Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 173 The Battle Between Humans and Dragons
Li Xia never expected that this gathering point would contain such a hidden world.

Follow the slow-moving old lynx chieftain past the simple hut.

Calling it a shed is a stretch; it's more like a skeletal skeleton covered with a fern 'nest'.

With a satisfied smile on his face, Detler lay quietly in his nest after eating his fill.

This is it.

The old lynx chieftain led them through an inconspicuous crevice and spoke inside a cave.

Clumps of low-lying plants grow inside the small cave, emitting a soft blue light that illuminates the surroundings.

The murals shimmered with a peculiar luster, and it was unknown what they were painted with.

I don't know how many years have passed, but it is still exceptionally clear.

In the first mural, a group of tiny figures are attacking a giant dragon with strange tools in their hands.

The dragon spewed flames, seemingly about to engulf the group of tiny people.

In the second mural, a straight line shoots from afar, piercing through the dragon.

Li Xia frowned. This must be some kind of weapon?
Was it a beam of light? Or a crossbow bolt?

Although I don't know what kind of dragon it is, compared to the size of the little man, it is definitely much larger than a Rathalos.

The third mural depicts a seemingly exceptionally tall little figure standing atop a dragon's corpse, holding aloft a glowing treasure.

Is this the dragon's precious jade?

The fourth mural depicts small figures surrounding a dragon lying on the ground, with countless lines connecting its body to the sky.

The tall little man placed the glowing stone into the dragon's chest.

In the fifth mural, a dragon flies above the little man's head, spewing flames from its mouth, while large numbers of dragons fall to the ground.

"This is."

Abbot, who had been silently watching, suddenly pointed at the mural with a look of surprise on his face.

Li Xia understood what she was referring to, because the fifth mural used extremely simple symbols to represent the dragon.

These symbols are exactly the same as those used by the Hunter's Guild!
The guild's hunters can identify which type of dragon it is simply by looking at these symbols.

The atmosphere in the cave gradually became heavy.

The mere association of symbols placed a heavy burden on the observer's mind.

Everyone stared silently at the sixth mural.

The sixth mural occupies a very large area and appears to be composed of several scenes.

The largest one, the mural's artist depicted as many dragons and people as possible.

It appears that an epic battle has broken out between the two sides.

In other parts of the story, dragons fight humans in various places—high mountains, seas, and forests.
"The War Between Humans and Dragons!"

The observer whispered these words through his lips, his voice trembling slightly.

If I'm not mistaken, the sixth mural depicts the legendary battle between humans and dragons.

The ancient kingdom of Shureid, which was extremely powerful a thousand years ago and unified the world, was destroyed in this battle.

As is well known, murals are generally depicted in chronological order.

Because murals are essentially a means of recording history, therefore...
The observer's gaze turned to horror as he looked at the first few murals.

The preceding description refers to events before the fall of the Kingdom of Shured.
She suddenly understood how the legendary investigator, Ms. Tissner, felt when she was here.

Spanning more than fifty years, the hearts of both new and veteran investigators resonated at this moment.

If it's about the ancient kingdom of Xiuled, as long as there are clues, we can investigate and obtain some information that has been lost to history.

Even if there is only a tiny hope, even if it costs her life, she is willing!

Li Xia did not experience the profound shock and weight that the observers felt from the depths of their hearts.

After all, he was just a passerby, and coming here was only a stop on his journey.

So, after quickly deciphering the logical sequence of events on the murals and guessing the same thing as the observer, ...

Li Xia then decisively turned his gaze to the next mural, which was also the last one in the cave.

Several enormous, snake-like dragons emerged from the ground, roaring towards the sky.

A dragon was flying in the sky, and several little people were hiding behind a dragon that looked like it had a piece missing.

The surrounding sea was turbulent, and the volcano was erupting.

Is this a Serpent King Dragon? Such a huge Serpent King Dragon!
Li Xia raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but take a breath.

This brings to mind the remains of the Serpent King Dragon in the Rotten Vale, and the unique terrain of the Coral Highlands.

Could it be that the battle depicted in the mural caused the tectonic plate collision and volcanic eruption?
My gaze swept over the mural, finally settling on a corner with characters carved with a knife.

"I have stumbled upon this place and discovered clues to the ancient kingdom of Shureid. I am preparing to go there. If I return, I will record it. If I do not return, do not explore on your own, as there may be danger. Report back to the guild."

New World Survey Mission Special Advance Team – Tissna
P.S.: If Detler continues to live like this, please assist them in leaving this place to fulfill the agreement.

Li Xia skipped over the part about "Do not explore without permission, as it may be dangerous. Report back to the guild."

This clue was a reward from the Temple of Light. If I reported it to the guild immediately, I wouldn't get any reward at all!

The old man from the second research lab that I met in the workshop before was definitely a Pixiu.

Only things go in, nothing comes out; all the ancient ruins and technologies discovered by the Hunter's Guild are within the Dragon Academy Dark Night Investigation Team.

As for the reward, I reckon I'll get some soup, but definitely no meat.

It would be more cost-effective to eat the meat first, and then give the rest to them to make soup.

Li Xia walked directly to the old mountain cat sitting on a large rock, lost in thought, and asked:
"Chieftain, do you know where Tisna has gone?"

The old lynx shakily raised its head and sighed:

"I know, of course I know. That's a forbidden area here. No creature will go near it, not even a dragon driven mad."

It asked with a puzzled expression:

"Is the secret in the murals so important? So important that you risked your lives to go there? Tisna did, and so did you."

Li Xia nodded. Secret = Resources = Becoming stronger = Eating more resources in the next world = Becoming even stronger = Invincible.

Therefore, secret equals invincibility!

"partner!"

The observer, having finished viewing all the murals, rushed over and whispered:

"Partner, this doesn't conform to the Hunter's Guild's exploration procedures, especially in such a high-risk location."

She counted on her fingers, muttering to herself:

"First, we need to report to the guild, which will conduct a comprehensive assessment based on the situation and known clues."

Such highly dangerous situations usually require a combination of the guild's strongest members and experienced investigators—

The observer suddenly stopped, watching as Aowu flew up to Li Xia's head and hovered back and forth:

"M-Rank Hunter! The strongest member of the New World Expedition, Dragon Slayer Natsu, anyone interested?"

"Then that experienced investigator."

"It must be you!"

The observer was suddenly stunned. "Me? I'm experienced?"
She suddenly puffed out her chest and gave Aowu a thumbs up:
"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to see through me! That's right, the strongest hunter, the strongest investigator!"

The observer rubbed his nose with his thumb and said confidently:

"Partner, when do we set off?"

Aowu asked furtively, "What's the procedure?"

"What process! My partner and I are the process!"

As the old lynx chieftain watched the two reach a consensus in an incredibly fast manner, he was momentarily reminded of decades ago of that strange woman who always wore a smile, who had also made a decision in a very short time.

Will you come back?

Li Xia remained silent for a moment, then looked at the line of text again: "In accordance with the agreement."

What does the agreement between the characters in the story and the Lynx Clan have to do with the Apostles?
It's all fake, just a copy that the hall casually created.

"meeting!"

Li Xia said earnestly:

"The promise we made back then will be kept."

"Meow!"

The thin Detler nimbly crouched on the ground, warily looking around, and whispered a call to Black Charcoal.

This is Dettel's best hunting cat.

Just like decades ago, the finest Dettel hunting cats set off with Tissna.

Black Charcoal nodded and quickly gestured a few times.

The area ahead is extremely dangerous; please be very careful.

Li Xia glanced at the time; almost half a day had passed since they set off.

The road ahead was winding and generally downward; I really don't know how this Detler remembered all those paths.

By this time, they had no idea how many meters underground they had gone, but the surrounding scenery was completely different.

It even formed an ecological environment completely different from the Valley of Miasma.

Pale blue puddles were scattered everywhere they went.

Fungi and ferns are the main species found here.

Their light illuminates the surroundings, creating a dreamlike and special feeling.

Suddenly, Detler crouched down on the ground, making a gesture to be quiet, and silently moved forward with its soft paw pads pressed against the ground.

Li Xia also lowered his body and floated forward silently using the Flying Dance Technique.

In the canyon not far ahead, a dozen paralyzed thieves, drooling, stood in a line like walking corpses.

They dragged large numbers of corpses and moved in one direction.

After the group of paralyzed thieves disappeared into the distance, Dettel breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Black Charcoal Meow.

Based on the soul contract and the relationship of fate, Li Xia could roughly 'guess' what Hei Tan meant, but he couldn't understand what Detel was 'meowing' at all.

It must be relayed through charcoal
According to Heitan, those paralyzed thieves were being controlled, and their final destination for transporting the corpses was the place they were going to later.

We don't know if the king of that miasma valley is still around. If he is, we can only wait for him to leave.

king?

Is it Vaal Hazak?
According to what I know, there is an ancient dragon called Vaal Hazak in the Rotten Vale, which is also the ruler of the Rotten Vale.

It is completely unlike the characteristics of an ancient dragon, as it is composed entirely of corpses and rotting flesh, and does not need to eat; it only needs to absorb miasma.

If it really is Vaal Hazak.
After asking around, Li Xia confirmed that, based on the characteristics described by Dettel, it really was a Vaal Hazak!

At least its entire body resembles rotting flesh, and its wings are tattered; only the Vaal Hazak fits this description!

Following Dettel, we passed through a hidden cave and pushed aside the vines.

Before them lay an extremely spacious cave.

Li Xia's pupils contracted, and the observer covered his mouth to prevent himself from shouting.

All sorts of corpses were piled up together, forming a high mountain of corpses.

The mountain of corpses, which is over a hundred meters high, almost touches the top of the cave.

The paralyzed thief mechanically placed the dragged corpses one by one onto the mountain of corpses.

Gray miasma permeated the area around the mountain of corpses, contracting rhythmically as if it were alive.

"Meow"

Dettel's kitten looked uneasy.

Those regular fluctuations in the miasma are actually the spitting out of the Vaal Hazak. In the worst-case scenario, the king of the Rotten Vale has not left!

"Is there anything else unusual here besides the corpse?"

According to Old Man Cat, Tissna seemed to know a lot about things back then, so she deduced other things just by looking at the murals.

They hastily took the strongest hunting cat of the Lynx tribe and left.

The old lynx was just a kitten back then. He couldn't bear to see his father leave, so he secretly followed him. He witnessed Tissna and his father disappear from this place.

But how they disappeared remains unknown.

Dettel shook his head. This is forbidden territory. What cat would dare to come here?

It's already good enough if they don't go around it; only the old lynx will quietly come here to take a look year after year, day after day.

He longed to see his father's voice and that woman reappear, but he never did, even as he grew too old to walk.

Then there's no other way but to go through with it.

Li Xia straightened up; it wasn't a hunt, he was simply holding off the ghoul dragon.

"Awoo, Black Charcoal, I'll go lure the Vaal Hazak away. You guys look for clues and keep an eye on Abbot."

To Dettel's horrified gaze, the strange two-legged creature suddenly stopped hiding its tracks.

Suddenly, an extremely exquisite spear appeared in his hand, larger than his own.
It looked down at the simple wooden stick with stones bound to it in its hand.

It looks much, much better.
Immediately afterwards, a light suddenly shone from the bipedal beast's hand, a light that Dettel had never seen before.

It was much, much brighter than the light emitted by the mushrooms underground.

Intense light shot out from his fingers, piercing straight through the entire mountain of corpses.

Hole wave!
"Ouch————"

A shrill, hoarse roar echoed from inside the mountain of corpses, and the nearly 100-meter-high mountain of corpses began to shake.

The corpse tumbled down from the sky like a rolling stone.

The terrifying monster rose from the pile of corpses, shaking off bits of flesh.

Looking at the monster in front of him, Li Xia found it difficult to describe the appearance of the Vaal Hazak in words.

It's like a dragon that's been dead for a long time and is half-rotten, but has suddenly risen again.

The miasma, as if it had come to life, roared in from all directions and entered the body of the Vaal Hazak.

[Warning: You have encountered the Lord of the Rotten Vale, the Corpse Hazak]

Dettel stared in disbelief at Li Xia, who was floating in mid-air several meters above the ground, holding a long spear.

It glanced at the massive Vaal Hazak on the other side and meowed anxiously.

Awoo asked in confusion, "Black Charcoal, what is it saying?"

Black Charcoal gestured: This is an invincible monster, let's run!

Li Xia, who was not far away, suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of the Vaal Hazak.

Suddenly, a blazing white light rose from the stillness of the night.

"Oh!"

A dense cloud of miasma erupted from the Vaal Hazak's body at an extremely fast speed, like a blast of air, pushing away the surrounding corpses and paralyzed dragons.

The enormous monster even staggered twice under the force of the impact before crashing to the ground.

"Meow??!"

Awoo tilted his head back and scratched his chin:
"What did you say this time?"

"Meow! (He said he's okay!)"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)