Chapter 38: Seed of the Ancient Guardian [Seeking Recommendations and Collections]

The first torso was obtained so easily.

It was much easier than Zong Shen had imagined.

However, where should he go next?

As soon as this doubt arose, golden markers appeared on both the left and right corridors.

"Does that mean both sides are viable?"

Zong Shen looked to the left, then to the right.

(Don't dawdle, I suggest going right first.)

After the guide appeared, he decisively headed to the right.

The sides of this corridor were standard dungeons.

Rusted iron bars and broken magic circles separated the dungeon room by room.

The ground beneath his feet became somewhat slippery.

The sound of "drip, drip" from leaking water echoed in his ears.

Eerie and quiet.

Zong Shen could even clearly hear his own heartbeat, as well as the heavy breathing of the three giant wolves.

The iron bars and formations in every cell were damaged, and the cells were empty.

However, the interior walls appeared extremely mottled, covered in dark red symbols.

Among them were countless abstract and frenzied graffiti, depicting various twisted limbs and snarling, roaring faces.

What on earth were these Blood-Burning Demons?

It seemed that the force that destroyed the Elven city of Azara was also the Blood-Burning Legion composed of these demons.

(Blood-Burning Demons: invaders from another dimension, extremely evil otherworldly demons, and the culprits responsible for the destruction of the major civilizations of the continent in the previous era.)

(With the end of the Era War, the Blood-Burning Demons gradually vanished. The human race began to rise in the continent, while the major civilizations of the previous era became extremely rare, minority existences today.)

The origins of these Blood-Burning Demons were actually this significant?

They were invaders from another dimension.

Furthermore, they had wiped out the major civilized powers of this continent over ten thousand years ago.

Such as the Elves, and many other races that Zong Shen had not yet encountered.

Now, although these races still existed, they were long no longer the protagonists of this continent.

At this moment, Zong Shen continued to ask in his mind.

"Where is the rest of the body?"

"Is there anything of value here?"

(The remaining body is at the end of this dungeon corridor. There is a dark execution chamber there, but an unfriendly fellow is loitering around.)

(From your current position, there is a Black Iron Treasure Chest in the third cell to your front right, and a discarded package at the entrance of the fifth cell to your front left.)

As expected, following the guide was much more comfortable.

This guide module of his was a plugin within the Lord System, making him almost intimately familiar with the entire world of the Lords.

Following the guide's instructions, Zong Shen first headed to the third cell on the right.

Sure enough, in the corner of the cell, a Black Iron Treasure Chest sat quietly there.

Zong Shen stepped forward quickly and directly chose to open it.

The chest opened slowly, and several light orbs representing rewards emerged. Among them, a green light orb was particularly eye-catching.

[Successfully opened Black Iron Treasure Chest]

[Tier 2 Residential Building Blueprint ×1]

[Fine Wheat Bread ×6]

[Swift Leather Boots (Green) ×1]

[Junior Life Manual ×1]

This time, there were only four rewards, but one of them was an exquisite-grade piece of equipment.

Then, Zong Shen decomposed the chest into 10 units of iron.

"I'll check the rest later."

Zong Shen collected the rewards first. Since none of his soldiers were injured, there was no need for rest. Zong Shen decided to save time and accelerate the pace of exploration.

The dungeon was too dark and cramped; staying too long would make one feel claustrophobic.

He needed to finish the task and get back to the surface quickly. Colby had said that a group of traveling merchants occupied the abandoned outpost on the mountain top.

Zong Shen wanted to make contact with the natives of this world and see if there was anything he could purchase from the traveling merchants.

After tidying up the Black Iron Treasure Chest, Zong Shen walked toward the left.

At the entrance of the fifth cell, he saw the discarded package the guide had mentioned.

It truly was just a rag bundle.

The outer wrapping had already decayed.

Zong Shen reached out and pulled it, and several light orbs leaped out.

Among them, there was actually a purple light orb.

This meant that within this rag bundle, there was actually a rare-grade item.

[Soldier Strengthening Bead (White) ×3]

[Junior Elemental Crystal ×6]

[Wild Mark ×1]

[Seed of the Ancient Guardian (Purple) ×1]

Another wave of rewards, especially with a rare-grade reward included.

"Let me see..."

[Seed of the Ancient Guardian]

[A defensive Treant of the Elven race]

[Plant it in the soil and water it, and it will grow into a Treant. The Ancient Guardian can protect your territory and can also move slowly to re-root and redeploy.]

(With this, you can sleep peacefully.)

This thing was similar to arrow tower buildings; both were defensive.

However, this seemed more flexible than an arrow tower, as it could move slowly to change its deployment location.

Zong Shen collected the rewards once more.

With so many rewards, he was too lazy to organize them every single time.

He planned to organize them once this mission was completed and he returned to the surface to rest.

The harvest from this exploration was not small.

There were many good things in the dungeon alone, not to mention the mission.

Gripping his sharp Germanic sword, he led the way toward the end of the dungeon corridor.

By now, Zong Shen had basically begun to adapt to the rhythm of this world.

Just as the voice he heard in that snow-white room at the very beginning had said.

This was a world of universal Lords!

As for why the Will of Gaia favored him, Zong Shen himself did not know.

He only knew that he must establish a territory sufficient for him to make a living, to survive, and to live well.

Zong Shen's thoughts drifted far away.

Until he was awakened by Tiethu, who was guarding his side.

"Lord, the execution chamber is ahead. It is the last unexplored area in this dungeon," Tiethu said softly, pointing forward.

Zong Shen stopped walking.

The others stopped as well.

The execution chamber was pitch black.

There was no candlelight whatsoever.

However, Zong Shen did not dare to let his guard down.

He turned and instructed Tasia.

"Tasia, summon two skeleton archers to scout the way."

Upon hearing this, the necromancer Tasia glanced at Zong Shen, appearing somewhat reluctant.

In this regard, she was actually similar to Tiethu and Ergou back then.

A loyalty of 70 points meant her initiative was quite low.

However, when she saw the meaningful look in Zong Shen's eyes, she began to chant.

A ball of black light shot out from the withered wood staff, landing directly on the floor of the execution chamber.

Immediately, the ground bulged, and two skeleton archers, with pale red flames burning in their eyes and holding bone shortbows, crawled out from underground.

In the next moment, a blue light suddenly flashed in the execution chamber. Everyone saw within that blue light a skeleton clad in black light armor, with a curved horn upon its head, slowly rising while wielding a massive cleaver.