Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The White Dragon Tribe chief’s place was just a stone’s throw away from the high priestess’s island. Gao Peng flew over to it on Goldie’s shoulder. This took only a minute.
The newly-promoted Goldie had undergone a drastic change in terms of appearance. The first thing one would notice was its apparent decrease in size. Shrinking by three feet, it now stood only 16 feet tall.
Goldie wasn’t too happy about this. It was now a head shorter than Flamy, who stood a good 19 feet tall. Its sense of pride as a manly duck had taken a huge hit.
Other than the decrease in size, the pair of wings on Goldie’s back had grown visibly more muscular. They now resembled the wings of a beetle, and they covered practically all of its back and ankles. Once fleshy-looking, Goldie’s wings now had a metallic gleam to them. Their edges were more defined. When sheathed, they looked as if they were a layer of metal plates. An ethereal light now radiated from Goldie’s muscular body.
Every time Goldie clenched its fists or exerted itself the slightest bit, the gaps in its new armor would give off a red, almost lava-like glow. It looked positively awesome.
The only flaw in Goldie’s new appearance… was its still bald scalp. Goldie touched its head, which shone even brighter than before. Like its wings, its head now gleamed with a metallic light, as well.
“Gao Peng, why am I still bald?” asked Goldie, evidently upset about its continued lack of hair.
“Well, for starters, you’re still the same rock-headed duck I know,” said Gao Peng as he rubbed its scalp. It still felt like flesh.
“What does that have to do with my baldness?” said Goldie.
“Your rock-hard head is impeding your hair follicles,” explained Gao Peng in a serious tone.
Goldie let out a thoughtful hum. Gao Peng’s explanation sounded reasonable. The only thing that set the chief’s island apart from the high priestess’ was the fact that the former had a lot of the White Dragon chief’s relatives living on it, while there were only around ten thousand people living on this island.
“Don’t speak unless spoken to when meeting the chief. Just listen to the old man. He’s got quite a temper, and he doesn’t like others interrupting him when he’s talking,” said the chief’s great-great-grandson as he led Gao Peng to the chief’s residence. Gao Peng could only take his word for it, since he was indeed the chief’s great-great-grandson. Gao Peng nodded.
Half an hour later, Gao Peng reached his destination. It was a mountain cave, a fence was erected around it. Layers of unnamed animal skins were spread across the ground. When Gao Peng placed his foot on them, he could feel himself sink downward. Rows of white oil candles were arranged on both sides of the cave walls. A musky smell filled the air as the candles burned.
In the deepest part of the cave sat an old man in a white robe. The hem of his robe pooled around him on the ground. His beard was touching his chest, and his white eyebrows were like a pair of waterfalls hanging over his deep, cavernous eyes. It wasn’t until Gao Peng took a closer look at him that he realized that the old man was taking a nap.
When Gao Peng moved closer, the old man looked up at him. His face inscrutable, he gazed for a good while at Gao Peng and Goldie, who was standing behind its master. Then, he let out a thoughtful humming sound through his nostrils. As if exhausted by all that staring, he yawned hugely and waved Gao Peng away.
Gao Peng widened his eyes. Is that the end of our business?! Didn’t his great-great-grandson say that the old man doesn’t like to be interrupted when he’s talking? He didn’t even say a word!
Gao Peng had no idea what to make of this. Frowning, Gao Peng took a peek at the chief’s attributes.
[Species]: Human
[Status]: Healthy (Relieved)
Gao Peng heaved a sigh of relief. Even though it didn’t feel right to peek into other people’s emotions the way he did, what he got out of it made him feel a bit better.
A moment later, Gao Peng noticed that the old man’s status had changed.
[Status]: Healthy (Worried)
Gao Peng gave the chief a bow before turning around to leave the cave. He had initially thought that Bai Yin was the chief’s son, and he very well could have been—the chief didn’t look too old. He still seemed spry despite his wizened age.
As the chief watched Gao Peng’s receding figure, he furrowed his eyebrows, evidently troubled by something.
When Gao Peng stepped out of the cave, he was greeted by the sight of Bai Yin, who had been waiting outside for him. “I still haven’t congratulated you for your familiar’s promotion,” said Bai Yin, doing the customary Chinese greeting of clasping his hands before his chest.
“I see you’ve met my father.” Bai Yin threw a furtive look at the cave behind Gao Peng, then gestured for Gao Peng to follow him.
When they had put some distance between them and the cave, Bai Yin let out a sigh and said, “You have some balls, mate. Weren’t you nervous when you were speaking to my father? He has a really foul temper, you know.”
Gao Peng raised an eyebrow at Bai Yin. Foul temper? Why do I get the feeling that I’m being duped by all of you here? Despite being a man of few words, Gao Peng felt that the old man’s temper wasn’t as violent as everyone had been telling him.
“Oh yeah, the high priestess gave me a copper plate. She said it would grant me access to your warehouse, where I could take an item of my choosing…” said Gao Peng.
Bai Yin said, smiling, “Oh, looks like the high priestess really likes you. That’s the high priestess’ token. It’s also the symbol of a good relationship with the White Dragon Tribe. Few people have had the honor to receive it from the high priestess.” Bai Yin didn’t seem too surprised by Gao Peng coming into possession of the high priestess’ token.
He then brought Gao Peng to the next island. This island was also a stone’s throw away from the chief’s and high priestess’ islands. It was one of the three islands in the center of the Dragon Archipelago. The island had little to no vegetation on it, its surface was covered mostly by bare rocks.
Bai Yin led Gao Peng to the entrance of a valley. There, he stopped. “I can’t go in. There’s a guardian keeping watch over the valley. When you see it, show it the high priestess’ token.”
The valley seemed almost empty. A trail of golden sand stretched before them leading towards the deeper regions of the valley.
Gao Peng hesitated for a moment, then entered the valley. After a while, he could feel a sense of threat. A sudden tremor shook the valley. Just then, a huge shadow fell over Gao Peng.
The sun was blocked out almost completely. Gao Peng had been shielding his eyes from the sun with his left hand. When he looked up, he could see a huge dragon head staring straight at him from the sky.
[Monster Name]: Five-Clawed White Dragon
[Monster Level]: Level 87 (Saint-tier)
[Monster Grade]: Legendary/Legendary
Gao Peng took out the copper plate and showed it to the dragon. When it saw the token, it pulled its head back into the sky without a word. Then, there was a thunderous rumble as the huge stone door deep in the valley slowly raised.
Gao Peng frowned. That is one intelligent dragon.
When Gao Peng approached the cave in the valley, he could see a stone giant, the color scheme of which matched that of the valley around it, pulling up the stone door without a sound. Most of its body was melded into the mountain face. After Gao Peng entered the cave, the stone giant let the stone door fall to the ground, then sank back into the mountain face.
Once Gao Peng was inside, the dark cave was instantly lit up by a beetle-like creature that was hanging from the ceiling, its wings spread out to let a soft blue light shine down from the tip of its abdomen.
When Gao Peng walked away from the entrance of the cave, the beetle closed its wings, plunging the place back into darkness. Even the lights are motion-sensitive!
The White Dragon tribe’s warehouse was a lot smaller than Gao Peng had thought it would be.
However, every item in it seemed to be of considerable value. Gao Peng even found a True Dragon Fruit that was placed in a small blue box. It was a Saint-tier object capable of purifying the blood of any Dragon-type monster. It could be used on Dragon-type monsters above the Legendary grade. After usage, it would have a certain likelihood of raising a monster’s blood purity as well as its grade.
By complementing it with other ingredients, Gao Peng would be able to increase its success rate to 100 percent. Even though there was a good chance he would come across another True Dragon Fruit in the mysterious dimension, Gao Peng decided to take the True Dragon Fruit with him.
With it, he could help his grandfather’s White Dragon reach the Legendary grade.
