Elven cultivators

Chapter 96 The City-State of the Mind-Stealing Demon (Bonus Chapter for 900 Monthly Tickets)

Stone-blind Barbarians.

Anton recognized the creatures.

The indigenous tribes of the Darklands are born blind, but possess extremely keen hearing, smell, and touch, making them elite hunters and guards.

At the same time, they are also one of the most frequently used and most loyal servant races of mind flayers.

The presence of the Stoneblind Barbarians here suggests that a Mind Flayer city-state may exist nearby.

Anton's suspicions were confirmed at this moment.

It is unlikely that you will see scattered corpses around the Mind Flayer city-state.

Because mind flayers are extremely "efficient".

They will use every corpse.

It can be used as a container for procreation of the same species.

Either transform into a mind-eating monster.

Alternatively, it can be stored directly as food.

No corpse that falls into the hands of the Mind Flayer will be wasted.

That's why he didn't see any corpses along the way.

The worst-case scenario still happened.

The existence of the Mind Flayer City-State is undoubtedly terrible news for the Silvermoon Clan.

Anton frowned slightly, silently watching the Stone Blind Barbarians pass by not far away.

The Shadow Technique works better underground than on the surface.

There was no sunlight here, and shadows were everywhere. His figure blended into the surrounding darkness, making him almost indistinguishable.

Although the Stoneblind Barbarians had keen senses, they were still unable to detect Anton's presence and drifted away unnoticed.

Once the Stone-Blind Barbarians were far away, Anton emerged from behind the boulder and silently followed.

Following behind the patrolling Stoneblind Barbarians, we walked along the edge of the cave for about a kilometer before the space ahead suddenly opened up.

Anton stopped behind a protruding rock face, looked up, and his pupils contracted slightly.

What unfolds before your eyes is a magnificent sight.

Thousands of stalactites hang from the cave ceiling, like giant pillars supporting the sky, gleaming with a faint purple light in the dim fluorescent glow.

Below are countless towering, twisted buildings with sharp arches and thick stone walls, presenting an overall dark and eerie Gothic style.

However, upon closer inspection, it can be found that many buildings are not made of stone or wood, but of some kind of organic material.

The building's walls were covered in pulsating, fleshy textures and slippery slime, which looked rather disgusting and nauseating.

The air was filled with a faint, sweet, rotten smell, as if onions, garlic, and herbs were mixed together.

That was the scent emanating from the Mind Flayer's body.

Without a doubt, this is a city-state of mind-stealers.

The entire city-state was shrouded in a faint purple halo, a mental barrier released by the Mind Flayer to isolate it from outside detection.

Anton did not approach rashly.

He observed from a distance for a moment before turning and leaving.

Mind Flayers are extremely dangerous psionic creatures.

They are adept at using various psionic and magical abilities.

Creatures with weak willpower are easily intimidated or even manipulated by mind flayers, thus becoming their slaves.

Although cultivators cultivate both body and soul, Anton, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, possesses a resilient soul. Both his willpower and soul strength far surpass those of ordinary Gold-rank cultivators, making him relatively unafraid of the Mind-Stealing Demon's mind-controlling abilities.

However, a Mind Flayer city-state of this size must contain high-ranking Mind Flayers who have awakened the power of laws, or even legendary Mind Flayer elders.

Before gathering detailed information, it is best not to approach the Mind Flayer city-state rashly, lest you encounter danger.

With the experience gained on the way there, the journey back was much smoother.

In less than half the time it took to get there, Anton returned to the entrance of the rift.

The Grand Elder and others remained guarding the entrance to the rift.

When they saw Anton emerge from the darkness, everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is it?" Darian asked impatiently.

Anton briefly recounted what he had discovered.

Upon hearing the words "Mind Flayer City-State," everyone present became extremely solemn.

The Mind Flayer's infamous reputation is known to everyone, even on the surface of the world.

Worse than discovering that the rift leads directly to the Underdark is the fact that there is a Mind Flayer city-state below.

"This is troublesome."

The three elders exchanged glances, each seeing the solemnity and worry in the other's eyes.

"We'd better seal this rift immediately," the Second Elder said gravely.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy." The Third Elder shook his head. "The fact that the burrowing worms were able to open this passage means that the rock structure is already very unstable. Simply sealing it with soil and rocks will allow those underground creatures to dig it open again."

Everyone fell silent.

This is exactly what they are most worried about.

A rift connecting to the Underdark is not so easy to seal.

It's one thing if those subterranean races and creatures haven't discovered it, but once they have, it wouldn't be difficult for them to reopen the rift, given their capabilities.

"Leave it to me," Anton said calmly. "I'll find a way to seal the rift and hide its existence as much as possible."

For some reason, everyone present unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Anton say that.

This is the sense of trust that comes from Anton's previous string of brilliant achievements.

Everyone knows he's not one to boast.

Since they said that, they must be quite confident.

The Grand Elder did not object and nodded slightly to Anton: "Then it's up to you."

After some discussion, the group decided that the Second Elder and Thorvin would stay here to guard the area, while the others would return to Silvermoon Forest.

The sudden appearance of the Underdark and the Mind Flayer city-states caught everyone off guard.

There are still many things to deal with.

Anton also needs to go back and make some preparations.

As we emerged from the mine, the sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

No one slept all night, yet no one felt sleepy.

Everyone's thoughts were heavily focused on the Mind Flayer city-state deep within the Underdark.

Only Anton remained relatively calm.

The appearance of the Underdark Rift, while troublesome, could also be seen as an opportunity.

The Darklands are extremely scarce in food and fresh water, but they are exceptionally rich in all kinds of resources.

This vast underground world is rich in rare magical metals, rare fungi, mosses, and magical plants, making it a paradise for apothecaries and alchemists.

In addition, due to its unique geographical location, the Underdark contains many magic stone veins, as well as numerous convergence or intersection points of magical energy flows.

Leaving aside the former, the latter is of great significance to Anton.

The convergence or intersection of magical flows, known as leyline nodes in the Dawn Continent, are the best locations for building magic towers and stabilizing the portal network.

In the cultivation system, such places have an even more familiar name—spiritual veins.

Spiritual veins are excellent places to nurture rare and precious materials, set up large-scale formations, and even build cave dwellings.

Although there are ley lines on the surface, they are relatively few in number and scattered across the vast continent, making them very time-consuming and laborious to find.

Even if they are found, most of the leyline nodes already have owners.

Unless Anton forcibly seizes it, finding an unclaimed ley line node will probably not be easy.

In comparison, finding unclaimed ley line nodes in the Underdark is undoubtedly much easier.

For Anton, the Underdark is a whole new "treasure trove of materials".

With the Underdark, finding suitable alternative materials will definitely be much easier in the future.

Leaving aside the distant future, the main fire and earth elements needed to refine the Condensation Pill, as well as the yin and yang energies, are still unavailable. Perhaps we can find some in the Dark Regions.

However, if you want to enter the Darklands to search for materials, the first thing you need to do is deal with the vicious dogs blocking your doorway.

"Mind Flayers' fighting methods focus on mental and spiritual attacks. Once we solve the problem of defending against these aspects, it will be much easier to deal with Mind Flayers."

Anton pondered to himself.

This problem is not difficult to solve.

The Great Dao Jade Slip contains a variety of magical treasures specifically designed to protect the soul.

For example, there are countless types of items such as the Soul-Suppressing Bell, the Six Desires Rock, and the Mind-Enlightening Lamp.

These magical artifacts are completely different from the Fire Shield. They are not very effective against physical attacks, but they are very effective against attacks targeting the soul, spirit, and mind.

It can be said to be extremely effective against Mind Flayers, enemies with powerful but singular attack methods.

"It would be safer to explore the Dark Regions after we have crafted a magical artifact to protect our soul."

Anton had made up his mind.

In a place as dangerous as the Underdark, where you might even encounter ferocious monsters like Mind Flayers, no amount of preparation is too much.

Before that, the cracks in the mine should be sealed up.

It's not too late to reopen it after we've made all the necessary preparations and started exploring the Underdark.

After returning to Silvermoon Forest, Anton spent several days learning new spells and formations, as well as collecting materials, before heading back to the depths of the mine.

He first set up an illusion array and a warning array at the exit on the other side of the rift.

In this way, unless a spellcaster gets close and observes carefully, it is difficult for underground creatures to detect the existence of the fissure.

And if any underground creatures attempt to reopen the rift, Anton can detect it immediately through the warning array.

After that, he used his newly learned technique, the "Stone-Moving Technique," to manipulate the soil to surge back, filling and compacting the passage, completely blocking it.

Only after doing all this did Anton feel at ease leaving the mining area.

On the other hand, the Elders and Thorvin tacitly blocked news about the rift, strictly prohibiting anyone with knowledge of it from leaking relevant information.

Therefore, news of the rift did not spread in the mining area and Silvermoon Forest, causing panic.

Production and smelting operations in the mining area are proceeding as usual.

However, the Elders and Thorvin unanimously decided to speed up the mining process and finish extracting the Frost-patterned Silver from the vein as soon as possible.

In this way, even if something happens in the mine, their losses can be minimized.

To this end, Thorvin made a special request to Grayrock Fortress and transferred another group of dwarves over.

The elders also deployed more lizardman slaves to the mining area as labor, while having the forest guard take over the defense of the mining area, freeing up the dwarves who were originally in charge of this work to join the mining ranks.

The appearance of fissures did not affect the production progress of the mining area; on the contrary, it made the mining area more lively, and the mining work became more and more intense.