Chapter 108 – This Enemy, Today's Me Cannot Match

Adventurers have no regrets, at most they just failed to glimpse the full scope of the Underground City, failed to return alive, leaving behind a few concubines to widowhood.

“I will see the full picture of this dungeon for you.”

Mu Yuan lightly tapped his fingertips, pondering.

This was clearly an ancient civilization ruin, its area countless times larger than the ancient Tower. Even if most areas inside had decayed and fallen into ruin, surely something could still be excavated, right?

The adventurer’s diary contained no map, but since he had been severely wounded and captured by the Burrow Tribe, it indicated the distance couldn’t be too far.

The Undead General began the search.

He was extremely cautious, ten times more careful than before, covering only over a thousand meters in half an hour.

Mu Yuan: “…”

He knew Deadbone was worried about the Earthrock Dragon mentioned in the diary.

The Earthrock Dragon wasn’t a true Dragon, but any monster bearing the word ‘Dragon’ was extraordinary. At the same Rank, it could easily crush other monsters. Moreover, the Earthrock Dragon might not be merely Professional Tier.

Within the Burrow Tribe, two Night Hunters had been smashed into paste as if they offered no resistance, which was enough to glimpse the Earthrock Dragon’s terror.

Deadbone’s caution was not without reason.

This search lasted from day to night.

Outside the Mage Tower where Mu Yuan resided, night had fallen. He could vaguely glimpse in the distance the already built civilian houses, the lamplight twinkling like stars, dispelling the darkness and bringing warmth.

But in the camera bird’s eyes, the Netherworld remained largely unchanged, with only faint light in the dim environment.

Day and night made no difference here.

After several more hours of searching, during which they slew numerous monsters and even spotted a monster Camp from afar without attacking it… the tireless Skeleton Warriors showed slightly dimmer soul flames within their skulls.

A wraith hung upside down from a stalactite, its faintly red eyes taking in the distant, massive shadow resting in a low-lying, open area.

Soon, a camera bird, controlled by Mu Yuan with Red Robe’s assistance, stealthily arrived at the spot, its sharp eyes locking onto the distant giant shadow.

It was a crawling dragon-like creature, resembling a lizard magnified hundreds or thousands of times.

It had brown, rock-like skin, its body length possibly over ten meters, with extremely muscular and powerful limbs. As it rested, it emitted thunder-like snores, the loud echoes reverberating endlessly in the silent Underground Space.

Mu Yuan noticed conspicuous wisps of Crimson Mist drifting in this open space.

Ominous Crimson Mist!

In fact, since that day when crimson clouds filled the sky, even after the Lord trial ended and dawn light fell, occasional drifting strands of Crimson Mist could still be seen in the wild, as if the Crimson Mist was becoming normalized.

But here was different; the Crimson Mist here was denser, half-obscuring the Earthrock Dragon’s form.

“It’s definitely the Root of Filth, but why is there only one monster around the Root of Filth?”

“Perhaps the Root of Filth hasn’t been here long? The diary indeed didn’t mention it.”

He waited a while longer, and monsters emerged from the distance with pattering sounds.

It was a group of Troglodytes.These cave dwellers, with their hunched postures and crude spears, were on par with the Little Skeleton in terms of mediocrity. However, among them stood one with spikes protruding from its back, wielding a blood-red spear. Beneath its stooped frame bulged knotted muscles, seemingly containing explosive power, while a faint crimson energy swirled around its body.

From its appearance alone, it was clear this was a powerful cave dweller.

Their arrival caught the attention of the Earthrock Dragon. The colossal creature slowly rose, its vertical slit pupils opening like yellow moons hanging in the darkness, yet seemingly pierced by a jet-black sword.

An extremely terrifying, profound aura spread out.

Targeting the cave dwellers who had stepped into the Land of Filth, the Earthrock Dragon swung its massive claw down.

The powerful cave dweller let out a sharp shriek. The blood-red spear in its hand glowed with an even more intense, blinding crimson light, while its body ignited with a blazing aura of pale red flames, stirring an invisible wind in the silent depths of the earth.

It seemed intent on dodging to the side, but the ground suddenly sank. The surrounding cave dwellers collapsed with a thud, their bodies flattened like pancakes. Amid the distinct sounds of “crack, crack” as bones shattered, they were crushed into pulp by an invisible force.

The powerful cave dweller did not fall but stumbled. In the next moment, the giant claw descended, causing the entire underground space to tremble slightly.

And all that remained of the powerful cave dweller was pulp.

Mu Yuan finally understood why those famously swift Night Hunters had met such a gruesome end.

“It’s gravity, likely the Earthrock Dragon’s innate ability.”

“Its Rank is preliminarily assessed as ‘newly advanced to Elite,’ but this is an exceptionally gifted sub-dragon species, extremely formidable.”

“Deadbone, what do you think?”

Deadbone restrained the eager Bone Two, pondered for a long while, and then shook his head slightly. “I’m not up to it today.”

He wanted to live up to the Lord’s expectations, but he wouldn’t recklessly take on a task he wasn’t confident about. If a battle began and they failed to defeat this Earthrock Dragon, the territory would suffer significant losses.

It was better to wait a little longer.

Mu Yuan wasn’t actually in a hurry; he just wanted to hear Deadbone’s analysis.

He understood the implication—not today, but perhaps in a few days or weeks, it would be possible. With the Skull Graveyard’s boost, Deadbone’s efficiency in absorbing Soul Sand was extremely high at this stage, almost equivalent to constantly using advanced cultivation aids.

By then, with some practice and refinement of skills, and with Bone Two and other skeletons cooperating in a righteous gang-up, it might just be possible to take down the Earthrock Dragon.

Most importantly, the Undead General could evolve now.

…

No matter how eager Mu Yuan was for evolution, he had to wait for Deadbone to return.

He could now remotely perform the ‘Evolution Touch,’ bestowing the baptismal radiance upon his troops, but he couldn’t do so across dozens of miles.

He pulled open a drawer, took out a simple map, and marked the approximate location with a red circle to denote the formidable enemy, the Earthrock Dragon.

Only by defeating the Earthrock Dragon could he catch a glimpse of the Underground City’s features.

Otherwise, even if he had the ability to bypass it, he wouldn’t do so.

While waiting for Deadbone to return and with the other troops resting or cultivating in a relatively leisurely period, Mu Yuan opened the forum to relax.

However, as soon as he opened it, he saw a pinned post.

“Investigation and Analysis on the Frequency of Appearances in the Land of Filth…”This appears to be a player from the official ‘Pioneer Group’ who has collected vast amounts of data and cited numerous obscure and abstruse theories and literature.

Thus, Mu Yuan directly scrolled to the bottom and identified the conclusion at a glance.

“The frequency of Lands of Filth has significantly increased?”

“Ah, isn’t that great? Lands of Filth can drop gold coins!”

One Lord remarked, eagerly wanting to form a team for purification.

This received agreement from many, as they had always wished to discover Lands of Filth in the past. Sometimes, when two Lords discovered the same Root of Filth simultaneously, they would have to determine the purification rights through a ‘Duel of Champions.’

However, some veteran Lords frowned, “This might mean the world is becoming more tainted. When the tide comes, it will be more dangerous than before. Newcomers, don’t forget that Lords constantly face the threat of the tide, which is far more terrifying than what you encountered in the novice trials.”

Even so, there isn’t much of a problem at the moment.

A top-tier new Lord bluntly stated that he was already preparing to subjugate a monster tribe and would be able to conquer the powerful monster tribe in at most ten to fifteen days.

Someone else revealed that the King Overlord of Wangba Territory had already introduced the outstanding-tier unit ‘Black Knight,’ successfully recruiting and taming it. With full cultivation, this Black Knight could break through to the Professional Tier in at most seventeen or eighteen days, and reach the Elite Tier in another two months.

In other words, in at most three months, Wangba Territory could easily subjugate Elite-tier monsters, even BOSS-level Elite monsters, achieving in four months what many others had worked over a decade to accomplish.

“This is the charm of high-tier units. It makes me grind my teeth in envy!”

Even Lord Mu felt a sense of urgency.

Apart from not needing to retrain his ace units, apart from Lu Liu, Seventeen, Red Robe, and others soon advancing to the outstanding tier, and apart from Dolai nearly reaching the Late Stage of the Professional Tier, he really didn’t have many advantages.

1/3

(End of Chapter)