The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　After Dak nodded in response, he stepped into the passage, put on gloves, and began searching for hidden mechanisms.

　The light emitted by the "Phantom Bug" also turned inwards as he entered the passage.

　In the dark corners where the light never reaches, a gray shadow lurks, ready to move.

　However, Dark remained under the protection of the magical spirits, without revealing any flaws.

　"Click."

　A brick on the wall suddenly loosened under the infusion of magic, and Dark instantly showed a look of joy.

　Based on experience, this should be the location of the government office.

　No matter how difficult the puzzles become, there's at least one hidden room you can't escape.

　At that very moment, the gray shadow hidden in the corner could no longer restrain itself and pounced on Darke the instant he was distracted!

　Its appearance was completely unexpected, and it moved without making a sound. As it lunged forward, its body stretched to an extremely long length, like a wisp of gray smoke.

　In a split second, it rushed into the illumination range of the "Phantom Bug" and rapidly approached Dark.

　Its actions were extremely crazy, but the delicious food in front of it had already made it lose its most basic rationality.

　But it is too far away from Dac.

　The moment it poked its head out, the magical spirits sprang into action.

　Even Dark turned to look at it, and their eyes met directly.

　"what--"

　The gray shadow suddenly emitted a piercing shriek.

　……

Chapter 585 [10,000 Words Requesting Votes] The Upside-Down World

　It was merely an eye contact.

　This caused the gray shadow to change from its original madness and greed to fear and dread.

　In the eyes of that gray shadow, Dark had probably transformed from a delicious meal into a bloodstained butcher's knife.

　After screaming desperately to vent its fear, it suddenly turned around and tried to run away.

　But suddenly a chuckle came from the void.

　The little dream demon appeared silently behind it, extending its tiny tentacles to grab its scalp—it was, of course, just a misty, ethereal being.

　"So it was a spirit-absorbing monster."

　Dak was slightly surprised, but his eyes were filled with curiosity.

　Spirit-devouring monsters are actually quite common in dungeons, but this is the first time Dark has encountered one.

　He still clearly remembered the two spirit-absorbing monsters that Professor Nini had caught for a demonstration. One of them was furious, while the other exploded after accidentally licking his thing.

　Since that incident, he knew he had nothing to fear from spirit-devouring monsters.

　I never expected that a spirit-absorbing monster would be so audacious as to provoke me.

　"I wonder what materials a spirit-absorbing monster drops when it dies normally?"

　Dark's eyes lit up, his interest growing even stronger.

　"Bite me!"

　The little dream demon let out a cheerful cry, kneading the spirit-absorbing monster into a ball like dough, then pulling it outwards by its two sides, twisting and deforming the three holes on its face, creating a scene that was both terrifying and comical.

　Dak couldn't help but condemn its behavior: "Look how uncomfortable it is, let's send it on its way."

　The monsters in the dungeon are theoretically only monsters with instincts, but no intelligence, and are not true life forms.

　Therefore, even the kindest students will not feel any psychological pressure when hunting monsters.

　Although the little dream demon was unwilling, she still gave the "toy" she had just acquired a quick death.

　As the spirit-devouring monster died, its gray, misty body dissipated in the wind, leaving no trace.

　But just as Dark looked disappointed, the little dream demon reached out and grabbed a tiny transparent thing: "(?^__^?) Hehe!"

　Dak couldn't help but lean closer to take a look, only to find that the transparent object was only the size of a loach, and he had no idea what it was.

　"Speaking of which, Professor Nini doesn't seem to have mentioned anything about spirit monsters dropping materials after they die. Is it because ordinary people simply can't collect them?"

　As Dak thought to himself, he stretched out his finger and tried to touch it.

　Then his fingertip passed right through it—clearly, the transparent object was also a spirit.

　This put him in a difficult position.

　If he were a spirit, he wouldn't be carrying any special storage tools, like the small bottle Professor Kazel used to store soul powder.

　Without that special item, the spirit would surely dissipate with the wind.

　In fact, the reason it was able to be caught was entirely because Misdreavus is also a Ghost-type Magical Pokémon.

　"We can't let the dream demon keep pulling at us, can we? Even if it keeps pulling at us, it will..."

　"Yao Mi!"

　"Can you save it?"

　"Yao Mi!"

　The dream demon nodded vigorously, then, as if presenting a treasure, slapped the transparent object into one of the red beads around her neck, and jumped for joy.

　Dark immediately understood; this meant that the spirit had been stored in the "Fear Gem"!

　The "Fear Gem" can absorb fear and convert it into magical energy reserves. Even if a dream monster is stored in a magic card, its stored magical energy will not disappear like an external object, making it a very special type.

　It seems plausible that the "Fear Gem" is now used to store spirits.

　Dak made a quick decision and began to try it.

　Half a minute later, he got the result—it was feasible!

　He didn't use the "Eye of Truth" to see it, and just let the dream demon hide away, figuring he'd deal with it when the time came.

　"Advanced secret room!"

　Just now, he had already found the location of the mechanism. Now, when he pressed it again, a crack appeared on the wall a meter away.

　The lion-like beast, with its keen experience, reached out and pushed, only to find that it was indeed a revolving door.

　It said a couple of things to Dak, then went inside first.

　Only after confirming it was safe did it return and bring Dak inside.

　The Lion Beast had experienced the same situation many times before; occasionally, monsters would hide in the secret chamber, but it always dealt with them in time.

　This time, the escape room was relatively safe, and it moved very quickly.

　However, after entering, Dak discovered that the layout of this secret room was different from all the secret rooms he had visited before.

　First of all, it is not square, but a rare circular enclosed chamber.

　The entire secret room was laid out before you, with a round platform protruding in the very center, upon which sat a candlestick.

　When someone enters, the flame on the candlestick spontaneously ignites, illuminating the entire secret chamber.

　At the foot of the circular platform, delicate patterns bloom like petals in all directions, forming an extremely beautiful composition.

　This is completely different from the other secret rooms, which have always been simple and ordinary.

　The walls of this secret room are also carved with exquisite patterns, in the same color scheme as the patterns on the floor—a pure combination of black and white.

　Stepping into this secret room is like entering a temple of art; one can easily feel dizzy and disoriented if not careful.

　Naturally, there was no treasure chest in this secret room.

　……

　Dark stood at the door of the secret room for a long time, still unsure how to proceed.

　Apart from the candlesticks on the central pedestal, there seemed to be nothing else to take away.

　As he stood there for a while, his gaze gradually became drawn to the candlestick, and the flickering candlelight was reflected in his eyes—suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

　Dak suddenly remembered Emma's experience in the locked room, and it seemed to be the same.

　Besides the murals, there was only an oil lamp in that secret room.

　Emma taking the oil lamp triggered the hidden space.

　Dark, Diana, and Rose then stumbled into the area and obtained the first "Holy Sword".

　To be honest, Dark was able to enter the hidden space thanks to Emma's help.

　The secret room before them, however, was completely different from Emma's description in every detail.

　But it just so happens to give him a similar feeling.

　He suddenly fell into deep thought.

　As he pondered, the magical spirits all quieted down and did not disturb him.

　……

　Outside the secret chamber, monsters were drawn by the screams of the spirit-sucking monster.

　The little dream demon, who was lying in wait outside, suddenly lit up. Without reporting anything, it floated towards the group of nocturnal demons.

　When it enters ghost form, the monster's minions become completely ineffective against it.

　Furthermore, the monsters in the first ten levels rarely possess burst spells, making them completely untouchable.

　It approached the monsters, emitting a silvery laugh, and roamed among them, causing the monsters' eyes to turn bloodshot and their low barks to emanate continuously.

　Ultimately, it was Devimon who took on the role of sentinel.

　Having learned the situation from it, Gatomon put down its backpack and stepped out of the secret room.

　It stretched out its right hand, and the "single sword sheath" flew over on its own, the cat and sword becoming one!

　……

　The battle raged outside the secret chamber, while deep contemplation lingered inside.

　This forms a complete composition of movement and stillness.

　Gatomon charged into the horde, its cat-like eyes gleaming in the darkness. A burst of snow-white sword light erupted from its blade, dancing in a fierce battle with the night-walking monsters.

　Inside the secret room, Dark finally figured out a key detail.

　He stepped on the black and white patterns on the ground, safely reaching the edge of the round platform, and then reached out to grab the candlestick placed on the platform.

　When he brought his five fingers together, he had already taken the candlestick in his hand.

　Then, with a slight lift, it was raised.

　Candlelight flickers.

　……

　The "hidden space" did not immediately open up in front of him.

　But according to Emma, ​​they were also completely unaware that the "hidden space" had been opened.

　Perhaps the outside has already been incorporated into a "hidden space"...

　Just as Dak was pondering this, a fire suddenly lit up the round platform in the center of the secret room.

　Unable to converge on the candlestick, the flame could only spread downwards along the grooves of the round pillar, and then rise outwards along the white stripes on the ground.

　Dark quickly jumped out of the flames and in the blink of an eye saw that the floor of the entire secret room was now engulfed in flame magic.

　The magic circle burned for a moment, then spread upwards from the edge of the wall, instantly igniting the patterns on the wall as well.

　A raging fire then broke out in the entire secret chamber.

　The wildly flickering flames came into view, a sight that filled one with dread.

　The lion suddenly moved and stood in front of Dark.

　Dak, however, remained focused on his observation.