Chapter 20: The Newly Born Labyrinth

The town's security team arrived quickly.

Seeing the customer cheering, some raised their hands to show off their muscles, some lay unconscious.

At first they thought it was an ordinary tavern brawl — that sort of thing happened every other day.

But once they got a clear look at the two men's faces.

They were instantly shocked.

Wasn't this exactly the wanted poster their captain had just issued!

Good lord, everyone else is busy hiding here, there, and everywhere, but you — you just waltz into a tavern to throw punches.

The security officers suppressed their delight and dragged the two culprits out of the tavern.

"What's the background of this tavern's owner?"

Rod downed his drink in one gulp, deeply curious about him.

"Valery Valentin, a local of Shi Ying Town. He worked in the royal capital in his early years, then suddenly came back a few years ago and opened this Violet Tavern."

Pete said casually.

He had been doing business here for years, and when it came to the gossip of Shi Ying Town, he was even more skilled than the young fellows nowadays.

"The military?"

"It's hard to dig up anything about him." Pete shook his head.

Rod looked again at the owner Valery, thinking of the giant's wine.

Could it really be that he snatched it from the giant?

Valery suddenly turned his head at that moment, meeting Rod's eyes.

Rod raised his glass in greeting.

The other man immediately laughed heartily and walked over.

"Mr. Rod!"

"The owner knows me?"

Rod wasn't much of a drinker — he only spent a little over half a day each week in town, and he was busy with paperwork and buying all sorts of resources, so the number of times he'd come to Violet Tavern could be counted on one hand.

"Of course! Who in Shi Ying Town doesn't know about the forester Mr. who saved Daphne!"

He waved his hand: "Any Shi Ying Town resident in that situation would have stepped in."

"Well said! The drinks at this table are on the house!"

Valery laughed heartily.

A broad palm clapped Rod on the shoulder, squeezing hard enough to hurt.

He added: "Back when I was working in the royal capital, the Argyle family helped me out a few times. You saved Daphne, so that's the same as helping me!"

Rod's eyes lit up slightly.

He couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation — Valery was clearly no simple man.

Could it be that he'd latched onto another powerful backer?

"From now on, if you want a drink, come to Violet — I'll give you five percent off. No, ten percent off! Hahahaha, generous enough, right!"

Rod: _

The three chatted idly for a while.

They soon parted ways.

Rod bought some spell traps from Pete — he planned to set them up at various spots around the forest's entrance.

He returned to the forest.

Rod left Tally to cook and headed off himself toward the Eucalyptus Grove.

Eucalyptus Grove.

Scorpion Woman Hera took the spell pouch brimming with treasures.

She smiled, her eyes hidden behind black hair — it was impossible to tell whether she was looking at Rod.

Only now did Rod notice that right by her mouth, near her chin, she had a sexy beauty mark.

"For an older woman, such a straightforward gift truly makes one happy."

She sat on the tree trunk.

Snow-white jade feet hung down naturally, one hand holding the spell pouch, the other folded across her chest.

"Speak, young forester — what do you hope to get from me?"

"This official has nothing in mind. It's just that every night, when I think of my lady Hera's troubles, I can't sleep." Rod said with heartfelt anguish. "So, the moment the treasures commissioned from the merchant arrived, I brought them straight to my lady Hera — only to ease this official's pain of sleeplessness."

Scorpion Woman Hera burst into laughter, utterly without decorum.

Rod saw her mouthful of jagged fangs, and for some reason, not only did he not find it frightening, he even thought it quite distinctive.

She jumped down from the tree.

"I'll take you as my junior, then. Keep sending treasures like this in the future — I certainly won't let you suffer for it."

As she spoke.

She fished two small vials from her own deep cleavage and tossed them over.

Rod reached out and caught them — inside the clear glass were dark green and black-purple liquids.

The bottles carried a faint, teasing warmth.

"You humans have terribly weak base resistances. Against powerful spiritual arts, you're easily countered. One bottle here is a venom I've blended myself — once you've fully absorbed it, your resistance to poison and fire will be permanently and greatly raised."

"The other bottle is a poison effective against anything below the eighth tier."

Permanent resistance boost!

Such treasures were already exceedingly rare, and for a human with low resistance across all attributes, they were all the more priceless!

Also, high-tier offensive weapons!

This is a treasure worth far more than 500 Jin Along!

Rod quickly expressed his thanks.

Digesting the all-resistance venom was much harder than expected.

Several days passed, and only his poison resistance rose slightly.

Rod simply stopped bothering with it and returned to his quiet life as a forest ranger.

Ever since the last bloodbath in the cabin.

Vivian had picked up a bad habit — whenever they met, she would always sneak over to kiss Rod, thankfully only on the cheek.

The half-deer Miss Xiao Ke, however, did not accept the explanation about drinking milk, and did her best to lead Vivian away from the ranger's cabin.

During this period, Rod did not use 【Growth Spirituality】 on Little Little Bangde; he was the type to hoard it for one big burst.

Every day he fed Little Bangde, and from time to time told stories beside him to coax him to sleep.

The goal was to max out affection before it transformed.

That day, after finishing the day's patrol.

Rod did not return to the cabin to stay.

He gathered his gear, mounted his horse, and headed toward Two-Finger Mountain.

The previous night, the Wing Crystal Clan's West Tip had sent word that the entrance to the newborn labyrinth was gradually stabilizing and had reached the point where one could enter.

He had come to invite Rod to go.

An hour later.

Rod arrived at Two-Finger Mountain.

After more than half a month, he entered the abandoned labyrinth once again.

By now the corpses inside had all been cleaned away.

A thick layer of dust covered the ground, and the evening's afterglow traced a 'pillar' of drifting dust through the air.

West Tip flew out from within.

"Mr. Rod! Please come this way."

They walked all the way deeper inside.

Before long they arrived at the stone door's location.

By now the stone door no longer had any spiritual glow, standing open like ordinary stone.

And the space inside was smaller than expected.

Roughly twenty square meters or so.

On the book stand at the center was a golden crystal in the shape of a book.

"Mr. Rod, please touch the Holy Book and channel your spirituality, after which you can enter the newborn labyrinth."

Rod pointed at Tally behind him.

"What about her?"

Tally was dressed as a human adventurer, wearing a leather armor over her, her long red hair neatly draped behind her head, with that Bing Mo Fa short sword tucked at her waist.

By her own account, today's character setting was a conservative and arrogant fallen noble young lady adventurer, with a look of disdain.

"Then the two of you channel it together."

Rod and Tally stood together, palms pressed on the Holy Book.

"Don't stand so close to me, small fry." Tally cursed.

"."

As the Holy Book grew ever brighter

A dazzling burst of colored light stole both of their entire field of vision.

A moment later.

Rod opened his eyes again.

The surrounding environment had been turned upside down.

This was a vast forest, except the trees, rocks, and even the distant hills were all made of wondrous crystal.

A pitch-black sky twinkled with stars, and flowing spiritual radiance lit up every corner.

West Tip excitedly fluttered in front of him.

"As the Wing Crystal Clan's best human friend, Mr. Rod! Welcome to the Wing Crystal Clan's Blue Ice Clan's tribal land — the Flawless Crystal Land!"

(End of chapter)