Chapter 252 - 172: You’re Not Qualified
With that, he put away the Illusion-Dispelling Needle and continued forward.
The explorer’s story had drawn to a close.
But his own story had only reached a comma...
...
’I have no idea where that old woman NPC ran off to... Oh well. I’ll figure out what’s going on here first.’
’Nothing to the left, a prison to the right...’
’Downstairs is the main hall, which must be the main entrance to the Divine Hall Ruins that Brother Mangzi mentioned. It’s full of those fleshy pythons... a real pain to kill...’
’The path behind me leads up to the balcony, which is the outer area of the Divine Hall...’
’And there are even javelin-throwing snake people. I didn’t think there’d be such classic-looking snakemen...’
Forgotten Dao, who had gone back to turn in a quest, had come up empty-handed and could only return to continue his exploration. Now, he was summarizing the situations of the various branching paths.
Compared to the treacherous exterior of the Divine Hall Ruins, the interior had far fewer traps. There were almost no sinister designs or mechanisms to speak of.
It made sense, though. The Lion Serpent’s snake swarm had clearly possessed Wisdom before the catastrophe. Who in their right mind installs traps in their own home?
However, Forgotten Dao felt this was probably a compromise on the part of the Spirit Candle game and its developers.
Anyway, on the other branching paths, Forgotten Dao had also found some good-Quality Weapons and equipment. That snakeman javelin-thrower on the balcony even had Warfire.
Overall, however, they weren’t very useful to him and were only good for trading for Wax Oil.
’Then there’s only one path left.’
With that, Forgotten Dao cleared out the snake swarm blocking his path once more and arrived before the final door, the one that required the [Commander Juya] to open.
Without any unexpected trouble, Forgotten Dao opened the door smoothly.
As Forgotten Dao ascended the steps, a question arose in his mind.
’Do snakes climb stairs?’ he couldn’t help but wonder. ’That doesn’t seem right. Wouldn’t a ramp made of tree bark or something be better?’
It was indeed a strange detail.
Looking at the internal structure of the Divine Hall Ruins, there were certainly many traces of the snake swarm’s living habits.
But looking at the overall structure of the Divine Hall Ruins, it was clearly almost identical to a human building, yet its inhabitants were snakes.
Therefore, the place gave Forgotten Dao the feeling that it had been... modified by the snake swarm.
Yes, that was it. Modified by the snake swarm.
Although the overall structure remained unchanged, the interior had been transformed into something suitable for a snake swarm to inhabit.
Thinking of this, and connecting it to what the Soul of the Treasure Chest’s owner had said about the "traces of a god," the conclusion was obvious.
This place was originally a Divine Hall, but it had been converted by the snake swarm into a place suitable for them to live.
Realizing this, everything clicked into place for Forgotten Dao.
Of course, he wasn’t arrogant enough to assume this was the absolute truth; it was just one possibility.
"Whoa, shit!"
"Phew..."
"Why did these stairs suddenly start going down?"
Lost in thought, Forgotten Dao missed a step and was startled. Fortunately, his character’s physical condition was good enough for him to steady himself.
Looking at the suddenly descending staircase, Forgotten Dao was a bit puzzled, but he didn’t dwell on it. He just shrugged and kept walking.
This time, he didn’t let his mind wander, simply following the path in silence.
It wasn’t until he saw a faint light ahead that he quickened his pace.
But just as he eagerly took in his surroundings, he froze in astonishment.
"Isn’t this where I started?"
Forgotten Dao was utterly confused.
Had he taken a wrong turn, or had he accidentally turned back while his mind was wandering?
With this in mind, he frowned and walked the path again.
After some time, he reappeared, even running back to check the nearby Milestone Spirit Candle. Only then did he suddenly realize something was wrong.
’Am I walking in circles?’
’No, maybe "Illusion Technique" would be more accurate.’
Frowning in thought for a moment, he recalled the quest item he had just obtained.
’So, you have to do this dungeon’s side quest to find the real path here...?’
He took out the Illusion-Dispelling Needle from his inventory and ignited his Warfire to begin charging it.
While it charged, he didn’t stay idle, but started moving forward again.
After consuming two Wax Blocks, the Illusion-Dispelling Needle finally gained a "(Usable)" suffix.
Coincidentally, he had also reached the descending section of the stairs.
Forgotten Dao looked back and forth, seeing that both sides were identical. He felt the surroundings, and the walls were solid.
’What kind of Illusion Technique is this powerful? Even the sense of touch is perfectly replicated.’
After his initial surprise, Forgotten Dao took out the Illusion-Dispelling Needle and ignited his Warfire to activate it.
PING...
Following the soft sound,
the surrounding environment began to distort like ripples in water. The effect grew stronger, and Forgotten Dao felt a bit dizzy, nearly losing his footing.
But thankfully, the process didn’t last long, and his surroundings soon returned to normal.
And at that moment, Forgotten Dao discovered there weren’t two downward paths at all—there was only one set of stairs leading up and one leading down.
The Illusion Technique from before must have just been tricking his vision and senses.
He was lucky he remembered the side quest. Otherwise, he probably would have had to teleport back and ask someone else.
Forgotten Dao felt a bit fortunate.
Continuing up the stairs, Forgotten Dao once again reached a level with multiple branching paths.
This made him both happy and annoyed.
After a sigh, Forgotten Dao began a cursory exploration.
As expected, he found more Snake Nests and some patrolling Snake Soldier Leaders. On average, they were much stronger than the ones below.
Beyond that, Forgotten Dao also discovered something important: the traces of the original architecture.
Although much of it had been modified by the snake swarm, Forgotten Dao could still see traces of what looked like a library, showrooms, collection rooms, and rather luxurious chambers.
This all but confirmed his earlier speculation was correct. The Divine Hall Ruins had indeed been taken over and modified by the snake swarm.
After a quick look around, Forgotten Dao continued up the stairs.
The stairs ahead began to spiral upward, and railings appeared alongside them.
Furthermore, some scale-like objects began to appear on the steps.
Forgotten Dao picked one up to examine it, his eyes narrowing.
[Ashen Scale]
[Type: Miscellaneous]
[Explanation: A scale shed from the body of a powerful creature. Without the sustenance of Spiritual Material, it can only slowly turn to Ashes.]
The scale was huge. It was clearly a Snake Scale, and most likely from a Lion Serpent.
’Why would it shed its scales on the stairs?’
Forgotten Dao mused on this but came to no conclusion.
At the same time, he also noticed the view of the area outside the Divine Hall.
Swamps, withered trees, a gloomy sky, the Dark Boundary—it was certainly no beautiful landscape.
However, Forgotten Dao squinted and spotted a point of interest.
In the distance, there seemed to be a towering, withered tree. What set it apart from the others was its enormous size and the various shapes of small earthen lumps on it...
It looked like another race, similar to the snake swarm.
’Looks like this Gael’s Depression dungeon probably has hidden locations and bosses, too...’
Forgotten Dao mentally noted this and continued onward.
Finally, he saw the end of the stairs.
This was also the very top of the Divine Hall Ruins.
The room before Forgotten Dao... looked like a serving platter covered by a lid, with a faint layer of Power flowing over it.
’This has to be the boss room, right?’
Just as Forgotten Dao was about to step forward to investigate, he noticed a wax mark on the ground at his feet.
’Oh? Someone got here before me?’
He curiously clicked on it.
[Turn back. You are not worthy.]
’What’s that supposed to mean?’
Forgotten Dao was puzzled.
But he soon found out what it meant.
[The power of the Raging Fire protects this place. You cannot enter.]
Forget opening the room with the Commander Juya; Forgotten Dao couldn’t even get close to it.
His Attacks could indeed weaken the barrier of unknown Power, but absurdly, it would self-repair just like the surrounding environment and structures.
And Forgotten Dao’s damage output clearly couldn’t overcome its rate of repair.
’I can’t get in!’
Forgotten Dao’s lip twitched.
’I already went through the trouble of using the Illusion-Dispelling Needle to break the Illusion Technique, and now there’s another requirement to get in? Isn’t that just moronic?’
’These developers are idiots!’
Just as Forgotten Dao was cursing the developers in his head, a soft voice suddenly drifted up from behind him.
"Ohoho... Brave Candle Spirit, you seem to have run into a bit of trouble."
"Perhaps the wise Le Ti would be interested in offering you a little help..."
Down the stairs, Le Ti was leaning against the railing, a relaxed look on his face.