The encroachment of the Black Prison stopped right in front of the teleportation portal, as if its erosion had been blocked by the gateway.
But that was not the case. Halting before the portal was a deliberate choice by Xia De.
In fact, if Xia De wanted to, the Black Prison could easily cross through the portal and continue its erosion into the world on the other side.
The world beyond the portal seemed to have a very high plane of existence. On the status screen, the darkness over there was something even the gods could not endure, yet the Black Prison was still capable of encroaching upon it.
There was no particular reason. It was simply because this was Xia De's Black Prison!
But looking at the data displayed on the panel, especially the Combat Power column behind the gate, he sighed helplessly in his heart.
He was still too weak!
Looking up slightly, the image of the teleportation portal was reflected in his eyes. His shadow automatically formed a flight of stairs, paving a path for him.
Step—
Step—
The sound of his shoes stepping on the shadow stairs echoed through the dark space as Xia De arrived in front of the portal.
He could feel a trace of violent and chaotic energy leaking from it, dispersing throughout the entire dungeon labyrinth.
This was also why monsters of the same tier inside the labyrinth were stronger than those in the outside world.
However, while this energy increased their strength, it also stripped away their sanity, plunging them into chaos.
Staring at the portal with his pitch-black eyes, his face twisted in frustration as he muttered fiercely, “Once I've grown strong enough, I'll see what the hell is behind this gate! First it was ten million, and now it's millions. This world really is full of malice toward me. Why do I always run into this kind of stuff?!”
A prison of the gods?
The end of the world?
Xia De turned around and sat on the stairs. The black greatsword on his back rested silently against him. He relaxed his arms over his knees and looked down at the scene before him.
He gazed at the passage he had constructed by folding over a dozen labyrinth floors together. The passage was covered in shadows that exuded a deathly silence, and not a single sound came from it.
That was his Black Prison.
His eyes flickered, his expression somewhere between deep thought and zoning out. In this dark world, he sat alone at the highest point of the stairs.
I really just want to live my hard-won second life in peace.
Sighing helplessly, he stood up, casually patted his robe, and slowly walked down toward the ground.
The steps made of shadows vanished in an instant, replaced by invisible steps concealed in the air.
The Black Prison rapidly retracted from the distance, merging back into Xia De's shadow the moment his feet touched the solid ground.
After giving himself a good pep talk in his mind, Xia De said with a smile, “Whatever, think of it as a version preview. At least it gives me some mental preparation for future version updates.”
He raised his right hand and wiggled his fingers slightly. Rumble, rumble! The entire space suddenly let out a dull, heavy sound.
If someone proficient in space magic were here, they would be utterly shocked.
The labyrinth floors, which had been folded into a single long corridor, were cut apart by Xia De once more, returning to their original state.
“Now that some of the labyrinth's mysteries have been solved, next up is the fun part—speedrunning dungeons.”
He calmly looked at his panel. The blue light screen displayed his data:
【Name: Xia De (Human reincarnated from another world)
Combat Power: 559,876
Skills: All-Attribute Elemental Magic, Stealth Magic, Perception Magic, Appraisal Magic, Space Storage Magic, Surveillance Magic, Weapon Mastery, Mirror Image...】
An increase of nearly 350,000!
This was his harvest from this descent into the labyrinth. The magical beasts dragged into the Black Prison by his shadow would be devoured and converted into strength. The stronger the magical beasts, the more Combat Power he gained from consuming them.
The Tier Nine, two-headed troll at the very end alone had provided him with 150,000 Combat Power.
Not to mention the many remaining Tier Eight magical beasts, as well as those below Tier Eight. All together, they had provided him with nearly 200,000 Combat Power.
And this was the result of clearing the labyrinth just once!
Xia De could not imagine what height his Combat Power would reach if he did this a few more times.
Although the increase in Combat Power would gradually diminish as his strength grew, as long as the quantity was high enough, he could still achieve massive growth.
And let's not forget...
...the magical beasts in the dungeon labyrinth could respawn repeatedly and quickly!
Thinking of this, Xia De closed his eyes.
“Perception Domain, open!”
Opening his eyes again a minute later, a trace of disappointment flashed through his dark eyes.
The labyrinth was not as magical as he had hoped. The spawning of magical beasts required time, and the stronger the magical beast, the longer it took to spawn.
Low-tier magical beasts on the earlier floors spawned much faster than those in the outside world, with a large batch spawning roughly every half day.
But as the strength of the magical beasts increased, so did the time required for them to spawn.
According to Xia De's estimation, Tier Seven magical beasts would take a month.
As for the Tier Eight magical beasts that were actually useful to Xia De, it would probably take half a year for them to respawn.
As for that Tier Nine, two-headed troll, it was a creature that did not belong to this world. This labyrinth was not yet capable of spawning Tier Nine magical beasts.
“Garbage!”
Xia De spat out two cold words, venting his frustration on the labyrinth. Then, he lowered his gaze and began to contemplate the possibility of replicating this operation in other labyrinths.
I want these stats to skyrocket!
Ultimately, he came to a conclusion and shook his head with a bitter smile.
It wasn't worth it.
Hilia had mentioned that while many labyrinths had been discovered, only twelve could be considered large labyrinths, plus five giant labyrinths known as the Great Labyrinths.
However, the distances between these labyrinths were vast, and some were even located in other countries.
Factoring in the travel time, Xia De realized that the effort far outweighed the rewards. It was better to just farm the Toka Dungeon.
He only needed to farm it consistently for a year and a half. With his constitution that allowed him to grow stronger just by eating and drinking, Xia De estimated that his Combat Power could reach a million.
Once his strength reached that level and his mastery over space magic became more refined, he would be able to drastically reduce travel time.
When that time came, he would aim to clear all of them within a single month!
After that, when his strength was sufficient, whether it was the handsome youth with ten million Combat Power, or the entity with millions of Combat Power behind the portal...
...as long as they stood in his way...
...he would destroy them all!
While Xia De was planning his future in the dungeon, on the other side, inside a simply decorated restaurant.
Several people raised their mugs filled with ale high into the air, clinking them together.
The ale rippled, and a few drops spilled out from the mugs.
“To celebrate Charles joining us, cheers!”
The cute young girl, Milia, and her companions cheered, their faces brimming with joyful smiles.
A large, honest-looking, and muscular man had a simple, pure expression on his rugged face.
Beside him sat a handsome, good-looking young man whose gentle smile instantly marked him as a sweet, caring guy.
Charles sat between the two girls of the party. To his left was Milia, who wore a silly grin.
To his right was a blue-haired beauty, who served as the party's Mage.
She possessed an incredibly hot figure, with curves that went far beyond the standard S-line, but her face was devoid of expression. Her light-blue eyes revealed no emotion.
Ordinarily, she seemed shrouded in a layer of frost, exuding an icy temperament.
Anyone who saw her would undoubtedly call her an icy beauty.
Yet, at this moment, this icy beauty looked at Charles with a faint smile playing on her lips.
Rate on N.U.
