Yefutidaolu

Chapter 298 Are you... special?
Two hours later, in the deep pit dug by the mouse.

Gao Jian looked up at the sky.

"Wow...it must have taken several days to dig this far. Even for someone at the seventh level, it wouldn't be that easy to dig something like this."

This enormous cave, so vast in area, has rock walls that converge at an extremely high angle in the void, stretching ever onward toward a dome that is invisible to the naked eye.

The yellowish-brown rock walls fold and overlap, and some protruding rock veins gleam with a metallic sheen in the dim light seeping through the cracks. Those are the giant waves of the earth's veins during their movement, slices of the earth's veins.

As the gaze climbs vertically, the abyss-like dome, illuminated by these faint lights, reveals gaps stretching for miles, while the farthest reaches are completely dissolved in the chaotic, earthy yellow darkness. Some kind of liquid reflection flickers intermittently between the rock walls more than a mile high, likely the remnants of an underground river slowly flowing through the stony marrow.

The vibrations in the air are strangely prolonged here, and the occasional sound of falling water droplets takes several breaths to completely dissipate.

The underground cavern, covering a full four or five miles, could easily hold a small town, but now it's filled with far too many things; you could even say it's 'full'.

And all of this must have been prepared by Shu Jian long ago.

"That's right. I knew you were going to steal it. I was afraid your escape route would be cut off, so I prepared a hiding place here in advance. But... what is your escape route? I don't know. What were you going to do if I hadn't come?"

“I also found a cave where I can hide, and these supplies can be stored there, but it’s definitely not as good as this place. The caves I found are all natural caves, which can only be used for temporary storage, and there is also a risk of exposure. They are also farther away than this place,” Gao Jian said with a smile.

"That's good if it helps. I've got this sorted out. I'm going to pack up and see how much money you actually robbed... As for Dan Sha, you can go ask him yourself." Mouse waved his hand and jumped onto the pile of supplies.

To be honest, he dug such a big hole, but I didn't expect that Gao Jian's looted stuff would fill this place. He must have something special.

Meanwhile, Takami sat down next to Tansa.

"Thank you. I didn't expect you could grow so big. You didn't even have to run twice; you brought them all back in one go. The transformation technique of a true dragon... is truly amazing. It's a pity I don't understand the principle behind it." Gao Jian patted Dan Sha on the shoulder.

Her shoulders were particularly small, and she looked like an ordinary, delicate young girl with only a few scales on her body. But just now, her body... was enough to lift up things that would take all the giant beasts combined to carry, and she carried them all back in one go.

How terrifying! The body of a true dragon, Dan Sha's small body contains brute force far exceeding that of Gao Jian, but she doesn't usually use it, instead relying on dragon thunder and sea fire in battle.

However, such brute force seems to be linked to body size. The innate supernatural power of a true dragon to change size is not simply a change in body shape or an illusion, but a change in its very essence.

Ordinary transformation techniques, such as conjuring up muscles or changing one's appearance, are all illusions. They are fake and do not produce real changes; the power will not change.

The power of the true dragon's transformation lies precisely in this: they can grow larger or smaller, and the essence of their physical body is constantly changing. Their volume seems to appear out of thin air or shrink out of thin air. Correspondingly, the larger their physical body, the greater their power will be. They can even use this transformation to heal their injuries and diseases.

For example, if a true dragon that is five zhang long suffers an extremely serious penetrating wound and is severely injured, then when it grows larger, the wound will not enlarge proportionally, but will remain the same. Soon... the penetrating wound will become a superficial wound, and will not affect the dragon's movement at all.

Moreover, this enlargement also corresponds to an increase in actual volume, actual weight, and load capacity; it is a complete and realistic scaling up.

This kind of magnification doesn't involve proportionally enlarging internal organs, muscle tissue, or anything like that... For example, insects can survive when they are small, but when they are proportionally enlarged, their bodies will break down because their body structure is not adapted to the large size and cannot withstand the pressure and heat dissipation brought by the huge size. After all, the pressure that the two bodies experience is different, and the same structure may not be effective.

But a true dragon is different.

Their physical structure will also change accordingly, from a form as small as a mustard seed or a tiny insect to a terrifying dragon body as large as a mountain range. Their body structure will change naturally, and the composition of their flesh will also change. From the fine structure of muscle cells and blood to the number of bones, the supporting shape of the bones, and even the shape of the internal organs, everything will be completely changed to fully adapt to their body size and ensure that they can survive on their own and will not commit suicide due to the change in form.

In other words, this ability of a true dragon to "become large or small," though seemingly simple, is actually an extremely terrifying innate supernatural power. This transformation technique is something that even the most advanced transformation techniques of the Divine Dynasty cannot match.

Fortunately, this transformation is not without its weaknesses. There is a limit to how big or small a true dragon can grow, and that limit is determined by the dragon's cultivation level. It is said that when the Dragon King of the East Sea was in the sea, his body could be thousands of miles long and several miles wide. When he floated in the sky, no one could tell what he was.

Therefore, there is a saying, "The dragon appears only in the head, but not in the tail," which refers to this kind of enormous dragon. You can see its head, but you can't see its tail even if you look as far as you can. Moreover... when the dragon takes flight, it will be covered by dark clouds. As the saying goes, "Clouds follow the dragon." When this kind of dragon takes flight, dark clouds like a "super hurricane" will appear, completely covering its body.

What is the concept of a super hurricane? It's a huge swirling cloud that can be seen from outer space, covering thousands of kilometers, and the torrential rain it causes can sweep across an entire state.

This super hurricane is actually a sign of the 'Dragon King's Travel'.

The Dragon King's procession is imposing.

Of course, Dansha could not possibly achieve the feat of the Dragon King's pilgrimage, but just now, Dansha also demonstrated its limit. With a dragon body ten miles long and corresponding dark clouds, the dragon carried all the supplies back here.

Gao Jianzhen was very curious about this. He examined it with a rusty knife and learned the mystery of 'univariate change'. He understood that the true dragons were changing under a specific 'univariate' law, so no matter how big or small they became, they followed the same law. However, he could not understand this law.

Completely baffled, I couldn't help but sigh upon seeing these things.

However, after hearing this, Dansha looked up and asked Takami, "Is this all you wanted to tell me?"

"Um...no, let's get down to business. I was just...a little excited just now," Gao Jian said, then he stood up. "Dansha, want to go for a walk with me?"

"Sure." Dansha nodded immediately, even showing some enthusiasm, but she quickly regained her composure.

I can't be happy.

Being happy now would make her seem incompetent, and her previous performance had already given her away too much; she couldn't afford to continue like this. Seeing Dansha's expression, Shushu rubbed her forehead and said to Gaojian, "Then you two go ahead. I won't say anything, but I remember there are still many things here. Dansha doesn't understand things, but Gaojian, you should understand, right?"

"Alright, I understand, Elder Shu. We'll be back in a bit!" Gao Jian waved his hand, took Dan Sha with him, and quietly walked out of the cave and came outside.

For the two of them, location didn't really matter whether they were well-hidden or not, because they had powerful backers. Dansha had the help of Lord Jingjiang to cover up his tracks, while Gaojian was backed by Li Zoufang. So, as long as they concealed their whereabouts and aura, they didn't have to worry about anyone being able to find them in Liangzhou.

You definitely can't be this reckless in the capital. In the capital, everyone with high status keeps a low profile.

Liangzhou is, after all, a remote and impoverished place, and it is a place that produces martial artists. Most of the high-level cultivators are also martial artists, and their methods are limited. To put it bluntly... Gao Jian's level of magic is among the best in the Imperial Academy of the Capital, and he can easily handle it in Liangzhou. So he has no worries about these things.

The supplies have already been moved over, which means the deal is done.

What he's paying attention to right now is actually cinnabar.

As always, Gao Jian rode Dan Sha, the true dragon concealing its aura and using clouds to cover its form. Before long, they arrived at a village.

In villages where people live together, their presence can be better concealed.

So, the cinnabar quietly fell onto the loess slope near the village, transformed into a human form, and sat there with Gao Jian, its two eyes blinking as it stared at Gao Jian.

To be honest, what Takami couldn't forget about Tansha was actually those eyes. Those colorful golden pupils were truly unforgettable and incredibly beautiful.

However, Gao Jian only glanced at it before turning his gaze to the distant village.

This is also a common village in the Divine Dynasty, mainly engaged in agriculture and cultivating spiritual materials.

In such places, naturally, medicinal herbs adapted to the local climate are planted. This village mainly grows two kinds of medicinal herbs: Cistanche deserticola and Cynomorium songaricum.

Cistanche deserticola is extremely cold-resistant and drought-resistant. It has a sweet and slightly warm taste and can replenish essence and blood. It can treat the five types of fatigue and seven types of injury, replenish the middle jiao, remove cold and heat pain in the stem, nourish the five internal organs, strengthen yin, benefit essence and qi, and produce many children. Long-term use can make one feel light.

This medicinal material grows in the Hexi and Liangzhou regions. It is harvested on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and dried in the shade. It is said to be born from the spirit of a wild horse. When it is raw, it resembles flesh, hence the name Rou Cong Rong (Cistanche deserticola).

As for Suojinyang, it has the effects of being sweet and warm, invigorating yang and replenishing essence, moisturizing dryness and relieving constipation, strengthening bones and nourishing tendons, and treating weakness. Moreover, it can absorb the metal energy from the earth and condense metal objects in the seeds. The most common is iron sand, but occasionally there will be gold sand, and even some higher-level spiritual materials may appear. These need to be screened, but these should be left to the lower-level immortal sects of the Divine Dynasty to handle.

These spiritual seed materials were specially cultivated by agricultural cultivators of the Divine Dynasty, based on the geographical characteristics of Liangzhou, and then sent here for farmers to cultivate. After they matured, they were distributed to the cultivator class of the Divine Dynasty.

On the loess slopes of the spiritual material plantation, many people were carrying large buckets of water on their shoulders and in their hands. This was water for farming, and even though they were extremely thirsty, they dared not drink too much. They were very careful when putting the water down. When they turned back, their hands were empty. All around were rice paddies with straight ridges. There were thousands of people everywhere, carrying full water tanks and fertilizer for cultivation. They walked up the slope in long, unbroken lines, with no end in sight. Their only tools were their bare arms, hanging down on their shoulders.

Exhausted, thirsty.

The water tanks were issued by the imperial court for use by the spirit materials; they were not allowed to drink from them, otherwise they would be imprisoned.

Gao Jian and Dan Sha looked at the scene without saying a word. Gao Jian seemed to be immersed in the scenery of the yellow earth before him, while Dan Sha chose to remain silent so as not to disturb him.

As time passed, the footsteps of people going back and forth on the slope gradually quickened as the day drew to a close.

In this atmosphere, the air felt heavy on our shoulders.

Dansha looked at Gao Jian, then at the sky, then at the mortals below, and then back at Gao Jian. She seemed somewhat anxious, but couldn't show it, so she was stuck there, and she seemed a little uncomfortable...

As she stared intently at Takashi, Dansha clearly saw that his gaze was not directed at her; Takashi was looking at the people below.

After a long while, she finally said, "You... called me up here because you wanted to tell me something, didn't you? Why have you been staring at them? What's so interesting about them?"

Gao Jian's expression didn't change much. He simply pointed down and said, "Dan Sha, when we were in Cangzhou, I showed you the changes in the people of the outer city, and I showed you the changes in Cangzhou after the Zuo family was gone. Your attitude was the same as it is now. You don't really care about them, do you?"

"Hmm." Dansha nodded: "I don't understand much about the human race, but... the law of nature, survival of the fittest, is how things should be."

"Heavenly Evolution? It's... quite suitable for a true dragon, but I think if that's the case, then this world would be too cold." Takami shook his head.

Dansha's tone was a little anxious, but she still suppressed her breathing and said, "So what? What does it have to do with us? Besides, didn't I help them too? Aren't you satisfied with this?"

Dansha couldn't understand. She cared more about Gaojian, so what? Was that a mistake? Isn't it natural to care about the people you like? Besides, she hadn't done anything that Gaojian particularly disliked, had she?
She just couldn't understand what Gao Jian was struggling with. If he didn't like her, he should just say so. Dan Sha didn't think she had to be hung up on him.

And now things have turned out this way, so inexplicably, that she even spoke with a hint of anger.

But Gao Jian finally withdrew his gaze at this moment. He turned to Dan Sha and asked, "Dan Sha, do you think... you are special?"

Happy Children's Day! Wishing you a peaceful and healthy Dragon Boat Festival!

(It's a new month again, please vote for me!)

(End of this chapter)