Chapter 317: Re-exploring the Gloom Domain
Half a month later, a small library appeared on the fifth level of the Stone Tower.
This was the result of half a month of effort by Zhou Ming.
Using shadow power as ink, he recorded all the knowledge he had mastered, along with the knowledge obtained from the Blue Star Academy Library, onto special paper brought by the Snake Guards, and then compiled them into the books before him.
After categorizing these books, he placed them neatly on bookshelves lining the walls, allowing users to freely find and read them.
As for the core inheritances—such as meditation techniques, spells, rituals, secret techniques, and runes—knowledge that needed to be recorded on scrolls, Zhou Ming carried all of them with him inside his Spatial Ring.
To him, keeping them on his person ensured safety and also allowed him to study and comprehend them at any time.
Meanwhile, the books placed in the Stone Tower library mostly contained theory, various introductions, and reports on different research topics.
Having completed this spur-of-the-moment library construction, Zhou Ming finally prepared to enter the Gloom Domain to investigate the abnormal situation previously reported by Su Mei.
At Tiger Pass, a shadow quietly appeared on the rock wall, unnoticed by anyone nearby.
Zhou Ming observed the scene below. Rule-abiding hunters and Beast Tamers were lining up, while the guards from the Camp Department of External Affairs carried out their duties diligently. Li Bao and the other two took turns overseeing the area, occasionally personally inspecting returning teams to check for hidden gains.
Under the rules he had established, Tiger Pass was operating smoothly. Only then did Zhou Ming nod slightly and quietly depart.
After entering the Gloom Domain, Zhou Ming did not rush toward the cavern where the Subterranean Cave Spiderfolk had been discovered. Instead, he wandered through the underground caverns like an ordinary hunter.
To him, most caverns that ordinary hunters and Beast Tamers could not enter posed no threat at all.
Now that the camp was running normally and Lei Yuan had confirmed that everything was safe, and since his own strength was unlikely to improve in the short term, he might as well take this opportunity to explore the Gloom Domain in detail.
As for research, Zhou Ming planned to resume it after the grand auction in White Bone City ended. After all, there were only two months left before the auction began, and he did not want to interrupt his research abruptly.
Three days after entering the Gloom Domain, Zhou Ming arrived at the cavern Su Mei had mentioned, where traces of Spirit-type Creatures had appeared. It was said that people often heard faint crying sounds here.
Thus, this cavern had been named the Ghost Cry Cavern by hunters and Beast Tamers entering the Gloom Domain.
“Ghosts crying?”
Looking at the canyon-like passage before him, Zhou Ming heard a faint crying sound drifting through the air and became interested in the cavern.
Of course, if a powerful Spirit-type Creature existed here, he would have to eliminate it as soon as possible.
After all, the higher the level of a Spirit-type Creature, the more dangerous it was—far surpassing Ferocious Beasts of the same level.
Ferocious Beasts could be seen and touched, and one could attempt to escape from them. Even in death, one would know how they died.
But once entangled by a Spirit-type Creature, it could appear before its target at any time through curses, marks, and other means.
It could slowly strip away a person’s life through nightmares and illusions, killing them in fear.
It could even spread like a plague through various mediums, eventually turning into a disaster that brought countless deaths.
With a thought, Zhou Ming abandoned walking. A Talent Field instantly manifested around him, lifting him into the air and carrying him into the passage.
In just a few breaths, he passed through the passage, and a cavern spanning several kilometers came into view.
The glowing moss commonly seen in the Gloom Domain, the jellyfish-like floating luminous organisms, the several-meter-tall lantern grass…
None of them could be seen here.
Relying on the power of his Dark-gold Serpent Pupils, Zhou Ming could only see various types of mushrooms spread throughout the cavern.
Some mushrooms were as large as houses, others as small as fists. Their forms were bizarre and varied, and they even emitted dazzling multicolored light.
Zhou Ming’s arrival seemed to trigger something. As a faint ghostly cry echoed with the breeze—
The endless mushrooms throughout the cavern instantly released countless spore-like substances, which eventually formed a spore mist that enveloped the entire cavern.
Faced with this sudden change, Zhou Ming reacted immediately.
The Talent Field surrounding him was fully activated. The faint red field now resembled a blood-colored crystal barrier, with a terrifying serpent shadow swimming across its surface.
“Blood Descendant Secret Technique · Snake Tide Poison Miasma.”
With the mindset of striking first to gain the advantage, Zhou Ming immediately summoned countless black serpent shadows.
Although the Gathering Sand Secret Technique and Blood Descendant Secret Technique had not yet been fully perfected, relying on his own strength and the Spirit Molting Snake Emperor Bloodline, the power of Snake Tide Poison Miasma far exceeded what it had been before advancing to the Transcendent level.
Within the multicolored spore mist, black serpent shadows spread across hundreds of meters, surging outward like a tidal wave.
In the next moment, under Zhou Ming’s control, the black serpent shadows detonated on their own, transforming into poisonous mist and merging with the incoming spore mist.
A corrosive sound echoed continuously through the cavern as the black mist gradually devoured the multicolored spore mist.
“Wuuuu…”
The ghostly crying in his ears suddenly intensified. Zhou Ming instantly felt his consciousness grow heavy, and the scene before him began to change rapidly.
It was as if various oil paint colors had been mixed together, constantly stirring into distorted, multicolored lines. Even space itself seemed to twist.
A nauseating sensation surged up, as if space had inverted into chaotic disorder.
Facing this change, Zhou Ming immediately realized that this was a special illusion, not an actual distortion of space.
If the opponent could truly affect space, he would have no power to resist at all.
Without hesitation, Predator’s Might, Dark-gold Serpent Pupils, and the Spirit Molting Snake Emperor Bloodline merged into one, erupting like a volcanic explosion.
At that moment, a ferocious giant serpent phantom hundreds of meters long coiled above Zhou Ming, radiating a savage aura.
The overwhelming pressure spread like volcanic magma, engulfing the entire cavern.
The various mushrooms covering the cavern seemed to be crushed by an invisible force, instantly turning into powder.
Faced with Zhou Ming’s counterattack, the ghostly crying within the cavern became noticeably sharper.
With a shrill hiss, the multicolored spore mist rapidly condensed, eventually forming a mushroom-like entity covered in tentacles, its body composed of swirling paint-like colors.
Indescribable—yet deeply nauseating.
“A Spirit-type Creature… or some kind of special symbiotic entity?”
Looking at the bizarre existence before him, Zhou Ming found it difficult to determine, but it did not affect his actions in the slightest.
Waiting for the opponent to gather strength and counterattack was not his style.
“Shadow Devour.”
Endless shadows were mobilized by Zhou Ming, directly merging with the giant serpent phantom above him. The shadow giant serpent, radiating terrifying aura, descended with its jaws, devouring the strange creature like a black hole.
Faced with Zhou Ming’s renewed attack, the creature’s body flickered between reality and illusion, attempting to escape the devouring force of the shadow serpent.
Zhou Ming’s gaze sharpened. His silver-radiant spiritual power tore through the dim illusion before him and reinforced the shadow giant serpent.
The power of the innate spell Shadow Devour surged dramatically. The devouring force within the serpent’s mouth doubled instantly, dragging the strange creature into another dimension.