Reincarnated as a Tabby Cat: Daily Life with the School Beauty Empress

Chapter 56 Dragon Valley

"The Royal Family has considered this," Murong Qingfeng said, "but risks and opportunities go hand in hand. Dragon Valley may hold the legacy of the ancient dragon race; whoever finds it first gets it. The Royal Family's idea is for us to go and scout the situation first. If the teleportation array does indeed exist, then we will notify the other three great empires to take joint action."

To put it bluntly, it's about taking advantage first, then discussing cooperation. This has always been the nature of power struggles between empires.

"When do we set off?" Su Qianxue asked.

"Now."

Murong Qingfeng patted the short sword at his waist.

"This mission has the highest level of secrecy. We won't go through the academy's main gate, nor the mission hall, and we won't leave any travel records. I know about your last attempt to ambush us." She glanced at Su Qianxue. "That won't happen this time. I'm here."

Su Qianxue nodded.

A peak tenth-tier martial artist, a twin master. Murong Qingfeng's strength is undeniable; with her leading the team, the safety factor is at least several orders of magnitude higher than last time.

"After completing this task, you won't need to take on any more regular academy missions. The credits and merits from SSR-level missions will be enough for you until graduation."

Upon hearing this, Murong Hui's eyes lit up: "So, I don't need to run errands anymore?"

"After this trip, that's all."

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Murong Hui couldn't wait any longer.

Murong Qingfeng led the two through a narrow alley behind the training ground, making several turns, until they arrived at a standalone building at the deepest part of the academy.

The walls were gray stone, with no windows, only an iron door. A hidden royal emblem was engraved on the door.

Murong Qingfeng took out a token and stuck it on the door, and the iron gate opened silently.

Inside was a spacious, circular hall. An extremely complex teleportation array was carved into the floor, with its patterns spreading outwards from the center, covering the entire floor.

"The Academy's secret teleportation array." Murong Qingfeng walked to the center of the array. "Only those with a royal token can activate it. The destination has been set: the eastern edge of Dragon Valley, about three hundred miles from the core area."

Su Qianxue and Murong Hui stood inside the magic circle.

Yichen also became interested.

Dragon Valley. A place of great danger. Sixth and seventh-tier beasts roam freely, eighth and ninth-tier beasts are commonplace, tenth-tier beasts are not uncommon, and there are even Immortal Realm level beasts.

He swallowed hard.

[Cat Lord is currently at Emperor-level Rank 8—which, in Dragon Valley, is only considered below average. Is he really going to go to this wretched place?]

The teleportation array lit up. White light surged from beneath their feet, engulfing the three people.

Space distorted for a moment, and all that could be seen was a white band of light.

Three seconds later, the light dissipated.

The feel underfoot had changed. It wasn't the stone paving of the college floor anymore, but rough rocks and cracked soil.

The wind changed too. It carried a strong smell of sulfur and some indescribable fishy odor, the unique scent of the dragon race.

Su Qianxue opened her eyes.

Mountains.

Endless mountains.

The mountain peaks soared into the clouds, the shortest being at least a thousand feet high. Their bodies were made of dark red rock, as if scorched from the inside by something.

Between the mountains are bottomless canyons, filled with swirling gray-white mist that rises continuously from below, obscuring everything at the bottom.

A dragon's roar could be heard in the distance.

Deep and lingering, it emanated from the depths of the mist, echoing through the canyon, becoming rich and desolate. As soon as one sound ended, another rose, one after another, like several giant beasts conversing across the void.

The three stood halfway up a mountain peak, their feet resting on a protruding rock platform. The faint glow of the teleportation array had dissipated, leaving only a dim ring of array patterns on the ground, which also disappeared a few seconds later.

Su Qianxue glanced around.

As far as the eye could see, all that could be seen was desolation and wilderness.

There were no traces of human construction, no roads, and no signs of civilization.

Grayish-green vines grew on the mountainside, and from the crevices in the rocks at their roots, clusters of glowing minerals—spirit stones—peeked out. They were of high quality; a single piece could fetch several hundred spirit stone coins in the capital's market.

This stuff is everywhere in Dragon Valley, and nobody dares to collect it.

"Below is the main valley passage of Dragon Valley." Murong Qingfeng stood on the edge of the rock platform, looking down at the mist below. "From here to the core area, the straight-line distance is three hundred li. But the valley passage is winding, so the actual distance is at least twice as long."

She turned to look at the two of them: "Stay in combat mode, for the entire duration."

Su Qianxue gripped the staff tightly, channeling her spiritual energy into it, causing the crescent-shaped staff head to glow with a faint golden light.

Murong Hui drew the Crimson Flame Sword, and fire-elemental inscriptions flowed across its blade.

Yichen jumped from Su Qianxue's arms onto her shoulder, his emerald green cat eyes scanning the surroundings.

[Nervous. But also excited; I've lived two lives and never been to a place like this before.]

He turned his ears around twice, trying to catch the sounds in the wind.

The sound of the dragon's roar sometimes came from afar, sometimes from near.

Heavy thuds occasionally echoed from below the mist, like some large creature walking at the bottom of the canyon, its footsteps causing the rock walls to resonate.

Murong Qingfeng didn't say much, and flipped her right hand over. A cyan contract array unfolded in her palm, and a huge figure flew out from the array.

Azure Dragon.

Its entire body was covered in blue scales, its horns were like swords, its whiskers fluttered, and its body length exceeded thirty meters. The aura of a peak tenth-tier being spread out, causing the air within a radius of a hundred meters to tremble.

Over the past two months, Su Qianxue and Murong Hui had seen the Azure Dragon several times during their cultivation, but each time they saw it, they were still overwhelmed by its sheer size.

The Azure Dragon circled once and landed on the mountain wall next to the rock platform. Its huge claws gripped the rocks, and its head lowered, its two golden dragon eyes sweeping over Su Qianxue and Murong Hui.

"Get on." Murong Qingfeng leaped onto the dragon's back first.

The two jumped up. There were natural grooves between the scales on the dragon's back, making it very stable to step on.

Yichen squatted on Su Qianxue's shoulder, looking up at the Qinglong's head, which was the size of a carriage.

[Good heavens, a peak tenth-tier Azure Dragon. The cat-master standing on its back is roughly the size of a peanut placed on a dining table.]

His tail tucked in.

Forget it, I'm not going to compete anymore. It'll hurt my pride.

The Azure Dragon flaps its wings.

The wind pressure made Su Qianxue's hair fly backward. The dragon's wingspan exceeded fifty meters, and each flap created a hurricane.

The rubble at the edge of the rock platform was swept away by the air currents whipped up by the dragon's wings and fell into the mist. It took a long time before the sound of impact could be heard.

The altitude is rising rapidly.

A few seconds later, the three of them burst out of the shadow of the mountain peak, and their field of vision suddenly opened up.

The entire panorama of Dragon Valley unfolded before their eyes.

It was so magnificent that it left people speechless.

The canyon stretches from east to west, winding and twisting like an infinitely long scar etched into the earth. The mountains on both sides rise and fall, with the highest peaks piercing the clouds, revealing only their summits, which reflect a dark red light in the sunlight.

The mist at the bottom of the valley was as thick as milk, obscuring everything. But the surface of the mist wasn't still; something was moving beneath it. Vast swathes of mist were being stirred by something enormous, creating ripples that spread outwards in concentric circles.

Su Qianxue's eyesight was better than most people's. She saw a faint glimmer of light reflected from scales flashing by in the thinner part of the mist.

Very big.

Very big.

"What's that?" Murong Hui also saw it and pointed to an area in the mist that was churning particularly violently.

"Subterranean Rock Dragons." Murong Qingfeng's voice was calm. "Ninth tier. There are at least six or seven in this area. They are very territorial and will attack any intruders they see. We'll fly from above, staying out of their territory."

Azure Dragon increased its flight altitude, maintaining its position above the mountain peak.

At this altitude, most of the strange beasts that inhabit the valley floor and mountainside cannot sense them.

But not all.

After flying for about fifty miles, a black shadow was moving on the top of a mountain to the right.

It was a dragon-like beast with a wingspan of over twenty meters, its entire body covered in black scales, and sharp bone spikes at the tips of its wings. It lay on a boulder atop the mountain, basking in the sun, its neck bent in an S-shape, seemingly dozing off.

The aura of the Azure Dragon passing by startled it.

The black dragon raised its head, its scarlet eyes fixed on them.

"An eighth-tier Dark Night Wyvern." Murong Qingfeng glanced at it. "Ignore it."

The Azure Dragon did not slow down and flew straight past. The dragon's might, at the peak of the tenth rank, emanated from its body, silently crushing past.

The dark dragon stared at the other dragon for a second, then shrank its neck and buried its head under its wings.

dare not move.

Yichen was dumbfounded.

[That's it? An eighth-tier beast cowers in fear? Is this the effect of Dragon's Might? Is the level difference really that overwhelming?]

He looked at his tiny body again.

If Cat Lord were this size, he'd be able to walk sideways wherever he goes. Unfortunately, he gets smaller and cuter with each evolution. What was the designer thinking when they designed Cat Lord's evolutionary path? Cotton?

Keep flying.

One hundred li, two hundred li.

Along the way, they encountered several ninth-tier exotic beasts, including rock-armored dragons climbing the mountain walls and wind-winged dragons circling above the canyon. Without exception, they were all suppressed by the aura of the Azure Dragon and kept their distance.

No one at the tenth rank dares to provoke them.

The journey has been smooth.

Three hundred li.

The Azure Dragon began to descend.

The terrain ahead changed. The canyon widened here, with the mountains on both sides receding outwards to reveal a relatively flat valley. In the center of the valley, there was a small hill, not very high, its dark gray color distinctly different from the surrounding dark red rocks.

There is a cave entrance halfway up the hill.

The cave entrance is an irregular oval shape, about ten meters high and eight meters wide. The cave walls are covered with dense dragon runes, so ancient that the edges of the runes have been weathered and blurred, but spiritual energy still flows within the remaining patterns, flickering faintly.

"The Demon Dragon Cave," Murong Qingfeng said.

Su Qianxue looked at the cave entrance, a slight chill creeping down her spine.

It wasn't fear, it was instinct.

In her past life as an empress, her intuition saved her countless times. Now, her intuition is telling her that something is wrong with this place.

But I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong.

"Before we get close, let's deal with the trouble on the way." Murong Qingfeng said before he finished speaking.

From the mist at the edge of the valley, a gigantic figure burst forth.

Jiaolong (蛟龙).

It was over forty meters long, entirely dark green, with a thin film of water-based spiritual energy covering its scales, and two whiskers that danced in the air. The aura of a tenth-tier being pressed down, and a large part of the mist was dispersed by its body.

It stood between the Azure Dragon and the Demon Dragon's Cave.

Two dragons confront each other.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur and moisture. The dragon's eyes were fixed on the azure dragon, a warning lurking in its pupils.

This area is its territory.

Murong Qingfeng stood on the back of the Azure Dragon, his face expressionless.

She neither made a move nor spoke.

Qinglong did everything for her.

The dragon's might at the peak of the tenth rank was released without reservation from the Azure Dragon's body.

In that instant, the entire valley fell silent.

The strange beasts climbing the distant mountain walls stopped moving, and the figures lurking in the nearby mist all retreated. Even the wind seemed to pause.

The dragon held out for three seconds.

The warning in the dragon's eyes turned into hesitation, and hesitation into retreat. It let out a low roar, lowered its head, and slowly retreated.

They retreated back into the fog.

The passage is open.

"Walk."

The Azure Dragon swooped down, carrying the three of them straight towards the Demon Dragon Cave.