“How’s it looking?”
“What did you find?”
Vivian and the others, following cautiously and finally stopping at the corner, whispered their questions to Lan Qingyou.
“Well, we’ve found our objective for this dungeon.”
Lan Qingyou nodded, a smile on her face.
Compared to the others hiding at the corner, her tone and volume were much more normal.
Seeing that Lan Qingyou, who was out in the open, was so relaxed, the group felt relieved and stepped out from behind the corner.
Then, like her, they froze on the spot.
Not far ahead was a space considerably larger than the tunnels they had been traversing.
Within this space sat a massive cluster of crystals emitting a pale green light.
This crystal cluster was larger than any Lan Qingyou had ever seen; at a glance, its diameter was at least twenty meters.
Of course, the size wasn’t the main issue—it was the information Lan Qingyou saw through her Magic Eye.
“What is this?”
Gu Xiaobei, who had just recovered thanks to the spirit-boosting magic items, leaned in for a closer look.
“Why did we come to this dungeon in the first place?” Lan Qingyou asked instead of answering.
“To fight monsters, level up, and find new materials, obviously,” Vivian replied, looking at Lan Qingyou as if she were an idiot.
Well... that was indeed why they had entered, but it wasn’t Lan Qingyou’s primary reason.
“Initially, we considered entering this dungeon to find some kind of ore to upgrade the shelter,” Li Huai said after a moment’s thought.
“Oh right! That’s why we’re here.”
Reminded by Li Huai, the others finally remembered why Lan Qingyou had been searching for this dungeon.
“Ten months... it feels like a lifetime has passed. I almost forgot,” Vivian said with a sigh of sentiment, looking at the massive crystal cluster.
【Beast Emperor Ore (S)】
【Effect: Forging, Repair, Construction, Engineering】
【Description: This is ore formed by the solidification of a Beast Emperor’s heart after its death. It is extremely precious. After all, a Beast Emperor only has one heart, so consider its use carefully to avoid waste.】
Yes.
Looking at this description, it had a very nanny-like tone.
At the very least, it was much more pleasant to look at than the toxic-tongued small screen.
However, having been away for ten months, she actually found herself missing the snarky comments from the small screen on her magic desk.
Wait...
A Beast Emperor’s heart?
Lan Qingyou’s brow furrowed as she stared at the crystal cluster.
Normally, a heart should be inside a body.
Then why was this heart... no, this Beast Emperor Ore, appearing inside this small hill?
Lan Qingyou found it hard to believe.
It couldn’t be that someone killed a Beast Emperor and then moved its heart here.
According to the description, this heart was a precious item; whoever obtained it wouldn’t just toss it in a place like this.
Furthermore, the word “fragmented” in the identification results suggested that the heart might have been attacked before it solidified, leading to its current state.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Lan Qingyou took out a lamp and flew up, beginning to circle the space, which was neither too large nor too small.
“What’s she doing?”
“Who knows.”
Vivian asked Gu Xiaobei, who simply shook her head. Gu Xiaobei even took a bite out of a monster meat and wild vegetable rice ball she had pulled from her cards.
After all, she had completely emptied her stomach earlier. Now that she had recovered, she needed something to tide her over.
Otherwise, if an emergency occurred, she wouldn’t even have the strength to run.
“Big boss, what are you doing?”
With her mouth full of rice ball, Gu Xiaobei asked while chewing, completely abandoning her image.
“Hold on, I’m confirming something,” Lan Qingyou replied vaguely, continuing her circles.
After about three or four minutes, Lan Qingyou finally stopped her seemingly nonsensical behavior and returned to the group.
“So? Did you find what you were looking for?”
By now, Vivian was also munching on a rice ball.
In fact, everyone except Lan Qingyou had one or two rice balls in their hands.
Gu Xiaobei had made them look so delicious that many others had asked for some.
Thus, the group decided to take a short break.
And since they were resting, snacks were a must.
Though conditions were currently tough, they hadn’t reached the point of having nothing to eat.
“I found it, but it’s a bit of a departure from common sense.”
Lan Qingyou took a bite of the rice ball Gu Xiaobei handed her. The fragrance of wild vegetables and the juicy minced meat burst in her mouth, slightly easing her tense nerves.
“Hahaha! The Kalim continent is never short on things that defy common sense,” Vivian laughed loudly.
To her, hearing the word “common sense” come from the mouth of a witch like Lan Qingyou—who was constantly breaking it—was hilarious in itself.
“What is it?”
Like Vivian, Li Huai was also curious.
The fact that Lan Qingyou would say such a thing was an interesting signal in itself.
Would the answer be even more interesting?
“We might be standing inside the solidified body of a Beast Emperor right now.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Wait...”
Lan Qingyou’s words made the Big Three’s brains stall.
“You mean this cave, this hill, is the solidified body of a Beast Emperor?” Vivian pointed at the cave wall in disbelief.
“Yes, though ‘solidified’ might not be the right word. I’d prefer to call it weathering—the phenomenon that occurs after the body’s moisture has been completely air-dried,” Lan Qingyou nodded, explaining further.
“Who cares about the terminology? What’s your evidence?” Vivian swallowed the last bit of her food and rolled her eyes at Lan Qingyou.
It was just a word; there was no need to chew over it like food. As long as the general meaning was understood, it was fine.
“The evidence is that behind that Beast Emperor Ore, there’s a wound—possibly made by a sharp weapon—that’s hard to notice because it has shriveled and shrunk...”
“Wait!”
Li Huai interrupted Lan Qingyou.
“If this place is the Beast Emperor’s body and there’s a wound from a sharp weapon behind the ore, then what is the Beast Emperor Ore?”
Li Huai wasn’t a man of many words, but he was no fool.
By connecting Lan Qingyou’s words with their surroundings, he could already see a possibility.
“It’s the result of the Beast Emperor’s heart solidifying. However, this heart is fragmented, which further supports the existence of that wound.”
Rate on N.U.
