This time, Haoyuan found a very deep underground limestone cave.
Although he did not know how long the evolution of his Life Tier would take, he had a premonition that it would be a very long time.
So long that he was not sure if the dromaeosaurs would still be alive when he woke up.
Gazing at the seven teeth and seven tail feathers in his claws, he dazed off for a long time.
In the end, he opened his mouth and swallowed them all.
The spatial organ of Whale Gulp Dragon Inhale could store things, but currently, it could only store items that were swallowed normally.
This evolution would mainly focus on evolving Aerial Flight and his hind limbs.
Aerial Flight went without saying; the hind limbs would primarily serve to control direction.
With his massive twenty-five-meter body, his front half was relatively flexible thanks to his Kirin Arms, but his back half was difficult to control. As his body grew, this control would only become increasingly difficult.
Therefore, he needed to add a rudder to his back half in addition to his Kirin Arms.
With everything prepared, he slowly closed his eyes.
...
Six million years later.
In the dense tropical rainforest.
A sixty-centimeter guinea-pig-like marsupial was fleeing for its life ahead, while a two-meter-long terrestrial crocodile behind it, its four limbs rapidly clawing the ground, pursued it with all its might.
The two chased each other, rapidly passing through a vast stretch of dense forest.
The distance was constantly closing.
Having lost its head in panic, the marsupial leapt onto a pile of mossy rocks ahead.
The complex, overlapping pile of large rocks immediately hindered its forward speed.
The terrestrial crocodile seized the opportunity to close the distance further.
Just as it lunged toward the next winding intersection, the marsupial's path was suddenly blocked by a towering, rugged boulder.
It froze in despair for 0.03 seconds. Just as it tried to turn and run, the terrestrial crocodile leaped fiercely from a horizontal boulder beside it, lunging straight down at the marsupial.
The marsupial's sky was instantly eclipsed by a bloody, gaping maw.
Falling from the air, the terrestrial crocodile completely enveloped the marsupial's form.
Victory was within arm's reach.
Suddenly, the towering, rugged boulder blocking the marsupial opened a massive golden eye.
Within, a colossal, pitch-black pupil suddenly twitched, abruptly focusing on them.
The mid-air terrestrial crocodile's breath hitched, and it instantly felt its blood run cold.
Its heart stopped instantly, its eyes forced wide open, and its body fell forward from uncontrollable inertia.
The marsupial on the ground did not fare much better.
Although its back was turned, it could still feel the piercing gaze from behind.
Its heart suddenly stopped, and its entire body's blood froze along with it.
It was as if they had suddenly turned into two lifeless dolls.
The terrestrial crocodile crashed straight ahead, and the marsupial stood blankly in place.
The two collided and rolled a few times under the force of inertia, then remained completely motionless.
Haoyuan had not expected things to turn out like this.
Having just awakened and not knowing what the surroundings were like, he had subconsciously been on his guard when he opened his eyes.
Thus, he had triggered the Dragon Might Gaze that had evolved within his body.
With just a single glance, these two small animals that had rushed before him were turned into lifeless dolls.
He quickly retracted his Dragon Might Gaze and stretched his body for the first time in a long while, revitalizing himself with vibrant life from his long slumber.
Like the rumbling of the earth, the winding and intersecting mossy pile of rocks trembled incessantly.
Large flocks of surrounding birds startled and flew away, screeching as they fled.
Beasts fled in a panic, hiding themselves away.
Everything was in a state of panic and terror.
On the mossy, winding rocks, the two little beasts remained entirely lifeless, showing not the slightest sign of waking or moving.
Eventually, following the tremors, they rolled down onto the ground.
Haoyuan sensed all of this, but there was nothing he could do.
The winding and intersecting pile of rocks cracked like a spiderweb, revealing the lustrous, jade-white dragon scales within.
They were smooth and beautiful, tightly arranged, and shone brilliantly in the sunlight.
His massive body was completely exposed in the forest.
Haoyuan looked down at the two little beasts. He picked up the terrestrial crocodile with his claws and hooked the marsupial with his dragon whiskers, bringing them close to inspect.
“Have mammals already evolved to this extent?” Haoyuan murmured.
Putting down the two little beasts, he slithered forward.
“I wonder how the dinosaurs are doing.”
His massive body slithered in a winding path.
He rolled over vegetation, pushed aside trees with overwhelming force, and plowed deep trenches into the ground.
His aura was extraordinary, and his every movement made the earth tremble slightly.
As he slithered, Haoyuan opened his status panel.
Name: Haoyuan
Race: Dragon (Customized)
Lifespan: 8,000,000 years (Active lifespan upon waking)
Divine Abilities: Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Icy Mist; Flaming Eyes of Molten Gold (Dragon Might Gaze, Eyes of the Torch Dragon); Whale Gulp Dragon Inhale; Optical Camouflage
Evolutionary Paths: 1. Self-Healing (...+) 2. Digestion (...+) 3. Dragon Body (...+)
He was now fifty meters long. The two rows of serrated dragon fins on his back had transformed into a special mane, growing lushly along his spine like a great dragon, its majestic tresses fluttering in the wind.
“I look much more dominant, and my size is truly massive.”
Haoyuan was very satisfied with the results of his second Life Tier evolution.
After searching around and seeing no dinosaurs, he pressed his paws against the ground, and his massive body soared into the air.
He cleared the tall, dense trees and soared straight up.
The entire dragon floated effortlessly in the air.
“Is this Aerial Flight? How magical!”
Hao Yuan was surprised to find that he could actually hover in mid-air.
Before his tail had even cleared the forest canopy, his body was already stationary, looking down at the mist-shrouded rainforest.
Stationary or in motion, entirely at his whim, the experience was boundlessly fun.
“This is quite a fun ability.”
Saying so, he whipped his tail forcefully, and his body suddenly shot forward, fast as a crack of thunder.
Instantly ascending to an altitude of eight hundred meters, his field of vision became broad and bright.
The white clouds and blue sky felt close enough to touch with a raised hand.
“At this speed, who could possibly catch up to me? Moving and stopping at will, this is true freedom.”
Haoyuan was suddenly filled with grand pride. He took a deep breath, exhaling like a dragon. Stretching his body, he glided out, twisting and turning with absolute ease and freedom.
With clouds swirling and mist rising, it was as if he were in a fairyland.
The breeze blew gently, and he felt content and relaxed.
By the time he snapped out of it, he had already traveled over one hundred and eight thousand meters.
He suddenly remembered his main mission.
“Oh no, I got too carried away playing. I haven't looked for the dinosaurs yet.”
Before his voice even faded, he leaned down and swooped down from several thousand meters to an altitude of eight hundred meters.
“Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, hurry on out~”
Singing to himself, his mood rather light, he easily scanned the earth with his superb vision.
Looking all along the way, he actually did not see a single dinosaur.
“Hmm?”
He suddenly noticed something amiss. Lowering himself further to an altitude of two hundred meters, he scanned the rainforest.
The rainforest floor teamed with a great variety of biological species, but...
“None...”
“How could this be?”
Haoyuan was incredulous. The dinosaurs had clearly survived the catastrophe.
Warm sunlight had returned to the earth. Given the supreme success of the dinosaurs' evolution, no animal should have been able to usurp their ecological niche beneath their stable population numbers.
“There are mammals and crocodiles everywhere, yet not even a single terror bird is in sight.”
Haoyuan frowned slightly.
“Even if the environment changed and their sizes shrank drastically, the dinosaurs shouldn't have vanished without a trace... Wait, what is that... a Titanoboa?”
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