Elven cultivators

Chapter 95 The Dark Region

"It is indeed a burrowing worm."

Anton recognized the monster the instant he saw its corpse.

In his past life, he had hunted many burrowing worms in the Underdark, so he was extremely familiar with this kind of monster.

The three elders and Thorvin stood around, their expressions not very good.

A fissure that may connect to the Underdark has appeared deep within the mining area, meaning that the ore vein they have painstakingly mined for many years could at any moment turn into an erupting volcano and destroy everything here.

"The most urgent task is to find out where this rift leads," the Grand Elder said in a deep voice. "If it really is the Underdark... we must find a way to seal it as soon as possible."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The problem is, who should we send down?

If it's just an ordinary rift, that's fine, but if this rift really leads to the Underdark, then this trip will definitely be extremely dangerous.

The people sent to investigate were too weak; they might very well be trapped inside forever and never return.

The safest approach is to send down Gold-tier combatants.

Ideally, it should be a warrior and a spellcaster, so they can support each other.

Just then, Anton suddenly spoke up: "Elder, I'll go."

All eyes turned to him.

The Grand Elder frowned slightly and shook his head, saying, "No."

Andong is the hope for the clan's future rise.

Sending him on a perilous journey to explore a rift that might lead to the Underdark would have unimaginable consequences should something go wrong.

"Elder, I am the most suitable to go," Anton insisted calmly.

Most areas of the Darklands are devoid of sunlight, with only some luminescent fungi, crystals, and minerals providing dim illumination.

In addition, the terrain is complex and varied, so surface creatures that enter there often can only unleash half of their full potential.

But he's different.

Even though he lost all his sight, he could still clearly perceive the surrounding situation with his divine sense.

Furthermore, there are sword escape techniques and various magic and martial arts skills that enhance speed.

It can be said that the dark environment and complex terrain of the Underdark had no effect on him.

In fact, his advantage is even greater in places with very little light.

After all, not all subterranean creatures have dark vision.

In addition, because he had spent a lot of time in the Underdark in his previous life, he had a considerable understanding of the terrain, creatures and race distribution there.

Of all those present, no one knew the Underdark better than him.

To be honest, he was indeed the most suitable candidate.

Of course, these reasons couldn't be stated, so Anton had to find another excuse.

"If it really is a rift leading to the Underdark, then having too many people would be more dangerous. It would be more suitable for someone like me, who is skilled in both magic and martial arts, to go down."

The elder frowned, but did not immediately refute.

Anton continued, "Moreover, I have the Fire Shield protecting me, as well as talismans and Yellow Turban Warriors by my side. Even if I really encounter danger, escaping won't be a problem."

The Grand Elder remained silent for a long time before finally sighing and looking at Anton with a solemn expression.

"Be very careful."

"I will," Anton nodded.

Seeing that the Grand Elder had relented, the others didn't dare to say anything more.

Darian opened his mouth, but in the end he just patted Anton on the shoulder and whispered, "Be careful."

Anton nodded slightly to the crowd, then turned and walked toward the rift not far away.

The inside of the crevice was pitch black, like a gaping maw ready to devour anyone who dared to enter.

To go all out, Anton took out a light source stone from his dimensional bag, lit it, held it in his hand, and leaped into the crevice.

Watching Anton's figure disappear into the darkness, a hint of worry flashed in the elder's eyes, but he quickly composed himself and turned to look at Cedric.

"Mobilize the forest guard and seal off the mining area."

"Yes, Elder."

......

The inside of the fissure was narrower than expected.

The rock face is jagged and covered with sharp edges.

After all, it was a tunnel forcibly dug out by the burrowing worms, without any repairs.

Once Anton was sure that no one outside could see him anymore, he put away the Light Source Stone and spread his divine sense outwards.

In dark areas, holding a light source is a big no-no.

It is easy to expose one's location and attract attacks from other creatures.

The passage winds downwards with a steep slope, almost vertical in some places.

Anton used his wind manipulation technique to move nimbly through the narrow space without slowing down at all.

His mind raced throughout the journey.

If this rift really leads to the Underdark, what kind of subterranean race lives nearby?

Dark Elf? Beholder? Or Mind Flayer?

These are the three most powerful races in the Underdark, each of whom is extremely troublesome.

Dark elves revere evil and intrigue, have a strict social hierarchy, and are renowned for their powerful magic and combat skills.

Moreover, the dark elves are the mortal enemies of the surface elves; their hatred is etched in their blood, and any encounter between them is a fight to the death.

The Eye Demon is an extremely xenophobic, paranoid, and powerful spherical monster with a huge central eye and multiple eye stalks that can release different magical rays. It is a terrifying and aloof lord of the Underdark.

Mind Flayers are even more bizarre. They feed on the brains of other intelligent beings, possess powerful psychic abilities, and use these to enslave other races, establish cruel city-states, and are among the most feared predators in the Underdark.

In addition, there are many other underground races, but they pale in comparison to the three major races.

As they ventured deeper, the surrounding scenery began to change.

At first, you could still see the familiar moss and tree roots, but soon these traces gradually disappeared.

Instead, there was suffocating absolute darkness.

This is not the darkness of night.

There is still starlight and moonlight at night, and perhaps the lights of villages in the distance.

But the darkness here feels like a tangible, heavy weight, pressing down on your vision, skin, and mind, giving you the illusion that you can't breathe.

The air was cold and damp, carrying an indescribable earthy smell, occasionally mixed with a trace of bitter, metallic minerality.

There was no wind; the air was frozen.

It was as if the whole world had stopped breathing.

Anton was like a solitary traveler, moving silently in the darkness.

Without divine sense, relying solely on sight, moving around in the underground world is indeed extremely difficult.

Fortunately, he does not need to rely on vision.

His consciousness extended outwards, and everything around him appeared clearly in his mind.

By this time, Anton was certain that the rift above did indeed lead directly to the Underdark.

And now he found himself in this vast underground world.

"Now I just hope there aren't any settlements of underground races around here, or at least not one of the three: dark elves, beholders, or mind flayers, otherwise things will get tricky."

After walking for about half an hour, Anton suddenly stopped.

My divine sense detected the movement ahead.

It was a huge creature, curled up in a ditch at the corner of the passage, seemingly waiting for its prey to pass by.

Anton's eyes flickered slightly, and he continued walking forward.

As he reached the corner, the massive figure suddenly sprang up, letting out a low roar, and pounced on him.

It was a cave bear.

Bear variants adapted to underground living are more ferocious than surface bears.

It is over three meters long, with a high back and shoulders, and its whole body is covered with rough grayish-brown fur. Its forelimbs are as thick as tree trunks, and the sharp claws at the tips of its paws are as long as an adult's finger, with a dark, bony luster.

This creature is a common predator in the dark regions. Although its eyesight is extremely deteriorated, its sense of smell and hearing are exceptionally keen. Adult cave bears have a combat strength of Iron level.

Anton did not draw his sword, but a sliver of silver-white sword light leaped from his chest and pierced the cave bear's head like lightning.

The cave bear's lunging form suddenly froze, its massive body losing control in mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Anton stepped forward and put the cave bear's carcass into his dimensional bag.

The flesh, blood, and fur of cave bears are also good materials and should not be wasted.

As Anton continued onward, he encountered many more monsters.

For example, the Deinonychus.

A bird-like monster with hooked claws that can climb rocky surfaces and attack with its unique claws and beak.

For example, the petrified lizard.

A reptile with eight legs whose gaze can turn its prey to stone.

These monsters weren't particularly strong, at most only at the Black Iron level, and Anton easily dealt with them.

To his surprise, he hadn't seen any corpses along the way.

This is highly unusual for the Underdark.

The Darklands are harsh environments with scarce food, and the fighting between creatures is more frequent than on the surface.

A corpse, regardless of the creature it is, will be devoured by other predators in a very short time.

Even so, there should at least be some indigestible bones or hair left behind.

But Anton didn't see a single bone or a hair along the way.

It was as if something was deliberately cleaning up these corpses.

Moreover, the cleaning was extremely thorough, leaving not even bones behind.

Unless... the creature that took the corpse did not intend to eat it.

It has another purpose.

Thinking about this, Anton had some vague guesses in his mind.

He continued forward without making a sound, his divine sense maintaining maximum coverage.

After walking for quite a while, the passage finally came to an end.

Ahead lies an open space, with rock walls extending to both sides, forming a natural underground cave.

The cave ceiling is about 20 to 30 meters above the ground, with stalactites hanging upside down like a forest, casting jagged shadows under the glow of fluorescent moss.

Anton leaped out of the passage and landed silently on the cave floor.

At the same time, his divine sense detected more than a dozen moving figures.

Anton flashed and disappeared behind a boulder, simultaneously using Shadow Movement Technique to blend his figure into the shadow.

Those figures emerged from around the corner ahead.

They were a group of upright-walking humanoid creatures, about 1.6 to 1.8 meters tall, with slender figures.

They have no eyes, only two shallow indentations in the eye sockets, flat faces, and almost completely degenerated noses with only two tiny holes.

Its skin was grayish-white, like a corpse that had never seen the sun, and its surface was covered with a layer of fine down.

They were wearing rough leather armor, with obsidian-polished short knives hanging from their waists, and were moving forward cautiously.