This wasn't a flight of fancy born of misplaced nostalgia for a digital past. Yet, given her own circumstances and Qin Minfeng's existence, Yao couldn't help but entertain the fragile, human thought: perhaps she wasn't the only one who had descended into this world.
Even if true, no joy blossomed in her heart.
Friend or foe?
Regardless, self-preservation was paramount. It might still be a coincidence. The real test was how this person perceived the breeding pit. If they, too, deduced its mutation stemmed from the old Heretics' machinations, it merely indicated sharp insight and thorough intelligence work. But if they employed the Upper-Source Fluid Detonation Methodor similar tactics—using the ley lines to cripple the Stinger Queen on the seventh layer, disrupting its most powerful Spirit-Devourer Frenzy state—then it proved they possessed prior knowledge of the Queen's mechanics beforeentering the seventh layer. Her hypothesis would be correct.
Yao waited, a silent observer within the metallic flow. Soon, movement from above. An object plummeted into the liquid metal beside her.
A formation array schematic.
Reverse-Flow Detonation Array: Dispersal Equations.
The schematic activated, fracturing into dozens of smaller runic clusters that shot out like intelligent shrapnel, adhering to the critical nexus points of the ley lines under the guidance of an unseen will.
They know the precise ley line nodes too.That confirmed it. This person had to be part of the original ten-person core strategy team from her past life. One of the ten she knew had truly arrived. Willing to use hermethod… it probably wasn't one of the two she'd clashed with. But in a desperate situation, with no better option, even an adversary might resort to it. So, still uncertain.
In the end… it was better not to acknowledge each other.
People change.
A bitter smile touched her lips, unseen in the gloom. She carefully maneuvered her insectoid form around the activating equations, sinking deeper into the ley line's heart, heading for the ring-shaped core junction between the sixth and seventh layers—her original destination.
There, hidden in the pulsing, metallic darkness, she acted. She retrieved the Orange-grade Principle Stone (Wind Dominator), the Psychic Ocular Gene Fragment, and 15 Minor Celestial Scripts.
The wealth funneled from Wei Mingtang had finally transformed into tangible power. She'd exhausted her resources to produce these 15 scripts. In terms of raw Principle comprehension talent, she couldn't match geniuses like Wei Mingtang. Her path relied on the alchemical shortcut and sheer financial brute force.
"Based on the metal flow rate and the pit's progression, the sixth layer is strengthening, but hasn't reached the seventh layer's target. The original dungeon required six or seven days of incubation for the Queen's evolution. Factoring in the resurrection ritual and the average life-force threshold of an 80-level Heretics leader… with the current Stinger numbers and individual devouring potency… I'd estimate at least a month remains."
"That's enough time."
First, she needed to prepare her other self. The completion of this dungeon would likely cause significant ripples. She needed a clean exit strategy. The identity of 'Oxus' had to be elsewhere. The officials she'd glimpsed earlier might have recognized her entering a portal, but not whichone. Therefore, a different 'Oxus' needed to appear in another dungeon, creating a perfect alibi. The one she'd initially considered would do—it would plausibly trap her for a few days, though it meant missing the quarterly assessment. With her main body truly stuck here, using 'Yao' to take the exam and achieve a high ranking would risk exposing her duality, especially if the Dean was present. Not worth it.
The sacrifice had to be made.
"At least Carolodiel and the others are trapped here too," she consoled herself. Human nature was funny that way. Shared misery made misfortune easier to bear.
With logistics settled, she began. One Minor Celestial Script dissolved into her consciousness. The effect was immediate and profound—a divine clarity, as if a dam had burst. Stumbling blocks in her comprehension of the Wind Principle smoothed away. Her learning speed multiplied at least tenfold. If this was her gain, what about Wei Mingtang? Fiftyfold? A thousand leagues in a single day!
By the third script, she had fully comprehended Wind Dominator.
Fourth Field: World of Wind – GET!
Next, she simultaneously activated her four Fields: Gravity, World of Wind, Mirror World, and Restorative Field, beginning the arduous process of Infinite Flow fusion testing.
This was the hardest part in the old Dean's theory. Achieving synchronous existence of four Fields already represented 90% completion—what most, like Ye Suran, considered the 'Infinite Flow.' But the Dean's standards were stratospheric. He deemed that insufficient. True 100% required the four Fields to merge and separate at will, seamlessly.
"The teacher once mentioned offhand," Ye Suran had recounted, her voice tinged with awe, "that fusing two Fields increases their combined potency by 30%. Fusing three multiplies it by three. Fusing all four… the base power of the Infinite Flow increases tenfold."
"I thought the old man was spouting nonsense until I saw the Dean in action. She doesn't use Infinite Flow, but she didachieve a four-Field fusion. Stars above, it was terrifying. She's Death-affinity. That move later became known as 'Abyssal Descent.' In an instant, within her Field, she siphoned the life force and spiritual energy from over a hundred Level 70 bosses and rebel elites… turned them all into desiccated husks."
"That's why the other three academies' higher-ups don't dare bully our 'young' Dean. She earned that respect in blood."
Listening then, Yao had felt both exhilarated and deeply intimidated. This world was full of monsters. She feared them, yet yearned to stand among them. The solution? If you can't beat them, join them.
"Field fusion… I'll be content if the remaining scripts let me successfully fuse just two." A four-Field fusion was impossible now. That would require hundreds of scripts.
Suppressing her impatience, Yao consumed another script. After consideration, she chose to first fuse World of Wind and Restorative Field. This was the optimal choice for the challenges of the seventh layer.
Ten days passed. All Minor Celestial Scripts were expended. The fusion of Wind and Restoration was complete.
Her comprehension at its peak, Yao entered the Spirit Awakening state. Her weapon was the gun. What spirit best suited her? A vision had been forming since she obtained the Psychic Ocular Fragment. Now, she would make it reality.
She checked the ley lines again. "Reached this stage… The surface casualties must be heavy. The seventh layer's move is imminent, likely within the next two days." Even deep underground, the metallic tang in the air was now laced with the distant scent of blood from above. Over this time, other Arcane Masters had fought their way to the sixth layer, only to be slaughtered en masse. The sixth layer was indeed a charnel house, just as she remembered.
"Time for the final step."
Tendrils extended from her, weaving into the ley lines according to a precise array, threading through the molten metal river. The preparation took 24 hours. She produced a reaction crucible, expanded its internal space, and began refining a special solution with stockpiled materials.
"Kroxie Spirit-Awakening Primordial Solution."
A high-difficulty auxiliary solution used for physical-object Spirit Awakening, it also mitigated the massive energy backlash during the process, acting as a buffer. Rarely used, as few were willing to use parts of their own body as the awakening medium—it was inherently draining and dangerous. Unless… the awakened body part could elevate the weapon's attack tier or transform its modality.
The brewing difficulty rivaled the Minor Celestial Scripts. But Yao's earlier fortune-accumulation spree made it feasible. The solution completed, she held her gun in her left palm, the spirit aperture glowing faintly. Half the solution dripped onto the weapon. The other half was enveloped by a tendril and carried towards the Psychic Ocular Fragment, submerging it before being guided to her left eye.
Her left hand pressed over her eye.
Simultaneously, she initiated the final step: Alchemical Body Refinement.
Hand + Eye.
Ocular Art + Psychic Ocular Fragment + Kroxie Solution.
Spirit Awakening + Continuous Tissue Regeneration.
Three steps, initiated together, requiring colossal energy. She had timed it perfectly, but this was merely the preparation phase. She was waiting for the catalyst.
Above, Seventh Layer.
The operation had begun. Deep in the ley lines, the metallic river churned violently. The Dragon-Armored Stingers mass-murdering on the sixth layer suddenly halted, turning as one.
Sixth Layer.
Elixir, Wuxu, and the others had been battling desperately. The Stingers, seemingly on supercharged growth hormones, had grown fiercer and more numerous by the day. Even with reinforcements trickling in, they were on the back foot. It had, however, showcased the terrifying gap between academy elites and social Arcane Masters. Barely out of their teens, each possessed combat power rivaling Level 50s, especially in Principle mastery, leaving the veterans in the dust. Their foundations and talent were simply superior.
Of the original thousand, most social Arcane Masters were over thirty, their growth curves plateauing or declining. Prolonged combat wore them down—resources depleted, injuries accumulated. But Wuxu's group thrived under pressure, growing stronger, digesting resources through relentless battle, honing their Principles. Over time, leadership had naturally shifted to them. Elixir's larger force now deferred to Wuxu's tactical genius.
"Were it not for their superior command and intellect, I, Elixir, would not yield," the Toxicologist grumbled privately. But the reality was that S-Class academy training bred sharper minds and broader knowledge bases.
Without Wuxu's leadership—his insight, probing, judgment, and guidance—the remaining three hundred-plus Arcane Masters would have been swallowed by the coordinated swarms long ago. Still, the fight was brutal.
"The seventh-layer boss is definitely directing these swarms. And they're Spirit-Devourers. The seventh layer is brewing something big," Wuxu stated grimly.
"This damn dungeon! Shouldn't have come. Wasted an assessment period," Czech grumbled, his tiny form a whirlwind of metallic sword-feathers, his area-of-effect attacks second only to Elixir's toxic swarms. "Should've dragged Tom along."
Carolodiel: "Tom the Cat? Good with mechanical assembly, right? With him, we could maneuver freely through these swarms."
"No. I wanted him to die with me."
"..." Carolodiel wasn't sure if that counted as affection.
Suddenly, the swarms besieging them disengaged, turning away in unison.
"What's happening?"
Wuxu's eyes narrowed. "The seventh layer is making its move. Now! To the seventh layer! Interrupt them!"
They charged towards the seventh-layer entrance. At the same moment, the lone, icy youth appeared at another entrance. He assessed the situation, waiting for the moment when the majority of Stingers converged into the ley lines, heading for the seventh layer, to detonate his traps.
The Stingers gathered with alarming speed, swarming upward through the ley lines like a metallic reverse waterfall. Deep below, Yao, at the critical node, held her position.
She waited.
She was waiting to see if the hidden master in the seventh layer possessed greater remote control than the original dungeon's Queen. If they had anticipated the ley line disruption. Both she and the 'compatriot' had foreseen the sixth-layer danger and escaped. They had remained undetected. In the original dungeon, the Queen could monitor all players across six layers via her swarm. The Heretics master controlling the Queen now would surely possess similar, if not greater, ability. The fact that he hadn't detected twoanomalies would surely make him suspect ley line sabotage. He would have a countermeasure.
So, Yao waited for him to deploy it. Let the other one take the first hit.
She retracted her probing tendrils further, making no move.
A god's-eye view would show a shadow lurking like a bedrock in the deep ley lines, a lone wolf waiting at the seventh-layer gate, and above, in the seventh layer, a wizened, sinister-faced elder with murky eyes. He tapped a segment on the bronze compass in his claw-like hand, his lips making a soft, explosive sound. "Boom." He seemed to be playing, but the pieces were lives. His murky left eye, if magnified, would reveal a secret art connecting him to a sinister black current flowing through the ley lines.
Yao's life-affinity tendrils, sustained and sensitive, detected its presence. It slithered, seeking… and found the explosive equations.
Just as predicted.
Her finger twitched, but she didn't act. The timing wasn't right.
One. Two. Three.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the sixth layer. Yao's heart lurched. A complex mix of worry and loneliness twisted inside her. Worry that this potential kin had perished, leaving her truly alone in this world. Yet, even if he survived, would that change her solitude? It might merely add a rival.
She remained still, a mantra echoing in her mind: The mountain wilds stir with wind, clouds part to reveal the river; the solitary angler on the waters, having just seen the ripple, cannot recklessly cast his rod.
The next second, she felt a violent surge of elemental energy from the explosion site.
The Lone Wolf had sensed the sinister current coiling through the stone the moment it appeared. He recognized it—a Ley Line Backflow Surge. Once activated, it would cause a catastrophic geomantic explosion.
At the boom, he was already moving—half-evasion, full defense. His defensive aura shattered under the force, but he twisted away, unharmed. His hand rose. Lightning erupted.
What were his stats?
In full firepower mode, every attribute averaged four million! That rivaled an ordinary Level 60 Arcane Master. And he was only Level 39.
His first gene sequence manifestation was a compass-like Spirit-Gathering Array Core. The second was a Thunder Rune Mark. Both amplified damage—a pure assault build. His Spirit-Awakened weapon was a Principle Staff… But the most terrifying thing, the thing that made the seventh-layer elder's murky eyes gleam, was the Orange-grade pet materializing beside the Lone Wolf: a Twin-Winged Obsidian Flash Serpent. As it appeared in a burst of orange light, intense black lightning arced from it. This black lightning wasn't separate; it fusedwith the golden lightning erupting from his staff.
Black lightning was Dark Thunder, negative polarity. Gold lightning was positive. Conflict meant cataclysmic amplification.
The resulting dual-colored lightning bolt that lanced out wasn't just four million in potency; it was enough to obliteratea Level 60.
This explosive counter-force met the surging geomantic explosion head-on, neutralizing it.
The seventh-layer elder scowled, focusing his attention on this new threat. His fingers danced over the compass…
Suddenly, all the sinister ley line currents in the sixth layer converged upward, targeting the Lone Wolf. Simultaneously, the elder's fingers flew over the compass segments like an abacus master, manipulating space. The tunnel spaces around the other charging elites—Wuxu, Elixir, Carolodiel, the hundreds—fractured, shifted, compressed, and sealed, trapping them in isolated cubic prisons.
A deadlock!
Elixir and the others knew they were trapped and began assaulting a single wall. Their combined force could break it… given time. But time was what the enemy wanted. If the seventh-layer ritual completed before they broke free, the emerging boss would be unstoppable.
Meanwhile, the energy-saturated Stingers crammed the main ley line arteries. The seventh-layer elder multitasked with monstrous efficiency: assaulting the Lone Wolf, imprisoning hundreds, and guiding the Stinger swarm upward.
Just as he was thus distracted and the Stingers were about to breach the seventh layer, a cold smirk touched his lips. He'd sensed it.
"Found you at last, brat!"
A hidden分身, lurking in the ley lines, had located the deeply concealed Yao, attacking from behind the moment she began to move her tendrils. Of course he knew of two hidden threats. The electric one was contained above. The other, eluding detection, must be buried deep. "Hiding and not acting means waiting for my distraction to strike? Hah! Die!"
BOOM!The soil beside the ley line was compressed into a deep pit by the force. The target was obliterated.
But the debris revealed scattered plant matter—vines.
A decoy.
He'd been tricked!
At the same moment, the real Yao, who had used the pre-planted fake to draw his full attention, activated allher buried tendrils. They shot into the metallic flow, ensnaring the packed Stingers before they could resist.
Yao's fingers splayed.
"Vines, bloom. Flowers, shine."
Tiny,血红 nodes on the vines blossomed into whirling flowers. Each flower became a miniature vortex of terrifying suction. Thousands of Stingers were instantly anchored, pulled into the vortices. Stamen filaments released pulses of Arcane Lock.
Her resources had always been allocated strategically. From the beginning, she had planned to cultivate the Thousand-Vine Spirit-Siphon Tendrils. With the evolution of her tendrils and the fusion of Arcane Lock, they had ascended into Rakshasa Vines.
Rakshasa Vines. One of the three king-vines among Orange-grade flora. Spirit-Siphoning, Life-Draining, Regeneration, Arcane Lock, Deadly Toxin—these were their innate abilities, each far surpassing their predecessor. Cultivation didn't add new traits; it exponentially enhanced existing ones. Where the Thousand-Vines needed three seconds to drain a Level 50 Stinger, the Rakshasa Vines needed one. And they could do it en masse—provided the targets were densely packed in a confined space (like a ley line channel) and not under active command to resist. Hence, Yao's wait for the controller's full distraction.
But she had only drained 30% of the swarm when the elder reacted.
ROAR!
The remaining 70% of Stingers entered a Frenzied state, forcibly tearing free from the ley lines and locking onto Yao's position with a unified, devastating barrage.
So fast!
Yao was startled. Even 30% drained was a colossal energy source. But 70%? Tens of thousands of enraged monsters focusing their fire… Fortunately, she had anticipated this. All tendrils retracted, coiling around her body. Their density shifted, allowing her to merge seamlessly with the deep earth, slipping through it as if it were water—an ability the Stingers couldn't match.
The Heretics elder, now stretched thin between the Lone Wolf and the trapped hundreds, paid the price for his divided focus. The Lone Wolf and the others had locked onto him.
But!
Gritting his teeth, the elder withdrew all offensive energy, concentrating it on himself. He plungedinto the earth, giving chase to Yao.
This one is the real threat! Must be eliminated!
His speed was terrifying—300 meters per second, pursuing Yao towards the ley line's terminus, the boundary of the crust where even his powers would struggle. But Yao, merging with the earth, had the advantage.
A chase, frantic and desperate!
Freed from the ley line assault, the Lone Wolf glanced downward, his eyes sharp. He sensed the 'kin,' the mantis, being hunted. He had been deemed the lesser threat. So be it. He turned and blasted into the seventh layer. As he entered, he saw Elixir's group finally shatter their prison wall, which lacked further reinforcement.
His mind flashed a warning: He gave up on them completely? That doesn't fit the profile. A backup plan?
"Almost there!"
"One more push!"
Just as Wuxu and the others gathered for the final assault to break free…
A figure made a subtle hand seal.
Countless hair-thin crimson threads shot out, linking to everyone present.
Shock. Wuxu's group reacted fastest, severing the threads instantly. But minuscule segments had already pierced their skin, activating a latent substance within their bodies.
The medicine.
The potions they'd consumed earlier contained a trigger. The threads were the catalyst.
"ELIXIR!!"
Elixir smiled beatifically. "Oh dear, did I forget to mention? 'Elixir' was never a freelancer. I have… an organization. Farewell, comrades." He stepped through the dissolving spatial barrier effortlessly. The space prison's control shifted to him—the elder had transferred the compass's authority. A smaller, identical compass appeared in Elixir's palm.
With a series of clicks and taps, the poisoned warriors found their stats plummeting as they faced a spatial massacre from within their own prison.
Doomed.
Elixir's face twisted with sadistic glee, eager to transform the space into a cage of spatial thorns. Behind him, a figure materialized silently. The Orange-grade pet and its master, the master of elusive lightning, had arrived.
Deep Underground.
The Heretics elder chased Yao down three thousand meters, nearing the impermeable bedrock. Yao could navigate it easier, but he wouldn't give her the chance.
Distance closed: 500 meters, 300, 200!
Though he was the hunter, a cold dread seeped into his heart. The one fleeing was undergoing a violent transformation. The energy from 30% of the Stinger swarm—equivalent to the combined explosive force of ten Level 70 Arcane Masters—had been devoured. That colossal power was being consumed, fluctuating wildly within her. As it burned, parts of her body seemed to be dissolving and reforming at a horrifying rate. Her life force surged to terrifying heights, then plunged to near-extinction.
"Such regenerative power! She's attempting something monumental! Damn it, no more delays!"
He unleashed his full power. Triple Gene Sequence Manifestation. Body and pet merged. In a burst of dark energy, his form mutated into a Subterranean Direwolf. With a powerful lunge, he unleashed his Principle Field: Material Transmutation Field.
The surrounding earth and stone instantly liquefied around him.
The field was immensely draining, but its effect was horrifying.
Whoosh!He moved as if on flat ground, closing the distance instantly. A claw, dark and crackling with malign energy, lashed out at Yao's back!
Yao, flowing through the earth, suddenly felt the matter around her shift. Whoosh!
In this newly created underwater world of liquefied stone, she turned. The motion sent ripples through the viscous medium.
In the eerie, silent gloom, she saw the monstrous wolf pouncing, felt his combined power surpassing five million in aggregate attributes, especially his spiritual energy—strong enough to manipulate a mid-level Composite Field like Material Transmutation. A monster.
From her arrival in this world, spiritual weakness had been her Achilles' heel. Even now, it seemed…
The Heretics elder saw only the rippling water. The ordinary-faced youth turned, his left hand pressed over his left eye. Blood streamed like a fountain from between his fingers. Golden filigree patterns spread across his cheek, intersected by the fleeting, terrifying apparition of a demonic violet orchid and a strange silver spiral.
Then, just before the claw could rend her, she lowered her hand.
Her left eye was a ruined,血红 cavity. The eyeball was gone.
Suicidal fool.
But in the next millisecond, primal terror seized the elder. The eye was gone from her face, but… raised in her left palm was a gun. And set into its grip, where a gem might be, was a silver,漩涡-like eye.
It seemed to rotate. Or did it? At its core, a beam of pure silver light flashed into existence.
A beam… hauntingly familiar.
"Chieftain?" The elder had a moment of stunned, bewildered recognition before the beam pierced him.
No physical damage. This wasn't a material or elemental attack.
It was a spiritual assault. A severing of the mind.
Psychic Ocular – GET!
Ocular Arts:
High-Grade Penetrative Insight
Psychic World Omniscience
Probabilistic God-Slaying (30% chance to sever 30%-100% of the target's spiritual energy. On a critical hit, probability escalates to 99%+)
Against an opponent of such superior spiritual strength and level, Yao should have had, at best, a 30% chance to sever 30% of his spiritual energy. But she had devoured the Stinger swarm's energy to fuel high-frequency cellular regeneration (the eye). The extreme pressure of the chase had accelerated the fusion process, forcing the Ocular Fragment to yield its core genetic information under duress. Thus… the ocular mutation.
Even if only the left eye, it was enough. Hadn't it even stimulated her Spirit Orchid Eye to manifest for a split second?
The remaining 15% of the Stinger energy was still immense. She channeled part of it into her left hand… for the Spirit Awakening of the Mutated Ocular. It fused with the gun. Under this high-energy, instantaneous activation, Probabilistic God-Slaying was unleashed.
And it triggered a critical hit.
The elder's spiritual energy was instantly halved.