Ding, Congratulations on discovering new area : Dragon’s den
Description : The sleeping place of a powerful true dragon, its mana fluctuations will disturb the Qi flow of cultivators, killing anyone who hasn’t attained immortality.
Danger rating : 5 stars
Reward : 1000pts
Jolted back to reality by the system's sharp notification, Avery recoiled from the abyss that surrounded him. A chill coursed through him as his back met a frigid, unyielding surface. His breath hung in the still, warm air as his adjusting eyes discerned a pair of towering obsidian walls looming over him like colossal sentinels, stretching impossibly into the gray void above.
As if pressed down by the monolithic slabs, his attention fell to the velvety abyss beneath his feet, a surface so eerily slick that he felt the need to confirm its existence with an apprehensive brush of his hand. Coldness seeping through his skin, his fingers trailed hesitantly over the perfectly even plane of frigid darkness he was standing on.
Turning his head to escape the three walls of darkness that seemed to press in on him, creating a narrow corridor, he gazed into the hazy mist of gray inhabiting the endless span of this silent chasm.
Despite the obvious lack of light sources, an inexplicable ambient light still allowed him to easily see the light blue motifs adorning the end of his sleeves, their appearance disconcertingly incongruous to this colorless land.
This visibility offered no comfort, for there was nothing to hide the unfathomable depth of this realm of muted grays and looming shadows. Mysterious fog, like ethereal strands, divided the pair of unbroken lines etched by the titanic walls, etching a path to the infinite unknown.
It added an eerie depth to the chasm, distorting any sense of scale and leaving Avery feeling like an insignificant speck in a vast, incomprehensible universe. His mind struggled to comprehend the scale of the place that surrounded him, the sheer vastness of the chasm that extended out on each side of him.
The silence in this desolate place was palpable, broken only by the soft echo of his own breathing and the panicked beating of his heart. The stillness hung heavy, wrapping around him like a suffocating shroud that seemed to echo his own fear back at him.
It was as if he stood on the edge of an ancient secret, a place untouched by time and teeming with untold mysteries.
As he stood there, paralyzed by the overwhelming sense of isolation, a chill crawled up his spine as he considered the possibility that he might be the only living soul in this bizarre, otherworldly expanse.
Avery's gaze returned to the walls, which somehow bore the shadow of gargantuan scales. Despite the lack of evidence, the idea clawed at the edges of his sanity, implying he was standing in between the scales of a presence so colossal it was incomprehensible.
With sheer willpower, he tore his focus away from useless speculations, for once choosing action. Faced with only two directions to choose from, he picked one and stepped forward, hoping to find the exit to this silent abyss.
Initially, he carefully scrutinized the surroundings for any signs of an escape route, but gradually the dead silent atmosphere and unchanging scenery numbed him.
He had no way of knowing how long he had been wandering in this noiseless land, only continuing on, refusing to think about anything, where he was, how he got here, whose fault it was, all the things he could have done better... No, there was no point contemplating that. It was much better he walked mindlessly, one step at a time, each one identical to the previous one, hypnotized by the stillness and serenity of this quiet void. He fell deeper and deeper into a trance, all his worries and fears fading to the back of his mind, as there was only one thing to do. Walking, walking, and walking, one step at a time, again and again.
His stomach growled, his tired body the only reminder of the passage of time. The surroundings offered no solace, an endless stretch of sameness that taunted him with its monotony. Nothing to occupy his mind, not even a boulder or some loose rocks, and nothing to satiate his hunger. What living being, be it plant or animal, was able to survive in this desolate land?
More pressing even than his hunger, it was thirst which snapped him out of his reverie, that persistent ache in his throat that refused to go away no matter how much he swallowed. He licked his dry lips, feeling like a century old mummy as the world suddenly snapped back into focus, feeling more real than ever. All of his suppressed worries and regrets came crashing down on him, along with a mounting panic. Lost in a desolate wasteland, on the verge of death, and the only thing he had thought to do was walking aimlessly? Stupid! None of this would have happened if he had used his brain!
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Avery shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. It was no use dwelling on what he should have done differently. He needed to focus on the present, on surviving. Surveying his barren surroundings once more, It was abundantly clear there was no food or water to be found in this featureless environment. His only hope lay with the system, and it's long forgotten shopping tab.
It was not without reason he had failed to consider this option sooner. Despite boasting an extensive catalogue of thousands of spiritual treasures, the system did not offer a single mortal item. The cheapest food-like product he could find was a low-tier spiritual flower, probably meant to be used in an alchemical concoction of some kind, priced at 250 points. It was fortunate the system had awarded him 1000 points for discovering this territory, but that would only last four plants, and he didn't know how nourishing they would be. Besides, the cheapest water he could find was called “heavy water”, and it cost 5500 points, way outside of his price range, not to mention it probably wasn’t drinkable.
Reminding himself of the novels he had read, he searched for Bigu pills, alchemy products which could feed cultivators for multiple days. It existed, but was once again too expensive, at 1500 points.
Growing worried again, he grit his teeth and bought the spiritual flower, hoping it would contain enough moisture to sustain until a better option presented itself.
No sooner had he selected the blue icon did a small herb materialized in front of him, hovering about a meter off the ground. He eagerly approached his hope survival, his hand trembling with anticipation as he reached to take it, when it all went wrong. Suddenly, the plant twisted and contorted in on itself, withering away to nothing in a matter of seconds.
All that was left was a cloud of ash, leaving Avery staring at the spot where the herb had been, fighting a sense of frustration and helplessness. What had just happened? Had the plant been cursed? Was it some kind of trap?
“What was that? Are you trying to kill me?”
The only reply to his surprised yelps were the lonely echoes resounding throughout the silent chasm, his unintelligent system being unable to defend itself.
It took a lot of effort to to steady his breathing, refusing to let his fear overcome him, but once calm, it quickly dawned on him what had happened - the system had warned him that the power of the dragon was deadly to nearby cultivators, and the plant was clearly magical.
A shiver ran down his spine as he imagined the worst-case scenario. What if he had ingested the plant before he realized the danger? The thought alone was enough to make his stomach churn.
Not taking into account the consequences of a plant exploding in his body, what would have happened had he absorbed some spiritual energy eating it? He had heard of cultivators accelerating their Qi circulations this way, but here the dragon's power was extremely hostile to Qi.
Avery froze, suddenly thankful for his lack of cultivation. Were he to possess any spiritual energy, he might be nothing but ash by now... Forget about purchasing a flying technique or escape method, cultivating here was out of the question. As long as he remained under the dragon's influence, he was stuck in his current, vulnerable mortal state. Admittedly, all this would hardly matter if he failed to feed himself and stay alive long enough to practice in the first place.
Pushing his ruined plans for an uncertain future aside, Avery refocused on the system. While confirming it wasn’t malicious quelled his paranoia, it also changed his views on the situation.
When he was mysteriously transported to this world or when he was stranded in this somber place, Avery didn’t freak out. This wasn’t because he was extraordinarily strong willed or had an unwaveringly optimistic view on life. Rather, he subconsciously believed his system to be infallible. When he saw the top tier magical exercises in the system mall, he felt that he only needed to go through the motions to eventually achieve invincibility.
It was only now, when he needed it the most, that Avery realized the system was just a tool. There was no denying it was an incredibly powerful one, and it was probably his only chance out of this predicament, but it was still just a tool, and it was Avery’s job to use it properly.
Avery warned himself not to expect everything would magically go his way, and that he needed to fight for survival. Gritting his teeth, he sat down, did his best to ignore the terror he felt, and began to properly study the system. Instead of getting discouraged by the crazy prices of items or getting overly excited and rushing to complete a quest like he had done in the sect, he took the time to slowly comb through all available options.
It took a few hours during which his hunger got worse, but when he was certain he hadn't missed anything, he became solemn.
If he was understanding the system’s notification correctly, if he wanted to buy an item to help his escape, it needed to be at least an immortal item to withstand the dragon's power. However, the highest level item of the system was Mahayana, and even then it showed a locked symbol, with no price tag attached to it. For now he could only hope that higher level items would show themselves if he had enough points, and that it was not tied to quests or his cultivation realm.
At least he had found a way to survive. Although eating the system's products or finding food in the area wasn't possible, he found he could buy time warps, a consumable that could perfectly restore his body to the state it was one hour ago. This was without a doubt meant to be used to heal crippling wounds, but he saw no reason it would not also resolve his thirst and hunger.
The item was obviously meant to be absurdly expensive, with its price rising exponentially in accordance with the pricing formula (2^small cultivation level). This meant that at the ninth layer of Qi gathering it would cost 2^9=512 points, which was half the reward he got for discovering this highly dangerous place meant for immortals.
Fortunately, Avery was still mortal, so the item cost 2^0, or 1 pt. This meant he could buy 750 of them, and survive 31 days without worrying about food and water.
Avery was tempted to spend those 31 days searching for an unlikely way out, but if his theory was correct and he truly was standing on the back of a giant dragon, he doubted a month would be enough to escape. He would most likely be better off investing a portion of his points into kickstarting a point-making venture.