Level Up to lv8

"Help! Someone, save me!"

"I don't want to die! Don't abandon me!"

"Ah, damn Slimes! I'll fight you to the death!"

On the dungeon's second floor, a rookie adventurer ran forward in blind panic. Screams and cries for help rang out behind him, but he was so terrified that he did not dare look back. The only thought in his mind was to escape the dungeon as quickly as possible.

"Ahhh!"

As the rookie adventurer rounded a corner, the dim surroundings made it impossible for him to see where he was stepping. He stepped straight into a trap, spikes piercing through the soles of his feet. He staggered and fell to the ground, his entire body skewered like a hedgehog. The intense pain drew a shrill scream from him.

"Gugu ga."

Several Goblins carrying bone clubs emerged from the corner. Stimulated by the scent of blood in the air, they let out piercing, strange laughs. The ugly Goblins pounced on him and began tearing at him.

Before long, everything on the rookie adventurer had been stripped clean. The ground writhed like a living creature and swallowed the entire corpse, while the Goblins licked up the remaining bloodstains.

In a cave not far from where the rookie adventurer had died, more than a dozen Steel Slimes were gnawing on iron ore embedded in the walls. In a corner, a suit of armor covered in fungal threads crouched silently, utterly inconspicuous.

At that very moment, similar events were unfolding constantly throughout the dungeon's upper levels. Countless rookie adventurers died in this dungeon like weeds, while Steel Slimes and Death Iron Skeletons became rookie killers that struck fear into people's hearts.

A small number of lucky rookie adventurers escaped the dungeon, only to suffer mental breakdowns from fright. Yet some lucky ones found treasure chests containing all kinds of equipment and precious materials, driving the other adventurers even more mad.

They believed they would be the next lucky ones to strike it rich.

"Today really is a perfect day for celebration!"

On the dungeon's Seventh Layer, Luo Ao looked at the rapidly rising Primordial Power on his panel, his joy beyond words. The price he had paid to create the bug nest had not been wasted. Lured by treasure and power, all of Adventurer Town had descended into revelry.

Primordial Power: 1321.

Over thirteen hundred points of Primordial Power—such a huge harvest in just a few short hours. Unfortunately, something like this was fine once in a while, but if it happened often, it would only affect the dungeon's operation.

After all, too many rookie adventurers had died. Those remaining were all experienced adventurers. It would not be so easy to harvest adventurers then.

"It has to develop sustainably, like harvesting chives."

To be honest, Luo Ao would have been lying if he said he was not tempted by such an efficient way of harvesting Primordial Power. But even capitalists knew to leave the roots behind when exploiting others. Naturally, Luo Ao would not be stupid enough to harvest adventurers without restraint.

If the dungeon's rookie fatality rate became too high, then no matter how greedy future rookies were, they would surely be too afraid to enter it.

"Enough Primordial Power. Time to level up."

With a thought, the Primordial Power on the panel began to plummet. In the blink of an eye, eight hundred points vanished.

Level: lv8 (0/900).

The instant the dungeon successfully leveled up, Luo Ao clearly felt his own power rapidly expanding. A brand-new dungeon layer was continuously opened within the Void, and scorching, violent power poured into his body.

Within the Void, surging lava radiated blistering heat. Toxic fumes carrying the smell of sulfur filled the entire space. Rivers of lava raced across the land into the distance, while grayish-brown mountains stood tall upon the earth. Thick black smoke rose from their peaks, and erupting lava fell from the sky like meteors.

Stairs connecting the different layers crossed the Void. The moment the Seventh Layer linked to the newly born Eighth Layer, Luo Ao's true body had already transferred itself and all the treasure to the deepest part of the Eighth Layer.

"A volcano?"

In the deepest part of the Eighth Layer, Luo Ao surveyed his surroundings and discovered that he was inside a volcano. Boiling lava surged continuously all around him as his spiritual power spread out and covered the entire Eighth Layer.

Towering volcanoes stood across the dark brown land, their erupting lava flowing freely over the ground. From high above, it looked like crimson veins connecting the entire landmass.

Black smoke from the volcanic eruptions covered the entire sky, while countless burning meteors crashed down like a rainstorm. If he had not known this was a dungeon, Luo Ao would have thought he had wandered into the Abyss.

"This environment is even more extreme than the Seventh Layer!"

Luo Ao looked over the brand-new Eighth Layer with immense satisfaction. In particular, he sensed the aura of an element within the poisonous gases of the Eighth Layer. This was no longer the ordinary poison of the Fourth Layer's Venomous Swamp, but Fire Venom imbued with extraordinary power.

With that thought, Luo Ao directly transferred a group of Goblins and Gnomes from the Second Layer. The moment these cannon fodder monsters appeared, before they could even make out their surroundings, the terrifying heat made their bodies sizzle. Their fur spontaneously ignited, and the moisture in their bodies began to evaporate.

"Gah—!"

A Great Goblin suddenly clutched his throat tightly, collapsed where he stood, and began struggling violently. The Fire Venom he had inhaled began frenziedly destroying his body, feeding on his life force and magic power.

Under Luo Ao's gaze, the Great Goblin's blood transformed into Fire Venom. Heat radiated from inside his body outward, his emerald skin turned charred black, and within mere seconds, he became nothing but charcoal.

The Goblins and Gnomes had appeared for less than a minute before they all died in the Eighth Layer's lethal environment.

"Even an lv4 Great Goblin can't last a full minute."

"Then how long would high-level adventurers last?"

As Luo Ao spoke, his gaze shifted toward the Ironblood Thorns Squad on the Fifth Layer, who had awakened because of the birth of the new dungeon layer.

"An earthquake? What happened?!"

Inside the tent, Aik instinctively rolled over and sprang up because of the sudden earthquake. He grabbed the two-handed sword beside his pillow and stared intently at the danger that might appear around him.

"Aik, there was an earthquake."

Ulag, who had been keeping watch, lifted the tent flap and walked in. He looked at Aik with a grave expression. Just moments ago, while standing watch, he had suddenly felt intense tremors beneath his feet, originating from deeper within the dungeon.

"So this was the earthquake Viscount Korien Os mentioned."

At that moment, the mage Mary also woke up. Her expression was filled with curiosity and thirst for knowledge. When she had previously read the dungeon information Korien Os had given them, she had wondered whether the intelligence was wrong.

What kind of dungeon had earthquakes? Yet now, it seemed it was real.

"Interesting. Truly interesting. An earthquake in a dungeon—I really want to know why."

A mage's longing for the unknown made Mary excited. She instinctively reached for her magic notebook to record this, but when her hand touched her waist, there was nothing there.