Chapter 147: The Sad Song of the Dense Forest

After resting for several days, Mu Yi began searching on the communication forum, hoping to find a few small dungeons to explore.

He has learned too much now; to solidify his foundation, he must verify it in actual combat.

Large dungeons are too uncontrollable, often erupting in sudden chaos; small dungeons are more suitable for him now.

Without restrictions on Jiuzhou, there are plenty of challenge tickets for this kind of small dungeon, and Mu Yi quickly found one he wanted.

【The Sad Song of the Dense Forest】

Dungeon Introduction:

A vibrant woodland inhabited by treants and flower sprites, but when evil stained the land, everything was polluted, and the once-vibrant woodland became a stronghold of evil.

The Treant Elder called upon Order for aid, hoping the warriors of Order would heed the call, so the woodland could return to nature and all would be redeemed.

Having answered Order's summons, you now set foot here……

Dungeon Briefing:

1. Fallen Treant Elder Kundor:

3. Severe Corruption (50%-90%): Every minute, the character must make a Chaos Contamination Check (based on overall attributes); on failure, the character enters a confused state and suffers certain contamination damage.

At this stage, contamination cannot be reduced by normal means; killing evil wraiths instantly clears contamination.

3. Wizard Sai:

Kill reward: 20% dungeon progress.

"Is this the source of contamination?" Mu Yi patted his hands, discarded the soil, and an indescribable smell filled the air, making him feel somewhat uneasy, with irritation welling up in his chest.

"Let's go in and take a look first!"

Kill reward: 20% dungeon progress.

Teleporting character into the dungeon……

PS: May all evil be buried! — Comprehensive Net Holy Warrior Association Mark.

4. Imminent Corruption (over 90%): Every minute, the character must make a Corruption Check (based on overall attributes and character level); on failure, the character dies.

4. Evil Wraith:

Kill reward: 40% dungeon progress

Current dungeon progress: 0%.

Mu Yi stepped into the dense forest; the moment he entered, the whole world seemed to dim, and the surrounding withered trees seemed to come alive.

In this stage, contamination increases every minute, ignoring checks.

"Detected that the character is in a defiled environment; conducting mental contamination check……"

At this stage, besides failing the mental contamination check, each hit from an evil wraith also increases contamination.

Mu Yi grabbed a handful of ground soil, which contained enough power to kill and wither natural trees.

Dungeon Scene: Small

Reaching 20% dungeon progress unlocks Hard Difficulty; 40% unlocks Elite Difficulty; 60% unlocks Hell Difficulty.

Upon reaching 100% dungeon progress, the completion reward can be claimed; the first-time completion grant provides a massive bonus.

A yellow prompt appeared on Mu Yi's retina; he ignored it.

Recommended dungeon level: 7–~10.

Although the surroundings made the atmosphere terrifying, his Killing Intent Perception sensed no enemies……

"Within one minute, the character will be completely immune to such spell effects."

After carefully reading the scrolling prompts on his retina, he lifted his head to survey the dense forest before him.

Within the forest there were some thin mists, not thick; unlike a normal dense forest teeming with life, everywhere exuded a grim, terrifying aura.

The withered, dying trees each resembled a human form: trunks like bodies, trunks like limbs, and the hollowed-out holes in the middle looked exactly like eyes and mouths.

Different stages of contamination will impose certain negative effects on the character:

"Check succeeded; you are immune to this mental contamination."

2. Flower Sprite Arisil:

Kill reward: 20% dungeon progress.

A less unpleasant dizzy feeling……

2. Moderate Contamination (25%-50%): Every minute, the character must make an Adverse Emotion Check (based on overall attributes); on failure, the character enters a bad mood state, and while in that state, suffering mental interference spell effects incurs an additional check difficulty.

When Mu Yi regained consciousness, he found himself standing in a dense forest.

Of course, for Mu Yi, this level of interference has no effect; his steadfast will lets him remain completely unaffected.

…………

1. Mild Contamination (5%-25%): The character enters an uneasy state, increasing the failure rate of mental contamination checks; sitting still slowly reduces contamination.

It looks extremely eerie; Mu Yi can even feel strong evil energy emanating from the ground.

Dungeon time remaining: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes

PS: Each time a player completes an achievement, dungeon progress increases; upon meeting certain progress thresholds, the next difficulty can be unlocked.

…………

At this stage, only failing the mental contamination check increases contamination.

I don't know whether it's the wind whistling through the trunks or the sound coming from the trunks' own "mouths," but the trunks sway slightly, as if baring fangs and brandishing claws, and the forest instantly becomes more grim and terrifying.

Character contamination: 0%

ps: The forest is shrouded in a twisted evil energy field; every minute the character must undergo a mental contamination check (based on perception); on failure, contamination increases by 10%.

All was peaceful along the way until Mu Yi spotted a withered giant tree.

Wrinkled bark, a trunk tens of meters high, symbolizing an extremely ancient tree, yet it feels devoid of vitality, as if on the verge of decline.

But Mu Yi could sense that it was completely different from the surrounding trees; it had not been corrupted by dark evil aura, and although a dark withering aura surrounded it, the tree seemed to be struggling against it.

When Mu Yi approached, the big tree slowly opened the eyes on its trunk, the hole resembling a mouth weakly opening and closing.

"Human?"

"Hurry and leave, this place is no longer the former fertile and pleasant forest, leave this place, human……" The ancient tree weakly advised.

"I came here for this!" Mu Yi said flatly, "What happened here?"

"An Order's Warrior?" The ancient tree's spirit lifted, it had finally awaited reinforcements.

"You can call me Kun Sa Shan, I am the Tree Spirit Elder of this forest, evil monsters have polluted this forest, tree spirits and flower sprites have gone completely mad, I have sealed them here, awaiting the arrival of the Order's Warrior."

"Even though this place is now completely polluted by evil, I still want to protect this land; in this polluted land I am withering day by day, unable to obtain new natural power, I cannot last much longer, can you help me protect this land? Order's Warrior!"

"What do you need me to do?" Mu Yi asked curiously; hearing this, the Tree Spirit Elder seemed like a helper who could provide assistance.

"Purify those already fallen tree spirits and flower demons, as well as the evil minion wizard deep in the dense forest, bring back their cores, and I will use my remaining power to help you weaken the evil's strength!"

"I can't hold out much longer; please hurry!"

"Dungeon hint: Trigger side quest, Tree Spirit Elder's final power."

Tree Spirit Elder's Final Power

Mission Requirements:

Kill Tree Spirit Elder·Kunduo (0/1)

Kill Flower Demon·Arisel (0/1)

Kill Wizard Sai (0/1)

Mission Reward: The Tree Spirit Elder will use its final power to purify the evil, and each core will lower the challenge level of the evil spirit by 1.

Remaining Time: 23 hours 59 minutes

Looking at the sleeping Tree Spirit Elder, Mu Yi stroked his chin, surprised that such assistance existed; it seems the small Dungeon does have some reliable mechanisms.

But... it seems he can't use it.

Mu Yi pressed onward into the depths; he has no intention of spending days in this Dungeon, as he still has an appointment with Princess Liliana Brenda.

After passing the Tree Spirit Elder, Mu Yi instantly sensed several malice auras surfacing.

Looking up, a few fallen tree spirits corrupted by evil power leapt out of the shadows, baring teeth and claws.

"Crush all enemies, my warriors!"

Mu Yi pointed his finger, and the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier opened a portal, from which scarlet Asura warriors surged out.

"Since they're tree spirits, they should be vulnerable to fire, right?" Mu Yi guessed, then arranged the Asura warriors into a Four Spirits Formation, summoning the Vermilion Bird spirit.

Blazing flames ignited the Asura warriors' weapons, and the fire‑infused weapons were slashed fiercely at the fallen tree spirits.

Amid the raging fire, the fallen tree spirits let out horrific wails; their hard bark cracked under the scorching flames, and the Asura warriors' attacks pierced through the bark into the spirits' bodies.

A tree spirit's shell is merely a spirit body; from a certain perspective, tree spirits are spirit creatures, so the Asura warriors' attacks that bypassed the bark dealt extremely lethal damage.

The fallen tree spirits retaliated in anger, but their trunks burned the instant they touched the Asura warriors; even if they entangled a few warriors, more Asura warriors would rush in and sever their tendrils.

Watching the fallen tree spirits collapse one after another and turn to ash, Mu Yi raised an eyebrow, noting that this was not a normal phenomenon.

Even if the spirit within a tree spirit's shell dies, its outer trunk shouldn't instantly turn to ash.

It seems this dense forest still harbors something Mu Yi doesn't know.

The fallen tree spirits are merely ordinary Level 7 creatures, also vulnerable to fire, and the Asura warriors easily cut them down.

After slaying about five waves, roughly thirty fallen tree spirits, Mu Yi reached the depths, where a tree spirit no smaller than the Elder appeared before his eyes.

【Fallen Tree Spirit Elder·Kunduo, Challenge Level 10】

Fallen Tree Spirit Elder·Kunduo is accompanied by several larger fallen tree spirits.

"Cao Ming! Charge and take him down!"

Mu Yi considered briefly, then sent out his strongest available force.

"Here!"

The moment Cao Ming raised his fist, several Asura warriors turned into blood water that covered his body; Cao Ming, surprised, glanced at the extra heads and arms he now possessed.

Although he wasn't accustomed to the three‑head, six‑arm form, he truly felt the power boost; without any idle talk, he brandished his spear, led the Asura warriors, and charged at the fallen Tree Spirit Elder.

Mu Yi squinted, then pointed his finger at a spot in the void.

— Military Strategist Divine Skill·Deceiving the Heavens

The number of Asura warriors charging suddenly doubled, the exact effect of the Military Strategist Divine Skill; although they are merely mirrored decoys, combined with the charge they catch the enemy off guard.

"Damn human invaders, you will pay for your stupidity!"

The momentum of the Asura charge startled the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder·Kunduo, who opened his eyes to see the enemy before him; Kunduo, enraged, swung his massive branch arms down.

But the ones at the front were all mirages; the powerful blow missed entirely, and Cao Ming thrust his spear into the branch arm, the fire from the Vermilion Bird spirit dealing massive damage.

"I will turn you into the soil's nutrients, then drain you!"

The Fallen Tree Spirit Elder let out a wail, followed immediately by an angry roar.

Mu Yi nocked an arrow, drew back and aimed; the arrow failed to pierce the bark, but the holy light shimmering on it still damaged the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder.

Under the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder's attacks, Cao Ming dodged left and right, perfectly drawing the Elder's attention.

Mu Yi also enjoyed himself, continuously firing arrows while directing the formation rotations.

Because they are mirages, its hit rate is pitifully low, but its massive size allows the Asura warriors to continuously damage it.

"You damned humans, receive the baptism of decay!"

The Fallen Tree Spirit Elder erupted fully amid the siege, but just before it could explode, a holy seal on its body detonated.

Belated justice began to settle; the holy retribution imbued with divine power erupted upon the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder.

The sacred power instantly inflicted fatal damage on the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder and interrupted the skill it was casting.

At the moment the spell backfired and stiffened, Cao Ming leapt high, thrust his spear into the Fallen Tree Spirit Elder's body, delivering a fatal blow to its spirit.

"Boom!"

The fallen tree spirit elder's tall body collapsed with a boom, its form turning to ash and beginning to dissipate; this time Mu Yi clearly sensed that the direction in which these ashes dissipated lay deeper in the dense forest.

However, where the fallen tree spirit elder had fallen, a seed radiating vitality lay quietly in place.

"This should be the core that the fallen tree spirit elder needed."

【Seed of Life】

Item Level: 10

Quality: Blue

Use: Alchemy, Medicine

Effect: Direct consumption restores vitality (based on the character's physique attribute).

"Not bad!"

Mu Yi tossed the item into his pack; it seemed this dungeon could still yield some useful materials, and this thing should come in handy for making medicinal cuisine later.