Chapter 1044 - 509: Let Him Practice

Chapter 1044: Chapter 509: Let Him Practice

The glow of the sky was gradually obscured by cliffs on both sides, and in the dimness, everyone saw ancient dwarf facilities built along the rock wall from the falling deck.

"They should be mining tools," Elaphia judged, "This was once a dwarf mining site."

"That should be right."

Li Ang used Spiritual Grasp to directly pull off a device from the rock wall, using a Force Field to send it to the deck. The sound of the clasp breaking between it and the metal track echoed in the gorge, directly drawing the attention of the Cloudwalkers Guild’s members.

Elaphia raised her eyebrows too; Li Ang’s previous operations were mainly clever tricks, but now that his abilities have expanded into substantial power, the impact is unexpected.

Approaching the ancient device, you could see excavation shovels, mechanical arms, and traction devices, it was indeed a mine cart, and the technology far surpassed modern times.

"This reminds me of the Mechanical Creation Furnace," said Li Ang.

"I’ve heard of the relic you discovered, but I haven’t had the chance to observe it," Elaphia brushed her golden hair by her temple.

Li Ang said, "I had speculated before, and it should be about right; the ’Island Founders’ who built the City of the Ship’s Rudder are descendants of the Dwarf Civilization, inheriting and advancing the dwarf construction technology."

He looked at the mine cart: "Along the way, I originally thought it was strange, as if the dwarf civilization wasn’t so advanced, but looking at the mine cart, I have been overthinking."

Elaphia stepped on the Flying Sword and approached the mine cart, raising her hand for perception.

"In terms of metal usage, these mine carts’ era, compared to the scattered buildings within this Secret Realm earlier, is several hundred years later."

"That’s understood," Li Ang stated, "From the collapse of the heavens and earth establishing new territories until Fafnir came knocking, they developed for hundreds of years, technology kept progressing, buildings strengthened with magic haven’t collapsed, but the internals should have undergone huge changes."

A Xiang chimed in, "If the Dwarf Civilization wasn’t destroyed by Fafnir, they might have left their homeland to interact with other races."

Liluliss said, "If they weren’t destroyed, maybe some of the dwarves might be among us?"

"That’s the case." Li Ang replied.

"Hmm." Lily seemed a bit downcast.

The Flying Airship continued to descend, with more and more mine carts around, and the dense transport tracks becoming increasingly intricate.

"This place indeed feels like the inside of the Mechanical Creation Furnace," Li Ang commented.

With a resource-rich island as backup, the dwarf’s mine sites and transport paths are much more extravagant than those of the Island Founders, and filled with a sense of randomness, whereas Island Founders meticulously calculate and utilize due to lack of resources.

As the descent continued, a large area of track wreckage suddenly appeared. Originally, they should have been orderly and grand here, converging toward a single direction, yet they all broke off, severely damaged.

"It’s like a meteor falling from the sky, is it the same magic as the Great Witch’s?"

Diao glanced at Li Ang, earlier in the Spiritual Dimension she hadn’t seen the technique called Island Toss, previously used against the Giant Dragon; that Earth Elemental Attack was surprising, seemingly beyond human capability.

Beside her, Sif also came near, her long eyelashes behind her lenses quivering slightly as her gaze moved back and forth between Li Ang and the gorge, contemplating something as she resumed writing in her notebook.

"On the contrary."

Elaphia pointed to the broken tracks, her index finger pointing upwards: "Something came rushing up from below."

She looked at the pitch-black bottom of the gorge and said, "From here, you can already see traces of mineral extraction on the rock walls; the entire gorge should be a mine site. The farther down, the higher quality the minerals, but they’ve been exhausted in years of mining, suggesting unstable elements shouldn’t be erupting from underground."

"It’s not natural change, elements, or magic, then it must be a Demon." A Xiang stated.

It’s Fafnir. Even without speaking, everyone present shared a mutual understanding.

One could imagine that in the Material Dimension’s flesh, it viewed the ruins of civilization as a paradise, wantonly destroying the land where former residents had labored arduously, their achievements turning into tools to enhance its destructive pleasures.

"Wait a minute, that super Demon Dragon isn’t still inside, is it?" A Xiang suddenly thought, "An island transformed into its territory, a powerful individual, it seems very much like those Island Masters."

"If it dares come, we’ll take it down! I’ve taken down quite a few Island Masters." Lily gestured at the hypothetical enemy.

What you took down were Star Souls considered Island Masters, Li Ang thought.

Li Ang turned to A Xiang, "It shouldn’t be; its true form has already returned to the Magic Power Dimension, I encountered its incomplete embodiment phase before."

"Fafnir’s erosion of this island territory is complete; it has no reason to remain here." Annette stated.

"That’s good."

With the Wind Dragon, everyone felt more at ease.

Finding the common direction from the chaotic fractures, they led toward a part of the rock wall shrouded in dark mist. Diao actively cast a spell, summoning a gale that dispersed the mist, revealing a giant cavity behind.

On the ground at the cavity’s edge, one could see the support frames of tracks and the flat ground; this marked the beginning of the man-made structure.

"Here’s the entrance, meow. The air is filled with the stench of Wyrm Dragons," Annette said.

"Everyone, stay alert."

Li Ang casually reminded everyone as he followed the lead of Elaphia, who had leapt into the cave from the deck first.

The Sky Knights didn’t need to use the boarding ladder to land; only Sif, disguised as a professor from Thousand Tower City, needed to step down.

After she disembarked, the helmsman on the flying airship didn’t let it get too close to the tunnel, instead holding steady in the air from a distance.

Elaphia tossed up several magic lamps, the metallic casing encasing fluorite inside, surrounded by crystals that magnified the light. As a Blade Master, controlling these items was second nature; they were even custom-made, crafted specifically to harness her power.

As rows of floating lamps appeared, the previously dark mine tunnel suddenly became bright as day; the group didn’t need to go about the usual adventurer’s routine of finding the abandoned lamps from previous civilizations, adding their own torches or oil to light them.

"Miss, you’re just like a beacon, huh," Li Ang smiled and said.

Elaphia rolled her eyes at him. "Stay vigilant; there might be quite a few Wyrm Dragons in here."

The entire passage was even more chaotic than outside. If the tracks and mining site outside were merely damaged when Fafnir passed through, then this place, as one of its entry and exit points, had been repeatedly ground down by its enormous body.

Judging by the markings around, Fafnir’s full size was almost as thick as the roughly ten-meter-wide tunnel. The scratches on the rock ceiling and brick walls weren’t deliberate; they were made by the spikes on its body as it passed by.

However, no Wyrm Dragons appeared ahead, and the tunnel was silent, truly as if it hadn’t been visited or disturbed in a millennia.

As they walked, the widened passage revealed leftover minerals blown open by the dragon’s passage on either side, slowing the group’s advance slightly. Even the Cloudwalkers Guild couldn’t resist collecting some refined gold and mithril.

No need to mention Farlonio; although small in stature, she was extremely agile, quickly getting into the rhythm of tossing the rare minerals into her bag.

Lily also wanted to join the scramble, but after taking a look at those minerals, she turned back, sulking to Li Ang. "I don’t recognize any of these! Which ones are good?"

"The good ones have already been taken, but there’s plenty more ahead."

Li Ang pointed deeper into the cave, in the area untouched by the lamp light, where he could see the dazzling mineral spirituality through his Spiritual Horizon.

"Hmm, aren’t you going to grab some? Even though half of Alma’s business is under your family’s control, and you’re wealthier than those small country kings, buying such a large quantity of rare materials wouldn’t be easy," Farlonio said while collecting minerals, speaking with Elaphia.

Seeing Elaphia immobile on her flying sword, A Xiang laughed. "Miss wouldn’t stoop to picking them up like us on the ground."

"No need to linger here; the real treasures are further inside."

"Heh heh, the fast hand wins, the slow hand loses," A Xiang and other members of the Cloudwalkers Guild chuckled lightly.

He believed that due to Elaphia’s dignity and pride, she wouldn’t engage in actions like the others. According to the default rules of adventure, in such situations with treasures scattered all around, it’s usually up to one’s abilities.

Elaphia simply beckoned at the metallic minerals with her finger.

In an instant, throughout the sight range within the tunnel, all the metal chunks, dust, and crystal powder were gently lifted by an invisible force, then flowed like a river into her Dimensional Rift.

"Well, that works too," Falo sighed softly, muttering under his breath, "Looks like I’ll have to subsidize the household budget."

The Blondie Douding pursed his lips, glaring at the brown-haired Douding.

"It’s for him to practice."

The "him" naturally referred to the artisan and spiritual forger Li Ang who came to help this time.

"Yes, yes, I know," Farlonio replied perfunctorily.

Elaphia snorted and sped into the tunnel.

"So pampered," Diao said, pouting after witnessing the scene from the rear.

Li Ang coughed lightly, then stepped up to follow.

As they advanced, the mine tunnel ended, and smelting equipment started to appear.

Once the materials from the external crevice were extracted and transported here, they were directly smelted on site into metal ingots, so finished products still remained.

"Something feels off," Sif, who had been silently following at the back, said.

As the commissioner and ’suspect,’ once she spoke, all the Sky Knights turned to look at her.

Suddenly finding herself the focus of familiar and unfamiliar gazes, the young girl’s face flushed slightly, her gaze shifted. She seemed more like a prettily dressed urban beauty, yet her natural allure hadn’t been embellished.

"Professor, do you have any thoughts?" A Xiang smiled and asked.