Dungeon Space

Biodata

Origin and Mechanics

• Formation: Dungeon Spaces are initially described as non-natural transitional spaces along passages opened by exotic beasts, alien races, or powerful humans. Later revelations identify a deeper natural origin for the spacetime passages underlying Blue Water Star’s Dungeon Spaces 7 250.
• Two-way access: A passage can support either invasion or counterinvasion. Which side becomes the aggressor depends on their relative strength 7.
• Dark energy concentration: Dark energy inside is five to ten times more concentrated than on humanity’s home planet. Human-controlled spaces can also raise the surrounding base’s dark energy level 7.
• Human creation: Powerful humans with spacetime-type contracted beasts specialize in opening low-level Dungeon Spaces, allowing humanity to establish its own routes into hostile territory 7.
• Otherworldly origins: Alien races are intelligent inhabitants of other planets. The origin of exotic beasts remains classified in the information available to Jiang Ziliu during his first expedition 7.
• Dimensional nature: Dungeon Spaces exist within the interstices of spacetime. They are dimensional spaces rather than indestructible worlds, and constant exposure to spacetime turbulence gradually damages them 56.
• Internal restraint: Higher-grade spaces can strongly restrain destructive power. In the academy’s SSS Grade space, Jiang Ziliu finds that attacks capable of devastating a city outside would cause only slight destruction inside 147.

Permanent and Temporary Spaces

Trading Dungeon Spaces are distinguished by their purpose, rather than by a separate set of transit rules. Peaceful races establish them to exchange resources, though a trading route can still become an invasion route 47.

“Permanent” does not mean everlasting. Ordinary spaces remain stable rather than closing shortly after use, but their structures still deteriorate over time 7 56.

Gateways

• Gateways stand on both sides of a Dungeon Space 7.
• Dungeon Space No. 1’s entrance resembles a black curtain. Its frame consists of high-level beast bones covered in dark-energy runes and inlaid with precious crystals and beast cores 7.
• Passage involves spatial transit; Jiang Ziliu experiences dizziness when entering No. 1 7.
• The two ordinary access points are not the only possible means of entry. Specialized spatial artifacts or dream-based methods can create additional routes, although their effectiveness depends on the space and its defenders 134 136 144.

Decay and Collapse

Spacetime turbulence steadily erodes a Dungeon Space, adding cracks to its structure. Once these cracks expand sufficiently, the space collapses. The spatial annihilation accompanying its destruction destroys its contents, with pot heaven black abyss mud identified as a substance capable of surviving and being expelled into reality 56.

• Decay residue: Interaction between the space and spacetime turbulence produces pot heaven black abyss mud, a spatial-attribute residue and evidence of the space’s deterioration 56.
• Artificial destruction: External power can also destroy a Dungeon Space. An experiment with the Dwarf King’s Hammer devastates one of the Nangong Clan’s smaller spaces, which subsequently collapses 77.

Private Creation and Sealed Worlds

Diamond Rank experts can use their soul power, dark energy, and special secret methods to open and shape privately owned Dungeon Spaces. A lineage with sufficient resources can establish multiple spaces and conceal substantial forces within them 133.

To create a secluded refuge, a lineage can place the far end of its passage on an uninhabited planet or massive meteorite, then seal that end. The resulting Dungeon Space functions as a private little world. Locating suitable celestial coordinates is therefore an important technological capability, and research into celestial-body positioning remains essential to establishing such spaces 133.

Life-Level Restrictions and Sealing

Some Supreme Rank beings can remain inside lower-grade Dungeon Spaces by sealing themselves, but this requires considerable resources and continuing expenditure to maintain the seal. Human experts periodically inspect the Jiaolong Human Race’s space to ensure that no Supreme Rank beings are concealed there 151.

The Dragon Race’s SS Grade space contains sealed Supreme Rank dragons whose strength is thoroughly reduced to Diamond Rank. They cannot exceed that limit without risking either their own destruction under the space’s rules or the destruction of the Dungeon Space 165.

Deeper Cosmological Origin

The early explanation that Dungeon Spaces are exclusively artificial is later qualified by revelations about Blue Water Star. The planet occupies a special spacetime node where the forces of the Positive and Negative Universes meet. These conditions have produced countless natural spacetime passages connecting to locations throughout the universe 250.

Blue Water Star’s Dungeon Spaces are described as products of these passages opening covertly while in a semiclosed state. They represent only an exceedingly small fraction of the planet’s underlying spacetime passages 250.

Ancient Battlefields are also linked to the concept. The primordial battlefield beyond Terra Star is described as an upgraded version of the Dungeon Spaces found on inhabited planets 181.

Power Progression

Dungeon Spaces are graded by their capacity and properties rather than advancing as a single individual entity. The following table records confirmed grades and capabilities; grades without a stated life-level limit are not assigned one by inference.

Historical and Economic Importance

Exotic beasts and alien races invaded humanity’s planet through spatial passages, causing the Great Cataclysm. Dungeon Spaces subsequently became both a continuing security threat and a means for humanity to counterattack 7.

Base No. 12 paid an enormous sum to establish thirty-six low-level Dungeon Spaces, receiving additional support from its main base and the Human Alliance. Over the following ten years, the investment accelerated the growth of its beast tamers despite an initial period of hardship. By Jiang Ziliu’s first visit, the base had recovered and was preparing to open more spaces as part of its attempt to become a level-three base 7.

Resources and Livelihoods

• Beast nourishment: Dungeon Spaces supply minerals, plants, meat, and other materials used to feed and develop contracted beasts 6.
• Basic industry: Slime skin and gel are major foundational resources for Base No. 12’s beast-taming economy. Constant harvesting has not depleted its prolific slime population 8.
• Specialized materials: Certain volcanic and lava-sea spaces produce red-veined steel rock, which can be processed into earth-attribute weapons 11.
• Rare treasures: Dungeon exploration can yield resources unavailable through ordinary purchasing, including the three C-grade Soul-Cleansing Mushrooms Jiang Ziliu finds in a goblin lair 10.
• Adventurer income: Jiang Ziliu earns 23,597 yuan from his first expedition. Subsequent visits to No. 1 bring in 15,000–25,000 yuan per day, allowing him to fund three months of his beasts’ basic expenses before returning to school 11 12.
• High-temperature processing: Some Dungeon Space metals and beast materials resist ordinary furnaces, requiring equipment such as Jiang Yuan’s ultra-high-temperature furnace 11.
• Spatial materials: Pot heaven black abyss mud moderates spatial power and can be reused after medicinal impurities are removed. Jiang Ziliu employs it when awakening the Azurite Rock Man’s Earth Space Evasion 56.
• High-grade spatial development: A later SS+ Grade supply of pot heaven black abyss mud helps permanently improve the resilience and stability of Jiang Ziliu’s Beast-Taming Space 95.
• Ancient salvage: Spaces can attract ruins drifting through the void. Materials recovered from one death-associated space support treasure markets outside its entrance, where Jiang Ziliu finds knowledge of Soul Bombs 158.

Strategic and Lineage Importance

Private Dungeon Spaces allow great lineages to hide reserves, shelter important members, train descendants, and preserve themselves across generations. Discovering a lineage’s visible headquarters is therefore insufficient to eliminate its concealed branches and forces 133.

After acquiring the Dwarf King’s treasure, Jiang Ziliu concludes that humanity’s upper echelons deliberately tolerate some lower-level invasions and wilderness threats as a means of training troops and producing powerful defenders of the race 82.

At the scale of a Supreme Rank base, Dungeon Spaces form an extensive strategic resource network. Cloud Dream Marsh Base has ten publicly known SSS Grade spaces, thirty SS Grade spaces, and one hundred S Grade spaces 144.

Access and Security

Base No. 12

The base’s thirty-six human-opened Dungeon Spaces occupy a dedicated military zone in the inner city’s central district. Troops and high-level Bronze and Silver Rank beast tamers guard the area, including concealed defenders 7.

• Contract Mark scanning: Soldiers scan visitors’ Contract Marks to verify identity. Each mark is unique and unchanging, making mismatched identities detectable 7.
• Strategic priority: The zone receives ample electricity despite shortages elsewhere. Much of humanity’s technological research focuses on Dungeon Space control and contracted beasts 7.
• Unequal scrutiny: Jiang Ziliu observes that owners of spatial equipment avoid searches because of their wealth or influence, while poorer adventurers risk having valuables discovered and being harassed 11.

Training and Expedition Safety

• Conditions inside Dungeon Spaces are relatively fixed compared with the wilderness, but they still contain dangerous and unfamiliar threats 5.
• Beast tamers are taught to release their beasts immediately upon entering dangerous territory. Jiang Ziliu’s nervousness causes him to forget this rule on his first expedition 8.
• No. 9 Middle School supports independent student expeditions but does not organize collective Dungeon Space adventures, avoiding responsibility for casualties. It instead displays precautionary notices around campus 37.
• Early-awakened children from wealthy families routinely train in the spaces with adult protectors; Jiang Ziliu sees children around ten years old who have already reached Black Iron Grade 7.
• Jiang Ziliu later explores Base No. 12’s other low-level spaces on weekends to earn money for his expenses 37.

High-Grade Academy Expeditions

Ordinary SSS Grade Dungeon Spaces are generally closed to outsiders. When such a space appears in the wilderness, human experts either destroy it or place it firmly under a major faction’s control. Academy-controlled spaces provide a limited exception through supervised student expeditions 145.

Alternative Entry and Escape Methods

Notable Dungeon Spaces

Dungeon Space No. 1

Environment and Threats

• Slimes: Common inhabitants, ordinarily one- to five-star Gray Rock Grade. Their sludge contains gastric juices, paralyzing toxins, and microbial toxins that can poison through skin contact 7.
• Goblins: Weak individually but dangerous in groups. They distract contracted beasts while attacking their tamers’ vulnerable areas, particularly the lower body and Achilles tendons 8.
• Other inhabitants: Smaller populations of fish-headed monsters, swamp crocodiles, and water pythons 8.
• Dense vegetation: Tough aquatic plants and tangled vines can catch long weapons. Jiang Ziliu favors a short blade for the Azurite Rock Man because it is less restricted by the terrain 8.

Jiang Ziliu’s Expeditions

Jiang Ziliu first enters No. 1 to gather resources and train his two contracted beasts. His opening encounter is a slime attack, which the Mutated Lightning Snake resolves by electrocuting and eating the creature 7.

He subsequently targets goblins to develop the Azurite Rock Man’s combat skills. Clearing their lair yields three Soul-Cleansing Mushrooms and a mysterious leaf-bearing metal object; the mushrooms improve both beasts’ spirituality and raise Jiang Ziliu to nine-star Gray Rock Grade through feedback 9 10.

On later daily visits, the snake primarily guards Jiang Ziliu while the rock man handles roughly ninety percent of combat. This training culminates in the rock man developing Saber Mastery 12.

Southwest B-Grade Wild Dungeon Space

• Location: 110 kilometers southwest of Base No. 12 37.
• Classification: Newly appeared B-grade permanent wild Dungeon Space 37.
• Invaders: Beastman forces, including werewolves and an elite Skunk-Person scout, enter the region through it 37.
• Consequences: The scout destroys a human merchant caravan. The wider invasion prompts Base No. 12 to adopt a quasi-war footing and offer anonymous military merit for hunting aliens 37.

Base No. 10’s Elven Trading Dungeon

• Base development: The entrance originally stood in the wilderness. Human authorities built Base No. 10 around it and stationed forces to manage relations with the elves 47.
• Mutual defenses: Humans maintain an enormous fortress. The elves defend their exit with a plant fortress incorporating Ancient Trees of Elves, Ancient Trees of War, and a thorn-forest wall one hundred meters tall 48.
• Marketplace: The central trading area contains interspersed human and elven businesses. Giant trees shelter individual trading spaces, while treehouses house finer goods 48.
• Trading etiquette: Visitors are expected to be clean and dressed according to elven aesthetics. Ugly, damaged, or filthy clothing can result in refusal of service and removal; attractive nature-themed clothing can secure better prices 47.
• Local specialty: A secondary Elven Mother Tree and nearby Moonwells produce Moonwell Water. Its shelf life of less than one day forces buyers to obtain and use it locally 49.
• Jiang Ziliu’s visit: Under the identity Li Tao, he purchases restorative fruits, Tree of Life dust, books, and Moonwell Water for the Green-Skinned Shapeshifting Spirit’s evolution 47 48.
• Continuing distrust: Both races fortify their positions despite trading. After Jiang Ziliu leaves, he discovers that an elven pursuer is following him; he suspects his potion-making in a rented treehouse may have attracted attention 48 50.
• Pursuer’s capture: Jiang Ziliu identifies the watcher as an elf and captures her through a coordinated ambush involving his electromagnetic attack, poison, the Azurite Rock Man, and the Mutated Lightning Snake 50.

Lingyan Base Stone-Forest Dungeon Space

• Location: An enormous stone forest less than one hundred kilometers from Lingyan Base 55.
• Classification: S Grade exotic-beast Dungeon Space 55.
• Strategic role: Its presence is one of the threats faced by Lingyan Base in its role as a fortress 55.

Nangong Clan Dungeon Spaces

• Headquarters space: A C Grade exotic-beast Dungeon Space in the wilderness near a base in Scallion Ridge. The Nangong Clan establishes its headquarters there and draws enormous profits from it 77.
• Original holdings: The clan originally possesses two Dungeon Spaces 77.
• Destroyed space: Testing the Dwarf King’s Hammer devastates the smaller space, which is completely destroyed soon afterward 77.
• Clan’s fall: The exposure of the clan’s possession of the hammer prompts an attack by major factions and the destruction of the Nangong Clan 77.

Jiang Clan Mountain-Fortress Dungeon Spaces

Jiang Ziliu sends A Kun to investigate the fortress and locate its spaces. He later uses the processed Ox-Headed Dream-Devouring Nightmare to access the dreams of a headquarters member, gathering information before A Kun conducts a covert investigation inside 133 136.

The headquarters contains captive beastmen, elves, and dwarves used as slave labor. A Kun also discovers the clan’s public underground vault and a Fallen Void Star Ruin Core near the entrance that serves as a concealed true treasury 136 139.

Jiang Ziliu’s operation removes both the public treasury’s contents and the disguised true treasury. Because the guards detect no irregularity at either ordinary access point, the Diamond Rank elders initially believe the thief remains inside 139.

Jiang Clan Western Dungeon Space

• Location: An expanded underground cavern within a dangerous gray-lit region west of the clan’s fortress 133 137 138.
• Grade: SS 138.
• Defenders: At least one Diamond Rank beast tamer is stationed there 138.
• Environmental protection: The Forging Throne detects what appears to be a treasure helping the space resist the surrounding region’s dark-energy-draining rules 138.
• Adjacent route: A separate hidden spacetime passage lies in the cavern. The Forging Throne explicitly distinguishes this passage from a Dungeon Space 138.
• Smuggling operation: The clan uses the route to sell Descend to the Mortal World Pills to foreign races. This SS Grade resource is exclusive to Blue Water Star and forbidden for export to other races; Jiang Ziliu secretly records evidence of the transaction 138.

Cloud Dream Marsh Beast Taming Academy’s SSS Grade Dungeon Space

Jiang Ziliu enters by posing as Chen Ziqi’s outside helper, displaying Nine-Star Gold Rank strength under a disposable identity. He chooses legitimate entry because dream-based infiltration risks alerting the academy’s experts 144 145.

Before entering, he prepares a single-use Void-Piercing Ship and a dream-based escape contingency outside the space 146.

He subsequently obtains the Origin Divine Ship and escapes. Less than ten seconds after his departure, the spatial fluctuations draw the academy’s Supreme Rank experts’ attention. Five experts investigate and discover that a mountain ridge hundreds of kilometers long has vanished; its remembered shape resembles an overturned ship 149.

The academy traces his entry to Chen Ziqi, lightly punishes and secretly monitors the student, and continues investigating without identifying Jiang Ziliu. The missing treasure also attracts covert attention from other major forces 149.

Jiaolong Human Race’s SS Grade Dungeon Space

• Role: Core territory containing the Jiaolong Human Race’s Elemental Crystal reserves 151.
• Oversight: Human experts conduct irregular inspections for concealed Supreme Rank beings under agreements between the two races 151.
• Infiltration: Jiang Ziliu enters through the demon’s dream passage and uses a beneficial soul medicine to put the treasury guards to sleep 151.
• Theft: He steals more than ten million S Grade Elemental Crystals before escaping 151.

Death-Associated Ruins Dungeon Space

• Inhabitants: Ghosts, zombies, and skeletons 158.
• Special formation event: Its power of death attracts broken ruins drifting through the void when the space first forms 158.
• Surviving relics: The ruins contain ancient objects durable enough to survive the void, including the Soul Bomb knowledge Jiang Ziliu investigates 158.
• Access limitation: The space is too low-level for Jiang Ziliu to enter at this stage, so he searches the treasure markets in nearby bases instead 158.

Dragon Race’s Remote SS Grade Dungeon Space

The Dragon Race favors Dungeon Spaces over Blue Water Star’s relatively low-energy environment. Its spaces are placed in remote locations partly because repeated human dragon hunts make entrances near human population centers unsafe 164.

Despite underground detection measures and some spatial monitoring, Jiang Ziliu infiltrates the space undetected. He releases two stalks of Drunken Dragon Grass near Dragon Mountain, intoxicating dragons and dragon-blooded vassals as the first step toward seizing the Dragon Gate 164.

The grass also incapacitates the sealed Supreme Rank dragons. Jiang Ziliu subsequently encounters a small Diamond Rank black dragon who has been living in the space while concealing his exceptional soul and abilities 165.

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