I'm not a goblin Frankenstein's monster.

Chapter 81 Otherworldly Demonic Tide

Similar to before, the text prompts for the upgraded entries did not appear.

"Sure enough, not only is the quantity insufficient, but the quality of the white ones is also far from satisfactory."

Xia Lin was not surprised by this.

The white-label attributes contain too few qualities, and for [Vile Sword Strike], which has already reached its quality limit and is seeking a breakthrough, this "supply" is a drop in the ocean.

Like a shut-in from a past life with an excessively high threshold, whose soul and body have undergone countless trials and tribulations, ordinary learning materials can no longer affect him in the slightest.

The integration of the two is more like a resource recycling, avoiding useless white entries from occupying the "view".

Xia Lin estimated that to quickly upgrade it, it would probably require at least the fusion of affixes of the same quality and with matching attributes, or a higher-level blue affix as a catalyst.

As for the obviously side-effect [putrid aura], Xia Lin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to keep it and not feed it to the plant as nutrients.

While this entry's effect is undeniably awkward, its unique area-of-effect interference might become an unexpected trump card in certain scenarios.

For example, if surrounded by a large number of low-intelligence monsters, you need to create chaos to escape.

Or perhaps they are facing monsters that rely heavily on their keen sense of smell as trackers.

However, the price to pay is the extreme discomfort and the potential social death risk.

"Let's keep it for now, as an unconventional option."

Xia Lin tucked it away in a corner of the dictionary, marking it in his mind as "use with caution".

An adventurer's pack always needs some seemingly strange items that could save their life in dire situations.

After finishing processing the entries, Xia Lin felt slightly tired.

The continuous battles and intense emotional fluctuations drained his mental energy.

Xia Lin leaned against the rough tree trunk behind him and placed the cleaned short spear across his lap.

My gaze fell upon the leaping campfire, its warmth dispelling the night's chill and allowing my jumbled thoughts to slowly settle.

The campfire crackled, and the brief silence was broken by the druid's slightly somber voice.

Thinking of a possibility, he turned to the old priest Far, who was resting with his eyes closed: "Lord Far, the monsters on the outskirts of the forest have been behaving strangely lately, and there's even a demon commanding the ghoul horde..."

Do you think that "that thing" deep in the forest is starting to cause trouble again?

"That thing?"

Xia Lin, who was sheathing his short spear nearby, twitched his ears, caught the keyword, and curiously looked up.

The old pastor, Far, slowly opened his eyes, the dim firelight dancing in his deep pupils.

He pondered for a moment and then explained to Xia Lin and the others: "About ten years ago, a mysterious underground palace did indeed appear out of nowhere deep in this forest."

It wasn't discovered by someone; it was more like it descended from another dimension... bizarrely.

His voice was low as he reminisced about the past.

"When the news spread, countless adventurers, drawn by the treasure and power, flocked in, but the vast majority... never came out again."

Later, it alarmed the bigwigs in the upper city, who dispatched several elite exploration teams composed of high-level professionals to jointly enter the area.

After paying a heavy price, they barely managed to clear the outer layer of the underground palace and stop the disaster from spreading.

The audience listened intently, as the old pastor's words clearly touched upon the little-known, hidden history of this region.

Griffin picked up the conversation, his tone heavy: "I've also heard about this from some older druid adventurers."

It's said that it's not an ordinary underground site. The church should know more about it, right?

Pastor Farr nodded: "I've seen snippets of it in some of the secret files kept by the church."

This underground palace is indeed somewhat unusual.

Normal underground palaces and ruins, no matter how ancient and dangerous, will have an ecological environment and types of monsters within them that are intricately connected to the prime material plane and follow certain patterns.

But this underground palace is different… Based on the extremely limited descriptions given by the survivors and the small amount of loot they brought back, the environment and creatures inside are largely different from what we know in our world.

The two guards standing nearby also tensed up upon hearing this, and Ward couldn't help but ask, "Is it that eerie?"

"The professional expedition team discovered strange mushrooms and fungi that had never been recorded in the world before, with completely unfamiliar growth patterns and characteristics."

Some people even encountered terrifying dragons inside!

Therefore, one theory suggests that what happened back then was not a simple spatial transfer, but rather an unusual magical resonance between multiple dimensions in a certain place in the forest, forming a brief spatial "intersection point".

The unstable spatial rift led to the subsequent leakage of magic.

"Interconnected across multiple dimensions?"

Xia Lin imagined that scene and found it utterly unbelievable.

"So how was it resolved in the end? Were the cracks 'sealed' by stronger professionals?"

"That's one way to understand it," Far explained.

"At that time, the main force of the professionals was to wipe out the most threatening group of otherworldly monsters that emerged from the rift."

Several high-ranking mages and clergy joined forces to set up a powerful sealing barrier at the key point, successfully stabilizing the spatial rift and isolating it from the abnormal magical erosion.

Subsequently, to prevent the barrier from weakening or new cracks from appearing, the major powers in the upper city reached an agreement to organize a joint expedition periodically to assess the condition of the underground palace and reinforce the seal.

Druid Griffin said with concern, "But it seems like a long time has passed since the last large-scale exploration."

Monster activity has been unusual recently, especially with the emergence of many mutated monsters.

Could it be that the barrier malfunctioned prematurely, causing the leakage of otherworldly magic that polluted the local monster ecosystem?

"That possibility cannot be ruled out." The old pastor Far sighed. "Judging by the time, it is indeed close to the next round of investigation."

Perhaps the monster's unusual movements are themselves a warning sign.

In other words, the situation inside the underground palace is currently unclear, and there is a high possibility that another demonic tide will break out.

Xia Lin's heart sank immediately.

Recalling the monsters they had encountered before, all corrupted by "unknown entities," and the current unusual gathering of ghouls and the appearance of demons around the town...

It's highly likely that it's related to that underground palace deep in the forest!

Almost instantly, all sorts of disaster movie plots I'd seen in my past life flooded my mind.

Spatial rifts, interdimensional invasions, monster hordes...

In this kind of scenario, the first to suffer are always the border towns and remote villages!

Run away!

A clear idea popped into my head.

Pack your belongings and set off immediately for the Upper City!

Under normal circumstances, the closer one is to the center of power, the stronger the defenses, and the greater the chance of survival for those seeking refuge.

What are the long-term plans for settling down in town and buying property...?

Faced with the potential dimensional catastrophe that could sweep across the world, it's like a bubble that could burst at the slightest touch.

The old pastor Farr seemed to notice the subtle changes in his facial expression.