Chapter 184 | Reincarnated as a Dungeon: Farming Adventurers to Survive

According to Dalun Li's speculation, this Stratum Core was likely a creation from before the divine forging.

The God of the Foundry had forged the corpses of the fallen gods into the material world to fill the rifts of reality, simultaneously turning their remains into the very foundation of the material world.

Following this logic, the Stratum Core was very likely a contingency plan left behind by one of those fallen gods.

During that God War, the gods realized that the tide had turned and that their corpses were about to be forged into the material world by the God of the Foundry.

To resist the power of the God of the Foundry, a certain god used special means to seal something away, hiding it within their own corpse.

This thing had to be capable of resisting the God of the Foundry's forging power so that it wouldn't be integrated into the material world along with the rest of the gods.

The Stratum Core was likely born in such a manner.

Because of this, it had survived the God of the Foundry's power, remaining a separate entity rather than being merged into the foundation of the world.

This Stratum Core, which could withstand a Chief God's power, was merely a box used to contain and protect whatever was inside.

This was Dalun Li's theory. Since he had found the Stratum Core at the very bottom of a subordinate floor, the speculation was highly plausible.

If it were true, then the Stratum Core might be incredibly dangerous.

What would a god leave behind as a contingency before dying?

It wasn't hard to guess; there was a high probability it was a means of resurrection.

Dalun Li put himself in their shoes and immediately arrived at this possibility.

In other words, the Stratum Core contained the means for a god's rebirth.

It was essentially a divine egg.

Dalun Li quickly tried to halt the smelting process of the Forbidden Fire, only to discover something alarming.

It wouldn't stop!

Even though Dalun Li had withdrawn the Forbidden Fire, the Stratum Core continued to smelt itself, melting away bit by bit at a agonizingly slow pace.

Dalun Li quickly suppressed his panic.

The situation wasn't entirely dire. The floor where the Stratum Core was located was a subordinate floor he had specifically carved out.

If it wanted to melt, let it melt. It didn't matter.

At worst, he would simply cut off the floor and toss it directly into the chaotic space, letting whatever was inside face off against the Chaos God.

Besides, this was all just his speculation.

A contingency left by a god who had already been forged into the world by the God of the Foundry couldn't be too powerful; otherwise, the Orthodox Gods would have noticed it long ago.

If something really did come out, it was anyone's guess who would come out on top.

Dalun Li didn't believe that all the gods forged into the material world had truly died without leaving a single backup plan.

Over the years, there must have been gods who used some method to resurrect themselves.

Yet, none of them seemed to have caused much of a stir.

Dalun Li looked at the Stratum Core.

If nothing else, the hardness and resistance of this Stratum Core had reached an exaggerated level.

It was, after all, likely the result of a god racking their brains for a solution.

To resist the power of the God of the Foundry, this core had been built with an absurd level of durability.

Now, the difficulty of escaping from within it was also absurdly high.

If he hadn't used the Forbidden Fire to scorch it from the outside, the thing inside would never have been able to get out.

Even now, with the Forbidden Fire stopped, given the current smelting speed, it would likely take at least two years for the Stratum Core to melt completely.

And by the time a year or two had passed, he might already have the means to deal with it.

When that time came, he could turn this subordinate floor into a prison, and he would have yet another evil god collectible.

Once he looked at it that way, he wasn't worried at all.

No matter what was inside the Stratum Core, he could attack if he wanted or defend if he needed to. If he couldn't hold it, he could always dump it into the chaotic space.

Dalun Li simply restored everything to its original state, leaving the Lava Cup beneath the Stratum Core to collect the melted Stratum Core.

In any case, he would take the benefits first. This liquid was a good thing and shouldn't be wasted.

He summoned Collapsed Atmosphere to further reinforce the space of the entire subordinate floor.

Then, he controlled the power of the Forbidden Fire to set up a barrier around the Stratum Core.

After completing all this, Dalun Li felt completely at ease.

Just to be safe, he also transferred the subordinate floor containing the Stratum Core to the vicinity of Withered Reincarnation's cell.

In the worst-case scenario, Withered Reincarnation could serve as an extra layer of insurance for him.

With that done, Dalun Li transferred away once more.

He didn't have time to be idle; there was still much to do in the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.

The adventurers were already nearing the twelfth floor. He couldn't delay the design of the twelfth floor's hidden boss any longer; he had to start the planning immediately.

...

Following the underground rivers of flowing lava downward, they passed through dark, scorching tunnels.

The light at the end of the passage grew brighter until a vast world of lava unfolded before their eyes.

A continuous range of black rocky mountains stretched infinitely to either side.

A scorching wind of lava swept across that ring of unbroken peaks.

Their position was on a high plateau above the mountain range. From here, they could look down upon the entire breathtaking and fantastical floor.

They could see thick smoke like that of an apocalypse and a land scorched and crisscrossed by rivers of lava.

These flows of lava ran from the surrounding peaks toward the depression at the center of the floor.

And at the heart of this floor lay a massive lava lake that resembled an inner sea.

Even from their high vantage point looking down at the lava lake, they could not see its end, nor could they clearly see its center.

All they could see was the endless lake of lava shrouded in rolling, restless clouds of thick smoke.

That billowing smoke was like a miasma of dragon's breath spreading from hell to the present world. Just looking at it was enough to inspire dread.

“By the Goddess of Light, how can such a sight exist? What do we do, Captain?”

Weiss looked toward Manfred.

Since rebelling against the Grey family, they had continued to push deeper in their pursuit of the Forbidden Fire.

Yet, on the twelfth floor, they had encountered such a terrifying lava lake.

How were they supposed to continue their descent?

Based on their understanding of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, there was no doubt that the passage to the next floor must be within that lava lake.

They wouldn't have to search bit by bit for hidden tunnels like they did on the upper floors.

But how were they supposed to cross a lava lake covered in such thick smoke?

It was essentially a perilous wasteland.

“...Although the clearing difficulty of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment is extremely high, it never leaves a wasteland that is impossible to conquer.”

“Let's try to find a way first.”

Manfred fell silent for a moment before finally choosing to offer words of comfort.

After all, they had no way back; they could only continue their exploration downward.

No matter what, they had to obtain the Forbidden Fire. They would just have to find a way to overcome these trials.

Perhaps the Forbidden Fire was hidden within this very lava lake.

According to current intelligence, the adventurers only knew that the legendary Forbidden Fire was sealed somewhere within the Lava Stratum, but they weren't sure which specific floor it was on.