"Is this a monster that has reached the second stage of strength?"
Jason crouched beside the giant beast's corpse, curiously observing it.
Overall, the corpse was relatively intact. Aside from two spikes stuck backwards into its body, only two fangs were broken.
It was a bit of a shame to see it this way. After all, a massive fang is a prime trophy.
The irregular fractures were a bit of a shame.
Thankfully, Jason clearly had no interest in such things.
The main cause of death was Porolo's lightning, which had directly impacted the beast's head, resulting in a fatal injury.
Juanlu also observed curiously from the side.
For a chef, the moment he saw the corpse, the first thing he thought was:
Is it edible?
Is it tasty?
How should it be eaten? Alka walked over and picked up the two broken tusks nearby. Looking at the two massive tusks in his hands, Alka examined the properties of their material.
"Not bad, very good material," Alka exclaimed in amazement.
These two tusks truly could be considered excellent material, not to mention their sheer size, larger than his own arms.
They were incredibly strong and possessed excellent magical conductivity. You have to remember that for materials, good magical conductivity is almost incompatible with strength.
And now he had the best of both worlds.
It seemed as if the tusks contained channels specifically designed for the transmission of magical energy.
Aside from the necessary gaps, the rest of the material was incredibly dense, practically a natural material.
Artificially smelted materials could never achieve the same level of natural craftsmanship.He walked over and squatted with Juanlu, examining every part of the monster. The fangs brought Alka many surprises, and he couldn't help but want to see what else this giant beast could contain.
"There's some strange energy hidden within this horn. The hide is tough, and the spikes are impressive too."
Clearly, the beast didn't disappoint.
Following Alka's admiration, Juanlu cut a piece of flesh from the monster's body.
Looking at the crystal-clear piece of meat in his hand, covered in beautiful veins, one could tell from its appearance that it would make a delicious dish.
The two of them began dissecting the corpse.
"The strong smell of blood, won't it attract other monsters?" Pororo asked, sniffing nearby.
They weren't in a slaughterhouse, but on a dangerous island.
For him, the smell of blood was simply too obvious.
Upon hearing this, Sofia, standing nearby, immediately cast a spell similar to a wind-blowing spell.
It blew the surrounding smell toward the seashore, preventing it from spreading.
Thankfully, Juanlu's butchering skills were excellent, and together with Alka, they had completely dissected the massive beast in less than 20 minutes.
"Aside from the blood, which isn't particularly useful, this beast is packed with treasures!" Alka observed the separated materials, shaking the blood off his hands.
The bones and fangs are made of the same material; that alone would make Alka smile for days.
The most valuable of all was the sharp horn protruding from its head.
Although Alka hadn't yet figured out how to use the horn, the leather and spikes on its body were also quite valuable.
Secondly, there was the flesh and blood from his body. Cutting off all the flesh from his body would be enough to feed everyone on the ship for a long time, not to mention that it was rich in magical energy.
He cleaned the blood off his hands and the cut materials and put them all into Juanlu's pocket ring.
Mainly, Alka's pocket ring didn't have much room left.
"Is this meat really delicious?" Lucelia couldn't help but ask nearby.
Juanlu had been exclaiming in admiration while cutting up the meat, sparking everyone's curiosity.
"Don't worry, it's absolutely delicious."
A smile crossed Juanlu's face as he spoke.
Ingredients like these would be incredibly hard to find in the Home Sea.
For a chef, creating delicious food requires not only exquisite skills but also the finest ingredients.
Both are indispensable.
Better ingredients also hone even finer skills.
The two complemented each other.
He was very satisfied with his first stop in the Boundless Sea.
Alka clearly shared his sentiments.
"Alright, let's keep going."
With that, everyone maintained their previous confrontation and began exploring the small woods ahead.
Perhaps because of the recent passage of the second-stage monster, there were almost no small animals around; they had all been scared away.
Then they saw Matlisa entering the woods, squatting here and there.
Each time, she harvested plants that the others couldn't understand.
Seeing the looks they gave her, Matlisa said somewhat embarrassedly, "Those are all excellent medicinal herbs. I'll collect some."
Everyone nodded.
Alka and Juanlu, who had just harvested a lot, understood perfectly.
"Do you want us to help?"
"No, no, I'll just pick a few," Matlisa said, waving her hand.
Despite this, as they advanced, the variety of medicinal herbs around them grew more and more, and Matlisa was completely overwhelmed and had to give up.
"The magic concentration here is too high. This high magic concentration allows for the emergence of many medicinal herbs that are rarely found in the Home Sea," Julia said, looking at the surrounding plants, almost all of which were rich in magical properties.
The magic concentration on this island is even higher than that on the surface of the Infinite Ocean.
The most bizarre thing is that the magic concentration seems to vary from area to area.
For example, the magic concentration on the beach and the adjacent plains is only slightly higher than that on the sea surface, which is within the normal range.
But this forest clearly exceeds this normal range.
These various ingredients are essentially forced out by the excessively high magic properties.
This doesn't necessarily benefit the overall balance of the environment, but it's the greatest benefit to the plants themselves.
Perhaps no one cares about the chaotic Infinite Ocean, which is already in utter chaos.
After hearing Julia's words, Simon thought for a moment and asked, "Does that mean all sorts of precious spell materials are actually scattered all over the ground here?"
Julia nodded, indicating that was exactly what she meant.
Because it wasn't just Matresa; Alka and Juanlu had also collected a considerable amount of materials along the way.
Edible fruits and vegetables, as well as some interesting wood fragments.
Even Simon himself had collected a large pile of vines from a tree.
The four people who needed various materials had a bountiful harvest here.
"I can't fit any more. My pocket ring won't hold any more," Alka said helplessly, checking his pocket ring.
Juanlu beside him nodded in agreement.
"Forget it, let's collect these after we've explored this place," Alka said reluctantly, looking at the materials around him.
Thankfully, the small woods weren't very large, and they quickly made their way out.
Ahead lay another wilderness, and the materials here were obviously much less abundant. Compared to those in the woods, the desire to collect them suddenly waned.
"This is rather desolate."
"Excessive magic power doesn't encourage all plants to grow well, especially here, where the magic seems to have shifted its properties, leaning more towards the earth element," Julia remarked.
As they walked, they mostly encountered ordinary mud and extremely tenacious weeds.
Trees and other plants were relatively rare.
Except for the dense forest they had just visited.
Walking through the wilderness, they looked at a large rock protruding from the ground not far away. Below, they saw the traces of a burning campfire, as if someone had camped there.
"Someone camped here, probably within a week," Jason said, crouching down to examine the remains of the campfire.
This only further confirmed the existence of people on the island.
Although everyone had already confirmed this.
Passing the huge rock, they continued on in the direction indicated by Alka.
Soon, they saw a large man-made structure in the wasteland, nothing more than the ruins of a massive building.
Looking at the ruins, they approached with a certain degree of caution, confirming that there was no danger nearby.
"There are footprints here, someone has been here," Jason said, observing the traces around the ruins.
Alka also found a number of traces in another area.
"So many people have been here. The traces are everywhere, from far to near, and appear at regular intervals."
Everyone looked up at the ruins and could clearly see that it was some kind of huge stone structure, which had eventually collapsed.
Even with the collapsed ruins, the stacked boulders still reached over 10 meters at their highest point.
One can imagine how magnificent the building must have been before it collapsed.
Strangely, however, there seemed to be no other ruins of related buildings nearby.
A considerable amount of weeds grew around the collapsed ruins, blending seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.
They could see that the ruins were even higher than they had seen, with much of them buried deep underground.
Many faint carvings still adorned the boulders, though over time, many had become obscured.
"I've seen similar carvings before," Lucilia said, leaping onto the ruins and carefully examining the carvings that were still visible.
"Pas... Temple."
She found a block of stone with the most carvings, carefully examining it, and then recited the characters she could recognize.
Everyone watched from the sidelines, keeping watch as Lucelia finished studying the ruins.
Lucelia possessed the most knowledge among them, perhaps even more than the rest combined.
Alka, in her dream, also realized that this was only the tip of the iceberg of Lucelia's vast knowledge.
Leave the professional to the professionals.
With Lucelia's impressive knowledge, she could easily play the role of archaeologist.
One could even say that most archaeologists were less knowledgeable than her.
Due to the limited exposed stone blocks of the ruins, and the passage of time, Lucelia's simple interpretation didn't take long.
Looking at the crowd, she said, "These carvings are mentioned in books, but they're much older. Hmm... a similar existence is the Malkva Empire, which is recorded as having perished approximately 3,800 years ago.
The writing they use seems to be a simplified version of the civilization these ruins belonged to, so the Malkva Empire must be the successor to the civilization these ruins once existed in."
Listening to Lucelia's words, everyone was slightly confused.
They were somewhat confused.
For example, who was the Malkva Empire?
Looking at the expressions on their faces, Lucelia knew they didn't quite understand.
"Well, that's why you need to read more. All you need to know is that these ruins are the more distant ancestors of a country that existed 5,000 years ago."
With that, everyone understood.
Simply put, it's the ancestral civilization of an ancient civilization.
"Judging from the carvings and the text, this must be some kind of temple."
"Based on the legible handwriting, and the records I've seen before, if I read it in their language, it should be..."
Lucelia spoke in an unknown language.
This must have been the former name of this ruined building.
So, how many languages does she know?
Alka thought helplessly.
He had probably learned seven or eight different languages from Lucelia, yet Lucelia could still speak many he had never heard of.
What he had learned was probably just a tiny fraction.
The languages Lucelia taught him were the ones she thought were most widely spoken.
As she finished her words,
A light breeze blew around them.
This breeze made Julia, slightly wary, frown.
"Be careful! The concentration of magic energy around us seems to be increasing."
As soon as these words were spoken, the ruins beneath their feet began to shake.
Just as everyone was about to leave, a burst of energy spread out from the ruins.
They were instantly frozen in place and then disappeared.
The entire process was incredibly fast, like the blink of an eye.
The ripples of energy that spread out alarmed some of the other people on the island.
For example, in a certain strange town.
"Another temple has been opened? Which little bastard is wandering around again?"
A middle-aged man wearing leather armor and holding a book said.
At his words, the people who were talking nearby turned their heads.
"Chief, do you want us to send someone over to check it out?"
"Will these beasts riot again? We don't know what it could be."
"Who knows? Maybe a meteorite will fall on us."
"Stop making sarcastic remarks!"
"Sarcastic remarks? It's not like you didn't get hit by one when you were a kid!"
Looking at the people around him arguing, the man known as the Hand shook his head helplessly.
"Alright, everyone stay alert, increase patrols, and keep an eye on those little bastards. Bai Shi, take a team and check it out."
The man known as Bai Shi nodded.
Then the men followed their orders and began to move.
Meanwhile, Alka and the others, who had been frozen and disappeared, had arrived at a strange space.
"It's so dark, so where exactly are we now?"
Jason rubbed his head, which had been bruised by the impact, and looked around.
Speckles of light flickered, and one by one, balls of light floated out from Sofia's position, illuminated by her control.
Everyone stood up and surveyed their surroundings.
"Is everyone alright?" Alka turned to survey the group.
Seeing everyone shaking their heads, Alka counted the number of people, confirming they were all alright before nodding.
Only then did he begin to observe his surroundings.
They seemed to have landed in some kind of underground cavity, and their voices had a slight echo.
This indicated that the cavity was not small and quite spacious.
Of course, all of this was evident.
As more
A ball of light floated out, completely illuminating the entire space, allowing them to observe its full panorama.
They landed on a platform within the vast cavern.
The platform was clearly man-made, circular in shape. The stone floor had been polished perfectly smooth, revealing carved patterns.
Very... regular.
Four bridges formed a cross, connecting the central platform. The bridges were approximately four meters wide, flanked by stone pillars resembling braziers.
A closer look revealed four brazier-like pillars on each side.
Beyond the platform lay a pitch-black abyss. Alka looked down, its depth unfathomable. He threw a piece of rubble from the side, but heard no echo.
Four massive stone pillars extended upward from the abyss, their platforms level with their own.
Each stone pillar held a fully clothed humanoid statue. Beyond its outer form, no facial carvings were visible.
The statues stood roughly 12 meters tall, all holding hands, yet their hands held nothing.
In addition, in the center of the platform they were standing on, stood a stone sculpture resembling a holy grail.
The surrounding scene captivated everyone's attention. They remained vigilant, observing everything around them.
"It must have been a long time since anyone has been here."
Jason looked at the print he had left on the ground after landing, as well as the dust that covered him.
Every step they took sent dust flying.
The thick dust was enough to show how long it had been since anyone had set foot here.
Arka stood there, frowning as he recalled how they had arrived. "We're most likely here because of that unknown language Lucilia spoke?" Alka said uncertainly.
After Lucilia spoke the name of the temple in a language they couldn't understand, strange phenomena began to appear.
The increased concentration of magic power, the breeze, and the waves transmitted by the vibrations brought them to this place.
Hearing this, Sofia looked at Lucilia, who was dusting herself off, and asked, "So what did you mean?"
"The Temple of Parsteva. I just said the name of this temple in a language similar to that of this civilization," Lucilia said.
She hadn't expected that simply saying the temple's name would activate something and bring them here.
"Forget it, let's split up and see if there's any way out. Also, check if there's any danger inside. Remember to watch your step and don't fall."
Alka said, and began to survey the entire platform.
The crowd dispersed slightly, but kept a distance.
Arka first looked at the Holy Grail sculpture in the center of the platform.
The Holy Grail sculpture was about 1.5 meters tall, completely empty inside.
The Holy Grail was engraved with incomprehensible patterns.
Then Arka, Shadati, and Lusilia followed the stone bridge connecting the platform to the other side.
The materials in the stone braziers on either side of the bridge had long since stopped burning.
After reaching the other side, the group discovered that this place was actually filled with rows and rows of seats.
They were arranged in four steps, rising upwards, surrounding the entire platform.
Aside from that, there was nothing special about the other side, no passages or drawbridges connecting to the outside.
This place seemed to be a completely enclosed, vast underground cavity.
We had no choice but to turn our attention to the carvings, to see if Lucelia could discover anything.
After about half an hour, everyone gathered in the center of the platform again.
They began sharing their discoveries.