Chapter 148: The Ecological Park and the Superlarge Cultivation Zone

In the northern mountain forest of Ryan City, what was once a desolate area is now heavily fortified by a fully armed military, forbidding entry to unauthorized individuals.

Deep within the forest, in a secluded cave, Sunan's figure gradually emerged. To avoid complications, he hadn't informed the lord of Ryan City, arriving quietly without alerting anyone.

The cave was dimly lit and silent, with only the soft echo of his footsteps reverberating through the space.

As he exited the cave, a barren range of hills unfolded before his eyes. 

Activating the Levitation Spell inscribed on his robe, Sunan floated upward, heading towards the location indicated in the intelligence report as the habitat of the Sword-Crystal Dragon.

As he flew, Sunan's gaze swept across the terrain. As reported, footprints of sub-dragon species were scattered everywhere.

In some areas, the footprints overlapped densely, with signs of fierce battles among the sub-dragons, evidenced by the claw marks and traces of violent clashes.

"So many different sub-dragon species likely escaped from somewhere."

"Most likely, there's an ecological park for sub-dragons nearby."

An ecological park refers to a large cultivation area where powerful wizards establish an enormous protective barrier, transforming the interior into a stable, self-sustaining ecological environment to nurture specific species.

These species are often rare and seldom seen in the outside world. Thus, ecological parks are also known as species cultivation sites or superlarge breeding bases.

Notably, ecological parks are typically enclosed semi-dimensional spaces, isolated from the physical world. Only those with the key or a specific command can enter.

Sunan speculated that a sub-dragon ecological park might exist nearby, with some malfunction connecting it to the physical world, allowing many sub-dragons to escape.

This would explain why so many different sub-dragon species appeared in the area, despite it not being a suitable multidimensional environment for their coexistence.

"A sub-dragon ecological park, huh..."

"If true, that's quite a grand endeavor!"

Building such a park costs nearly as much as constructing a wizard's tower. Especially for a sub-dragon ecological park, the cost is astronomical, comparable to a medium or large wizard's tower.

Even formal wizards rarely have the means for such an undertaking.

As Sunan contemplated, he arrived at the location of the Sword-Crystal Dragon.

Just as he began his search, a roar suddenly echoed from ahead.

In the next moment, a massive beast resembling a lizard, with its back covered in fiery red crystals, emerged from behind a mountain wall.

This beast measured about twelve meters in length and five meters in height, with sturdy, powerful limbs and a tail lined with sharp spines. Its back was adorned with red crystals standing like swords, sparking upon impact.

"Sword-Crystal Dragon!"

Sunan raised an eyebrow, saving him the trouble of searching further.

"Roar!"

Upon spotting Sunan, the Sword-Crystal Dragon roared and charged at him without hesitation.

The beast's mountainous frame whipped up a fierce wind, its roar echoing like thunder, enough to leave those with lesser strength paralyzed with fear.

"Although faint, it has developed a trace of draconic might."

"This Sword-Crystal Dragon's bloodline concentration must be high."

Discovering such a high-level sub-dragon brought a smile of delight to Sunan's face.

Oblivious to the threat before it, the Sword-Crystal Dragon rushed forward, opening its massive maw. Sparks flickered between its teeth, and in the next instant, a sulfurous flame burst forth.

Boom!

The raging flames engulfed Sunan's form!

The Sword-Crystal Dragon roared triumphantly, but its jubilation was short-lived.

As the flames dissipated, Sunan's figure was nowhere to be seen, only a charred patch remained.

Suddenly, a piercing sound of air being torn echoed from behind.

Swish, swish, swish!

Countless silver spikes surged forth, sweeping over the Sword-Crystal Dragon like a torrent.

The second-circle legendary sub-dragon only managed a brief wail before its body exploded into a shower of blood, collapsing with a thud.

The dense silver spikes returned to Sunan's form.

Looking at the incapacitated Sword-Crystal Dragon lying on the ground, Sunan's lips curled into a smile.

In that instant, he had simultaneously cast Mirror Image and Invisibility, vanishing from sight.

The dragon's breath had only struck a phantom.

"Spell Quickening combined with Compound Casting is indeed effective!"

Sunan smiled slightly, summoning a metal cage and stuffing the Sword-Crystal Dragon inside. He then summoned ten Stone Golems and an Elite Stone Golem, instructing them to move the cage to the entrance, ready to be transported back to the base.

With the Sword-Crystal Dragon dealt with, Sunan followed its trail further into the area.

No other sub-dragons were encountered along the way, likely due to this being the Sword-Crystal Dragon's territory, deterring others.

Before long, a solid mountain wall appeared at the end of his view.

No path remained.

Sunan was not discouraged, instead beginning a detailed search of the area. Soon, he discovered something behind a massive boulder.

The boulder stood about twenty meters tall, akin to a small hill. From the front, it seemed ordinary, but its back was pitch-black.

It wasn't merely dark in color; it was like a void, consuming everything.

Careful observation revealed the darkness was slowly rotating, but due to the dim lighting and its inherent hue, it was nearly imperceptible without close inspection.

"A spatial passage," Sunan's eyes gleamed.

Evidently, the boulder, for some reason, connected to a dimensional space, forming a spatial passage.

The other side of the passage likely held the origin of the sub-dragons.

After some thought, Sunan sent a Stone Golem into the darkness.

Almost instantly, his connection with the golem severed, rendering it uncontrollable.

Such a phenomenon only occurred when located in different dimensional planes.

Confirming the darkness led to a dimensional space, Sunan hesitated no longer, activating the magic tattoos to cover his body.

He then activated the Ring of Extreme Protection, casting Elemental Protection and Shield Spell on himself, and consumed a high-grade Earth Rune Stone for an additional layer of defense.

Thoroughly prepared, Sunan took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.

A powerful sense of weightlessness enveloped him.

Sunan felt as though passing through an invisible curtain of water. When his senses returned, he heard the clear sound of chirping insects.

Opening his eyes, he beheld a magnificent and strange scene.

Before him lay a towering forest.

Trees reaching dozens, even hundreds of meters, formed a dense canopy, with lush undergrowth covering the ground, even the shrubs were two to three meters high.

Overhead, the thick canopy intertwined, resembling a vast sky.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled golden patches on the ground.

Faintly, he could hear the sound of flowing water far away, with strange noises echoing deep within the forest, as if stepping into a mysterious tropical jungle.

"Sure enough, it's an ecological park!"

Seeing the scene before him, Sunan confirmed he had indeed entered an ecological park.

The Stone Golem stood silently beside him, and Sunan stored it back into his dimensional cube before turning his attention to the passage he had come from.

Behind him was a faint purple hue, akin to the edge of a twisting void, disappearing into the dense canopy above.

The black entrance was embedded in the purple void, standing out like a black dot on white paper.

Sunan ascended through the canopy, reaching above the forest.

As expected, the sky was purple, stretching to the distant horizon, seemingly enveloping the entire forest.

In reality, this layer of purple was a massive protective shield, isolating the park from the outside world, maintaining the internal ecological balance.

A breach had likely occurred, allowing the sub-dragons to escape.

Descending back to the ground, Sunan ventured deeper into the forest, intent on exploring the park.

Typically, ecological parks were cultivated with rare magical plants, maximizing the use of the park's unique environment.

Even just these rare plants would be a significant gain.

Besides, the sub-dragons inhabiting the park were walking collections of valuable materials!

"If I could control this ecological park..."

Sunan felt a surge of excitement.

A complete ecological park, once built, required massive energy input initially. However, once operational, it could largely self-sustain, needing only minimal external energy supply.

Though minimal, this energy was substantial for an individual wizard.

For other wizards, even owning such a park wouldn't be feasible due to the current energy scarcity.

But Sunan was different; he possessed magic stones!

At most, he could produce more magic stones to sustain the park's operation.

Given his low production costs, finding a way to control this park would be akin to obtaining a base that endlessly produced rare materials.

This was far more beneficial than opening a hundred magical plantations or raising dozens of sub-dragons!

"However, a wizard capable of constructing such a park must be incredibly powerful, likely from the wizards' era a thousand years ago."

"If that's the case, why didn't the creator relocate the park?"

"Could they have left it for future generations?"

Sunan chuckled at his own speculation. No matter how benevolent, no wizard would be so extravagant.

It was more plausible that the creator had perished before the wizards' exodus, leaving the park behind.

Yet, this raised another question: where had the energy sustaining the park for a millennium come from?

Could someone else be supplying energy to the park?

Or did the park's energy supply system have unique features?

With questions multiplying in his mind, Sunan shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it. With limited information, speculation was futile. Gathering more data through exploration would be more productive.

For now, he focused on collecting materials.

Within a few hundred meters, Sunan discovered at least ten types of magical plants.

Dragon's Saliva Grass, Jade Frost Flower, Mutant Devil Vine, and Golden Thorn Grass—some were ingredients for second and third-tier potions!

Materials rare in the outside world were abundant here.

"These plants must have been originally planted here and have survived thanks to the park's energy."

Sunan didn't hesitate, collecting every magical plant he encountered into his spatial ring.

Creak, creak!

Suddenly, odd noises came from the nearby underbrush.

Sunan halted, vigilantly watching the source of the sound.

The noises grew denser, as if many creatures were approaching.

Soon, a group of creatures burst from the bushes.

They resembled small, slender miniature dinosaurs, about a meter long, with mouths full of sharp teeth. Their forelimbs had two curved fingers, while their hind limbs were much sturdier, exuding strength.

"These are Troodons."

Sunan relaxed slightly.

Troodons were small dinosaur-like creatures, a low-level sub-dragon species.

Adults only had the combat strength of a junior knight, not particularly strong. The main concern was that Troodons often traveled in packs.

When you see one Troodon, you can be sure dozens more are close behind.

Creak, creak!

These Troodons, seemingly unfamiliar with humans, hesitated upon spotting Sunan, their murky yellow eyes widening as they curiously observed him. They then let out excited cries, swiftly charging towards him.

Apparently, they regarded him as a novel type of prey.

Sunan chuckled, raising his hand to unleash a volley of Magic Missiles.

Seven missiles instantly shattered the heads of seven Troodons.

Inside the ecological park, capturing sub-dragons wasn't practical. Moreover, Troodons, among the lowest of sub-dragon species, had little value in captivity or domestication, so Sunan showed no mercy.

In no time, over thirty Troodons lay dead.

After quickly gathering some materials, Sunan activated the Invisibility Spell on his robe, vanishing from sight.

His priority was investigating the park's situation and finding its core controls, not hunting sub-dragons. Avoiding combat was preferable.

Invisibility might not fool all sub-dragons' senses, but it was enough to evade most mid and low-level ones.

Just as Sunan was about to leave, he noticed faint red lights emanating from the Troodons' corpses, converging into a thin beam that shot off into the distance.

Sunan paused, then quickly followed.

However, the red beam moved incredibly fast, and despite his efforts, he couldn't keep up. As he contemplated using a high-grade Rune Stone, the beam vanished from sight.

"What was that?"

Sunan halted, a look of confusion crossing his face.

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