Chapter 211: Giant Dragon Plane

Chapter 21: Chapter 211: Giant Dragon Plane

A blinding white light swallowed him and Number Three. When it faded, Chen Shang found himself standing inside a palace.

The structure was towering and vast, paved with rough stone slabs. As soon as he stepped outside, gale-force winds buffeted him from all directions, carrying the crisp scent of snowy mountains.

He looked up. The sky hung low, the clouds right overhead. The heavy, grey-white sea of clouds looked like an inverted lake suspended in the air.

The palace, it turned out, was built at the very peak of the mountain. Constructed from massive, unpolished grey stones stacked atop one another, it resembled a giant beast resting on the summit. The blanket of clouds rolled into the distance, boundless, stretching as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, updrafts from the valley would tear rifts in the clouds, revealing a bottomless canyon below and the blurred outline of a distant coastline.

Below the stone steps lay two dragons. Their scales were a deep, dark gold, each piece the size of a shield. Their tails draped over the edge of the stairs, and their half-closed eyes revealed golden, slitted pupils that gleamed in the shadows.

Chen Shang took a deep breath and pulled out his card. "I am Chen Shang, an apprentice from the Starfall Laboratory."

The dragon on the left opened its eyes, its slitted pupils contracting. Its gaze lingered on him for a moment. Chen Shang’s heart pounded wildly; being scrutinized by such a behemoth was incredibly oppressive.

"Body Refinement?" the Giant Dragon spoke, its booming voice making Chen Shang’s eardrums ache. "Why have you come at this time?"

Before he could answer, the dragon on the right shifted its gaze to Number Three standing behind him, its eyes locking onto the engraved Runes at the clone’s temples.

"Biological Runes?" it asked. "Did you engrave these?"

Chen Shang nodded. "Yes, this is the subject I chose for my apprentice assessment."

The two dragons exchanged a glance and leaned in closer. Their nostrils flared, exhaling plumes of hot, sulfurous breath, though the scalding air carefully bypassed Chen Shang.

"A very creative idea. Good luck!"

The dragon on the left then stood up. Its body began to shrink and contort. Within seconds, a Giant Dragon as large as a mountain had transformed into a humanoid creature. Standing over two meters tall, the creature’s skin still bore faint, intricate scale patterns, and its eyes retained those golden, slitted pupils.

"Let’s go. I will take you to the Dragon Blood Hall."

"Uh... I can’t fly," Chen Shang said hesitantly, watching the transformed Giant Dragon prepare to head down the mountain.

The humanoid creature paused in silence. Bending down, it shifted back into its dragon form, lowered its massive body, and turned its head.

"Climb on."

Chen Shang froze for a moment before scrambling onto its back with Number Three. The Giant Dragon’s spine was wider than it appeared, and the gaps between its scales perfectly wedged their feet in place.

It stood up, kicked off the ground with its hind legs, and unfurled its massive wings!

SWOOSH!

The Giant Dragon shot into the sky. Chen Shang felt the wind pressing against him from all directions as the sea of clouds split beneath them. The moment they broke through the cloud cover, the entire world suddenly opened up.

Chen Shang looked down. Scattered across the dark blue sea were countless islands—some as vast as continents, others as small as mere reefs—strewn about like pieces on a chaotic chessboard. Rainbow bridges connected the islands. Streams of multicolored light leapt from one landmass to another, painting massive arcs over the ocean.

Numerous volcanoes dotted the water, their craters billowing black smoke. Molten magma cascaded down their slopes and plunged into the sea, boiling the water and sending up massive plumes of steam.

He spotted a gargantuan creature hovering in the air. It had no wings, and its body was entirely translucent. As it drifted past a volcano, some invisible force drew the erupting magma upward. Defying gravity, the molten rock soared into the sky and merged with the translucent creature, becoming a new, glowing speck within its body.

"That is a Cloud Giant," the Giant Dragon said, seemingly aware of Chen Shang’s gaze. "One of the variants of the Titan Race. Over there, you can also see Mountain Giants and Sea Giants."

Chen Shang followed its gaze and indeed spotted what looked like moving mounds of granite. Had the Giant Dragon not pointed them out, he would have easily mistaken them for massive boulders. As they flew over a stretch of shallow sea, Chen Shang noticed swarms of creatures wielding bone forks wading through the water.

"Those are Nagas, and the ones on the island are Kobolds," the dragon explained. "They’ve recently been caught up in a dispute, though I don’t know why."

The Giant Dragon seemed rather disdainful of these races. It swooped down, unleashing its Dragon’s Might with reckless abandon. "You bastards! Behave yourselves!"

Chen Shang was nearly thrown off by the sheer force of its roar. Fortunately, the Giant Dragon wasn’t targeting him.

The Nagas and Kobolds froze, utterly intimidated. Taking advantage of the lull, Chen Shang opened his system.

The interface unfolded in his mind: [Extractable attributes detected in the vicinity.]

[Target: Golden Dragon — Extractable Attributes: Dragon’s Might (Purple), Flame Breath (Blue), Long Lifespan (Blue), Dragon Language Magic (Purple), Giant Dragon Power (Blue)...]

So the dragon beneath him was a Golden Dragon? Chen Shang mentally commanded the extraction. A few seconds later, the panel displayed an extraction failure.

He didn’t mind. He already knew that a massive disparity in strength would result in failure. It wasn’t that his Golden Finger was lacking; he simply was too weak.

[Target: Cloud Giant — Extractable Attributes: Cloud Walking (Green), Gravity Manipulation - Fragment (Blue), Cloud Avatar - Fragment (Blue)...]

Extraction... Failed.

Chen Shang switched to another target.

[Target: Mountain Giant — Extractable Attributes: Rock Flesh (Green), Mountain Power (Green), Earth Perception - Fragment (Blue)...]

Extraction... Failed again.

[Target: Naga — Extractable Attributes: Underwater Breathing (White), Snake Scale Hardening (White), Venom Secretion (White)...]

Extraction successful. Acquired [Venom Secretion].

[Target: Kobold — Extractable Attributes: Digging Instinct (White), Gem Perception (White), Flame Resistance (White)...]

Extraction successful. Acquired [Gem Perception].

Chen Shang’s lips twitched. He had absolutely no use for [Venom Secretion] and [Gem Perception]. He could only hope they were prerequisite attributes for some higher-tier mythical fusions. There were quite a few legendary figures in mythology who wielded poison, weren’t there?

He was about to continue when the Giant Dragon beneath him suddenly spoke.

"We are here."

The Dragon Blood Hall!

It was situated on the flattened peak of an isolated island. Atop the summit lay three massive, open-air pools, arranged in descending order of size. The largest pool spanned nearly a hundred meters in diameter, while the smallest was only about ten meters across. The perimeter of each pool was bordered by solid megaliths, completely etched with dense Runes. Thick steam rose from the pools, carrying a heavy, suffocating aura.

The Golden Dragon landed and lowered its body, allowing Chen Shang and Number Three to slide off its back.

He stood at the edge of a pool and peered down. It was filled with a thick, dark crimson liquid resembling molten pitch. Occasionally, a bubble would surface and burst, releasing an overpowering stench of blood.

"These are the Dragon Blood Pools. They are divided into Tier Three, Tier Five, and Tier Seven Dragon Blood, mixed with an array of precious medicinal herbs," the dragon explained. "Make yourself at home. Call me when you’re done soaking."

Having tossed out these casual instructions, the Golden Dragon draped itself lazily over the outer steps to rest.