Advancement

Chapter 9: Advancement

What should we do?

Inside the pitch-black sewer, the four of Tuka, standing back-to-back in a circle, simultaneously had this question surface in their minds. Various rumors they had heard from other adventurers kept replaying in their heads. Tuka, as the captain, felt immense pressure.

"Retreat!"

The next second, Tuka's solemn voice rang out. Since they couldn't figure out the situation, leaving this place and getting away from the unknown danger was the best option.

"Yes!"

The other three nodded and maintained their formation, slowly walking towards the exit of the sewer. They kept a close watch on their surroundings. As time passed, the muddy, damp sludge under Tuka and his team's feet began to dry. A faint light appeared in the dim passage. Only then did the tense nerves of the four in Tuka's squad relax slightly.

After all, reaching this point meant they weren't far from the sewer's exit. The retreat process also went unexpectedly smoothly. Apart from encountering a few giant rats and mud monsters along the way, there were no further monster attacks.

Suddenly, Tuka, who was walking at the front, narrowed his eyes slightly. A dazzling beam of light shone on his face. An aura completely different from the sewer washed over them. The sounds of a bustling crowd and residents on the street, covering their noses and looking at them with disgust, all confirmed that they had successfully left the sewer.

"Let's go. We'll head back to the Adventurer's Guild first. We need to report the situation of this mission to the guild."

After taking a deep breath of the sun-filled air, Tuka turned around. His previously solemn expression relaxed, and he looked at the three behind him with a faint smile. Although they didn't know what they had encountered this time, they had at least survived again, and no one had died.

For this low-level adventurer team, this was the greatest gain. Even though adventurers were in a profession where they risked their lives for money, who would want to die if they could live?

"Captain, don't forget to treat us!"

At this moment, Nina, with her hands behind her back, skipped up to Tuka and tilted her head. A mischievous and cute smile played on her face as she looked at him, showing no trace of the person who had held a bow and arrow and killed monsters with a calm expression just moments before.

"Alright, alright. After we hand in the mission, everyone change your clothes, and we'll meet at the usual spot. After all, you don't want to go out in your current attire, do you?"

Tuka looked at Nina, who was both playful and cute, and couldn't help but pat her head. Then, he raised his hand and pointed at the residents not far away, who were covering their noses and keeping their distance. After all, the smell they carried after coming out of the sewer was truly indescribable.

Sniff, sniff.

Nina lowered her head and sniffed herself. The characteristic stench of the sewer, mixed with the smell of monster blood. She hadn't thought much of it in the sewer, but now, seeing Nina's furrowed brow and disgusted expression, he completely understood.

"Okay, it's time to go to the Adventurer's Guild."

Seeing Nina's usual adorable demeanor, Tuka burst into laughter. His burly body strode towards the Adventurer's Guild not far away. Seeing this, Keith and Gordon exchanged a glance, grabbed Nina, and chased after him.

Meanwhile, in the dark sewer, Lu Minghao continued to hide for nearly half an hour after Tuka and his team left. Only when about half of the Magic Elements in his body were consumed did he silently emerge from the shadows. After confirming there was no danger, he slowly crawled towards a giant rat corpse.

"What were those adventurers doing? They just left without even taking their spoils. Or are the corpses of low-level monsters worthless?"

Looking at the monster corpses the adventurers had left behind, Lu Minghao extended a small hand from his body and poked the still-warm giant rat corpse. As for why a round slime could have hands, it was because his body, under a large supply of nutrients, had suddenly discovered he could do such things.

"Whatever, it's none of my business. Rather, it's fortunate for me that they didn't want these monster corpses."

The next second, Lu Minghao, too lazy to think further, directly swallowed the giant rat corpse in front of him. Then, he ate the remaining ones as well. While digesting, he hopped towards the goblin camp. The corpses of those goblins that had escaped should be there. In the spirit of not wasting food, Lu Minghao naturally accepted them with pleasure.

About an hour later, in an inconspicuous cave a few kilometers away from the goblin camp, Lu Minghao surveyed his future residence for a period of time and nodded in satisfaction.

After devouring the goblin corpses, Lu Minghao directly headed in the opposite direction of where the adventurers had left. After all, who knew if those guys would turn back? Currently, the strength of those adventurers far surpassed his, so for his own safety, Lu Minghao decisively chose to stay away from them.

Later, Lu Minghao found this sewer filled with garbage heaps, and within one of these heaps, he found this cave. The entrance was completely buried by a large amount of garbage. Only a slime's liquid-like body could easily enter here. This alone could help Lu Minghao block a large number of enemies.

After all, both monsters and human adventurers would subconsciously stay away from this place full of garbage and filth, let alone crawl into a pile of trash.

As for how Lu Minghao found this place, it was purely an accident. After all, after devouring those goblin corpses, combined with the previous monster corpses, Lu Minghao instinctively sensed that the Magic Elements in his body and his body were evolving to a higher level.

Upon sensing the changes in his body and Magic Elements, Lu Minghao began to search for a safe hiding place while checking his talent panel. He saw that the originally pure white talents [Magic Elements] and [Slime Physique] were gradually emitting a blue light.

He was evolving from a low-level monster to a lower-level monster. In this world, monster levels had various names. For example, human adventurers classified monsters from F-rank to Special S-rank. Among them, slimes, goblins, mud monsters, and the like were considered the weakest F-rank monsters, while the strongest, Special S-rank, were Calamity-class, signifying beings that absolutely could not be resisted.

The most representative of Special S-rank were terrifying powerhouses like Milim the Destroyer and Veldora the Storm Dragon, who was still sealed.

However, this was just the classification method of human adventurers. The method for monsters was very simple: from the initial Lesser Demon to Middle Demon, Upper Demon, Demon Lord Species, and Awakened Demon Lord.

Moreover, crossing each stage would bring about an essential improvement, even allowing one's race to evolve.

"But why am I so sleepy during my evolution?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Minghao fell into a deep sleep. His sky-blue body emitted a faint glow. One could clearly see the Magic Elements within Lu Minghao's body rapidly spinning towards the center of his body, forming a vortex composed of countless light points, like a surging galaxy.

Seeking collection, recommendation tickets, investments, and most importantly, readership.