Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After searching the Chimera Valley for a full day and confirming that he had not missed any valuable items, Yang Ling removed the Magical Beast army blocking the entrance of the valley. According to the memories of the Thousand-faced Mink and the Chimera King, they could reach the entrance of the underground city from a small pathway deep within the valley.

The troops and adventurers had been waiting anxiously for over a day. Seeing the Magical Beast army blocking the entrance to the valley retreat, they stormed into the valley like a swarm of bees, splitting up to search the area. However, they were soon disappointed.

“Dogsh*t, there’s not even a strand of hair left!”

“They didn’t even leave a poor quality crystal-ore. They wiped the place clean. We might as well have searched the tunnels outside!”

…

The crowd was furious after making their way around the Chimera Valley. They had expected to find at least a poor-quality crystal ore after waiting for so long and were so depressed that they almost vomited blood. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, they did not expect Yang Ling to wipe the place clean!

Even though they cursed at Yang Ling, none of them were fools. Soon, the troops and adventurers found the small path leading toward the underground city. They sprinted over and soon followed along far behind Yang Ling’s group.

Passing through the winding path, Yang Ling led his army into a vast underground plain. The area was dim and covered in pebbles with hills littered around the landscape. They could see bright red lava and pitch-black smoke from time to time. A scorching feeling lingered in the air. Looking at the horizon, Yang Ling could only see gray. He did not know how far he was from the surface.

At the center of the plaza was a statue of a head about the size of a small hill, its eyes, nose, and ears clearly visible. The eyes were fully black and it seemed as though the statue was staring coldly at you from whichever angle you looked at it. The mouth was wide open and incredibly deep. According to the memories of the Chimera King, this bottomless hole-like mouth was the entrance to the underground city.

Yang Ling had a bad feeling as he looked at the bottomless hole-like entrance of the underground city. He looked at the troops and adventurers who had swarmed over behind him and had an idea, instructing the group to set up camp under a small hill and allow the troops to freely search the plain.

“Sir, there are rich resources here. It’s best that we send out an exploration team to search for them as soon as possible!”

Seeing the troops and adventurers charging excitedly into the plains, hearing their cries of excitement, the Fox Elder wanted desperately to lead a team out immediately. The items that they had picked up along the way, especially those they had found within the Chimera Valley, had greatly agitated his nerves. Before he came here, he would never have expected there to be this many treasures scattered within the cave.

“Hehe, they have labored while following behind us for so long, it’s time to let them have a few benefits!” Seeing the troops and adventurers go deeper into the plain without fear of death, then looking at the anxious Fox Elder, Yang Ling smiled calmly before continuing. “We should prosper as a community. We can’t just let the people behind us get nothing and not even get back the money they spent on this journey!”

Even though he did not know what kind of danger there was at the moment, Yang Ling believed in his intuition. This peaceful-looking plain must harbor a great danger. Since the troops and adventurers were not afraid of death, he was naturally willing to let them be the lab rats.

“Prosper as a community?”

The Fox Elder nearly fainted when he heard Yang Ling say this. If Yang Ling was as generous as he said he was, he would not have sent the Magical Beast army to guard the entrance to the Chimera Valley back then and block off the troops and adventurers outside. However, since Yang Ling had said this, the Fox Elder could only leave it at that.

After instructing the group to set up camp, Yang Ling sent out this Horned Bee Beasts and scouts to survey the plain. However, they did not notice anything suspicious except for the boiling lava and the crystals and gemstones scattered around the area. There was not even a single Magical Beast. This place looked even safer than the tunnels.

“Could I have been too paranoid?”

Yang Ling’s heart wavered after seeing that the troops and adventurers had obtained generous loot through the Horned Bee Beasts. He had several times almost told the Fox Elder, Goode, and the rest to bring their men out to collect the treasures scattered around the plain before the troops and adventurers got to them. However, after weighing the pros and cons several times, he forcefully fought back the alluring thought.

“Oh, what’s that?”

Just as he feeling doubtful, he suddenly noticed a team of men appearing from the tunnel not far away. A bunch of heavily armored knights led the group, behind them a bunch of Spellcasters and archers. Among them, a white-robed Spellcaster was particularly eye-catching. Looking over, Yang Ling saw that that person was the white-robed Cardinal Bishop of the Church he had seen in the valley the other day.

The knights leading the group was covered in traces of blood, several of them wearing blood-soaked bandages. The Spellcasters and archers behind them were no exception. Some staggered as they walked, leaning on the wall to catch their breath after walking just a few steps. Some of their wounds had not stopped bleeding yet, and they knit their brows and grunted from time to time… It looked like they had just been through a fierce battle.

“Do all roads lead to Rome?”

The maze-like cave had countless pathways of various sizes. Yang Ling, who had darted around within the main pathways of the cave and incited a bloodbath, was clear on that. Seeing the army of the Church swarm out into the plain, he did not have to think too deeply to know that the paths that the other party took also had a small pathway leading to this mysterious plain. If that was so for the Church, then it should also be no exception for the pathways the other factions had taken.

Indeed, sometime later, the Beastmen, Dark Association, Angus family, and Bellimore family came out of the various pathways one after the other. Just like the Church, several of their members were covered in blood, as if they had all gone through fierce battles.

After hiding himself behind a few rocks, Yang Ling coldly observed the teams of the other factions, secretly estimating their abilities.

The formation of the Church was the greatest. Their heavily armored knights and staff-wielding Spellcasters all had abilities more powerful than the average person. Just the white-robed Cardinal Bishop alone was enough to deter the other factions from recklessly taking action.

If this was a simple contest of numbers, no one would be able to beat the Angus family. This time, they have sent out over a hundred Undead Wizards, each one of them able to summon dozens of Zombies, Skeletons, and Magical Beasts to do battle. This way, their formation would have the greatest number of people. Even though many of the Zombies and Skeletons only had the simplest of weapons, their abilities should not be underestimated.

Under the command of Elder Klive, the Dark Knights and Spellcasters quickly got into formation on the plain. One look was enough for Yang Ling to know that they were all elites who had gone through hundreds of battles.

There were four elders dressed in black robes beside Elder Klive. Even though he was some distance away, Yang Ling could still clearly feel the ripples of Magical Energy emanating from their bodies. If he was not wrong, their abilities should be on the level of Elder Klive’s!

While there were not many Beastmen, merely two hundred of them, every warrior in their faction was over three meters tall, each of them either wielding a massive heavy axe or sharp spear, their eyes red with bloodlust. Yang Ling knew that they were violent machines that could kill without batting an eyelid. Furthermore, they also had a few dozen priests wielding staffs adorned with crystal skulls. Even though they did not speak, all of them gave him a feeling of extreme danger.

Of all the factions, the Bellimore family had the smallest numbers and was the most mysterious. All of them were dressed in black cloaks and hats, and they each had a Galaxy Sword half the height of a man long. While there were only a few dozen of them, they all gave off an ice-cold feeling, as if every one of them was a top-notch assassin. The warriors from the other factions were all covered in blood and panting heavily. Only they seemed to have been undisturbed.

After resting for a moment, the Church was the first to take action, walking quickly toward the statue in the middle of the plain. After seeing the Church move, the other factions followed suit quickly, unwilling to fall behind.

Seeing the large factions take action, the troops and adventurers who had been following behind them hesitated for a moment, then followed along. Even the people searching the plains were no exception. Of course, some of the people were hesitant. That was the case for one of the smaller troop teams near the hill Yang Ling was on.

Looking at the gray sky, seeing the tumbling lava around them, a middle-aged soldier in worn out armor spoke, “Brothers, the statue is giving me a weird feeling. Why don’t we head back early? After all, we have already picked up so many premium crystal ores and gemstones. We have enough for a dozen years, or even a few dozen years, if we are thrifty with them!”

“Hmph, if there are already this many treasures outside, what would it be like within the relic of the giant dragon?” A muscular man carrying an axe let out a cold grunt and said to the middle-aged troop, “Baki, leave if you want to. If you are going to be this squeamish at the critical moment, don’t blame me for being nasty!”

“Alright, stop quarreling, follow them quickly!”

…

The troops walked forward after tying the bags filled with treasure to their backs, following closely behind the various large factions. The middle-aged soldier by the name of Baki shook his head, then raised his chipped longsword as he followed quickly behind.

There were still several Magical Beasts in the tunnels behind him. Without the help of his teammates, he would not be able to retreat to safety alone. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to follow.

Roar…

The various factions moved quickly, soon arriving near the statue in the middle of the plain. However, just as they were about to enter, a deafening roar of fury filled the air. In that instant, the bright red lava on the plain churned in agitation as the ground shook, dust and soil tossed up into the sky as if there was an earthquake.

“Not good, it’s the Dark Dragons, quick, get into formation!”

“Dark Dragon Cliff, my god, to think that it’s the Dark Dragon Cliff!”

…

Just as Yang Ling became confused, the people around the statue broke into a commotion, pointing toward the gray sky in shock. With their guidance, Yang Ling realized that a faint outline of a stone cliff had suddenly appeared in the air on the other side of where he was!