Chapter 80.1

The Dragon Has Descended (1)

There were no stars in the sky and the thick black clouds piled overhead that became torn by the wind, turning into strange shadows in the night sky.

Shi An walked alone in the darkness.

The darkness was all around him and the young man's dark eyes glittered with light.

He seemed to know exactly where he was going next, and his pace was swift and steady without hesitation.

"My lord! My lord-"

A faint shout came from behind.

Shi An's pace faltered and he turned his head to look behind him.

He saw Black Smoke floating in the air with the demon insect and the Eye was running behind them on two short legs, shouting, "My lord! Wait for me!"

Shi An: "..."

This scene is truly bizarre.

Soon, the three demons caught up with him.

"My lord, why did you suddenly rush out without saying anything?" The demon insect broke free from Black Smoke and fluttered its wings to land on Shi An's shoulder, asking worriedly.

Shi An was stunned. "Don't you guys feel it?"

The three demonic creatures looked at each other blankly. "..."

The demon insect hesitated for a moment, asking in return. "Feel what?"

The scent of darkness, accompanied by a whisper from far away, was faint but unmistakable.

Shi An thought for a moment and struggled to describe it.

"... It's very fragrant."

It was a bit like an abyssal rift but didn't quite seem like it.

At that moment, the Eye suddenly cried out, "Ah! It seems that there really is!"

The demon insect whispered, "Tch, you only know how to climb the pole."

The Eye snorted. "I used to be the Eye of the Abyss. No creatures in the world are more sensitive to the abyssal rift than me. I think you're just being jealous!"

It looked at Shi An and solemnly said, "It seems there is an abyssal rift nearby here, but the scent is faint because it has only been generated recently. Even I have just sensed it now."

Shi An was slightly surprised.

After losing his power and being confined to human form, although he c ould still sense the scent of the abyss, he was far less sensitive than the abyssal species that initially came from there. But this time...

It seemed to be the other way around.

He turned his head and looked thoughtfully in the direction from which the scent was coming from.

The demon insect asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Shi An shook his head, scooped up the three demonic creatures, and put them in his pocket, saying, "Let's go and take a look."

The dark and cold aura became more distinct the further he went.

Shi An swallowed unconsciously.

Finally, he came to the source of the scent.

Shi An stopped and looked into the darkness before him.

A narrow fissure stretched out before him not far away.

As the Eye had said, this abyssal rift had not long been formed, not wide or deep enough, with blurred edges, and only overlapping with the mainland, with just a hint of an inconspicuous scent flowing from it.

Shi An paused, bent down, and picked up a dark stone from the edge of the abyssal rift.

The surface was smooth and as black as eternal night as if no trace of light could be reflected.

This was a mine from the... abyss.

Not quite a gemstone, but it contained pure dark power, the same type as the one Shi Rui had placed at his bedside earlier.

Although it was indeed possible for such a stone to appear in an abyssal rift that had completed its growth, but to appear on the periphery of such an abyssal rift...?

The possibility was probably unlikely.

Most likely, then, it was placed here by someone.

It was also likely that such an induction had summoned the rift in front of him.

But... that was not the first thing Shi An thought of.

For him, who had once been in his prime, these stones did not affect his growth in strength like pouring a cup of water into the ocean. It would not bring any change, but the scent would still make him feel very comfortable, so Shi An had once moved quite a few of these mineral deposits to his cave for decoration.

After several previous encounters and seeing these stones in front of him, Shi An's first thought was...

Could these things be his?

Shi An slightly narrowed his eyes.

He recalled his last encounter with those brazen human thieves in the Aiwen District and slowly tightened his fingers slightly.

And more importantly...

Could the thieves have taken something else if the ores were indeed his?

Shi An's eyes went cold.

"Crack!"

The stones crumbled into powder between the young man's slender white fingers, fluttering down, and were swallowed by the darkness.

The three demonic creatures cowered in silence, almost subconsciously shrinking away from Shi An's direction.

Although the lord dragon usually seemed easy-going and lazy as if he were very chill about everything, he would become highly terrifying if anyone touched his Achilles' heel.

For example, right now.

Although they didn't know what was happening, the aura on Shi An's body became extremely frightening and at such a close distance, they could barely breathe.

Shi An lightly patted the stone crumbs between his fingers and walked toward the abyssal rift.

The darkness swallowed the young man's slender figure in the rift.

In that instant, the initially narrow and blurred rift suddenly split wider.

A clearer and more distinct wave of magic escaped from it.