Chapter 183 | Reincarnated as a Dungeon: Farming Adventurers to Survive

Dalun Li hadn't expected to obtain information about the dungeons so easily.

By all rights, Withered Reincarnation should have said something like, "This isn't something you should know yet," and then dragged it out for several years.

Then, just as the truth was about to be revealed, an unknown descending entity would interrupt him, preventing the words from being spoken.

Finally, Withered Reincarnation would be erased, leaving Dalun Li forever in the dark about the truth.

Ultimately, he would have to set out on a quest for the truth, hearing a riddle from a masked unknown existence.

Then, to decipher the riddle, he would fight three hundred rounds against an unknown evil god, eventually learning half the truth from that god and being shocked by it.

Just as he was about to ask about the other half, the evil god would leave a new riddle and then resolutely self-destruct.

Finally, the mastermind would appear, clapping and offering congratulations.

He never expected to learn the truth about the dungeons and his own origins so easily.

Dungeons could reinforce the material world; they were born from the combination of the divine corpse's power merged into the material world and the chaotic space.

This explained why, during the previous God War, the Harvest God had protected the dungeon.

And was the Chaos God's goal in destroying dungeons also to undermine the stability of the material world?

A flash of inspiration struck Dalun Li's mind. Could it be...?

"The price for a dungeon to reinforce the material world is prying at the power of chaos."

"This reinforcement is essentially converting chaotic space into a part of the material world."

Withered Reincarnation nodded.

"Exactly."

At that moment, Dalun Li understood.

He and the Chaos God were destined to be enemies.

His identity as a dungeon meant he could only stand on the side of the Orthodox Gods and the material world.

"Did so many gods fall in the God War? Aren't there only seven plus four complete authorities?"

Since Withered Reincarnation was unusually eager to answer his questions today, Dalun Li asked all the questions he had been harboring.

"Before the God War, gods were divided into Chief Gods and Gods."

"Those who wielded fragmented authority could call themselves Gods, while those who wielded complete authority could become Chief Gods."

"To destroy the material world, the Chaos God incited a rebellion among a portion of the gods who harbored ambitions of becoming Chief Gods, thus starting the God War."

"A massive number of gods fell, and the material world was left teetering on the brink of destruction."

"It was then that the God of the Foundry used the corpses of the fallen gods to repair the material world and prevent its annihilation."

"Since then, the material world has only had Chief Gods and the evil gods who are not recognized by them."

So this was the reason for the birth of dungeons.

All dungeons were formed from the power of divine corpses.

Then how were magic items born, and why were there magic items within dungeons?

After a moment's thought, Dalun Li gained some insight.

They were all transformed from divine corpses.

Earth Vein Power was essentially the power of divine corpses, and the earth veins themselves were the bodies of the gods.

Withered Reincarnation, this guy... you should have spoken in riddles more and let me guess slowly.

By saying everything at once, there's no suspense left at all.

Speaking of which, the grading of magic items...

Lesser magic grade, greater magic grade, masterpiece grade, treasure grade, divine relic grade, Divine Artifact grade.

Divine relic grade...

Divine relics.

It all made sense now.

So why could lesser magic grade, greater magic grade, and masterpiece grade magic items be produced through alchemy and foundry arts?

While magic items of treasure grade and above could not be manufactured?

It was because everything up to masterpiece grade was transformed from the power of divine corpses.

This included the monster materials within the dungeon, which could also be seen as fragments of divine corpses.

Therefore, bringing these divine fragments to the outside world still allowed for the creation of magic items.

Magic items of treasure grade and above were no longer made from divine fragments.

They were made from the power of authority.

His own treasure grade magic item, Collapsed Atmosphere, possessed a faint power of spatial authority.

The power of authority was fixed; it could not be increased or created after the fact.

Therefore, neither alchemical craftsmen nor foundry blacksmiths had any way to create treasure grade or higher magic items.

Had the birth of dungeons brought extraordinary power to this world?

In essence, humanity had obtained extraordinary power from the corpses of the fallen gods.

Treasure grade magic items actually possessed a faint power of authority.

Then the power of authority within divine relic grade and Divine Artifact grade items must be even greater and more complete.

The power of authority within a Divine Artifact grade item might even rival the divine power and authority within an evil god's body.

Dalun Li suddenly had an epiphany.

The Chaos God had directly treated the Dark Starry Sky and Withered Reincarnation as materials to be forged into things similar to Divine Artifact grade magic items.

Those two poor souls.

No wonder treasure grade magic items were revered as treasures in this world, with their numbers being so few it was staggering.

Because the quantity and power of authorities were fixed and could not be born or created later.

Withered Reincarnation really was a good teacher; aside from being used as fuel, he did have some other uses.

With the doubts in his heart resolved, Dalun Li didn't feel like talking to Withered Reincarnation anymore.

The Withered Reincarnation before him was merely a clone of his true body.

If his theory held true—that magic items were formed from the power of authority—

Could the Withered Reincarnation before him be seen as a crafting material for a treasure grade magic item?

This thing could not die, so it must contain some power of the death authority within its body.

He would find an opportunity later, after squeezing out all the knowledge, to consider using him to make a death-attribute magic item.

However...

Withered Reincarnation was a limited edition. It would be a bit of a waste to consume this collectible just like that.

Better to keep him in the collection; he was limited edition, after all.

Later, he would see if he could collect a fragment of an evil god that wasn't limited edition yet to test if his theory was correct.

Dalun Li transferred out of the cell and checked the currently accumulated Earth Vein Power.

Then, he mobilized the Eternal Imprisonment Brain to reconnect with the eyes in the cell and continue learning the Book of Death.

At the same time, he also allocated a portion of the Eternal Imprisonment Brain's thinking capacity to continue absorbing the memories and knowledge of the mage Zahra from the Life Casket.

Once Zahra's knowledge was fully squeezed out, it might even drop a large piece of Earth Vein Essence for him.

A large piece of Earth Vein Essence would be very useful for opening the next floor.

After arranging the tasks for the Eternal Imprisonment Brain, Dalun Li then issued orders to the guardians to check each floor.

The previous battle had confirmed that he hadn't attracted the attention of the gods, but who knew if the God War had left any hidden dangers for him.

He needed to thoroughly inspect each floor to prevent any hidden issues from being left behind without his knowledge.

After the orders were issued, Dalun Li transferred to the floor where the Forbidden Fire was being forged.

The Stratum Core, which was being forged by the Forbidden Fire at every moment, still showed no visible change to the naked eye even after being scorched for so long.