HPDBC Chapter 169 Hunting Down the Earth Dragon King
Chapter 169 Hunting Down the Earth Dragon King
Zhou Wangyue put away the tactical terminal, turned around, and looked at Song Chen.
"After the troops arrive in 48 hours, a permanent base will be built here."
"All access to the Dark River is directly managed by the Great Xia."
"Your discoverer privileges will be recorded in File Zero and permanently retained."
"Song Chen, you've done something really important."
Song Chen didn't say anything.
He stood at the edge of the cave, looking down at the dark blue river.
The fragments at the bottom of the river lay there quietly, with blue light spots flowing between them, like a never-ending river.
Fifty years ago, they left the hands of an unknown civilization, passed through the atmosphere, and fell deep into the rock layers of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Fifty years later, an eighteen-year-old boy found them.
Song Chen squatted down and put his hand into the river.
A pale blue light flowed through his fingers, and the crystal on his chest lit up again, pulsating in sync with the fragments at the bottom of the river.
"Teacher, I have a request."
"Um."
"Can you come with me to kill that Earth Dragon King? I can't sleep until it's dead."
Zhou Wangyue looked down at him, the blue light from the cave illuminating Song Chen's profile.
When he asked that question, his tone was exactly the same as when he said "Shanghai Jiao Tong University Building".
"Okay, we can go together, but I can't find the location of the Earth Dragon King."
"Don't worry, I can find it."
Soon, the two jumped out of the underground passage.
Song Chen stood beside the ruins of the clock tower, the moisture around him rapidly evaporating under the heat of the lightning-type spiritual energy.
Zhou Wangyue landed beside him, the remaining dark blue water droplets on his robes glistening in the sunlight before disappearing completely in a few breaths.
The ruins of Changqing City, bathed in the midday light, presented a desolate and lifeless scene.
The shadows of the broken walls and ruins were short-lived, wild grass grew wildly in the cracks of the asphalt road, and in the distance, several half-collapsed buildings looked like the skeletons of a giant beast whose internal organs had been ripped out.
Just then, Zhou Wangyue's phone rang.
He glanced down, walked to the edge of the ruins, sat down on a collapsed concrete slab, and answered the call.
Song Chen couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the communication; he could only see Zhou Wangyue's lips moving. He spoke very little and listened most of the time.
The communication lasted for about fifteen minutes.
After hanging up, Zhou Wangyue did not stand up immediately.
He sat on the cement slab and looked up at Song Chen.
"The Great Xia Dynasty has released its reward plan for you."
"So fast?"
Song Chen was somewhat surprised.
"Special cases are handled specially."
"If it is confirmed to be true, Great Xia will give you three rewards."
Zhou Wangyue held up one finger.
"First, the Great Xia will grant you the status of an honorary councilor, with power equivalent to that of a full councilor. Once you break through to the sixth rank, you will automatically become a full councilor."
Upon hearing this, Song Chen maintained his position against the wall, but the back of his head moved away from the wall.
The Great Xia Council is the highest authority in the entire Great Xia Dynasty.
There are only twelve official councilors, each of whom is a sixth-level grandmaster.
Those twelve people held all the power in the Great Xia Dynasty: military command, the power to establish and dismantle base cities, and the right to access top-secret files...
Zhou Wangyue was one of them.
Honorary members have the same powers as regular members.
He's only missing a "formal" title, which will be automatically given to him once he reaches the sixth rank.
"Second." Zhou Wangyue held up his second finger.
"A one-time reward of 200 billion Great Xia coins. After the base is completed, you will receive 30% of all the revenue generated by the Dark River."
The number left Song Chen momentarily dazed.
Two hundred billion, and it's not a one-time buyout. After the Dark River Base is completed, 30% of all profits will be permanently distributed.
What will be the future benefits of a dark river that can continuously increase a martial artist's health and vitality?
Billions? Tens of billions every year? This is a check that is valid indefinitely.
"Third." Zhou Wangyue held up his third finger.
"The Great Xia will reward you with a set of S-class battle armor, worth 100 billion."
S-class battle armor.
Song Chen's pupils contracted slightly.
He already has an S-class weapon.
However, S-class armor and S-class weapons are not the same thing.
Weapons only need to be made of hard enough materials, have high enough sharpness, and have good enough psionic energy conduction efficiency.
The requirements for battle armor are much more complex, including defensive capabilities, psionic amplification, environmental adaptability, self-repairing, and matching with the wearer's psionic wavelength.
The number of S-class battle armors in the entire Great Xia Dynasty is far less than the number of S-class weapons.
Of course, the system shop has S-class battle armor; he'd seen the prices.
The cheapest set costs 5 million kill points, the set with psionic amplification costs 8 million, and the set with self-repair function costs 10 million.
Those with full environmental adaptability and stealth features start at twelve million.
The most kill points he's ever accumulated is only a few million, not even enough to buy the cheapest S-class armor.
Now Da Xia is giving him a set directly, saving him the trouble.
Song Chen thought about it for a long time.
Three rewards: Honorary Councilor, 200 billion in cash plus a permanent 30% return, and an S-class battle armor.
Any one of these points alone would be enough to tempt a sixth-tier grandmaster.
All three combined are merely a reward that the Great Xia Dynasty gives to a fourth-tier martial artist.
"Very generous."
"Teacher, is this related to you?"
He spoke calmly. With his current strength, he was certainly among the top of the younger generation in the entire Great Xia Dynasty. However, in the eyes of the highest levels of the Great Xia Dynasty, a fourth-level martial artist was not qualified for the council to offer such conditions.
While the value of the Source Spirit Fragment is immense, if the discoverer is an ordinary fourth-tier martial artist without any background, the reward will most likely be a "one-time bonus plus an honorary title," rather than "an honorary councilor plus permanent profit sharing plus an S-grade battle armor."
The council is not rewarding a fourth-tier martial artist; it is rewarding Zhou Wangyue's personal disciple.
Or rather, the parliament was sending a signal to Zhou Wangyue himself by rewarding his direct disciples.
"Thanks, teacher."
Two words, spoken very softly.
Zhou Wangyue waved his hand: "You're overthinking it. With your talent, you don't need me at all."
Song Chen felt that she hadn't thought too much about it.
Then he stood up straight.
"The matter of the Earth Dragon King is not over yet."
"I can find it."
"I can now capture spiritual traces that have remained for no more than ninety days. The spiritual traces left by the Earth Dragon King on the cave wall are still very clear, and I have memorized its spiritual characteristics."
"Teacher, let's go."
Zhou Wangyue pulled out the S-class battle sword, Dark Night.
"lead the way."
Song Chen steadied himself and opened his all-seeing eye.
The S-class mental ability was instantly deployed at maximum power.
Deep within his pupils, a layer of golden patterns lit up, revealing all traces of spirit within a radius of a thousand meters.
What the Earth Dragon King left behind in the ruins, what the strange beasts left behind, what Xie Yunqing left behind, what Zhou Wangyue left behind, what he himself left behind...
The spiritual traces of different individuals appear as threads of different colors in the vision of the Eye of Truth, densely interwoven in the air.
The traces of the Earth Dragon King's spirit were dark gold, very faint, but extremely distinctive.
The spiritual power of a fifth-tier peak beast king carries a natural sense of oppression, and even in its residual state, it is completely different from other alien beasts.
Song Chen followed the dark gold thread southeastward.
Zhou Wangyue followed behind him.
The two moved at high speed through the wilderness, with Song Chen in front, his Eye of Truth continuously locking onto the remaining spiritual trajectory of the Earth Dragon King.
The Earth Dragon King moves entirely underground, digging its way through rock strata, leaving no trace on the surface.
However, spiritual traces are not completely shielded by the rock strata; every so often, a trace will seep up from the ground, like the footprints left by prey on the snow.