217 Void Python (1/2)

'The battle was quite fierce,' Lin Yun thought as he looked over. There were at least three hundred corpses of magic beasts, and they were all level 10 or higher. The strongest ones were as high as level 27 or 28. Just based on the levels, they weren't any worse than the joint exploration team.

Fortunately, Suyass was with them. The crushing power of a newly advanced Archmage thoroughly changed the course of the fight. Hundreds of magic beasts were turned into corpses, yet the joint exploration team loss less than twenty people.

The battlefield had already been cleared, and a large number of magic beast corpses were carted back to the camp after some simple treatment. The excavation was carried out with great energy, and through the cooperation of hundreds of people, a tunnel leading underground had already been opened. Suyass, Lys, and the others were waiting at the entrance, discussing something nervously.

”Merlin, Solomon, you two came right on time…” Lys hurriedly welcomed them when he saw them. After a few polite words, he led the two of them to the entrance while explaining the current situation. ”We already sent scouts to investigate, and from the style of the building, it should be some ruins of the 3rd Dynasty. But the tunnel is too long, almost two kilometers, and if we keep expanding it, it might collapse. So we are discussing whether we should give up on the previous plan and change it to sending a small squad made up of a one or two people from each force...”

”Well, that works for me.” Lin Yun nodded in approval. A tunnel over two kilometers long was very dangerous. If they kept widening it too much, one small vibration could lead to a cave-in. At that time, the forces of Thousand Sails City and the two from the Mercury Tower might end up buried in the Four Seasons Canyon.

Everyone understood that reasoning.

Thus, after Lin Yun and Solomon arrived, they all sat together to talk about it and quickly drew up a new plan. Each of the major forces sent a few of their most powerful members, such as Solomon and Thorpe for the Sage Tower, Lys, Bassoro, and Granger for the Alchemist Guild, Sauss and Bell for the Viper Nest, and Lin Yun, William, and Xiuban for the Gilded Rose.

In contrast, Monchi's power wasn't worth mentioning, and although Ryan had a good future ahead of him, he was only a 2nd Rank Great Mage at the moment. Thus, the Monchi Family only sent a 9th Rank Great Mage Elder.

This was a bit awkward, as it wasn't just a matter of reputation; it meant that the Monchi Family would completely lose the right to speak after departing. In this exploration team made up of High Mages, Expert Swordsmen, and Spirit Archers, a 9th Rank Great Mage wouldn't have the right to speak unless that person was named Mafa Merlin.

When night fell, the twenty-man group entered the tunnel and quickly made their way to the end.

The tunnel opened up to a slightly wider area with a few dozen meters of open space, just enough for the exploration team of about twenty people to make some shelter. Here, they could clearly see the stone walls covered in decorative designs. This was indeed the style of the 3rd Dynasty. Only such an excessive extravagant era would spend so much on just decorating a wall. There had already been a gap created by the excavation team, and two people could enter side by side. The black paint inside had some faint traces of mana fluctuations.

”Let's go.” As an Archmage, Suyass didn't feel any danger from that. Even after learning that this was a ruin from the 3rd Dynasty, he only looked over it composedly before going in.

After going through that decorated stone wall, a long hallway appeared before everyone's eyes. The candles on both sides of the hallways had already burnt down, only leaving two rows of empty candle holders. The floor was paved with moonstone, which emitted a faint glimmer in this darkness. Everything in the surroundings was tinted with a deathly pale color.

”Careful, behind!” Suyass quietly warned with a heavy tone.

”Fuck…” Just as Suyass' voice fell, a rumbling sound could be heard behind them. They all turned and were shocked by a pair of window-sized lights flickering in the darkness. Relying on the deathly pale glow of the moonstone, everyone could clearly see a python with a body that was ten meters thick. Those lights were the eyes of the python. Its head was the size of the hallway, and they couldn't tell how long its body was.

The only saving grace was that the python was still fast asleep.

Otherwise, even if they had Suyass, they would be in for a very difficult battle in this narrow hallway.

”Quick, let's go the other way.” Suyass made a prompt decision and led them in the other direction.

They all agreed to hold their breaths, afraid of waking the sleeping python.

The group of twenty followed the hallway and walked for nearly ten minutes before the lights disappeared. Most of them sighed in relief.

”That thing was at least level 30…”

”Fortunately, it was asleep…”

”Yeah, this place is too narrow, we wouldn't have any room to evade the attacks of such a big monster…”

They were all secretly rejoicing, to the point that no one noticed that Lin Yun was looking closely at the rows of candle holders.

After avoiding the sleeping python, the group pressed onwards. After they had walked for an hour...