Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3921: A Subterranean World

The old man slowly looked up.

”I...” He hesitated. ”I haven’t seen that crest.”

Lin Mu waited patiently.

”But...” The old man pointed toward the curved horns attached to the gemstone. ”Those.”

Lin Mu’s heartbeat subtly quickened. ”What about them?”

The old man slowly turned toward the grotesque effigy.

”You remember what I told you earlier. Every community possesses a different effigy.”

Lin Mu nodded.

”They’re all similar, but the skulls differ. Some have longer jaws, some have larger teeth and some possess strange growths.” He narrowed his eye while recalling old memories. ”And... Some have different horns too.”

Lin Mu’s attention became fully focused.

”I’ve seen prisoners carrying tattoos.”

”Tattoos?” Lin Mu asked.

The old man nodded. ”The stronger communities often mark themselves. They carve the image of their own deity onto their bodies.”

”I’ve seen one.” He slowly pointed toward the drawing again. ”The horns looked very similar and they curved almost exactly like these.”

”I believe...” He paused. ”...their effigy probably looks similar too.”

Lin Mu’s heart finally sped up. After wandering blindly since entering the Mad Demon Depths, he had finally obtained a genuine lead... His first real clue.

If the crest truly shared similarities with another community’s effigy... Then perhaps the connection extended deeper.

Perhaps the emblem originated from the same source. And perhaps the answers he sought waited there.

Lin Mu immediately asked, ”Where is this community?”

The old man slowly pointed into the darkness beyond the tunnels. ”Somewhere inside the great forest. I don’t know exactly where as we’ve never gone that far. But they’re definitely below.”

Several prisoners immediately volunteered. ”My lord! We can take you to the descent.”

”We know the safest route.”

”We’ve gathered wood there many times.”

Lin Mu gave a small nod. ”Lead the way.”

Then without wasting any more time the prisoners immediately stood. A few quickly fashioned crude rope lines from braided vines and old cloth while others collected several burning branches to illuminate portions of the route.

The journey began almost immediately as they left the mound behind and passed through winding tunnels. They crossed narrow ledges carved into ancient stone and went deeper as several passages descended steeply enough that everyone had to climb using both hands.

The further they traveled the colder the air became. And after nearly three hours the tunnel finally ended. Lin Mu stepped onto the edge of an enormous cliff and the moment he looked forward, he quietly stopped.

His eyes widened ever so slightly as the entire world before him had changed. The oppressive maze of rocky tunnels disappeared completely and an unimaginably vast underground landscape stretched beyond the cliff.

The ceiling towered high overhead.

Even with Lin Mu’s eyesight it remained difficult to judge the exact height. Countless patches of glowing moss covered the rocky roof. The moss here grew far denser than anything he had seen within the upper tunnels.

Its pale green radiance gently illuminated the entire underground world. The light remained dim, yet compared to the darkness above, it almost resembled daylight.

Lin Mu used the Night Eye Trumpet Flower once more and the darkness immediately receded. His vision expanded dramatically and below an enormous forest spread across the cavern floor.

Ancient trees stretched in every direction. Massive trunks rose toward the distant ceiling. Dense canopies merged together into an endless sea of dark green. Scattered clearings interrupted the forest at irregular intervals.

Narrow rivers reflected the pale moss light like silver ribbons while towering stone pillars rose naturally from the cavern floor, reaching toward the distant roof like mountains holding up the underground sky.

The prisoners had described the place as stretching for several kilometers.

But Lin Mu quickly realized they had vastly underestimated its size. ’Of course.’

He could hardly blame them as their eyesight remained limited. The dim light concealed distant landmarks and most had never ventured beyond the edges. Lin Mu, however, viewed everything through the enhanced vision granted by the Night Eye Trumpet Flower.

His gaze continued pushing farther into the distance.

The forest refused to end and even after dozens of kilometers he still saw more trees, more rivers and hundreds more rocky formations along with hills that disappeared into darkness. Seeing this his expression gradually became serious.

’This...’ He quietly estimated the scale. ’At the very least, it is a hundred kilometers. Or perhaps even larger.’ The realization settled heavily within his mind.

The Mad Demon Depths had grown even more mysterious. What he had previously mistaken for a prison, now resembled an entire hidden world buried beneath the earth.

Lin Mu stood silently at the edge of the colossal cliff, his gaze sweeping across the seemingly endless underground world stretching before him. The forest below resembled a dark ocean.

Even with the assistance of the Night Eye Trumpet Flower, Lin Mu found it difficult to perceive the true limits of the subterranean world. His estimate of one hundred kilometers suddenly felt conservative.

There could very well be much more hidden beyond what even his enhanced eyesight could perceive. As he continued studying the landscape, another familiar voice suddenly echoed within his mind.

”I did not expect there to be a subterranean world here.”

Lin Mu’s eyes widened slightly.

”Senior Xukong?” he responded inwardly.

The spider’s calm voice carried a hint of surprise.

”Indeed.”

Lin Mu looked around once more before asking, ”This is actually considered a subterranean world?”

He had certainly heard of such places before. Entire worlds often possessed enormous hollow regions buried beneath their surface. Some had formed naturally over countless millions of years due to geological changes.

While others had been created by ancient experts whose powers could reshape continents. Regardless of their origin, many eventually became complete ecosystems as water collected naturally and minerals accumulated.

Qi circulated through the underground terrain and given enough time, life inevitably flourished. Some subterranean worlds remained relatively small while others rivaled entire continents.

Many races had even adapted to living permanently beneath the earth. Dwarves built magnificent kingdoms within underground mountain ranges while Dark Elves established sprawling cities among giant fungi and crystal forests.

Entire tribes of Molemen tunneled through vast networks beneath countless worlds.