The Celestial Dragon, as an ancient dragon species living in high altitudes, was once considered extinct due to a lack of sightings. However, when humans once again revived ancient airship technology and flew into the skies, they rediscovered the dragon's habitat. Despite no longer being categorized as endangered, their numbers are still quite limited. Thus, the number of Celestial Dragons that have gradually flocked to the New World has essentially reached its maximum capacity.
When a female Celestial Dragon is flying, her mating hormones are continuously expelled along with her tail flame. Her height and speed in flight are quite formidable, which means the radius of this hormonal spread is significantly broad. After a large amount of hormones disperses through atmospheric currents, essentially... "if this is not stopped soon, it's possible that male Celestial Dragons from all over the world will eventually gather here." In recent days, hunters who were sent to drive away the dragon herd have been coming back defeated, and the situation is becoming increasingly urgent, with a tense atmosphere settling over the encampment.
Under normal circumstances, the mating signals released by a female Celestial Dragon would attract the nearest male Celestial Dragons before they could disseminate across a sufficient distance, allowing for mating to occur. Moreover, they would fight among themselves along the way and determine the victor. Therefore, it is unlikely to see a situation where a large number of ancient dragons congregate; at most, two male dragons gathering simultaneously would be close to the limit.
However, the current Celestial Hui is not something that just any male dragon can subdue. This has caused the source of information to continuously broadcast signals, leading all eligible male dragons to rush here in a frenzy. Particularly in the untamed world beyond the borders, where it is dominated purely by ancient dragons and even more terrifying creatures, the number of ancient dragons there far surpasses that of the civilized world. If it were another ancient dragon, the hunters stationed near the border's ancient towers would do everything in their power to intercept them, but for something like the Celestial Dragon...
"Right now, we can't wait for them to settle the score on their own, and..." As long as the female dragon remains unmated, the male dragons will not give up. Even if the hunters drive away all the male dragons, there will always be some younger ones who arrive later with the news, eager to take on the challenge. Therefore, we need to use some other means. "We must capture that Celestial Hui!" the dragon elder emphasized, pulling out a gem of a special color. "I collected some scales that the male Celestial Dragons shed during their fights. If we use this on her, the scent of the male dragons will cover that of the female, and they will disperse automatically."
"Then how do we lure the Celestial Hui? Should we follow the original plan?"
"Exactly, the original plan! However, we need to make some simple adjustments." Since we can't just disturb her while she's hunting, if we start fighting and one of us ducks for cover, the male Celestial Dragon might dive down to attack, and the hunters wouldn't be able to withstand that.
"She flies so high and fast all the time; she still needs to hunt, doesn't she? Now that the prey has significantly decreased, those male dragons also need a lot of food. So, she will always need to hunt. We'll lure her into the trap this way."
"Yes, it's settled then! Let's disrupt the Sky Dance and start the operation to capture the Celestial Hui!"
Just as the hunters anticipated, continuously battling with those foolish guys in the sky quickly made Hui very hungry. As soon as she landed, clever fellows of her kind would come to interfere with her hunting. Naturally, the unfortunate one that violated the courtship rules of the group was swiftly taken down by her dragon spear, and then it fled with its tail between its legs. Even if it didn't run away, the fallen male dragon would not be welcomed by the female, which essentially meant it was completely out of the competition, as that indicated its genes were unfit to pass on to the next generation.
The slender, azure crystal wing plates emitted powerful thrust flames. The unfortunate pterodactyl screeched as it continuously attempted to lower its flight altitude, using the winding canyon terrain to evade its pursuers. But this was to no avail; soon, it was captured. As the young dragon was about to flip its wing surfaces to ascend and return, "Now!" White Wind released the bowstring made of the needle-like hairs of the Thunder Dragon. A huge arrow, trailing a large amount of iron caltrops, shot skyward. Then, the iron caltrops rained down on the young dragon as it was pulling up.
"High-speed Dragon Strike Arrow! Fire!" The high-speed Dragon Strike Arrow fired from the crossbow cannon struck the Celestial Dragon Dragon like a rocket, immediately causing her flight posture to lose balance and flip downward. "Get the net ready!" "Aaah~" The young dragon let out a terrified cry as a large net made of tree vines and spider webs wrapped around her layer by layer. The surging thrust flames furiously eroded the fire-resistant oil-coated net fibers. Due to being entangled by the net, her flight posture became increasingly difficult to control, and the powerful thrust force pulled the iron chain at the end of the net taut.
"We've got her, Hunting Team, prepare! Don't give her a chance to break free!" The sword master led the way by leaping off the canyon edge and spreading his wing suit towards the young dragon. A total of 16 hunters, divided into two groups of four each on both sides, continuously fired net crossbow arrows at the Celestial Dragon Dragon, then used the crossbow firepower to suppress her, forcing her towards the ground and preventing her from concentrating on breaking free from the net.
You see, although the net was coated with fire-resistant oil, it couldn't withstand the erosion of her blue tail flame. Within just one minute, several layers were burned through. However, after losing speed and lift, the Celestial Dragon Dragon could only spread all her wing plates to counteract gravity and prevent herself from falling. But the hunters on both sides kept increasing her weight. This was a hunting method devised by the Hunter's Guild. The crossbow arrows were all equipped with a fast-setting, foam-like substance that stuck to the net, making the Celestial Dragon Dragon's thrust force insufficient to counter such a huge weight. Naturally, she would gradually descend to the ground.
"Bang!" "Ah!~" A poor hunter was swept away by the long gun tail, instantly disappearing into the sky. "Emergency rescue team, move out!" The chef waved his hand vigorously, and a group of Ailu cats slid down the iron chains into the valley to search for the unfortunate hunter who had been taken out in an instant. "No way, I can't catch it!" Just as another hunter leaped onto Huihui's back, the juvenile dragon let out a sharp shriek and began to struggle wildly, almost vertically trying to ascend, even flipping backward.
"I can't hold on anymore!" The hunter fell with a small piece of the broken thorn spur, but at least it was better than his companion who had been swept away by the gun tail. He managed to grab onto a Pteranodon and return to the cliff. "I'm good!" The swordsmanship master, using his extensive ancient dragon fighting experience, was the first to stabilize himself on Huihui's back. As he drew his katana, he also secured a safety rope to her back. "Air Blade Return Slash!" The feather-like structure on one side of the crystal-blue katana fully spread out, emitting blue flames while the Thunder materials released powerful currents, enveloping it in a layer of golden arcs. "Cut!" "Roar!"
Huihui completely lost her balance and fell downward. "Spread out!" "We can't dodge!" A hunter holding a one-handed sword was hit directly and lost once again. Fortunately, the dragon elder of the camp had prepared enough secret medicines, so as long as the hunters didn't die on the spot, they could be successfully rescued. The hunter who had been swept away by the gun tail had already returned to the battlefield.
"Continue to deplete her stamina, launch the smoke bombs!" The dyed jade rich in male Tianhui dragon hormones exploded continuously in the canyon. For other male Tianhui dragons, this place was as terrifying as a sauna room filled with ten thousand Billy Kings. They kept their distance, flying deep into the New World.
Flying while fighting each other, the number quickly dwindled from seven or eight to just three. The defeated ones climbed higher and flew off in various directions—they were not native to this area; some had come from the border, others from the old continent, and some from the tree sea. The habitat range of the Tianhui dragons is extremely wide, so under normal circumstances, two Tianhui dragons would never encounter each other again after parting ways with their juvenile forms, except during the female's estrus period.
Layer upon layer of nets tightened around her, and the more she struggled, the more entangled she became. This effectively restricted her range of motion and agility, giving the hunters ample time to evade attacks and launch their own. However, this did not mean the hunt was anything like a leisurely outing. "Clang!" The hunting team leader raised his large sword to block in front of him, but was swept away by the winged blade, flying nearly ten meters. Even after successfully blocking, he was unstable and almost fell. "Who told me that this dragon would only curl up and whine after hitting the ground?"
That was because last time Huihui had been dazed by a flash gem, and as the intelligent one among the Tianhui dragons, she wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. This time, the flash-throwing gem didn't cause much disruption; she closed her eyes the moment the hunters threw it and, without thinking, activated her wing flap to perform a 360-degree rotation slash. It was as if she rolled diagonally, and with immense kinetic energy, her wing blade struck a spear-wielding hunter's shield, nearly driving the latter into the ground while he continuously coughed up pink froth, desperately gulping high-efficiency recovery medicine.
"Clang!" The brother wielding the war hammer struck down on the wing plate, causing her to lose her balance and topple over, tightening the nets even more. "Deplete her stamina further! Continue attacking!" "The poison is ineffective!" Bai Feng removed the poison vial and switched to a powerful strike vial, steadily showering the juvenile dragon with arrows. "Ah~~~~" One of the arrows screamed as it flew over her head, bouncing several times on the ground before the hunter struggled to get up. With trembling hands, he made several attempts to retrieve a recovery potion, at least managing not to get knocked out (thanks to the effects of Spirit Protection/Great Tenacity, he survived with 1 HP).
"Target the head! Strong attack team, aim for the head! Stop hitting the wing plate!" Although many valuable wing pieces had indeed fallen from the wing plate, the damage caused was almost negligible. Instead, the hunters without sonic earplugs were nearly fainting from the noise. "Roar~!" The swordsmanship master rushed forward and unleashed another maximum power air blade slash, the ethereal particle light effect striking the soft belly of the juvenile dragon. The fragile and soft scales could not withstand the tearing of the blade, instantly leaving a long cut that oozed golden-red blood.
"Keep it suppressed, don't let it stand up!" Two more binding dragon arrows lodged into the juvenile dragon's wing plate. "Grandma, how much longer do you need!" Despite being knocked to the ground and entangled in several nets, the wildly flailing wing blade still inflicted significant damage on the hunters. Not to mention the scorching, gunshot-like jets of flame, those hit by it fell silent and lay motionless on the ground. Their high fire-resistant gear was nearly completely wrecked, and they suffered extensive burns and severe fractures. The only survivor among the close-combat restraining group (including single-handed swords, long spears, gunlances, and shield axes) was the one-hander who managed to block and survive with the aid of protective stones.
The close combat main attack team's hunting squad leader was slashed by the wing blade once again. He crashed into the rock wall and held the wing blade firmly with his great sword. The jet mechanism inside the great sword continuously sprayed out high-temperature steam jets to counter the wing blade that was also shooting out high-temperature jets. However, judging from his already purple face, he couldn't hold on for much longer. His arms were swollen to the limit with blood. "Hurry up, Granny!"
"Coming, coming!" The dragon person granny rolled under the young dragon's wings with an agility that didn't match her age. Taking advantage of her height, she quickly approached the dragon's ventral groove, where the underdeveloped cloaca and sex glands were located. The granny took out the specially made dyed jade and carefully applied the strange-smelling substance inside it near the glands. Then...
"Alright, now it's time to deal with the problem of the ether light. We'll..." "Aaaah!" ~!!!" The cloaca was stuffed with a foreign object, causing the young dragon to leap up almost instantly. The restraint chain let out a loud snap as it was forcibly pulled apart, and it charged into the depths of the canyon with layers of nets still attached. "Chase after it!" It still had another target clutched in its claws: the Aether Light. It had never thrown it away before, holding onto it tightly and even knocking out several hunters. The hunters lying in the camp, unable to get up again, accounted for almost half of the hunting party. (The hunters who were left with no other choice but to become cats shed tears of humiliation.)
However, when the hunters reached the depths of the canyon, they only found empty nets and the ethereal light caught in the grass. "Looks like it got away," one said. "…Hmm." The swordsmanship master, with a serious expression, examined the nets on the ground and nodded. "But… never mind, I might be overthinking it." Although the nets were severely damaged, it was clearly not enough to let a Clear-Wise Dragon escape, and almost all the nets were here, which didn't match the typical signs of struggling to break free. Moreover...
"This thing..." The swordsmanship master picked up a particularly brilliant piece of azure scale (Rare Pick-up Material: Reverse Scale of the Clear-Wise Dragon). "It feels a bit different." "Grandma, there shouldn't be any problems now, right?"
"Yes, although we've only put one in, it basically won't release the female's estrus information in the short term."
"So that means..."
"Success in hunting the Clear-Wise Dragon!" (Here, the BGM of "Certificate of Heroes" should play.)
"Well done, Aibo!"
"Let's pack up the materials and prepare to return to the base!"
After the hunters left, a small cave revealed a young girl with cerulean hair and amber-gold eyes. Her pale, tender body bore numerous scrapes and scars, with several gruesome blood holes on her arms and thighs. However, compared to the blood-stained dye ball she had angrily smashed onto the ground, these wounds could only be considered physical injuries, while that represented a significant psychological trauma — at this point, there should be a prompt indicating that "Investigation Task: Clear-Wise Dragon, Attack!" has been added to each hunter's task panel, along with…
During free investigations, there may be a surprise attack by the Clear-Wise Dragon. Hunters are advised to be ready for solo hunts or to have disguising tools prepared—message from the sympathetic shopkeeper.