Chapter 203: Chapter 141: Professional Walkthrough, Part 2

’If I could choose my enemies in future battles.’

’As long as I pick this type of enemy, I’m guaranteed to win.’

’Even against a Tier Nine Demon, I should be able to directly extract and control its soul.’

And...

Lu Cang looked at the spider behind him.

’From now on, I won’t have to worry if an enemy is truly dead. After killing one, I can just directly rip out its soul.’

’Something with its soul ripped out can’t possibly revive, right?’

’It’s even a safeguard against any revival tricks.’

For Lu Cang, who always worried that the enemies he killed might be playing dead, this was a great reassurance.

Lu Luwei, however, poked Lu Cang.

"Hey..."

"Weren’t you supposed to be honing your Extreme Battle Intent?"

"Have you honed your Extreme Battle Intent at all, just ripping out souls like this?"

Lu Cang blinked.

"Er..."

"I think I forgot."

It wasn’t that he had truly forgotten. It was just that every time he encountered a new enemy, he wanted to test if he could extract its soul.

If he couldn’t extract its soul, then he would have an intense battle with it.

But as it turned out, he could extract the soul of every single one he met.

And as luck would have it, nearly every monster in this cave was susceptible.

He kept extracting and extracting... He’d had his fill of ripping out souls, but he hadn’t trained his Battle Intent at all.

However, familiarizing himself with his Talent’s abilities was just as important.

"Haha, Lu Cang, how difficult do you find this Dungeon?"

Lu Cang: "Maybe it’s because my abilities are a good counter to them, but it feels pretty simple."

Chi Cheng raised an eyebrow, his expression high-spirited. "So, what do you say? Should we do it?"

Lu Cang: "Haha..."

Of course, Lu Cang knew what Chi Cheng meant.

"Brother Chi Cheng, this Dungeon still has so many branching paths, and there’s a space hidden by a puzzle just ahead."

"Why don’t we solve the puzzle and get the hidden treasure before we talk about that?"

Chi Cheng: "Mm, good point."

Ahead of them was a giant stone gate. The gate contained a complex puzzle that had to be solved before it could be opened.

In the past, Izparut was the one in charge of solving puzzles in Dungeons.

But Izparut wasn’t an expert at every type of puzzle.

Some things were hidden so deeply that even Iz couldn’t see them.

In this world, everyone truly has their own specialization.

It was very difficult for someone without the corresponding Profession to do that Profession’s job.

Lu Cang dropped down from the cliff, passing through clusters of puppet corpses.

A fierce wind exploded outward!

It blew the group of puppets in the center of the area to one side, revealing a solid, circular symbol on the ground.

Lu Cang looked up at the cave ceiling, which was covered in stalactite-like rocks.

"How complex..."

Lu Cang pointed a single hand toward the ceiling.

「Flash of Light」

CRACK—

A beam of light burst forth!

Following a specific sequence, Lu Cang shattered the hanging rock formations one by one.

As the rocks were destroyed, the missing sections revealed hollow openings, and an eerie green light shone down from within.

Before long, eerie green souls began to flow out from them.

Lu Cang guided these souls toward him.

Following the same order in which he had destroyed the rocks, he drove the souls, one by one, into the solid symbol in the center.

Chi Cheng folded his arms across his chest and nodded slightly.

’Hmm...’

’I don’t get it.’

"Iz, what do you think... what is he doing?"

Iz replied, "He’s solving the puzzle."

"The solid symbol in the center is the core of a Soul Infusion Ritual’s Array. This means this entire vast area is actually inside the Ritual."

"And to activate this Soul Infusion Ritual, you need to pour special, pre-made souls into it in a specific order."

Lu Luwei: "Pre-made souls? That sounds so evil."

Iz smiled. "Why else do you think it’s called the Cave of Desperate Wails?"

RUMBLE—

As Lu Cang completed the puzzle, the solid symbol in the center lit up.

The ground began to shake.

The giant gate before them started to rise with a low hum.

’It’s open. Having a Decryption Scholar around is really convenient.’

Lu Luwei’s Perception swept inside. "There are a lot of traps inside, but as long as you follow my instructions, you won’t trigger any."

"The traps would have a hard time hurting us, but triggering them might destroy the treasure inside, so be careful."

’So professional.’

Lu Cang couldn’t help but marvel.

’Working with a professional team is a great experience.’

The large group walked through the gateway, following Lu Luwei’s detailed guidance.

They stepped on the correct floor tiles, crossing over squares with matching patterns.

They passed through a grand, spacious corridor.

On both sides were giant statues holding different weapons. At this point, they couldn’t meet their gazes.

They had to look straight ahead, watching the path, and not look at their eyes.

Lu Cang could feel that there were souls within these statues.

At the end of the path, there was a small room to the left. Inside the room was an ornately decorated treasure chest.

"When you see an ornate chest like that, don’t get trigger-happy and touch it."

Lu Cang looked at the chest.

’I can see a soul in the chest. It must be a living creature, too.’

They came to a wall that was clearly a dead end, but they walked right up to it and passed through it...

Lu Cang had also perceived what was on the other side of the wall.

After passing through the wall, they saw many more statues on either side.

This time, however, they had to stare into the statues’ eyes as they passed.

Only after they were past them could they look away.

The journey was uneventful.

With an Observer present, the dangers within the Dungeon were all easily neutralized.

"The treasure room is just ahead."

"From here on, there are no more Restrictions," Lu Luwei said, then looked at Lu Cang.

Lu Cang scanned the area as well, then placed his hand on the wall to feel the structure within.

He nodded slightly and said, "Sister Lu Luwei is right. I don’t see any extra Restrictions either."

"However, these three doors each have their own puzzle."

SLAP—

A crisp sound rang out.

Kumironi had a smile on her face. "Chi Cheng, don’t touch things randomly, okay? The puzzles haven’t been solved yet."

Chi Cheng rubbed his hand.

’But I only touched the door.’

’Lu Cang is over there with his whole hand pressed against the door, and you didn’t say anything to him...’

"Didn’t she just say there were no traps?"

Kumironi smiled. "No, I’m just worried you’ll break the door."

’Oh, so you’re not worried about me.’

’You’re worried about the door.’

"Sister Lu Luwei, can you see what’s behind the doors?"

Lu Luwei stood before the gateways and shook her head. "No, this Restriction is stronger than the ones outside. It completely blocks all Perception from entering or leaving."

’Oh, so Lu Luwei can’t see.’

’But I can.’

「Final Sense」 allowed Lu Cang to see what was inside.

Lu Cang traced the patterns on the door.

These patterns could be translated into the 「Ancient An Su Secret Language」.

The meaning inscribed on it was: Gate of the Living Soul.

As for how to open it, his Peeping into Secrets Talent had already given him a hint.

However, the hidden object inside...

...made Lu Cang hesitate to open it.

"Master Iz, Brother Chi Cheng, are you confident you can deal with a Tier Six Submerged Land Level Demon?"

"This is a Demon I might not be able to counter."

Sealed inside was yet another Submerged Land Level Demon.

However, this was something he knew thanks to Peeping into Secrets.

Lu Cang couldn’t actually perceive the specific location of the Submerged Land Level Demon inside.

For a Tier Six Cave of Desperate Wails to have so many high-quality Demons was truly incredible.

Following the theory that the Dungeon was part of a Nest...

...this Dungeon was likely a very deep part of a Tier Six Nest.

However, all these Submerged Land Level Demons did have one thing in common.

They were all Sealed.

They couldn’t move freely.

"Another Tier Six Submerged Land Level?" Chi Cheng’s tone held a hint of surprise.

It seemed this sort of thing was rare even for them.

"Excellent!"

Chi Cheng slammed his fists together.

"Iz, it’s finally our turn!"

Kumironi, however, touched her forehead and sighed. "Try to show some restraint, okay?"

Chi Cheng: "It’s a Submerged Land Level, and you want me to show restraint? Kumironi, you’re asking too much."

"No... I just think your destruction is unnecessary most of the time."

"Kumironi, you’re not a Warrior. You don’t get it."

"The destruction caused during a fight is part of the romance of battle."

Kumironi: "Sigh—I don’t want to get it."

"Don’t be in such a rush. Wait for Little Lu Cang to figure out the other two doors first."

Lu Cang nodded as well.

And to be honest, he wouldn’t have agreed to them opening the door to fight the monster before he had deciphered the other two doors anyway.

Behind the second door, his Perception could see something inside, but he didn’t understand what it was.

By deciphering the riddle on the door, Lu Cang read its name.

This was the Gate of Inheritance.

The inheritance of the Source of evil, the master of resentment, the twister and stitcher of souls, the Master of the Evil’s Nest.

’The inheritance of a Master of the Nest?’

’This thing has an inheritance?’

The hidden object inside also included a Ritual Array Map.

And the last door, the third one.

Inside were Magic spells targeting souls, recipes for Soul Refining Potions, formulas for Soul-Forged Equipment, and methods for Enchantment using souls...

It was basically all methods for manipulating souls, along with some finished Potions and equipment.