The entrance to the dungeon seems to have considered the situation for larger heroes, as the descending corridor tunnel is quite spacious, making it not crowded even for the Kui Ox cha walking inside.
"There are many layers of heavy natural dust settled on the corridor steps, with no footprints except ours — it's been so ti since anyone passed through."
"Hmm... the material of the wall bricks and the floor is quite unique as well,"
David walked down the steps, casually tapping the wall with the Judgent Spear. Amid the prolonged sound from the spear's resonating tip, he said calmly, "The hardness is similar to specialized alloys in the mortal realm, making it sowhat troubleso to damage."
"Moreover, the surface of this stone material has light-absorbing properties, and its sound absorption effect is similar to that of soundproofing panels..."
Hoenhem glanced at the continuously dimming light from the Kui Ox cha's spotlight, snapped his fingers, and released the most basic light spell.
Under the cast of a high-level mage, the Dancing Light Technique that was supposed to illuminate a radius of ten ters around as bright as daylight, could only create candle-like weak light spots, barely enveloping Hoenhem himself,
In the vast pitch black space, only the footsteps and breathing of the group remained.
"The absorption effect on spiritual power is also stronger than on the surface..."
Hoenhem furrowed his brow slightly, didn't cancel the Dancing Light Technique, but instead cast the light spell again, creating ten light spots around the group,
At the sa ti, he launched a Fireball Technique down the diagonal corridor.
The basketball-sized fireball flew downward along the steps at a relatively slow speed, illuminating both sides of the corridor. After traveling a hundred-ter distance, it shrank to the size of an orange, collided with the wall bricks, erupted in weak flas, and finally vanished silently.
Hoenhem turned to look back, the entrance to the cave in the distance had already beco a window emitting white light. After roughly estimating the fireball's flight trajectory within it, he concluded, "The steps below have beco more gradual."
"Hmm... Is the ntal link network closed?"
"Li?"
His gaze swept towards Li Ang, only to find his companion in a Dragon Head White Lab Coat squatting on the ground with a tal file he had pulled out from sowhere, scraping the wall.
Hoenhem froze for a mont, "What's this..."
"Just collecting so material samples."
Li Ang said without turning his head; he laboriously scraped off so wall dust, wrapped all the dust into a square paper package with hard paper sheets, then stood up and twisted his neck.
"Phew, finished."
Li Ang raised the small paper package in his hand and laughed, "What are the four hottest, most promising majors in the 21st century? That's right, it's Biochemistry, Material Science, Engineering, and Environntal Science.
Biodical, Chemical Engineering, Environntal Science, and Material Science, these four majors have a bright future and beco more valuable as they mature with age.
Even if the task rewards aren't generous enough, taking this very special material back to the mortal realm can contribute to the developnt of material science, and it might also sell for a good price, supporting one's family.
Sigh, people like you, who are backed by large organizations and worry-free about food and drink, wouldn't understand the hardships of the poor."
...If our mory serves us right, you seem to be the owner of a profitable private shop, aren't you? Just like it was rumored, you indeed exploit every opportunity you can.
David and other people's expressions turned strange. In the group, besides Li Ang, they all belonged to large organizations, and of course, they had received similar requests too,
Like collecting various items, animals, plants, minerals, books, technological creations, etc., in script task worlds.
For large organizations, these are genuine treasures and even in so ways, more valuable than the low-level players they cultivate...
David and others had already moved past the stage where they were required by organizations to collect resources, impacting their efforts in script task challenges, so even Ding Zhensi didn't stop to gather the samples encountered along the way — he was still combating the high-altitude reaction of low free energy.
"This wall dust powder has a good effect on absorbing energy, but its stability is high, so using more spiritual power might be needed to interfere with it, like modifying with Alchemy.
It's quite good for building materials."
Li Ang clapped the dust off his hands, said leisurely, "Besides, this type of wall dust can also be used in actual combat.
If you collect enough, you can swipe a handful of wall dust toward the opponent during a fight, like li sticking to the opponent's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, causing dual physical and psychological impact.
If it can flow into the opponent's lungs through the respiratory tract, it might directly suppress the opponent's lung spiritual power system,
causing serious interference with power systems that require breathing, like Inner Strength, Chakra, Ripple, etc.
Hmm... Not bad, if there's enough ti later, I can collect more to put up for sale in the shop.
I'll mark the price as 999 ga coins per package."
???
Wait a minute, within such a short ti, you've already figured out how to make money off this stuff?
Are you here to conquer the dungeon or to shop around?
"Throwing li paste at the opponent's eyes in a fair duel? That's indeed an utterly despicable and low move that makes a proud and noble warrior like
despise it imnsely."
Amber frowned, quickly drew the Pirate Scimitar, held its handle with the right hand, and grabbed the tip with the left, then like Li Ang, went to the wall and started scraping wall dust.
???
Why are you playing along too, and weren't you supposed to be a proud and noble warrior? Being so miserly, wouldn't it taint your Syndicate's reputation?
Seemingly noticing the strange expression on David and others' faces, Amber explained solemnly, "Though one should never have harmful intentions towards others, it's always wise to have a precautionary mindset.
Seeing we've co this far, encountering sothing that could potentially disrupt the fairness of future combat, it's certainly necessary to keep so on hand for ergencies."
Amber's Tidal ssenger Pirate Scimitar is a perfect-quality weapon; its blade is exceedingly sharp, scraping off a lot of wall dust with just one swipe,
She casually asked Li Ang for a few stacks of kraft paper, packaged the wall dust, and even returned a pack of dust to Li Ang as compensation for the kraft paper.
'Sohow, if it weren't for the system limitations, the two of them could empty out the entire dungeon...'
David and Hoenhem exchanged a glance, the sight clearly conveyed a feeling of egg-pain and speechless emotion.
"Ahem, is it done?"
Hoenhem gave a light cough and asked Li Ang, "Is the ntal network closed?"
Li Ang replied, "It's already closed; the consumption was too high."
"Good."
Hoenhem nodded and turned to ask the Kui Ox cha beside him, "Has electromagnetic communication been affected?"
Ding Zhensi, who was stabilizing his heartbeat with a respirator, paused for a mont, pressed the cockpit broadcast button, and replied, "There's an impact, but it's still within the tolerable range."
"Alright, let's start using this for our communication now."
Hoenhem took out several rectangular yellow-black colored walkie-talkies from the backpack space and adjusted them slightly.
[Na: Lightning Eleven Walkie-Talkie]
[Type: Communication device]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Special Effect: Remote communication. Press the button to maintain a stable communication network in any environnt, with a maximum range of 10km]
[Consumption: Trait battery]
[Cooldown: None]
[Usage conditions: None]
[Note: When the walkie-talkie is turned on, it consus special battery power, capable of maintaining 3 hours of talk ti. Turn off the switch to stop power consumption. All energy is naturally restored within 24 hours after depleting.]
[Note: In the year 2077, humans invented a large-scale sporting event that combines factors such as wilderness survival, comprehensive fighting, firearm shooting, and vehicle driving, nad "Wilderness Rugby." Participants must survive in a 60 square kiloter field and transport the ball to the opponent's goal. Due to the imnse ti and area, participants need to carry walkie-talkies for team communication—beware, though, the walkie-talkie lacks a friendly recognition system, so be cautious of enemies taking it.]
Hoenhem tossed the walkie-talkie to his teammates.
Based on his strategy experience, this vast Underground Palace is definitely impossible to explore quickly since summoning spells can't be used, nor can drones be utilized for scanning and mapping.
Given the mission ti limit, several people might have to disperse during exploration,
Even though there might be situations with stone walls weakening signals, it's far better than consuming a massive amount of Spiritual Power to establish communication.
These walkie-talkies aren't bound to individuals, so anyone can read the item description and use them directly as soon as they get hold of one.
"Press this yellow button to hear other voices in the communication network. If not in use, you can turn off the walkie-talkie to conserve energy..."
Hoenhem briefly introduced the cautions of the [Lightning Eleven Walkie-Talkie], speaking while continuing to walk down the stairs.
The light in the corridor beca increasingly dim. The spotlight from the Kui Ox cha could only illuminate a short distance ahead, and the light spot summoned by Hoenhem flickered like a candle in the wind.
Finally, after descending the last step, the group stood on flat ground.
It was a vast hall, with six smoothly curved beams in the middle, of which two were already broken, with halves collapsed onto the ground, mingled among piles of stones.
At the far end of the hall stood two rectangular wooden doors connecting the floor and ceiling.
The doors were old and heavy, made from an obscure, robust wood that naturally evoked a sense of indestructibility.
So candelabra holders hung from the beams, and Hoenhem released a Fireball Technique at the remaining holders, unexpectedly able to ignite them—the residual fuel in the holders burned slowly, slightly brightening the hall.
"There are murals here."
Liu Wu Dai's calm voice echoed lightly in the hall, prompting everyone to look towards the walls, seeing carvings and paintings along with deep, slender beast claw marks adorning all four walls and the ceiling.
The paintings comprised five panels, probably damaged by ti and age, causing them to appear rather blurred.
The first panel faintly revealed six armored, resolute heroes entering a dungeon entrance—that is, the plain opening Li Ang and others had seen earlier.
At the ti depicted in the mural, the plains weren't a scorched, cracked land but a lush grassland.
At its center stood four stone columns, with the corridor leading to the dungeon lying in their middle.
The heroes' faces were not clearly depicted, but based on their attire, their professions could be discerned.
Two warriors, two spellcasters, a priest, and an archer.
The second mural depicted these heroes standing in the very hall where Li Ang and others now stood, collectively pushing open the stone door at the hall's depths.
Ominous pitch-black gas continuously spewed from the door's seam, yet it affected the resolute expressions on the heroes' faces not one bit.
The third panel showed these heroes surrounded by hordes of hideous, monstrous creatures on a broad platform.
The female priest in the hero team (whose face was unclear, donned in a white hooded attire) sat on the ground, holding a warrior clad in blue armor, with a torn breastplate.
Not far in front of the female priest, two spellcasters and an archer were valiantly combating the monster onslaught.
Among the two spellcasters, one seed to be a traditional Mage, summoning continuous fireballs and ice.
The other was a Necromancer—surrounding him were nurous heavily wounded monsters, their eyes turned blood-red, fighting other creatures.
Behind the female priest was the leader of the six-mber hero team—a warrior clad in crimson armor, broad-shouldered.
He stood back-to-back with the other team mbers, at the platform's very center, slowly extracting a sword from the ground.
The sword's exposed part glowed with moonlight-like brilliance.
The fourth panel illustrated the hero with the Moonlight Great Sword, effortlessly slaying surrounding monsters, dispelling the siege, leading the others to breakthrough, with another unknown-status warrior carried on the archer's back, leaving the dungeon.
As for the ceiling mural, also the last panel,
It depicted the heroes standing before another stone door, waiting for it to automatically open—a brick in the middle above the stone door neatly featured the Ripple Pattern Li Ang and others saw at the village chief's house.
Notably, the wounded warrior in blue armor hadn't died but lay on a stretcher, status unknown.
"Five murals in total..."
Hoenhem glanced around, murmuring, "Based on the mural content, it seems to depict a typical hero team's expected experiences.
Entering dungeons for exploration, killing monsters, completing trials, earning rewards,
obtaining entry into the Sacred Mountain—the stone door depicted in the last do mural is that of the Sacred Mountain.
But sothing's odd…"
Ding Zhensi asked, "What's odd?"
"If it were for so sort of propaganda, wouldn't it show the heroes having a smooth journey, thrilling but ultimately safe?"
Hoenhem pointed at the ceiling, "Why depict scenes of people getting injured?"
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