Because this floor was mostly lava, the Fire-resistant Wyverns, despite being modified by Dalun Li to endure the high temperatures and flames, could not live directly in the magma.
Dalun Li began to modify the islands within the lava sea.
Under his control, the pitch-black rocky islands underwent rapid transformations.
One by one, black, pillar-like rocks rose from the islands.
Atop these stone pillars, the rock continued to branch out like limbs, intertwining and growing to form natural nests.
Due to the massive size of the Fire-resistant Wyverns, Dalun Li designed these stone trees to be enormous so they could support the creatures' immense weight and bulk.
At the same time, Dalun Li also modified several of the largest islands.
Inside the crater-like ring mountains on the islands, he constructed numerous caves.
These caves could also serve as nests, becoming homes for a large number of Fire-resistant Wyverns.
Dalun Li also designed the Fire-resistant Wyverns' reproductive capabilities to involve sexual reproduction and egg-laying, consistent with standard wyverns.
Of course, ordinary wyverns would never be able to live or breed in a high-temperature lava zone.
Any eggs laid there would simply become roasted eggs.
However, the eggs of the Fire-resistant Wyverns also possessed powerful fire resistance, allowing them to endure the high temperatures of the lava zone and hatch.
But even this felt a bit dull.
Dalun Li expended his power to create a Wyvern Leader.
The Wyvern Leader could command other wyverns within a certain area and was much larger in size, though they were extremely rare, only being born within the volcanoes of a few large islands where wyverns congregated.
The Wyvern Leader's strength far exceeded that of an ordinary wyvern, and it could grow impressive horns.
Inside its chest was a Fire Pouch capable of gathering mana and converting it into flames.
This allowed the Wyvern Leader to breathe fire.
"This makes them look very much like the legendary dragons."
Of course, they only looked like them; a Wyvern Leader was merely a powerful wyvern and had no relation to true dragons.
Dragons, those legendary creatures, were not monsters that Dalun Li could create yet.
By creating a batch of wyverns, he had established the ecology for that species on this floor.
Dalun Li then began to enrich the floor with other monsters.
The lava fish and lava frogs from the floors above could continue to be used in the lava sea.
But since he finally had a floor that was entirely lava, Dalun Li wanted to further diversify the monster ecology.
"Why not create an ultra-large monster?"
As Dalun Li looked out over the lava sea, an idea took shape.
But what should he use as material for an ultra-large monster...
"Let's be a bit bolder."
"I've got it!"
Dalun Li selected a small island in the lava and used the entire island as material to begin his Monster Creation!
As his power was consumed, the entire island was covered by Dalun Li's energy, trembling upon the magma as if the entire island were coming to life.
Its massive size was like a moving island.
Similarly, its enormous size granted it unparalleled defense, making it nearly impossible to kill or destroy.
Hmm... if he designed it this way, it would be too overpowered, completely exceeding the limit for monsters on this floor.
He could only weaken other aspects to make room.
Its heavy weight suppressed its speed, making its movements incredibly slow.
Its strength was matchless, but its massive, stiff body meant it essentially lost the ability to take the initiative in combat.
The energy consumption of such a huge body made it difficult for the creature to move normally, causing it to spend most of its time in a deep sleep.
He balanced the creature by combining these traits.
"Monster, Creation!"
The massive island came completely to life, slowly floating up from the magma.
The entire island became the shell of this monster.
From beneath the shell, a huge, rock-like head extended at a sluggish pace.
Four claws emerged from under the shell, acting like four massive oars as they paddled through the lava, carrying the entire island along at a slow crawl.
[Name] Lava Giant Tortoise of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment
[Level] lv14
[Skills] Great Strength lv5, Carrying lv5, Hard Shell lv5, Colossus lv5, Lava Resistance lv4, Flame Resistance lv4, Heat Absorption lv3, Energy Pouch lv3
[Description] A monster servant created by the unknown entity Dalun Li. It possesses a body as massive as an island and swims through the lava. While its strength is immense, it is basically unable to attack humans. Likely, only someone standing perfectly still at a specific angle would be struck by its terrifying power.
"Excellent!"
Dalun Li was very satisfied.
This was his first time creating such a large monster, and just getting it to move was quite an achievement.
Monster creation was a skill where practice makes perfect; the next time he created a giant monster, he would have a template, and it would only be stronger.
This kind of giant monster wandering the lava sea had no offensive capabilities, but it could serve as a platform.
Dalun Li arranged poison smoke monsters that spewed thick, toxic smoke on the shell, along with a few wyverns.
In the center of the shell, Dalun Li created a small stone ruin.
He placed two heroic gargoyles to guard both sides of the ruin.
Inside the ruin, he placed a treasure chest and carved information about the Forbidden Fire onto the stone walls.
Inside the chest, besides the dungeon coins, Dalun Li also placed a fragment of a crown forged from a magic iron ingot.
The giant tortoises wandered the lava sea with no fixed positions, so they could not be found via a map.
To fuse the crown fragments, one had to be a person who possessed the Forbidden Fire Blessing, using its power to merge the nine fragments into the Forbidden Fire Crown.
If someone gathered all nine crown fragments from the backs of the giant tortoises wandering the lava sea, they could summon the legendary Forbidden Fire.
The fragments of the Forbidden Fire Crown weren't entirely for show, either.
As long as the holder possessed the Forbidden Fire Blessing, they could tap into the power of a crown fragment to summon a wyvern as a mount, allowing for rapid travel across the lava sea.
The power of four fused crown fragments could even summon one of the few Wyvern Leaders on the floor to serve as a mount.
In this way, by coordinating with the monsters on the tortoise's back, the Lava Giant Tortoise gained combat capabilities.
Over the following period, Dalun Li created the remaining eight Lava Giant Tortoises.
A total of nine Lava Giant Tortoises, each carrying a Forbidden Fire Ruin, were scattered across the lava sea.
Collecting all nine Lava Giant Tortoises would be no easy feat.
The silver crown, forged from a single magic iron ingot, was split into nine pieces by Dalun Li and placed into the treasure chests within the Forbidden Fire Ruins on the tortoises' backs.
As for what would happen if someone actually obtained the Forbidden Fire Blessing and gathered all nine fragments to synthesize the Forbidden Fire Crown...
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Even if they did, he could just set up more trials later. The more trials there were, the more people would believe the Forbidden Fire was incredibly powerful.
Dalun Li thought for a moment, then expended more power—even consuming a small dragon flame crystal—to create a Lava Giant Tortoise King using a large island.
The Lava Giant Tortoise King was unimaginably massive and remained immobile most of the time.
On its shell, Dalun Li created a large, circular ruin.
"You shall sleep at the bottom of the lava sea. Once someone gathers the nine crown fragments and summons the Forbidden Fire..."
"You will awaken from the seabed, carrying the ruins upon your back, and answer the summons, allowing the imprisoned and sealed Forbidden Fire to reappear."
"Oooooh—"
The Lava Giant Tortoise King let out a long cry. Then, carrying the massive, circular Forbidden Fire Ruin on its back like a great mountain, it sank into the depths of the lava sea to wait in silence.
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