Chapter 104: Projection
The Black Dragon took a few sips of the Flame Tree’s sap, savoring the taste while waiting for a mental connection to be established.
It must be said that the sap of the Flame Tree is truly remarkable. Putting aside its other properties, its caloric density alone is dozens of times that of gasoline. It feels significantly more potent than the Life Spring water the Black Dragon had encountered before. Of course, the Black Dragon has reason to suspect that the Life Spring water the Xia Academy of Sciences traded from the elves might have been of inferior quality or diluted with water.
The Flame Tree’s spirit was in a very deep slumber. The Black Dragon tried many times—nearly draining the tree’s roots dry—but still failed to awaken its consciousness. Finally, having no other choice, the Black Dragon resorted to its trump card: it fished out the egg laid by the Phoenix King from the depths of its memory.
The move was immediately effective. Soon, the Black Dragon sensed a will awakening from deep underground, successfully establishing a connection.
After an enthusiastic and friendly exchange, well... how should one put it? The Black Dragon was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps due to having slept for too long, or perhaps because its innate intelligence was low, the Flame Tree spirit’s intellect was limited, and its ability to express itself was restricted to simple communication. Trying to glean any specific information from it was essentially a lost cause.
As for the Black Dragon’s desire for it to relocate closer to the Xia Kingdom, the spirit refused. Its reason was that it and its "child" preferred peace and quiet; they were neither accustomed to nor fond of living in crowded places. Even when the Black Dragon patted its belly and promised to prepare a vast, uninhabited nature reserve for it and the Phoenix, the negotiations still fell through.
However, the Black Dragon did not come away entirely empty-handed. When it inquired about the conditions in the heavens and revealed its grand intention to undertake a dragon-crewed space mission, the Flame Tree spirit finally had a reaction. It excitedly signaled that, while it couldn't help with the Black Dragon going to the sky, it could take the Black Dragon into the earth... or rather, take the Black Dragon’s consciousness deep into the underground for a wondrous journey, serving as a rehearsal for the journey to the heavens.
Well, entering the earth before ascending to the heavens—that sounded scientific enough.
"Taking my consciousness into the earth... Could this be the legendary out-of-body experience? No, wait—the legendary consciousness projection?!"
The Black Dragon suddenly grew excited. Consciousness projection is undeniably a highly advanced technique. Many deities and demons use this method when they want to stir up trouble in the material realm—ignoring spatial distances to project their will and power to far-off places.
The Black Dragon coveted this technique. Not only was it prestigious, but it was also incredibly practical. It could be used for long-distance displays of power to intimidate others, and it could even be used to disguise itself in human form! Since it was a projection of consciousness, its appearance could be whatever it desired. The Black Dragon could easily have a Lich or a Necromancer custom-build a body, project its consciousness into it, and voilà—a human form! If the Xia Academy of Sciences’ technology were advanced enough, there would be no need to beg a Lich or Necromancer; it could simply 3D-print a body for its own use.
"Wait... it doesn't even have to be that complicated. I could fully exercise my powerful subjective initiative and mold a body for myself using Black Dragon flesh and blood! I could build my own 'alt account'!"
"Damn, with a technique like this, why would I need to learn some transformation spell from other dragons? Even if transformation spells were magical, could they compare to creating my own alt accounts? I could build as many as I want, in whatever form I desire!"
The more the Black Dragon thought about it, the more excited it became. It resolved to learn the art of consciousness projection from the Flame Tree spirit at all costs.
***
The underground of the material realm connects to the Abyss and the Underworld. In terms of complexity and danger, it is not necessarily inferior to the sky. Therefore, the Flame Tree spirit’s invitation for the Black Dragon to tour the underground was undoubtedly helpful for building its foundation and expanding its horizons before the upcoming ascent to the heavens.
The Black Dragon had long heard that the Flame Tree’s root system was extensive, reaching up to a dozen kilometers deep, but it never imagined that the deepest roots actually extended directly into the Abyss. So, the Flame Tree wasn't just absorbing nutrients and energy from the material realm; it was also skimming off the Abyss. No wonder it grew to such a massive size!
The Black Dragon was truly enlightened. It suddenly felt a sense of awe; the Phoenix race was truly extraordinary. The secret to their immortality likely relied on this very mechanism. When facing fatal damage, a Phoenix could quietly transmit its soul—its core data—into the Abyss, waiting for the right timing and conditions to resurrect itself.
"But to reach the Abyss in just over a dozen kilometers... isn't the distance between the material realm and the Abyss a bit too close?"
The Black Dragon was surprised. One must remember that the radius of the Earth is over six thousand kilometers! If the material realm were a planet like Earth, wouldn't that mean its interior had long since been hollowed out by the Abyss and the Underworld?
***
With the aid of the consciousness projection technique, the Black Dragon’s consciousness followed the roots of the Flame Tree, touring almost the entire underground world. The only place left was the Abyss itself. After hesitating for a few seconds, the Black Dragon decided to take a look inside.
After all, it was about to head to the heavens soon; even if this was just scouting the path, the danger would certainly be no less than a visit to the Abyss. Moreover, since this was only a consciousness projection, even if it met with disaster in the Abyss, it would only result in a disconnected link and wouldn't cause any substantial harm to its physical body. If it didn't even have the courage for this, how could it ever find the nerve to go rampaging in the heavens?
With this thought, the Black Dragon steeled its heart and plunged into the Abyss.
***
The intelligent beings of the material realm generally held a terrible impression of the Abyss—a place filled with corpses, reeking of sulfur and rot, and teeming with sin and slaughter.
However, the Black Dragon’s first impression of the Abyss was actually quite positive. This might be because the Black Dragon favored volcanic environments and found the scent of sulfur familiar—the Flame Tree spirit’s service was very thorough, even simulating the sense of smell and touch for the Black Dragon so it could better understand the Abyss.
The region of the Abyss connected to the Flame Tree’s roots seemed to have been specially selected; it was very quiet. The Black Dragon did not see any abyssal demonic creatures. It tried to wander around the vicinity, hoping to learn something. Soon, its attention was drawn to a massive skeleton on the ground.