41: Chapter 41: Level up 11 levels in one hour of monster grinding! A 50,000 HP lord is coming to deliver the loot?
The "rustling" sounds coming from deep within the cave entrance became increasingly dense.
Lin Feng gripped the tree demon scepter tightly, staring into the depths of the darkness as an excited curve rose on the corners of his mouth.
It's here!
The first Desert Scorpion poked its head out from the cave entrance.
Its yellowish-brown shell shimmered with a dull light under the sun, its two pincers gripped the cave walls, and its tail was warily cocked upward.
"Light Bullet Technique."
Lin Feng raised his hand and fired immediately.
Poof!
The golden light bullet accurately hit the scorpion's head, exploding into a burst of dark red blood.
[Killed Desert Scorpion, Experience +15]
The corpse tumbled down beside the cave.
But immediately following that, a second, a third, a fourth... they swarmed out like a floodgate being opened!
In just a few short seconds, over a dozen scorpions rushed out of the cave, spreading out in a fan shape to surround Lin Feng.
"Heh, they actually have some tactics."
Lin Feng smiled.
Instead of retreating, he advanced, raising both hands simultaneously.
A green airflow swirled in his left palm—Wind Blade Technique!
A golden light condensed in his right palm—Light Bullet Technique!
"Fusion: Wind Maelstrom!"
He was smarter this time, only injecting 200 mana.
A cyan-gold energy blade whistled out, three meters wide and ten meters long.
Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof!!!
The cutting sounds were like tearing cloth, crisp yet bloody.
Over a dozen scorpions were instantly sliced in half, their severed limbs and internal organs scattered across the ground.
A large patch of the yellow sand was dyed red.
[Killed Desert Scorpion ×12, Experience +180]
The experience notification sounds chimed together in a continuous stream.
"Refreshing!"
Lin Feng felt completely comfortable throughout his body.
This kind of lawn-mowing pleasure was simply addictive.
The scorpions inside the cave seemed to be enraged.
Even denser "rustling" sounds came through; this time, it wasn't a dozen that came out, but dozens!
A dark mass surged out like a tide.
Ordinary scorpions led the charge, with elite scorpions mixed in the middle, their tail stingers already poised and ready.
"So what if you have numbers?"
Lin Feng grinned.
He took a few steps back to create some distance.
And then—
He brought his hands together in front of his chest, this time switching the elemental combination.
Crimson flames flickered in his left hand—Fireball Technique!
Purple lightning flashed in his right hand—Lightning Strike Technique!
"Fusion of Fire and Lightning... let's try it!"
The Talent interface popped up in his mind.
[Fusible skills detected: Fireball Technique (lv1) + Lightning Strike Technique (lv1)]
[Skill Fusion (Release State)]
[Suggested consumption: 150-15,000 mana]
[Fusion Direction: Explosion + Penetration]
"300 mana!"
Lin Feng chose to inject the amount.
The flames and lightning in his palms began to interweave frantically.
Purple lightning snakes appeared inside the crimson fireball, crackling loudly.
The lightning from the Lightning Strike Technique was enveloped by flames, turning a reddish-purple.
The Fusion was completed in two seconds.
A reddish-purple thunder-fire ball, half a meter in diameter, appeared in Lin Feng's palm.
Lightning jumped on the surface of the sphere while flames churned inside, emitting terrifyingly high temperatures and energy fluctuations.
"This thing... looks dangerous."
Even Lin Feng himself was startled.
Not daring to be overconfident, he forcefully smashed the thunder-fire ball toward the densest area of the scorpion swarm.
"Take this—Thunder-Fire Burst Bomb!"
The reddish-purple sphere cut through the air, trailing a brilliant wake.
Then, it crashed into the pile of scorpions.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!
A deafening explosion resounded across the desert!
Blinding reddish-purple light erupted, instantly swallowing a twenty-meter radius.
The heatwave and shockwave spread outward, kicking up yellow sand into the sky.
Lin Feng quickly crouched down, using the holy light wing cloak to protect his body.
Grains of sand hit the cloak like bullets, making "patter-patter" sounds.
A few seconds later, the light faded.
Lin Feng looked up and sucked in a breath of cold air.
A giant crater ten meters in diameter and two meters deep had appeared at the center of the explosion.
The crater was charred black, with wisps of blue smoke rising from it.
As for the scorpions?
Not even a corpse could be found.
They had all been vaporized.
Only some charred shell fragments and severed limbs were scattered along the edges of the crater.
[Killed Desert Scorpion ×47, Experience +750]
[Killed Strengthened Desert Scorpion ×8, Experience +240]
"This power... is too ridiculous, isn't it?"
Lin Feng looked at his hands, somewhat unable to believe it.
A Fusion skill costing 300 mana had a clearing effect even more fierce than the 5,000-mana Wind Maelstrom.
However, the consumption was also high.
"I can't use it constantly; I have to save my mana."
He stood up and brushed the sand off his clothes.
The area by the cave entrance was temporarily quiet.
Clearly, that Thunder-Fire Burst Bomb had intimidated the scorpions inside.
But it was only quiet for a dozen seconds.
Even more frantic "rustling" sounds came through.
This time it wasn't dozens, but hundreds!
Like a bursting dam, they flooded out of the cave entrance continuously.
"Still coming?"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up.
Isn't this just delivering experience?
He stopped using the high-consumption Fusion skills and switched to conventional tactics.
"Light Bullet Technique!"
Poof, poof, poof, poof!
Golden light bullets fired in rapid succession, like a machine gun.
Every shot could accurately one-shot an ordinary scorpion.
"Wind Blade Technique!"
Cyan wind blades spun out, capable of slicing through two or three at once.
"Ice Cone Technique!"
The newly learned ice-element skill came in handy.
Blue ice cones pierced through the scorpion shells, carrying a slowing effect.
Lin Feng was like a tireless turret, standing thirty meters from the cave entrance, killing them as they came—one by one, pair by pair.
The experience notification sounds played on a loop in his mind like background music.
[Experience +15]
[Experience +15]
[Experience +30]
[Experience +15]
Time passed minute by minute.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Half an hour.
Lin Feng was killing with such gusto that he couldn't even remember how many he had killed.
Anyway, as long as they kept emerging from the cave, he kept killing.
Essence blood collection?
He couldn't be bothered.
Corpses piling up like mountains?
It didn't matter.
Right now, he only wanted to grind experience, grinding until the end of time.
Finally—
As the two hundred and thirty-seventh scorpion swarmed out of the cave, a special notification sounded in Lin Feng's mind.
[Rank Up! Rank 11!]
Golden light enveloped his entire body.
The familiar warm current surged through his limbs and bones, sweeping away his fatigue.
[All attributes +3, Free Attribute Points +2]
"I leveled up!"
Lin Feng pumped his fist excitedly.
He glanced at his experience bar: Rank 11 (/300,000).
"It takes 30,000 experience to reach Rank 12..."
But it didn't matter.
There were endless scorpions here to grind.
He conveniently put both free attribute points into spirit.
[spirit: 495]
[Magic Attack: 2475]
[mana: 495 (Base) + 95,050 (tower soul Extra) = 100,000]
"Continue!"
Lin Feng's Battle Intent grew even stronger.
He looked toward the cave entrance.
The scorpions were still flooding out, seemingly endless.
"Just how many scorpions are in this cave?"
Lin Feng wondered while he killed.
An hour passed.
He had killed at least over a thousand scorpions.
His experience bar had risen to Rank 11 (8,500/200,000); he could reach Rank 12 by killing a few hundred more.
But the cave was still yielding scorpions continuously.
Moreover, the scorpions emerging began to change.
The previous ones were the size of a washbasin, but now some as big as a water bucket were appearing!
Their shell color had also changed from yellowish-brown to dark gold, and the stingers on their tails shimmered with a ghostly blue light.
[Mutated Desert Scorpion (Elite)]
[Rank: 15]
[Health: 250]
[attack power: 28-320]
[defense: 15]
[Skills: Poison Stinger Rapid-Fire (Enhanced), Sand Armor Hardening, Summon Kin]
"They evolved?"
Lin Feng frowned.
He tried firing a Light Bullet Technique at one.
-1237!
The damage was quite a bit lower than before.
The mutated scorpions' defense was a notch higher.
Moreover, they didn't charge directly upon emerging; instead, they raised their tails—
Swish, swish, swish!
Over a dozen poison stingers shot toward him simultaneously!
Their speed was thirty percent faster than the ordinary scorpions!
"Earth Wall Technique!"
Lin Feng reacted extremely quickly, and an earth wall rose up.
Poof, poof, poof, poof!
The poison stingers embedded themselves deeply into the earth wall, some even penetrating through the wall to reveal half their tips.
"This fierce?"
Lin Feng quickly pulled back to increase the distance.
He realized he couldn't keep killing them one by one like this.
It was too inefficient.
Furthermore, these mutated scorpions could summon their kin; the longer it dragged on, the more troublesome it would become.
"I have to think of a way..."
Lin Feng stared at that cave entrance from which scorpions were constantly pouring out, and a thought flashed through his mind.
"If I blow up the cave entrance... will it force the big guy inside to come out?"
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
In any case, he had a hundred thousand mana and could afford the consumption.
"Let's do it!"
Lin Feng retreated to fifty meters away.
He brought his hands together again.
This time, he chose a super large-scale Fusion combination.
Left hand—Fireball Technique + Blasting Light Flame Technique!
Right hand—Lightning Strike Technique + Wind Blade Technique!
"Four-skill Fusion... let's see where the limit is!"
The Talent interface in his mind flashed frantically.
[Fusible skills detected: Fireball Technique (lv1) + Blasting Light Flame Technique (lv1) + Lightning Strike Technique (lv1) + Wind Blade Technique (lv1)]
[Skill Fusion (Release State)]
[Warning: Four-skill Fusion risk is extremely high; suggested consumption not less than 2,000 mana]
[Fusion Direction: Super-Range Explosion + Cutting Storm]
"Twenty thousand? Then twenty thousand it is!"
Lin Feng gritted his teeth and injected the mana.
Instantly, he felt like a floodgate had opened inside him, and his mana drained away frantically.
In his palms, four different colors of energy began to collide and interweave wildly.
Crimson fire, golden-red light flames, purple lightning, and cyan wind blades.
The four-colored light merged into a single mass, its volume expanding continuously until it became a chaotic-colored light sphere one meter in diameter.
Energy rioted on the surface of the sphere, emitting a low "humming" sound, and the surrounding air was distorting.
"This thing... won't blow me up too, will it?"
Lin Feng felt a bit apprehensive.
But he still forcefully threw the light sphere toward the cave entrance.
The target wasn't the scorpions, but the cave entrance itself!
"Go—BOOM!!!"
The chaotic light sphere traced a parabola and accurately fell into the cave entrance.
And then—
The world went silent for a second.
Immediately following that.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An indescribable explosion sounded.
Not just one, but a series of them!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!!
The sandy ground at the cave entrance was like it had been hit by a giant hammer; the entire thing collapsed!
The shockwave kicked up a sand wave dozens of meters high, spreading frantically in all directions.
The ground shook violently, as if a magnitude seven earthquake had occurred.
Lin Feng was sent flying by the air blast, flipping several times in the air before barely stabilizing himself.
After landing, he retreated over a dozen steps, only stopping when he plunged the tree demon scepter into the sand.
He looked up, dumbstruck.
The original location of the cave entrance had now turned into a giant pit thirty meters in diameter.
The pit was at least ten meters deep, and sand was still sliding down its edges.
The bottom of the pit was charred black, emitting thick smoke and a pungent burnt smell.
As for the scorpions?
Not even a scrap remained.
"I... I went a bit too far..."
Lin Feng swallowed hard.
This power was even more terrifying than he had anticipated.
A four-skill Fusion with twenty thousand mana was practically like a small nuclear bomb.
But the effect was also excellent.
The cave entrance was completely blasted shut; scorpions could no longer emerge.
"Wait..."
Lin Feng suddenly felt that something was wrong.
The vibrations beneath his feet... hadn't stopped.
On the contrary, they were becoming stronger and stronger.
"No... it's not an earthquake..."
He looked down at the sandy ground.
The sand was churning and bulging like boiling water, and then—
BOOM!!!
The bottom of the deep pit exploded!
A massive dark shadow burst out from the sand!
It was a... giant scorpion!
Its body was over ten meters long and three meters high, like a heavy-duty truck!
Its shell was a deep dark gold, covered in hideous spikes and patterns.
Six pairs of crimson eyes were distributed on both sides of its head, emitting a violent aura.
The most terrifying part was its tail—not one, but three!
Each tail was as thick as an adult's thigh, and at the ends were poison stingers shimmering with a purplish-black ghostly light.
The moment the giant scorpion burst from the sand, it raised its head and let out a piercing screech.
"Screee-gaaa—!!!!!"
The sound waves swept across the desert, making Lin Feng's eardrums ache.
[Desert Scorpion King · golden armor (Lord Class)]
[Rank: 15]
[Health: 50,000]
[attack power: 100-1,200]
[defense: 100]
[Skills: Poison Stinger Rain, Sandstorm Domain, Golden Armor Hardening, Summon Scorpion Swarm, Earth Spike Assault]
[Description: Ruler of the low-lying areas of the Desert Golden Sea, possessing terrifying defense and lethal poison; it has killed multiple Explorer squads.]
"Fifty thousand HP... one hundred defense..."
Lin Feng's mouth twitched.
These attributes were even more perverted than the guardians in the Ancient Trial Tower!
Moreover, after the Scorpion King emerged, the sand behind it was still continuously bulging.
[part:deepseek-chat]
One mutated scorpion after another burrowed out of the sand, their numbers increasing rapidly, densely packed, gathering into hundreds in the blink of an eye!
"Bringing minions too?"
Lin Feng felt his scalp go numb.
A lord rank Scorpion King was troublesome enough on its own, but now with hundreds of mutated minions added to the mix...
This fight was going to be tough!
"Run?"
Lin Feng glanced behind him.
An endless expanse of desert stretched out. Could he even outrun them?
Besides, he didn't want to run.
It wasn't easy to encounter a big boss like this. How would he know if he couldn't defeat it without trying?
"To catch the bandits, first catch the king!"
Lin Feng's eyes hardened with determination.
He decided to take out the Scorpion King first!
Once the Scorpion King was dead, its minions should scatter.
"A four-skill Fusion consumes too much mana... Let's try three skills!"
Lin Feng brought his hands together again.
Left hand — Light Bullet Technique + Light Flame Slash!
Right hand — Lightning Strike Technique!
"three-skill Fusion, ten thousand mana!"
Gold, red, and purple lights intertwined.
This Fusion was faster, completing in just two seconds.
A tri-colored energy spear appeared in Lin Feng's hands.
The spear shaft was primarily gold, entwined with red blazing light and purple lightning, its length exceeding five meters.
"Go!"
Lin Feng hurled the energy spear with all his might.
The tri-colored spear shot through the air, fast as lightning!
The Scorpion King seemed to sense the threat, its six pairs of red eyes locking onto the spear simultaneously.
It raised one of its front pincers, blocking in front of itself.
CLANG!!!!!!!!
A deafening impact sound rang out.
The tri-colored spear struck the Scorpion King's golden armor with tremendous force!
Energy erupted wildly as the gold, red, and purple lights exploded.
[Tri-Colored energy spear damage dealt: 495 × (6+5+5) × Fusion Coefficient 3 = 2376!]
"Twenty-three thousand damage..."
Lin Feng frowned.
For a Scorpion King with five hundred thousand HP, this was merely a scratch.
Moreover, the Scorpion King's golden armor only bore a shallow dent, not even a crack.
"Its defense is too high!"
Lin Feng's heart sank.
At that moment, the Scorpion King was enraged.
It raised all three of its tails simultaneously, aiming at Lin Feng.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!!
poison stingers shot over like a torrential downpour!
Each was as thick as an arm, incredibly fast, covering all of Lin Feng's potential escape routes.
"Holy Healing Ring!"
Lin Feng activated the protective shield immediately.
At the same time, he activated the elemental shield from the wanxiang ring.
Hum—
Two layers of shields unfolded at once.
A pale golden healing halo, plus a multi-colored elemental shield.
Thud thud thud thud thud!!!
The poison stingers struck in rapid succession.
The elemental shield flickered violently as the absorbed damage values jumped frantically.
[elemental shield damage absorbed: 1000/10000]
[Shield shattered!]
[Holy Healing Ring damage absorbed: 495×5=2475]
[Remaining shield value: /2475]
Both shield layers were completely shattered after holding for only three seconds.
More than a dozen poison stingers continued to shoot towards him!
"Void Walk!"
Lin Feng urgently activated the life-saving skill from the wanxiang ring.
Hum—
His body instantly turned ethereal, vanishing from the spot.
The next second, he reappeared on a dune thirty meters away.
The spot where he had been was now riddled with over a dozen stingers, like a pincushion.
"That was close..."
Cold sweat broke out on Lin Feng's forehead.
This Scorpion King's attack was terrifying.
But there was no time to feel relieved.
Seeing its attack miss, the Scorpion King grew even more furious.
It stomped the sand forcefully with its six legs.
Skill: Sandstorm Domain!
Centered on it, a violent sandstorm instantly formed!
Yellow sand blotted out the sky, reducing visibility to less than five meters.
Gale-force winds carrying sand grains cut through everything like knives.
Lin Feng felt a stinging pain on his exposed skin as his HP began to slowly decrease.
[Sandstorm Domain: Suffer 5 points of earth attribute damage per second, movement speed -30%, vision -80%]
"Troublesome..."
Lin Feng squinted, trying hard to lock onto the Scorpion King's position within the sandstorm.
But more trouble was yet to come.
The Scorpion King threw its head back and let out a sharp shriek.
Skill: Summon Scorpion Swarm!
From the sand, even more mutated scorpions emerged, joining the encirclement.
Their numbers had now exceeded five hundred!
A dark, swarming mass, like a moving black tide, surged towards Lin Feng.
"Can't drag this out!"
Lin Feng knew he had to end this quickly.
The longer it dragged on, the more scorpions there would be, and the more passive he would become.
"All or nothing!"
He took a deep breath and pulled three items from the wanxiang ring.
blazing light stone ×2.
fear shriek whistle.
Totem of Nature's Power (previously fused in the Dungeon, never used).
"Clear the minions first!"
Lin Feng threw the two blazing light stones with force towards the densest area of the scorpion swarm.
Boom! Boom!!!
Two explosions, golden light piercing through the sandstorm, blasted dozens of mutated scorpions away.
But the effect was limited.
There were simply too many scorpions.
"fear shriek whistle!"
Lin Feng blew the whistle.
A piercing shriek echoed through the sandstorm.
The nearby scorpion swarm's movements stalled as they fell into a state of fear.
But the Scorpion King remained unaffected.
It charged through the sandstorm straight at Lin Feng!
Its ten-meter-long body moved like a tank, each step shaking the ground.
"Now's the time!"
A fierce glint flashed in Lin Feng's eyes.
He held nothing back, his hands rapidly forming seals in front of his chest.
This time, he was going for something big.
"All-element Fusion... let's see how far I can go!"
Left hand — Light Bullet Technique + Light Flame Slash + Blasting Light Flame Technique!
Right hand — Fireball Technique + Lightning Strike Technique + Wind Blade Technique!
"six-skill Fusion... thirty thousand mana, FUSE!!!"
The Talent interface in his mind flashed frantically, warning red lights forming a continuous streak.
[Warning! six-skill Fusion carries extremely high risk, may trigger energy backlash!]
[Warning! Recommended mana consumption not less than 5000!]
[Warning! Success rate less than 4%!]
"No matter!"
Gritting his teeth, Lin Feng poured in thirty thousand mana.
Instantly, he felt as if his body was about to be torn apart.
Six different elemental energies collided and clashed wildly within his palms.
Gold, red, purple, cyan, blue, yellow...
Six-colored lights intertwined into a chaotic mass, its volume continuously expanding.
Lin Feng's arms began to tremble, fine cracks appearing on the surface of his skin, blood seeping out.
But he clenched his jaw tightly, holding on.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Four seconds.
Just as Lin Feng was about to lose his grip—
The six-colored lights suddenly contracted. Fusion complete!
A fist-sized, Chaos-colored orb of light appeared in his palm.
The orb's surface was calm, but its interior seemed to contain a rotating Universe, holding world-shattering energy.
"This thing... feels like it could flatten a mountain..."
Even Lin Feng himself was scared.
But the arrow was already on the bowstring; he had to release it.
Aiming at the Scorpion King's charging path, he pushed the Chaos Orb forward with force.
"Six-Element·Chaos Annihilation Orb!"
The moment the orb left his hand, Lin Feng activated Void Walk, instantly teleporting fifty meters away.
Then, without looking back, he threw himself to the ground, wrapping himself tightly in the holy light wing cloak like a cocoon.
The next second—
Sound vanished from the world.
Not silence, but genuine deafness.
A blinding, extreme light erupted, turning the entire Sandstorm Domain into daylight.
Then, the shockwave arrived.
Not just one wave, but ring after ring!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
Lin Feng felt as if over a dozen trucks had run over him; his internal organs seemed to shift.
He held firm against the ground, the cloak flapping wildly in the wind, his body slowly sinking into the sand.
He didn't know how long it lasted.
Maybe ten seconds, maybe a minute.
When Lin Feng felt the tremors stop, he struggled to lift his head.
The scene before his eyes made him freeze.
The Sandstorm Domain was gone.
The sky was clear once more.
And ahead of him...
A giant crater, a hundred meters in diameter, had appeared.
The pit was twenty meters deep, its bottom consisting of molten, glass-like sand and soil, emitting scalding hot air.
Around the crater's edge, charred black scorpion corpses were scattered in a radial pattern.
Hundreds of mutated scorpions, completely annihilated.
As for the Scorpion King...
Lin Feng saw a pile of shattered dark golden carapace at the very center of the crater.
Three severed scorpion tails lay scattered not far away.
[Desert Scorpion King · Golden Armor slain, EXP +30000]
[Level Up! Level 12!]
Golden light enveloped him once more.
A warm current surged through his entire body, rapidly healing his injuries.
[All Attributes +3, Free Attribute Points +2]
Without a second thought, Lin Feng allocated them all to spirit.
[spirit: 518]
[Spell Attack: 259]
[mana: 518 (base) + 94820 (tower soul bonus) = 100000]
"Victory..."
Lin Feng collapsed onto the sand, gasping for breath.
That Chaos Annihilation Orb just now had drained over thirty thousand of his mana and nearly killed him from the backlash.
But the effect was astonishing.
One shot annihilated a lord rank monster with five hundred thousand HP!
"This move... I'll have to use it sparingly in the future."
Lin Feng smiled wryly.
He rested for a few minutes, waiting for his stamina to recover somewhat before struggling to his feet.
Walking to the crater's edge, he looked down.
The Scorpion King's corpse had already dissipated into points of light, leaving behind a few shimmering items.
Lin Feng slid down to the crater bottom to pick them up and inspect.
The first item was a dark golden scorpion stinger.
[Golden Armor Poison Stinger (Purple Material)]
[Quality: Purple]
[Use: Weapon Crafting/Enchantment Core]
[Effect: Weapons crafted with this gain the 'Deadly Poison' effect (deals toxin damage equal to 1% of target's max HP per second, lasts 1 second)]
[Description: The essence of the Scorpion King's stinger, containing terrifying deadly poison]
The second item was a palm-sized fragment of dark golden carapace.
[Golden Armor Fragment (Purple Material)]
[Quality: Purple]
[Use: Armor Crafting Core]
[Effect: Armor crafted with this gains defense +3%, and the 'Golden Armor Hardening' skill (temporarily increases defense by 50%, lasts 10 seconds)]
[Description: The hardest fragment of the Scorpion King's carapace]
The third item was a mass of dark golden liquid, contained within a transparent crystal vial.
[Scorpion King Essence Blood (B-grade)]
[Quality: Blue (Essence Blood quality varies with monster level and quality)]
[Use: Physique Tempering, Special Potions]
[Effect: After tempering, permanently increases Earth Attribute Resistance +1%, Physique +5]
[Description: The life essence of the Desert Scorpion King, containing the power of the earth]
"B-grade Essence Blood!"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up.
This was what he truly wanted!
Although its quality was Blue, its effects were a hundred times stronger than the F-grade Scorpion Essence Blood.
"And these Purple Materials... worth a fortune."
Lin Feng happily stored the loot.
Then, he began to clean up the battlefield.
Using the essence blood collector, he harvested all usable scorpion corpses inside and outside the crater.
He obtained over two hundred units of F-grade Scorpion Essence Blood, plus several dozen units of E-grade Mutated Scorpion Essence Blood.
"A huge haul!"
Lin Feng placed all the storage bags into the wanxiang ring.
Finally, he looked towards the very center of the crater.
There, where the Scorpion King's corpse had disappeared, a pitch-black hole was revealed.
Not the small collapsed hole from before.
But a large passageway, three meters in diameter, sloping downward.
The passageway edges were neat stone walls, clearly showing signs of artificial carving.
"Is this... the entrance to an underground cavern?"
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes.
He walked to the hole's edge and peered inside.
Complete darkness.
But he could feel a faint airflow blowing from the depths, carrying a damp, earthy smell.
"It seems the true scorpion nest lies down below."
Lin Feng stroked his chin, pondering.
Should he go in and investigate?
There were surely more scorpions inside, more essence blood, and perhaps even better treasures.
But the risks were also greater.
That single Scorpion King had already given him enough trouble; what if there was something even more powerful down there...
"Fortune favors the bold!"
Gritting his teeth, Lin Feng made his decision.
First, he sat down and drank one advanced mana potion and one advanced health potion.
After his status was fully restored, he stood up, took out wind and sand goggles from the wanxiang ring and put them on.
He checked his equipment and potions once more.
Everything was in order.
Then, gripping the tree demon scepter tightly, he stepped into the dark passageway.
The sound of his footsteps echoed off the stone walls.
Ahead lay an unknown underground world.
And what Lin Feng didn't know was—
Not long after he entered the passageway, several mounds of sand quietly rose above the hole's entrance.
Several pairs of eyes peered out from the sand mounds, staring fixedly at the hole.
Their eyes gleamed with greed and killing intent.