Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

Intuition told everyone that if they didn’t want to face awkwardness while working together in the future,

it might be best not to mention having joined Gapar’s side for now, and wait until the exploration ends to reveal it.

In the end, everyone just laughed it off and casually brushed Uffie off.

The events of the following days were quite apparent. They simultaneously gathered the latest intelligence about Galide from Lanle and prepared the supplies needed for exploration, getting ready for the official departure soon.

During these days, aside from preparing supplies, they sought Gapar for guidance. The progress they made in such a short span of time was indeed commendable.

In addition to official preparations, the Skyrim Strategy Group also met with Uffie and others to see the composition of their team.

Apart from the familiar Fanen siblings, there were two new young faces whose physical prowess was visibly formidable, though their eyes bore dragon-like vertical pupils... Were they Dragon Blood Warriors? But the aura seemed even stronger.

Regardless, seeing the partners’ impressive strength put Luluwo at ease.

Time quickly flew by to the day of official departure.

"Uffie and the others left first and are waiting for us near the Teleportation Gate. We should hurry over there as well."

Watching the gradually brightening sun in the sky, the Skyrim Strategy Group, fully rested and spirited after many days of rest, walked out of the house they had stayed in for so long and set out for the long-missed Sain Dungeon.

The main goal for today was to thoroughly explore Celia in Magic Town, and if time allowed, they would search for the legendary city that might belong to the Red Lion Legion—the Red Lion City, according to the information from adventurers.

The introduction to that city currently exists only in snippets found during people’s map explorations, and as for the rumored location of Red Lion City mentioned in the intel, it was deduced by adventurers based on the direction from which Galide meets Red Lion soldiers, as careful observation reveals that some soldiers approach adventurers from the same direction.

It’s said that there were adventurers who spent an entire day tracking Red Lion soldiers just to find the location of Red Lion City, only to be booted out by the Dungeon before they found it.

This indirectly reflects the extent to which adventurers can endure boredom to achieve their goals.

"The city seems to have changed quite a bit since we first arrived." After entering the street, Tami observed her surroundings as she spoke.

Berto looked at the street and then nodded in agreement.

Although there were already many, now there were even more people dressed like adventurers on the street, and for a moment he felt as if he was back in Bed City due to the proportion of adventurers among the pedestrians.

During these few days, a lot happened outside.

Firstly, the impact of the Mad Fire broadcast had completely vanished.

The cause was a team of adventurers who "accidentally" discovered in the exploration of Sick Village that Mad Fire Patients carried with them [Madness Moss Medicine], which can counteract the frenzy effects of Mad Fire.

[Madness Moss Medicine] 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[A yellow pill made from cavern moss that can reduce the accumulation and impact of Mad Fire]

[Mad Fire damages a person’s spirit, and intense exposure can lead to madness, with a loss of life force coinciding with mental chaos; it’s best to take the pill before falling into such a plight]

[However, those exposed to Mad Fire often have no time to take the medicine]

This item was enough to treat those outside who had merely watched the broadcast, and so far the entire city had recovered to health. Some even reported that their spirit seemed strengthened, as if watching Mad Fire made them stronger!

Yet more people remained sensible and refrained from watching Mad Fire, bringing suffering upon themselves for the uncertain possibility of growing stronger.

With the Mad Fire incident coming to a close, adventurers learned of the Sick Village’s location and the existence of the Crying Peninsula, expanding the territory they could explore. Now, when finding Sick Village during explorations, people either run around it or cautiously explore it, and nobody underestimates such things anymore nor seeks them out.

Wait, are there really individuals who wouldn’t seek them out in the first place, like some non-human entity?

At least on the surface, the world appeared to have returned to peace.

Next, the status of Black Stone City changed.

It transformed into a place akin to a checkpoint.

The Warrior Country and the Yanor Kingdom quickly reached a consensus in these few days—to strictly verify the identities of adventurers entering and exiting Sain Dungeon, and set the city near the Teleportation Gate in Sain Dungeon as a checkpoint city, focusing the attention of both nations on that area.

The locations opened by the Teleportation Gate in Sain Dungeon were quite subtle, apart from remote areas like Bed City, one was the former Light Eagle Group station located closer to Yanor Kingdom’s Royal City, and the other was Black Stone City near the Imperial Capital of the Warrior Country.

No matter which Teleportation Gate it was, the distance to the center of either nation seemed quite comparable.

In such circumstances, if the two nations did go to war, deploying soldiers from these locations to launch surprise attacks on each other’s capitals was the most convenient option. Yet because both sides had equivalent strength and were unwilling to abandon the treasures within Sain Dungeon, a tacit balance was formed.

For the time being, it seems apart from adventurers not being able to set foot on foreign territory at will, and when getting temporary passes, they can only operate in checkpoint cities, nothing else posed much of a problem.

The third noteworthy development is that the Sain Dungeon area in the Warrior Country finally became open around the clock, no longer closing. For those who enjoy staying up late and grinding, this was undoubtedly a huge perk.

Though each country’s adventurers have their differences, they all share the same understanding of competing fiercely.

They must grind, grind intensely, and get everything valuable out of the dungeon!

The last piece of news is...

"Teacher, teacher, look, I finally learned how to convert Fighting Qi into Magic Power. Your new teaching method is truly impressive!"

"Hehe, do not be complacent. You must continue to learn."

As Luluwo and others passed a certain street, they heard a child excitedly speaking to a man dressed as a magician.

"That’s a Magic Transmission Tutor, right? A unique profession in the Warrior Country," Ais looked over there, "But transforming Fighting Qi into Magic Power? Although it only works mostly on people in this country, it is quite an impressive achievement."

"I’m quite traditional, mixing Fighting Qi and Magic Power challenges my worldview slightly," Mila said disinterestedly.

This technique was something the Skyrim Strategy Group only heard about after arriving here, and they found it quite fascinating then. Unfortunately, this technique is likely effective only on residents of the Warrior Country and carries substantial risks and chances of failure. Even with a device assisting in lowering the failure rate, no expert would willingly use it in real combat.

Thus, it was typically the novices or less strong individuals who opted for this technique, having not been very exposed to magic otherwise.

Yet this situation reversed within those past few days.

After taking the Madness Moss Medicine and recovering from the impact of Mad Fire, Edgar, a disciple of Younka, the inventor of the Fighting Qi transformation technique, suddenly seemed to have an epiphany, proposing several magic improvement plans, each proven of practical value and praised by Younka.

Edgar then took a stunning step forward by submitting an improvement proposal for the Fighting Qi transformation technique.

After extensive emergency experiments, this improvement was verified.

It was indeed effective!

It could lower the failure rate of the Fighting Qi transformation technique without using the Reform Ring to match the rate seen when the old technique was used with the Reform Ring.

When you add the Reform Ring to the improved technique... the failure rate was reduced as much as possible, turning it into a technique with true combat value.

As this technique was applied, Edgar’s status among disciples experienced a substantial rise, showered with endless accolades and applause, further advancing the success plans of the Reform Faction!

"If I could, I’d love to learn it and give it a try," Tami pondered and then said, "but only as a convenient tool for magic."

"Now that you mention it, it does seem like the people here have an inexplicable confidence in magic... Speaking of which, isn’t this the Warrior Country? How come I haven’t seen any Combat Skill Transmission Tutors?" Luluwo quipped.

However, their banter over the Warrior Country soon ended because they saw Uffie and others waiting near the Teleportation Gate.

It would likely leave a bad impression to mock the Warrior Country in front of them, so everyone promptly held their tongues.

"Have you been waiting long?" Luluwo went ahead and greeted them, "Are we leaving now?"

Uffie and her companions all looked over: Fanen, Isha, and the two purported Dragon Blood Warriors who are her apprentices, reportedly having just returned to the Warrior Country through Sain Dungeon.

For some reason, Luluwo always had a feeling that these individuals all seemed to have a non-human aura.

Almost like they were monsters wearing human skins.

Never mind, as long as they were partners. She shook her head and said:

"Then let’s depart, to Galide!"