters.

Meanwhile, in the sky on the other side, several "black hawks" were patrolling the surroundings, using their eyes to observe the situation.

Rean focused his attention and thought process on these "eagle clones" created using his feathering ability. Observing them with the naked eye would actually be the safest way to investigate.

"Uh."

Rean covered his head. Just now, a black hawk's vision suddenly went black, followed by a feeling of being "chewed".

With the eagle clone's eyesight and speed, it didn't even know what kind of monster attacked it.

If the group were still on the mountains outside, they might have been wiped out in an instant.

"What a mess! How come this place has everything?"

"Many special organisms can only survive in places with high element concentrations, and they may have been hiding here all along."

Mage Marton and his companions were collecting samples from their surroundings with great interest. Unlike the mercenaries who only focused on obtaining potion ingredients, they didn't even overlook the soil and insects around the plants.

In fact, for them, the soil and water materials with high element concentrations and the biological variations are more valuable.

Of course, they weren't idle either.

Small, floating fireballs occasionally erupt and ignite, and as "battlefield weapons," they are also risking their lives to quickly restore their combat power.

This scene made Rean seem thoughtful.
"At the very least, it will have some impact on those foreign mages." Rean always remained vigilant towards those visitors from the land of mages.

In such an environment, perhaps the higher the level of the spellcaster, the more limited they are in reality.

"No, they're different from us. They have specialized magical devices. They control similar magical realms, so they should have specific countermeasures in place long ago." Archmage Marton gave Rean a rather poor answer.

Perhaps we can only hope that our goals won't conflict. Even with specialized equipment, this environment isn't suitable for a mage to unleash their full power.

But unbeknownst to Rean, those outsiders did not come alone.

Near the entrance to the Demon Realm, in the secret passage belonging to the Dark Elves, a large group was slowly moving forward.

The dark elf lizard riders scouted the area, while the controlled bewitching creatures used anti-magic fields to dispel the chaos created by elemental fluctuations. On the large cart pulled by the giant spider, the "fierce dragons from afar" from other regions were meditating and preparing for battle.

Clearly, the dark elves, who bully the weak and fear the strong, have once again met their match.

These dark elf warriors and monsters with their long faces are probably the "compensation for the misunderstanding" offered by the matriarchs.

Meanwhile, these archmages were also reading the magical realm information they had obtained from the dark elves.

"If we're talking about elemental hydrological records, there's actually a druid order here? Let's go ask them for it."

It seems that the possibility that the other party might not give it was completely overlooked.

(End of this chapter)