Poisonous Holy Grail

Behind the Stone Gate is also Underground Palace built of bricks and stones.

However, the area is vast, unlike the maze above which is full of narrow passages. Here, there are enormous palaces with very high ceilings, at least ten stories high. Everywhere you look, you can see intricately carved massive stone pillars and colossal stone sculptures of various figures and Dog-headed Man.

Visibility inside the Underground Palace remained very low; the magical cold light source illuminated only a corner, with visibility barely exceeding a hundred meters.

Looking up, all I could see was a dark mass overhead; I could vaguely make out the top, but I had no idea what was up there.

Rein dared not be careless and took out all the prepared items, such as the [Divine Wood Carving] and medicinal powders, to ward off curses and insects.

Because in his perception, he heard many subtle noises.

That was the noise made by the movement of a large number of insects.

The rustling sounds, heard in the endless darkness, sent chills down one's spine.

His ears twitched slightly, and he distinguished several types: four-legged, six-legged, eight-legged, sixteen-legged, and countless-legged.

Some are big, some are small.

Rein also realized that in addition to the strange insects that looked like snakes and scorpions that they had encountered outside, there were probably also some small creatures like spiders and centipedes.

Of course, before seeing what they actually look like, Rein could only guess that they must be these kinds of things.

There are still written records in this second Underground Palace, but this time they are much simpler.

On a dark obelisk, he saw directly the layout of this underground Underground Palace.

Rein illuminated the entire stone wall with a cold light source, and the system automatically recorded it.

Without a precise scale, the size of the Underground Palace is unknown, but the approximate locations of several landmark buildings have been drawn.

There's a third floor?

Rein examined the map carefully and was slightly surprised.

He noticed there were two "exit" markers on the map. One was the Stone Gate they had entered through earlier, and the other was diagonally opposite.

It appears that the third level requires traversing the entire Underground Palace and descending through another door.

Without giving it much thought, Rein found the right direction and cautiously entered the dark depths of the Underground Palace.

He walked very slowly, covering only about one or two kilometers in half an hour, passing through several palaces whose purpose he did not know.

Nothing was found, because the insects had all been driven away by the pesticide.

There is only a thick layer of biological excrement, which looks like it has been accumulated for countless years. There are hard "fossils" that you can step on, as well as soft "fresh stuff".

Rein collected some samples and continued onward.

The closer you get to the center of the Underground Palace, the stronger the toxins in the air become.

Gradually, even with Rein's high poison resistance, he began to feel a burning sensation in his breath.

The system also roughly analyzed the composition of the toxins that were leaking into the air, and found that they were not a single toxin, but a mixture of multiple biological toxins.

However, the Voodoo Master's extraordinary ability to adapt to toxins meant that every breath he took was an adaptation to the poisonous gas here.

This hall, which would be a "deadly poisonous fog zone" for ordinary High-tier Extraordinary, was not a big problem for him.

The more this was the case, the more it aroused Rein's curiosity. What secrets might lie hidden in the poisonous fog?

The noise around him grew more intense, and Rein walked into the darkness, finally seeing what these insects hiding there were.

Imyu, the "Insect Master Elder" of the Kolman Tribe, is probably the most knowledgeable about insects among the Transcendent beings of his time.

Among the gifts he prepared for Rein was a powder that could deal with almost any insect.

But Rein stopped using the repellent powder because it had a very strong, pungent smell, and he wasn't sure if there were any special insects in the dark hall that would be attracted to it.

Instead, they plan to apply a scent- Assimilation Ointment that will make the insects feel like they are "one of their own." Although it sounds a bit scary, it is actually safer.

After all, he figured there were plenty of different kinds of insects here, so one more of his kind wouldn't make a difference.

Cleanse the odor, change clothes, and apply ointment.

After everything that happened last night, Rein re-entered the main hall and headed towards the area where the commotion was most intense.

Sure enough, changing the method yielded different results.

He hadn't walked more than a few steps when he encountered a large number of insects.

They were a group of very enthusiastic centipedes.

"Three-tailed centipede?"

As Rein watched the frosty-white nematodes that had transformed into tiny, rapidly moving creatures, he recognized these foot-long worms as the highly venomous Multi-tailed Frost Poison Centipede.

Adults typically have two tails and are entirely white and translucent. A bite can instantly freeze a part of Transcendent person's body into an icicle with their icy toxins.

It poses a significant threat to lower-level Transcendent.

However, the insect's corpse can be used in medicine; it's a fairly valuable ingredient for magic potions.

It's quite rare elsewhere; a nest of thirty to fifty eels can be caught and exchanged for several silver coins.

The Underground Palace before us is a vast expanse of white, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

These insects rolled and crawled like a human pyramid, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

Moreover, it wasn't just two or three tails; Rein also spotted several four-tailed, five-tailed, and even a six-tailed crimson centipede in the swarm. It was a massive insect, over a meter long, its crimson carapace resembling armor, gleaming glistening in the light!

Just a glimpse of the insect swarm from afar made Rein feel a tightness in his anus.

This thing not only bites, but also likes to burrow.

Toxins are secondary; what's truly excruciating is when they penetrate the body.

"Damn, if you were bitten by this thing, even High-tier Extraordinary would probably die on the spot."

The giant red worm vanished in a flash, leaving Rein's eyelids twitching.

This was the first time he had ever seen a live [Multi-tailed Frost Poison Centipede] with more than three tails.

Even according to the "Encyclopedia of Magical Potion Materials", the highest five tails are already "Insect King" level poisonous insects, whose toxins can easily kill Fourth Tier magical beasts, and one might not be found for a hundred years.

But in this pile of insects, after just a cursory glance, I saw at least three of the "Five-Tailed Insect Kings".

Moreover, what on earth is this six-tailed red centipede?

Mutant variety?

Rein frowned, puzzled.

He also discovered that the adult centipedes in this hall had one more tail than was generally recorded in encyclopedias.

Influenced by his teacher Ilubeck, he is now a half-baked biologist.

Seeing the unusual behavior of these multi-tailed centipedes, he immediately deduced that the cause was either the bloodline of the insects in this nest or environmental factors.

However, thanks to the Assimilation Ointment, the insects didn't notice Rein's unusual behavior. They crawled away along his legs, and occasionally a few that got lost would climb onto his trousers, but he would shake them off cleanly.

When Rein saw this, his trypophobia made him very uncomfortable.

He had originally planned to turn around and leave, but he kept feeling that there were faint lights flickering in the darkness.

At first I thought I was seeing things, but upon closer inspection, there was indeed light.

Seven-colored light.

The area where these insects were most concentrated was in the direction of the flashing light.

After thinking it over, Rein decided to bite the bullet and go in to take a look.

He felt that environmental factors must have played a significant role in the fact that so many poisonous insects gathered in this hall, and that the Multi-tailed Frost Poison Centipede could evolve into a centipede with six tails.

There's definitely something strange about this hall.

As he traversed the swarm of insects, Rein had a close encounter with them.

At first, Rein could find gaps to step on and move forward. But after only a few steps, the ground was covered with a thick layer of insects, making it impossible to find a foothold.

He could only wade through the ground, afraid that if he stepped on a group of centipedes, it would cause an insect riot.

He initially thought it would be "difficult to move around" among the centipede swarm, but Rein walking a short distance, compared with other groups of venomous creatures, he suddenly felt that the centipedes were actually quite "friendly".

At least it's cool and refreshing, doesn't smell bad, and isn't very aggressive.

Unlike the disgusting spiders, toads, scorpions, venomous snakes, and slimy green slugs in the next area.

Moreover, those creatures also eat their own kind.

Looking around, the main hall was essentially a gathering of poisonous creatures.

Almost every type of venomous insect has its own distinct territory, clearly defined.

And Rein happened to be in the centipede's territory.

Rein walked another hundred meters or so, getting closer, and finally saw the source of the seven-colored light.

In the center of the hall stood a silver chalice, over half a meter tall, radiating a dreamlike, iridescent halo.

The light was very faint, but it looked incredibly eerie in the boundless darkness.

On the rock wall above the Holy Grail, there is something that looks like a stalactite.

A single, colorful "water droplet" was dripping from the stone bell.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

It was probably because the water droplets had been there for countless millennia, and then they condensed into a colorful crystal on the Holy Grail, like a large "colorful ice cream".

What's even stranger is that a circle of various kinds of venomous insect "leaders" surrounded the Holy Grail, and they all looked like they were not to be trifled with.

Judging from their appearance, they seem to be spewing poisonous mist there.

They looked like a group of smokers, gathered together, puffing away and looking quite pleased with themselves.

Inhale a breath of colored mist, then exhale some poisonous gas, which evaporates onto the ceiling, dissolves in the water, and drips down the stalactites into the Holy Grail; inhale again.

This cycle repeats itself.

"So that's why poisonous insects evolved!"

Seeing this scene, Rein finally understood.

He recognized the origins of many poisons, but generally, those here were more unusual than those recorded in the Encyclopedia.

A toad with horns on its head, a spider with glowing eyes, and a venomous snake with legs on its belly.

They all seemed to be "big shots," the kind you wouldn't want to mess with.

Rein understood that the reason so many poisonous insects gathered in the hall was because of the silver Holy Grail engraved with ancient patterns.

The poisonous gases in the air are a mixture of the toxic gases exhaled by those poisonous insects.

"What exactly is this Holy Grail?"

Although Rein didn't understand it, he knew it must be a treasure.

The seven-colored crystal in the cup, formed over countless years, is also highly poisonous. However, for Transcendent require toxins, it is undoubtedly a top-tier treasure.

Take Rein himself, for example. Although he has advanced to the level of [Voodoo Master] and has good poison resistance, to truly achieve complete immunity to all poisons, he still needs to constantly stimulate his body's immune system with various toxins to increase his toxin resistance.

These "seven-colored crystals" that are a fusion of various biological toxins are an excellent choice!

"I never expected it to be 'Poisonous Crystal,' and in so many colors!"

When Rein saw this thing, the Mind Core automatically pushed several material names that matched the crystal in front of him.

The material with the highest compatibility is a highly Poisonous Crystal recorded in the traditional shamanic ritual texts of the Kolman Tribe.

In some highly toxic environments, over a long period of time, toxins can crystallize.

Highly toxic and volatile.

He had seen something similar in the materials warehouse of "Insect Master Elder" Imyu.

However, those highly Poisonous Crystal were all a single color, and the largest was no bigger than a fingernail.

And right before our eyes, this "seven-colored crystal" is as big as two footballs!

Although the creatures in this mist are currently no higher than the fifth rank, including the poisonous insects, there were no such restrictions in ancient times. One can imagine the toxins in the crystal in that cup might bring him a big surprise!

If he can adapt to this mixture of toxins, then most common biological poisons in the world would be no match for him!

"My darling"

Rein's eyes burned with desire. Upon seeing the treasure radiating a seven-colored halo, he immediately decided that he had to get his hands on it.

However, the fact that he was able to get this far and see the Holy Grail clearly was already the limit.

With each breath he takes, he feels a burning sensation in his respiratory tract, and his clothes are beginning to corrode.

This is just the toxic gas evaporating in the air, which is enough to keep him away. One can only imagine how potent the toxins must be when they condense into crystals.

If it were injected into the body, it could probably kill High-tier Extraordinary being instantly.

However, the more this was the case, the more Rein felt that the seven-colored crystal and the Holy Grail were both priceless treasures.

If we could truly master this deadly poison, we would have another trump card to use against our enemies in the future!

With that thought in mind, Rein decided not to leave.

Anyway, he's all alone in the Underground Palace now.

This highly toxic environment is also the best place to enhance his resistance to toxins.

He's still over a hundred meters away from the Holy Grail, but once his body develops resistance to the mixed toxins in the air, he'll be able to get a little closer.

"However, those insect kings and such are a problem."

Rein frowned as he looked at the various strange and poisonous insects around him.

He thought that if he took the Holy Grail away, wouldn't those insects go berserk?

However, once his poison resistance reaches the point where he can get close to the Holy Grail, the toxins from these insects will no longer pose a significant threat to him.

Thinking that if I just grabbed it and ran, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Rein stayed there amidst the horde of insects.

After he realized the centipedes weren't biting him, he ignored them. He put on a hood, stuffed up all the holes in his body, and began to meditate amidst the horde of insects.

He was overwhelmed by the swarm of insects, but he didn't care; his mind remained calm.

Then, after my body had adjusted to the concentration of toxins, I moved closer again, meditated, and moved closer still.

Progress is very slow, often only about one meter can be advanced in an hour.

The closer you get to the Holy Grail, the more concentrated the toxins in the air become.

His breathing became increasingly difficult.

At first it was like breathing in air, then in water, then in mud, and finally...

Eventually, I got used to it more and more.

Rein joined the poisonous insects, puffing away with a look of pure enjoyment.

Besides Septic Toxin, neurotoxins, frost toxins, burn toxins, and corrosive toxins, there are also some strange toxins that can cause bizarre hallucinations.

Letting Rein take it gives him a feeling of "being able to roam the world freely".

I have to admit, it was a very strange experience.

However, thanks to the "Mind Core," he can monitor his physical condition at any time, so even though he is immersed in toxic gas, he doesn't have any problems.

And so, two days and two nights later...

Rein's body had almost completely adapted to the toxins here, and then, just as he was figuring out how to avoid the innermost poisonous insect "leaders" and seize the Holy Grail.

As luck would have it, a group of uninvited guests barged in.

"Oh, finally someone's here?"

When Rein heard the noise, he was not surprised at all, but rather delighted.

The maze above is no longer dangerous; with a little time, it shouldn't be difficult to find a way out.

Solo hunters might be trapped for ten days or half a month, but for those large and powerful noble Scavenger Gang, it certainly wouldn't be a problem for them.

Sure enough, as soon as people entered, the insect swarm began to stir.

I usually revise the version twice after each update, so the first version has many typos. It's best to read it half an hour later.