Chapter 706: Mosuobulai City

The cave's rock walls have no exit and no light source; apart from a teleportation array etched on the floor, the roughly ten‑meter‑wide cavern contains nothing else, appearing completely sealed.

The teammates deduced from the faint airflow that there must be a hidden exit.

Before they could search, Reslin's Mirror Image pointed at the wall ahead. Upon close inspection, they saw a half‑meter crack in the darkness, so narrow that a finger could not fit, with air blowing out of it, evidently leading outside.

"Is the exit behind the wall?" Belak asked.

"There is no exit," Reslin replied. "This cavern was carved by Kwevisan; you can only pass through the over‑five‑meter‑thick stone wall with magic."

While speaking, he opened a portal.

The group stepped through and found themselves in an ordinary limestone cave, with a stone wall behind them and the teleportation array set within that wall.

Such a concealed location could not be found even by the most perceptive.

This made the teammates once again marvel at the caster's superb skill.

Yizite forged ahead, and after many winding detours found the cave's exit, entering a larger cavern. Seeing the vast underground forest before him, the dark elf's face lit with joy, "I have been here before, just east of Mosuobulai City, not far."

The teammates felt their spirits lift.

Mosuobulai may be the most dangerous place in the Dark Realm and cannot be taken lightly.

"Follow me."

Yizite continued leading toward the forest, whispering, "This road is one of Mosuobulai's eastern trade routes; we may encounter underground caravans and Zhuoer cavalry patrolling out of the city. They are hostile to surface outsiders and will capture and enslave them on sight. To avoid unnecessary trouble, we should steer clear in advance."

The group nodded in understanding.

With their strength they would not fear fighting Zhuoer, but they did not wish to alarm Mosuobulai's rulers, which would make later actions easier.

The party soon entered the forest, where a cleared road about a dozen meters wide stretched through; the ground was even and luminous moss grew along the sides, clearly maintained regularly.

"This is the Dark Marsh Forest, belonging to Mosuobulai City's territory."

Yizite spoke while orienting himself, then headed west.

After passing through the Dark Marsh Forest, they entered other caverns via a spaciously carved tunnel.

The successive caverns were all vast, with environments and resources far superior to the upper Dark Realm—some covered by forest, others with abundant streams, extensive fertile plains suitable for mushrooms and other crops; the dangerous underground beasts had been cleared, leaving almost no peril.

If not for the dim surrounding light and the oppressive "sky" overhead, the area would seem indistinguishable from the surface.

Reslin and the others felt a sudden clarity.

It is precisely this region's abundance that led the dark elves to claim it as territory and build the largest city in the Dark Realm, bar none.

Yizite had said that he had roamed the Dark Realm for centuries and had never seen a place better than the surroundings of Mosuobulai City. Across the Dark Realm there are a dozen dark‑elf cities, about ten gray dwarf cities, and hidden settlements of Spirit‑absorbing Monsters, bottom‑dwelling demon fish, or other races; in population, resources, and geography, none compare to Mosuobulai.

The dark‑elf cities each govern themselves in a classic city‑state system; should they ever form a massive Zhuoer kingdom, Mosuobulai would undoubtedly become its capital!

But that is almost impossible.

The various Zhuoer cities frequently wage wars over resources, wealth, and slaves, their mutual hatred surpassing that toward outsiders, like mortal enemies.

After traversing multiple caverns, the party gradually saw human silhouettes.

Reslin promptly expanded the Invisibility Field, drawing the teammates closer.

Upon approaching, they saw many slaves laboring on the roadside soil—planting mushrooms, weeding, irrigating—and others digging mines or carving caves. The slaves were of varied races: night elf, gray dwarf, stone‑blind tribe, cavern folk, Koutao fish‑people, and gray dwarf.

Reslin also saw humans, orcs, and Netifu Demons, and even traces of surface elves.

Each group of slaves was overseen by dark‑elf supervisors, mostly Zhuoer warriors, who shouted commands, wielded black Snake‑Head Whips to strike brutally, leaving blood‑splattered lash marks on the slaves. The slaves' screams made the overseers laugh heartily, seeming to relish the painful wails.

But to Reslin and his four companions, the sounds were far from pleasant.

Dao En Suosi's expression hardened as he lifted his hammer.

"Don't interfere with them."

Yizite curbed the barbarian priest's urge to act, whispering, "Most Zhuoer are followers of the Spider Queen; they please the spider goddess this way but do not kill slaves. In Mosuobulai, slaves are the most valuable wealth, and killing one by mistake incurs severe punishment."

A Xi Na averted her gaze, "No wonder you left Mosuobulai."

"It wasn't leaving; I escaped," Yizite said gloomily. "Dark‑elf society is rigidly hierarchical, and the Spider Queen's faith is like an invisible net that binds every Zhuoer, pulling us gradually into darkness. Only a handful of lucky ones can slip out of its grasp."

Belak sighed, quickened his pace, and patted his shoulder to comfort his friend.

The dark elf returned a grateful look.

Suddenly, Reslin looked toward the road ahead, and Yizite, half a second later, gazed in the direction of Mosuobulai City.

"Cavalry is approaching," Reslin said.

"They are gray lizard cavalry," Yizite listened carefully for a few seconds, then confirmed, "About twenty of them, they're Mosuobulai's patrol unit."

Reslin retreated to the roadside, focusing on maintaining the Invisibility Field to envelop his teammates.

Soon, the ground trembled slightly as a group of cavalry rushed along the road—twenty massive lizards about five meters long, their skin and scales resembling gray stone, limbs agile, dragging thick tails, skimming the ground at great speed.

These gray lizards are unique to the Dark Realm; earlier in the upper layers, Reslin and his group had encountered a few nests and easily dispatched them.

The Soul Eye saw that all the gray lizards were Mid-stage demon beasts, fully tamed.

Each gray lizard bore a dark elf clad in tight leather armor, a long sword or curved blade at the waist, and a bow on the back—the most common attire of Zhuoer warriors.

Over half of the twenty gray lizard riders were female, a rarity on the surface.

Dark elves are a matriarchal society; female Zhuoer hold absolute authority, occupying roles such as mages, priests, and clan heads, with higher ranks increasingly female‑dominated. Male Zhuoer are merely servants or playthings; unless exceptionally gifted, they are barred from studying magic, and even if they attain great power, they can only serve women, ranking just above lowly slaves.

Half a minute later, the gray lizard cavalry arrived before them.

At the head was a high‑rank female Zhuoer warrior, dark‑skinned with a curvaceous figure, yet unable to conceal the cruel aura radiating from her; her eyes were like venomous snakes, causing nearby male Zhuoer to instinctively keep their distance, unwilling to meet her gaze.

The slaves laboring in the distance dared not even glance at her, and the overseers restrained their own aura.

Reslin saw in her soul a flame of faith blazing like a torch, suffused with blood, darkness, and evil, its negative aura comparable to an Abyss Demon.

She is a priestess of Spider Queen Ros.

In Ai Lun E Si's history, over ten thousand years ago, she was once among the elven deities and even the wife of the elven sovereign Asurilon; after her betrayal of Asurilon's plot was exposed, the Spider Queen Ros was expelled from Aoroan. From then on she became cruel and evil, capricious in temperament, and even at the end of the Third Epoch she directly pledged to the Abyssal evil god, helping to destroy the elven kingdoms on the New Continent as revenge against the elven gods, becoming one of the world's most notorious evil deities.

The dark elves are thus despised by surface races, largely because of the Spider Queen Ros's infamous reputation.

In many eyes, dark elves are almost the same as demons.

To have risen to a high‑rank priestess within Ros's church, this female Zhuoer would naturally not be benevolent, yet she is not legendary and could not have noticed enemies hidden by the roadside.

Even a Legend finds it hard to detect Reslin's Invisibility Field.

The gray lizard cavalry vanished without a trace.

The group returned to the road and kept moving, drawing nearer to Mosuobulai, encountering dark elves more frequently, and even spotting two underground caravans.

Through the Voice of All Things, Reslin sensed them from a great distance and easily avoided them.

After half a day, they finally emerged from a tunnel dozens of meters wide, stepped out of the opening, and the view cleared, revealing a massive cavern never seen before. Reslin and his companions stood at the cavern's edge; even with his eyesight he had to strain to see through the dim light to the opposite side, at least five kilometers away, with the highest point nearly a kilometer above the ground.

Within this huge cavern a bustling underground city had been built.

Mosuobulai City has arrived!

The city is supported by numerous rock pillars that hold up the dome, linking the ground to the sky; the most striking is the central stone pillar, etched with countless runes forming a formation that emits red flame light outward, illuminating the whole city.

Yizite had previously explained that this is the Nabangdel Time Pillar.

The underground world is perpetually dim, without seasons or day‑night cycles, so Mosuobulai's Grand Mage placed a rune formation on the central pillar, both for illumination and to indicate the passage of time through the flame's temperature changes.

When the flame is completely extinguished, it signifies nightfall.

When it reignites, it means daybreak; when the flame's temperature and brightness peak, it is noon.

At this moment, the Time Pillar's flame is slowly waning and dimming, indicating that Mosuobulai City is in the afternoon.

Under the red light of the Time Pillar, the entire city is visible.

Most of the cavern's area is flat; the majority of structures are rock‑built with a black palette, giving an overall dark, cold aesthetic, and most of the statues scattered throughout the city are spider‑shaped, their surfaces stained crimson by the Time Pillar's flame.

The city's highest point lies to the north, where a hundred‑meter‑tall monolith resembling a hill rises, with stone steps hewn from its base leading step by step to the broad summit.

Atop the summit stands a spider‑shaped temple.

Reslin did not linger; this temple is Spider Queen Ros's most important site in the mortal realm and the core sanctuary of the Ros Church—keep away, even a second glance is forbidden.

To the left of the Spider Temple is the Mage Academy; to the right stands a black stone tower under a hundred meters tall.

That is the Combat Tower, where Zhuoer males train in combat techniques.

Yizite once said his childhood was spent in the Combat Tower, where he endured painful memories that would never fade.

Mosuobulai's outer perimeter is fortified with towering walls, separated from the cavern walls by a spacious plain hundreds of meters wide; hundreds of tunnels encircle it, leading to various regions. Patrols or caravans constantly move through the tunnels, circling beneath the walls to the city gates and entering the city.

Reslin and his party are on the east side, with a great lake not far inside the city.

"I'll go in first."

According to the prior plan, Yizite entered the city alone to find a suitable foothold, then Reslin opened a teleport gate via coordinates, arriving directly inside.

Otherwise, if they—these few outsiders—entered Mosuobulai, they would inevitably attract attention.

Mosuobulai differs from the weak Koutao fish‑people; according to Yizite, the city houses at least four Saint Rank strongmen, including two Grand Mages. Moreover, the Spider Temple is unfathomable, with Spider Queen Ros often answering priests' summons by descending in avatar form.

Although the whole squad is Legendary High‑rank, with a Saint Rank Demonic Hunter among them, revealing their identity would draw Saint Rank pursuers from Mosuobulai City; even the undead would have to shed a layer of skin.

Reslin also does not wish to take risks.

If Yizite were not entering the city to contact his kin, they could simply bypass beneath the walls without ever startling the dark elves inside.

Yizite sheathed his green warblade, suppressed his evil energy, donned a full set of Zhuoer warrior gear, hung two curved swords at his waist, and altered his facial features, disguising himself as a high‑rank Zhuoer warrior.

Prepared, he disengaged from the Invisibility Field, slipped into the shadows, and materialized in a nearby tunnel.

Then he walked toward Mosuobulai's city gate.

The teammates watched Yizite swagger up to the Zhuoer guards, his face haughty, mirroring those arrogant, scornful Zhuoer warriors—a noble bearing. The gate guards dared not block him and let him pass.

The detection formation set within the wall's doorway showed no anomalies.

The teammates all breathed a sigh of relief.

If Yizite showed his hand, everyone could only rush away while Mosuobulai's Saint Rank strongmen had not yet arrived.

After waiting outside for over two hours, Reslin received a message from Yizite, and under magical concealment opened a teleport gate, allowing the whole party to go inside.

(End of Chapter)