Chapter 65 — Deep Underground "No point looking at it — last time I killed one of these things, it ended up the same way!"
"So it self-destructs after death?!"
Leilin was somewhat surprised. This ran completely counter to the normal laws of biological growth.
Still wisping white vapor, the skeleton lay in fragments. Leilin stepped forward and picked up a bone.
The white, desiccated bone was covered in hairline fractures, as though it would crumble at the slightest touch. He applied a bit of force with his fingers — rip! The bone disintegrated into powder.
"Hmm, that's not right!" A sidelong glance revealed a few thread-like red structures among the white powder, resembling blood vessels.
"Target still exhibits life signs. High-energy bacteria detected. Host is advised to withdraw immediately!" The Chip's scanning results also materialized before Leilin's eyes.
He quickly tossed the red vessel away and used energy particles to cleanse his palm.
"What's wrong?" Meierfeile noticed something amiss.
"Watch out for those bones — there's something still alive in them!" Leilin's brow furrowed as he rapidly retreated a considerable distance.
Tss! At that very moment, a swarm of those same red vessels suddenly erupted from the lizard's skeleton, puncturing countless holes through the bones. It became clear that the vessels had been parasitizing the marrow cavity inside.
Innumerable blood-red filaments surged out, tangling and intertwining like tree roots, until they coalesced into a small creature.
It bore a vague resemblance to the original monster, but its entire body was crimson, with veins periodically bulging beneath the surface. It had no eyes or mouth, though its four legs were remarkably robust.
Whoosh! The creature moved with terrifying speed — before Jackson and the other
"After it! That thing is definitely connected to the Blight Forest!" A figure cloaked in grey robes murmured a few words in Jackson's ear, and Viscount Jackson immediately issued the command.
"That grey-robed person — they've been shadowing Jackson ever since we entered Polar Night City. Must be some kind of confidant, and they have extremely powerful detection abilities!"
Leilin narrowed his eyes and ran a scan with the Chip. "That build and appearance, and the fluctuation of a Second-rank Apprentice? Interesting!"
"Hurry! Keep up!"
At Jackson's command, the Black Iron Guard soldiers moved to the front first, with Jackson positioned at the center of the formation for protection. The grey-robed figure followed closely behind.
The remaining Wizard Apprentices exchanged glances. Meierfeile said with some resignation, "Let's move!"
Leilin deliberately slowed his pace to walk alongside Meierfeile. "That thing from before — do you have any guesses about it?"
"It seems to be some kind of parasite! Based on the strength of the parasitized creature, the host organism is at least at the Third-rank Apprentice level, possibly even… a full Wizard!" Meierfeile said with a bitter smile.
For a full Wizard, Leilin's little team posed absolutely no threat — a handful of First-level spells would be enough to wipe them all out.
"That shouldn't be the case!" Leilin shook his head. According to the Chip's calculations, while that parasite was reasonably powerful, the main body's energy intensity was at most at the peak of a Third-rank Apprentice. Otherwise, Leilin would have been the first to flee.
"Just… for such a simple investigation mission — one I chose myself — to involve a creature with at least Third-rank Apprentice-level difficulty… what kind of luck is this…" Leilin didn't even know what to say about himself.
He was privately thankful that he hadn't come alone. If he had, and couldn't suddenly unlock some hidden power in a moment of crisis like the protagonists in novels from his previous life, he'd be as good as dead.
"Be careful! We're going deeper and deeper — I can feel the dense Negative Energy in the air!"
One of the Wizard Apprentices shouted loudly.
Leilin was even more acutely aware of the Negative Energy. After all, his primary focus of cultivation was dark-element energy particles. Just as plant-element and light-element practitioners placed greater emphasis on the study of positive energy, a dark-element cultivator like Leilin spent far more time on Negative Energy than the average person.
"It's almost comparable to the outskirts of Black Bone Forest Academy — no wonder I feel so at home here!"
Leilin pulled his collar higher, hiding the smile that crept to the corners of his lips.
Clang! The sound of clashing armor rang out, and the group came to an abrupt halt.
"It's gone! That red monster — I saw it pause here, and then it suddenly vanished!" Jackson drew his longsword. "Stay on guard!"
The Black Iron Guard immediately formed a circle around the area, placing Jackson and the other Wizard Apprentices at the center to guard against a sudden attack.
"This should be the core region of the Blight Forest!" Meierfeile stroked his beard.
"Now we can use the detection tools we prepared earlier!" Meierfeile pulled a vial of black liquid from inside his shirt, uncorked it, and gently poured it onto the ground.
Drip, drip!
After the black potion hit the ground, it actually transformed into tiny ants that continuously crawled outward in every direction.
Once the entire vial had been used up, Raylin estimated that nearly ten thousand ants had appeared.
"This level of detection can absolutely be called a full-sphere, coverage-style search. That parasite will have a very hard time slipping past it!" Raylin thought to himself.
Sure enough, after waiting about ten minutes, a black ant appeared at Meierfeile's feet, then crawled up along his clothes all the way to the area near his ear, as though whispering something beside it.
"Found it! Follow me!" Meierfeile followed the ant and led the group to a withered oak tree.
"Move this oak out of the way!" Meierfeile pointed at the large tree. "According to my detection, there's a hidden passage beneath this oak."
"First squad, go!" Viscount Jackson waved his hand.
The guards in black armor immediately stepped forward, swinging their spears and thrusting them into the oak.
The withered tree clearly couldn't withstand such an assault—spears punched holes all through it, and wood chips flew into the air like falling snow. Ten guards scrambled to haul away the completely rotted oak, revealing a dark, gaping hole.
"This is it!" Meierfeile's eyes lit up, and he chanted a few more incantations.
Dense swarms of black ants crawled in from every direction, all of them pouring into the hole.
Suddenly, Meierfeile's face went white and he lurched backward, nearly fainting on the spot.
"What happened?" Raylin appeared behind Meierfeile and braced him by the waist.
"There's a extremely dangerous creature inside the hole—it wiped out all my little darlings!" Meierfeile's expression was grim.
"What do we do?" one of the apprentices asked, apparently wanting to fall back to the city first.
"Prepare torches!" Jackson waved his hand. "We're going down to have a look!"
"Yes, sir!" The guards efficiently carried out the City Lord's orders. Raylin and the other wizards exchanged glances—ultimately having no choice, they followed along.
The cave entrance was rather small, requiring adults to bend down to enter, but the deeper they went, the wider it became. Before long, the guards could walk side by side in a fully upright position, and even with torches raised, they still hadn't reached the cavern's ceiling.
"This is bad! Judging by the height of this cave, that 'Mother Body' can't possibly be small." Raylin felt the leather pouch at his waist. If he hadn't prepared so many trump cards, he would have already slipped away from the group in secret.
After all, when it came to angering a City Lord, one's life still seemed the more precious thing.
"Lord Baron! Two forks have appeared up ahead!" a man who looked like a small squad leader reported to Jackson.
"I'll take a look!" Jackson strode forward.
Raelin followed behind, and sure enough, two cave openings of nearly identical size loomed before them, stretching deep and fathomless. One glance into their depths revealed nothing but impenetrable darkness, like the gaping maws of some monstrous creature.
"The Negative Energy concentration here is too high—ordinary scouting methods won't work!" the gray-robed figure at the City Lord's side suddenly spoke up.
"Send two men ahead as scouts to probe the path!" Baron Jackson furrowed his brow and issued the command.
"Let me handle it," Raelin said, stepping forward.
Now that he knew the 'Mother Body' was extraordinarily powerful, he had no intention of letting their fighting strength be wasted for nothing.
"If Mr. Raelin is willing to take action, that would be ideal!" Baron Jackson broke into a smile.
Raelin walked a few paces forward and pulled a transparent crystal from inside his robes.
"Gliston — Jonater!" As the incantation left his lips, a black vertical eye suddenly materialized within the crystal.
The eye was roughly the size of a normal person's, with no whites whatsoever—just a pitch-black pupil that seemed to drag one's soul from the body the instant you looked at it.
"That's... a Negative Energy Eye!"
"Only Wizards who specialize in Negative Energy can use that spell!"
The apprentices behind them began whispering among themselves, and the looks they cast Raelin carried a few more degrees of hostility and wariness.
Wizards who specialized in Negative Energy tended to wield far more destructive Zero-level Spells, and their dispositions were more bloodthirsty and ruthless—they were typically the hallmark of Dark Wizards.
It was perfectly understandable that ordinary Wizards would regard one with hostility.
Raelin had absolutely no intention of explaining himself to the people behind him. With a firm squeeze of his hand, he crushed the crystal.
The black vertical eye split in two, each half drifting toward one of the cave openings.
As the eyes entered the tunnels, Raelin's own eyes gradually closed. Baron Jackson stared at him with a touch of anxiety, and the entire party fell silent—the only sound was the ceaseless crackling of their torches.
A few minutes later, Raelin opened his eyes. "In the left tunnel, there are only a few mutated lizard-like creatures. At the far end is a massive expanse of rock."
"As for the right side, I only know it's a downward passage. My spell was broken after it continued deeper!"
"Then let's go down together!" Jackson pointed toward the cave opening on the right.
The cave on the right was even darker and damper. Raelin felt the earthen wall beside him; several moss-like things covered the surface, damp and slick. "So humid!"
A slight stir passed through Raelin's heart, but his expression remained unchanged. He pulled a white handkerchief from inside his robe and wiped his palm clean.
"We must be very close to those monsters' lair!"