"That was way too close."
If his prepared magical artifacts hadn't come through at the critical moment, the Dark Starry Sky really would have killed him.
Dalun Li landed on the pedestal, feeling like he had just narrowly escaped death.
Magical artifacts and magic equipment were truly good things; he would have to prepare as many as possible in the future.
And...
An evil god.
Dalun Li looked at the Wellmouth Greatsword in his hand, which had already transformed into the greater magic grade.
After passing through the Eternal Imprisonment Sword-Shield's Sacrifice ability to evolve into the greater magic grade, the Wellmouth Greatsword still possessed only one special effect.
absolute hit.
If not for this ability, it would have been impossible for him to damage an evil god.
None of his attacks could normally reach such a powerful existence; this wasn't just a gap in power, but a gap in the very essence of power.
"I originally intended to throw the Wellmouth Greatsword into a treasure chest for an adventurer later on, but now it seems I must keep it for myself."
The evil god had given Dalun Li a profound sense of crisis.
He didn't want to find himself in a situation where he could only wait for death again.
If the Wellmouth Greatsword continued to improve, relying on this absolute hit might allow him to bypass the gap in the essence of power and directly damage his enemies.
He set the Wellmouth Greatsword down; by now, the power of the entire tenth floor had returned.
Dalun Li, along with his entire pedestal, was transferred from the ninth-floor desert to the tenth-floor desert.
The power provided by the tenth floor was different from the previous nine floors.
It was not only more formidable but also contained a chilling darkness.
This dark power originated from that palace in the desert.
The Dark Starry Sky had been eradicated, but its power had integrated into this floor, becoming a part of it.
This was something that even death could not change.
Therefore, even with the tenth floor returned, the palace formed from the Dark Starry Sky's power did not disappear; it became a part of the dungeon itself.
Dalun Li was the dungeon; his power originated from the dungeon itself.
Thus, this pitch-black palace had also become a part of his power.
"This time, I've truly stumbled upon an unprecedented treasure."
Dalun Li looked at the magnificent pitch-black palace before him and couldn't help but marvel.
Danger always coexists with opportunity.
This was a phrase adventurers often had on their lips; they firmly believed that danger was accompanied by treasure, sometimes even confusing the two.
Looking at it now, it was a fundamental truth.
The essence of the Dark Starry Sky's power consisted of two abilities—Stealth and spatial ability—along with starlight fire.
The Stealth and spatial ability had left an extremely deep impression on Dalun Li.
During the battle, the Dark Starry Sky had toyed with him using those two abilities.
Now, could he toy with others in the same way?
Dalun Li entered the interior of the pitch-black palace and restored all the traces left by the previous battle.
Looking at the imposing and flamboyant throne before him, Dalun Li didn't hesitate; with a loud clatter, he slammed the pedestal onto the throne, gazing down at the hall from a position of absolute authority.
Then, he changed the decor of the entire palace.
He deleted all elements of the Dark Starry Sky and replaced them with dungeon-themed elements.
The tenth floor, possessing dark spatial power, was undoubtedly the most unique floor among the ten floors currently available.
In addition to providing power, Dalun Li discovered that the pitch-black palace possessed an even more special ability.
The pitch-black palace could produce magic crystals.
Magic crystal was the name Dalun Li gave them; they contained extremely powerful mana.
Mana was the source of all extraordinary power in this world, and crystals condensed from massive amounts of mana were of extraordinary utility and value.
Whether they were mages, warriors, priests, or alchemists.
They all needed to accumulate mana and improve themselves through long periods of cultivation.
Magic crystals containing large amounts of mana could allow them to skip the process of slowly absorbing mana from the atmosphere and absorb it directly, greatly saving time spent refining mana.
One could imagine how tempting such magic crystals would be to extraordinary beings.
Their value was almost on par with that of magical artifacts.
For Dalun Li, the value of magic crystals was equally high.
He could use magic crystals as a cost to create monsters, thereby not consuming his own power.
He could also use magic crystals to revive guardians without paying any material costs.
Magic crystals could also increase the mana density of an area, using magic crystals to enhance the power of monsters.
It was practically a universal resource; after all, in this world, mana served as the essence of all power and could be used anywhere.
In that case, he understood why the Dark Starry Sky had been able to create so many monsters on this floor.
Perhaps the Dark Starry Sky had made them by consuming the magic crystals produced by the palace.
The pitch-black palace could only produce one magic crystal per day.
The magic crystal was diamond-shaped, about the length of a palm, and displayed four colors, with each facet shimmering between those four colors.
Although it only produced one per day, the mana contained within such a magic crystal was staggering.
It was roughly equivalent to the combined mana of a thousand first-rank mages.
Dalun Li had only ever seen first-rank mages, so he could only use first-rank mages as a mana unit.
A single first-rank mage would need three days to completely recover their mana by refining it after it was exhausted.
In other words, the total mana refined by a first-rank mage over three thousand days was equivalent to one magic crystal.
That meant one magic crystal could save a first-rank mage eight years of mana refinement time.
The palace could produce one magic crystal a day, totaling 368 crystals a year.
That was equivalent to 2,980 years for a single first-rank mage.
"A true treasure indeed..."
Dalun Li felt the power of the pitch-black palace.
Not only did it provide him with power support, but it could also provide him with material support.
It would be great if there were more palaces like this.
Since the pitch-black palace had already become a part of the dungeon, was it possible to upgrade it?
"I wonder what could serve as materials to upgrade a palace like this?"
Dalun Li naturally thought of the correct answer.
Other parts of the Dark Starry Sky.
"...Never mind, it's plenty useful as it is."
Dalun Li didn't want to go looking for death.
This dungeon was his home turf; that was the only reason he could escape from the clutches of an evil god.
To actively provoke them?
Wouldn't that be like complaining he wasn't dying fast enough?
Dalun Li extracted a magic crystal from the palace and held it in his hand.
Such a small magic crystal concentrated the total mana of over a thousand mages.
If such a useful thing existed in this world, it would be impossible for me not to know about it.
"Is my vision still too narrow, staying cooped up in the dungeon?"
Even as Dalun Li thought this, he had no intention of leaving the dungeon.
"Perhaps these could be placed in treasure chests as rewards."
Dalun Li looked at the magic crystal, feeling that the mana was a bit too massive.
He didn't need such a huge amount of mana for the time being; if he could use the magic crystal as a raw ore and cut it into smaller pieces for use, it might be even more efficient.
Thinking of this, Dalun Li set to work.
Anyway, he got one magic crystal a day; it didn't matter if this one was wasted.
Borrowing the power of the dungeon, the diamond-shaped magic crystal began to be decomposed and cut.
Ultimately, it formed one hundred circular magic crystal coins.
Each magic crystal coin was equivalent to the combined mana of ten first-rank mages.
Dalun Li looked at the hundred magic crystal coins with their empty faces, feeling as if something was missing.
So, he engraved an orb and a pedestal on one side of the magic crystal coin.
On the other side, he engraved the number 1 and a circle of runes from the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
Clink, clink, clink!
The designated currency of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, the magic crystal coin, was complete!
Dalun Li suddenly had an idea.
Perhaps he could do business in the dungeon, using magic crystal coins as the trading currency for everything.
He would create a special type of monster that wandered through all the floors.
A monster merchant.
This monster could be set as a neutral monster, possessing intelligence and not actively attacking adventurers.
They would accept magic crystal coins in exchange for various monster materials, treasures, and intelligence.
For example, information on the next floor, the locations of treasure chests, and the like.
The magic crystal coins would only spawn on monsters with an extremely low probability, and they would appear steadily in treasure chests.
Through this method, he would drive up the actual value of the magic crystal coins.
Once the value of the magic crystal coin as a currency far exceeded its inherent value, he could use the magic crystal coins to harvest a massive amount of treasure and money.
In this way, the magic crystal coins could be converted into vast amounts of treasure to help him absorb Earth Vein Power!
Not just magic crystal coins; expanding his thinking, he could also make some lower-end currencies.
For example, wood coins and copper coins.
Refreshing these coins in monsters and treasure chests would likewise allow adventurers to buy materials from the monster merchant.
He could even harvest treasure at an even lower cost.
For this series of operations to succeed, the most important thing was the credibility of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment's currency.
The inherent rarity and value of the magic crystal coin itself would give it the attributes of a currency.
Similarly, the monster merchant's goods had to be sufficiently numerous and precious.
As for the possibility of despicable adventurers attacking the monster merchant to commit robbery.
Dalun Li was prepared; he would use the power of the pitch-black palace obtained from this floor to create the perfect monster to serve as a monster merchant!
Rate on N.U.
