Starting with watering the World Tree for otherworldly survival

Page 179

She was only a cute 80 centimeters tall, and her proportions weren't suitable for normal equipment. So, on the recommendation of the equipment supplier, she bought a set of Tobi-Dragon equipment for Palicoes.

Palicoes, a bipedal race capable of standing upright and understanding human speech, are helpful companions who can follow and assist hunters in completing various tasks.

Merchants who supply equipment to hunters naturally also sell Palico equipment.

A striking cat-ear hood covered Salena's delicate, round, and adorable face, while her shawl and the pajama-like parts of her body added to her casual look.

Although it partially concealed Salena's petite yet curvaceous figure, her physique was still much more exquisite than that of the Palico.

Normally, Salena doesn't need to fight; her main duty is to observe the water quality of the Elf Spring. Now, the elves in the village are migrating together, following Qin Xinru to the Forsaken Land.

Salena, naturally, slept in late every day and chose this outfit. In Qin He's eyes, the petite fairy looked more like a house cat.

As for the other elf girls, they understood Qin He's thoughts very well. They mostly chose equipment that accentuated their figures.

After arranging things for the elves, Qin Xinru and Zhong Xiling began preparing for the forging of the fire dragon weapon.

The blacksmith in the town was an old woman who used to be a formidable hunter. A few days ago, the blacksmith contacted a group of hunters to prepare for hunting the Pink Rathian.

Whether young or old, they were all eager to see the adventurer who had slain the Pink Rathian and obtained its materials, upon hearing that the Pink Rathian had been defeated and its materials obtained.

After admiring the elven girls who were displaying their clothes like models, Qin He began to deal with the Black Snow Mercenary Group.

Whatever plans this group of over a hundred Drow mercenaries has, they are bound to suffer.

First, Qin He arrived at the safe house.

The Deviljho he had personally slain, and the Bazelgeuse that Mira and the other three had fought together, all had their bodies, modified by Zhong Liuxiu, continuing to function with properties similar to living metal.

Similar to the mechanical amethyst dragon, these two monsters, which had just grown to the middle level of the eighth rank, now obeyed the orders of Qin He and Zhong Liuxiu.

Bazelgeuse is relatively easy to deal with, but the Deviljho's need to eat to replenish its energy is a real problem. Even when it transforms into a golem-like being, its energy consumption remains unchanged.

To prevent this "mechanical deviljho" from going berserk or ceasing to move due to its energy needs, Qin He also had to make sure to feed it.

"Get up and get to work, follow me."

After ordering the two ferocious monsters to stand behind him, Qin He gave a heads-up to the girls:

"Eileen, come with me. We'll deal with the Black Snow Mercenary Group and be back before dinner."

Both of the drow warriors from the Black Snow Mercenary Group are at the peak of the ninth rank.

Qin He wanted to test whether he, now at the lower sixth rank, could defeat the combined attack of the two using his existing strength.

"Qin He... you're going so soon? Let's go with you. After all, the Black Snow Mercenary Group has over a hundred drow elves, it'll be difficult for you to capture them all by yourself."

Mira intended to go along, but Zhong Liuxiu showed a relieved expression and said:

"You mean it. If you're not back by dinner time, I'm coming to find you!"

With Qin He's existing strength, what is there to fear from these drow elves? Even with Eileen by his side, he is confident that he can crush the Black Snow Mercenary Group on the spot.

Eileen knew that Qin He was going to deal with the Black Snow Mercenary Group, but she didn't expect that he planned to take her with him and the two of them would take care of all the drow elves!

Although it sounds unbelievable, Eileen still chose to believe Qin He.

"Eileen~ Here, your sword is now fully upgraded. It's incredibly powerful!"

By incorporating scales from the Pink Rathian and Nergigante, Zhong Liuxiu used magical manipulation to perfectly adjust the blade to its optimal state.

"Yes! Thank you, Your Highness Xiuxiu. I... I will definitely try my best!"

Qin He and Eileen left the beach together, and the situation outside was not optimistic.

According to a fleeing adventurer, the drow poison makers in the Black Snow Mercenary Group have already produced quite a few Three-Headed Demon Serpents.

These ferocious mechanical creations clashed with adventurers in the labyrinthine dungeons. The drow elves' spider-attracting water also summoned numerous spider-like monsters.

"Very good, thank you for the information. Take these gold coins and go back to the surface."

Then, Qin He glanced at the Bazelgeuse and Deviljho behind him:

"Go and tear all the mechanical creations to shreds. You can swallow all those spider-like monsters and Deviljhos whole. But remember, do not initiate conflict with the drow elves."

Understanding the command, the two ferocious monsters immediately flew towards the dungeon labyrinth to tear apart the drow elves' first line of defense.

"The drow elves have occupied the dungeon as a fortress for defensive warfare, and their alchemical bombs must have already caused the adventurers a lot of trouble."

The Thirteenth Dungeon was not like the maze or mage tower structure that Qin He knew. Instead, each level was a self-contained world, with a total of eighteen levels.

Ten levels below lies a dark, underground environment, where, according to legend, the Radiant Dragon resides, excavating her own golden land.

Within the natural environment of each level, there are underground palaces leading to the next level. To reach the deeper levels, one must either overcome the mechanisms within the underground palaces or dig directly through the current stratum.

No one has ever succeeded with the second method. Some say that a powerful cultivator who had reached the Saint level once tried to penetrate the underground palace, only to fall into the next level, which was a false canopy woven with magic.

The fate of that powerful figure was obvious—he was burned to death by the magical sun.

As for the underground palace, it's designed to prevent adventurers from destroying it at will. To forcibly break through, one must at least possess the strength of a Saint-level expert.

Occupying such a fortified position would likely wipe out all the adventurers who came, and there would be no way to defeat the Black Snow Mercenary Group.

"Hmph, interesting~"

Chapter 268 Capturing the Drow Sisters Before Dinner (Part 2)

Using the guide insects she carried with her, Eileen quickly brought Qin He to the vicinity of the underground palace.

As you can see, under Qin He's command, the Deviljho was like an unstoppable siege engine, crashing into the defenses at the entrance of the underground palace.

The largest three-headed serpent, which resembled a long whip, was easily caught in the mouth of the Deviljho.

The swirling serpentine body was like a giant iron whip, easily sweeping away and blasting the spider-like monsters in front of the Deviljho to pieces.

Deinonychus itself had the habit of grabbing its prey and swinging it around.

Even the Odogaron, which Eileen went to great lengths to defeat, was the same. Basically, anything that its gaping maw could pick up, it would grab and use to swat at its enemies.

The adventurers were terrified when they saw the Deviljho appear, but they were relieved to see that the Deviljho's target was the Magma Serpent outside the dungeon.

At the same time, the Bazelgeuse actively showered its glowing scales from mid-air, detonating the traces of spider-attracting water on the ground.

The number of spider-like magical beasts surging from the underground palace and the surrounding forest quickly decreased, and the Scaled Dragon's aim wasn't too bad either—

The alchemical bombs thrown from inside the dungeon were intercepted in mid-air by the exploding scales thrown by the Bazelgeuse's tail.

"What happened? Do I have to deal with these insignificant adventurers personally?"

Trisna, the leader of the Black Snow Mercenary Group and a ninth-tier peak magic warrior known as the Black Snow Thorn, was furious with the performance of her subordinates.

First, scouts and some Drow warriors lost contact near the beach, and then a large number of adventurers who had been gathered came to hunt them down.

The vice-captain Trist, who is also her sister, is in the underground palace, using demonic location magic to search for the whereabouts of Morosana and his companions.

As the heir to the duchy, Morosa was a complete incompetent fool. He possessed the strength of an eighth-tier swordsman, but now he's been utterly annihilated by some unknown powerful figure.

Honestly, even if that good-for-nothing rich kid dies, it has nothing to do with the drow elves. What matters most to them is the large Dragon Slayer Crystal that the four-person team from Morosa brought.

A tremendous opportunity was presented to the Black Snow Mercenary Group on the tenth floor... A Steel Dragon, one of the ancient dragon species, severely injured an Obsidian Dragon.

The obsidian dragon and the steel dragon were both at the peak of the Saint realm, and it could be confirmed that the severely injured obsidian dragon was only at the initial Saint realm.

Next, all we need to do is rely on the Dragon Slayer Crystal's effect to suppress the Obsidian Dragon's spellcasting ability. With Trisna and Trist, two peak ninth-tier powerhouses working together, we can definitely kill the Obsidian Dragon.

Its dragon body, treasures, and young dragons will all become the wealth of the Black Snow Mercenary Group.

According to Trisna's estimation, the adventurers outside the dungeon were nothing but trash. The few adventurers who posed a threat had already been severely injured by her.

With the drow priestess's magic, the drow poison maker's creations, and bombs, they could have quickly repelled the adventurers' attack.

But to her surprise, even such a small matter was stalled for a long time. Not only that, but soldiers also asked her to come out and deal with the situation outside.

Trisna was quite confident in her drow mercenaries, but considering that there might indeed be a powerful enemy, she still headed towards the entrance of the dungeon.

Unexpectedly, the formidable enemies that required its intervention were two beast dragons and a flying dragon from the depths.

"Damn it! Those two beasts..."

Trisna understood that the Bazelgeuse was a species that liked to deliberately meddle in fights and blow both sides up. The Deviljho, on the other hand, would devour both sides completely.

Unfortunately, when they were fighting off the adventurers, they encountered these two scourges.

"Stop throwing alchemical bombs! Didn't your mentors teach you what to do in a situation like this? You bunch of good-for-nothings!"

Among the drow elves, Trisna and Trist are considered to be rather gentle leaders.

Aside from reprimanding his subordinates mercilessly, he was too lazy to resort to any physical punishment.

"Get the stench bombs and aim them at those two beasts' heads. That should scare them away! I really don't understand what's going on in your idiot heads... what are you guys thinking all day long?"

"Using alchemical bombs to deal with these tough, blast-resistant monsters? I'm truly impressed!"

Beneath her blood-red armor, Trisna's ample bosom heaved with anger. These recruits were all brute force with no real combat experience.

If they were truly skilled drow elves, they wouldn't need to go to such lengths. They're acting like a bunch of useless human princesses...

Stink Bombs are projectiles specifically made from processed dung of magical or savage beasts. Launching these at the enemy's head causes them to flee due to the unbearable, pungent stench.

In most cases, this is the preferred method to drive away monsters like Bazelgeuse and Deviljho.

Because when hunting a specific target, other monsters often appear in front of hunters or other adventurers.

Therefore, even non-professional hunters will choose to prepare odor bombs depending on the environmental conditions.

This would normally be the correct course of action, but what they faced were two lifelike, living metal golems with the same physical strength as their original counterparts—

They can shut down their sense of smell on their own. Since they are not afraid of smells, why would these dragons be afraid of these stench bombs used to drive them away?

Watching from afar using monitoring magic, Qin He couldn't stop grinning. He couldn't wait to see Trisna's surprised expression.

……

At Trisna's command, a number of foul-smelling bombs were loaded into the drow elves' crossbows.

Faced with a barrage of dozens of shots, the Deviljho swung the Magma Serpent in its mouth in an attempt to block the attack. The Bazelgeuse immediately spread its wings and took to the air.

However, the drow elves were no pushovers. The massive Deviljho on the ground was the first to be covered in stench bombs.

It can shake off its scales and spread its wings to fly, but the structure of the Bazelgeuse itself means that it cannot perform very sophisticated aerial evasion maneuvers.

Soon, both dragons were shaking their heads, each taking dozens of stench bombs. Seeing this, Trisna immediately put her hands on her hips and addressed the drow elves:

"See? From now on, all we need to do is do this, and these damn dragons will run to the water source and busy themselves washing themselves clean."

The drow warriors looked as if they had learned a lesson, but a drow priestess with braided pigtails pointed to the scene outside the door and said:

"Commander...Commander, those two dragons don't seem to have left! And they're even more ferocious now."

Hmm? That shouldn't be the case. Could they be abnormal individuals whose sense of smell has been impaired due to being bombarded with too many odor bombs?

The demonstration was supposed to be about correct knowledge, but unexpectedly, this went wrong...

"Don't rush... switch to flashbangs. Go and scare that Bazelgeuse down from the sky. The Deviljho is a monster that bites anyone it sees, friend or foe."

"If they get very close, they will intimidate each other for a while before fighting each other."

Trisna drew her weapons—a long-handled drow sword adorned with skull carvings and demon horn-shaped gauntlets, and a shield as crimson as her armor.

Both were mid-level eighth-tier beings, and for Trisna, killing them wouldn't be too difficult. Only truly adult individuals possessed the terrifying power to rival ancient dragons.

The materials from these two monsters can fetch a high price even underground.

Trisna decided to use her remaining strength to kill the two dragons before returning to the dungeon to help her sister Trist locate Morosa's soul. Having made these arrangements, Trisna immediately commanded the drow warriors to use flashbangs.

Perhaps the two dragons are not afraid of the smell of the stench bomb, but they shouldn't be immune to the flashbang bomb, right?

As Trisna predicted, the Bazelgeuse plummeted downwards after a volley of fire. Even the Deviljho was thrown into blindness and chaos by the barrage of flashbangs exploding from every angle.

……

"Ah! Your Highness Qin He... Both the Bazelgeuse and the Deviljho are dizzy."

Seeing that the battle situation had changed, Eileen became somewhat anxious.

"It's no big deal, they're golems. Do you think inanimate creatures would be affected by flashbangs?"

The moment the flashbang was fired, Qin He immediately ordered the two dragons to pretend to be hit. The falling Bazelgeuse landed right next to the Deviljho.

As the light faded, the two lifelike war machines began to roar at each other, and soon, just as Trisna had predicted, they were locked in a fierce battle.

Qin He then gave the order for the Deviljho to pretend to bite the Bazelgeuse's body. He planned to launch a surprise attack on Trisna only when she was ready to make her move.

"See? Now use water magic to wash everything off them, then kill the Bazelgeuse first."

As the Drow priestess summoned the magic circle, the eighth-tier water magic Waterfall Tornado swept the two dragons in from above.

Once the waterfall receded, Trisna immediately drew her sword and charged out—closing herself in instantly under the cover of the waterfall!