The Dungeon's Treasure
Unlike human vision, ghosts perceive their surroundings through their souls, which are mostly gray-black outlines, like a silent pantomime.
Yet, within this gray-black outline, faint fluorescent patterns quietly emerged, meandering along the cracks in the floor tiles—the silent pulsation of magic circuits in the darkness.
The first time he saw the activated magic floor tiles, each one a miniature Spirit Gathering Formation, quietly collecting the spiritual energy dissipating from the air and even the Earth Vein, and then transmitting it through energy circuits to the depths of the underground city.
"Perhaps the core of the magic circuit is the heart of the dungeon." Lin Xu pondered, directing the ghosts along the magic floor tiles, the fluorescent patterns flickering slightly as the ghostly figures moved.
The tunnel was very long, and at intervals along the tunnel, there was a magical wall lamp that illuminated the mysterious rune reliefs on the walls.
In the ghost's vision, this place is a convergence point of magic, steadily releasing the surrounding magic in the form of light.
After traveling several hundred meters, the ghost suddenly stopped.
An unusual, subtle vibration appeared in the air, as if the entire tunnel was resonating at a low frequency.
Lin Xu frowned slightly, his spiritual sense instantly detecting the source of the tremor—dozens of meters ahead, the glowing lights of the magic floor tiles were flashing at the same frequency, the rhythm getting faster and faster, like a heartbeat accelerating.
The Red-Robed Ghost stealthily moved along the wall and quietly arrived at an arched, domed hall.
Above the dome, the star map relief slowly rotates, its silvery light flowing like the breath of a living thing.
The ground is engraved with a huge six-pointed star array, and twelve rune stone pillars stand silently, with magical circuits of the same origin as the tunnel floor tiles appearing on the pillars.
A sturdy magical outpost hangs directly beneath the dome-shaped star map. The cramped stone tower can only accommodate three to five guards, and a dozen or so narrow firing ports are cleverly designed into its structure.
Lin Xu opened the building panel and checked the attributes of the sentry post.
Name: Outpost Level: Level 1 Building (Upgradeable)
Affiliation: Gray Rock Dungeon Range: 9 square meters Effects: +100% HP Regeneration, +1 HP every 10 minutes, +50 meters Vision, Detects Invisible Units, 300-meter Warning Radius, Sentry: Automatically triggers an alarm when enemy attack is detected. Description: A basic defensive node in the dungeon, the best position for archers, a watcher in the shadows. At this moment, this sentry post is radiating strong magical energy, like a stone thrown into a deep pool stirring up the entire sea of magic.
"We've been spotted!" Lin Xu's pupils constricted upon seeing the attribute panel—the outpost's ability to detect invisible units meant that the Red-Robed Ghost's stealth had been flagged!
Just then, a strange magical ripple appeared in the air above the tunnel. About a hundred paces away from the Red-Robed Ghost, a magical vortex quickly formed, and a green goblin screamed as it fell into the vortex.
"Clatter~"
The goblin crashed onto the paved surface from above the tunnel. It shook its head, bared its fangs, and looked around. The Red-Robed Ghost's frozen silhouette was reflected in its murky pupils.
It let out a muffled hiss, its claws reaching for the rusty scimitar at its waist, and it sprinted towards the Red-Robed Ghost.
Right behind it, a second and a third goblin followed suit, falling into the whirlpool.
"Go!" Seeing that the infiltration operation had failed, Lin Xu ordered the Red-Robed Ghost to retreat decisively.
Within the vortex of magic, another gray shadow fell. A few seconds later, accompanied by the buzzing of wings, a Demon Fly flapped its wings and sped past, rapidly chasing after the Red-Robed Ghost.
Lin Xu controlled the Red-Robed Ghost to decisively slip into the passage wall and disappear from the monsters' sight in an instant.
The interior of the walls was dark and cold. The Red-Robed Ghost held its breath and lay prone, its spiritual senses locked onto the outside.
Outside the wall, goblins were hacking at the stone wall haphazardly, while Demon Fly hovered in mid-air, their compound eyes glowing with a scarlet light, their magical scans sweeping across every inch of rock like a spider web.
A moment later, the monsters stopped their futile search and dispersed dejectedly, leaving only the lingering magical energy humming and vibrating in the tunnel.
With the crisis temporarily averted, Lin Xu became even more cautious.
He controlled the Red-Robed Ghost to silently swim along the magical wall, like an inkfish gliding through the deep sea currents.
Compared to traveling through the air, the ghosts move more stealthily through the soil, but at a much slower speed.
Fortunately, he had enough patience to quietly observe the Red-Robed Ghost's actions.
Guided by magical circuits, and not afraid of getting lost in the complex underground environment, the Red-Robed Ghost stealthily made his way to the outer perimeter of the core area of the underground city.
The concentration of magic here suddenly increased, and a faint blue light seeped from the cracks in the rock walls, as if the entire space was breathing.
The magic power from the entire underground world is drawn and constrained by the magic circuits, converging, compressing, and pulsating in a regular manner to power the magical buildings of different shapes.
Having learned his lesson from the sentry post, Lin Xu did not control the Red-Robed Ghost to enter the city space this time, but instead carefully circled around along the magic circuit.
In a certain space, magic formed a strange light membrane barrier, its surface flowing with liquid runes, sealing every inch of space completely.
"Where is this place?" Lin Xu wondered. He used the ghost's vision to examine the light membrane barrier. Countless magical runes in his sea of consciousness were automatically analyzed and disassembled, gradually transforming into recognizable Daoist script.
The advanced barrier technique "Cocoon of Silence" is a sealing array specifically designed to isolate the inside from the outside and shield against magical detection.
Lacking basic knowledge of magical runes, Lin Xu could only rely on intuition to deduce their operating logic.
A moment later, he detected a barely perceptible pulsation in the barrier's operation. It was not enough for the Red-Robed Ghost to pass through smoothly, but it was enough for a wisp of spiritual consciousness to quietly seep in.
The spiritual sense pierced through the gaps like a needle, instantly reflecting a large area of the surrounding space into the sea of consciousness: treasure chests filled with gold coins were neatly stacked inside the barrier, and the faint light floating on the surface of the gold coins showed the rich magic power solidified inside.
"Magic Coins!" Lin Xu's heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously controlled the Red-Robed Ghost to withdraw its spiritual sense and narrowly avoided the energy pulse of the barrier spell.
Different civilizations in the Spirit Realm have different monetary systems, but they can generally be divided into three categories: copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins.
In the Eastern system, for example, "Dharma Coin" refers to copper coins, "Heaven Silver" to silver coins, Spirit Gold" to gold coins.
As a currency recognized by the Spirit Realm, it is not a precious metal, but a crystal containing a standard energy concentration, possessing the dual attributes of value anchoring and energy carrier.
This underground treasure room covers an area of approximately one hundred square meters. If we estimate that there are at least one hundred treasure chests, with one chest per square meter, and each chest contains one thousand magic coins, the total value of which exceeds one hundred thousand coins.
"One tael of Spirit Gold is worth about 500,000 to 600,000 yuan on the market. This treasure room alone is worth as much as 50 to 60 billion..."
This number sent a shiver down Lin Xu's spine. He realized for the first time just how wealthy the underground city was!