"I’m fine. I’m not... going to die."
Pang Peng coughed violently. As he was helped up, his eyes fixed on the life-saving shield.
’Artifact weapons from the last epoch really are a cut above the rest.’
Although it was bent out of shape, it wasn’t completely broken. The immense force it had dissipated saved him from a great deal of harm.
Meanwhile.
Su Chen felt the lingering, intense rush of adrenaline. His cold eyes scanned the dim surroundings, vigilant for any other figures yet to revive. Under the effects of Vitality Burst, his sore, swollen arms began to recover at a rapid pace.
His torn muscle fibers healed quickly.
In the meantime, he didn’t forget to cast a Healing Skill on Ruoruo to help alleviate the aftereffects of her Frenzy.
"It dropped something," Ruoruo reminded him.
Just as she’d said, a Spiritual Energy core crystal the size of a date pit burst out from its brain cavity.
It was as translucent as solidified Star Marrow, yet within it, boundless Spiritual Energy seemed to surge endlessly.
Its mere presence was enough to invigorate the mind.
"This drop is related to the Spirit Attribute." As a Spirit String Artisan, Yan Ruoruo was an authority on the matter.
’A Soul Core?’
Su Chen instinctively thought of an upgrade material he had never seen before. If he hadn’t used his First Authority to gain a sort of clairvoyance, he would have never learned that upgrading to Lv. 8 required a single Fire Element Soul Core.
But this one was clearly related to the Spirit Element.
’My Telekinesis might have a use for it.’
"This Reviver’s Spiritual Power wasn’t necessarily weak. It might have had a corresponding Spiritual Essence Tree," Su Chen speculated.
’The question is, why didn’t the other cave dwellers drop anything similar?’
’Perhaps it’s related to the collapse of the Sea of Consciousness. Once their consciousness was obliterated by the power of the Law of the epoch, their Spiritual Light was extinguished along with it.’
’Let’s see if this holds any surprises.’
As the group’s main damage dealer, no one would object to Su Chen taking this mysterious, unknown Soul Core.
"Gather the loot. We’re leaving."
Su Chen’s tone was calm, yet carried an authority that brooked no argument.
The path through the Underground City stretched straight ahead with no forks. Rows of pillars lined the sides, and in the distant, shadowy depths, a heavy alloy gate barred the way.
"A wise man knows when to quit while he’s ahead."
Having escaped death’s door, Pang Peng was back to his optimistic self. According to him, during the previous defensive battle for the city alone, he’d taken countless beatings from people modified by the Bloodthirsty Fungus.
He was used to it...
He had also taken a Toughness Potion from the Rune Store in advance, which effectively dulled the pain, so it hadn’t felt so intense.
"Got a new shield."
Pang Peng, meanwhile, picked up an intact, giant bronze shield from beside a half-collapsed statue. The center was inscribed with cuneiform-like markings, and it was so heavy he needed to use all his strength with both hands just to lift it.
Yan Ziqian, for his part, found a thick clay tablet in a pile of rubble. The archaic characters on it were clearly legible, and it would squirm inexplicably whenever his mind resonated with it, even slightly.
’If this was any indication, it was undoubtedly their version of Rune Essence.’
If not for the fear that absorbing it would trigger the Law’s suppression, the temptation to use it to enhance one’s own body would be hard to resist.
Meanwhile, Yan Ruoruo was squatting by a dried-up blood pool, carefully placing over a dozen strange Twin Flowers into her backpack. Their petals were translucent like colored glass, with a speck of blood-red light dotting the center. They were undeniably more alluring than the Ashen Bud Flowers.
As for Su Chen...
Besides collecting the corpse of the Reviver he had just slain and some broken metal plates, he had also uprooted a statue with a missing arm and shoved it into the river.
’Theoretically, the being sealed inside this statue also had a chance of awakening.’
However, now that he had experience dealing with them—and this one was a maimed, one-armed being at that—Su Chen, who was bringing up the rear with Ruoruo, wasn’t overly concerned.
「10 minutes later.」
The others had already passed through the S-shaped bottleneck, and only then did he set off.
’I really need to focus on improving my Perception.’
Although Su Chen’s Aurora Flash could cross a thousand meters, it couldn’t be used recklessly in the winding caves.
Without a line of sight or his Perception to provide a clear anchor point for the jump, there was a good chance he’d plunge headfirst into a rock wall.
Of course, this wasn’t a major issue in vertical shafts or the upper levels.
A sheer drop from an underground river, for example, would allow Su Chen to leap from the bottom of the chasm to the top in a single bound.
「Half an hour later.」
Su Chen successfully returned to Jade Bamboo Hall. He had cast a Weightlessness Skill on the statue, while his other hand simply used Dark Shackles to drag the Reviver’s corpse.
The dark chains coiled around it as securely as a living python. The corpse was durable enough that being bumped and scraped along the way caused no damage, so there were no issues.
It was worth noting that Yu Ziyuan had stayed behind in the underground river area by herself, not venturing deeper into the Underground City. She had frequently used monster blood as bait and had already caught three large baskets full of fish.
She had over thirty mutated fish of various kinds.
In a way, this also answered the question of what the cave dwellers ate.
She seemed to be having a relaxing time. Besides her own four summons, Xiaoye and an avatar of the Soul-devouring Dog were also by her side helping her fish.
So, while it looked like she was alone, she was actually surrounded by a host of summons.
"I wonder how much sacrificial value these contaminated creatures will provide." Yu Ziyuan was thrilled. She had managed to obtain the most cost-effective offerings at the lowest possible risk.
Additionally, with the thirteen Nether Sand Ore Crystals, the group’s carrying capacity was at its absolute limit.
Since there were simply too many resources, they had to prioritize and make two separate trips for the offerings.
"The Hunting Hall area is secure now. The statue can’t wait. You should go make your offering first," Yan Ziqian reminded him.
Su Chen didn’t hesitate. Once he reached an open area, the restrictions on his Aurora Flash were lifted. After several jumps, he was already on the Hunter’s Path.
A few minutes later, his figure, trailing a stream of Light and Dark Particles, descended upon the altar outside.
The sky was now clear, and the temperature had returned to normal. In the distance, at the edge of the forest, a team that was running very late finally arrived.
"Shit!"
"We’re too late! Someone’s already started grinding this early."

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