The Serpent-Elephant Dragon's Eggs

A dark green dragon, exuding a ferocious aura, paced slowly through the valley. It was over twenty meters long and more than ten meters tall. Its body was as thick and heavy as an elephant's—far larger, of course—while its neck stretched out like a massive serpent's, a full eight or nine meters in length. Its head resembled a snake's as well, save for an exceptionally sharp single horn. Its tail was equally terrifying, shaped like a giant lizard's and spanning ten meters.

Elephantine body, serpentine head—its entire frame was covered in dark green scales that gleamed with a cold, forbidding light, making it look both sinister and savage. The unique baleful aura of a primordial beast filled the valley, keeping all birds and beasts from daring to approach.

This was the legendary Serpent-Elephant Dragon! Though it could not rival such fierce dragons as the Tyrant Dragon or the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon, it was more than a match for a Sacred Light Dragon. But on this sealed Dragon Island, the great divine abilities of legend could not manifest upon it; its bestial nature outweighed its sacred nature. Still, with its formidable physique and its wild, tyrannical draconic strength, losing its powers mattered little. It could no longer attack at range, but in close combat it remained the equal of a demigod. Without a cultivator who had reached the demigod realm, no one could harm it in the slightest.

At the center of the valley, a long-destroyed grove of trees had been crudely shaped into a dragon's nest. From a distance, several brilliantly green dragon eggs were visible within the nest! The eggs were as translucent as emerald jade, shining with a dazzling light, wreathed in green radiance that made the place blaze with divine splendor.

Xiao Chen and the three skeletons stood on the cliff wall at one side of the valley, able to see everything clearly within. The Serpent-Elephant Dragon had actually laid several dragon eggs. The issue was not the number of eggs, but the timing. Legend said that the Ancestral Dragon and the Companion Dragons were about to appear, and who could say that among the Serpent-Elephant Dragon's offspring, one might not become such a being?

"Boom… Boom… Boom…"

The valley trembled as the Serpent-Elephant Dragon trudged heavily toward the exit. After some time, the mournful cry of a wild elephant came from the forest. Not long after, the dragon dragged back the corpse of a giant elephant, crouched down in the valley, and began to feed.

The scene was bloody, hard to watch. Close by lay a great pile of white bones—the remains of beasts it had hunted and devoured.

The savage dragon was utterly merciless. In a short span of time, it had torn the giant elephant apart and consumed it clean. Seeming unsatisfied, it shook its massive, ferocious body and headed out of the valley once more.

At the same time, Xiao Chen noticed Yan Qingcheng, Rand, and seven or eight other cultivators, drawn by the colossal dragon's roar, watching from the forest outside the valley. They appeared to be trying to determine if there were young dragons in the valley.

Xiao Chen began communicating with the three skeletons, though it mostly involved him moving his lips and gesturing with his hands—he couldn't hear their voices.

"Go down this cliff and bring back one egg each."

"Click-clack, click-clack…" The three skeletons worked their jaws in confusion.

"Those luminous, translucent things radiating divine light," Xiao Chen said, pointing at the dragon eggs in the nest.

…

When asked to steal the dragon eggs, the three skeletons were extremely reluctant. They seemed to know well that the Serpent-Elephant Dragon was not to be trifled with. But in the end, they were persuaded by Xiao Chen and nimbly climbed down the cliff. Xiao Chen watched the valley entrance nervously, acting as their lookout. Last time the three skeletons had forced him to dig up the sacred sapling; now they were even.

Qin Guangwang and the others moved with incredible speed, leaving three trails of white light as they shot toward the nest in an instant. Without any hesitation, each skeleton grabbed a millstone-sized, jade-green dragon egg and fled like thieves caught in the act.

"Roar…" A furious bellow came from the distant forest. The Serpent-Elephant Dragon seemed to have finished killing its prey.

Xiao Chen watched with tense anxiety from the cliff. The three skeletons, including the Wheel King, moved as though their tails were on fire, pushing their speed to the limit. Fortunately, the valley was less than a square kilometer, not very large. The three white streaks rushed to the base of the rock wall in no time.

The skeletons possessed immense strength. Carrying the enormous eggs with one hand each, they scrambled up the cliff with astonishing speed. Just as they reached the top, heavy rumbling came from the valley entrance. The ground trembled slightly as the baleful Serpent-Elephant Dragon returned, dragging a five-or-six-meter-long dead tiger behind it.

The three skeletons seemed to be still shaken by the close call. Qin Guangwang even patted his chest in a very human display of relief—hardly like a skeleton at all, but rather like a being with rich emotions.

Though the Serpent-Elephant Dragon and the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon differed greatly in size, their eggs were of similar dimensions, both about the size of millstones. The brilliant light of the eggs illuminated the plants atop the cliff. Their shells were as translucent and lustrous as pure emerald, and a halo of colored light drifted slowly through the forest—an indescribably wondrous sight.

Xiao Chen ordered the three skeletons to move the eggs deeper into the forest, lest the Serpent-Elephant Dragon below spot the radiance. This was an unexpected and delightful surprise.

The Serpent-Elephant Dragon had already devoured most of the tiger, but it seemed to sense something amiss. It prowled back toward its nest with extreme vigilance. Suddenly, an earth-shaking roar erupted from within the valley—a terrifying dragon cry that soared straight into the clouds.

Of the five jade-green dragon eggs, only two remained. The Serpent-Elephant Dragon went completely berserk. It sprinted once around the valley, shaking the ground with every step, then let out a howl of absolute fury and charged madly out of the valley.

Chaos erupted outside the valley. The Serpent-Elephant Dragon had already burst into the primeval forest. Wherever it passed, trees snapped, branches flew, and thousands of beasts fled in terror. The Serpent-Elephant Dragon was rarely this enraged. It was the overlord of this territory, and now all the birds and beasts—including many savage creatures—scattered in panic.

Several cultivators who had been searching for Companion Dragons nearby and peering into the valley felt like cursing. How had this happened? Who had provoked the Serpent-Elephant Dragon? Could there really be a young Dragon King inside the valley? Had someone sneaked in to kidnap the little Dragon King and been discovered by this ferocious beast?

Now they had no time to think. They could only flee for their lives. They wished they could sprout wings. This Serpent-Elephant Dragon was too terrifying—it crushed everything in its path, a giant engine of slaughter.

Yan Qingcheng and Rand were also caught in the chaos. Even they could not remain calm. Besides the rampaging dragon, the area was filled with other terrified beasts, putting them both in great danger. They too joined the stampede of fleeing creatures.