Chapter 109

Just breaking their shells took Lin Yifan a great deal of effort!

If it weren't for having the 【Wind‑Chasing Cloud‑Piercing Bow】, a bronze‑rank attack weapon, it would really have been quite a challenge.

"Have we cleared this dungeon already?" said Hong Shaoqiang, catching his breath, with a numb expression.

"We've already subdued all the resentful spirits by force, so why can't we leave the dungeon yet?"

At this point, with nearly two hours left until the dungeon ends, Lin Yifan actually also wants to leave the dungeon as soon as possible.

Because he still wants to take advantage of the current 【Wayfinding Spirit】 buff to search for the location of the 【Pure Spirit Fruit】.

Unfortunately, although the resentful spirit count in the quest progress is already zero, and the dungeon quest tab also shows it as completed.

However, the quest rewards haven't been distributed yet; based on previous quest experience, it's likely that the rewards for this dungeon quest will only be granted after leaving the dungeon.

However, logically, after clearing all monsters the dungeon should automatically close, or at least provide an exit option.

But now, they neither automatically exited the dungeon nor saw an exit option, so there's only one explanation.

Although the dungeon quest is completed, it doesn't mean the dungeon has been fully cleared.

Lin Yifan looked at the final special tip displayed beneath the dungeon quest.

【Special Hint: The flood came without any warning—it could be a natural disaster or man‑made, but one thing is certain: behind this flood lies another secret!】

It seems that to leave the dungeon early, we must uncover the secret behind this flood.

So far, he hasn't found any clues; the only thing possibly related to the secret is the mysterious fragments found inside the treasure chests.

Upon realizing this, Lin Yifan lifted his head and spoke in a low voice:

"Although the dungeon quest is completed, this dungeon isn't cleared yet; only by uncovering the truth of how the town was flooded can we truly clear it. Otherwise we'll just have to wait until the time limit expires to leave."

"What? We still have to find the truth about the town being flooded?" Hong Shaoqiang furrowed his brows, looking troubled, and said:

"Where are we supposed to look? This town has been submerged for who knows how many years—there's nothing left but a few ruins. Even if there were any clues, they couldn't possibly have survived until now!"

Lin Yifan turned his head to look at Ruan Qingtan, who was diligently opening treasure chests, and said:

"There's certainly no clue to be found in these ruins, but since the dungeon setting includes a hidden quest, it wouldn't leave us without any clues."

"Do you remember the mysterious fragments we got from the treasure chests earlier? If I'm not mistaken, those are the clues to uncovering the truth behind the town's flood."

As he spoke, he took out all those fragments and placed them on a flat surface.

Ruan Qingtan has already opened nearly 200 treasure chests, each containing one fragment.

These fragments vary in size and shape, but are made of the same material and have extremely high density—they sink immediately in water.

Lin Yifan even conducted an experiment using fragments of the same weight as an equal weight of 【High‑Grade Pig Iron】; the fragments sank in water more than twice as fast as the pig iron.

This clearly shows that the density of these mysterious fragments is far lower than that of 【High‑Grade Pig Iron】.

Clearly, the material of these mysterious fragments is anything but ordinary.

Lin Yifan lay on the riverbed, carefully piecing the fragments together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Because he discovered that the broken edges of some fragments fit together perfectly when joined.

Previously, Lin Yifan had suspected that these fragments were originally a single intact object, broken apart for some unknown reason.

If we could reassemble all the fragments, perhaps we could pinpoint the key point.

Meanwhile, as Lin Yifan lay on the bottom assembling the fragments, Hong Shaoqiang finally noticed his fatigue, swam over, and helped with the assembly.

As for Ruan Qingtan, she was still diligently going through the chest‑opening routine; however, her experience from repeatedly kowtowing has made her naturally faster.

Originally she could open only a dozen chests per hour, but now she can open three or four per minute—though it consumes far more stamina, the pressing time forces her to push herself.

So, for the remaining eighty‑odd chests, Ruan Qingtan managed to open them all in less than half an hour.

The contents of each chest are fixed: one item is always a mysterious fragment, and the other is either a high‑grade material or some everyday item.

The types of everyday items generally correspond to the identities of the resentful spirits.

For example, the resentful spirits of child‑type demons drop toys or children's items such as clothes and socks.

Coincidentally, these items are all wearable by Xiao Hudie, perfectly supplementing her daily needs.

Aside from child‑type demons, most adult demons drop materials; only a small number of female or elderly demons drop everyday items.

Typically these are items like pots, pans, bowls, combs and mirrors; even one elderly female demon dropped a cow‑bone comb imbued with a property.

Naturally, the property is quite modest—just +1 to intelligence recovery.

It's of little use to Lin Yifan, but quite useful to Ruan Qingtan, so he gave it to her.

The rest are materials—mostly high‑grade, with only a tiny fraction being mid‑grade.

However, a small portion of them are actually the special material 【Mythril】.

The types of everyday items basically correspond to the identities of the resentful spirits.

For example, the resentful spirits of child‑type demons drop toys or children's items such as clothes and socks.

Coincidentally, these items are all wearable by Xiao Hudie, perfectly supplementing her daily needs.

Aside from child‑type demons, most adult demons drop materials; only a small number of female or elderly demons drop everyday items.

Typically these are items like pots, pans, bowls, combs and mirrors; even one elderly female demon dropped a cow‑bone comb imbued with a property.

Naturally, the property is quite modest—just +1 to intelligence recovery.

It's of little use to Lin Yifan, but quite useful to Ruan Qingtan, so he gave it to her.

The remainder are materials—mostly high‑grade, with only a tiny fraction being mid‑grade.

However, a small portion of them are actually the special material 【Mythril】.