Monster Creation

"Puchi, puchi."

Puchi, with red mushroom caps and round bodies, clustered around the great sphere of light floating in midair. Their hazy consciousnesses were filled with dependence on and loyalty toward their creator, but there were still too few newly born Puchi for now.

The collective consciousness could not yet clearly express self-awareness, possessing only near-instinctive reactions.

Across the ground, countless fungal threads spread continuously in every direction. Glowing mushrooms sprouted one after another, illuminating the pitch-black cavern.

"Alright, next I'll send you to every floor of the Dungeon. Grow well."

Luo Ao was full of anticipation for his first creation. He expended power to directly scatter the Fungus Lord's fungal threads across the areas most suitable for its growth on the first and second floors, letting it develop freely.

"Puchi, puchi."

The Puchi surrounding Luo Ao began to disperse. Their plump bodies waddled toward areas the fungal threads had yet to reach, and with every step, their red mushroom caps sprayed out vast quantities of spores. Soon, the entire cavern was filled with a mist of spores.

The spores that landed on the walls, in cracks, and on the ground began growing rapidly, automatically changing their colors and forms according to their environment as they formed a gigantic fungal network. The newborn Puchi continued doing the same.

Luo Ao looked at the cavern, which had become quiet again. The many glowing mushrooms provided faint light, but the newly born Fungus Lord alone was not enough to stop the adventurers entering the Dungeon in three days. Luo Ao needed to create more monsters.

"Let me see whether there are any magical resources in the Dungeon."

Luo Ao's consciousness swept through the entire Dungeon. Every newly opened Dungeon floor would produce various resources, but unlike special materials such as the "Adaptive Fungal Strain," they did not appear on the panel and had to be found by Luo Ao himself.

"A spring with magical properties, and iron ore."

Deep within an inconspicuous spring on the third floor, Luo Ao discovered that the water flowing from it possessed magical properties. Beneath the second floor, there were also quite a few magic iron ores. Materials imbued with magic were the best ingredients for creating monsters.

With a thought, a portion of spring water and iron ore appeared before Luo Ao. As part of Luo Ao's body, the Dungeon did not require Primordial Power for something like this unless it involved large-scale alterations to the terrain or environment.

One portion of magical spring water plus two portions of iron ore. As his talent activated, the two fused together smoothly, and an entirely new monster was successfully born.

Bang!

A round, heavy body crashed onto the stone floor with a dull thud. A basketball-sized, plump monster appeared in place, its large, vacant eyes blinking as it stared ahead.

[Name: Steel Slime]

[Level: lv2]

[Skills: Steel Body lv2, Asexual Reproduction lv2, Charge lv1.]

[Description: A monster that appears cute but is actually vicious. Its liquid steel body possesses powerful physical defense, and each impact from its heavy body can deliver enough force to shatter bones. It gains different attributes depending on the minerals and rocks it devours.]

"Not bad... I guess."

Luo Ao watched the Steel Slime bounce around before him with dull thuds. It looked like a solid iron ball cast entirely from pure iron.

"Use Charge."

Whoosh!

At Luo Ao's command, the newly born Steel Slime shot forward at a speed that an ordinary person could not possibly react to. It slammed into the rock wall five meters away with a dull boom, leaving a sunken crater in the wall.

Luo Ao was fairly satisfied with that power. At the very least, if this struck an ordinary person in a vital area, it would be enough to kill them in one blow.

A slime, originally considered a relatively harmless monster, possessing such tremendous strength gave Luo Ao no reason to be dissatisfied.

Of course, what pleased Luo Ao most was that creating one such slime consumed only three portions of materials and 0.1 Primordial Power. Although the monsters Luo Ao created all possessed the ability to reproduce on their own, the Dungeon would emerge into the world in three days.

Luo Ao could not wait for the Steel Slime before him to reproduce by itself.

With another thought, large quantities of magical spring water and magic iron ore were transferred over. Steel Slimes were created in an endless stream, and Luo Ao spent a full fifty points of Primordial Power to create five hundred Steel Slimes.

He then scattered them across different floors.

"Next, I need to create an elite monster. Steel Slimes and Puchi alone won't be enough to stop those adventurers."

Recalling the knowledge that had continuously appeared in his mind after awakening, Luo Ao knew that the Dungeon in its current state was not enough to stop adventurers. The Fungus Lord had great potential, but it still needed time to grow.

Primordial Power: 230

Upgrading the Dungeon had cost 100 points of Primordial Power, remodeling the three Dungeon floors had cost another 20, and creating the Fungus Lord alone had cost Luo Ao 100 points. Including the 50 points spent creating Steel Slimes, Luo Ao now had only 230 points of Primordial Power remaining.

"Going all in is wisdom!"

With a thought from Luo Ao, all the Demon Iron ore from the deepest part of the second floor's Demon Iron mine—the portion containing the most magical power—was transferred out.

As the Monster Creation talent activated, the iron ore began to dissolve, then condensed according to Luo Ao's will into suits of humanoid armor.

The pitch-black armor seemed capable of devouring light itself. Sharp barbs covered every joint, a pair of keen bull horns gleamed coldly atop the helmets, and the armored figures held various weapons in their hands.

[Name: Death Iron Skeleton]

[Level: lv3]

[Skills: Magic Iron Body lv3, Combat Instinct lv2, Killing Intent lv2, Bloodlust lv1, Aura Suppression lv1]

[Description: Beings born purely for slaughter. Their bodies forged from magic iron ore possess powerful physical defense and decent magical resistance. Their innate Combat Instinct and Killing Intent make them synonymous with death. Their pitch-black bodies render them as inconspicuous as lifeless objects, while Bloodlust allows them to survive countless battles.]

After consuming all the iron ore containing abundant magical power and a full 100 points of Primordial Power, Luo Ao created twenty Death Iron Skeletons. Their lv3 level was limited by the Dungeon's current level; Luo Ao could currently create only monsters of the same level as himself.

"Hehe, this level of strength should give those adventurers a surprise."

As the Dungeon's ruler, Luo Ao possessed the abilities of every monster he created. It was precisely because of this that he could clearly sense what kind of power the newly created Death Iron Skeletons possessed.

"Go. Deliver death to every invader who enters the Dungeon!"

As the command was issued, the twenty Death Iron Skeletons headed toward different floors of the Dungeon in pairs. They lay in wait within dark corners, allowing fungal threads to crawl over their entire bodies, like abandoned suits of armor awaiting the invaders' arrival.