socalfunplaces The 8th one!
The 8th one!
Bruno took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and began his report:
"Yes, Master. Three days ago, our squad, following Lady Lilith's orders, was conducting a routine patrol in this area, searching for unusual energy fluctuations. As we approached the center of the Poisonous Valley, Hans—"
He pointed to an apprentice with a scar on his face beside him, "—his 'corpse dog' suddenly became extremely agitated, constantly growling at a swamp on the west side of the valley."
"We carefully approached to investigate and found this at the edge of the swamp."
Bruno took out a small, sealed crystal box from his pocket and held it up with both hands. Through the crystal walls, one could see that the bottom of the box was covered with a layer of preservative ash, and on the ash lay several strange, translucent, fingernail-sized pieces of film with irregularly serrated edges.
The film itself is dark gray, but it reflects iridescent colors under light, making it look both fragile and disgusting.
"This is molting," Bruno explained. "We compared it with the encyclopedia you gave us and confirmed that it belongs to the outer skin shed by shadow-type soft-bodied creatures during rapid growth or adaptation to a new environment. Judging from the residual energy traces, the shedding time was no more than five days ago."
"More importantly," he paused, lowering his voice, "we found the bodies of three apprentices in the swamp near where the molting took place."
Lynch's brow furrowed slightly beneath his hood: "The condition of the corpse?"
A hint of unease flashed across Bruno's face: "Very...strange. The three corpses had almost no external wounds, but their chest cavities had been completely emptied, and their internal organs were nowhere to be found."
"The skin on the corpses had a dull, grayish-brown color, as if all life and color had been drained away. During our examination, we found a tiny, wriggling maggot, about the size of a grain of rice, crawling out of the eye socket of one of the corpses."
He swallowed hard. "We dared not act rashly. We immediately sealed off the area and sent someone to report to Lady Lilith. Judging from the clothing fragments on the corpses, they were not from our cabin. They were likely apprentice squads from other factions also searching for the Heart-Eating Worms."
Lin Qi remained silent for a moment.
If he had only doubts before—
There have been reports of leeches being discovered over the past two years, but none of them have been true.
However, after hearing Bruno's report, Lynch felt that he had probably encountered the real deal this time.
The Heart-Eating Leech must molt once every two years at the latest, and it's about time now.
It can go for long periods without eating, but it must eat before and after molting. Its favorite food is the internal organs of intelligent beings, especially apprentices.
of course,
More importantly, the thin film in the small box Bruno handed over was immediately recognizable to Lynch as the molted membrane of the Heart-Eating Leech.
His grey-black hood turned slightly, as if he were "looking" into the depths of the valley.
Lilith understood immediately and replied without hesitation, "Lead the way."
After about two years of development, Lilith's Hut has gathered two to three hundred apprentices, making it the largest apprentice force among the apprentices outside the Gray Tower.
To help her keep the scene in check, Lin Qi specially taught her a few spell models he had bought in Tree Town.
She was already at the level of a mid-level apprentice, and now with powerful magical abilities, she immediately established absolute authority among the apprentices, becoming an undisputed figure.
Bruno's spirits lifted: "Yes! Master, Lady Lilith, please follow me. The terrain over there is complicated, with swamps everywhere, but we have cleared a relatively safe path."
He turned around and gestured to the apprentices behind him.
Dozens of apprentices immediately sprang into action, splitting into two teams: one leading the way and the other bringing up the rear to protect Lynch and Lilith in the middle.
The group headed deeper into the poisonous valley.
The further they went, the more twisted and bizarre the surrounding trees became, and the gray fog gradually thickened. A strange smell, sweet with a hint of decay, began to permeate the air—a mixture of miasma and secretions from certain magical plants.
The ground became muddy, and the exposed rocks were covered with slippery moss and fungi.
Lynch walked with a steady gait, his gray-black cloak almost blending into the background in the thin mist. His spiritual power had already quietly spread out, like invisible tentacles, sensing every energy fluctuation and every anomaly in the surrounding environment.
Heart-corroding leech...
The wizard Barek offered a reward of five hundred magic stones and a subject of knowledge for experimentation.
If we could really catch it...
Beneath the hood, a cold smile curled at the corner of Lin Qi's lips.
"It's also a good opportunity to test the results of my cultivation."
After two years of hard work, Lin Qi's strength has improved again, and he recently meditated on his eighth rune.
Name: Lin Qi
[Status: Mild Evil Eye Contamination]
【Occupation: Advanced Apprentice lv8 (63/25000)】
[Secondary Class: High Knight (1368/5000)]
[Attributes: Strength 8.8, Agility 9.6, Constitution 8.2, Spirit 15.6]
[Mana: 155/156]
The mental strength increased to 15.6, and the increase of just one rune was equivalent to the entire leap from low-level apprentice to intermediate apprentice.
That's how strength works; the further you cultivate, the more difficult it becomes, but the increase in strength brought about by each small step forward is also extraordinarily powerful.
The increase in mental strength brings about improvements in all aspects.
Mana value, spell power, level of mental perception, mental insight, etc.
Lin Qi clearly felt that he had become stronger.
Led by Bruno, the team continued their journey into the valley below where the molted skin and corpse had been found.
The further you go, the more treacherous the environment becomes. Twisted trees are gradually replaced by low shrubs that emit a dark purple glow, and the smell of decay in the air grows stronger, making it hard to breathe.
The ground beneath our feet had completely turned into a swamp of varying depths, with oily iridescent colors floating on the murky surface and pale green miasma bubbles rising from it from time to time.
Lilith followed closely behind Lynch, gripping her bone-white short staff, and warily scanned her surroundings.
"Master, the area where the molted skin and corpse were found is just ahead." Bruno stopped in front of a scree slope and pointed to the center of the depression.
It was a black swamp, about half the size of a basketball court, its eerily calm stillness emanating a dangerous aura.
Scattered along the edge of the swamp were pale bones, while dozens of caves of varying sizes were distributed at the base of the surrounding rock walls. The smaller ones were only big enough for a child to crawl into, while the larger ones were over two meters in diameter. The rocks at the entrances of the caves were jagged and covered with a slippery, dark green slime.
"Where does the skin shed?" Lin Qi asked.
Bruno pointed to the east side of the swamp, near a medium-sized cave about 1.5 meters in diameter, and said, "It's about three meters from that cave entrance. The three bodies are closer to the center of the swamp; they've already half-submerged, and we haven't dared to retrieve them."
Lin Qi nodded slightly. His mental energy had already spread out, and there was a faint, continuous pulse of shadow energy deep in the swamp. At least five caves emanated chaotic, greedy, and icy life force.
Lilith observed, "Master, there are too many caves here, we..."
Before he could finish speaking...
"BOOM—!!!"
The ground shook violently without any warning!
It wasn't a uniform earthquake, but a violent impact from deep beneath our feet, like a giant creature turning over! Debris and mud flew everywhere, and several apprentices on the outer edges screamed as they fell into the mud.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat up the slope!" Lilith reacted quickly, shouting the order as she pointed her bone-white staff towards the center of the swamp.
The yellow crystal at the tip of the staff lit up, and three shadowy touches shot out and intertwined to form a barrier, blocking most of the filth.
The apprentices retreated to the scree slope in a chaotic but orderly manner, with Bruno leading the rearguard to provide cover.
Lynch remained unmoved.
He stood still, his gray-black cloak fluttering in the vibrations and mud. The pure fire fairy shrieked sharply, its wings flapping and scattering sparks that formed a scorching barrier around Lin Qi, evaporating everything that approached.
His gaze was fixed on the eastern side of the swamp, on a cave with a diameter of 1.5 meters.
The source of the strongest tremors is right there.
"Click—click-click—"
The cave walls were cracked, with loose rocks falling everywhere. From inside came a sickeningly loud, viscous sound of flesh and blood rubbing against rock, mixed with low, greedy swallowing noises.
Followed by.
"boom!!!"
The rock wall above the cave exploded! Rock fragments shot out like cannonballs, and several apprentices who were slower to retreat were hit and fell to the ground screaming.
Deep within the blasted cave—
A disgusting monster slowly emerged from its twisted, enormous body.