This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 192, Section 191: Hopeless

Sensing that Inanna and Aidin's signals had finally moved away from the range of the Qis Rift, Lin Jun quietly controlled the Puji army to turn back.

This time, they entered the previously impassable cave battlefield with almost no hindrance.

After all... how can a bunch of corpses stop the Puji invasion?
The entire cave was now stained with a layer of purple, and by the time Puji arrived, the low temperature had frozen all the purple blood.

Unlike Fifteen, who fought his way through the Puji army, shredding the surrounding Puji into pieces, all the Qis here were killed with a single sword strike.

They either lost their heads or were cleaved in two; not a single corpse bore the mark of a second sword strike, not even the Evil Eye.

The enormous eyeball was cut vertically in half and then dropped from a great height, splattering juice everywhere.

Damn, that's too strong!
Because of the distance caused by Qisi clearing the fungal carpet, Lin Jun was unable to directly obtain the battle scene, but from a distance, she could sense that Inanna and Aidin passed through the cave with only a slight pause.

In other words, all these thousand or so Qis can do is make the Sword Saint pause for a moment. What about the Puji army?
Although she was very wary of this Sword Saint, Lin Jun still sent a scout Puji to follow them from a distance, wanting to find out where the core was.

As for now?

Considering that the Sword Saint and his group might return the way they came, there was no point in occupying the area now, so Lin Jun decisively began to move the corpses.

Keith seems to have been driven to despair by the attack and is now hiding behind the rift, refusing to come out.

Maybe it's because of the lighting!

However, the Puji that Lin Jun sent to test the waters would still be eliminated immediately, so they shouldn't be completely powerless to resist, right?
Once humans repair the core, these cracks will disappear, right?
Thinking about it this way, Lin Jun felt a little reluctant to part with Qi Si.

Unlike those miscellaneous monsters with all sorts of random skills, Keith's skills are relatively consistent.

By dissecting the same number of corpses, the monster will provide Lin Jun with 10 different LV3 skills, while Qi Si will provide 2 LV5 skills.

It's really hard not to love it.

After more than half a month of love and hate, both [Refractory Invisibility] and [Cold Resistance] have reached LV7, not to mention obtaining the Evil Eye's [Petrifying Ray] and [Magic Shield].

Among them, the [Magic Shield] is fine; the Puji have already successfully equipped it and applied it in actual combat. The level 2 Magic Shield allowed the Puji to withstand the gaze of the Evil Eye for an extra 5 seconds.

Lin Jun understood the issue of skill level; considering the limited number of Evil Eyes, this was something that could only be mastered through practice.

But the [Petrification Ray] is a bit tricky—poof…it can't grow eyes!

I've obtained similar skills like [Far Vision] by dismantling other monsters before, but unfortunately, nothing changed after I equipped it on Puji.

[Petrification Rays] aren't that bad; they do have some effect, but only a little...

Within the fluorescence emitted by the puff, there will be a very small area and a very weak petrification effect.

Unable to control direction, range, or power, it's like spraying poison around, causing area-of-effect damage.

Unlike the hallucinogenic spores, other fungi and creep are not afraid of hallucinogenic spores, but they are afraid of petrification!

So once the petrification of the Puji is activated, the first thing to be petrified is the surrounding creep and other Puji. Moreover, the petrification efficiency is quite pitiful; it takes an hour or two to petrify a single layer of mycelium on a Puji. It's rather absurd...

It's not entirely useless; converting biomass into stone does seem to have some applications, but using it against an enemy is a stretch.

Sudden……

The scout... got taken out.

……

With a flash of silver light beneath his feet, Sword Saint Elwayne caught up with the group who had stopped in place because of his sudden departure from the team.

“I was wondering what was sneaking up on us, it’s this little thing.” He brandished his longsword, the tip still pierced with a winged Puji. “Look, it’s that thing again.” Fifteen stared at the pierced Puji, then suddenly remembered something: “Speaking of which, weren’t there some Puji corpses scattered in that cave where the Qis were lurking? It seems they’re not just active in the first ten levels, but also in the deeper areas. I just wonder… if they’re the same kind as those up there.”

This was just a minor incident. The Sword Saint casually tossed the scout to the ground, and the group continued their journey.

However, despite the small wound, the scout couldn't revive...

After two full days of trekking guided by the positioning crystal, the team finally approached the core area of ​​their journey.

From the second half of the journey onward, the number of monsters of various ferocious forms suddenly increased.

Cunning giant cave spiders, swarms of shadow bats, venomous worms lurking in rock crevices... it felt as if we had truly stepped into the deep zone's inherent, perilous, and primitive ecosystem.

They even encountered a colossal earthworm with a level exceeding sixty!
Its massive body is like a mobile fortress, with thick rock armor and a ferocious maw, bringing an unprecedented sense of oppression.

It was this colossal creature that became the only monster in the entire journey that forced the Sword Saint Elwyn to unleash a second strike.

The group eventually arrived at a platform that was distinctly different from natural caves. It was paved with some kind of smooth, cold black stone with neat edges, as if it had been carved by a master craftsman.

No monsters attempt to enter the platform's area, just as they won't approach the first ten floors of stairs, making it a desolate and safe island.

Near the entrance of the platform, a lone instrument covered in a thick layer of dust sat forlornly. Its metal casing had long lost its luster and was covered in dust, with only a few dim magic circles barely discernible.

A faint magical fluctuation, like a candle flickering in the wind, emanated from within it—this was the magical fluctuation collection device that had long been obsolete.

At the end of the platform stands a massive, solid black gate that inspires awe. On either side of the gate, two strangely shaped yet majestic stone statues, each over ten meters tall, stand silently.

No one tried to approach the gate or the statue.

"Right here." Under Guge's command, the accompanying mages deftly opened the heavy chests they had carefully carried all the way.

Inside were numerous intricate components shimmering with mithril, crystal prisms engraved with tiny runes, and energy conduits.

They began assembling the equipment right next to the dusty, old instruments.

Half a day later, a strangely shaped, magically technological new instrument stood next to the old one.

With the assistance of other mages, Gug personally operated the device, magic flowing through his withered fingers, guiding a powerful flow of detection energy.

The energy fluctuations emitted by the instrument even caused a slight distortion in the air at the edge of the platform.

As time passed, the serious and focused expression on Guge's aged face gradually faded, replaced by an incredulous astonishment. His brows furrowed more and more, and his complexion grew increasingly grim.

"What's wrong?" Everyone noticed something was amiss, but only the Sword Saint asked without hesitation.

The old mage Gug finally raised his head slowly, his wrinkles seeming to deepen. His Adam's apple bobbed laboriously, and his voice was dry and heavy: "We...we're afraid...we're going to lose the Amethyst Dungeon..."

"why?"

“Because…it seems now,” Gug’s voice carried a sense of helplessness at witnessing disaster, “that this is no longer just a matter of chaotic magical flow as expected. The core…the core itself is gradually approaching a standstill, like a heart about to stop beating. The current situation is like trying to feed a healing potion to a cold corpse…even if we exhaust all our efforts to restore the magical flow, it will all be in vain…”

Guge then went on and on with a long explanation of complex terminology, leaving the others completely bewildered. But the core message was cold and clear: this was beyond the capabilities of these array maintenance experts; the problem was beyond repair.

The Sword Saint gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his gaze sharp as a knife, sweeping across the platform to the two silent and imposing stone statues: "What if we let you directly into the core? Is there even a sliver of hope?"

Gug shook his head: "It's useless. In the end, all we have is the core maintenance method, but the most basic technology of the dungeon core... we have never had it."

Having said all that, the Sword Saint was at a loss. He glanced at the distant gate and said helplessly, "Then... we can only prepare to return."

Aidin, standing to the side, was slightly stunned, while Inanna covered her mouth, her eyes darting around, seemingly lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)