All players: I can choose my own dungeon rewards.

"Don't just stand there, put the crystal ball in and try it."

In front of the tree trunk that suddenly grew taller and bigger, the boy named Hank still had a look of surprise on his face. Wang Zhifan next to him pointed at the hole on the trunk and reminded the boy.

"Oh well!"

This reminder suddenly woke the boy, who was seeing a strange sight for the first time, and he reacted as if from a dream. He quickly put the glowing crystal ball in his hand into the tree hole.

I have to say that this round hole in the tree trunk is only slightly larger than the crystal ball, so it fits perfectly.

When the young man placed the crystal ball inside, its brightness increased again, and the originally slight vibration became more violent, as if it was about to explode.

"What's wrong with it? Should we stay away from it?"

The aboriginal boy's face became nervous upon seeing this, and he wanted to run away, but when he saw Wang Zhifan beside him was calm and unmoved, he couldn't help but ask with a guilty conscience.

"No, it won't explode."

Wang Zhifan answered calmly, his eyes fixed on the crystal ball that was shaking wildly in the tree hole and was about to jump out.

As a person with very strong perception, he could easily determine the energy trajectory of an explosive, but the crystal ball in front of him was not one of them. All its energy movement routes pointed to the top of the tree.

Sure enough, about three seconds later, in the sight of the two people, the crystal ball that was dazzlingly bright and vibrating violently suddenly died down as if it had exhausted all its strength. Its light quickly went out, and the vibrations also slowed down rapidly to a stop.

At the same time, a large light blue halo with a diameter of more than one person slowly appeared above the big tree, appearing in the air more than ten meters high.

The inside of the aperture is filled with a blue light that is lighter than the outer edge, and slight ripples like water waves are constantly appearing. A vague palace is vaguely visible inside, and people can guess what it is at a glance.

"Brother! It's a portal! There must be treasure inside! We succeeded!"

Witnessing such a strange sight, the sword-wielding native boy Hank couldn't help but get very excited, his face turning a little red with excitement.

"Hmm... I can sense a very significant fluctuation in the laws of space... Let's go in and take a look."

After looking up and observing the portal created by the crystal ball for two seconds and confirming that there were no major problems, Wang Zhifan grabbed Hank's shoulders, took off from the ground and jumped into the blue light circle with him.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them simultaneously crossed the pale blue circular light curtain in front of them and came to an ancient palace that exuded a bit of mold and rotten odor.

"Ugh! It smells terrible!"

The young Hank was immediately choked by the strange smell and retched several times.

Wang Zhifan's expression did not change much. He glanced around slowly, looked at the many glowing crystal decorations inlaid on the top and walls of the palace, turned to Hank and said:

"Aren't you looking for treasures that can be sold? I think these shining crystals are good."

However, what surprised him a little was that his words only earned him a puzzled look from the young Hank, who responded:

"Brother, ever since the magic tide reached its lowest point, ordinary glowing crystals have become worthless. Otherwise, I would have sold the crystal ball to my younger brothers and sisters to treat their illnesses..."

"Ahem...I was just joking."

Realizing that he might have made a common sense mistake in the current world, Wang Zhifan quickly coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.

Young Hank didn't dwell on this topic too much. He then asked about a situation that concerned him:
"Brother, why do I feel... this stench is very similar to the smell of a corpse? There is a large cemetery outside our town, and some of the dug graves emit this smell..."

"Yes, there are corpses not far from here. There are quite a few of them, and they are still alive."

Wang Zhifan smiled after hearing this, and it was unclear whether he was admiring the boy's accurate judgment or for some other reason.

"Ah? Zombies? No, they should be called zombies! Where are they? I heard that if these things bite someone, they will die!"

Hank suddenly became nervous after hearing this. He stretched his neck and looked left and right with the dagger in his hand, fearing that a scary thing would suddenly jump out and bite him.

Wang Zhifan did not respond to his scream, but held the Qingdi Sword in his left hand, which had not yet been unsheathed, and walked towards a tightly closed stone door in front of him.

It can be found that the ancient palace they are currently in is almost completely closed. Apart from a few rows of ventilation holes on the walls, there is only one stone door leading to other places. However, this stone door has been closed for a long time and it seems that ordinary means cannot break it open.

Walking to the stone gate, under the illumination of the glowing crystal above the stone gate, Wang Zhifan clearly saw many text symbols on the stone gate that he could not understand, arranged together in complex patterns. He didn't know whether it was a magic circle or some special message.

He turned to look at the native boy who had followed him and motioned for him to interpret it, but the boy immediately shook his head, indicating that he didn't know these things either, and said:

"Brother, my family doesn't have the money to send me to the Mage Academy. I can't possibly understand these things."

"Then we can only do it forcefully?"

Staring at the strange stone door in front of him, looking left and right, just before Wang Zhifan was about to draw his sword and chop it down, he relied on his powerful perception to discover a hidden energy node on the stone door, and immediately reached out and pressed it hard.

In an instant, accompanied by a loud bang, the stone door automatically opened to both sides, revealing a dark passage in front. It also emitted a foul odor that was ten times stronger than before, as well as muffled roars and hurried footsteps coming from the darkness.

"Follow me."

Wang Zhifan saw that his expression was still calm. He told the boy behind him, who was frightened and retreating, to catch up as soon as possible, and then he walked forward.

I saw that the Qingdi Sword in his left hand was still unsheathed, but he raised his right hand and threw out a glowing ball of light, illuminating the depths of the passage.

It was the Light Spell from the Wizard's Power Box, which he temporarily deployed into the spell slot.

Then, from the depths of the passage illuminated by the ball of light, rotten corpses in various attire rushed out.

Some of them looked like ordinary civilians, while others looked like mercenaries wearing leather armor and holding swords and shields.

Each of them looked as horrible as a stiff and rotten corpse, but they moved swiftly and fiercely, launching a fierce attack on anyone who entered the passage.

However, the next moment, these beings, which might be the corpse ghosts mentioned by Hank, all froze in place, covered with white ice crystals, unable to move at all. Wang Zhifan, who activated the power of ice, stepped past these completely frozen monsters with a knife in hand, just like walking through a large ice sculpture exhibition on a cold winter day.

The young man Hank who was following behind him was so surprised when he saw this scene that the dagger in his hand fell to the stone slab on the ground with a crisp sound. He murmured with disbelief in his eyes:

"Brother...you are actually...a powerful magician?"

Wang Zhifan did not answer him. He walked forward and stopped at the cave connected to the passage in front.

In the cave lay the skeleton of a gigantic snake that was more than ten meters long. Next to the skeleton were some incomplete human bones, some broken weapons, and several old empty boxes with their lids opened.

"We are late. The treasures here have long been taken away."

After quickly checking the situation in the cave, Wang Zhifan made a judgment and turned to the boy Hank who ran to his side and said.

Young Hank was unusually calm and pointed to a staircase on the top of the cave wall without caring much, and responded:

"It's okay, there is still hope. My grandfather said that this treasure must be huge and it can't be emptied easily."

"Tell me what else your grandfather told you about this treasure."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhifan asked bluntly and did not continue to lead the boy to the back.

"Well... I was less than ten years old at that time, so I don't remember it clearly..."

After hearing this, the young man couldn't help but touch his head, trying hard to recall, or rather, considering which part to tell Wang Zhifan.

"My grandfather told me that this crystal ball is very precious and can take me to a place with many treasures...

But it is also very dangerous in there. Not only are there various monsters guarding the treasure, but there are also other mercenaries or bounty hunters with crystal balls who come here to look for treasure...

Grandfather warned me that I must be strong enough to go in with trusted companions, and find as many treasures as possible, and never covet treasures beyond my ability..."

The young man's narration gave Wang Zhifan a more complete understanding of this treasure trove.

To put it simply, this place is more like a treasure maze set up by an unknown entity, and the crystal ball is the key to enter.

There are neither too many nor too few keys in the world, and you need a certain amount of luck to obtain them through adventures. Each key can only be used once.

There are many treasures and monsters in the maze. How much treasure you can take out depends on your luck, courage and strength.

Because the number of all treasures is fixed, the first person to arrive naturally has a great advantage and can sweep up all the treasures that are easily obtained.

Those who come later can only tackle the tough problems that others dare not touch. The risk is greatly increased, but if they succeed, the rewards will also be greater.

Accurate judgment is also crucial in treasure hunting. If a group of people are not strong enough and insist on coveting wealth beyond their capabilities, they are destined to die here and become part of the monster army in the maze.

"It sounds like the setting is similar to that of a dungeon... The only difference is that there is no refresh mechanism for treasures and monsters..."

After listening to the young Hank's story, Wang Zhifan couldn't help but have this strange feeling in his heart, a strong sense of déjà vu that could not be ignored.

Hank beside him didn't know what Wang Zhifan was thinking, and continued with a surge of emotion:

"Brother, I believe you must be a very powerful wizard! You must be able to take those treasures that no one dares to touch!
I know that it is useless for me to stay by your side, so if the treasure hunt is successful, I only hope that you can give me enough to treat my brothers and sisters, and the rest will be yours..."

After just a few dozen minutes, the young man's mind matured a little more. He even took the initiative to propose increasing Wang Zhifan's share of the treasure hunt. He only asked for the part that he must get. It can be said that he was afraid that Wang Zhifan, his important ally, would run away.

Wang Zhifan didn't pay much attention to what he said. In fact, for adults, such an agreement without actual binding force is very empty, and anything can happen in the face of interests.

But young Hank was lucky. As a person who was used to seeing all kinds of epic and even legendary treasures, Wang Zhifan did not have too much greed. Unless there were really rare treasures in the treasure, he did not care how to divide it.

The two then headed towards the next area connected to the cave they were in, and walked through the stairs on top of the stone wall to a wide platform.

The platform was covered with long-dried bloodstains, and in the center stood a half-broken inverted cross. Next to the inverted cross was an empty, opened brass box.

"Another cleared area... There are two routes we can choose to explore. Let's go this way first."

Relying on his perception to discover something, Wang Zhifan led the young Hank into the underground tunnel on the left side of the platform.

The tunnel was as dark as ever, without any luminous crystals. He used the light magic to provide lighting and discovered that there was a mechanism area at the back of the tunnel. There was a secret hidden in the dark hole in the tunnel wall.

"It should be two kinds of attacks, fire and poison, block them all."

Using the power of ice to block the secret hole with solid ice, the two successfully passed through the mechanism area and came to the next location to look for treasure.

This place is a small underground lake. The water in the lake is calm but the color is dark and you can't see what's inside. Only in the center of the lake is there a light shining through the water. Anyone who sees that golden light will immediately think of treasure.

"Haha, there really is a lot of water here, which makes it convenient for me to take action."

Wang Zhifan was in a good mood seeing this. The reason why he chose this place when he was on the upper platform was that he vaguely sensed a large amount of water, and the water would be very convenient for him to fight or obtain treasures.

So, when the young boy Hank was keeping a distance and carefully watching the movements in the lake, he suddenly stretched out his palm, created a huge ice crystal arm, and grabbed the glowing thing at the bottom of the center of the lake!
In an instant, a dazzling golden crown was taken out from the bottom of the lake by his ice hand made of ice power and emerged from the water. The two saw the true face of the treasure for the first time.

However, the dangers hidden in the lake immediately emerged.

It was a dark, angry ghost face as big as a small boat. When it emerged from the bottom of the lake, it bit the huge icy hand that was holding the golden crown, trying to forcibly snatch back the treasure it was guarding.

From this attack behavior, we can conclude that this monster is not very intelligent. It did not identify who the real enemy is, and actually attacked the temporary tool constructed by the source of ice.

Wang Zhifan saw this scene but was not careless. He drew his sword decisively and attacked.

With a flash of sharp blade light and a shrill whine, the huge ghost-faced monster, whose existence was unknown, instantly turned into ashes. (End of this chapter)