Perceiving that Inanna and Edin's signals had finally moved beyond the range of the Chis Rift, Lin Jun maneuvered the Puki army to quietly return.

This time, they nearly entered the cave battleground, where it was previously impossible to make any progress, without any obstacles.

After all... how could a heap of corpses stop Puki's invasion?

The entire cave was now tinged with purple, and when Puki arrived, the low temperature had already frozen all this purple blood.

Unlike Shi Wu, who fought his way in and out seven times amidst the Puki army, slaughtering them to pieces, all the Chis here were killed with a single sword stroke.

Either losing their heads or being split in two, none of the corpses bore the mark of a second sword stroke, not even the Evil Eye was an exception.

The giant eyeball was split in two vertically and fell from the sky, splattering juices everywhere.

Damn, it's too strong!

Due to the distance caused by the Chis cleaning the fungal mat, Lin Jun couldn't directly obtain the combat pictures, but from afar, it could sense that Inanna and Edin had just paused slightly before passing through the cave.

This meant that all these thousand or so Chis could do was momentarily delay the Sword Saint; what about the Puki army then?

Although very apprehensive about this Sword Saint, Lin Jun still sent a scout Puki to follow them from afar, wanting to see where the core actually was.

As for now?

Considering that the Sword Saint and the others might return the same way, occupying it now provided no meaning, so Lin Jun decisively began transporting the corpses.

And the Chis seemed to be beaten into withdrawal, now huddled behind the rift, refusing to come out.

Maybe they're beaten, who knows!

However, the Puki sent there to test was still immediately eliminated, so they probably still have some resistance capability, right?

After humans repair the core, these rifts will disappear, right?

Thinking about it this way, Lin Jun felt a little reluctant to let go of the Chis.

Unlike those magical creatures with a mishmash of skills, Chis's skills were relatively uniform.

Decomposing the same number of corpses, magical creatures would offer Lin Jun ten different Level 3 skills, whereas Chis would provide two Level 5s.

It's really hard not to love them.

After more than half a month of love-hate relationship, both [Refraction Invisibility] and [Cold Resistance] had reached Level 7, not to mention acquiring the Evil Eye's [Petrification Beam] and [Magic Shield].

Among them, [Magic Shield] wasn't too bad, the Puki had successfully installed it and applied it to actual combat, and the level 2 magic shield allowed the Puki to survive 5 more seconds under the Evil Eye's gaze.

Regarding the level issue, Lin Jun understood, considering the number of Evil Eyes, the Puki could only slowly practice it themselves.

But [Petrification Beam] was a little awkward——Puki... couldn't grow eyes!

During past decomposition of other magical creatures, they'd also obtained skills like [Farsightedness], but unfortunately, after installing it on the Puki, there was no change.

[Petrification Beam] wasn't that bad, there was still a slight effect, but only a little...

Within the fluorescence emitted by Puki, there was a very small, very weak petrification effect.

It couldn't control direction, range, power, just like spraying poison all around, affecting an area.

But unlike spraying Hallucinogenic Spores, other Puki and the fungal mat didn't fear Hallucinogenic Spores, but they feared petrification!

So once the petrification Puki was activated, the first to be petrified was the surrounding fungal mat and other Puki, and the petrification efficiency was surprisingly touching, taking an hour or so to petrify a layer of mycelium on Puki, so subtle...

You couldn't say it was useless either; turning biomass into stone felt like there were some places it could be applied, just using it against enemies was too forced.

Suddenly...

The scout Puki... was taken out.

...

Underfoot, silver flashed lightly, and Sword Saint Elvyn sprinted a few steps, catching up to the group that had halted due to his earlier sudden departure.

"I was wondering what was quietly following us, turns out it's this little thing." He shook the longsword in his hand, with a pair of wings protruding from a skewered Puki, "Look, it's this thing again."

Shi Wu stared at the skewered Puki, suddenly remembering something: "Speaking of which, weren't there also some Puki corpses scattered in the cave where the Chis were entrenched earlier? It seems that not only the first ten levels but even the deeper areas have traces of their activities. It's just unknown...whether they belong to the same tribe as those above."

This was just a small interlude, and the Sword Saint casually tossed the scout Puki aside, as the team continued their journey.

Yet, although the wound was so small, the scout Puki couldn't resurrect...

After traversing for two full days guided by the positioning crystal, the team finally neared the core area of their journey.

Since the second half of the journey began, the number of magical creatures with various menacing forms surged abruptly.

Cunning Burrow Giant Spiders, swarming Shadow Bats, Poisonous Saliva Worms lurking in rock crevices... It seemed that this was the true entry into the deep area, filled with primal, perilous ecology.

They even encountered a super-giant Earth Worm exceeding level sixty!

Its massive body resembled a moving fortress, with a thick rock armor and a plethora of ominous mouths, exuding unprecedented oppression.

Indeed, this gigantic creature became the sole monster of the entire journey that forced Sword Saint Elvyn to wield a second sword stroke.

The group finally arrived at a platform that was distinctively set apart from a natural cave. It was paved with a type of smooth, icy black stone, with orderly edges, as if sculpted by a great artisan.

No magical creature attempted to enter the platform's range, just as they wouldn't approach the stairs of the first ten levels, creating a desolate, safe sanctuary.

Near the entrance of the platform, there sat a lone instrument covered in a thick layer of dust. Its metallic shell had long lost its sheen, covered in dust, with only a few faint magic arrays barely discernible.

A faint trace of magic power rippled out from inside, like a flickering candle in the wind—this was an outdated magic power fluctuation collection device.

And at the far end of the platform, stood a menacingly awe-inspiring, seamless black gate. On either side, two bizarre yet regal statues, over ten meters tall, stood silently.

The group did not attempt to approach the gate and statues.

"Right here." At Guge's direction, attendant mages deftly opened the heavy chests carefully carried along the way.

Within were numerous intricate components gleaming with Mithril luster, crystal prisms engraved with miniature runes, and energy conduits.

They started assembly right beside the dusty, antiquated equipment.

After half a day, a strange, techno-magically infused new apparatus stood beside the old one.

Guge, with the assistance of other mages, personally operated the device, guiding strong probing energy through his gnarled fingers imbued with magical power.

As the hours passed, a look of disbelief slowly spread over Guge's aged face, his previously serious and focused expression gradually gave way to one of growing dismay, his brows furrowing tighter and his expression turning more and more grim.

"What's wrong?" Everyone noticed something was off, but only the Sword Saint bluntly asked.

"I fear... we might lose the Purple Crystal Dungeon..." Guge replied, his voice heavy with a sense of impending disaster.

"Why?"

"Because... it seems," Guge's voice held a helpless tone as he witnessed the calamity unfold before him, "this is no longer a matter of expected magic turbulence disorder. The core... the operation of the core itself is gradually failing. Even if we manage to restore the dungeon, it would all be in vain..."

Guge continued on, rambling about complex terms that left the others puzzled. But the core message was as cold and clear as day: this problem was beyond the capability of their array maintenance expertise and could no longer be fixed.

The Sword Saint clenched his longsword tightly, and glanced at the gate far away, reluctantly saying, "So, is there still hope if we get into the innermost part of the dungeon?"

Guge shook his head: "It's no use, in the end, we might know how to maintain the core, but the very foundation of the dungeon's operation… we've never had it."

Having said as much, Guge left Sword Saint at a loss; he glanced at the distant door and said with resignation, "Then it seems we have no choice..."

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