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.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
