Chapter 110: Rune Storage Room, Song of the Luminous Moss

The intent of the elven runes, like a cold stream, ceaselessly scoured Copperbeard's consciousness. The information about the key items needed to repair the Thorned Path gradually became clear.

The 【Rune Engraving Knife】 was not a metal blade, but a special energy guide, crafted from pure crystal and the heartwood of an ancient life-tree, used to inscribe, activate, and repair elven rune arrays. It was usually stored in the sanctuary's 【Rune Storage Room】.

The 【Pure Crystal Dust】, on the other hand, was the "adhesive" and "catalyst" used to fill rune fractures or damaged energy nodes, ground from specific energy crystals, and likewise stored in the storage room.

And the 【Resonator's Resonance】 pointed to Xiang Lingna—her pure natural affinity was the best medium to channel and activate elven rune energy.

Storage room… where is the storage room?

Copperbeard's consciousness searched through the vast structural map of the sanctuary. Soon, a relatively short secondary root-vein extending from the Core Sanctuary was lit up, its end connected to a space labeled 【Secondary Node - Rune Storage】. It wasn't far, just diagonally below the stone chamber they were in!

He suddenly opened his single eye and looked at Xiang Lingna and Wrench.

"Lingna… how do you feel?" Copperbeard's voice was still hoarse, but carried a hint of urgency.

Under the nourishment of the altar's radiance and her own resonance with the luminous moss, Xiang Lingna recovered quickly. Her little face had color again, though still a bit weak, she could already sit up on her own. "Much better, Uncle Copperbeard. Just… a little hungry." She rubbed her growling little belly and said sheepishly.

"Luminous moss… can eat." Copperbeard pointed at the lush luminous moss on the ground. Xiang Lingna's eyes lit up; she immediately plucked off a few of the thickest leaves, stuffed them into her mouth, and chewed contentedly, the sweet taste making her squint her eyes.

"Wrench… can you move?" Copperbeard looked at the goblin again.

Wrench was using the metal wrench portion of his "survival arm" to tap-tap-tap against the stone wall, seemingly testing its hardness. Hearing this, he immediately jumped up (pulling on his injured arm and wincing again): "I can move! Boss! This 'Wrench Number One' of mine works great! It's just… just a bit heavy." He shook his left arm, wrapped tightly in alloy plates and conduits.

"Follow me… there's work." Copperbeard was concise. He needed Wrench's "multi-function survival arm" as a tool, and even more so Xiang Lingna's resonance ability.

Guided by the elven intent, Copperbeard found a spot on the stone chamber wall that looked flat but actually hid an energy node. He pressed his palm against the node, attempting to channel the altar's energy into it.

Hum…

The wall slid inward silently, revealing a narrow passage sloping downward, barely wide enough for one person! The passage walls were made of the same milky-white stone, inlaid with sparse glowing crystals, the light dim. A richer smell, mixed with ancient dust and an exotic crystal scent, rushed at them.

The three carefully entered the passage. Xiang Lingna, a little scared, grabbed the hem of Copperbeard's clothes. Wrench, excited, poked around with his pointed conduit, muttering words no one understood like "defensive runes" and "energy inert layer."

The passage wasn't long; soon a tightly shut stone door appeared at the end. The stone door had no handle, only a recessed palm-print area, surrounded by complex thorn patterns.

"Need… life energy…" Copperbeard felt the intent prompt.

At Copperbeard's signal, Xiang Lingna nervously pressed her small hand onto the recessed palm-print. She closed her eyes, striving to focus, mobilizing the natural affinity she had just recovered.

Hum…

The palm-print area lit up with a soft emerald glow; the thorn patterns on the stone door seemed to come alive, flowing slowly. Accompanied by a heavy grinding sound, the stone door slid open to one side.

A long-sealed breath rushed out. Behind the door was a small stone chamber—the 【Rune Storage Room】. Inside were no gold or silver treasures, only rows of honeycomb-like stone niches embedded in the walls. Most of the niches were empty; only in a few of them lay some items quietly.

The most eye-catching was a "knife," about a foot long, with a simple and elegant shape, lying horizontally on a crystal pedestal in the center of the stone chamber. The blade was not metal, but some sort of translucent crystal with an emerald halo flowing within; the handle was a section of deep-brown branch, warm as jade, with natural wood grain. This was the 【Rune Engraving Knife】!

In a few niches beside it sat several small crystal jars, containing 【Pure Crystal Dust】 that shimmered like stardust. In a few other niches were stored some scroll-like pieces of bark and several jade-white boards inscribed with complex patterns—clearly elven knowledge inheritance.

"Found it!" Copperbeard's heart rejoiced.

Wrench could no longer contain himself; he carefully cradled the rune engraving knife with his "survival arm," his bean-sized eyes full of rapture: "Beautiful! Too beautiful! This energy conductivity! This structure! By my Wrench God, this is art!"

Xiang Lingna, meanwhile, was drawn by the faint glow from the crystal dust, and curiously dipped a finger in it. The moment the dust touched her fingertip, it actually lit up slightly, bringing a gentle sense of resonance.

Just as the three were delighted at finding the key items, a nondescript corner niche deep in the storage room suddenly slid open on its own!

The niche held no item, only a palm-sized, cicada-wing-thin, nearly transparent deep-green crystal wafer. The instant the niche slid open, this crystal violently erupted with a piercing, warning deep-green radiance! At the same time, a powerful psychic shockwave, thick with despair and the aura of withering, struck the three like an invisible giant wave!

"Careful!" Copperbeard only had time to shield Xiang Lingna behind him!

Hum!

The piercing deep-green light and terrifying psychic shock instantly swept the entire storage room! Within the light, a hellish scene faintly emerged: a land shrouded in eerie purple-black withering mist, giant trees fallen, elven corpses strewn everywhere! At the same time, an elven intent, filled with agony and hatred, like a final wail, was directly branded into the three minds:

【…Wang Ting has fallen…Rotclaw invasion…origin stolen…】

【…Guardian…stop them…cannot…let the key…fall into…Hands of Annihilation…】

【…coordinates…Withered Wang Ting…core…】

The vision and intent came quickly and left quickly. The deep-green light rapidly dimmed; the crystal wafer shattered into powder with a "snap," scattering into the air.

The storage room was deathly silent.

Copperbeard, Xiang Lingna, and Wrench all stood frozen, faces ashen, cold sweat beading on their foreheads. The momentary psychic shock and hellish vision had brought them tremendous shock and fear.

"Wi-Withered Wang Ting…Rotclaw invasion…" Xiang Lingna's voice was on the verge of tears, her little face pale, clearly terrified by the vision.

"Key? Hands of Annihilation?" Wrench's bean-sized eyes were wide as saucers, still shaken. "What was that crystal? An alarm? A message board?"

Copperbeard's single eye stared fixedly at where the crystal wafer had shattered, his heart churning with monstrous waves. This accidental discovery revealed the tip of the iceberg of the elven civilization's decline! The source of the Rotclaws had actually conquered the elven Wang Ting? They had stolen the origin? And that "key"… could it be the completely withered twig in Xiang Lingna's arms? The "Hands of Annihilation" represented by the Doctor were also seeking it?

And that last clear coordinate intent—【Withered Wang Ting - Core】! Could this be the Doctor's true objective? And also the source of the Rotclaws' power?

Unknowingly, they had touched a secret vortex far vaster and more terrifying than the immediate survival crisis!