104. The Underground Palace of Changbai

“Still a bit hungry? What would you like to eat?” Chen Fengyun sensed the little creature wanted more food. After some thought, he produced a large watermelon from his miniature cave-world.

The tiny dinosaur jumped up, plunged its claws directly into the watermelon, splitting it into several pieces, then scooped one up and started eating—rind, seeds, and all—devouring it with relish.

After finishing, the little dinosaur chirped at Chen Fengyun. Hearing its calls, Chen Fengyun’s expression shifted; it seemed the little dinosaur was telling him it knew of a place where treasures were hidden.

“Lead the way, then. I’ll follow you,” Chen Fengyun said quickly.

The dinosaur grew excited and scurried to the corner of the cave, waving its foreclaws and digging as if something precious lay buried there.

“Step aside, let me handle this.” Chen Fengyun asked the dinosaur to move, summoned his flying sword, and widened the hole with ease, slicing through stone as if it were tofu, then continued digging forward.

After digging through two or three meters of rock, the space suddenly opened up—a few stones tumbled down with muffled thuds. To his surprise, not far from the original cave, there was another hidden chamber.

This area also had protective wards, which explained why Chen Fengyun’s spiritual sense hadn’t detected anything unusual before; he’d assumed there was nothing beyond the existing cave.

“Let’s go see,” Chen Fengyun said, leading the dinosaur inside.

He found another cavern, larger than the first, furnished with stone tables, stools, and beds—perhaps once the secluded refuge of an ancient cultivator.

Yet, as his spiritual sense swept through, he found no artifacts left by cultivators, only some stalactites in the corner, from which drops of liquid occasionally dripped.

“Wait, these aren’t ordinary stalactites—they exude a rich fragrance. Perhaps this is what the little dinosaur was seeking.”

Chen Fengyun saw the dinosaur already drinking beneath the stalactites. Upon closer inspection, he realized the liquid was formed from earth’s vital energy, drawn through a formation—likely beneficial to the dinosaur.

Indeed, half an hour later, the little dinosaur had drunk the entire pool dry, and its size had grown to about one and a half meters tall, nearly three meters long.

“How am I supposed to take you out like this? Can you shrink a bit?” Chen Fengyun asked, troubled by the dinosaur’s new size.

To his astonishment, the dinosaur nodded repeatedly and began to shrink, its body contracting until it was barely over ten centimeters tall and twenty or thirty centimeters long—about the size of a small Pekingese dog.

“Haha, that’s much better! From now on, I’ll call you Earth Dragon,” Chen Fengyun laughed, picking up the little creature and bestowing upon it a commanding name.

Afterwards, Chen Fengyun took Earth Dragon and left the underground chamber, destroying the earth-vein formation used for its incubation. Only the surrounding wards remained, preserving the landscape and protecting the two underground abodes from earthquakes.

“Earth Dragon, remember this: without my permission, you must not harm humans.” On the way home, Chen Fengyun solemnly cautioned his companion.

He had suddenly realized that this creature was a real dinosaur—if provoked, it could transform and cause untold disaster. Better to warn it in advance not to harm humans without his consent.

Though newly hatched, Earth Dragon possessed remarkable intelligence. It whimpered twice and nodded, showing it understood.

“Son, where did you pick up this little dog? Is it dirty?” When they arrived home, his parents returned from their walk and were surprised to find Chen Fengyun carrying Earth Dragon. They knew he wasn’t fond of animals, which was why the family had never kept pets.

With Earth Dragon’s body shrunk, it appeared to be a small dog, barely over ten centimeters tall and half a meter long, though its tail was noticeably different from a typical dog.

“Mom, Dad, I found it on the street. It seems to have an affinity with me—after meeting me, it wouldn’t leave, so I brought it home. I’ve named it Earth Dragon,” Chen Fengyun said with a smile.

Of course, he didn’t tell his parents the truth. If they knew Earth Dragon was actually a dinosaur, capable of growing as tall as a two-story building, they’d probably be scared out of their wits.

“Earth Dragon, behave yourself and remember to use the bathroom for your needs, or we’ll have to throw you out,” his mother said. Though the little dog looked odd, she didn’t object since her son seemed fond of it.

“Don’t worry, Mom. Earth Dragon is very intelligent—you can ask it to do anything. Earth Dragon, remember these are my parents. Aside from me, they’re the ones you must obey first. You must follow their instructions unconditionally, understand?” Chen Fengyun instructed immediately.

He then taught Earth Dragon how to use the bathroom, and the little creature exceeded expectations—not only clever, but remarkably obedient.

As soon as Chen Fengyun finished, Earth Dragon trotted over to Chen Zhian and Zhou Chunfeng, circled them, sniffed them, memorizing their scent, then ran into the bathroom and settled by the toilet to take care of its business, astonishing Chen Fengyun’s parents.

“Earth Dragon is adorable—truly clever,” his mother declared, instantly growing fond of the creature.

“What breed is this dog, anyway? What does it like to eat?” his father wondered, focusing on its breed and diet.

“I’m not sure what breed it is, but it feels special. We don’t need to prepare anything special for it—just feed it whatever we eat,” Chen Fengyun replied.

From the next day, his parents began taking Earth Dragon along on their evening walks. Upon returning, they excitedly told Chen Fengyun that the other dogs they encountered seemed afraid of Earth Dragon.

A few days later, while walking by the river, they met a large dog over a meter and a half tall. Earth Dragon let out a single roar, frightening the dog so badly it wet itself on the spot.

On August 8th, just after finishing his cultivation, Chen Fengyun received a call from Feng Tianbao: “Mr. Chen, Thirteenth Uncle asked us to inform you about something. Are you interested in joining us?”

“Old Feng, what is it? Go ahead,” Chen Fengyun replied.

“A certain ancient underground palace in the Changbai Mountains is about to open. Our branch has tracked and probed this site for decades—it may be connected to the sects of ancient cultivators. Our leader of the southern branch, Chu Tianjie, disappeared over ten years ago after entering this palace, so we’ve kept people monitoring the northern branch’s movements ever since.

Now, word has come that the northern branch is preparing to enter the palace en masse, and it seems the palace is about to open. Our southern branch will participate fully in this contest with the north.

Originally, Thirteenth Uncle was supposed to lead us, but he’s currently abroad. He asked us to inform you—if you’re willing, you can join us, and we hope you’ll look after us as well.”