Chapter 1091: Chapter 60: Inner World Travels
[Dear, if you unfortunately fail, try asking the Gatekeeper about the advanced trial. If they are willing to tell you, you’ll have an extra chance.]
Recalling Professor Chris’s advice, Lu Li asked the Gatekeeper who had not yet left: "Can I apply for an advanced trial after failing the regular one?"
"Advanced trial, a high-level task difficulty, cannot contact anyone or use any help." The Gatekeeper replied.
Failure has no penalty other than failure itself.
Lu Li chose to accept the advanced trial, staying in the corridor to wait for the Gatekeeper to go to the high-level task hall to receive the task.
It seemed Lu Li wasn’t very lucky—the high-level task randomly selected by the Gatekeeper was: [Obtain a treasure from a dungeon]
[Shadowy Interlayer]
[You needn’t know the reason... must it be explained? Fine, a trial from my family, I’m too lazy to waste time searching for the dungeon. Retrieve it, and you’ll earn my friendship, simple as that.]
[Task: Obtain a treasure from any dungeon]
[Advanced: Not needed]
[Hint: Find the treasure and bring it back to me]
[Basic Reward: 8 credits; 8 team points]
Coincidentally, Lu Li knew of a dungeon.
Because there is no penalty for the advanced trial, failure won’t extend the cooldown period again.
Lu Li checked the Sequence Potions present in his stomach bag.
After the battle with the secret cult, the potions given to Kiluat were returned by her. They include an extra set of Sequence Potions, Number 19, Number 34, Number 39, and those after 50.
Unable to forcibly break into the dungeon, the Number 39 Sequence Potion, in the Silent Forest, had proven a failure. Even if possible, Lu Li needed to consider whether it could hide human presence.
The Number 19 Sequence Potion, Shadow-Hiding Potion, should help in sneaking into the dungeon.
It just lacks verification—if purely discussing value, the dungeon’s treasure is nearly equivalent to Number 19—perhaps even inferior.
Therefore, no one does this, even among Bloodline Family descendants and cult’s chosen ones. Or put simply, if expensive Sequence Potions are needed for a level 6 trial, then the descendants and chosen ones aren’t worth cultivating.
Nevertheless, due to the Number 19 Sequence Potion, and the Gatekeeper’s protection, Lu Li chose the advanced trial.
If he fails, Lu Li can only wait for the cooldown period of two weeks to end.
Through the tree hole elevator, he reached the Shadowy Interlayer, following the route in his memory to find the dungeon entrance. The rock crevices maintained their disguise from when they left, Lu Li moved the stones away and peered inside through the cracks.
Firelight burned dimly in the cavern, reflecting the indistinct silhouettes of buildings and numb figures; this enclosed dungeon still exists.
He continued to move the rocks until he could squeeze through.
As Lu Li was going to sneak into the dungeon, the Gatekeeper stayed at the entrance, which is relatively dangerous.
If Lu Li was discovered by the dungeon’s anomalies, they wouldn’t have time to rush to his protection.
Holding the Number 19 Sequence Potion, he squeezed through the gap and entered the dungeon, consuming the potion.
Like a dreamscape of bizarre and exotic sights, colors faded before his eyes, sounds were blocked outside, the world turned dim, the air ceased to flow, shadows enveloped around—yet faint light emanated.
This is the Inner World Interlayer, more specifically, the first Inner World discovered by humans, the mirror of the real world, belonging to the spectral Inner World Interlayer.
Lu Li observed the faint light emanating from his body, it was being consumed, representing his free activity time.
He released the empty bottle held in his hand; the bottle lost its faint light protection, instantly losing color, blending into the desolate gray world. Or rather, it disconnected from the Inner World, returning to the real world.
Gazing at the distant dungeon, the mottled colors blended together. The shadowy cavern seemed frozen by time.
They did not appear to notice Lu Li.
As Lu Li stepped into the village from the entrance, twisted-moving shadows numbly passed by as usual.
Observing the faint light on his body becoming much shallower, Lu Li hastened his pace towards the dungeon core—
Lu Li walked in the spectral Inner World. The place matched book descriptions and resembled the dead silent world Anna had described to him.
If the real world’s life disappeared in an instant, decades later, the scenery might be identical to the Inner World.
Black, white, and gray were eternal tones, the dim world was silent, making Lu Li’s senses weak. When he realized he was exposed, twisted-moving shadows had gathered behind him, villagers far away were gradually approaching—
This was a dungeon, the locals should have realized that a "ghost" had intruded their territory.
They appeared like nightmares, twisted together to form the most horrifying things. As a projection of the real world, their silhouettes were also reflected into the Inner World Interlayer.
Yet, they merely followed, doing nothing else.
Perhaps due to illusion—
Calculating by human nature, Lu Li shouldn’t be much inferior to evil spirits. The local lord might fear Lu Li, or perhaps wish to contact him. But Lu Li, not truly a ghost, couldn’t sense them.
Ignoring and utilizing the dungeon lord’s "goodwill," Lu Li accelerated towards the dungeon core. Village houses and villagers faded away layer by layer, with the faint light resisting Inner World’s corrosion, leaving very little.
Meanwhile, as the last gray building gave way, revealing a clear mud road ahead, Lu Li saw the dungeon core where the treasure was placed.
There stood a prominent blue stone platform resembling an altar.
And along the edge of the stone platform, a silver-haired girl rested her chin, quietly pondering, alone.
The intrusion of the uninvited guest caused the silver-haired girl to cease her thoughts, her gaze landing on the approaching Lu Li and the wavering faint light around him.
After a brief moment of eye contact, the silver-haired girl grabbed the gray treasure placed beside her and threw it to Lu Li.
Lu Li reached out to seize it, and the instant his finger touched it, the dim light surrounding him vanished completely along with Lu Li from the Inner World—
Colors and sounds returned to the world, footsteps and the crackling of torches echoed in his ears, bizarre and numb villagers surrounded the place.
Lu Li reached into his stomach bag, and two outlines suddenly emerged from the shadows, accompanied by the bizarre incantation-like murmurs.
Villagers wrapped in pitcher plant formations no longer continued to approach.
The Gatekeeper, surrounded by obscure chanting, watched Lu Li: "Lu Li, your advanced task—"
"Succeeded."
Lu Li said calmly, a ceramic pot quietly sat in his palm.
Raising his eyes to gaze at the dungeon’s core, the stone platform was empty.
The confrontation lasted only a moment, the turmoil stirred by the numb villagers gradually subsided, retreating one after another, revealing a path to the outside world. As if an invisible force guided them, allowing Lu Li, who had obtained the treasure, to leave.
Considering the treasure was stored in the dungeon by Giant Tree Academy, could this be the dungeon lord tacitly allowing them to take the treasure for self-preservation?
But until Lu Li left the dungeon through the gap, the imagined lord never communicated with them.
Standing outside the rock layers, Lu Li observed the cavern inside the narrow crevice.
Compared to the dungeon lord who let them go, a larger question emerged in Lu Li’s mind.
Recalling the experience of sneaking into the dungeon. Was what he saw Margaret’s soul or the dungeon lord’s form?
Is Margaret still alive?