Chapter 299
The dragon egg stood over two meters tall—Tang Yu’an had to tilt his head back to see the whole thing.
“Mr. Dragon, is this your child?” he asked curiously.
“Yes, it’s about to hatch,” the dragon, Chi Yan, replied, his gaze soft with tenderness as he looked at the egg.
“Congratulations! You’re about to become a father!” Tang Yu’an said.
Chi Yan nodded and said thank you, but then added with some worry, “Its vitality is very weak. I’m afraid it won’t survive after hatching.”
“In fact, I’ve already lost a child once… No matter what, I can’t let anything happen to this one!”
Sadness was clear on the dragon’s face.
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but feel sorrow for the lost child. He asked, “What caused it? Would healing potions help?”
Chi Yan hesitated but didn’t answer—this was a secret of the dragon race.
Despite their great power, dragon hatchlings were extremely fragile. They required a long incubation period and were especially vulnerable during early life. Only after surviving the first Red Moon, when their constitution improved, would their chances of survival increase.
Because of this, dragons were rare, and every egg was incredibly precious.
Of course, such things weren’t for outsiders to know.
Thankfully, Tang Yu’an didn’t press him. “Don’t be too sad. I believe this child will hatch safely and grow up healthy.”
“Thank you for your blessing.”
Chi Yan let out a relieved breath. “You possess such a miraculous power… I hope you can stay. If my child faces any danger, I want you to save it.”
“If you agree, this magic crystal is yours. If it’s not enough, I can pay more.”
It was more than enough, but—
“How long until the egg hatches?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“About two Purple moons—very soon!”
Two months wasn’t too long or too short. They didn’t have anything urgent to deal with, so staying here wouldn’t be a problem. The issue was—
“You know, we’re afraid of magma. We might not be able to stay long in this high-temperature environment,” Tang Yu’an explained.
“That’s not a problem. I can find a different environment for you.”
Chi Yan looked at the two tiny humans. With their small size, finding them a suitable place would be easy.
“Wait here. I’ll take you somewhere.”
Saying that, the dragon dove back into the magma, gently placing the egg in a safe place before returning.
“Hold on tight,” he said, grabbing the edge of the crystal platform.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi quickly sat down, holding onto the crystal’s bumps for stability. Chi Yan carefully picked up the platform and them along with it.
Then the dragon swam across the magma’s surface with them.
Sitting on the crystal, surrounded by bubbling magma and with a dragon looming overhead, everything still felt surreal.
They’d really met a dragon—a real, legendary dragon!
Tang Yu’an couldn’t resist secretly recording with his light-brain. If the time difference between worlds weren’t so great, he would’ve called his parents on video right then.
After finishing the recording, something occurred to him. “By the way, Mr. Dragon, where’s your mate? Does she live here too?”
“She went out to explore. She’ll return when the child is about to hatch.”
“Oh, I see!” Tang Yu’an nodded. “So it’s just you here?”
“Yes,” Chi Yan replied. “Normally, I’m here alone. My brothers visit from time to time.”
This was a dragon hatching ground, so when Chi Yan sensed them earlier in the magma, he had been on alert.
But these two little ones were just too small and adorable, so he hadn’t hurt them—just tried to shoo them away.
Unexpectedly, things had taken a pleasant turn.
“Don’t you get bored here alone?”
“It’s okay. When I’m bored, I talk to my child—I can feel it.”
Actually, Chi Yan wasn’t being entirely truthful. There were three more dragon eggs in this magma sea, and when he was bored, he could go play with the other egg guardians.
Still, most of the time, he had to stay here. Hatching eggs was a serious responsibility—there could be no mistakes.
No need to explain all that, though.
Chi Yan continued swimming, and after about half an hour, Tang Yu’an began to feel the temperature dropping a bit. A stone wall appeared ahead.
Chi Yan set them down for a moment, then clung to the cliffside and began digging into it with his claws.
After gouging out a hole, he inspected it and felt it was still too small. He breathed into the hole.
The rock inside instantly melted into magma, which he then sucked away, leaving behind a large hollow space.
He carefully picked up Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi again and placed them inside.
“How’s this?”
Thanks to the firelight from the magma outside, the cave wasn’t pitch-black.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi flew into the cave. Though it was freshly made, it was very spacious—at least 300 to 400 square meters.
And the moment they entered, the temperature dropped significantly. They no longer had to worry about falling into lava. It felt much safer.
“This is great! Thank you, Mr. Dragon!”
Chi Yan chuckled. “Glad you like it. I’ll go find you something to eat.”
With how tiny they were, he figured it would be easy to feed them. Maybe he could even find some plants to decorate the place.
Although few plants could survive down here, some did. And aside from dragons, other underground creatures lived here too.
“No need to trouble yourself—we brought our own,” Tang Yu’an said quickly.
“Really? You sure?”
“Really.”
“Well… alright.”
Chi Yan nodded. For some reason, his tone sounded a little disappointed.
“Then you can stay here. This magic crystal is your payment—take it now.”
Without his help, the two tiny humans wouldn’t survive in the lava sea, so he wasn’t worried about them taking the crystal and running off.
“Okay. We promise—if your child is ever in danger, we will do everything we can to save it!”
[You’ve completed a profitable transaction with a returning customer. EXP +2, Points +5,680,000]
Even though he’d been mentally prepared, Tang Yu’an still nearly jumped when the system notification popped up.
5.68 million points!
This was by far the biggest deal he’d ever made!
His cheeks flushed red—whether from the heat or excitement, even he wasn’t sure.
“To show our sincerity, we’ll give you the healing potion now!”
As a gesture of goodwill, Tang Yu’an decided to give the dragon a peace offering to put him at ease.
So, he exchanged for a massive insulated thermos. To prevent it from melting in the lava, they wrapped it in a large thermal-resistant metal cloth.
Uncertain if that would be enough, they made it extra thick.
They also embedded crystal stones between the thermos and the wrap, carving an activation rune into it.
When exposed to high temperatures, the rune would trigger automatically, drawing water-element energy from the crystal to resist the fire element’s intrusion.
Next, Tang Yu’an exchanged 2,000 bottles of basic healing potion in one go.
In the wholesale market, each 10ml bottle of basic healing potion cost 500 points. So 2,000 bottles totaled 1 million points—20 liters in all.
Because he was buying in bulk, he could choose from various packaging options—though, of course, those also cost points.
Tang Yu’an chose to have the 20 liters of healing potion poured directly into the thermos.
The thermos was medium-sized, one meter in both diameter and height, and had a large capacity. Even with 20 liters inside, it only formed a thin layer at the bottom.
However, the life energy radiating from it moved the dragon deeply.
He lay at the cave entrance, watching the two little humans bustle around—pulling out one thing after another, all objects he’d never seen before.
Of course, everything they had was tiny and looked very cute.
What surprised him most was that these two little ones could take out so much healing potion in one go!
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi tightened the lid on the thermos with great effort. Then, each grabbing one handle of the sleeve, they flew up to the dragon.
“This potion is for you. If it’s not enough, we have more,” Tang Yu’an said.
The dragon dazedly took the oddly-shaped thermos and was surprised to feel a cool sensation radiating from it.
Though he was a fire dragon and not afraid of lava, just like humans enjoyed eating ice, he loved this refreshing, cool feeling.
If it weren’t for the need to incubate his egg, he wouldn’t have stayed in the magma at all—he would’ve gone off to enjoy life long ago.
“So comfortable…”
Seeing that the dragon liked it, Tang Yu’an smiled and said, “We designed it specially to withstand high temperatures, but it’s best not to put it directly into the lava.”
“No worries, I know how to handle it!”
Zhou Qi could use fire power to create protective barriers. And as a dragon born to wield fire, Chi Yan obviously could too.
“Where did you get all these things? They look really nice!”
Unfortunately, everything was so small—even this oversized thermos wasn’t really big to a dragon.
“If you like them, we can trade for crystal stones anytime,” Tang Yu’an said cheerfully. “You’re always welcome!”
“Alright, I’ll think about what I want to trade for.”
Tang Yu’an nodded and then asked, “Would it be alright if we built a house here?”
“A house? What’s that?”
“It’s a place for us to live. This cave is a bit bare—we’d like to tidy it up.”
“No problem!”
With the dragon’s approval, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi flew back into the cave. First, they put up glowing green light strips along the stone walls to provide lighting.
Then, they brought out construction robots and various materials to start building a new branch store.
Soon, they’d be able to do business with dragons—right from the dragon’s nest!
As they busied themselves, they occasionally looked up toward the cave entrance—Chi Yan was still there, watching them without a hint of impatience.
“Mr. Dragon, if you’re bored, feel free to go do your own thing,” Tang Yu’an offered.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me.”
The dragon lay curled outside the cave, watching the two tiny figures scurry around. Rather than bored, he found it all incredibly entertaining.
The dull, monotonous egg-incubating life had finally gotten a splash of fun!
