【Biting Snowfield】

【Ding! Congratulations to Lan Qingyou, Vivian Nadasdy Bathory, Li Huai, Gu Xiaobei, Catherine... and 148 others for completely clearing the 'Gloomy Forest' dungeon. The dungeon is now closed. Please keep up the good work.】

Once the teleportation circle appeared, everyone heard the long-awaited notification from the world consciousness.

They looked at each other, their eyes filled with joy.

As expected, the world consciousness had not abandoned them.

While being trapped in the dungeon could be called a long-premeditated 'accident' caused by others, the world consciousness had turned that accident into a 'trial' for them.

Indeed, in Lan Qingyou's view, since the world consciousness was the one who opened the portals, It should have been able to open them at any time.

The fact that they had been trapped in this place for over ten months without any response meant that clearing the dungeon was the only way out.

Simply put, they either cleared it to leave or died inside.

There was no third option.

Actually...

There should have been a third choice.

But Lan Qingyou couldn't bring herself to swallow her pride.

If she had just lowered her head and asked Alisa for advice, it wouldn't have been impossible to obtain the magic to open a portal from her.

To be honest, she had been envious since the first time she saw it, but she just couldn't convince herself to ask.

The result was being trapped in the dungeon for all this time.

Once they were out, she would have to find a dignified way to learn it no matter what.

Even if it wasn't the finished spell, as long as she had the theory, she could figure it out on her own.

"Is the dismantling finished?" Lan Qingyou asked everyone, looking at the ground where only a small pit remained.

"Finished!"

The witches raised their hands with smiles on their faces.

It was clear that the harvest this time was substantial.

After all, this was an S-grade monster mutated from the Beast Emperor; everything from its hair and skin to its flesh and bone could be used as alchemy materials.

Of course, the witches didn't keep it all for themselves.

The vampires took half of the blood, Gu Xiaobei took some of the meat and bone, and Li Huai took a bit of the fur.

Though the shares varied, no one had any objections.

Li Huai, in particular, only wanted to take some back to have Ruan Qingyi make a set of armor.

So, he didn't take much.

However, Lan Qingyou promised that if he found the armor made from these materials to be good and if the wind elves needed it, she could sell some to them at a low price.

"Let's go, let's go! We've been inside for ten months; who knows what the outside world is like now."

After distributing the final spoils, Vivian waved her hand and took the lead, charging into the portal.

The other vampires naturally followed close behind her.

The witches waited until all the vampires had left before following.

Though everyone missed home, now that they possessed high-grade materials, they were more interested in getting back to their research than anything else.

After all, S-grade materials weren't easy to come by, especially when such a massive amount—from a creature the size of a small hill—was divided among only a few dozen people. It felt like an even larger haul.

With so many materials, any alchemist would want to rush back and start experimenting.

"It's freezing!"

The moment Lan Qingyou stepped out of the portal, she was hit by a bone-chilling cold and a violent, freezing wind.

"Speaking of which, based on the time before we entered the dungeon, it should be around April or May of Year 3 of the Transmigration Era. Based on the first year, this is right around the time for blizzards," Vivian said, counting on her fingers.

"That's true. We're lucky we didn't run into mana turbulence or a mana tide when we came out. A little snow and wind won't hurt,", Lan Qingyou nodded.

When she stepped out just now, she had forgotten to account for those two potentially fatal natural disasters.

By the time she remembered to calculate them, Vivian had already led the team out, so Lan Qingyou simply followed.

It wasn't that she was gambling or worried.

A quick calculation confirmed that it wasn't the right time for those two disasters.

She only mentioned it to remind Vivian.

However, since Vivian's subordinates were still around, Lan Qingyou didn't point it out explicitly.

"Haha, you're right about that. Well, as long as we're fine now. Let's first..."

"Wait."

After scanning the surroundings, Lan Qingyou looked at the other three leaders with a grave expression.

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?"

The three standing in the snow looked bewildered.

"This environment... it doesn't look like the Desolate Bone Basin where we entered. It's a place called the Biting Snowfield."

Lan Qingyou, who was still floating in the air, noticed this before anyone else.

Even though ten months had passed and a heavy blizzard was currently raging, Lan Qingyou could still easily spot the differences in the terrain.

"It's not the Desolate Bone Basin?"

"Tsk, tsk. Now that you mention it, you're right."

Once reminded, the others looked around and realized it was indeed different.

Though they weren't as observant as Lan Qingyou, they could at least tell the difference between a basin and a plain.

Ten months ago, they had passed between two small hills to reach the dungeon portal.

Now, looking back, the snowfield stretched endlessly toward the horizon without a single obstacle in sight.

However, no one took it to heart as much as Lan Qingyou did.

"Maybe the portal reopened in a different location," Vivian offered a reasonable explanation.

"That's the only explanation. Regardless, let's head back first. I'm not exactly looking forward to dealing with administrative duties, but after being gone for over half a year, I'll feel more at ease once I'm back to check on things."

Lan Qingyou thought about it and relaxed slightly.

After all, they had been stuck for so long because of a plot against them, so Lan Qingyou's nerves had been on edge since leaving the dungeon.

But on second thought, she was being a bit paranoid.

"Fine, let's find an Adventurers' Guild first. Everything else can wait until we've had a good rest," Vivian said, nodding while yawning.

After all, they hadn't slept for three days and nights. While their mental strength was high enough that they weren't exactly exhausted, sleep, like good food, was an indispensable source of 'happiness.'

She hadn't thought much of it before.

But during these ten months, this Vampire True Ancestor had come to fully appreciate that fact.

In fact, since all they did inside was kill monsters to level up, eat, drink, and sleep, it had almost felt like a leisure trip in its own way.

"Forget it, let's just find where the Adventurers' Guild is. Even though everyone has enchanted clothes and doesn't need to worry about catching a cold, it'll be much more comfortable to get home early and take a bath,", Lan Qingyou said, missing the mattress in her shelter.

Thus, the group immediately set off to find the Adventurers' Guild for this region. Once they reached it, they could use the teleportation circle to return.

And as they searched for the guild, the World Channel was already plunging into a storm of discussion due to their reappearance.