touchnovel Chapter 330: Chaotic Poison Dragon City
Chapter 330: Chaotic Poison Dragon City
RUMBLE RUMBLE.
The wheels rolled over the muddy road, carving deep ruts into the earth.
The horses, possessing the blood of Magic Beasts, unleashed incredible strength, pulling the heavy carriage at a frantic pace over the bumpy road.
Li Wei lifted the curtain and peered outside.
They had reached the southern part of the Nanzhe Kingdom.
The landscape was a panorama of uninhabited forests, vast lakes, and torrential rivers.
ROAR!
The roar of a Magic Beast echoed from the distance, shaking the very forest.
It sent a large flock of birds scattering in panic.
After a while, Li Wei noticed that the vegetation around them had thinned out considerably.
The plant life grew increasingly sparse until it was hard to find any at all.
Evelyn glanced outside. "We’re almost at the Poison Dragon Cave," she said.
Half an hour later, the carriage began to slow.
Li Wei heard a hubbub of voices up ahead. Peering out, he saw a small city nestled at the foot of a barren mountain.
Though the city was small, it was bustling with people coming and going.
It was the closest city to the Poison Dragon Cave.
It was a settlement established by the Extraordinary Professionals who came to explore and hunt for treasure.
The Extraordinary Professionals who explored the Poison Dragon Cave used it as a place to resupply and trade.
Though the Poison Dragon Cave was incredibly dangerous, it also produced countless treasures.
After the death of the Wind Poison Dragon, its virulent poison spawned countless venomous insects and toxic mists.
The Dragon Blood also nourished countless Dragon Blood Plants and Dragon Blood Creatures.
Although they were all toxic, they were also rare and valuable treasures.
Finding just one Dragon Blood Plant could earn a fortune.
This was why, despite knowing the extreme danger, everyone was still so keen to explore the Poison Dragon Cave.
Countless legends of instant riches had been born from the Poison Dragon Cave.
The three of them disembarked outside the city, where Evelyn handed the carriage over to someone waiting to meet them.
She had come to Poison Dragon City before and purchased some property here.
She had even left staff stationed here.
Evelyn said, "Before we enter the Poison Dragon Cave, we need to buy some Protective Talismans here in Poison Dragon City."
Li Wei looked confused. "Protective Talismans?"
Evelyn explained, "They’re sachets developed by the Alchemists in Poison Dragon City. They can repel most of the venomous insects in the Poison Dragon Cave and protect the wearer from the pervasive miasma and toxic fogs."
"The Protective Talismans have a limited duration. Once activated, a single talisman lasts for seven days at most. We each need to prepare at least three."
Li Wei didn’t understand. "Why not just use a Magic Shield?" he asked.
Evelyn replied, "Constantly maintaining a Magic Shield consumes Mana. We can’t keep one active indefinitely. If we ran into danger, we might not have enough Mana to deal with it."
Li Wei said nothing.
Instead, he cast a spell on Evelyn, enveloping her in Invisible Armor.
A flash of magical light enveloped Evelyn.
She paused, stunned for a moment. Reaching out, she touched the Invisible Armor around her body, her expression one of surprise.
"This is a Magic Shield?"
Li Wei nodded. "It’s the Invisibility Armor Spell. It lasts for a very long time, so you don’t have to worry about Mana consumption at all."
A look of delight flashed in Evelyn’s eyes.
"It’s that amazing? It seems I was definitely right to bring you along!"
"Still, just to be safe, we should buy some Protective Talismans to carry with us."
Since Evelyn insisted on buying the Protective Talismans, Li Wei didn’t object.
Li Wei turned to cast the spell on Lilith.
Lilith said, "I don’t need it."
Seeing this, Li Wei lowered his hand.
The three of them entered Poison Dragon City.
Everyone on the streets was an Extraordinary Professional.
There were almost no ordinary people to be seen.
The Poison Dragon Cave was too dangerous.
Even though Poison Dragon City was built outside the cave, it was still fraught with danger for ordinary people.
A stray venomous insect crawling about could be fatal to an ordinary person.
The ubiquitous poisonous plants could also be lethal.
"Proprietor, we’ll take nine of your highest-level Protective Talismans," Evelyn said.
"Fifty Gold Coins for each Purple Protective Talisman. That’ll be four hundred and fifty Gold Coins in total," the proprietor quoted.
Only after Evelyn paid did the proprietor take out nine Purple Protective Talismans and hand them over.
Poison Dragon City was not a city recognized by the Human Empire.
As such, order here was extremely chaotic.
Even legitimate businesses ran the risk of being robbed.
Strength was the only thing that mattered.
The founders of Poison Dragon City did their best to maintain order, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once.
And the City Lord of Poison Dragon City couldn’t be expected to intervene in every trivial squabble.
If you were robbed, you just had to accept your bad luck.
Evelyn gave Li Wei and Lilith three Purple Protective Talismans each.
She pointed to the red string on the talismans. "Once you activate a Protective Talisman, its effect lasts for seven days at most, so be mindful of the time."
As she was teaching Li Wei and Lilith how to use the Protective Talismans, someone was secretly watching them from a short distance away.
’They bought nine Purple Protective Talismans at once, and didn’t even blink when paying.’
’So much money!’
’Two women and a young man, none of them looked very old. Soft-skinned and green.’
’They didn’t look strong at all.’
’This meant they were looking at three "fat lambs."’
The city’s miscreants had already set their sights on the trio.
With their Protective Talismans in hand, Li Wei and his companions left Poison Dragon City and headed for the Poison Dragon Cave.
Li Wei looked into the distance and asked, "Where is the Poison Dragon Cave?"
He saw many people leaving Poison Dragon City to explore the Poison Dragon Cave.
However, when he scanned the horizon, he could barely see anyone.
’Where did they all go?’
Evelyn explained, "The Poison Dragon Cave is underground. It’s a massive system of subterranean caves."
"We’re here. The entrance to the Poison Dragon Cave is just ahead."
Evelyn said to Li Wei, looking up and into the distance.
Following her gaze, Li Wei saw a massive, dark maw in the earth, leading deep underground.
It looked like the entrance to the Underworld.
The trio made their way through a field of jagged boulders.
Suddenly, a whistling sound cut through the air.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Li Wei looked up and saw a large net falling from the sky.
Green, toxic mist spewed out from behind the surrounding boulders.
Evelyn, however, did not panic.
She had expected this.
She had run into the same thing the last time she was here.
This field of boulders was the only path to the Poison Dragon Cave.
It was also the perfect spot for an ambush.
Bandits loved ambushing travelers in this maze of rocks.
For one, the complex terrain made it easy to hide.
For another, travelers likely hadn’t activated their Protective Talismans yet, since they hadn’t entered the Poison Dragon Cave.
This meant that things like toxic mist and knockout drugs would be effective.
Once the Protective Talismans were activated, ordinary toxic mists would be useless.
It would severely limit their methods of attack.
Evelyn’s figure vanished, leaving only a few flower petals drifting in the air.
Li Wei turned his head to see that Lilith had also vanished.
A dark silhouette appeared on a nearby rock.
The large net descended upon Li Wei.
In the end, he was the only one left beneath it.