Exploring Far from the Continent's Northwest Corner
Two days!
It took Tang Zheng two full days to leave the active volcano area and reach the outer region.
"Gulp~ Gulp~"
Tang Zheng, dressed in black clothes with bound hands and feet and a generally loose fit, sat on the sand as if no one else was around, gulping down water from his water bag.
This is the suit he usually wears, except he's not wearing a white Priest's robe over it.
"Phew~"
After taking several large gulps, Tang Zheng finally exhaled, raised his head, and looked at the boundless Gobi Desert before him.
The temperature was high, the air was dry, and the ground was covered with brownish-gray gravel. Looking up, all you could see was uneven landform eroded by the wind, and there wasn't a single decent plant in sight.
There are only sparse, low shrubs and some Immortal- like plants.
"Is this the region connected to by the natural Gate deep within the Magma Sea of the ' Lava Zone '?" Tang Zheng muttered to himself after a long silence, his expression grave and strange.
In the Lava Zone, facing the magic unleashed by the Ancient Red Dragon, Tang Zheng knew he couldn't stop it and could only rely on the little fish that the Sun Anglerfish had accidentally brought out of the lava.
After forcibly crushing it to death, I used some of the materials on its body to activate the "Wild Shape" ability, thus avoiding the scorching heat of the magma.
Tang Zheng entered the magma and discovered that the Ancient Red Dragon had entered the magma precisely to use the energy within it to heal its injuries.
And the Sun Anglerfish, as the "Lava Dominator," actually allowed the Ancient Red Dragon to heal itself on its own territory...
They realized something was wrong, since they were still on the other side's territory.
Tang Zheng's magic power was exhausted, and in the brief but intense battle, the [Valkyrie]'s skills were also depleted. He could only choose to temporarily avoid the attack and planned to dive into the depths of the magma.
His plan was to restore his magic power while evading the search of the Sun Anglerfish and the Ancient Red Dragon!
As a result, deep within the magma, he was inexplicably sucked in by a suction force. When Tang Zheng emerged from the magma, he had already arrived at this area.
"So this godforsaken place isn't already far away from the northwest corner of the continent inhabited by humans, is it?" Tang Zheng gripped the water bag in his hand, his eyes gleaming.
He was quite certain that there was no such large volcanic cluster in the area inhabited by humans.
In addition!
The exact location of the Magic Mark that was originally left on the Twin Witches could no longer be detected.
If the power of magic is related to the base value of the magic attack, then the effect of magic is related to the Caster Level.
Tang Zheng's Arcane System Caster Level, combined with the newly acquired [Warlock] Basic Class, has reached 50, which is equivalent to being able to use Eighth-Tier Arcane System spells.
The Caster Level of this level couldn't sense the location of the Magic Mark indicates that the distance between them is far enough.
Tang Zheng flipped his hand and took out a roasted wild boar leg from the Item Box, then began to eat it in large bites.
He always carried enough food with him in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
"Now we have two options."
Tang Zheng's cheeks puffed out slightly as he chewed the wild boar meat, a thoughtful expression on his face.
The first option is to wait until the magic is fully restored, and then use the "Wild Shape" ability to return to the Azerlisia Mountains via the natural Gate deep within the lava.
He has confirmed the time; seven days have passed since he left, which is not a long time.
The reason he was able to determine the number of days was actually thanks to the fact that his own magic recovery speed was too slow; it wasn't difficult to deduce the time from the magic recovery time.
The second option is to take the opportunity to explore this unknown area, which, it must be said, is a rather risky undertaking.
Unknown continental lands represent completely unknown risks, completely unknown intelligence, and completely unknown enemies.
Whoosh!
In the sky, a black-gray eagle with wingspans a meter long began to swoop down rapidly, flying towards Tang Zheng's direction.
As they approached Tang Zheng...
The eagle folded its wings, its body twisted in mid-air, rapidly expanded into Barghest, and then fell to the ground.
Bang!
The Barghest, with its four paws on the ground, excitedly ran to Tang Zheng and nuzzled his shoulder with its head.
"Thanks a lot."
Tang Zheng smiled, raised his hand and patted the Barghest's head, then took out a wild boar leg from the prop shell and tossed it to the Barghest.
Yesterday, he had already resurrected the Barghest with Resurrection Magic and re-established a connection with it using "Partner Contract I".
The Barghest's transformation into a hawk was naturally achieved through the power of the Partner Contract I, allowing it to use Tang Zheng's skill, "Wild Shape."
He had just sent out his Barghest, which had transformed into a hawk, to scout out the surroundings, but the result was not ideal.
Obviously!
Both options have been chosen.
Tang Zheng could also sense some of what the Barghest observed from the air through his Partner Contract I. This Gobi desert was far larger and more uninhabited than he had imagined.
So far, Tang Zheng has not seen a single living being.
A moment later.
The man and the wolf had finished resting.
"A maximum of one month for exploration."
Tang Zheng flipped over and straddled the Barghest, squinted his eyes, and patted the Barghest's neck.
Being able to reach this mysterious and unknown area by using the Magma Sea in the Lava Zone is a remarkable discovery.
There is so much information and intelligence to gather. It would be a pity to give up such a unique channel, but given his current situation, he cannot devote too much time to it.
If those two Twin Witches don't appear before us for a month, things might get complicated.
"Awooo!" The Barghest growled and immediately sprang into action, heading in the exact opposite direction from the volcanic area.
Night gradually fell.
Darkness rapidly enveloped the barren Gobi Desert.
The Barghest lay wearily beside Tang Zheng, chewing on a thick bone as a snack for dinner to gnaw on.
I'm reading the original article!
This little habit originated from Tang Zheng feeding the Barghest Goblin corpses.
"Still no creatures found. Could this be some extremely remote corner of the continent?"
Tang Zheng sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning against the soft, Barghest, lost in thought.
Of course, not necessarily.
Based on the limited information I had in my previous life, this continent was extremely vast. The northwest corner inhabited by humans was even smaller than a small area ruled by some countries in the center of the continent.
Given the vast area, it's normal to find some sparsely populated areas. The exploration continued for the next two days without any results.
Until the evening of the third day.
Sand!
Rustle!
"Roar." The Barghest bared its sharp teeth on its lower limbs, staring at the sand ahead.
Mounds of sand, rising up one after another, were rapidly converging on this side from the sand ahead, as if something was attacking from beneath the desert.
Faced with this sudden situation,
A smile appeared on Tang Zheng's somewhat dry face, "It's good that there are living things."
After several days of exploration, he had not encountered a single living creature, making him doubt whether this area was truly a barren wasteland.
To gather intelligence, one must communicate with intelligent beings, but we haven't even encountered a single living creature, let alone an intelligent one.
Puff! Puff!
An explosion occurred in the sand ahead, sending large amounts of sand flying into the air and forming a yellow sand curtain that obscured the view.
Gray, hooked, brownish-gray tails shot out from the exploding sand, swiftly lunging at Tang Zheng and the Barghest.
"A scorpion-like monster."
Tang Zheng glanced at it, an iron sword appeared in his hand, he took a step forward and swung his wrist.
With a casual slash, all the incoming hooks were easily severed.
Severed scorpion tails lay writhing on the ground, oozing purplish-red, foul-smelling blood from their wounds.
"Hiss--"
"Hiss--"
"..."
A painful hissing sound came from underground, followed by several Desert Scorpion, each about a meter long, emerging from the sand.
Before the Desert Scorpion could even make a move to attack...
Tang Zheng moved his feet and charged into the scorpions. He casually swung his iron sword, easily shattering their hard, brownish-brown shells.
Experience gained: 421
Experience gained: 387
Experience gained: 405
"..."
[Experience Bar: 108632/120000]
Tang Zheng killed all five Desert Scorpion in the blink of an eye.
"The intensity isn't high; it should be around level eleven or twelve," Tang Zheng quickly analyzed after seeing the Experience Points he had gained on the panel.
He chose to use physical attacks instead of magic, naturally to avoid the noise that magic would cause.
(End of this chapter)