Chapter 696: Chapter 696

Earth Dragon Canyon, this was Du You’s main goal this time. Or perhaps, from the start, this was the place that Du You intended to visit, with other Forbidden lands being mere detours along the way, conveniently dealt with as they came. Fresh chapters posted on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽

Yet, even Du You himself hadn’t expected that those places he previously didn’t put too much thought into, would end up benefiting him so much. The total yield was even greater than his original predictions for the entire journey.

But having reached this place, Du You still had to continue onward, to finish the final leg of his journey.

The so-called Earth Dragon Canyon was located within a large fissure in the earth. The fissure was located at the border of the Divine Flame Empire, while the empire on the other side had no intentions of occupying this place due to its difficult topography.

The number of magical beasts living within this canyon was immense, with the reigning king amongst them being the Earth Demon Dragon. This Earth Demon Dragon was not a true member of the Dragon Clan, but rather a breed with dragon lineage. True dragons, were a very powerful species in this world, ones that even an empire would hesitate to provoke.

These Earth Dragons, however, were a different matter. While they possessed a fraction of the dragon bloodline, their species was vastly different and although they were powerful, the Dragon Clan did not acknowledge them.

If it wasn’t for the unusual topography of this place, coupled with it being far from the imperial city and hence lacking in significant powers, Du You might not have been able to find this treasure trove. But as it stands, this place was a goldmine just waiting to be explored.

"Unlike regular Dragon Beasts that have valuable parts all over their body, this Earth Demon Dragon, apart from its horn made of good material, seems to have no other uses. Essentials that could be gotten from it resemble that of ordinary magical beasts."

"Then why are we visiting this place? It seems like although these Earth Demon Dragons are powerful, they aren’t many in number."

Du You explained, "There are two reasons. Firstly, these are Dragons, their drop rate is higher and they produce more of what we need. Even if they don’t drop equipment, the crystal coins we could get from the Earth Demon Dragons are the most- The second reason is the reputation gained by hunting an Earth Demon Dragon is good and brings considerable influence to our territory."

As such, Du You planned to increase the tier of his territory to forth soon. So all the preparations needed to be made in advance.

Once he gains his forth tier territory and assembles a forth-tier Army, his territory would then no longer be one that can be easily bullied, not even on this vast continent.

As everyone knows, even for the Divine Flame Empire, the strongest army has only forth-tier warriors and the number of such armies was quite scarce. So having such a team in one’s territory is enough to guarantee its security.

Even in the future, when he occupies the south and establishes a country, the Divine Flame Empire might even contemplate accepting it.

Looking at the giant fissure ahead of him, Du You was not in the mood to waste any time. Together with the two sisters, they descended, hunting down a group of magical beasts and animals just like they had previously, then releasing the Carnivorous Dark Beetles. As long as the numbers were substantial, Du You believed this entire canyon could be cleared out.

However, Du You encountered a strange phenomenon for the first time. "What’s going on? Where is this pressure coming from?"

Du You was bewildered, discovering when the numbers of his Carnivious Dark Beetles increased, a peculiar pressure suddenly filled the canyon. This pressure was not directed at him, but rather, at the beetles.

When the beetle swarm reached a certain threshold, the pressure finally surpassed the beetles’ tolerance. All of them exploded in an instance, turning into countless particles of the dark element.

In the face of this pressure, these dark elements were also rapidly dissipating.

"What a strange place. What is causing this, the terrain or something else?"

Du You’s countenance grew solemn, his mind a jumble.

"Could there be some hidden treasure here?" Lin Yushi suddenly proposed.

Lin Yucha shook her head in dismissal, "I don’t think so. If there was such a treasure, it would have been discovered long ago. I believe, it’s probably the Will of Heaven and Earth using the terrain here to suppress us."

Du You thought it through, there seemed to be some sense in that. In other worlds, professionals do tend to face some suppression. Although the Will of Heaven and Earth can’t act directly, it makes use of indirect means.

With the canyon’s unique geography, it was plausible for the Will of Heaven and Earth to suppress his swarm of Putrid Insect Mist. After all, this technique was rather terrifying, once it spreads, its destructive power could raise a calamity.

The main issue was that Du You’s territory had grown and flourished. As the territory increased, Earth’s erosion of this world was increasingly severe. In resistance, the World’s Spirit would definitely suppress Du You, the catalyst of the destruction. In the past, due to the lack of suitable terrain, it failed, but now the situation was different.

This innate suppression from the heavens and the earth made it impossible for Du You to effectively develop his Putrid Insect Mist.

"Forget it, let’s continue. Even though I can’t clear this valley on a large scale, this technique is still useful,"

Du You resumed his experiment, observing that his Carnivorous Dark Beetles would cause that pressure to erupt only when it reached a specified quantity, thus blowing past the critical point and causing all his beetles to be obliterated.

Before that, however, his beetles would have already cleared out a large area. So, henceforth, every time Du You and his sisters cleaned a specific distance, they would release the Putrid Insect Mist and move forward. As for the suppression by the force of Heaven and Earth, it was directed solely towards the beetles and not him.

Regardless of what the Will of Heaven And Earth wanted to achieve, it had to conform to its own laws; it wasn’t whimsical. As a result, the power of Heaven and Earth could not attack him directly, nor could it intensify this pressure. It could only rely on the unique environment of this place to stop his beetles from growing beyond a specific scale.

But that only slowed down Du You’s cleaning progress, in effect, the cleaning process was relatively fast. As he estimated the length of the canyon, Du You made a mental note, "With our pace, we’ll probably need a month to clean up the whole canyon."

The specifics would have to wait as things played out. As everything was calm on the territory end, Du You and the others were in no rush. It was just a month, so they decided to clear it as they moved on. They walked, paused fleetingly and the canyon’s cleared regions continued to expand in stretches. They would clean during the day and open the sphere at night, which was a good way to relax.

After a week of this rhythm, Du You finally had his first encounter with the Earth Demon Dragon he had been searching for.