novelraw Chapter 176-1: The Dark Dragon Knight (1)
Chapter 176-1: The Dark Dragon Knight (1)
[The Corrupted Three-Headed Lion pounced on the remaining few surviving Subterranean Shadow Fiends. Powerless to resist as they rolled back and forth on the ground, they all perished beneath the ferocious beast’s claws.]
[Your summoned creature defeated a Subterranean Shadow Fiend. Your experience increased slightly.]
[…]
[The monsters in the cave have all been purged, leaving only scorched corpses strewn across the ground.]
[Will you leave this place, or stay here to search?]
The Shadow Fiend King had been smashed by the Earth Giant into a pile of paste, rendering it impossible to possess.
Lin Xun had no interest in the shells of ordinary small monsters.
For the moment, he ignored the options and returned the Earth Giant to normal size.
Then he opened his inventory to inspect his spoils.
[Subterranean Shadow Fiend King’s Eyeball ×2 (Epic-grade): The Shadow Fiend King, dwelling deep underground, is the chieftain of the Shadow Fiend species. In the pitch-dark environment, its eyes evolved a peculiar ability.][This item must be installed in an empty eye socket. After use, it grants exceptional night vision.]
[This item must be installed in an empty eye socket. After use, there is a chance to acquire the special effect ‘Dim Shadow.’]
Dim Shadow?
Lin Xun noticed that the game text displayed ‘special effect’ rather than ‘special skill.’
Before transplanting the eyeballs, he could not know exactly what this effect entailed.
“Once I finish exploring the cave, I’ll go find Bennett to try out these new eyes.”
He looked at the next item.
[Apizu Ore ×4 (Special Item): An extremely rare ore that emits a faint glow and exudes a cloying sweet aroma.]
[In the Beretania Empire, only nobles and the highly learned are permitted to enjoy the ore’s unique effects. Typically, they grind it into powder, take a few tiny grains, mix them into a large quantity of spices, and ignite it to inhale, thus rejuvenating their masculine vigor.]
[Warning: This item must not be directly touched or smelled, or you risk overexertion and sudden death.]
[This item can only be used by ‘sturdy shells.’ When used, it will consume the shell’s vitality to recover its fatigue.]
Lin Xun read the description with a face full of black lines.
What the hell was the point of this garbage?
Never mind the side effect of using up your health to relieve fatigue. Just the restriction that only ‘sturdy shells’ could use it was enough.
He’d been using the Earth Giant shell all this time, and never once had he seen any message like ‘You feel a little tired.’
The fatigue system seemed to be completely invalid when it came to these tanky warrior builds.
Only the mana-hungry Mage shell frequently encountered exhaustion.
But the Mage shell clearly had nothing to do with the word ‘sturdy.’ It didn’t even need to use this item, just sniffing it would cause immediate blackout and death, truly a case of dying from too much excitement.
Among all the shells in Lin Xun’s slots, the only ones that qualified as ‘sturdy’ were the Earth Giant and the Paladin of Discipline… though he wasn’t sure if the blacksmith counted.
“Useless trash.”
He put the item away and continued exploring.
[You patrolled the vast cave, walking a full circuit around the underground lake at the center, but did not discover anything unusual.]
[Would you like to leave this place?]
Lin Xun thought briefly and pressed ‘No.’
[You stand at the lakeshore, staring out over the pitch-black water. Your thoughts drift farther and farther. Bored, you picked up a stone from the shore and tossed it into the lake…]
He curled his lip. This hellish game was still pretending to play dumb.
He opened his inventory and directly selected the diving tool Subspecies Sea Dragon Pearl.
[The Subspecies Sea Dragon Pearl you carry emits a faint glow. Exploring this bottomless underground lake will be effortless for you.]
[You are about to leap into the lake…]
[Suddenly, you freeze at the shore, realizing things are not so simple!]
[Several charred Shadow Fiend corpses were floating on the lake surface. Before dying, they had thrown themselves into the water in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames on their bodies.]
[Unfortunately, even the icy lake water failed to snuff out the Undying Flames that burned them.]
[But that was not the main point. You noticed that the corpses soaking in the lake were showing signs of corrosion.]
[Their flesh was gradually dissolving…]
[You instantly realized that the pitch-black lake water contained deadly toxins.]
[The Subterranean Shadow Fiends that lived beside the lake all year round had likely adapted to trace amounts of the toxins in their only water source, so small exposures would not harm them.]
[But to be fully immersed in the poisonous water, even those monsters who occasionally ingested it could not withstand the corrosion.]
[Will you still jump into the lake?]
The hellish game wore its ugly smirk, clearly wanting to stop Lin Xun from exploring the underground lake.
But Lin Xun wasn’t the sort to give up so easily.
The more the hellish game tried to stop him from exploring, the more it proved that treasure was hidden in the lake.
He frowned and pondered a countermeasure.
Could he jump in first, then, as soon as the shell was about to be poisoned to death, immediately switch to another shell, thus achieving the goal of exploration?
He currently had eight shells. Maybe he could complete the dive before being killed by the poison.
Then he considered: even the Shadow Fiends couldn’t withstand the toxin. If he switched to any other normal shell, the moment he jumped in, the game would probably display ‘You died!’ and not even give him time to search.
“If I enlarge the Earth Giant’s body, maybe I could wade in to explore quickly… Who knows, perhaps the lake is only a few meters deep and won’t even reach my knees.”
“Maybe that way, I can find the treasure before dropping dead from the poison.”
Lin Xun was about to carry out this seemingly workable plan… when he suddenly slapped his forehead.
He hurriedly opened his inventory to check an item that had been sitting there gathering dust ever since he acquired it.
[Antitoxin Core of the Divine Light Moth (Special Item): A prismatic crystal core nurtured within the Divine Light Moth, shimmering with vibrant colors. It grants excellent resistance to toxins. Carrying this item will significantly increase your resistance to all poisons.]
This item had dropped after he killed the final boss moth in the Blood Sun world and granted resistance to all toxins.
The Antitoxin Core had been sitting idle in his inventory for so long that Lin Xun had nearly forgotten it existed.
“To be safe, I’d better switch to a different shell first and test the water.”
He looked at the shell slots: the Engineer and the Paladin of Discipline were both dead.
As for which expendable shell to use… going by priority, naturally it was the blacksmith’s turn.
[You possess the Corrupted Blacksmith shell!]
He clicked the Antitoxin Core of the Divine Light Moth.
[The Antitoxin Core of the Divine Light Moth you carry emits a soft glow. You realize the poisonous underground lake before you might not be an absolute deathtrap after all.]
[You cautiously step into the water…]
[The icy, pitch-black lake water rises over your ankles. The toxins within gradually begin corroding your body…]
[You feel a slight stinging sensation on the soles of your feet, but it remains within your tolerance.]
[Will you continue deeper into the lake?]
Lin Xun felt relieved and switched shells again.