What is this thing?

An indistinct remnant and a hammerhead slipped out from the opened belly of the Clumsy Beast.

The body had been severely dissolved by digestive juices, and Lin Jun could only make an approximate judgment based on the exposed skeletal framework.

Humanoid, horns grew on the head, the crystal on the chest is... embedded?

Puki took the crystal from the corpse on the ground.

Unlike the crystal clear Demon Crystal, this crystal had complex patterns inside, layered upon layers. Unfortunately, it was already cracked and incomprehensible.

"This... is probably a Demon Core from the Demon Race, very important to them, for others... find a skilled craftsman, and with some luck, you might knock out a piece of Skill Accessories." Louisa, who had been summoned, glanced a few times and concluded.

"What is the Demon Race?"

"A race that engraves power into their flesh," Louisa explained, "They hunt the strong, extract their power, and engrave it in the form of 'Demon Pattern' onto newborns to seize power. Their innate talent is also quite strong. Among the twelve pillars of the Empire, there is a branch of the Demon Race."

She paused, her gaze falling again on the terrible remnants, a faint sneer curling her lips: "However... since they were encountered in this Land of the Far North, they are probably among those failures."

"Failures?"

Louisa let out a light snort: "Unable to inspire absolute power among others, yet unwilling to bow their heads to the strong before them. Eventually, it was only by relying on the benevolent thoughts of His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire that they managed to eke out an existence, exiled to scrape by in the icy wilderness—not failures, then what?"

"Oh! I've heard of a group of the Demon Race being driven north, turns out it's them! It seems their living conditions are quite harsh!"

"Initially, over a dozen races from the Demon Race migrated north, forming dozens of tribes. But after hundreds of years, most vanished in the icy wilderness or gradually returned to the Empire, stubbornly clinging to a bunch of ice couldn't be many," Louisa lightly kicked the remnant with her boot tip, "Anyway, I never heard any news from the North while I was in the Empire."

"So," Lin Jun summarized, "these are humanoid creatures bearing war potential, yet without affiliation, and their numbers are perhaps not impressive..."

Humanoid creatures?

Louisa found the boss's description odd but still nodded her head.

Then, she rigorously added: "Boss, strictly speaking, they still swear allegiance to Lord Demon King."

"Isn't Demon King long dead?"

"There's no conclusive evidence proving Lord Demon King has already..."

Before Louisa could finish her words, Lin Jun nonchalantly replied: "A Demon King with no news for three hundred years, if not dead, what is it? Even if he's not dead, he's probably as good as dead! Ownerless Demon Race... good! Very good!"

Puki was rubbing the broken Demon Core, wiping away the bloodstains and gastric acid bit by bit, as if polishing a treasure.

Meanwhile, Norris and Xiao Hai, surrounded by Pukis, traveled through the Rift and arrived at the yet-to-be-fully-swept No. 3 Mushroom Garden.

Xiao Hai had just landed for less than two minutes before tucking her tail in an attempt to burrow back, only to be reluctantly stopped by the Pukis.

Her [Cold Resistance] was also Level 7, enabling survival here, though it felt somewhat cold.

Unable to do anything else, Lin Jun brought over some Drilling Pukis to revolve around Xiao Hai, generating heat.

Xiao Hai wasn't afraid of burning paws, and happily embraced the scorching Pukis tightly on either side, finally letting out a relieved breath.

As for Norris... A four-meter-tall figure covered with a hard outer shell, stood in the No. 3 Mushroom Garden.

The decision for three rounds of enhancement started before deciding on accommodations, leaving no time to equip Norris with [Cold Resistance], so he simply squatted inside without coming out.

Though the initial version's test didn't perform well, with the combat power of the combined ensemble being inferior to dispersed Elite Puki forces, Norris preferred the feeling of controlling it.

Lin Jun rated it as—good taste!

Having not yet rewarded Norris for training the Cave Dwellers, Lin Jun took some time to craft a full version for Norris, deciding it would surely be more powerful in battle than Norris himself.

Considering the environment of Chis' territory, the newly crafted Pukis naturally came standard with [Cold Resistance Level 7].

Norris, ensconced in the sealed cockpit with a soft warmth ring emitting faint heat, could move freely here.

...

Though Chis no longer faced Lin Jun head-on, there were still plenty of small actions.

Relying on familiarity with the terrain, Chis sneaked to attack the rear Fungal Mat, destroying parts of ground holes and passages, creating some minor troubles for the Pukis.

But with insufficient hard power, more small actions could only slightly slow the spread of the Fungal Mat, and Chis' living space was being steadily devoured by the minute.

What Chis didn't realize was that its direction-focused harassment paradoxically revealed its intentions, prompting Lin Jun to concentrate more power in that direction and eventually discovering an opening leading upward to the ancient fortress...

With a volunteered Norris taking on the scouting task, Xiao Hai expressed her desire to tag along.

Initially, the two, one lacking power, the other lacking brains, made Lin Jun uneasy about sending them out separately. But together in action...

Having taught Norris a Scale Pulling Wishing Technique, Lin Jun let them go.

As for the Yellow-covered Book... it was still beneath the Puki in the Deep Area, remaining unknown to Norris' modifications completed.

-----------------

Dong—Dong—

Kala—Kala—

Odd sounds echoed in the dim corridors of the ancient fortress, heavy like the pounding of heavy objects, mingled with piercing scraping noises.

Soon as the step was made, it stopped.

"Go!" Chis' voice appeared once more in Qiong's mind.

But this time, Qiong keenly felt an almost panicked urgency—what was Chis afraid of?

Seeing Qiong still unmoving, Chis seemingly attempted to repeat the old trick with intimidation, but at the corridor's end, the source of the sound had already emerged.

A towering four-meter-high figure stepped out from the corner! Covered head to toe with a thick shell, a mushroom cap topped its position on the head, looking extremely odd.

Following it closely came a being at half the giant's height, covered with sturdy Black Scales, wings sprouted on its back...

"Dragon Man!?"

Having grown up in the Far North, Qiong barely recognized Xiao Hai's Dragon Man identity through its distinct features.

As for the bizarre armored giant and the two cadent, heat-emitting strange creatures clutched in the Dragon Man's arms, he had never heard of them.

Despite the lack of recognition, without a doubt, these three entities weren't part of the Stone Castle Dungeon!

"Hiss—"

Chis emitted a menacing low growl.

Yet Qiong noticed the stance was starkly different from the cold, silent hunting posture during previous battles.

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