117: Chapter 117 The Underground Plant Kingdom! This isn't a dungeon, it's a buffet!

"A maze? A plant maze?"

Lei Zhan heard Su Yang's words, and his brows furrowed deeply.

"Consultant Su, do you mean that the entire area beneath this valley has been hollowed out?"

"More than just hollowed out."

Su Yang stood up, brushed the dirt off his hands, and pointed at the ground beneath his feet.

"This area for dozens of miles around is actually the body of that Ancient Earth Core Tree."

"We are standing on its belly right now."

As soon as he said this, the surrounding soldiers felt a chill run up the soles of their feet, as if the ground might split open at any moment to swallow them whole with a giant mouth.

"Then... what should we do? Should we use earth-penetrating bombs to blast it open?" Lei Zhan asked, grinding his teeth.

"Blast it?"

Su Yang looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"This is an Advanced S+ level mutant plant; its vitality is even more resilient than a cockroach. If you blow it to pieces, it will just split and regenerate. When the whole mountain is covered in these blood-sucking vines, are you going to take responsibility for that?"

"Then..."

"Alright, enough with the 'thens'."

Su Yang waved his hand, turned around, and beckoned to the three beauties behind him.

"Ladies, are you done touching up your makeup?"

"It's time for us to get to work underground."

"Go underground?" Mary put away her dinner knife and looked at the muddy ground with an expression of disgust. "Master, it must be filthy down there. Will it ruin my dress?"

"Don't worry. If it gets dirty, I'll have Yuqing buy you new ones when we get back—ten of them."

"Yay!"

After soothing the germaphobic Vampire, Su Yang walked over to the purple main vine that Chu Ling was stepping on.

"Lead the way, little loach."

He tapped his toe, and a golden light sank into the vine.

"Squeak!"

The vine let out a fearful shriek, then, like an obedient guide dog, quickly burrowed into the ground, arching out a passage in front of them.

"Captain Lei, you all stay up here and keep watch. Don't let anyone come in and throw their lives away."

"If I haven't come out by dawn... it just means the food here is too good, and I'm too full to move. Don't worry about it."

After saying that, Su Yang took the three ladies and leaped into the bottomless cave.

...

The sensation of falling lasted for a full ten seconds or more.

"Thump!"

The four of them landed steadily.

"Whoa..."

As soon as she stood steady, Chu Ling let out an exclamation of wonder.

She had originally expected the underground to be a pitch-black, damp, and gloomy cave, but the scene before them completely overturned their imagination.

This was a massive underground cavern space.

However, there were no stalactites here; instead, countless massive, glowing mosses emitting a faint blue fluorescent light lit up the entire space, making it look like a dreamlike world from "Avatar."

The air was no longer filled with the smell of rot, but with a rich, intoxicating scent of grass and trees.

The ground was covered in a thick carpet of fungal mats; stepping on it felt soft and squishy, like the highest-grade wool carpet.

On the surrounding walls grew various strange-looking plants. Some looked like giant lanterns, some like dancing tentacles, and others had flower disks resembling human faces, which were currently resting with their eyes closed.

"It's so beautiful!"

Su Qingcheng floated in mid-air, her red dress appearing exceptionally enchanting against the blue light.

"The concentration of Spiritual Qi here is actually slightly higher than at our home."

"Of course."

Su Yang took a deep breath, and the Golden Core inside him leaped happily.

"This is the lair of that Ancient Earth Core Tree. It absorbed the Spiritual Qi of the Qinling Dragon vein for thousands of years to create this paradise."

"This isn't a dungeon; it's clearly a buffet restaurant waiting for us to harvest!"

Su Yang walked to the wall and casually plucked a fruit emitting a red light.

"Ding! Discovered [Blood Bodhi (Mutant)]!"

"Effect: Enhances Qi and blood, neutralizes all poisons, and can be used to refine 'Rejuvenation Pills'."

"Good stuff!"

Su Yang's eyes lit up, and he tossed it straight into his mouth and chewed.

It was sweet and sour, tasting like a cherry, but the power of Qi and blood contained within was even stronger than ginseng.

"Mary, don't worry about it being dirty; look over there."

Su Yang pointed to a cluster of red mushrooms in the corner that were still beating like hearts.

"That's called a Blood Lingzhi. The juice inside is even purer than Type A blood; it's your favorite."

"Really?!"

Mary instantly stopped being disgusted, teleported over, plucked one, and carefully took a bite.

"Mmm! Delicious! And it's still warm!"

The Vampire Prince instantly transformed into a little girl picking mushrooms, starting to hoard supplies frantically.

"Chu Ling, don't just stand around either."

Su Yang pointed to the black fruits hanging upside down overhead, which looked like bats.

"Those are Yin Sha Fruits. Eating them helps grind your teeth and increases corpse Qi."

"Got it!"

Chu Ling jumped three zhang high, weaving through the vines like a monkey, picking fruits faster than anyone else.

Watching this group of robbers act like a swarm of locusts, Su Yang nodded in satisfaction.

This is the correct way to go on an adventure.

Stock up! Must stock up!

"Hum—"

Just then, a low vibration suddenly came from the darkness ahead.

Those human-faced flowers that had originally been resting suddenly opened their eyes in unison!

There were no pupils in those eyes, only a pale white expanse.

"Hee hee hee..."

"We have guests..."

"Such fragrant meat..."

Bursts of chilling giggles echoed through the empty cavern.

Immediately after.

"Whoosh—!"

Countless pink pollen spewed out from those flower disks, instantly forming a pink poisonous miasma that enveloped Su Yang and the others.

"Hallucinogenic poisonous gas?"

Su Qingcheng covered her mouth and chuckled, her eyes full of disdain.

"Playing with illusions in front of me, the ancestor of ghost traps?"

"Ghost Domain, open!"

She waved her red sleeve.

A red ghost mist, even colder than the poisonous miasma, erupted instantly and wrapped around it in return.

The human-faced flowers, which had still been giggling, stopped laughing abruptly the moment they touched the red mist, as if they had been strangled. They then withered and died rapidly, turning into shriveled ghost faces.

"Too weak."

Su Qingcheng shook her head.

"Looks like they were just cannon fodder guarding the door."

"Even cannon fodder has its uses."

Su Yang walked over and collected those withered flower disks.

"The powder from these ghost-face flowers is the main ingredient for making 'hypnotic incense'. I'll take it back to Wan'er and have her sprinkle it outside the courtyard wall; it's top-tier for keeping thieves out."

"..."

The three ladies looked at Su Yang, who wouldn't even let withered grass go, and only two words came to mind:

"Respect!"

This is what it truly means to be a good housekeeper!

After clearing the first wave of the welcoming party, the four of them continued deeper.

The further they went in, the taller and more hideous the surrounding plants became.

Some tree trunks were covered in scales, some vines crawled on the ground like snakes, and there was even a giant man-eating flower that opened its mouth full of fangs, attempting to ambush Mary, who was walking at the back.

The result, of course, was that she sliced it into four pieces with a "Blood-Colored Cross Slash," and even the nectar was packed up and taken away.

"This place is simply a natural treasure trove."

Su Yang walked along, stuffing various Spiritual Plants—some he could name, some he couldn't—into his System storage.

[Ironwood Vine], [Fluorescent Grass], [Explosive Fruit] (plant-based grenade)...

In just one kilometer, he felt like his System storage was almost full.

"Wait."

Suddenly, Su Yang, who was walking in the lead, stopped.

He raised his head and looked ahead.

At the end of the cavern, a huge "door" woven from countless white roots appeared.

The door was a full ten meters high, emitting an extremely powerful wood-type Spiritual Qi fluctuation, even forming a visible green barrier.

And on both sides of the door, there were no guards.

Only two...

Large, lifelike statues that looked like they were carved from wood.

They were two warriors wearing ancient armor, holding long halberds, with their eyes wide open in fury.

"Wooden people?" Chu Ling curiously leaned in, reaching out to poke one.

"Don't move!"

Su Yang suddenly shouted.

But it was already too late.

Just as Chu Ling's finger was about to touch the statue.

Click, click, click—

The eyeballs of those two wooden statues suddenly turned.

Immediately after, the originally stiff wooden bodies began to move, emitting a teeth-grinding friction sound.

"Those who trespass into the Forbidden Ground..."

"Shall be executed!"

"Boom!"

Two massive wooden halberds, accompanied by whistling wind, slashed down fiercely toward Chu Ling!

This power was not the least bit inferior to that mechanical giant "Zero" from before!

"This is... Wood Armor Technique?!"

A sharp light flashed in Su Yang's eyes.

"This is a product of combining the Mohist mechanism arts with the Daoist Puppet technique!"

"It seems this Ancient Earth Core Tree gained sentience even earlier than I imagined!"

"Chu Ling! Get back!"

"I'll play with these two pieces of rotten wood!"

"Clang—!"

The seven star dragon abyss sword was unsheathed.

Su Yang didn't retreat but Advanced, rushing toward the two giant halberds.

"Perfect, I'll use you to test my new sword technique!"

"Sword Control Technique: Dragon Slaying!"