Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 509 508: The Mysterious Alchemy Symbol ⍥

Su Lun knew full well the drawbacks of a ten-thousand-member magic group, didn't he?

It was like a knights' charge: they would either smash the enemy, or be smashed by the enemy—those were the only outcomes.

In any grand magic formation consisting of ten thousand, the battle would only end upon defeating the enemy. If they disbanded mid-battle, the backlash from the magic could claim most of their lives.

And these were no ordinary foes.

Under the threat of this vile dragon, even two eighth-level grand mages had no assurance of survival. Once scattered, the one pursued would perish.

Thus, as long as there was a sliver of hope, they had no choice but to keep their team engaged.

Seeing the standoff in the sky grow tense once more, Su Lun also halted his actions.

The magic group still had desperate measures left; they could not be forced to gamble their lives on the outcome just yet.

Brother Dragon couldn't help much either.

Both parties were evenly matched, allowing the battle to persist and resulting in mutual heavy losses.

Witnessing this scene, Su Lun was content, as the situation was better than he expected.

But rather than spectating, he had more important things to do.

That was to take a look inside the dragon's lair.

Thousands of years earlier, this evil dragon had taken over the underground castle in the mountains as its lair.

After the evil dragon left, most of the underground castle was covered by cursed space, and no one had ever emerged alive.

The underground castle was the royal court of the dwarven clan, filled with treasures.

If Su Lun were alone entering the cursed space, he would have sneaked around cautiously without daring to venture into the dragon's lair.

Now that others were holding off the evil dragon, the opportunity couldn't be better.

Su Lun and Number Nineteen teleported carefully, avoiding the dragon's detection, and finally arrived at the foot of Giant God Mountain after a detour.

...

"Howling Abyss" was the several kilometers long fissure next to the peak of Giant God Mountain, where the cursed space was previously located.

According to the intelligence from the Moses family, a terrifying dark energy was seeping from this crevice, which ordinary people couldn't approach.

It was also thanks to the mountain dwarf clan's seals that the cursed space hadn't spread further.

Su Lun and Number Nineteen stood beside the fissure, staring into the seemingly bottomless dark crevasse with furrowed brows.

Throwing a stone down, they heard no echo at all.

Number Nineteen expressed his astonishment, "Just how deep is this crack?"

Su Lun shrugged in response, "Seems to be bottomless."

There might indeed be a burial site of an ancient deity underground, but he wasn't looking to explore tombs; he wanted to reach the dwarf's underground castle.

As he spoke, he summoned a soil elemental wax figure and said, "Let's go down and take a look."

"Alright."

Number Nineteen nodded.

Having previously raided Duke Raphael's base on Gold Digger Island, Su Lun's war workshop had significantly advanced in nerve-mechanical technologies. Combined with his own Puppetry Technique, he had improved sensing capabilities. He left several mechanical magic beasts skilled in audiovisual perception on the surface, connected by nerve threads, to share a portion of their senses, which helped him keep a constant watch on the surface battle.

Meanwhile, the elemental wax figure melted its way through the earth, swiftly sinking into the ground with the pair.

The two didn't attempt to enter the dwarf castle through the main gate, as Number Nineteen felt it might trigger some undesirable noise.

Having encountered that "Taboo Nun" Jona Belle before, Su Lun had gained a profound understanding of the angel lady's "hidden luck factor." He also kept Number Nineteen close at all times, guarding against any mysterious forces' misguidance, like the time reversal they had encountered before.

Although Nineteen felt a bit odd being treated as a lucky charm as a combatant, he went along with Su Lun, his familiar partner.

Mountain dwarves were born to mine and forge, living their lives underground.

Below that lush forest lay a complex network of densely intertwined mine tunnels.

Shortly after merging into the ground, Su Lun detected a mine tunnel space, and they descended into it.

The mine tunnel was exceedingly dark; thankfully, both of them possessed strong night vision, so moving through was not an issue.

As it was wide enough for mine carts, there was ample space; however, it wasn't very tall, requiring both Su Lun and Number Nineteen to stoop slightly to avoid bumping their heads.

The superior craftsmanship of the dwarves in forging was evident all around the mine tunnel. The iron rails showed no signs of decay, the mine carts were coated with rust protection, and the structure supporting the mine to prevent collapse was incredibly robust...

Although it was a mine tunnel, it didn't give off a constant fear of collapse.

Su Lun released several mechanical spiders, not expecting them to scout the path, but to serve as reconnaissance eyes.

He gauged the direction and said, "Let's go check out the dragon lair first."

Number Nineteen nodded and silently followed Su Lun.

Looking around at the rock walls, randomly prying off a piece would yield an iron ore of notable purity.

Dwarves were the finest ore detectors, always able to locate the highest quality ore layers.

However, the mine tunnel was too complex; they hadn't gone far when they encountered a fork in the path.

Although Su Lun could sense the general layout of the space, he couldn't be certain where each passage would lead.

There was more than just the evil dragon inside; there were also numerous mutated monsters and some dangerously unclear areas.

At the fork, Su Lun, undecided, turned his head and asked, "Which way do you think?"

Number Nineteen pressed his lips together, seemingly unsure if his choice would be better than Su Lun's, but he suggested, "Left?"

"Good!"

With a smile, Su Lun left a spider in the right-hand passage and confidently headed left.

The two of them had walked a great distance underground, relying on metaphysics and a general sense of direction.

Although they encountered some "demonized dwarf miners," "mutated dungeon creatures," "sub-dragons of the dungeon" ... all sorts of bizarre things, really.

But none were too troublesome.

Monsters below the seventh rank were now easy for Su Lun to kill.

As they continued through the mines, slaughtering small monsters along the way, they occasionally picked up some precious ores and gemstones from the weathered bags of dwarf miner corpses.

After walking through more than ten crossroads and encountering a relatively strong monster,

Number Nineteen began to complain about Su Lun's metaphysical methods not being very scientific, saying, "You had me choose, but we still encountered monsters."

Su Lun did not mind and laughed, "No. If you hadn't chosen, we might have encountered even stronger monsters."

"..."

Number Nineteen listened and was utterly speechless, not knowing what to say in retort.

The two continued on their way, but just then, Su Lun suddenly sharpened his gaze and stopped.

Number Nineteen turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

Su Lun pondered for a moment and said, "Just now, something ate the mechanical spider I left at point A33. It's very strong, at least sixth rank, or it might have some special ability..."

Since a mechanical spider had the combat power of a third-rank monster and was silently annihilated, that "monster" must surely be troublesome.

He said, looking again at Number Nineteen, "I told you, if we had taken that road, we most likely would have encountered that monster. It seems, our luck isn't too bad."

"..."

Number Nineteen rolled his eyes and didn't say much else.

As they walked on, after crossing a seemingly bottomless stone bridge, Su Lun sensed that a huge space appeared ahead.

Su Lun discerned their rough direction for a moment, confirmed something, and guessed, "We should have arrived at the Dwarf King's Castle!"

...

The journey here really hadn't posed any major danger.

The fierce battle between the Black Dragon and the Mage Group was still raging outside, which was the best moment.

And the better news was that other monsters usually did not exist in the Black Dragon's own territory.

He did not detect any monster fluctuations in his perception.

But coincidentally, just as they passed by, Su Lun sensed a significant number of soul fluctuations.

Although the cursed space also had many demonized mountain dwarfs, they were merely monsters without complete souls.

But these souls in his perception were intact.

These were living people.

That string of soul fluctuations seemed to have come through a tunnel leading deep underground.

Su Lun immediately guessed that it might be the "Dwarf King's escape tunnel."

He also thought of something and thought, "No wonder that group of mountain dwarfs unsealed it so decisively, knowing there was this secret passage to escape."

However, this tribe of mountain dwarfs had at least hundreds of thousands of members, and it would be impossible for all of them to escape.

What puzzled Su Lun was that dozens of stronger soul fluctuations had not followed the main group; they were wandering around in the spacious hall as if searching for something.

Su Lun and Number Nineteen quietly walked past, turned a corner, and their view suddenly opened up.

The surrounding corridor was no longer a mine but was decorated with brick and stone reliefs in the characteristic style of dwarfs. The walls were adorned with golden lights, subtly exuding luxury.

Ahead, a gigantic palace nearly thirty stories high came into view.

Dozens of whale oil lamp torches on the tall columns illuminated the entire palace, reflecting a blinding brilliance of gold and silver into their eyes.

Su Lun and Number Nineteen's expressions were struck dumb for a moment!

Legends always said that dragons loved shiny things, being embodiments of greed and brutality. Yet, their lairs were always filled with treasures that amazed adventurers. Stories of dragon treasures also always appeared in the songs of minstrels, becoming the ultimate adventure dream pursued by countless adventurers.

Although Su Lun had heard various legends, seeing such an exaggerated scene truly stirred the blood of the adventurer within him.

Gold and silver coins, golden goblets, silver plates, golden scepters, gemstone crowns... all sorts of gold and silver items piled up like mountains; high-grade Magic Armor, knight's spears, two-handed swords, shields... various magical items were everywhere; and multicolored gemstones, scattered all over the ground as if they were mere stones.

Here, treasures were like sand dunes, piled up tens of meters high, filling the entire hall.

All of this was the Black Dragon's treasure!

No, it was the dwarfs'!

Dwarfs excelled at locating mineral veins, mining, and forging magical items, having always been one of the wealthiest races in legends.

However, Su Lun's gaze only lingered momentarily on the exaggerated dunes of gold and silver, then fell on the beheaded statue of the Dwarf King in the center of the hall.

The statue was a hundred meters tall but sculpted with the robustness of a dwarf.

Su Lun examined the statue and found that its material was pure 99% "Living Silver"!

One cubic meter of "Living Silver" weighed over twenty tons, and that hundred-meter-tall statue of the Dwarf King appeared to weigh over a hundred thousand tons!

And that was just the statue, not including the material forged into silver coins, silver plates, and silver bricks on the ground.

Materials of various rare metals were available at will.

With these materials, Su Lun could forge thousands of gargoyles or even super-large ones.

"I've struck it rich!"

Su Lun could hardly contain his excitement.

His main purpose in coming to the Monster Mountains was to find enough "Living Silver."

Now, seeing his goal right in front of him, how could his heart not be warmed?

...

However, as Su Lun glanced at several mountain dwarves rummaging through the treasure pile, he furrowed his brows, pondering, "What are these guys looking for?"

Among them was a sturdy dwarf with flaxen beard, wearing a crown, obviously the current "Dwarf King" of the mountain dwarves. Another was a clan leader from the Blackstone tribe whom he had met before...

These people were uninterested in the treasures, as they searched for something along the way, only occasionally stopping to examine some metal codices.

But before the dwarves could find what they were looking for, suddenly, a signal came through the silk threads.

Su Lun's eyes flashed, "The Black Dragon is returning!"

For some reason, the battle outside had suddenly erupted with both sides inflicting heavy blows on each other.

The magic formation scattered across the sky, and the Black Dragon was flying toward the nest!

He looked at the dwarves who were still stunned there and shouted in Dwarven, "The Black Dragon is returning!"

At that moment, the entire palace shook slightly, and the piercing sound of dragon's roar filled the corridors, making everyone dizzy.

The dwarves quickly came to their senses and gave Su Lun a complex look.

Hesitating for a moment, the leading Dwarf King shouted, "You can come with us!"

Su Lun naturally understood that they wanted to take him along.

Although the dwarves are hot-tempered, they also know how to show gratitude.

They have never been stingy with friends who are kind to them.

Su Lun didn't know why the Dwarf King suddenly offered him an olive branch, possibly because he had seen Su Lun constantly killing those mages? So they considered him not an enemy?

However, he couldn't leave now.

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Now that he knew where the secret passage was, leaving would not be a problem.

Su Lun said, "No, thanks. You guys go ahead. I still have things to do. I need to stop those invaders from another plane."

Although the dwarves looked puzzled when they heard this, they had no time to say more and reluctantly turned to leave.

With the Black Dragon returning to its nest, no one dared to stay any longer.

Su Lun sensed that the group of dwarves didn't escape through the passage but went to another place instead. It seemed they planned to hide and attract the Black Dragon's attention, giving their people more time to escape?

Su Lun didn't pay them much mind, and teleported directly to the grand hall. Then quickly, he released members of the Dawn Group from the small void realm. Together, they worked on inscribing a spatial formation on a statue.

A few moments later, the magic formation was completed.

With a gesture of the Suren Sorcerer's Seal, Su Lun transported the group and the entire statue into the small void realm.

Then he teleported to meet up with Number Nineteen. Instead of heading for the exit, they walked into a pitch-black corridor blowing hot winds of darkness.

....

Soon, the Black Dragon returned to its nest.

The huge underground castle vibrated violently.

The Black Dragon roared, seemingly discovering the intruders in its lair, spraying various types of dragon breath wildly.

However, coincidentally, the corridor chosen by Su Lun and his companion was not affected.

Walking fearfully for a while, Number Nineteen couldn't help asking, "Did you know the Black Dragon wouldn't come here?"

Su Lun explained, "The dark energy here masks scents, making it hard for the dragon to find us. Also, it won't come here."

Number Nineteen, puzzled, asked, "Why?"

Su Lun thought for a moment and said, "This cursed space is called 'The Dwarf King's Resentment.' That Black Dragon isn't really the one from tens of thousands of years ago, but a manifestation of the Dwarf King's resentment..."

He had encountered many strange cursed spaces before and could now say he is experienced.

Usually, breaking a cursed space involves dealing with persistent grievances, indicating that the stories hide opportunities for shortcuts.

The Dwarf King harbored this deep-seated resentment because his people had been enslaved by the Black Dragon for centuries.

So, a "host of resentment" generally wants someone in this illusionary space to help dissipate some lingering bitterness.

Thinking along these lines, Su Lun speculated, "Since it's a space of resentment, I plan to first find that 'Dwarf King' Oril's iron helmet. There's a chance. When the Black Dragon returned to its nest, I sensed a soul fluctuation deep in this corridor, which might be it."

Saying that, he paused and raised an eyebrow, "Even if I don't find it, I also plan to find a safe place to advance to Tier 7. No matter how you look at it, this underground castle seems safest right now."

Although the battle outside had temporarily ceased, the people from the Mage Legion of ten thousand hadn't all perished yet.

Su Lun felt that if he really were to go out, he would surely have to fight, and the opponents would undoubtedly use all their means to prevent him from catching his breath.

Currently, Su Lun's power wasn't strong enough, and against a Tier 8 Grand Mage, he would only have a chance of fleeing.

But if he advanced to Tier 7, his power would increase significantly, and if he couldn't defeat a Tier 8, his ability to survive would substantially improve.

Moreover, having just acquired a lot of "Living Silver," the war workshop could also increase production during the advancement.

By then, if he manages to create a few hundred to a thousand gargoyles, Su Lun wouldn't fear a mage legion of a thousand anymore.

Plus, with the Black Dragon guarding the underground castle, even if those folks discovered the secret passage, they would have to slay the dragon first.

This labyrinth-like underground castle isn't quite suited for the 'Mage Legion of Ten Thousand' to deploy their forces effectively for battle."

Failed to kill the Black Dragon outside, they are almost less likely to do so here.

As time went on, Su Lun felt that the situation would increasingly benefit his side.

"Oh..."

Hearing this, Number Nineteen realized that Su Lun had considered everything very thoroughly.

She fell silent, pondering something.

...

The two of them walked along the corridor.

But the surroundings became increasingly eerie, with no light around, only endless darkness.

The corridor also turned into a spiral staircase descending endlessly, as if it could never be reached.

The sides of the staircase were empty, swallowed by the abyss, as if a misstep would plunge you into its endless depths.

Su Lun was cautious, sensing his surroundings.

But the space here was already distorted, impossible to sense.

No wonder.

After all, this was a cursed space formed by resentment.

The black crow did not warn of any danger, and Number 19 was also by his side.

Su Lun glanced deeper, seemingly understanding something.

The endless staircase was like a cage leading to the depths of one's heart, filled with deep loneliness and self-blame. The Dwarf King Tieku Aur was enslaved by the evil dragon and could only bury this resentment in his heart.

Su Lun peeled away those distracting emotions, firmly walking down the stairs.

Finally.

After a quarter of an hour.

Sounds of "thud" "thud" "thud"... like a heavy hammer striking metal, reached his ears.

Number 19 thought he was hallucinating and glanced at Su Lun beside him.

Su Lun's gaze remained firm.

He inexplicably felt certain that this environment was like a spiritual cage.

The person imprisoned here wanted someone to set him free, to give him relief.

And sure enough, just after two more steps.

The endless staircase finally revealed its end, where light from burning magma surged up from beneath the earth.

In front of the fiery rune forge, a stocky dwarf with a face full of tea-colored beard, stepping on a bellows puffing hot air, was swinging a hammer, pounding armor on an anvil.

Su Lun spotted that set of armor instantly.

[Dragon Slayer's Dragon Scale Armor]

Quality: Legendary

Description: Dwarf King 'Tieku Aur' used his godly forging skills to covertly transform the Black Dragon Gugro's corrupted, shed scales into armor; it possesses extremely high physical and magical defenses, nearly 100% immune to the dark dragon's breath; however, since it was forged from broken scales, no one can guarantee how many dragon breath attacks it could withstand;

Analysis: Tieku Aur had tried numerous times to kill the evil dragon enslaving their mountain dwarf clan, but he died without fulfilling this wish, secretly forging this set of armor; this is a set of armor entangled with resentment, wearing it will inevitably lead to corruption from dark forces;

Looking at this armor, Su Lun could guess that this dwarf was the "master of resentment" in the entire cursed space.

The dwarf continued pounding the armor, muttering to himself in lament, as if regretting that his creation wasn't perfect enough: "It's a shame the 'Eternal Furnace' has gone out. Otherwise, I could have forged it to be even more perfect..."

The Dwarf King seemed to have been waiting for someone to rescue him.

Hearing the noise, he turned around and with his brown pupils stared eagerly at Su Lun, asking, "Young man, would you wear this armor and slay that detestable black dragon for me?"

"..."

Seeing that morbidly eager look, Su Lun surmised that rejecting would certainly bring about some unpleasant consequences.

Perhaps the Dwarf King would immediately turn malevolent and lose his sanity.

But Su Lun had not planned on refusing.

Upon seeing this armor, he knew there might be a turn of events.

A ninth tier dragon was not something he could handle. But now, with the dragon severely injured, having magic support, this armor, and the [Dragon Slayer's Dagger] in his hands,

the options were vast.

A plan flashed through his mind, and he directly said, "I would be glad to help, to free the dwarves from their abyss of enslavement. But my current strength is not enough to kill that dragon. I need some help..."

To communicate with resentment, you have to say what it wants to hear, you must agree to it.

But Su Lun was not deceiving just an NPC.

If possible, he genuinely wanted to kill that black dragon, to break open this cursed space completely and see what secrets it held.

Because, just now while descending, he saw the alchemy symbol "⍥" on the wall, one of the five mysterious symbols he had seen in the basement of Storm Manor!

So far, Su Lun had deciphered three of the symbols: Death ☽, Wisdom ꧧ, Destiny §.

This was now the fourth.

All signs indicated that this cursed space had a crucial connection to one of the five original members of the Twilight Cross Society during the dawn era!

Any relics relating to the Twilight Elders were opportunities absolutely not to be missed.

Moreover, it wasn't just this symbol.

Su Lun also saw the characteristic Ouroboros of the [Urobolos Space-Time Ring] on that forge!

At this stage, he was almost sure that this cursed space was directly related to a fragment of the Divine King's artifact.

Otherwise...

The appraisal revealed that this Dwarf King Tieku Aur was a "divine craftsman."

Su Lun's heart immediately surged with too many thoughts.

For instance, could he please repair the [War Angel's Golden Wings]?