Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer!

"No need for Gold Ingot?" The others frowned upon hearing this. Mao Xintong, standing nearby, analyzed, "Could something have gone wrong at the Black Shop? Didn't Old Yuan warn us before that the Black Shop is very dangerous?"

"But we've been to the Black Shop," Sun Xiaowei said. "Was there any danger there...?" As she said this, she looked at Luo Jun and Old Yuan, since only the two of them had gone into the store.

"You have Gold Ingot, the Black Shop will definitely treat you well," the Fat Merchant had been listening to their discussion suddenly interjected. "Although I don't know why, they are particularly keen on collecting these Gold Ingot."

"You mean if we don't bring Gold Ingot into the Black Shop, we'll be attacked?" Luo Jun asked.

"Not necessarily..." The Fat Merchant shook his head. "Black Shop appeared later than us legitimate merchants, and we're not very familiar with them. From what we understand, having Gold Ingot usually allows for smooth communication with Black Shop, but not having them doesn't necessarily mean you'll be attacked. However, those who are attacked are always those without gold ingots. We don't know their criteria or the specific reasons behind them."

"If I take the Gold Ingot, we can communicate smoothly; if I don't, I might be attacked..." Luo Jun pondered the information he had received but still couldn't figure it out.

He looked at Li Ying beside him. "Senior brother, what do you think?"

"Based on the current intelligence, I think the Black Shop are basically unreliable," Li Ying analyzed. "We'd better stay away from them."

Luo Jun narrowed his eyes slightly; this answer was somewhat unexpected.

Unable to draw any further conclusions, Luo Jun simply put away the two pages of the diary and turned to the Fat Merchant: "Only these two pages were found?"

"That's all for now," the Fat Merchant chuckled. "Of course, if you give me more time, I should be able to find more. You still have five thousand left in your savings account as a deposit, what do you think?"

Luo Jun glanced at him. "So you mean, whatever amount I keep, you'll give me change accordingly?"

"The main problem is that we also need to use resources to help you find your things, and it wouldn't be right for the brothers to pay for it themselves, would it?"

Luo Jun nodded and took out the Silver Ingot coins he had collected over this period. "Exchange these for me first."

Having accumulated treasures from two maps, I exchanged them for a total of over 26,000. Adding the remaining 1,000 or so from before, I now have approximately 27,000.

Luo Jun first exchanged for two Personal Map, then paid an additional 5,000 yuan as a deposit for the diary, and then, at midnight, used the money from the badges to exchange for twenty sets of supplies.

I thought I would have a lot of money left after saving twice, but I ended up spending it all and only having a little over 10,000 yuan left.

This is even with Luo Jun having the Generous Person Badge, which allows him to obtain resources for free. For an ordinary person, even if they replicated his method and used their Personal Map to reliably scavenge, it would be difficult to sustain such a situation.

It seems that surviving in this maze is no easy task; the maze is far more difficult than it appears on the surface.

After leaving the store, the group chose a nearby spot to rest.

The area near the Origin has been largely explored; this time, the group plans to explore even further.

During the break, everyone was busy eating and resting, but Luo Jun huddled in a corner, concentrating on meditation and practicing his skills.

"Your cultivation has improved again?" Old Yuan sat down next to his beloved disciple, holding a piece of cake, eating it as he asked in a low voice.

Luo Jun nodded. He had been in this maze for more than half a month. With Old Yuan around, Luo Jun didn't have to worry about physical tasks like combat. Although he looked very busy, he didn't actually expend much energy and hadn't slacked off in his cultivation.

It should be noted that Luo Jun broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer a few days before entering this mission. During those days outside, he had Ailongtan and Aishiliya helping him refine Sweet Dew to assist his cultivation, so he had already made some progress. After more than half a month, he had actually reached the bottleneck of breaking through to the ninth level.

However, with so many people around, especially his Master, he didn't dare to break through directly.

But things are different now...

"Master, I want to try to break through to the ninth level," Luo Jun whispered.

"What?" Old Yuan could tell that Luo Jun was seizing every spare moment to cultivate, and guessed that he had made progress, but he didn't expect him to have reached the next level so quickly?

Luo Jun said in a low voice, "Before I came in, I had already made 30% progress on the Eighth Floor. After coming in, I haven't let up at all, and I've reached the bottleneck for breaking through..."

"No, it's too dangerous!" Old Yuan sternly forbade it. "This is, after all, Chaos Mission; the risk of failure is far too great!"

"Master, you forgot..." Luo Jun whispered a reminder, "With the treasure you gave me, my chances of successfully breaking through are quite high. Even if I fail, I won't suffer any backlash..."

"But why are you in such a hurry to break through here?" Old Yuan asked.

"I have a feeling," Luo Jun said in a low voice, "This maze is going to be a long mission. The past two weeks have seemed to go smoothly, but in reality, we don't have much information. We're still far from truly cracking the maze, and we might have to stay here for several more months. If I can break through to the ninth level, I can use the remaining time to cultivate in peace and advance to a higher realm."

"But..." Old Yuan was about to dissuade him when Luo Jun continued, "Moreover, I have another idea."

As he spoke, he used his body to cover himself and secretly took out the Myriad Jun Hammer from the Hundred Treasure Box.

"Master, look at this attribute."

Old Yuan was somewhat puzzled, but after scanning the area with his Yuan Qi, his eyes widened. "What kind of weapon is this? 108,000 jun? More than 1,600 tons?"

"To be precise, it's about two thousand tons. I've tested it. The unit described on this hammer, for some reason, is an ancient system of weights and measures; one jin is equivalent to more than six hundred grams in modern terms..."

"There are almost no other special effects; it's purely a maximum enhancement of physical destructive power." Looking at the hammer, Old Yuan's eyes lit up. "You wouldn't be planning to...?"

Luo Jun nodded. "I think we can use this to break through the maze walls."

"However, with my current cultivation level, I am not yet able to perfectly control it, but if I break through another level, it should be fine."

Luo Jun was certainly not telling the truth. He could already wield the Myriad Jun Hammer with ease, but Old Yuan didn't know that he had the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to enhance his attributes and that his Innate Potential was frighteningly high. So, only Luo Jun himself knew how capable he truly was.

The reason for telling Old Yuan was that Luo Jun knew he couldn't keep it a secret any longer.

Breakthroughs in the Foundation Establishment Realm are different from those in the Body Refinement Realm. The Body Refinement Realm only involves Inner Breath, and nothing unusual can be seen from the outside; it's similar to ordinary meditation and cultivation. However, breakthroughs in the Foundation Establishment Realm are from the inside out, and there will be obvious abnormal fluctuations in the Qi during the breakthrough. This process can be seen not only by Old Yuan but also by others, and it's not so easy to hide.

Even if he secretly tries to break through to a higher level, with his Master's experience and understanding of him, he would definitely be able to see the changes after the breakthrough after spending so much time together.

If he told his Master, his Master could help him cover it up. After all, it would be quite conspicuous for an ordinary student to use a combination of Legendary Treasure Item and Epic Treasure Item to break through.

"Then..." Old Yuan said, "Go to that Dead Alley over there and break through secretly, with your back to the outside. I'll keep watch at the intersection. Be discreet when using your treasure, so no one sees you."

"Don't worry, Master!" Luo Jun smiled slightly, "I guarantee no one will see it."

Old Yuan nodded. "Remember, if you fail, don't risk breaking through again. Once you get out, your Master will find you even more magical artifacts!"

With his Master keeping watch, Luo Jun felt safe and walked away into the depths of the alley. With his back to the outside, he didn't use any magical artifacts but secretly summoned the Dice of Heavenly Secrets.

"Breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer!"

The two pairs of dice began to spin, and soon the dust settled. One pair showed 69 points, and the other 87 points!

Good!

Luo Jun was thrilled and immediately used the Intermediate Point Correction before starting his breakthrough!

"Hey? Where did junior go?" Sun Xiaowei noticed that Luo Jun was missing and looked up.

"Oh, he went to relieve himself..." Old Yuan, standing at the entrance of the alley, replied, "He'll be back in a bit." As he spoke, he glanced at Luo Jun, who was standing deep inside the alley with his back to him, and looked at the constantly compressing and changing qi on his body, a worried expression on his face.

You little rascal, you absolutely have to succeed...

Old Yuan was making a wish in his heart, he suddenly saw the aura on Luo Jun's body dim down, and then slowly extinguish and retract into his body.

It's over? So fast? Did this kid fail to break through?

Old Yuan hadn't seen Luo Jun's breakthrough rhythm much before, and his heart immediately jumped into his throat.

But then, Luo Jun's inner energy suddenly surged up!

Old Yuan's eyes lit up.

Such purity, such surging power—not to mention the Foundation Establishment Realm, even those below the Feather Transformation had never seen such Qi before!

However, the burst of energy only lasted for a moment before it quickly subsided and returned to its original state.

"Did you feel anything?" Mao Xintong, who was sitting in the open space, suddenly frowned and looked around. As Insight Faction, her senses were the most acute. Just a moment ago, she suddenly felt an astonishing aura, but it only lasted for a moment before disappearing, making her wonder if it was just an illusion.

"I think I felt something too..." Zhuge Zi nodded and said, "It felt like something flashed..."

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

"I didn't feel it as specifically as you guys," Sun Xiaowei said, crossing her arms and gently rubbing her shoulders. "But just now, I also suddenly felt a chill and shivered."

"Me too..." Ma Qiao nodded in agreement.

"But that feeling vanished in an instant..." Zhuge Zi frowned. "It disappeared without a trace... Could it be that some monster appeared nearby?"

"I don't think so..." Mao Xintong shook her head. "Although that aura was sharp, it lacked Killing Intent, so it didn't seem hostile. Moreover, it vanished in an instant, which is really strange..."

As they were discussing, Luo Jun, pulling up his trousers, walked back with Old Yuan: "What are you all talking about, making such a commotion?"

"Did you feel anything just now?" Mao Xintong asked the two of them for confirmation, but Luo Jun responded with a blank look on his face.

Old Yuan glanced at his apprentice. He could play dumb, but he, as a Senior, couldn't. He could only reply, "I sensed it too. It was something, not close at all, and seemed to flash by. This maze is more dangerous than we imagined. Come on, everyone, have you rested enough? Let's prepare to continue exploring."

Everyone immediately began preparations, while Luo Jun packed his things and organized the information in his mind.

"Event complete. Base experience points: 100. Severity Coefficient: 12x. Final Experience Value: 1200!"

Congratulations on leveling up!

"Please extract Attribute Points!"

That's right, the main reason why Luo Jun insisted on breaking through now wasn't to break through the wall more effectively, but to refresh the dice!

How can you reliably gain over 500 experience points in a single Dice Opportunity? The best method Luo Jun could think of was to break through his cultivation level!

If you succeed, the dice will upgrade, and your skill level will increase—a win-win situation. Even if you fail, you can Regret.

Luo Jun extracted Attribute Points.

Two White Dice, one with a 3 and the other with an 8, resulting in a total of thirty-eight attribute points.

After random assignment, Luo Jun's current panel is as follows.

Level: 58 (673/5900)

Strength: 410 points

Sensitivity: 364 points

Perception: 359 points

Spirit: 369 points

Luck: Level 7 + Level 1

Skills: All Things are Dice, Advanced Point Correction, Regret, More Opportunities (Level 3), [Double Insurance], Refresh, Top-Up.

Props: Wealth Ring, Path to Success Bracelet, Fate Peering Glasses

Chips: 2170

Number of uses: 8/8

Having reached level 58, Luo Jun's Strength attribute has exceeded 400 points, and he is getting closer and closer to level 60.

Reaching level 60 unlocks the ability to draw a second Advanced Skill. The first skill, with its Double Insurance, significantly boosted Luo Jun's dice-rolling ability. I wonder what he'll draw the second one? I'm quite looking forward to it.

While the others were still packing up, Luo Jun turned on the Video Recorder, which contained a large amount of video footage that had already been segmented.

Because he hadn't rolled enough dice, he hadn't been able to verify if there was an exit in the places he had passed through. Now that the update had refreshed, he could finally check everything he had done before.

"Select the video of the map scanning the exit!"

"Ding! This event is Mandatory Event and cannot be determined. Number of dice rolls reduced by one."

Still nothing... Does that mean we've walked hundreds of kilometers through the maze and haven't even reached the edge of the exit?

Luo Jun felt a little discouraged, but he thought that as long as the current pattern continued, he would eventually find it...

After everyone finished packing, they finally set off, but did not activate the map. Since they were not far from the shop and were still within the area they had previously scanned, they decided to go a little further away before activating the map to avoid wasting its space.

The group watched the video and headed in a direction they had never been before. After passing several intersections, Luo Jun, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal everyone to pause.

"What's wrong?" Sun Xiaowei asked curiously from behind.

"There's something ahead..." Luo Jun stared into the dim darkness a hundred meters away.

"Indeed..." Even the Insight Faction Mao Xintong tensed up. "There's something..."

Before the words were even finished, a swift figure suddenly appeared, shooting towards the crowd like an arrow!

(End of this chapter)