The first floor of the high tower.
At the very end of the labyrinth's depths, Wu Gao held up his flashlight. The beam pierced the pitch-black darkness as he spoke, his tone full of surprise,
"Here... a door? Could this be the entrance to the second floor?"
Everyone followed his gaze and saw an incredibly massive stone door standing at the deepest part. It was a full hundred meters tall, easily rivaling the entrance door at the base of the tower.
Twisted black patterns were carved into the doorframe, oozing a faint golden light. It was soft, yet carried an overwhelming, majestic pressure.
Beneath the stone door lay scattered skeletons. Some wore tattered combat suits, while others still tightly gripped broken weapons. The air was thick with the stench of blood and decay, making one shudder.
Wu Gao swallowed hard, lowered his voice, and said solemnly,
"Boss, Miss Lan, this should be the entrance to the second floor!"
"I heard from the super martial artists in the camp that behind this door is a giant black earth dragon standing guard. It's incredibly fierce and has already killed many super martial artists who tried to climb the tower!"
He paused, then added,
"Most of those martial artists came in teams of at least five or six. But even so, it's very hard to defeat this earth dragon. Many people gave it their all just to barely drive it back. They couldn't kill it at all, and in the end, they had to retreat from the maze in a sorry state."
"Of course, even if some very powerful martial artists manage to hunt and kill that monster, the earth dragon will just resurrect after a while."
Wu Tian also nodded, "Boss, just yesterday, a squad of over a dozen super martial artists all perished at the hands of this earth dragon. Not a single one survived."
Ye Chuan's gaze fell upon the stone door. In truth, he could feel the aura inside.
It was probably... not even at the Golden Core level?
Its level wasn't even as high as Lan Xiaoke's, yet it had already caused so much trouble for the current top super martial artist squads?
This was the perfect opportunity to let Lan Xiaoke temper herself a bit, saving her from constantly slacking off on her cultivation, only knowing how to goof off and act spoiled all day.
Previously, Qian Shuang hadn't complained any less about Lan Xiaoke, the youngest junior sister of the sect, completely ignoring her cultivation and only knowing how to fool around and play video games.
Ye Chuan looked at Lan Xiaoke. "I'll leave this earth dragon for you to deal with."
"Me?!" Lan Xiaoke craned her neck and pointed a finger at herself.
As if to say, me?
"Ye Chuan, didn't you hear? It killed dozens of super martial artists! How am I supposed to beat it?"
As she complained, she took a half-step back, shaking her head like a rattle-drum.
She didn't want to exert the effort to fight some earth dragon. She would much rather rest on the sidelines, wait for Ye Chuan to finish dealing with it, and just cheer him on.
"Go when you're told, or you'll get a spanking," Ye Chuan said.
"It's a good chance to temper you, so you stop being lazy all day and letting your strength stagnate."
"Then you might as well spank me, I actually quite like it."
"Hmm?" Ye Chuan shot Lan Xiaoke a glance. "If you don't go, I'll deduct your allowance. If you win, the loot can be sold for a lot of money, and I'll give you a cut."
Hearing that the loot could make money, Lan Xiaoke's eyes instantly lit up.
Okay.
That's right.
She could make money!
Lan Xiaoke immediately clenched her pink rabbit gloves, her eyes shining from beneath her white bangs.
"I'll go, but if I can't beat it, Ye Chuan, you have to hurry up and save me!"
At the end of the day, this big coward was still quite afraid of pain.
"Don't worry, you won't die."
"Hehe, that's good." Lan Xiaoke knew that Ye Chuan still loved her dearly.
"If you die, I'll just resurrect you. At worst, it'll just hurt a bit," Ye Chuan said.
"You're so heartless!" Lan Xiaoke immediately retorted.
Ye Chuan then took a few steps back, leading Wu Gao and Wu Tian to the corner of the stone chamber.
"You guys just watch from here. Don't interfere."
Wu Gao and Wu Tian nodded hastily.
With their strength, they wouldn't be able to interfere anyway.
Although they were somewhat worried about Lan Xiaoke in their hearts, they didn't dare to contradict Ye Chuan's words, so they could only stare intently at that massive door.
Lan Xiaoke took a deep breath and walked toward the giant stone door.
The moment she approached the stone door, a majestic black aura surged out from within. Accompanied by heavy footsteps, the ground began to shake violently, and dust fell rustling from the ceiling of the stone chamber.
"Roar——!"
A deafening roar resounded as a massive black earth dragon slowly walked out from the stone door.
The earth dragon was a full dozen meters long and five or six meters tall. Its entire body was covered in pitch-black, hard scales. Its tail was thick and long, ending in sharp bone spikes. Dark purple venom continuously dripped from the corners of its mouth, and its aura was overwhelming.
Seeing the appearance of the black earth dragon, Wu Gao and Wu Tian froze in fear—this earth dragon was even more terrifying than they had imagined!
Lan Xiaoke took a look.
Hmm, its aura wasn't as strong as hers.
"I am a mighty Golden Core expert, why would I fear a puny peak Crystal Core like you?" Lan Xiaoke shouted. "Fists, come forth!"
The moment the black earth dragon saw Lan Xiaoke, it immediately let out a roar and lunged at her. Its massive claws brought a howling wind as they viciously swatted down at Lan Xiaoke, as if trying to smash her into meat paste.
Lan Xiaoke's figure flashed, nimbly dodging the earth dragon's attack and jumping to the side.
At that moment, the earth dragon's claws slammed into the ground with a loud bang, smashing a huge crater into the floor and sending crushed stones flying.
"So fast?" Lan Xiaoke was stunned for a moment.
Why did it feel like its speed was faster than hers?
In the next second, the earth dragon turned and whipped its tail, landing a solid strike on Lan Xiaoke's lower abdomen. The latter let out a yelp and was sent flying, tumbling a dozen times in midair before landing on the ground.
"Ugh... damn it..." Lan Xiaoke stood back up.
Shouldn't my level be higher?
"Hey Xiaoke, do you realize how superficial you are now? Your cultivation realm, I mean." Not far away, Ye Chuan suddenly spoke up.
Being beaten up by a monster a whole major realm below her, this girl Lan Xiaoke really was an embarrassment.
"That doesn't count!" Lan Xiaoke said. "I have a thousand hours in Monster Hunter, you think I can't beat this thing?"
The person and the dragon began to brawl in the center of the stone chamber.
Lan Xiaoke imitated the characters in the game, rolling all over the ground to dodge. She didn't get greedy with her hits, just roaming around the dragon's body and launching attacks from time to time.
Those pink rabbit gloves smashed against the earth dragon's scales, letting out loud bangs that nearly shattered the opponent's scales.
Although Lan Xiaoke almost never practiced cultivation methods or studied spells, the weapon in her hands was made by Ye Chuan, and it had been upgraded.
One could only say that her raw stats were just that high.
The brawl lasted for a full ten minutes before Lan Xiaoke suddenly found an opening and smashed the earth dragon's tail off with a single punch!
"Nice! Tail severed!" Lan Xiaoke said.
In the distance, Ye Chuan: "..."
Did she really treat this like playing a game?
If you don't deal lethal damage to that monster, how are you going to take it down?
Seeing the increasingly enraged earth dragon, Lan Xiaoke had clearly realized this point as well.
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
