Perhaps because their strategy had worked, Summer Chasing Smoke avoided combat all the way, did not deliberately collect rare treasures, and focused solely on finding the entrance to the next floor. In the end, just before dawn, she found a cave opening beside the stone wall of a cavern.
That was the entrance to the second floor. It led straight downward, unlike the other passages, which twisted and turned toward various places. One glance was enough to tell that it was different from those passages.
Su Ming and the others did not hesitate either. They jumped straight into the opening and entered the second floor.
Although it was already before dawn, Su Ming and the others had learned from Xu Xiayan that the entrance would only open in the evening before the Extreme Night Maze manifested. Since they had taken turns resting, everyone was full of energy and could continue on their journey.
Knowing that they had to reach the tenth floor within seven days and reserve some time to scavenge resources on the lower floors, Su Ming and the others wanted to get through the upper floors as quickly as possible without wasting time.
Thus, no one objected as they continued onward, avoiding pointless battles as before and refraining from collecting low-level rare treasures. They saved time whenever possible and conserved their energy whenever possible. They only fought when they truly could not avoid it. Otherwise, they simply traveled onward, onward, and onward.
Under such circumstances, Su Ming and the others smoothly broke through one maze level after another over the next few days.
Before dawn the next day, they found the entrance to the third floor in a cavern on the second floor and successfully reached the third floor.
Around noon the next day, they spotted the entrance