50th Floor

"Ais!

Riveria watched Ais walking toward them in the distance. Behind her, Udaios was dissolving into light, leaving behind only a massive Magic Stone and its drops.

She knew this was a necessary step on Ais's path: defeating an opponent far stronger than herself, surpassing her own limits, and accomplishing a Great Achievement worthy of the gods' praise. It was an absolute requirement for elevating her abilities.

But—

"I won!"

Ais stood before them, looking weak, a faint smile on her face.

Thud!

Riveria rapped Ais on the head with the side of her hand and glared at her.

"Ais, how could you take on Udaios head-on? Don't you know that if you made even one mistake, we wouldn't have had time to save you?!"

"I'm sorry."

Ais remembered how recklessly she had acted. Frustrated by how slowly her strength was growing and consumed by her desire for power, she had completely disregarded her own safety.

"Ais, do you think I can't be relied on?"

Hearing Riveria's words, Ais's pupils contracted.

"Tione and Lefiya are here, too. We all think of you as family."

"Everyone..."

Ais looked at Riveria and the others, who had gathered around her with smiles on their faces. Even Bete, usually the most difficult to get along with, was watching her with concern.

"You're not alone anymore. Never forget that. From now on, you need to learn to rely on your companions more."

Riveria gently stroked Ais's hair, looking at her with a tender gaze.

"Okay. Thank you."

Feeling the warmth on her head and the concern of her companions around her, Ais felt something shift inside her and smiled sweetly.

"All right, let's keep moving."

After speaking, Riveria handed Ais a bottle of top-grade healing potion. The group waited for Ais to recover, then set off for the next floor.

Once again, Lu Qiming took the lead, charging toward the 50th Floor at high speed.

50th Floor.

On a vast stone platform, the Expedition Team had set up a temporary camp and begun resting together.

"Qiming, don't you get tired?"

Tiona looked at Lu Qiming curiously. Today was completely different from yesterday. The farther down they went, the stronger and more numerous the monsters became, yet Lu Qiming was advancing even faster than he had the day before.

He had slaughtered so many monsters without showing any sign of fatigue. Meanwhile, those of them following behind were nearly worn out just from gathering spoils and keeping up.

"Tired?"

Lu Qiming swallowed the food in his bowl in one bite, then casually handed the basin to Lefiya beside him, asking her to fill his fifteenth serving.

"I'm doing all right. With my current stamina, I could fight continuously for a month, as long as I wasn't fighting at full strength."

"What?! A whole month? And you haven't been fighting at full strength today, Qiming?"

Tiona slapped the table and stared at him in shock.

"Yeah. Though tomorrow, I probably won't be able to hold back."

Lu Qiming took the bowl Lefiya handed him and lowered his head to eat. He had used up more than half the energy stored in his body today, but what he said was true. Aside from his ultimate move, "Musou," he had used every other method at his disposal.

He hadn't expected the number and strength of the monsters on the lower floors to increase so dramatically. On the other hand, his mission progress and level had also risen rapidly.

"Qiming, tomorrow you..."

"All right, Tiona, hurry up and eat. But as you can see, eating a lot doesn't necessarily make you grow taller."

Beside them, Tione held her sister back and made her eat properly. For adventurers, prying into someone else's strength was taboo.

"What did you say?!"

Tiona immediately stopped paying attention to Lu Qiming's strength and started bickering with Tione, fuming.

Nearby, Lu Qiming finished the food in his hands to replenish his energy. He set the Stainless Steel Basin back in its place and straightened it, then told everyone he was heading off and walked toward his tent. What he was about to do couldn't be known to the others.

Finn watched Lu Qiming walk away without saying anything, simply assuming that he was tired after such intense fighting and needed to rest.

Inside the tent, Lu Qiming lifted the flap and walked in.

System, open the panel.

Lu Qiming silently spoke in his heart.

The familiar pale-blue panel appeared before him the next second.

Mission Progress: 890000/1000000
Mission Countdown: 299 days 6 hours

Name: Lu Qiming (Lv62 (105600000/300000000))

Spirit: 21.2

Strength: 21.2

Agility: 25.2

Constitution: 21.2

Class: Assassin

[Dual Sword Mastery] (Lv1), [Musou] (max), [Soul Blade] (Lv1), [Godspeed Reaction] (Lv2), [Weakness Insight] (Lv2)

[Moon Arc], [Limit Pursuit], [Flash Shadow]

[Grim Reaper]

Skill Points: 6

Lu Qiming stared intently at his mission progress. He hadn't expected that reaching the 50th Floor would get him nearly nine-tenths of the way there. Once the Expedition Team had finished resting and successfully conquered the 59th Floor, he would certainly complete his mission progress.

Looking at the 890,000 points of progress, Lu Qiming felt a deep sense of achievement. There were still more than two hundred days left on the mission, and it was easy to imagine that in a few days he would finish it.

The heavy pressure weighing on him eased at once. Once the mission was complete, he could spend the remaining time doing whatever he wanted. Heh!

But when he looked at his level, Lu Qiming still felt a pang of sadness. He had slaughtered monsters all the way down from the upper floors to the 50th. Apart from most of the monsters on the 37th Floor, which had died during Ais and Udaios's fight, he had taken care of all the rest himself.

And yet he was only level 62. Even at level 62, he needed 300 million experience to level up, and the amount required kept growing. Fortunately, the monsters ahead would be even stronger, so the experience he gained would increase as well.

Next, Lu Qiming looked at his remaining six skill points. The only skill he had maxed out was "Musou." All the rest were still at level one, except for "Godspeed Reaction" and "Weakness Insight," which were level two.

To unlock the second skill tier, he needed to raise every skill in the first tier to level three. At level 60, he had originally gained 12 skill points, enough to unlock the next tier, but he had spent four of them directly to max out "Musou."

That meant he could unlock the second skill tier now, but he was still one skill point short of activating it.

But he didn't regret it. "Musou" was a skill worth saving for emergencies. Remembering the tenfold boost of max-level "Musou," Lu Qiming felt even more satisfied with his decision.

"Heh!"

Lu Qiming grinned. He tapped "Weakness Insight" and "Godspeed Reaction" once each, then tapped "Dual Sword Mastery" and "Soul Blade" twice each.

As he lowered his finger, a tingling sensation rose from his soul, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.

A few seconds later, Lu Qiming shuddered. He felt completely refreshed, and even the consciousness of Divine Judgment in his soul could express itself more clearly.