I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 224 The Surprise in the Cave
……

……

Apart from the Winter Guards, everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned.

Including Gonle, Aleya, and the White Wolf.

None of them had ever seen Rhode's Flaming Slash before, and they were all terrified.

"I rely on!"

Gunle's eyes widened, and he swallowed hard.

"Is that human being?!"

"hiss!"

Seeing the little spiders being engulfed by flames, the cave spider let out a sharp hiss!

Its eight compound eyes instantly turned blood red, and its thick limbs suddenly leaped up, lunging towards Rhodes!

At this moment, an icy blue chill spewed from the white wolf's mouth, completely engulfing the cave spider demon!

In the blink of an eye, the originally black spider demon turned completely white, shrunk into an ice ball and crashed in front of Rhodes, its spider legs still twitching.

"Chop it up!"

Without Rhodes having to lift a finger, Gunle and the Winter Guards swarmed forward and dismembered the Spider Demon!

The hunting party quickly ran up to clear away the remaining small spiders and packed up the corpse of the cave spider demon to take away.

Rhodes put away Ashbringer and began to review his system notifications.

[Hunting Lord (Purple): All the beasts within your territory are terrified by your reputation. Young beasts dare not move in your presence, ferocious beasts fear you and dare not display their fangs and claws, submitting willingly. The magical beasts in your territory are even more likely to submit to you.]

You possess extensive hunting knowledge, extraordinary archery skills, and keen perception;
Under your influence, your followers have developed exceptional talent in hunting, archery, and trap making.

You can easily find gathering places of wild animals (freshwater fish), learn about the habits of various wild animals, and understand their mutation paths;
You can see the potential of wild animals, tap into their potential, and cure their diseases;
You continuously strengthen your physique by consuming wild game. There is a small chance that the flesh and blood of magical beasts that are suitable for your physique will grant you additional traits or abilities.

Your people's physique will also be nourished by wild game, giving them superhuman strength. The specific effects depend on their level of faith in you (betraying their faith will result in a backlash from this nourishment).

[At the same time, since the Breeding Lord (purple) attribute has been unlocked, the mating season of wild beasts in the territory is extended by 50%, their reproductive capacity is increased by 20%, and the chance of them mutating into monsters is increased by 1%]

[Additionally, since the Crop Lord (purple) stat has been unlocked, the yield of wild crops within the territory is increased by 50%, and the chance of wild plants becoming enchanted is increased by 0.5%]

"Enhance physical fitness, improve archery skills, increase the reproductive capacity of wild animals in the territory, and increase the production of wild plant resources?"

Rhodes gave a brief summary.

Not only that, the people's abilities were also enhanced, but they had to have faith in themselves.

Rhodes understood that the Hunting Lord had a certain aura effect, which was effective even on "his own people".

However, the so-called "nourishment backlash" surprised Rhodes.

This reaction reminded Rhodes of some legends about the land of the gods and about the church.

For example, if their paladins betray their faith, they will lose their abilities and may even become fallen knights entangled in negative energy.

Could the power of my own affixes really be related to divine power?
Or is it that all energy ultimately leads to the same destination?
In any case, now all I have left is the Mine Lord title, and I can unlock the gold attribute for Nature Grand Lord!

Rhodes stopped making useless guesses and gripped his dragonbone longbow.

Sure enough, a strangely familiar feeling suddenly appeared.

It was as if the dragonbone longbow was a part of his own body, and he could control it without restraint.

The white wolf cautiously approached and carefully examined Rhodes.

"When did you become so strong?"

"Ok?"

Rhodes was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant.

"You mean the Flaming Slash from earlier?"

"It mainly relies on the enchantment effect of Ashbringer."

Rhodes pulled out Ashbringer and placed it in front of the White Wolf.

The white wolf sniffed it, carefully sensing the scent.
"Yes, it has a magical aura, but it requires pure, scorching energy to fully activate."

White Wolf looked at Rhodes, "Your scorching energy is already terrifying."

"Since you put it that way, it seems that the legacy of the Flame Infusion Forging has changed me quite a bit."

Rhodes briefly described to the White Wolf how he obtained the extraordinary gem and the arduous process of receiving his inheritance.

Of course, absorption can only be described as inexplicable absorption, without mentioning a system.

"It seems that the inherited magic not only brought you knowledge, but also completely mutated your physique, making your energy purer."

Rhodes nodded.

White Wolf's words also corroborate Durant's previous statement.

As the human and the wolf were conversing, Aleya approached, bowed, and reported.
"My lord, the spider corpses have all been cleaned up. Shall we enter the cave now?"

"Ah."

Rhodes nodded instinctively, then frowned.
"Wait a moment"

Rhodes looked at Vivian.
"There seems to be something wrong with the number of these little spiders."

"With so many baby spiders, why did we only find two adult cave spider demons?"

Rhodes was puzzled. "It can't be such a coincidence. They just moved here, and this is their first time breeding here, right?"

"These little spiders will fight each other as they grow."

Vivian explained helplessly, "And sometimes, adult spider demons will even use these little spiders as food to replenish their energy."

"Okay, then why was it so angry when it killed those little spiders?"

Rhodes shook his head slightly with a sigh, "That's really interesting."

"Maybe it considers these little spiders its property, and it gets angry when its property is gone."

Vivian pondered for a moment and said, "But it seems that only two spider demons are a bit few."

"Perhaps there are other adult spiders?"

The white wolf asked in confusion, "Hiding deep in the cave?"

Rhodes stood up and cautiously surveyed the cave.

After thinking for a moment, Rhodes shook his head slightly.

"Our battle was so intense just now, if there were other adult spider demons in the cave, would they have stayed there obediently?"

Regardless, we need to get it verified again.

Rhodes sent Aleya to prepare some more prey, repeating his previous tactic.

But there was no further movement inside the cave.

Even if the prey is tied with a rope and thrown into the cave, there is no reaction, and the prey is unharmed.

I tested it for a day.

There was still no response the next day, so Rhodes sent a hunting party in to investigate.

……

……

The orange firelight illuminated the cave walls.

Gunle led the way with a torch, followed by the Winter Guards, protecting Aleia's hunting party behind them.

Everyone wore burlap to cover half their face, trying to block out the fishy, ​​foul smell inside.

The boots made a soft "creaking" sound as they stepped into the rocky cave, which was particularly clear in the silent cave.

The ground was covered with tiny spider webs and broken spider eggshells.

The hunting party followed behind, collecting all the items into bags.

They followed behind, carrying torches and searching carefully, leaving nothing out that might be of value.

There were also some spider eggs that hadn't hatched, which the Iron Guards smashed without hesitation with a single sword strike.

A dark green, viscous liquid gushed out from within, along with the small spider demons that were about to take shape, all of which were chopped in half by the Iron Guards.

"Aleya, come look here."

Before long, Gunle stopped and pointed with his torch to the wide cave on his left.

Aleya stepped forward.

The cave was filled with spider webs, and the ground beneath your feet was no longer pebbles, but a smooth rock surface worn down as if by countless claws.

The firelight illuminated the surroundings, revealing the cave walls covered with a dense array of scratches of varying depths.

"This should also be the nest of those two adult cave spider demons."

Aliya waved her hand, and the members of the hunting party went inside to begin cleaning up the things inside.

The hunters held torches, their light illuminating a pile of scattered bones.
—Some were from wild animals, others resembled humans; the old ones were moldy, while the new ones were stained with dried blood and emitted a pungent, fishy smell.

As the hunters entered, a low hum could be faintly heard in the darkness beyond the reach of the firelight, like countless tiny claws crawling on the rocks.

"Get rid of these disgusting creatures, don't let them get in the way."

Everyone knows these are small spiders, so nobody is afraid.

Without needing any guards, the hunting party, armed with short swords, slew all of the dozen or so small spider demon hatchlings, each about the size of a bread crab.

The hunting party quickly began searching the cave, stuffing piles of sticky spider silk into bags.

Unfortunately, after cleaning up the cave, there were no valuable items besides some iron pieces.

Alaya stood up, somewhat disappointed.

Holding torches, they stepped out of the cave and continued to peer deeper into it.

"Should we continue?" Gunle asked, standing beside him.

Aleya nodded. "I think we should move on. Lord Rhodes needs us to figure out the details of this lair."

Aleya looked at the blurry light behind her, "We've only walked a few hundred meters, haven't we?"

"Alright, let's move on then."

Gunle continued onward with the Winter's Iron Guard.

At first, there were some spider webs and spider eggs on both sides of the cave, but after walking a few hundred meters, there was no longer any trace of the cave spiders.

The team continued along the cave but found no trace of anything.

Aleya's torch gradually dimmed, emitting wisps of black smoke.

The hunting team leader immediately took out a new torch and lit it, illuminating the cave.

"Lord Gunther, is it not over yet?"

Aleya couldn't help but say, "We've already used up two torches."

"Then we've really come a long way."

Gunther frowned involuntarily.

A torch can travel about two to three kilometers.

Even if they moved slowly in the cave, they must have traveled four or five kilometers.

"There's nothing here."

The hunting party leader tentatively suggested, "Why don't we go back and report to the lord first?"

"Yes, if it goes on for too long, the lord will also worry."

Gunther nodded.

Aleya agreed with everyone's point of view, and the team immediately changed direction.

The firelight swept across an inconspicuous spot on the rock face, reflecting a faint glow.

"Ok?"

Aleya stopped in her tracks.

"Wait a moment."

She raised the torch and carefully observed the rock face.

Something's not right here.

Stones cannot reflect such luster—it is the luster of some kind of metallic ore vein.

Gunle quickly walked over and gently stroked the rock face. "This is..."

His voice was filled with surprise, "Ore?"

Aleya nodded and took out a dagger to try to pry it off.

However, the ore was so hard that the dagger couldn't pry it off at all.

Gunle hurriedly took out his battle axe and chopped at it several times before he could cut off a small piece.

"Pretty hard."

Gunther couldn't help but sigh.

Ordinary ores can't withstand so many blows from his enchanted battle axe.

Gunle held the ore in his hand and placed it under the torch, where he could see the blue veins on the ore.

"Just by looking at it, we can be sure that this thing is extremely valuable!"

Gunle was overjoyed.

Aleya grabbed the ore.

"Quick, let's show this to the lord and see what it is!"

The group quickly ran out of the cave.

……

……

outside the cave.

I've already eaten lunch.

Rhodes received the message only once.

It was not long after they went in that morning, when the hunter came out carrying two bags of materials including small spider demons and spider web eggshells.

"Most of the day has already passed."

Rhodes frowned. "Could there really be something big inside?"

The white wolf stood at the cave entrance, turned its head,

"I didn't hear any sound, nor did I hear any magical fluctuations."

Rhodes pondered for a moment, "Logically speaking, even if we encountered terrifying creatures, surely not one of us would be unable to escape?"

Da da da……

As soon as Rhodes finished speaking, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from inside the cave.

"Our people?"

Rhodes listened to the rhythm of the footsteps and gestured for the people around him to put down their spears.

Sure enough, torches appeared not long afterward.

Aleya moved lightly and quickly, running out of the cave.
"My lord, we've found this!"

Rhodes squinted, staring at the dark blue ore in Aleya's hand.

When she was about to run out, Rod's expression clearly froze.
"This is... the Sea-Patterned Demon Iron?"

Rhodes' eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed Aleya's wrist and took the ore into his hand.

The warmth of Rhodes's palm made Aleya's cheeks flush slightly; this was the first time she had experienced such intimate contact, and her body stiffened, making her afraid to move.

Rod paid no attention to any of that, his eyes fixed on the ore.

"It really is Sea-Patterned Demon Iron!"

Rod was overjoyed!

To be precise, this is Seaweed Demon Iron Ore!

The most basic material for making Lapis Lazuli!

With this, Rhodes could even create an enchanted heavy infantry legion!

Rod's Adam's apple bobbed; he cleared his throat and adjusted his tone.
"Is it inside the cave?"

"Yes, my lord!"

Aleya nodded repeatedly, "Lord Gonle cut it off the rock face."

"It was cut off from the rock face..."

Rod smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

This is undoubtedly the Sea Wraith Iron Ore!
"Eh?"

Rhodes suddenly realized something was wrong. "Which direction did you go after entering the cave?"

"First go straight, then turn right... it should be heading east."

"Isn't the coast just to the east?"

Rhodes silently calculated the time and distance, then asked, "Have you reached the end of the cave?"

"No."

Aleya said confidently, "It must be quite far inside, but we were afraid you'd be getting impatient, so we rushed back."

"I turned my head and saw this piece of ore."

"Yes, you did a great job."

Rhodes turned to look west and casually ordered, "Have the hunting party rest first, then pack some food and continue exploring to see what's inside the cave."

"Yes, my lord."

Aleya respectfully responded and immediately withdrew to relay the order.

Vivian followed Rhodes's gaze and looked eastward.

"Your Excellency, what are you looking at?"

Rhodes shook his head slightly.
"It's nothing, just a guess."

……

……

In the southwestern border of the Shattered Rock Empire, the town of Herb Town lies silently nestled in the embrace of the mountains.

The town of Vanilla is named after its specialty vanilla.

But at this moment, the rich aroma of vanilla could not mask the stench of decay permeating the air.

Wearing a black cloak, Lu Sen ignored his exhaustion from days of travel and frowned as he observed his surroundings.

A bloody battle had just taken place here, and dark red bloodstains were everywhere on the stone pavement.

Broken armor plates and bits of flesh were scattered everywhere, emitting a nauseating stench.

The houses on both sides of the street were all dilapidated, some had collapsed, and were covered with charred marks.

"Lucen?"

A familiar voice came from the wooden house by the street.

He turned around, and Linda came out.
Her long hair was somewhat disheveled, and her robe was stained with blood.

"what happened?"

Luxen frowned as he looked at Linda's robe, and asked with some concern, "Didn't those soldiers protect you well?"

"No, I was just mixing some potions and got some blood on myself."

Linda smiled nonchalantly and asked, "What brings you here?"

"Didn't they find that necromancy array here again?"

Lusen explained, "Zoya is still studying the previous one, and the wise man sent me here to take a look."

Linda curled her lip and looked Lusen up and down. "So you've started learning about soul-based wizardry too?"

"Why don't we just make copies of those magic arrays?"

Luxen said with a smile, "Just compare it with the previous one and see what the difference is."

"Oh,"

Linda nodded slightly, lowered her voice, and leaned forward to ask, "So you're not going to take care of the wizard tower that you've been in charge of deciphering?"

"Didn't the wise man say...that it concerns our destiny?"

"We've found the right direction; the rest is up to time and everyone."

Luxen puffed out his chest and said with a proud look, "A genius always does something more valuable."

"..."

Linda couldn't stand it and turned her face away, but she didn't argue.

It was indeed Lucien and the Wise Man who found the key to unlocking the Wizard's Tower.

"Alright, since you're here, help me prepare the potion."

Linda turned and walked towards the house. "Many people here are infected with that corpse poison. We need to detoxify them before they mutate."

"no problem."

Luxem readily agreed.

"Oh, right, wait a moment, Linda."

Luxen remembered something, took a leather bag out of his bag, and handed it to Linda.
"A letter and a gift from Lord Rhodes."

"Letters and gifts?"

Linda turned around, somewhat surprised, and looked at Lucien with curiosity.

"See for yourself, we didn't open it."

Luxem passed it forward a little further.

"oh oh."

Linda quickly took the purse and took out the letters from it.

Remove the wax seal and then look at it carefully.

The message was brief. Rhodes thanked Linda for leading the refugees there, bringing life to Black Pine Ridge and giving many people a chance to survive.

If possible, Linda could continue to guide the refugees there.

Rhodes was willing to accept it.

Linda read the letter and put it away, then took out a gift from her purse.

A beautiful bone hairpin.

Exquisite patterns are carved on the smooth, milky-white bone, with each line meticulously detailed.

The most striking feature is the many tiny scales inlaid on the hairpin, which shimmer with a soft glow in the sunlight.

Exquisite yet imbued with a raw, wild charm.

"These are... scales of a wyvern?"

Linda instinctively covered her mouth.
"Could this bone also be from a wyvern?"

Lucien was somewhat surprised, examining the bone hairpin. "It feels like... why don't you try guiding magic and see?"

"That won't do, what if you break it?"

Linda quickly and carefully put the bone hairpin away, a joyful smile spreading across her face.

"I didn't expect Baron Rhodes to be so thoughtful with gifts. Knowing that we don't like ordinary jewelry, he gave us such unique pieces."

"I doubt Baron Rhodes has any jewelry either."

Luxen added with a smile, then changed the subject.
"Alright, hurry up and prepare the potion."

Looking at the mess around him, Lu Sen said, "After we're done, we still need to go check out the necromancy circle. Things are getting more and more chaotic."

"it is good."

Linda's smile faded, and her expression turned serious.

The two then went into the herbal medicine shop and got to work.

(End of this chapter)