"Chief, bad news! Something big has happened!" a cave dwarf shouted as he rushed into the forge.
Mukala, the dwarf chief, set down his hammer. He used iron tongs to pick up the newly forged blank and placed it into a nearby furnace to continue heating. Then, he turned to look at his reckless kinsman.
"What is the panic? Are those kobolds going crazy again, or have the centaurs run out of food?" Mukala asked while wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel.
"Neither, Chief! The kobolds and centaurs are gone!"
Mukala froze upon hearing this.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"Skeletons. A massive swarm of skeletons came from the south. The kobolds and centaurs have all been slaughtered by them."
"Skeletons? In this territory of the Dragon Court, where did some blind necromancer come from?"
"Chief, what should we do? The kobolds and centaurs are all gone. Will it be our turn next?"
Mukala thought for a moment. This unknown necromancer dared to cause trouble on the Dragon Court's turf, which meant they must have a backer capable of contending with the Dragon Court.
When gods fight, dwarves stay home. The ancestral motto of the dwarf race was to stay out of such struggles. After all, with their excellent forging skills, dwarves could find a place to eat anywhere.
For dwarves, it was merely a change of employers.
Whether it was the Dragon Court or an unknown enemy, as long as they hunkered down and waited for a winner to be decided, the dwarves would continue to strike iron and drink wine as they always did. As long as they offered equipment on time, their lives would remain prosperous.
Thus, Mukala immediately ordered, "Pass on my command. Have the guards remove all weapons from the cave entrance, block it up, and camouflage it. We will retreat underground and wait until the fighting is over before we come out."
"Understood, Chief. I will go right away."
...
【Dungeon Clearing Progress: 60%】
【Dungeon Clearing has reached the first stage. Unlocked dungeon name: Dragon Court Wilderness.】
【Dungeon Clearing has reached the second stage. Unlocked primary creature information: kobolds, centaurs, dwarves.】
【Dungeon Clearing has reached the third stage. Unlocked primary supernatural school information: Bloodline Evolution. Creatures here revere bloodlines. The bloodline hierarchy is strict; high-tier bloodline creatures hold absolute dominion over low-tier bloodline creatures.】
【Dungeon Clearing has reached the fourth stage. Unlocked strongest supernatural creature information: Centaur Chieftain. Centaurs are natural warriors. Human-like technique combined with beast-like strength makes them the top predators of the wilderness.】
On the other side, the skeleton soldier legion led by Bone Guard One easily flattened the camps of the kobolds and centaurs.
However, the remaining dwarves were nowhere to be found. Having no other choice, Bone Guard One could only ask Bone Guard Two for help, requesting him to sense the positions of the enemies in the dungeon.
After receiving the request, Bone Guard Two returned to the Land of the Undead and then teleported onto Bone Guard One's shoulder.
"Second Brother, it is up to you."
Bone Guard Two nodded, hopped onto the top of Bone Guard One's head, scanned the surroundings, and then pointed his spear toward a hillside to the north.
"That hillside. The dwarves have camouflaged it; they are all underground."
"Are you sure? It feels like you just took a couple of glances without using a skill."
"Xuan Chu's side is similar to this world. The dwarves there hide underground just like this. A seasoned hunter will not be fooled by the same trap twice."
Since Bone Guard Two put it that way, Bone Guard One said no more. He commanded the army to surround the hillside.
Arriving at the hillside, Bone Guard One raised his great shield high. Seeing this, Bone Guard Two hurriedly jumped back from his head.
With a loud boom, the great shield slammed down heavily, kicking up a massive amount of dust.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Bone Guard One frantically used Shield Bash against the ground. The violent tremors even knocked back some of the skeleton soldiers that had just approached.
Underground, the dwarves were in a panic, fleeing in all directions and wailing.
"Help! It is an earthquake!"
"Quick, go to the wine cellar! Do not let the wine get buried in the dirt!"
After the frantic pounding, Bone Guard One retracted his shield and slung it onto his back. He then drew his bone blade and thrust it fiercely downward.
He stabbed down and pulled it back; the bone blade was covered in blood.
It seemed Bone Guard Two's analysis was correct; those dwarves really were down there.
After confirming the enemy's location, Bone Guard One put away his weapon and ordered the skeleton soldiers to start digging, intending to unearth these underground ants one by one.
Under Bone Guard One's command, the skeleton soldiers pulled out their shields, using them as shovels to begin a massive earth-moving project.
After half a day, the original small hillside had turned into a giant pit, and a large number of dwarf corpses had been dug out.
In truth, many dwarves had only been knocked unconscious by Bone Guard One's slamming. The main cause of death for the dwarves was the violent excavation work of the skeleton soldiers; many dwarves were dug out in multiple pieces.
At the edge of the pit, a hand covered in callouses suddenly burst through the soil. Subsequently, Mukala crawled out from the earth.
Looking at the countless skeletons surrounding him and the broken corpses of his kinsmen, Mukala raised his hands tremblingly.
"Great Lord Necromancer, Mukala is willing to serve you. Please, grant me a path to li... live."
Before he could finish his sentence, a spear directly pierced Mukala's body and devoured his soul.
"Sorry. There is no path to live in the Land of the Undead. There is only... the path of death."
...
By nightfall, the undead army had successfully completed their clearing missions. All four dungeons had been fully conquered, and the efficiency of the pioneering could be said to be at its peak.
Chen Xu also emerged from the Land of the Undead, returning to the dungeon to receive the clearing rewards.
【Dungeon Clearing Progress: 100%】
【Dragon Court Wilderness is the outermost region of the Dragon Court. This is the natural hunting ground for dragons and the place where their vassals reside. Further ahead is the Dragon Court, that dragon holy land where dragons walk the earth and ancient dragons are as common as dogs. Adventurer, are you truly prepared?】
【Congratulations to professional Chen Xu for completing the dungeon clearing. You have received the following rewards (Integrated from 4 dungeons)】
【Reward 1: Dragon Material Bundle ×4. The bundle contains a large amount of dragon blood, dragon scales, dragon saliva, dragon teeth, dragon urine, and dragon dung. (Dragons usually reward their vassals with the waste from their nests, and the vassals have utilized incredible imagination to discover various uses for these dragon materials.)】
【Reward 2: 1 ton of Dragonblood Gold Lumps. Low-purity gold soaked in dragon blood. Mixed with dragon blood and various substances, it has curiously developed special magical adaptability, making it an excellent material for forging magical equipment.】
【Reward 3: Dungeon Space Fragment (Wilderness)】
【Reward 4: Dungeon Space Fragment (Vassal)】
【Reward 5: Dungeon Space Fragment (Artisan)】
【Reward 6: Dungeon Space Fragment (Pasture)】
【Reward 7: Special Skill Scroll - Kobold Summoning Series (Includes kobold laborers, kobold gold-diggers, kobold warriors, kobold priests, kobold hunters, and kobold chieftains. Kobolds might not be excellent warriors, but they are certainly excellent servants.)】
【Reward 8: Special Skill Scroll - Centaur Summoning Series (Includes centaur warriors, centaur archers, centaur marauders, and centaur chieftains.)】
【Reward 9: Special Skill Scroll - Dwarf Craftsmanship Series (My friend, you can always trust dwarf technology and wine. The things we forge are not junk like those made by goblins. With dwarves, a hammer is a hammer; it definitely will not explode.)】
【Reward 10: Destiny Points ×4】
【Reward 11: Dungeon Core ×4】
【Reward 12: Dragon Court Key. Allows teleportation into the Dragon Court dungeon.】
Most of the clearing rewards were decent, but for Chen Xu, the truly useful one was the last one—the Dragon Court Key!
He could actually teleport directly into the Dragon Court dungeon. His vision of an undead bone dragon army finally had a chance to be realized.
Suddenly, Chen Xu noticed that the Dragon Court Key actually came with an additional prompt.
【Prompt from the World Will: Most of what that green dragon said was true. Dragons are numerous in the Dragon Court, and there are many ancient dragons. The only good news is that the Dragon God seems to have fallen into a deep sleep. Even so, the threat of the Dragon Court is still too great. I do not dare to place it within my body; suppressing one Demon Abyss is exhausting enough.
If you wish, you can teleport there via the key. However, remember, the Dragon Court is truly dangerous. Do not enter recklessly without sufficient strength.】
Rate on N.U.
