After leaving the new continent, the research base followed the trajectory of the wind drift dragons, flying across the boundless sea for four full days.
Apart from the weather becoming increasingly cold, everything else seemed unchanged.
In the hall, almost everyone had donned winter clothing over their armor for warmth.
By the stone fireplace in the corner, the team was not only warming themselves but also roasting a few sweet potatoes.
Clang! Whoosh~ Whoosh~
The wooden door connecting to the observation platform was pushed open with force, and a gust of cold wind surged into the research base.
The young dragon-human scholar, covered in frost, gasped for breath several times before relaying the situation he had observed outside.
"Everyone... I've discovered a brand new continent!"
The crowd was stunned for a moment, then all of them ascended the spiral staircase, rushing towards the observation platform.
Outside the research base, a blizzard raged. Visibility in the dark sky was extremely low. Apart from the faint sight of a few wind drift dragons in flight, only a silhouette on the sea could be vaguely discerned.
Everyone took out their observation equipment and confirmed that a continent indeed existed before them.
"Could this be the Everfrost Tundra..."
Ni Zhen lowered his telescope and made a guess.
"Next, we should scout for a landing point."
Aiden said, walking to the railing with an eager expression.
"Don't be rash, Aiden."
Martha stepped forward to dissuade him.
"We've reviewed the scouting procedures countless times these past few days. There's nothing to hesitate about."
Aiden then looked at Li Fan.
"That's right, someone has to go ashore first."
Li Fan said, and he and Eudora moved to the railing.
Yudora swung out a wire from her Silkbind, securing herself and Dilu, then leaped into the air, dragging the wire and drifting forward against the biting wind.
Moments later, a dozen Wingdrakes, summoned by whistles, landed on the observation platform, and the hunters set off.
"Ugh... it's so cold~"
Yudora shivered, her teeth chattering.
"Us too... Shall we reach it as quickly as possible?"
Li Fan suggested.
"Good idea, I've wanted to do that for a while."
Yudora said, picking up the Dragonheart Mechanoid on her back.
Before long, in a dim, cold air current, a crimson light with a tail flame burst forth.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Mrow!"
Accompanied by three cries, the red light, tracing a long arc, plummeted into the thick snow.
Sizzle~
As the snow came into contact with the Dragonheart Mechanoid, it melted instantly, and wisps of steam rose.
Li Fan stood up from the waist-deep snow and began to observe.
The surroundings were a jungle of coniferous trees laden with snow.
Continuous ice-capped mountain ranges were visible in the distance.
"Is everyone okay?"
Li Fan asked.
"We're fine."
Yudora slung the Dragonheart Mechanoid back onto her shoulder and replied, rubbing her arm.
"We're fine, meow... It's a Popo!"
Dilu, dusting snow off its body, spotted three Popos, two large and one small, standing and observing on the snow not far away, and immediately called out.
"They're not even afraid of hunters. It must be because no one has ventured here for a long time."
Li Fan surmised.
"How about we prepare dinner first?"
Yudora tentatively asked.
"Let's not. We don't even know where we are, and carrying raw meat around would be inconvenient."
Li Fan said, taking a Heart Ball from his shoulder strap.
With a flash of white light, Frostfang, Yaya, appeared.
Roar?
Yaya seemed quite shocked by the scene. It had been a long time since it had experienced a snowy environment since its expedition to the Ice Sea.
As the creature was an expert in scouting for nesting sites, Li Fan immediately stated his requirements.
"Yaya, the area we need to find this time should have geothermal hot springs, preferably near the coast... and the terrain should be as flat and open as possible."
"Li Fan, aren't we just scouting for a landing point?"
Yudora felt the request was a bit demanding and asked curiously.
"That's right. After landing, the next step is to establish a base."
Li Fan informed her.
"A base... Alright, you've thought this through quite thoroughly."
Yudora said in surprise, as there wasn't even a small camp on this land yet.
After hearing all the conditions, Li Fan reminded Yaya not to rush into finding a girlfriend.
Because the sooner a suitable location was found, the sooner everyone could settle down, and the faster the subsequent construction process could proceed.
Roar! With its two amber fangs, it exhaled a puff of misty cold air.
Yaya gave a firm assurance, then braced itself on its four paws, leaped into the air, and began to glide.
The team, meanwhile, searched a small area nearby for a suitable spot to establish a camp.
Rustle~
Snow slid off the bent coniferous trees.
Yaya, perched on a treetop, tilted its head to survey its surroundings.
Whoosh~ With all four paws lifting, Yaya, using the rebound of the coniferous tree trunk, leaped again and began to glide swiftly.
Yaya didn't know where it was, but it was the first time it had encountered such a serene and pristine snowy wilderness in its life.
As it paused on another treetop to survey, a beautiful silhouette, almost the same color as the snow, entered Yaya's vision.
The white silhouette, moving alone, seemed to sense something and looked up to survey its surroundings.
Soon, two Frostfangs made eye contact.
Yaya froze for an unknown amount of time. It glanced down at the gray carapace on its forepaw, then shifted its body, which was leaning on the treetop, backward, hiding behind the umbrella-like branches of the coniferous tree.
The other Frostfang did not approach to investigate and eventually left as Yaya watched.
Holding its breath, Yaya exhaled a long sigh, continuously recalling the image of the beautiful silhouette.
At this moment, Li Fan's nagging voice echoed in its mind, and Yaya quickly shook its head, dispelling the impure thoughts.
It leaped and glided, continuing its search.
Meanwhile, the team had completed the construction of a small field camp after two hours of scouting and building.
Seeing that no hunters had sent up a distress flare, Li Fan inferred that the surrounding environment was relatively stable, but the ecological environment posed a more severe challenge.
However, hunters were generally proud in this regard.
It was one thing to send up a flare for rescue when facing a monster attack and being in mortal danger.
But if they couldn't adapt to the ecological environment, even if there was a similar risk to their lives, not many hunters would choose to signal for help.
A night passed. The heavy snowfall from the previous night had blocked the tent entrance, forcing the team to dig a passage.
Rustle~
Hearing a scraping sound, Dilu, who was shoveling snow, looked in the direction of the noise.
It saw a black triangle, resembling a shark's dorsal fin, sliding in an 'S' shape on the snow towards the team's location.
"A monster is approaching, meow!"
Dilu called out loudly to warn them.
Li Fan and Yudora immediately dropped their shovels and turned towards the direction indicated by the cat's paw.
"It looks like a Blangonga..."
Li Fan guessed.
"So it's a Blangonga... What kind of monster is a Blangonga? I've never heard of it. No matter, I'll deal with it."
Yudora said, her hand moving to her sword hilt.
"Let's not. We don't know when we'll be able to build a base for rest, so you should conserve your energy for now."
Li Fan said, taking a Ration Ball from his shoulder strap.
At this moment, the black horn, which had been emitting a dark glow, stopped circling and instead moved in a straight line, charging forward.
Boom~ Roar!
As the snow exploded, the Blangonga's black horn, along with its entire body, leaped out of the snow.
Its target was the location of the two humans and one cat.
Li Fan, without panicking or dodging, pointed to the side.
The Blangonga, in mid-air, glanced sideways, and then its gaze was fixed.
To the side Li Fan indicated, a Tigrex, covered in scars, was staring at it menacingly.
The Blangonga immediately lowered its head, its body falling into the snow with it.
However, the Tigrex did not give up. Even with the heavy snow obstructing it, it relentlessly initiated its charge.
Roar!
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
Following the Blangonga's exposed black horn, the Tigrex charged across the snowy plain.
One chasing, the other fleeing, the two monsters grew farther and farther away from the camp.
"Come back soon after you're done fighting!"
Li Fan shouted, and then began preparing breakfast with the team.
As the landing party, their food supplies were quite ample.
The meat slices they carried were all marinated and could be made to taste quite good by simply grilling them over a fire.
Halfway through breakfast, Yaya leaped down from the air. Seeing that it was limping as it walked, Li Fan got up and ran over to check.
Seeing the swollen left paw joint, Li Fan asked, "Who did this?"
Yaya pondered for a moment, then raised its head and looked towards a herd of elk in the distance.
"Injured by an elk? That's impossible, isn't it?"
Yudora said incredulously.
"Not necessarily, meow. Elk can deliver a very strong impact."
Dilu stated that it was possible.
"Yaya, do you mean... the enemy and the elk look somewhat similar?"
Li Fan inferred.
Roar~
Yaya roared in affirmation.
"Then it must be a Uroktor... Why did you get into a fight?"
Li Fan asked.
Roar~
Yaya explained that it had found an area that matched the description perfectly. However, as soon as it entered, it was attacked by a monster that charged with its horns.
"So that was a Uroktor's territory. I'll go and have a friendly chat with someone..."
Li Fan said, reaching for his shoulder strap.
Repelling a Uroktor was no difficulty for him.
The challenge was how to repel it with minimal damage.
A flash of white light appeared, and an explosion erupted on the snow.
"Explosion, you adapt to the environment first. Yaya, go and eat and rest. Guide us there once you've recovered."
Li Fan gave his orders.
Roar~ Yaya urgently indicated that it didn't need to eat or rest and could go now.
Li Fan hadn't expected the creature to be so eager for revenge. After confirming that all team members were fine, they began their journey.
After two hours of traversing mountains and valleys, a flat area with numerous hot spring pools appeared before them.
"Why does this place feel like it matches your description."
Yudora said in surprise.
"It's not that it matches my description; it's that the conditions for establishing a base are inherently limited."
Li Fan informed her.
Roar~ Roar~ Roar~...
Explosion's roars echoed in the air, followed by a gliding dive towards the distant coniferous forest.
Bang~ Boom! Bang~ Boom!...
Under the barrage of Dragonblight, explosions continuously sounded in the forest, and birds scattered in flight.
Trees began to fall in large numbers in different directions, and muffled roars emanated from within the forest.
After rising to a certain height and circling, Explosion dived and glided for another bombardment.
Roar! Roar!...
Roars filled with indignation grew closer. As trees snapped and fell, a monster with a large, curved horn on its head, along with several rolling logs, burst onto the wide, flat snowy plain.
Seeing the thick white fur covering its body, Li Fan inferred that this was likely a monster weak to fire.
Roar~ Roar~ Roar~...
Explosion's oppressive roars from the air struck again, and the Uroktor looked up to observe.
A large amount of Dragonblight fell into the surrounding snow, leaving only a small black hole and wisps of smoke as evidence of the explosions.
The Everfrost Tundra was not Explosion's primary domain, but the snow unexpectedly provided cover for the Dragonblight.
Unable to pinpoint the exact location, the Uroktor could only charge to move over a wide area, avoiding the areas where Dragonblight fell.
Even its evasive maneuvers were so passive. Without the ability to fly, the Uroktor couldn't even touch Explosion, let alone win.
However, the stubborn Uroktor still refused to retreat and continued to do its best to contend with Explosion.
"The monsters in the ice plains seem so energetic."
Yudora, who had been watching, exclaimed.
"Perhaps it's the power of music."
Li Fan surmised.
"Huh? What does music have to do with this?"
Yudora couldn't understand.
"The most significant difference between the monsters here is that you can hear the songs formed by vibrations. So, if an unusually energetic state exists, it's likely related to the songs."
Li Fan explained.
"Oh! The source of the songs... is it that monster you mentioned, the one that can cause crustal vibrations and have a significant ecological impact?"
Yudora inferred.
"That's right... Explosion's condition seems a bit poor."
At this moment, Li Fan noticed that Explosion, due to its continuous generation of Dragonblight while in its superheated state, was showing signs of fatigue.
Meanwhile, the Uroktor, repeatedly charging on the ground, became increasingly ferocious in its charges.
Although Explosion had the absolute advantage, it couldn't seem to land a hit.
Boom! The Uroktor slammed its horns down, burying them in the snow.
As it lifted its head, a massive ice rock was lifted by its horns.
This counterattack surprised everyone.
"Hey, should we help?"
Yudora asked.
"If we help now, Explosion will be very upset, especially since its opponent is a monster it has an absolute advantage over."
Li Fan informed her.
"Do monsters care about that?"
Yudora asked curiously.
"Of course. If they lose to a monster weaker than themselves, the sense of frustration can cause them to lose their will to fight."
Li Fan explained.
"But Explosion looks... like it's getting more and more strained."
Yudora said worriedly.
"I know how to win! Explosion! Immediately deactivate superheating!"
Li Fan shouted towards the sky.
Explosion's body, which had been glowing red, quickly dimmed.
"Well, we won."
Li Fan sighed in relief upon seeing this.
"This... we won just like that?"
Yudora expressed her confusion.