I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

Rod raised the windproof lamp, its dim yellow light extending forward and illuminating the scene before him.

This is a wide yet oppressive corridor. The walls on both sides are not made of ordinary bricks and stones, but are made of countless black metal hooks and shackles embedded in the rock strata.

The ground was paved with grooved stone slabs, the grooves of which were dark brown and meandered deep into the corridor, eventually converging into the drainage ditches on both sides of the corridor.

"Oh my god..."

Professor Isaac gasped, but his gasp was more of a fear than an excitement.

He raised the lamp with trembling hands and shone it on the long-weathered skeletons on the wall.

Some of these skeletons were nailed to the wall, while others were locked in iron cages, their postures contorted as if they had experienced immense suffering before death.

"This is the Dead End Corridor... the real Dead End Corridor."

The professor's voice echoed in the empty corridor, sounding particularly eerie: "Historical records state that at the end of the Third Era, this was where mortal dynasties executed prisoners of war and heretical wizards. Those grooves... were used to drain blood."

Rod didn't speak; his gaze swept coldly around him.

The terrain here is narrow and full of obstacles.

"Professor, stay close to me. Don't touch anything."

Rod pulled out the steel entrenching tool from the side of his backpack. He had sharpened the blade to a razor-sharp edge before setting off.

The two walked slowly forward.

The bone fragments beneath their feet cracked and popped like thunder in the deathly silence.

After walking about fifty meters, the shadow ahead suddenly became thicker.

There was a small mountain of debris piled up there, which seemed to be a mixture of rotten wooden instruments of torture and some kind of biological excrement.

hum!

Rhode's [Danger Sense] at the back of his head suddenly activated, emitting a sharp, stinging alarm like being stung by a bee.

"Back off!"

Rhodes gave a low shout and shoved the professor, who was still studying the runes on the wall, backward with a sudden push from his left hand.

Almost simultaneously, the pile of debris suddenly exploded.

Three hunched, dark figures shot out like arrows, accompanied by a foul, stench-filled gust of wind.

They were three humanoid creatures, about the size of wolves, with festering, grayish-purple skin, long fingernails like daggers, and mouths full of jagged fangs.

Mutant ghoul!

These low-level undead creatures typically feed on carrion, but when extremely hungry, they will frantically attack any living thing.

"Ahhh!!"

Professor Isaac had never seen anything like this before. He was so frightened that his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground, the oil lamp in his hand rolling to the side.

The light and shadow instantly became chaotic and flickering.

The three ghouls had a clear division of labor: two pounced on Rhodes, who seemed more threatening, while the other circled around to the side and opened its blood-red maw to bite the professor on the ground.

"court death."

Rhodes' pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints.

Instead of retreating, he took a step forward, using the narrow corridor to block the two ghouls' attack route.

Faced with the oncoming claws, Rod didn't swing the shovel, but instead raised his left hand.

Under the cover of dim and flickering light, no one could see his movements clearly.

He flicked his left middle finger slightly.

puff!

A very thin, emerald-green phantom shot out instantly, precisely piercing the eye socket of the ghoul charging at the front.

[Poisonous Vine Demon] Neurotoxin Injection!

The ghoul was still in mid-air when its body suddenly stiffened, and its ferocious roar turned into a whimper.

The potent paralyzing toxin instantly blocked its nerve conduction, and it fell straight down at Rhodes' feet like a stone.

Immediately afterwards, Rod gripped the entrenching tool tightly in his right hand and, using the power of his waist, swung it in a wide arc for a sweeping motion.

"clang!"

The shovel blade whistled through the air as it slammed into the second ghoul's head.

The blow was powerful and heavy, and with the added strength from [Stone Skin], it directly shaved off half of the ghoul's head, splattering black blood all over the wall.

It only took two seconds to take down both of them.

At this moment, the third ghoul pounced on the professor, its foul-smelling saliva almost dripping onto his face.

"Help!!" The professor closed his eyes in despair.

Swoosh~~

The entrenching tool in Rhodes' hand flew out and spun in the air, tracing a silver disc.

puff!

The sharp blade of the shovel precisely cut into the back of the third ghoul's neck, and the enormous kinetic energy sent its body flying to the side, where it was pinned firmly to the wooden rack on the wall.

The ghoul's limbs twitched a few times, then it became completely still.

The corridor fell silent again, save for the professor's heavy breathing.

Rhodes walked over, expressionless, pulled out his entrenching tool, and wiped the blood off the ghoul's corpse.

"Professor... are you alright?"

Rhodes turned around, the cold killing intent on his face vanishing instantly, replaced by a sense of relief and tension at surviving a close call.

Professor Isaac shakily got up, picked up the oil lamp, looked at the three horrific corpses on the ground, then at Rhodes, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Rhodes...you...you just now..."

The professor pointed at the ghoul that had inexplicably stiffened and collapsed to the ground: "Why did it suddenly stop moving? And your shovel..."

"It's a powerful paralyzing agent, Professor."

Rod pulled an empty glass bottle from his pocket and explained earnestly, "When I used to work part-time in the anatomy lab at the medical school, I always carried a high concentration of neurotoxin with me to prevent corpses from coming back to life. In the heat of the moment, I spilled it out."

"As for the shovel..."

Rod brandished the weapon in his hand: "Killing a pig and killing this kind of thing actually feel pretty much the same."

While this explanation is somewhat far-fetched, it is sufficient for an ordinary professor in such a state of shock.

"So that's how it is... Alchemy potions are indeed a testament to the wisdom of mortals!"

The professor wiped the sweat from his brow, clearly unwilling to delve into the matter: "Thank goodness you were here, Rhodes. It seems bringing you down was the right decision."

"We need to get out of here quickly; the smell of blood will attract more things," Rhodes warned.

He walked up to the ghoul's lair and started rummaging through it with a shovel.

Since ghouls are lurking here, it means they must have collected something.

Ghouls have a habit of collecting luminous objects.

The shovel turned over a pile of rotten bones and rags.

Suddenly, a faint blue light flickered in the darkness.

Rod's heart skipped a beat, and he bent down to pick up the glowing object.

It was a piece of mineral about the size of a walnut, with an irregular crystalline surface, emitting a faint, pure energy fluctuation.

"This is……"

The professor leaned closer, adjusting his glasses: "Some kind of fluorescent mineral?"

"No, Professor."

Rod's fingers traced the surface of the ore, feeling its refreshing coolness, and he couldn't help but smile.

"This is raw magic stone ore."

Moreover, judging by its purity, it can be cut into at least three standard units of low-grade magic stones!

In the academy, a standard magic stone is worth 10 gold coins, a hard currency that apprentices dream of.

With this magic stone, he could not only buy spellcasting materials, but also consider trading in some higher-level equipment on the black market.

Rhodes tucked the ore into his inner pocket, lit the oil lamp, and reminded him, "Let's go, Professor, the end of the corridor should be just ahead."