Chapter 179: Underworld

In the dark passage, countless red eyes appeared—they were the eyes of mutated demon rats. The dense, countless eyes sent chills down one’s spine.

Soon, the mutated demon rats could not hold back and charged toward Su Lun and Aydin. Besides being somewhat faster, numerous in number, and capable of spreading the plague, these mutated demon rats were not very strong themselves. What Su Lun worried about was that these rats might run out and spread the plague in his territory.

The hygiene and medical conditions in this era were almost nonexistent. Once the plague broke out on a large scale, the damage would be immense. Apart from the plague, these creatures could also transmit many other diseases, making them very troublesome. The mutated demon rats swarmed forward, and Su Lun swept his longsword, cleanly cutting one of the charging mutated demon rats in half.

As soon as the dead mutated demon rat fell to the ground, it was devoured by the other mutated demon rats. The remaining rats showed no fear and instead became even more frenzied.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”

After a commotion, an even larger number of mutated demon rats rushed forward. Faced with this situation, others might have panicked, but Su Lun and Aydin were both exceptionally agile and quick to react. They had experienced attacks of this level too many times in training.

Aydin’s expression was cold, but his movements were not slow at all. His scimitar drew a graceful arc, directly slicing three charging mutated demon rats into six pieces. Su Lun’s sword shadows filled the air, and every mutated demon rat that came within a meter of his body was either cut in half or stabbed through the heart or throat, without a single exception.

However, the number of mutated demon rats was overwhelming, and after smelling blood, they became even more frenzied, completely fearless, which made Su Lun frown deeply.

Seeing the mutated demon rats closing in, Su Lun’s body flickered with lightning. The next moment, a burst of lightning suddenly erupted.

“Thunderburst!”

A wave of lightning shot out from Su Lun, radiating forward. The blue-white Lightning Glow was exceptionally dazzling in the dark passage. The crackling thunder roared incessantly, and the smell of roasted meat quickly filled the passage.

“Thump, thump, thump!”

A large number of mutated demon rats in the passage were electrocuted into charred corpses. Those leaping down from the walls were cooked before they even hit the ground. The electric light radiated outward, and more mutated demon rats were paralyzed and convulsed by the lightning, soon losing all signs of life. The Lightning Glow lasted for quite a while before slowly fading away.

What Su Lun used was not a spell but a ability based on his own mastery of lightning. When facing swarms, using spells was the best approach. Using swords and blades would require a long fight, but an area spell could easily resolve the situation.

As the Lightning Glow dissipated, the passage returned to darkness, and the ground beneath their feet was now covered with the corpses of mutated demon rats. Without lingering any longer, Su Lun knew the smell of roasted meat would surely attract other monsters nearby. He had no desire to engage in an endless battle with these creatures here.

This passage was likely part of a mine, though it was unclear who had excavated it. There were no valuable resources here, so the two continued deeper into the passage.

After walking for about half an hour, the narrow and cramped passage finally came to an end. Exiting the passage, the Underworld ahead opened up into a much wider space. Though there was no sunlight in the Underworld, many fluorescent plants grew here, with Fluorescent Moss being the most widespread.

These Fluorescent Mosses, emitting a faint glow, brought a glimmer of light to the dark Underworld. With the scattered specks of faint light, Su Lun could roughly make out the space before him. It was a massive underground cavern, about the size of a stadium, filled with rugged rocks and appearing desolate.

Several Underground Salamanders hunted among the scattered rocks. These Underground Salamanders were nearly three meters long, covered in rock-like scales, with sharp claws and teeth. They were not particularly strong creatures in the Underworld. Flickers of light occasionally appeared among the surrounding rocks. Su Lun struck the rock wall a few times with his sharp sword and examined it.

Soon, Su Lun found many ores in the surrounding rock walls—crystals, Silver Mine, iron ore, copper ore, and various others. However, they were mostly scattered and held no mining value. Even so, this made Su Lun realize that the Mine in the Underworld were indeed abundant.

He casually dug out a few pieces of Silver Mine. These silver ores were likely by-products, with low purity, so Su Lun gave up after extracting a few pieces. The crystal deposits, however, pleasantly surprised Su Lun. In addition to some white crystals, yellow crystals, and amethysts, he also dug out other gemstones: moonstone, fluorite, malachite, agate, and topaz.

Their purity was average, and their size was small, making their value just passable. The most valuable gemstones were those with high purity and large size. Of course, the price of gemstones also varied based on color, with Ruby being the most valuable, followed by other colored gemstones, diamonds, and jade.

The Underworld was vast, and the cavern before them was only a small part of it. Other passages connected to this one, and the Underworld was composed of such caverns and passages. Some underground caverns were large enough to easily accommodate a city of a hundred thousand people, while others could only hold a few individuals.

Due to the unique structure of the Underworld, it was divided into various city-states, with each city-state occupying a large cavern.

After searching the cavern and finding nothing else of value, the two left and headed toward another passage connected to this one.

This passage was much wider than the previous one, and besides some Fluorescent Moss, it also hosted various types of fungi. These fungi were the most common plants in the Underworld. Some were edible, while others were highly toxic. Many Underground City cultivated large quantities of fungi as food.

Some types of fungi grew very tall, reaching over ten meters in height. From a distance, they looked like giant umbrellas. Surrounded by many fluorescent plants, they appeared very beautiful. However, in nature, such beautiful surfaces often concealed great dangers. The areas around these fungi were often inhabited by other creatures attracted to them.

After passing through the passage, Su Lun and Aydin arrived at another underground cave. Unlike the barren Underworld they had seen before, this cave presented a different scene.

The cave was somewhat damp, with a layer of soil on the ground. In the distance, an underground forest grew, with fluorescent mushrooms, vines, fungi, and other plants thriving luxuriantly. The outermost area had many fist-sized fluorescent mushrooms, while the center of the forest featured giant mushrooms four to five meters tall. Their enormous caps emitted countless points of light, and Fluorescent Spores drifted through the air. Nearby, even taller fungi stood.

By the faint light of the Underworld, Su Lun saw many long-dead corpses and remains in that forest. Clearly, this forest was not as beautiful as it appeared on the surface.