My inventory is full of monster materials.

Chapter 143 Kou Tao the Fishman

The dark underground river surged and roared, its steam carrying a chilling cold that permeated the entire passage.

A beam of azure light meandered forward, like a long, icy blue serpent, and steadily adhered to the smooth rock face by the river.

Immediately, several beams of white light danced in the darkness, gradually illuminating the seven members of the anchor point team as they moved forward, accompanied by the incandescent glow of the magic lamp.

Mark, who was in the lead, had cold sweat on his forehead. He took a deep breath, then took out a bottle of light blue intermediate magic potion from his dimensional bag, unscrewed the stopper, and drank it all in one gulp.

Within seconds, Mark's tense expression relaxed slightly, and the dim horn in his hand was gently tucked into his waistband.

However, Gray, standing beside him, looked much worse. His face was haggard, his lips were pale, and his steps were unsteady, as if his body had been hollowed out.

Seeing this, Mark quickly stepped forward and reached out to help him up.

"Grey, are you alright? I have some vitality potions on hand, would you like a bottle?"

Gray waved his hand, panting heavily, and asked with difficulty.

"How...how did you do that? Why are you in so much better shape than me?"

"Well...

'

Mark looked embarrassed, scratched his head, and was speechless for a moment.

Mark possesses the legendary talent "Magic Furnace," which far surpasses that of ordinary mages in both total magic power and magic power recovery speed.

The Anchor Point Squad built an ice bridge along the underground river, relying entirely on the "Ice Wall" spell cast by "Winter Horn".

This magic horn can boost the power of "Ice Wall" to nearly level 4.

For a first-tier mage, spells of this strength would place a heavy burden on mana consumption.

So everyone quickly realized that if Mark were to build the ice bridge by himself, nearly half the time would be spent resting.

Fortunately, Mark discovered the unique feature of the "Winter Horn": each time it is used, all that is needed is to mentally inscribe the "Ice Wall" spell and then fully charge it with magic.

After a brief discussion, the two mages, Mark and Gray, reached an agreement.

Inscribing the "Ice Wall" spell with mental power is a necessary process, but the magic charging can be done alternately by both parties. This way, when one person is charging and using it, the other person can take the time to rest and replenish their magic power.

Therefore, the team's speed of travel in the underground river was greatly increased.

Even so, Mark had to deplete most of his magical reserves every time he charged the horn, even with the "Magic Furnace" buff.

In contrast, Gray always looked exhausted, and at this moment he looked completely drained, even having difficulty standing.

Killian took in the two men's behavior and looked quite surprised.

Although he and Gray belonged to different adventure teams, they both worked under President Conrad. They had known each other for many years and were well aware of Gray's strength and background.

Mark was just a newly promoted mage, and in theory, he was weaker than his fellow mage, Gray, in every aspect.

Unexpectedly, in reality, Mark not only cast spells more times than Gray, but his mana recovery speed was also astonishingly fast, resulting in him being in a much better condition than Gray in the end.

At this moment, Killian's evaluation of Mark had silently improved considerably, and his eyes showed more recognition and importance.

Coming to his senses, Killian stepped forward, patted Gray on the shoulder, and asked him what was wrong.

"Are you alright? Don't push yourself too hard. If you really can't, we can rest here for a while."

Gray clutched his throbbing head, his voice weak.

"It's nothing serious, just that the repeated depletion of magic power has led to mental exhaustion. You should be fine after a rest."

"Hmm."

""

Killian nodded slightly and looked around.

This is a wide bend in an underground river, with smooth, damp rock walls on both sides. There is also a huge, flat rock nearby, which can serve as a place to rest.

Then Killian turned around and spoke to his companions behind him.

"I see that this is a bend in the river, and the terrain is relatively open. It's a good place to rest. Why don't we rest here for a while before continuing on our way?"

"call""

Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief.

After traveling for so long in the dark and oppressive underground river, with only the monotonous sound of flowing water in my ears and pitch blackness before my eyes, the invisible sense of oppression made me feel very uncomfortable.

Gray nodded silently, not caring that the stones on the ground were cold and damp. He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and entered a state of deep meditation.

The rest of the group, including Eris and Nolan, looked around uncomfortably, trying to find a relatively dry place.

Adele rode the Displacement Beast, her face full of displeasure and a hint of irritation in her eyes. She gently stroked the beast's head and whispered words of comfort.

She originally thought the adventure would be full of excitement and surprises, but to her surprise, the whole journey was spent traveling through dark and damp underground, which was boring and depressing, completely different from what she had imagined.

An impatient Adele rode her Displacement Beast to Killian's side, grumbling in dissatisfaction.

"Captain, how much further do we have to go? I'm going to go crazy if we keep going like this."

Killian nodded and lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and then slowly spoke.

"According to the command headquarters, we need to traverse a 5-kilometer underground river. Now, we should have only covered half the distance."

"Moreover, the deeper we go into the mountain, the more dangerous the environment becomes, and the more monsters lurk there will be. Everyone must remain vigilant at all times and cannot be careless in the slightest."

Upon hearing this, Adele immediately became dejected, her face falling. She had intended to ride the Displacement Beast to the river to drink water, but to her surprise, the Displacement Beast reached the riverbank, sniffed the water, and immediately retreated, refusing to drink a single drop.

Adele felt puzzled, so she bent down, squatted down, and gently scooped up a handful of river water. She immediately frowned and shouted loudly.

"Come quickly and take a look! There's something wrong with the river water!"

Upon hearing this, the team members all stopped what they were doing and went to investigate.

Mark was also in the group. He went closer to the riverbank and frowned immediately.

Logically, an underground river should become very clear after being filtered by rock layers, but at this moment it appeared strangely grayish-black and emitted a pungent, fishy stench, like the smell of sewage flowing from a rotting corpse.

Eris approached the riverbank, sniffed it, and with a look of disgust on his face, couldn't help but say something.

"Could it be that it's underground, without sunlight, so it's normal for the river water to become contaminated?"

Killian immediately shook his head in rejection.

"Running water doesn't smell bad."

Mark suddenly had a familiar feeling and said abruptly.

"This river looks somewhat like the sculptures that were moved from the kobold tribe."

Just then, Theresa, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"This river contains negative energy from the abyss."

All eyes immediately turned to Theresa. Killian frowned and asked in a serious tone.

"Are you sure about the negative energy in the abyss?"

Theresa nodded slightly, her gaze fixed on the murky river water, and said in a serious tone.

"I can't be wrong. This evil, violent dark energy is the unique aura of the Abyss. We are now in the Abyss-contaminated area."

Upon hearing this, a chill ran through everyone, and a terrifying thought arose in their minds.

During this "Wolf Extermination" operation in the canyon, the trapped nobles were trapped by abyssal monsters, and the underground river here was also polluted by the abyss.

Is there some kind of connection between these two?

Could it be that their secret operation was already known to the other side?!

Just as everyone was deep in thought, Mark's expression suddenly changed, his eyes instantly becoming alert, and he loudly warned everyone.

"Watch out, everyone! Something's getting close! And there are quite a few of them!"

Upon hearing this, the team members instantly tensed up and drew their weapons.

In the deep cave, only the sound of rushing water could be heard, making it exceptionally quiet, as if Mark's warning was just an illusion.

The group looked around, but could see nothing at the dark entrance to the cave or the end of the river. They looked puzzled.

They didn't sense anything unusual or see anything amiss. What exactly did Mark detect?

Killian stepped forward, walked to Mark's side, and asked in a low voice.

"Mark, did you see something?"

Mark shook his head, his eyes still fixed on the dark depths of the river, and answered solemnly.

"I don't know what it is, but there are definitely a lot of creatures approaching, and they are moving very fast, heading this way."

Mark was stripped of his talent "Dragon Bloodline - Shadow Dragon I1" from the kobold leader, which gave him a "Dark Element +40%" bonus and made him far more sensitive to dark energy and creatures than ordinary people.

Even in such a dark environment, Mark could clearly sense that there were many traces of life hidden deep in the dark river and in the crevices of the rock walls.

As if to confirm Mark's words, a jet-black arc of light suddenly shot out from the darkness deep in the river, moving at an extremely fast speed, heading straight for Nolan at the front of the group!

"Be careful!"

Mark shouted a warning, and Nolan reacted quickly, immediately raising his giant hammer to defend himself.

With a loud clang, the magical light slammed into the giant hammer and exploded instantly, scattering black energy fragments everywhere. Nolan felt a numbness in his arm and was forced back two steps by the impact of the spell.

Gray woke up with a start, his expression changing.

"It's the 'Shadow Blade,' there's a spellcaster lurking in the shadows!"

Immediately afterwards, a piercing roar came from the darkness, and countless dark shadows surged out from the depths of the river. Some ran quickly along the riverbank, while others swam in the water. They were extremely fast and instantly rushed to within ten feet of the team.

Although the team members still couldn't make out the exact appearance of the shadowy figures, they could sense the evil aura and stench emanating from them, clearly indicating that they were up to no good.

"Charge! Hold the line!"

Killian shouted loudly and charged forward first, his greatsword whistling through the air as he slashed at the dark figure at the front.

With a "thud," the longsword struck the dark figure hard, producing a dull sound. At the same time, a piercing roar accompanied the spurting of black blood, which emitted a pungent, nauseating stench.

Eris flashed forward like a cheetah, his short blade piercing the shadowy figure's vitals with precision. His movements were swift and decisive, each strike taking a life.

But there were simply too many shadowy figures, surging in from the darkness in an endless stream. They were also incredibly ferocious; even if they were struck in vital areas, they would still pounce on them, tearing and attacking them relentlessly. The team members were gradually surrounded by the shadowy figures and were caught in a fierce battle.

Mark retreated quickly, gathering ice magic in his hands. A cold light emanated from his fingertips, and an ice arrow shot out instantly, accurately hitting a dark figure in the water.

The dark figure let out a mournful roar, its body instantly frozen into a block of ice, drifting away with the current.

However, there were simply too many shadowy figures in the water, and the power of a single ice arrow was limited, making it impossible to stop their onslaught.

Mark thought of using the "Horn of Winter" to unleash "Frostbolts Volley," but in the dark and confined environment, large-scale spells could easily harm teammates.

In desperation, Mark came up with a plan. He quickly took out the Horn of Winter and, without giving it much time to think, poured the remaining magic into the horn, which emitted a deep hum.

A thick wall of ice rose up at the cave entrance, completely cutting off the shadowy figure's subsequent attack.

Killian was overjoyed at the sight.

"Mark, well done! All players, attack!"

At the command, the squad members worked even harder to eliminate the enemies in front of them.

Adele rode her Displacement Beast, nimbly weaving through the battlefield. Then she drew her bow and nocked an arrow, the arrowhead gathering a faint magical power, each shot precisely claiming a life.

At this moment, Teresa stood in the center of the group, clasped her hands together, and silently recited a holy incantation. The holy light around her instantly surged, like a blazing sun, illuminating the entire cave!

"Holy Light!"

As Theresa shouted, dazzling holy light spread out, and the shadowy figures, illuminated by the light, let out a mournful roar as their bodies began to smoke and melt.

Only then did the team members finally see the exact appearance of these dark figures.

A typical fish head, with eyes located on the sides of the head, gray or brown scales, and black mucus oozing out.

Kou Tao the Fishman!

However, unlike ordinary Koto fishmen, these Koto fishmen have undergone severe mutations, with many twisted and proliferating tissues and organs growing on their bodies.

Some merfolk have grown extra eyes, some have grown multiple tentacles, and some have protruding backs with deformed wings, making them look ferocious and terrifying, and their aggression far exceeds that of ordinary Kou Tao merfolk.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Eris's face showed shock as he slashed off a fishman's tentacle with his short blade. The tentacle continued to writhe wildly after hitting the ground, emitting a pungent stench.

"Abyss Reshaping!"

"Theresa said loudly."

"These Kotao merfolk have been corrupted by abyssal energy, causing them to mutate and become even more ferocious and dangerous!"

Hearing this explanation, the team members felt a chill run down their spines.

But what was even more deadly was that the ice wall that had blocked the cave entrance suddenly exploded during a barrage of bombardments, and a large number of Kou Tao fishmen surged out like a tide.

At this moment, Mark, aided by the light of the holy light, quickly scanned the battlefield, searching for the spellcaster hidden in the shadows.

Soon, he discovered that in a crevice in the rock wall deep in the riverbed stood a figure taller than the ordinary deformed Kotō fishman.

It wore a tattered priestly robe, held a twisted, black-torn scepter, and was surrounded by dense dark magic.

It was High Priest Kou Tao who had just unleashed the dark magic!

High Priest Kou Tao also noticed Mark's gaze. He raised his head, his turbid red eyes fixed on Mark, and let out a strange roar. He lightly tapped his staff, and a black light blade shot out, heading straight for Mark!

But Mark reacted extremely quickly, immediately activating the magic within his body and unleashing the "Flash" spell, his figure instantly disappearing from the spot.

"Get rid of that high priest! He's the leader."

Mark teleported to the rock wall near High Priest Kotao, shouted to his teammates, and at the same time gathered ice magic in his hand, shooting out an "Ice Spear" that accurately stabbed towards High Priest Kotao.

High Priest Kou Tao reacted extremely quickly, waving his staff to unleash a "Shield of Devotion." The ice spikes struck the shield and shattered instantly.

Immediately afterwards, High Priest Kou Tao silently chanted an incantation, and with another tap of his staff, a gray-white beam of light shot towards Mark.

Mark flashed and activated "Flash" again, avoiding the gray-white light. At the same time, he quickly approached High Priest Kou Tao and drew a blue ice blade, slicing off half of High Priest Kou Tao's shoulder.

"Roar—"

"6

High Priest Kou Tao let out a mournful roar, black blood gushing from his shoulder. Seeing his subordinates almost slaughtered by the enemy, he opened his mouth and let out a strange howl.

Mark was dizzy from the sound waves mixed with various murmurs. He snorted and tried to chase after them.

At that moment, Killian shouted loudly.

"Mark, stop chasing! Let's take care of these murlocs first!"