Chapter 299: Broken Pincer, Continuing Deeper

Boom sshh—

The profound cold wind from the Underdark carried a touch of thick sulfurous scorched smell.

The scorching aura in the air had not yet dissipated, and the fishy smell unique to aquatic creatures surged up from the aftermath of the mud swamp's agitation.

A layer of broken thick shell floated on the surface of the mud slurry, just like a piece of broken glass, vaguely capturing the scorched marks at its edge;

the fluorescent moss on the surface of the cave stone wall remained with large areas of scorch, barely emitting a few strands of faint light, illuminating a huge pincer obliquely inserted into the ground like a tombstone by the wall.

Abi stood motionless in place.

Ignorance remained in the depths of his eyes.

Just like the surging power retreating like a tide in his body, only a few remaining flame sparks were left; the dark red flames from the Nine Hells dissipated rapidly on the surface of his skin.

He reached out his hand subconsciously, grasping at the air in front of him.

As if wanting to retain this power that was retreating rapidly and did not belong to him.

It was just in vain.

After the battle ended, only a few breaths of time passed.

He had changed from a powerhouse who could "run rampant" in the Underdark, easily abusing professionals, and viewing the dangers in the Mist Forest as nothing,

back into that most humble, bottom-tier trash adventurer who couldn't even get anyone to listen when bragging in the tavern, and would be robbed if he earned a little pocket money in the casino.

Abi didn't speak.

But the indescribable reluctance, hesitation, and desire for power had long since filled his heart, following those lingering dark flames of Lianyu.

The dangerous magic beast that Lord Saloyang called "Jiafu Guai," which looked like a huge lobster, had been repelled by him.

To be precise, it was repelled by Lord Saloyang who temporarily borrowed his body.

For Abi, this actually didn't make much difference.

During the battle, his consciousness did not dissipate.

It was precisely because of this that the sensory perception temporarily strengthened by the dark red flames allowed him to clearly perceive every strand of power that erupted in the originally barren and weak body under the manipulation of Lord Saloyang.

Those terrifying forces enough to twist the strongest adventurer he knew into a twist, the surging flames that could even burn the mud slurry...

Abi realized for the first time that he could be so strong, and he wasn't destined to live in that simple and dirty small room for his whole life, being a bottom-tier adventurer who just waited to die.

He could do it.

He should also be able to do it.

Those who have seen the light can least tolerate the darkness of the night.

The strong contrast generated after the power dissipated and he recovered his body manipulation ability, accompanied by weakness, made Abi almost go crazy.

He dreamed of taking those previous powers as his own, even if the price paid was...

"Whoosh."

The cold wind from the depths of the cave blew past suddenly, making his body standing in place shiver violently.

"No, no, I can't do this; it's not time yet, wait, wait..."

He comforted himself somewhat incoherently in his heart.

Suspending the last step that was about to cross the bottom line in mid-air.

At the same time.

The mind projection attached to the residual mirror, Saloyang, who was placed on his chest, felt this young adventurer's thoughts and secretly said it was a pity.

Just the last bit, and he could have taken this soul back to Hell in the safest and most compliant way.

He was not in a hurry.

Patience is one of the few excellent virtues of devils.

The train to Hell had already started, and there was no turning back.

The ignorant youth who had tasted power was just like those most serious addiction patients, with absolutely no possibility of turning back.

It was just a matter of pushing forward a little more.

Of course, this kind of soul with relatively average quality could only be used as a side dish for the harvest, not the reason he projected his consciousness to the material plane.

The core of that huge Goblin lair hidden deep in a fork in the Underdark was his main target.

It's just that this journey seemed a bit too tortuous.

Saloyang was far from as relaxed as he appeared in front of Abi.

The identity of a devil baron of the Nine Hells, even if it was just a baron, its strength was definitely not something that the bottom-tier adventurers fighting wits and courage with Goblins in the Mist Forest could imagine.

If placed in front of his physical body in Lianyu, a mere little Jiafu Guai wouldn't even need him to take action; his subordinates could easily tear it into pieces.

But right now, what was attached to Abi was only a partial projection of Saloyang's mind in the material plane; high-level skills such as hiding aura and avoiding danger might take effect, but the actual power could be described as "less than one in ten."

Perhaps he could temporarily strengthen it by borrowing Abi's body by drawing some from the main body in Lianyu through his own magic attainments, but it was also very limited.

Like that Jiafu Guai with a challenge rating of around "4," it was almost his limit.

Being able to seriously injure the other party and seemingly easily repel it was mainly because he took advantage of the Lianyu flames.

"Turn back." The magnetic, hoarse male voice carried a touch of exhaustion that couldn't be covered, and Saloyang said softly to Abi,

"The wrong options have been excluded almost enough."

"Since this path doesn't work... just change to another one."

"Okay, Lord Saloyang."

Abi nodded repeatedly, turning around obediently like a puppet, and walked toward the entrance of the cave.

Behind him, the shell fragments from the Jiafu Guai floated leisurely on the surface of the mud slurry, and the broken huge pincer leaned quietly against the stone wall.

Mist Forest, the boundary between the outer and core areas.

At the entrance of the former Shihua Xiyi lair.

The "Oath-Blackwood" squad carefully checked the traces around, preparing to go deep into the cave in a while.

Compared to before, the whole team looked significantly more disheveled.

Traces of mud water solidification could be seen on leather boots, armor, hair, and even cheeks.

Clearly, the strength of that "Jiafu Guai" had exceeded the range they could handle.

Fortunately, at the moment when the battle was about to enter a white-hot stage, the other party's sudden retreat for some reason allowed the squad to preserve its effective strength.

The only one injured was the dwarf warrior Suoerding, who was smashed into the depths of the mud swamp after performing a taunt-type combat technique.

And the sturdy figure unique to his race, combined with the soft and sticky mud water under his feet, reduced the damage he received to a certain extent.

After the battle ended, half a bottle of healing potion was gulped down, and the injury was restored to seven or eight out of ten.

The combat power was about nine out of ten of the full state.

It was enough for his positioning as a front-row meat shield, mainly playing a containment role.

The few people continued to move forward to carry out the mission.