Chapter Thirty-Five: An Unexpected Gain and the Relentless Hunter

Under the healing waves cast by the Lucky Egg, the wounds of the Great Jaw Dragon began to improve. Su Yi took out some medicinal salve and approached the beast. The mafia boss, as he was called, moved with diminished vigor, showing clear wariness and reluctance toward Su Yi. The Great Hyena Dragon beside them let out a low growl, as if warning the other not to be so ungrateful.

Without further words, Su Yi swiftly sprayed the medicinal salve onto the Great Jaw Dragon’s injuries. The creature’s massive body, coupled with the size of the wounds from its battles, meant that simply treating the injuries consumed several bottles of Su Yi’s medicine.

With its wounds tended, the Great Jaw Dragon’s demeanor softened considerably. Su Yi understood that monsters living in the Valley of Miasma rarely had good tempers; he did not expect the beast to instantly accept him or obey his commands. He could only hope for gradual understanding.

Thus, Su Yi left the Great Jaw Dragon where it was and continued tending to the wounds of the Great Hyena Dragon and the Scavenger Bird. The bird’s injuries were relatively mild; a spray of medicine and some herbal feed would suffice, leaving the rest to its own recovery. But the Great Hyena Dragon’s wounds were far more severe—torn by sharp teeth and sliced by brutal claws, the lacerations reached deep into the muscle.

Looking at this companion, who had fought so fiercely for him, Su Yi felt a pang of sorrow. “You fool, couldn’t you dodge when it bit you?” Su Yi chided, his hands carefully applying medicine to the wounds. The Great Hyena Dragon whined softly, as though saying, “If I hadn’t, I couldn't have held it back.”

Half an hour passed. Su Yi finally finished treating his companions and began tending to his own injuries. “Lucky,” he called. The Lucky Egg assisted him with the wounds on his back—bruised and battered, barely a patch of skin left unscathed.

Gazing at the bandages covering his body, Su Yi forced a bitter smile. “I don’t even know how I managed to survive the fall into the Valley of Miasma.” He wondered if he’d somehow gained the constitution of a hunter.

Now that he had time, Su Yi began to recall the details of his descent. After the cliff wall fractured, opening a fissure leading to the valley, he slid down along the rocks, battered by stones along the way, and eventually lost consciousness. It seemed the fissure didn’t lead straight down but rather twisted and turned, cushioning his fall and sparing him from instant death—a stroke of luck or fate.

“Aibo, were you hurt during the fall?” Su Yi asked.

“I’m fine, meow. I’m smaller, so I had enough space to move around in the fissure, meow. I didn’t tumble down; I slid little by little, meow. But watching you slip uncontrollably, I was really worried, meow,” Dewgrass recalled.

“Phew, as long as you’re alright.” Su Yi let out a breath and began to ponder his next steps.

Now, he faced two choices: continue exploring and establish a camp here for future visits, or abandon exploration and proceed with his original plan to visit the Great Ant Mound Wasteland.

If he chose the first option, he would have to painstakingly carve out a foothold in the Valley of Miasma under harsh conditions, unable to leave at will. The golden finger’s teleportation mechanism required either a camp or teleporting from where he stood. If he left the valley before establishing a camp, the teleport point would vanish, and next time he might have to enter from some unknown location.

In the game, it was only after the arrival of the Elder Dragon of the Volcano that hunters could traverse the road to the Coral Highlands and the Valley of Miasma. Next time, who knew if he could find a safe route into the valley?

Moreover, if Su Yi chose to continue exploring, he had to be prepared to temporarily forgo the resources of the Ancient Forest. Until the camp was built, he couldn’t teleport to the seaside camp in the Ancient Forest, or he’d lose the teleport point to the valley.

“Let’s explore first, look for materials to build a camp. Though it’s dangerous here, there might be unexpected rewards,” Su Yi decided.

If he could find a path to the Coral Highlands, so much the better.

Roars echoed through the Valley of Miasma, chilling and unsettling. The Great Jaw Dragon sprang upright, head raised in alert, listening intently. The sound wasn’t far from Su Yi’s current location.

“One of those calls sounds like the Brutal Claw Dragon,” Su Yi noted.

“What’s the other sound? I’m curious but also a bit scared,” he admitted, torn.

His companions were all injured and couldn’t take more punishment. He didn’t want to get caught in trouble while watching from afar.

“Better to be cautious,” he said, taking out food from his [Item] pouch, filling his stomach, and settling down to rest.

......

The Valley of Miasma was shrouded in perpetual darkness, making it impossible to tell the time or weather outside. The constant miasma, the dim environment, and the limited visibility, combined with tangled rocks and piles of bones, made the place dizzying and disorienting.

Led by the barely obedient Great Jaw Dragon, Su Yi arrived at a heap of corpses.

“There are corpses of Fragrant Wing Dragons,” Su Yi quickly identified the materials he needed among the bodies.

These Fragrant Wing Dragon corpses had all fallen from the Coral Highlands above. Su Yi and Dewgrass worked together, stripping the skins from those whose bodies hadn’t decayed too badly.

The dragonhide was the main material for making tents—tanned, it was waterproof, moisture-resistant, tough, and warm.

With a rush of wind, another corpse tumbled down from the upper Coral Highlands through the large hollow above.

“Su Yi, meow! Something big just fell, meow,” Dewgrass pointed out the huge shadow that had landed.

“Whoa! It’s the corpse of a Wind Drifter Dragon!” Su Yi turned and saw the massive body of a flying dragon species.

He approached to examine one of the top predators of the Coral Highlands. The Wind Drifter Dragon’s body was not as large as he’d imagined; its wing membranes were covered in torn wounds, and deep claw marks marred its flesh, some reaching the bone.

“Hm? Spines? No, these are venom spines. In the Coral Highlands, only the female Rathian subspecies—the Cherry Rathian—uses venom spines,” Su Yi observed.

Clearly, this was a newly matured Wind Drifter Dragon, killed by the poisonous grasp of the Cherry Rathian.

The two species were competitors, often fighting over territory and food, so such battles were common. The Wind Drifter Dragon, still young, had been snuffed out by the Cherry Rathian before it could become a rival.

“Well, I suppose I’ve lucked out. Despite the damage, there’s enough material here,” Su Yi rubbed his hands together, taking out his skinning knife to begin.

Suddenly!

A strange roar burst from the Great Jaw Dragon. Nearby Jaw Dragons quickly gathered, forming a protective ring around their leader.

“What’s wrong?” Su Yi immediately stood up to look.

The Great Jaw Dragon growled warily toward a certain spot, where, through the thick miasma, a dark red figure approached, emitting a soft, whining sniff.

“You again!?”