Chương 672: Main Quest. The Sylvans' Exploration.

The Sylvans' Exploration.

Once Flor and the others entered the <Dungeon>, their vision shifted, and they appeared in a large meadow. The grass extended around them, while the flowers in the meadow fluttered gently with the wind. Of course, everyone who came knew that they were not in any kind of prairie. They were all familiar with the terrain they were standing on, as it was the top of Liu Shu's head. The scent of flowers and the gentle aura of the World Tree enveloped them, making those familiar with it relax.

Even when they were in a <Dungeon>, they couldn't help but feel their nerves untangle, peace and serenity slowly soothing their worried hearts. Arven looked around attentively and couldn't help but let out a surprised gasp at what he saw. He had read descriptions and even seen images, but seeing the broken world firsthand was truly an experience. Their current location inside the <Dungeon> was the World Tree's head, the one that could be seen out of the cathedral.

"This place is quite spectacular." Everyone reacted to his words and looked around, sounds of awe and interest spreading in the group. They could also see many of Liu Shu's branches stretching into the walls of reality, tensing and breaking as they tried to keep everything together. It was only then that they noticed that the World Tree's body was collapsing and regenerating constantly, as if it were afflicted by an everlasting curse of torment.

Even when Flor and the others knew that this was not the real Liu Shu, they couldn't help but feel their hearts squeeze at the sight. Orwen was not that affected and instead focused on the <Dungeon>, so he spoke up.

"This <Main Quest> is quite simple. No wonder they said that there was no real threat here." Flor and the others looked at it. [You've discovered the <Main Quest: Cleanse The Canopy>.] [Description: Monsters are constantly invading the fractured world that the World Tree is trying to keep together. Please help her cleanse some of those monsters to alleviate her burdens. The zone you are in is the safest location, but it can also be considered a cage. Explore and discover the secrets.] [Objective: Defeat 0/5, 000 monsters.] [Failure: The World Tree will collapse from strain and exhaustion.] Verdantia quickly looked around, her aura of life stretching out and finding any creature nearby.

"Found one." She moved over, and the others followed curiously. The creature they encountered was a snake. Its color was translucent, merging with the surroundings. However, once detected, it was not that big of a deal. Verdantia waved her staff, summoning a quick golem-like creature made of vines. This golem formed in an instant, and then it rushed at it, lunging forward like a cannonball. BANG! [Congratulations on defeating <Level 100 Berry Devouring Chameleonsnake (B Tier)>. You've gained 3, 745 Experience Points.] Verdantia blinked, surprised.

"That's quite a good chunk of experience!" Tempestria asked to share the message, and everyone looked at it. Arven nodded, thoughtful.

"It truly is good. While not exaggerated, it's a good Experience farming spot. The monsters are quite weak, and their numbers are not that high." Flor looked at him and spoke with no room of negotiation.

"This portal won't be available to the public, or even privately for that matter. We will use it to train our Berry Gatherers. After all, I feel that this location is too special to allow others to step inside." Arven crossed his arms and spoke.

"While I agree that this location is a bit special, I don't think that you should monopolize it. Won't people complain about it?" Flor shook her head.

"This is non-negotiable. Even if this is a <Dungeon>, I don't want random people walking around my daughter's canopy. It might be a copy, it might be an entirely different creature formed inside the <Dungeon>, but I just don't feel comfortable. For the public and the association, the cathedral down there is more than enough." Arven looked at the Flower Fairy and sighed.

"Alright, I understand. If that's the case, we won't help you explore this place further. Not because I am being petty, but because the more we discover, the greedier the association members will become." Flor understood that and easily nodded.

"Alright, I will do that." Everyone proceeded to spread out and investigate, trying to find anything new. The four Sylvans moved together, their eyes scanning the area with curiosity.

"Hm… It feels… odd." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Tempestria nodded at Harmonixia's words. Her grey-colored eyes scanned the area, and she extended her fingers to touch one of Liu Shu's branches.

"This feeling… It's almost identical to one of her branches. How could the <Dungeon> replicate it so thoroughly?" Cinderielle extended her fingers and gently plucked one of the small leaves. She placed it under her nose and sniffed lightly, her orange eyes squinting in thought.

"It smells the same." She then extended her tongue and licked it.

"It even tasted the same." Verdantia and the others glanced around them and then looked down.

"They said that as you approach the edge of the central area, you start to feel an aura of death, right? Should we go down and see?" They all nodded and flew down. They first paused at Liu Shu's face area.

"Shu'er, can you hear me?" The World Tree had her eyes tightly closed, the eyelids trembling very gently as if she was in some sort of unbearable pain. That sight squeezed their hearts with worry, but they decided not to push much. Instead, they continued flying down and reached the neck area. No strange area appeared around them, but they detected a few flying monsters that they dispatched quickly. These flying monsters were mixed.

Some were insect-like, others like birds, while a few looked like land animals that had grown large and feathered wings. They quickly dispatched them, none of them proving to be a threat of any kind. When they reached Liu Shu's bosom area, they couldn't help but steal a few glances. Their love's curves were truly too attractive. There was also something arousing about seeing mountain-sized breasts.

Still, they didn't care much and continued going down to the place only the four of them and very few others knew about. The belly button. As they approached it, Cinderielle and the others began feeling a strange pressure around them. They could feel someone gazing at them, but couldn't really tell where they were looking from. Their speed slowed down, constantly keeping an eye on the Main Quest's progress. By the time they reached the belly area, the numbers were already in the 1, 200s.

"So… Do we go inside?" Like the real World Tree, Liu Shu's belly button was opened here as well. It went deep, and clearly it would lead down into their lover's <Core Room>. After looking at each other, they nodded and stepped into the belly button. [Congratulations! You've triggered <Secondary Quest: World Tree Avatar>.] [Description: The World Tree Avatar is currently suffering, attacked by corrupting energies. Soothe her burden.] [Accept Condition: Have a close connection with <World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu> outside of the <Dungeon>.] [Objective: Cleanse at least 50% of the corruption.] [Failure: Death of the World Tree Avatar.] The four of them looked at each other, a flicker of surprise flashing in their intelligent eyes.

"So… do we accept it?" Tempestria asked, somewhat cautiously. Verdantia answered with a scoff.

"Even if she is not the real deal, how can we let our big baby suffer? Forget 50%, until we cleanse 100% of the filth enveloping my Liu'er, I won't leave this place!" The other three agreed, so they didn't argue further and followed her inside. The tunnel toward the <Core Room> was far from safe. On the way there, Tempestria and the other three had to fight some strange, black creatures. These creatures had a rounded body with over two dozen tentacles.

The creature's limbs were coated in a tar-like material with corrosive qualities. Even then, their attack patterns were nothing but messy, so it was easy to kill them. Verdantia's summons held the front, Tempestria covered the rear, while Cinderielle and Harmonixia bombarded their enemies with long-range spells. [Congratulations on defeating <Level 120 Corrupt Tar Tentacle Monster (B Tier)>. You've gained a total of 14, 193 Experience Points.] [The Experience Points will be divided equally among the four party members.] By the time they reached the place where the <Petal Door> would usually stand, they had killed around 100 of those things, each of them being Level 120 and giving quite a good share of experience. Verdantia commented on the oddity straight away.

"There is no <Petal Door>." Its absence somewhat relaxed their hung-up hearts. For a moment, they had honestly been doubting whether the World Tree they were looking at was truly "fake" or not. Instead of a <Petal Door>, there was a vertical, oval entrance with quite a suggestive overall shape. The four of them couldn't help but feel slightly awkward walking into the "door." Once inside, though, their faces changed quite swiftly. The <Core Room> was darker than usual.

Instead of being lit up by Liu Shu's blue glow, there was a purplish aura around them. The <Core Room> was large, and the number of monsters inside was quite a few. In the very middle of the room, there was a copy of Liu Shu's Avatar, her features slightly vague and incomplete. Her legs and arms were bound, while a single dark tentacle pierced the middle of her chest, pumping some sort of black liquid into her body.

Meanwhile, the surroundings were filled with patrolling monster groups, each ranging in size from 5 to 15 members. There were some with special features as well, clearly having extra abilities compared to the others. If it weren't for the vagueness of the "fake" Liu Shu's features, the four of them would've already exploded in fury and rushed inside mindlessly to massacre everything.

Cinderielle and the others quickly analyzed everything, fighting back the uncomfortable feeling of seeing a replica of their dear in such a dire situation.

"This… is quite uncomfortable." Harmonixia rubbed her beating chest, her voice filled with annoyance and something else. Verdantia didn't speak because she was honestly quite close to using all her summons to flatten this place and everything around it. Cinderielle's flames kept flickering around her, her fingers twitching as she considered scorching this place and purifying it with her flames. Tempestria was the calmest, but being the calmest among the group of yanders was not much.

Her grey eyes were stormy, violent emotions barely contained from surging into a typhoon of carnage. Tempestria spoke, her voice cold and strained.

"Let's clean the mobs and then fight the <Secondary Boss Monster>."

"Got it." Everyone got to work; the fights were rather easy for them, as each of them had the ability to fight <Sixth Energy Cycles>. Level 120 monsters were nothing but small fries they could slaughter at will.