17 Ancient Dragon Palace

The afternoon sun caused the temperature in the mountain range to rise sharply, reaching nearly 30 degrees celsius.

More importantly, the area had just experienced a massive fire, and there were soot and ash everywhere. The nearby volcano was still spewing billows of gray-white smoke, and the intense scent of sulfur made it hard to breathe.

The expedition team was equipped with safety helmets and thick filtration masks. It was so stuffy that they felt like they were going to suffocate to death.

Even Xu Yin was breaking out into a sweat, and Wei Zhenzhen was so tired that she couldn't speak.

If not for the fact that Gao Xuan was leading the way in front, Wei Zhenzhen would've complained about the difficult conditions. But Wei Zhenzhen could only clench her teeth and tough it out to present herself as mature and understanding.

The rest of the students were in a similar state to Wei Zhenzhen.

They hadn't experienced many hardships in their lives, so they were close to fainting under such harsh conditions.

However, there was a cold expression on Wang Hongen's face, so no one dared to grumble loudly.

Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang were the most relaxed out of the group. Even though they were both dressed in bulky wolf-hide clothing, there wasn't a single bead of sweat on their faces, and their pace was light and fast.

The rest of the group didn't think this odd. They all thought that Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang were locals and naturally had the skill to traverse the mountainous terrain.

"Professor Wang, we're close to the volcano now…

Xu Yin became a little worried when she saw that they were getting closer and closer to the volcano. If the volcano erupted, their group wouldn't have anywhere to run.

"Don't be worried. We have Gao Xuan."

Wang Hongen had sensed the Dragon Tooth Key in his robes get warmer. Even if the volcano erupted, he wouldn't leave.

Of course, he still had to give a reasonable explanation to the group, and Gao Xuan was the perfect excuse.

Xu Yin was extremely doubtful. She felt that Wang Hongen was acting strange.

However, Gao Xuan took the initiative and turned back to tell Xu Yin, "Don't worry, Professor Xu. The volcano has been stable these last few days. It won't erupt."

"Gao Xuan, it pays to be careful with these kinds of things."

Xu Yin was willing to believe Gao Xuan. However, as the leader of the group, she didn't want to make the students take unnecessary risks.

This was just an ordinary expedition. There was no need to head deep into the volcano.

"There's no danger."

Gao Xuan smiled and said, "Professor Xu, I'm more scared of death than anyone here. I don't joke around when it comes to my own life."

Xu Yin became more confident when she heard Gao Xuan say this. That was right. Gao Xuan didn't have any dealings with Wang Hongen. There was no need for him to risk his life to help Wang Hongen.

Off to the side, Wei Zhenzhen couldn't help but praise, "Brother Gao Xuan, you're amazing!"

"The right conditions have to be met before a volcano can erupt," Gao Xuan said confidently. "This volcano is like a man. After a large-scale eruption, it won't erupt again for a while after."

Xu Yin looked a little awkward. Why had their conversation veered in this strange direction? She was unprepared.

Wei Zhenzhen stifled her laughter. Who knew if she understood the joke or not.

Wang Hongen was stone-faced. He said loudly, "Continue forward, everyone. Don't stop. We're very close to our destination."

Xu Yin felt that it wasn't right, but she had no reason to object. She hesitated for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and followed the group.

"The ancient legend has it that there's a Flame Dragon in the volcano. It was sealed by a deity because it had committed too many atrocities…"

Gao Xuan couldn't keep himself quiet. The rest of the group were exhausted and didn't have the energy to speak, yet he continued talking about the ancient legend of this land.

"Thus, this place is called Red Dragon Volcano."

Gao Xuan said, "If we want to look at this area through a scientific lens, then this volcano erupted during ancient times and caused massive damage to the inhabitants here. And, due to the inhabitants' primitive and simple way of thinking, they treated the volcano like a god and hoped that it would remain stable and not erupt…"

Even though Wei Zhenzhen didn't have any strength left, she was still willing to use what strength she had left to praise Gao Xuan. "Brother Gao Xuan, you sure know a lot."

"Primitive religions reflected all of the early inhabitants' simple, primitive feelings. These religions are always easy to interpret, no matter how much they've changed over time."

Gao Xuan had come back from the future. Even though he hadn't specifically learned these pieces of information, he did have some general knowledge.

The rest of the girls also had a look of awe and approval on their faces. While interacting with Gao Xuan these past two days, they'd realized that not only was Gao Xuan ridiculously attractive, but he was also knowledgeable and talented.

Comparatively, the boys in the expedition team seemed too frivolous and ignorant.

Zhou Jun, who didn't like Gao Xuan, couldn't help but find fault in Gao Xuan's explanation. "I didn't expect you to know so much despite growing up here in the middle of nowhere. However, your explanation is wrong. We are all immigrants who came from the Mother Planet. How would there be ancient inhabitants, much less any primitive religions…"

"Hehe…" Gao Xuan laughed. "Three thousand years ago, the first immigrants of the Mother Planet landed here in Pegasus Planet. In just a few hundred years, the number of immigrants grew several hundred-fold. However, it also created a great societal conflict."

Gao Xuan said, "These people thought that intelligent optical computers and robots had snatched job opportunities away from the lowest class of citizens. They also thought that these computers had ruined humans' most basic creativity. Thus, these people moved to the White Dragon Mountain Range and chose to not use any intelligent devices.

"As time went on, these groups of people, who were opposed to technology, regressed to a primitive state. Furthermore, there are aborigines on Pegasus Planet who have genes that are 97% similar to modern humans.

"Because they disagreed with modern humans, a portion of the aborigines retreated into the White Dragon Mountain Range. This group of aborigines married with the modern humans who had retreated into the mountainous area. That gradually created the various traditions of the White Dragon Mountain Range that we see today…"

This piece of history was too dark. Most modern civilizations wouldn't have this in their records, much less in their textbooks.

Only professors who had specially researched this like Wang Hongen and Xu Yin knew about this.

Zhou Jun was completely clueless about this piece of history and was dumbfounded when he heard Gao Xuan. He hesitated for a moment before saying indignantly, "You must've made that up!"

Xu Yin glanced at Zhou Jun. "As a student of Mingjing, don't spout nonsense if you don't know anything. That's the basic spirit of academia."

Xu Yin was usually rather lax with people and rarely criticized someone in public. Her current attitude was already stern for her.

Zhou Jun's face turned red. He lowered his head and no longer dared to speak.

The students around him roared with laughter. Zhou Jun, who frequently loved to boast, was not exactly on good terms with his peers.

Wang Hongen didn't pay this minor matter any mind, though he was quite interested in the history of the White Dragon Mountain Range that Gao Xuan had spoken of.

The Dragon Tooth Key in his robes was an antique that had been passed down in the White Dragon Mountain Range.

He had researched many historical records and legends after obtaining the Dragon Tooth Key before finally ascertaining that it was a key that was used to access treasures.

This time, he had taken the effort to lead a team over to find the treasure.

Wang Hongen hadn't expected Gao Xuan, a youth of the mountains, to be this knowledgeable about the local customs and traditions and that he could use science to rationally analyze the legends.

Wang Hongen asked, "I recall that there are ancient relics of the ancient civilizations in the White Dragon Mountain Range. Have you heard about them?"

"I have," Gao Xuan said. "The so-called worship of the Dragon Totem didn't spread to Pegasus Planet from the Mother Planet. It spread from the aborigines. It's rumored that the worship of the Dragon Totem stemmed from the ancient intelligent races of Pegasus Planet."

"Aren't you saying things without proof again? What evidence do you have for the existence of ancient intelligent races?" Zhou Jun loudly questioned. He'd been listening in on the conversation for some time before finally finding an opportunity to but in and try to salvage his reputation.

There had always been a huge debate surrounding the existence of ancient intelligent races, yet a clear answer had never been come to. Many experts weren't able to agree on the matter, yet Gao Xuan had said that they existed with such certainty. What right did he have?

"It's simple. The Miracle Items that are all around the planet is the proof. If there are no ancient intelligent civilizations, where did the Miracle Items come from?"

Gao Xuan felt that it was simple logic and didn't warrant further explanation.

"Miracle Items?"

Zhou Jun and the rest of the students looked lost. With their limited knowledge, they didn't know about the existence of Miracle Items.

Wang Hongen and Xu Yin's expression changed a little. This young man who'd grown up in the forest had too vast a scope of knowledge. To think that he knew about Miracle Items!

Miracle Items were called Miracle Items because humans couldn't understand them. They were also extremely rare.

An average person might know about the existence of superhumans, but not many would know about the existence of Miracle Items.

The students who didn't know about Miracle Items were impressed even though they didn't know what Gao Xuan was talking about.

Gao Xuan was very satisfied with the effect he'd created. He had intentionally said those words to agitate Wang Hongen.

There was an odd expression on Wang Hongen's face, as if he actually had a unique Miracle Item and had come here to access the ancient relic.

Meanwhile, Xu Yin was shocked purely by his depth of knowledge.

Gao Xuan was about to continue testing Wang Hongen when Wang Hongen's expression drastically changed. He reached into his robes and took out an unknown object before pointing to the front. The air at the front trembled and billowed with a thick fog.

The sudden change shocked everyone on the expedition team.

Wang Hongen said loudly, "Everyone, huddle closely together. Don't move recklessly."

Fortunately, the fog quickly scattered. However, what appeared in front of the group was an abnormally large underground pit.

This underground pit had clearly been built during the later parts of history. There was also a long tunnel of stairs that led deep underground.

The sudden transformation was so out of the norm that everyone was dumbfounded.

Only Gao Xuan was excited. To think that the Underground Dragon Palace was obscured by a special space barrier and required a Miracle Item to be accessed. It was no wonder that he hadn't been able to find it, no matter how hard he'd tried!