Chapter 49: The Hidden Cavern and the Red Water Dragon

We raced along the small river, swiftly reaching our destination: the river’s source, the very entrance to the underground world.

Water gushed from a large fissure beneath the mountain wall, a remarkably concealed opening blanketed by thick bushes and wild weeds.

The current was not overly swift, and ample space remained above the water’s surface.

“I’ll go first; be careful.”

Yingning was the first to wade into the water, and I followed closely behind her.

The fissure was so narrow that we had to squeeze sideways to pass through; only after navigating dozens of meters did the space finally begin to widen around us.

The cave was pitch black, with only the gurgling sound of flowing water audible; I crouched down, felt for a pebble, and imbued it with a Holy Light Blessing, causing a faint glow to immediately flicker within the cave.

I repeated the process with several more stones, and the cave’s interior became considerably brighter, allowing us to clearly discern its features.

Upon seeing it, Yingning and I were both stunned into silence.

The cavern was vast, strewn with countless colorful crystal ores, as abundant as roadside gravel, that shimmered with an opulent luster as the light source in my hand illuminated them.

“My heavens… these are all magic crystal ores!” Yingning swallowed hard in shock.

“Gray is Tier 1, white is Tier 2, green is Tier 3, blue is Tier 4, purple is Tier 5… My God! There are Tier 5 magic crystal ores here! We’re rich!”

“As expected, this is the true, thinly veiled purpose of those so-called ‘explorers’!”

“Did you truly believe anyone would be so kind as to forgo prime leveling time during the server’s opening, risking their lives simply to draw maps for other players?”

“Hmph… maps are merely a byproduct; their real objective lies here! It’s the bounty of pioneering a new world! In these untouched, player-free regions, who knows how many such places exist, all filled with unclaimed resources!”

I swept my bangs back, my face alight with the smug satisfaction of having seen through the truth; however, to Yingning, this merely appeared as a proud, yet secretly praise-seeking, expression.

“Yes, yes, yes… I’ll buy you some high-quality fox treats when we get back.”

Yingning ruffled my head affectionately.

To prevent myself from slipping into a strange state, I quickly pulled away and continued, “However, the harder a place is to reach, the richer its rewards… The reason for such abundant rewards here is precisely because the entrance is so well hidden. Alright, we can’t take these ores with us right now, so let’s quickly go see what Sword Sweeping the World and their group are actually up to.”

“You have a point… But it’s impossible to tell north from south, east from west here; how will we find the right path?”

Yingning gazed, her brow furrowed with worry, at the surrounding openings that branched out in all directions like a honeycomb.

“Hm-hm~ It’s time for me to shine again, isn’t it!”

I carefully wrapped my tail around my waist, then stretched my limbs.

“Prepare to dive. Stay close to me, very close! If you swim even half a meter off course, you could be swept by the surging undercurrents into the main channel of the underground river, thousands of meters beneath the surface! You might even be trapped down there for the rest of your life!”

However…

Before entering the water, I glanced back at the cavern, adorned with countless precious magic crystal ores.

‘It truly is spacious here…’

****

“Boss! The BOSS is nearly at half health!”

“Watch out for its half-health counterattack!” The man in the sea-blue mage’s robe fixed his gaze intently on the colossal creature in the center of the basin.

A Half-Dragon!

A horned-lizard sub-dragon species: the Red Water Dragon!

It was a sub-dragon BOSS!

Its body, a fiery crimson like flames, was covered in slick, gleaming skin; it possessed a pointed, triangular head crowned with sharp bone horns, enormous, fiery-red bat wings spanning over ten meters, and a height that dwarfed a two-story building!

While this non-humanoid BOSS wouldn’t drop many rare items, its status as a dragon subspecies guaranteed an immense amount of experience for the killing party!

If their guild’s main elite team landed the final blow, even though countless ordinary players had perished in the attempt, leading to heavy losses, the elite team would instantly soar in power, leaping into the top hundred, perhaps even the top ten, of the entire server’s leveling ranks!

Once the elite team took off, the minor losses sustained by the ordinary players would quickly be recouped! A top-ranked elite team could, after all, generate more value than tens of thousands of ordinary players combined! For instance, a single divine artifact acquired by them could be worth more than a lifetime of effort from countless ‘salted fish’ players (TL Note: A Chinese slang term referring to players who are inactive, unmotivated, or simply casual and don’t strive for high achievements).

“Half health!”

“All melee, fall back a hundred meters! Healer Group Two, stand thirty meters back and remotely heal only the main Tank! Hold out against the half-health counterattack before approaching again!”