Chapter 1032: Should We Treat That Too?

Everyone had seen barriers before; Du Luo Ken could make them himself, and the farm barrier was just a small-scale one. But they were seeing a barrier as vast as a whole plane for the first time, and they couldn't help but stare in a daze.

Ai Lafate introduced, "Welcome to the Crystal Dragon Sanctuary. This is where our Crystal Dragon clan resides. We farm many wyverns, fat sheep, cattle, and horses here. I'll treat you to roast whole lamb in a bit."

Ang muttered, "No grain, what a pity."

Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si glanced at him sideways. It was rare to see Ang use such a regretful tone. But he was right; with such fertile land, only growing grass to raise cattle and sheep was indeed a waste. If they grew grain and used it for feed, combined with silage, a few tens of thousands of mu would be enough to raise all the livestock on the ground.

Add some salt licks to supplement minerals... Thinking of this, Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si slapped himself in the face. *Damn it, I don't even like farming, why am I planning this out? *

The commotion of Ai Lafate's return startled the other dragons in the barrier. Three large and two small Crystal Dragons came to meet them, all looking astonished as they saw Ang's party on Ai Lafate's back from afar.

One of the larger ones shouted from a distance, "Ai Lafate, why are you being ridden?"

Ang's gaze swept over the five Crystal Dragons. He realized the two large ones were the same ones that had been dragging the snake corpse earlier, while the other large one and the two small ones were new.

Among the one large and two small ones, the large one who had shouted was a female dragon. She carried Ai Lafate's scent, so she was likely his mate.

"Li Chancellor Chancellor Liya Na, these guests have the ability to solve the egg-binding problem, our child can be saved—" Before Ai Lafate could finish, he saw Li Chancellor Chancellor Liya Na go limp and fall from the sky.

However, she quickly steadied herself and flapped her wings frantically to fly over, looking at Ang's party with excitement. "Really? Really?! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

As she said this, Li Chancellor Chancellor Liya Na saw Ang's party clearly on Ai Lafate's back, and her expression became incredibly complex—shifting from excitement and doubt to suspicion, and finally to disappointment and hesitation.

She hadn't seen Ang smash the extinction strike, so naturally, she didn't believe a group of people could solve the egg-binding problem that had plagued the dragon race for hundreds of thousands of years. But since they were already here, she might as well let them try, though she dared not hold much hope.

Hearing that someone could solve the egg-binding problem, the entire Crystal Dragon Sanctuary soon boiled over, with a full forty Crystal Dragons rushing over from all directions to watch intently.

While they were observing Ang's party, Ang's party was also observing them.

"They really are Crystal Dragons. Their scales are crystalline structures, not keratin. How magical," Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si whispered.

"Why would that be? Can dragons grow crystals?" Anthony asked in a low voice.

Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si replied, "How would I know? This is my first time seeing this dragon species. But creatures that grow crystals... are quite rare. I've seen plenty that grow iron lumps, like the Iron-Scaled Scavenger."

"Under what conditions can a creature grow crystals?" Anthony asked.

"High temperature, high pressure, singular element environments—like some harsh abyss planes where elemental creatures grow crystals on their bodies. But that doesn't compare to these perfect crystalline scales. These look so fake, like they were man-made," Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si muttered.

Anthony whispered, "Right? Don't they look like they were plated?"

Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si was shocked. He looked at Anthony and then subconsciously at Ang. "Plated crystals? We'd have to find a scale to check. That's impossible, though. That technique is Ang's unique creation; how could they possibly have it?"

Anthony shrugged. "I'm just guessing. We'll know once the egg hatches. Even if they are plated, they couldn't have plated them inside the egg. If the hatchling has normal scales, then it's very likely they were plated later."

Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si nodded, then lowered his head to examine Ai Lafate's scales carefully. He even lifted a small section, wanting to see the base of the scales, but there was too much dragon grime underneath to see anything.

While they were exchanging opinions, the group of Crystal Dragons escorted Ai Lafate into a cluster of caves.

These were caves level with the fertile grassland outside. They appeared to be a pile of chaotic rocks heaped on the ground, with soil washed away by rain through the gaps, revealing the caverns.

Each cave was enormous, easily holding dozens of dragons without crowding. The deepest area was very cool with moderate humidity—a perfect place for hatching young dragons.

Five or six eggs lay in the coolest part of the bottom, with two wyverns tending to them. Seeing a crowd of dragons surge in, the wyverns were also stunned.

Hearing that someone could solve the egg-binding problem, the wyverns looked toward the innermost egg, which was slightly grayish-white.

From the moment they saw the eggs, the attention of Ang and his party had already fallen on that specific one.

"It's already starting to rot. No wonder they're so anxious. Can this even be saved?" Lord Lord Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked quietly.

Dragon egg-binding is mainly because the dragon's nervous system grows together with the inner membrane of the eggshell while inside. Many oviparous animals are like this—like chicken eggs, where the nerves and heart grow first, then the skin and fur, and finally the nerves are incorporated into the body before hatching.

However, the incubation period for dragons is too long—a full five hundred years. The hatchling inside has intelligence by the two-hundred-year mark; for the remaining three hundred years, they can chat with you from inside the egg.

With such a long incubation period, the slightest mishap can prevent the nerves from peeling off the inner membrane and retracting into the body, making it impossible to hatch.

If they can't hatch, the nutrients in the egg are exhausted, and the hatchling dies. Before dying, the hatchling might start to rot. Once it reaches this stage, egg-binding is basically unsolvable.

Ang's method for solving egg-binding was relatively simple: purify the eggshell, tap a small hole, inject nutrient solution, purify again, and then seal it, allowing the hatchling to continue growing inside the shell until it could hatch.

But on the Dragon Island of the main plane, they had never encountered a rotting egg. Once the inside started to rot, injecting nutrient solution was useless. He didn't know if Ang could handle this.

Ang nodded.

Seeing Ang nod, everyone felt confident. Silver Coin called Ai Lafate and Li Chancellor Chancellor Liya Na to the side and said with difficulty, "Oh dear, why did you only find me now? It's too late, too late. The inside of the egg has already started to rot. Oh dear..."

Silver Coin's long sigh made Ai Lafate's heart hang in the air, and Li Chancellor Chancellor Liya Na rolled her eyes and fainted, her head crashing toward Silver Coin.

Silver Coin jumped aside, dodging the massive dragon head. He rubbed his nose awkwardly; that was a bit much.

After Ai Lafate shook her awake, Silver Coin continued, "This means we need more materials. You'll have to pay more."

First great sorrow, then great joy—Li Chancellor Chancellor Liya Na rolled her eyes and fainted again. But this time, Ai Lafate caught her, so she didn't crash.

Silver Coin was left speechless. She fainted at the bad news, and she fainted at the good news too. "Is she hypoglycemic? Should we treat that too?"

PS: It's Qingming Festival. Doing Qingming in the south is quite troublesome. First, you have to find the grave, then clear the weeds and chop down the small trees—in a year, the small trees can grow as thick as a wrist. We start paying respects from the ancestors of several generations back, and by the end of the day, I'm exhausted to the point of splitting.