Chapter 38 - Underground Palace

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

Lu Yuan quickly went deeper into the place.

As he gradually went deeper in, he discovered that the defense here was simply terrifying.

It could be said to be extremely tight.

Not only were there a fixed number of monsters guarding everywhere, but there were also some patrolling monsters with extremely tight patrol routes.

Seeing this, a very unusual feeling emerged in Lu Yuan’s heart.

They didn’t seem like monsters anymore, instead, they resembled well-trained soldiers.

When this kind of speculation formed in his mind, even Lu Yuan himself was shocked.

Because if it was true, then it would be too scary.

A group of monsters that had their own ideas and had formed a well-trained group to set up a defense in their territory — this was unimaginable in any game.

If there were no designers behind the scenes that had programmed the monsters as such from the beginning, the implications would be too scary.

Lu Yuan thought to himself as he carefully bypassed the patrols.

Soon, he entered the deepest part of the area.

In the deepest part, as he had seen before, there was a spiderweb-like frost in front of him.

In the middle, there was a Heart of Frost.

At the bottom, skeletons were worshipping the Heart of Frost.

Suddenly, an idea formed in Lu Yuan’s mind.

It couldn’t be that… They were becoming human-like, right?

Added with the patrol routines he had witnessed earlier, and their worshipping methods akin to human practice, Lu Yuan had no choice but to consider this possibility.

Of course, Lu Yuan was thinking that it would be great if his speculations were not true because once they were confirmed, it would simply be terrifying.

Lu Yuan recorded these anomalies and received a system notification.

[System notification: Current mission progress has been updated, Investigate the Frost Worship Grounds (2/5)!]

He had already completed the investigation of two locations.

This meant that the direction of his investigations was right, and everything seemed to be developing as he had expected.

Lu Yuan quietly left the Broken Cliff’s Frost Worship Ground.

Then he went to the third location, which was also a Frost Cave. However, the monsters inside were no longer giant frost apes.

Instead, they were a kind of frost bat.

Lu Yuan thought to himself, “The bats couldn’t be worshiping the Heart of Frost too, right?”

In the end, when he entered the deepest part of the area, Lu Yuan was shocked.

Unexpectedly, the bats were also able to worship the Heart of Frost like humanoid creatures.

Lu Yuan felt a little uneasy.

He recorded all this down.

[System notification: Current mission progress has been updated. Investigate the Frost Worship Grounds (3/5)!]

The third one was also completed.

Lu Yuan left quietly.

The fourth location was quite close to the third location.

Therefore, Lu Yuan still needed to wait for his skill to cool down. Fortunately, after leveling up, his skill’s cooldown was already very fast.

After the cooldown for the Shadow Following skill was over, Lu Yuan once again entered the Frost Worship Ground.

The fourth location was also a Frost Cave.

The monsters here were frost white wolves.

Their entire bodies were covered in white fur, and there was a faint blue glow.

They looked very ferocious.

Lu Yuan immediately entered the Stealth state.

With all the experience from before, Lu Yuan knew that the monsters here were intelligent as well.

Their defense was carefully planned.

Each and every one of the frost white wolves was ferocious.

Lu Yuan had to pass by them carefully.

When he entered the deepest part, he saw the Heart of Frost again.

Below it, there were many frost white wolf kings making offerings and worshipping.

Lu Yuan gradually reached a conclusion in his heart.

These monsters either had their own will and could anthropomorphize, or someone was controlling them from behind, making them anthropomorphized.

Lu Yuan was more inclined towards the latter because the monsters in each worship ground worshipped in the same manner.

This was not something an ordinary monster could do.

Lu Yuan recorded this information down and left quietly.

[System notification: Current mission progress has been updated. Investigate the Frost Worship Grounds (4/5)!]

There was only one more location left.

The last location was further away, which was also why Lu Yuan left it for last.

Along the way, Lu Yuan gradually found that there was a type of frost elemental monster that appeared in groups.

Normally, this was impossible, because each monster had its own territory and would normally never take the initiative to leave its territory.

The appearance of them in groups now meant that the balance was broken.

The monsters would actually take the initiative to appear outside of their respective territories.

Lu Yuan could not help but frown.

Soon, he arrived at the last Frost Worship Ground.

What Lu Yuan did not expect was that the last Frost Worship Ground he had to investigate was actually underground.

Entering through the entrance, he immediately encountered two giant frost bears guarding the entrance.

[Giant Frost Bear] (Boss)

[Level]: ???

[HP]: ???

[Skills]: ???

[Description]: The giant bears in this area have gained control over the power of the frost elements due to the erosion of the power of the frost elements, but at the same time, they have become even more ferocious.

The monsters’ attributes could not be seen at all, which meant that their levels were far above Lu Yuan’s.

Just in case, Lu Yuan used Anna’s Blessing. After being blessed, the Shadow Following skill would last for a full eight minutes.

Eight minutes should be enough.

Lu Yuan bypassed the two giant frost bear guards and walked in.

The moment he went forward, he discovered that this was actually an underground ice palace!

Everything in the surroundings was made of ice. There were also many frost elements floating in the air, slowly condensing towards the deepest part of the palace.

The ice was condensed, and there were traces of man-made carvings everywhere. It was exceptionally gorgeous.

The surrounding walls, the ground, and the huge frost pillars that were scattered all around all looked very exquisite.

In the Ice Palace, there were still many giant frost bears guarding or patrolling, and the defense seemed tighter than ever.

Lu Yuan carefully explored and inched forward into the depths.

In the end, when he reached the deepest part of the area, a throne made of ice crystals appeared.

Someone was sitting on the throne!

Yes! It was indeed a person!

He was wearing a black robe and a hood, thus his face could not be seen clearly.

When Lu Yuan saw the whole scene, he could not help but be taken aback. What was going on?

Why was there someone here?

“I didn’t expect that a small ant could trace me to this place.”

The person on the throne spoke. His voice was extremely hoarse and low, but at the same time, there was a hint of evil charm.

Lu Yuan could not help but be shocked. Could it be that he had been discovered?

No, he was still in the duration of his Stealth state, it should be impossible for him to be discovered!

“You’re such a small ant, yet you want to struggle?”

After saying this, the black-clothed person extended his hand and pointed at Lu Yuan. An ice spike appeared out of thin air and stabbed towards Lu Yuan..