Five years passed after that.
Haoyuan taught the dromaeosaurs many things, such as group hunting, using fire, utilizing the terrain, planting crops, and raising livestock.
They learned the first three of these things exceptionally well.
With just a single glance from Haoyuan, they knew what kind of terrain to choose and how to act.
Or when facing a pseudo-dragon, they knew how to use flints to spark a fire.
In any case, when it came to hunting, their talent was truly remarkable.
When it came to production and agriculture, however, they were complete blockheads.
No matter how Haoyuan tried to teach them, they just couldn't get the hang of it.
They could only blindly copy his actions, and the next time he tried to teach them, they would make the same mistakes again.
Eventually, Haoyuan grew helpless and could only hope they would at least remember the general idea.
It was just an experiment anyway; it didn't really matter if they couldn't remember it.
During today's final lesson, Haoyuan did not teach them anything new.
He only gently stroked their beautiful downy feathers, patted their heads, and stared at them quietly for a moment before turning to leave.
At first, the dromaeosaurs didn't know what was happening.
They only felt that he was unusually gentle today, teaching everything with immense patience and softly caressing them at the end.
Though he had often done such things before, he had never been as earnest or taken as long as he did today.
They loved this feeling, chirping away as they followed him, running by his side, jumping with joy.
They showed off the pretty gemstones and feathers they had found.
Haoyuan picked them up curiously, examined them closely, and then happily stroked their heads.
Haoyuan guessed that the dromaeosaurs' liking for beautiful gemstones and feathers was a result of his classes.
Since he wanted to establish a currency system but the sea was too far away to gather shells, guided by aesthetics, he had stubbornly settled on gemstones instead.
He had probably wanted them to learn to collect gemstones and then use them to trade and sell goods.
Unfortunately, the dromaeosaurs could not comprehend his intention.
As for the feathers, they were meant for writing.
Relying on the Chinese characters he remembered, he tried his best to start with the simplest ones, drawing pictures of the sun and the moon, and then teaching the dromaeosaurs to identify them.
Simple things like the sun and the moon were easy for the dromaeosaurs to understand.
But once trees and mountains were introduced, the dromaeosaurs were utterly baffled.
No matter how he tried to teach them after that, the dromaeosaurs could not grasp such an abstract language.
Yet, Haoyuan didn't give up.
He kept letting them maintain the habit of using feathers to scribble on the ground.
Because of this, they gradually developed a hobby of collecting gemstones and feathers.
Haoyuan felt this was a good thing, so he would subconsciously stroke their heads every time.
Having their heads stroked made the dromaeosaurs even happier. They chirped and warbled to express their excitement; while they lacked a proper language, they truly loved making noise, chattering away endlessly.
Haoyuan found them adorable and pure.
The dromaeosaurs happily walked along with Haoyuan, soon arriving at the pass.
They thought Haoyuan was going to take them on a long journey to hunt, just like when they caught the pseudo-dragon last time.
Thus, they fanned out in excitement and charged toward the pass, but Haoyuan stopped behind them.
After running for a bit, they looked back and saw that Haoyuan was still standing in place, so they all ran back.
They stared at him with eyes full of confusion, making questioning sounds.
Looking at their innocent and carefree expressions, Haoyuan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.
He looked up at the sky, and when he lowered his head, he smiled at them.
Extending his claws, he plucked seven scales in sequence from his neck, chest, belly, and tail, and distributed them among them.
Receiving the blood-stained scales, the dromaeosaurs looked at him in confusion. Their gazes fell upon the seven beads of blood seeping from his body, and they showed worried expressions.
Haoyuan stroked them, comforting them that it was nothing.
He signaled for them to lick the blood off the scales.
Then, dragging his massive body, he made his way toward the exit of the pass.
The dromaeosaurs did as they were told, and seeing Haoyuan leave, they eagerly chirped and chased after him.
In their eyes, Haoyuan always had something to teach and always knew so much.
Therefore, they figured this was likely some essential skill they needed to master.
However, once they cleared the pass and tried to keep following him, Haoyuan turned back and let out a sound to stop them.
The dromaeosaurs were momentarily stunned and froze in place, their hearts filled with panic.
They did not understand what was happening, and were even more worried that they had done something wrong to make him unhappy.
Thus, they tried their best to display docile and obedient emotions.
Seeing them like this, Haoyuan felt a wrenching pain in his heart.
Even so, he steeled his heart and made a sound telling them to go back.
Then, he conveyed his intention of embarking on a long journey and entering a deep slumber.
Generally speaking, for dinosaurs, traveling far meant leaving when young to find a new pack, or leaving the pack when old to find a burial ground.
But regardless of which one it was, it meant departure.
The dromaeosaurs clearly understood, and they wanted to beg Haoyuan to stay.
After checking him over carefully and confirming nothing was wrong with his body, they assumed he might be looking for a new pack.
So they made sounds expressing their desire to travel with him, but Haoyuan still refused.
They were utterly bewildered.
Haoyuan sighed, stroked their heads, and conveyed that he would return once he woke from his slumber.
Only then did they feel slightly better.
They crowded around to rub their heads against his body, imploring him to return quickly upon waking.
Haoyuan smiled, stroked each of them in turn, and then turned to leave.
In truth, he did not know how long he would sleep.
It was just that his evolution to the second Life Tier had been delayed for far too long.
The dinosaur populations had already been preserved.
However, the mimic monsters seemed capable of evolving. Staying here for too long posed too great a risk.
Furthermore, he did not want to watch the dromaeosaurs leave one by one.
The endless flow of time meant he would have to continuously experience such grief, which was far too painful to bear.
He wanted to always remember them just as they were now: innocent and carefree.
With his head lowered, he slithered thirty to fifty meters away before he suddenly felt an urge to turn around and look.
At the very beginning, he had told himself to be ruthless and never look back.
Yet if he didn't look and didn't turn back, he feared he would leave behind regrets.
Just then, a dense patter of running footsteps echoed from behind. Surprised, he turned around.
The dromaeosaurs were rushing toward him, chirping excitedly.
They pulled off their most beautiful tail feathers and the loose teeth shaking in their mouths, presenting them to him.
Haoyuan was stunned as he stared at the seven teeth and seven tail feathers in his grasp.
He raised his head in shock to look at the dromaeosaurs.
He could not believe that they actually had the concept of exchanging gifts.
Even if it were interpreted as blindly mimicking his behavior, it shouldn't have been mimicked like this.
The burning warmth in their eyes and the joy they displayed upon seeing him accept their gifts did not seem fake at all.
Haoyuan gazed at them for a long time. Inhaling deeply, he suddenly smiled and once again caressed their bodies and heads.
Watching them squint in pure enjoyment made him incredibly happy.
Finally, he earnestly thanked them before slowly turning around to leave.
This time, he was truly setting off on a long journey.
As he slithered, he looked back.
The dromaeosaurs stood in place, watching him with deep reluctance, their eyes filled with longing.
Every time he looked back, they could not help but take a couple of steps forward.
He suddenly felt that they would always wait right there, waiting for his return.
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