As he dove deeper, he collected various materials along the way.
Unlike the previous floor sector, this large sector had an abundance of harvestable resources.
The vast majority were not ores, but special plants growing on the stone walls.
For instance, the glowing, luminous moss had a chance to produce fruit.
Usually, a massive patch of luminous moss would yield only a single fruit.
The Glowmagic Fruit was a primary ingredient for crafting high-grade recovery potions.
Although the Glowmagic Fruit also emitted light, it was extremely inconspicuous amidst the vast patches of glowing moss, making it highly difficult to harvest.
As a result, its market price was very high.
Li Xiuman cast Appraisal from time to time on the surrounding stone walls and rocks as he went, yet he had only managed to collect four of them.
They were only the size of soybeans, which indeed made them incredibly easy to miss.
After diving to an unknown depth, Li Xiuman spotted a water vortex on the lake bed.
“Have I reached the bottom?”
Li Xiuman thought to himself as he stared at the vortex.
In the floor sector spanning Floors 31 to 40, each floor was connected by such a vortex.
Passing through the vortex would take one to the next floor.
Of course, passing through these vortexes was no easy task.
The suction of the vortex was immense. Once pulled in, a traveler's protective magic items and mana veils could easily be torn to shreds.
With the deeper floors came increased water pressure, making the vortexes on each subsequent floor progressively more dangerous.
It could be called the dungeon's built-in filtration mechanism.
Li Xiuman felt it was highly necessary to implement a similar setup in his own White Bone Dungeon, offering those adorable adventurers exploring his domain some skeletal hospitality.
Speaking of which, the White Bone Dungeon already had thirty-one floors.
However, the Floor Boss for the 30th floor had not been set up yet, leaving all adventurers stuck on that floor, unable to venture deeper.
He would have to find some time later to create a Floor Boss for the 30th floor of the White Bone Dungeon.
Drawing his wand, he lowered it slowly. The flowing water coiled up around it, and an azure magic circle expanded beneath his feet.
“Tier 3 Magic, Water Spirit's Blessing!”
The surging water formed the phantom image of a water spirit. It crossed its hands, clasped them, and gently caressed the top of Li Xiuman's head.
A thin blue film enveloped his entire body.
Although Li Xiuman felt he could cross a mere Floor 31 vortex with his eyes closed, it was always better to be cautious when caution was warranted.
He felt as though his luck had taken a turn for the worse ever since he had interacted with that evil god.
Better cast another spell just in case.
“Tier 2 Magic, Water Prison!”
The flowing water wrapped around his body, forming a spinning sphere of water isolated from the surrounding currents.
Bolstered by these two layers of protection, Li Xiuman cautiously descended toward the vortex.
This feeling, this feeling!
Li Xiuman's eyes lit up.
In that moment, he felt as though he had been tossed into a flushing toilet.
He had never expected that he would one day experience the perspective of waste being flushed away. It was a truly unique experience.
Aside from that random observation, Li Xiuman passed through the vortex quite smoothly, arriving on the 32nd floor.
The descent was incredibly stable, without even a hint of dizziness.
It was just like riding a carousel at an amusement park.
Just as he emerged on the 32nd floor, Li Xiuman saw someone leading a group of adventurers toward him.
“A robbery?”
Li Xiuman became alert.
At the same time, he glanced back at the vortex, preparing to call upon Takoyaki and his zombie army at any moment.
“My friend, we mean no harm,” the leader of the adventurers shouted toward Li Xiuman using an underwater speaking magic item, seemingly noticing his wariness.
He stopped a short distance from Li Xiuman, halting his advance.
Li Xiuman scanned the equipment of the adventurers before him.
They wore standardized mask-type magic items that allowed underwater breathing, and their bodies were clad in one-piece leather suits made from the scales of underwater monsters.
“Is there something you need?” Li Xiuman asked.
Their appearance reminded him of a certain adventurer party he had met in the White Bear City Dungeon.
In the end, he had sent Number Zero in as an undercover agent, which directly led to him raiding a Viscount's manor.
The haul of ten thousand gold coins had made him ecstatic.
At this thought, an air of anticipation crept into Li Xiuman's tone.
He was already pondering what name Number Zero should use for this undercover mission and what lines he should write for the golem.
Doing voiceovers was always a bit embarrassing, though.
Maybe he should go with a tsundere voice this time.
No, no, no, something was wrong with his head. That kind of voiceover was clearly too embarrassing.
Habit really is a terrifying thing.
It seemed he would need to thoroughly study and install a proper voice module on Number Zero soon.
If this skeleton had to do the voice acting every single time, he was bound to develop some psychological issues eventually.
“Our party's Elementalist met with an accident.”
“Without an Elementalist, moving even an inch on this floor is impossible.”
“Therefore, we hope to hire you as our temporary Elementalist.”
Li Xiuman was slightly disappointed.
That was it?
Couldn't they have higher aspirations and deliver an ambitious noble to his doorstep?
“We are willing to pay a reward of four thousand gold coins.”
“…How much?!”
“Is four thousand gold coins really too little?”
“But this is all the gold we have left.”
Li Xiuman fell silent.
Did he mishear and add an extra zero?
Four thousand gold coins!
This was equivalent to the wealth of four red dragons! Or a third of Viscount Fantes's entire fortune!
Was this fellow pulling his leg?
When things are too good to be true, there's always a catch.
He must not let wealth devour his rationality, even if it was four thousand gold coins.
He was currently worth over ten thousand gold coins himself, a rich skeleton. He must never let his desires...
“If you are uneasy about it, I am willing to pay half the reward upfront.”
A gold coin was tossed over.
Li Xiuman hastily caught it.
Unlike ordinary gold coins, this coin was imbued with a special recognition magic.
Engraved on the front was “2,000 Gold.”
Engraved on the back was “Lantes United Kingdom” along with its national emblem.
“My magical arts are modest, but I will certainly give it my all.”
He was not devoured by desire.
He was desire itself now! Hehehe!
This was four thousand gold coins, four thousand!
With these four thousand gold coins, even at a tavern that charged nine silver coins a night, he would dare to rent a room for a whole week!
Renting it for a week still felt a bit wasteful, but booking it for three days straight wouldn't even make him blink!
Li Xiuman successfully integrated into this adventurer party.
He didn't send Number Zero to go undercover.
This was probably what they called entering the tiger's den.
But four thousand gold coins!
To Li Xiuman, this gold meant renting a room overnight—no, renting for ten nights straight was no problem at all!
He hadn't expected his body to be worth so much. He almost wanted to shed a tear. Sob, sob.
His mental state was already slightly unstable, but four thousand gold coins!
The party kept Li Xiuman, their new Elementalist, protected in the middle of their formation.
This feeling of being protected was a first... well, second.
The first time was when Ilu carried him while parkouring throughout the dungeon.
The entire party aligned in a formation: two Heavy Warriors and a Swordsman in the front; an Elementalist and a Light Priest in the middle; and two Swordsmen and a Heavy Warrior in the rear.
And the incredibly handsome fellow leading them! He was a Swordsman, standing right in the center of the two Heavy Warriors at the front.
He was also the captain of this adventurer party, and his name was Brad Bill.
In reality, Brad actually looked quite average.
But to Li Xiuman, the handsomest man he had ever seen was Viscount Fantes, simply because he had given him ten thousand gold coins.
And the second handsomest was Brad, because he gave him four thousand gold coins.
That was four thousand gold coins!
“Li, ahead we need—”
“Mr. Bill, please don't be so formal. Just call me Xiuman.”
“…”
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