“I have come to seek an audience with Lord Tongmu. I hope to obtain that lord’s permission and counsel regarding my search for the Forbidden Fire.”
Purple Hammer made a conscious effort to keep his distance from the man-bodied spiders.
“Dear big brother, Lord Tongmu left a long time ago. Right now, there are only us spider sisters here.”
The man-bodied spiders began to play to their strengths.
After all, they were well aware of their own beauty; man-bodied spiders were not creatures who were beautiful without knowing it.
A guardian lord was too distant; they could only dream of becoming a guardian’s personal attendant or maid.
But Purple Hammer was right in front of them, and this purple-skinned blacksmith clearly had a bright future ahead of him.
As for the Master of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment...
He was completely beyond the scope of the man-bodied spiders' wildest fantasies.
“Lord Tongmu has countless clones, and its gaze can reach every corner of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment,” Purple Hammer countered.
“I only ask to meet with one of Lord Tongmu’s clones.”
This topic was beyond the comprehension of the few man-bodied spiders.
“If that is the case, then there should be traces of Lord Tongmu in Spider King City,” one of the man-bodied spiders finally offered, giving the most likely answer.
“Spider King City?”
Purple Hammer had been wanting to ask about this city for a while, but the man-bodied spiders hadn't given him a chance to speak.
“Spider King City was originally a massive crater left behind when the Lord descended to this subordinate floor to battle.”
“Afterward, the Queen directed the spiders to use vast amounts of webbing to construct a giant spider city within the crater.”
“On the surface is the oasis city created by Lady Zeno.”
“It is currently the largest gathering place for intelligent species in the subordinate floor.”
So that was how it was.
A city created by Lady Zeno... If it was her, she certainly possessed such power.
“If you wish to go, Brother Purple Hammer, we can take you there.”
“Just don't forget your little spider sisters when you strike it rich in the future.”
“If you have the ability later on, it would be best if you could look out for our man-bodied spider race.”
While putting on their sweetest, most fawning voices, the man-bodied spiders did not forget to seek a path forward for their entire race.
This sentiment earned Purple Hammer's respect and admiration.
Was his own pursuit of the Forbidden Fire not also for the sake of the purple-skinned blacksmith tribe—to find a way to serve the Lord more permanently and effectively in the future?
By obtaining the power of the Forbidden Fire, he could use it to elevate the foundry arts of the entire purple-skinned blacksmith tribe.
Only then could they keep pace with the Lord's footsteps.
And the man-bodied spiders had also sensed the crisis facing their own kind.
After all, the Lord had named this place the Exiled Land. In the future of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, would there still be a place for man-bodied spiders?
They were not a race created by the Lord himself; did the Lord feel any affection for them?
If they were abandoned, what would become of the man-bodied spider race?
Therefore, even if it meant using their bodies and their beauty...
They had to find a future where their race could survive with at least a modicum of dignity.
“The Lord will not abandon you,” Purple Hammer said.
“The Lord's Dark Palace has always sat vacant; only the Lord and the guardians reside there.”
“Though I cannot begin to fathom the Lord's thoughts, the guardian lords do indeed require followers and servants.”
“Perhaps finding a way to become maids in the future Dark Palace would be a good path for you.”
“Moreover, that would give you a chance to interact with the guardian lords. If your race can secure the patronage of a guardian, you won't have to worry about the future.”
Thinking of his own purple-skinned blacksmith tribe, Purple Hammer used his own experience to consider a way out for the man-bodied spiders.
“The Dark Palace?”
“The Lord's palace?”
“The place where the guardian lords live?”
The man-bodied spiders' eyes lit up; this was information they hadn't been privy to.
Watching their reaction, Purple Hammer realized that his own knowledge was already far superior to that of ordinary monsters.
Even information he took for granted was something these common monsters could never hope to encounter.
The Dark Palace—a palace formed from the divine power of the evil god “Dark Starry Sky.” It possessed divine power and was the source of Dalun Li's darkness and concealment-related powers. Dalun Li had always kept it hidden at the very bottom of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
Every time a new floor was opened, the Dark Palace would be adjusted to sit beneath it as a subordinate floor.
The palace on the tenth floor of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment was merely a projection of the Dark Palace.
The Dark Palace truly served as Dalun Li's royal residence and palace.
Though, Dalun Li had never actually rested inside it.
As the Master of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, he was always diligently working on the front lines, never resting for a single moment.
The Dark Palace was immense; though called a palace, its form was closer to a series of interconnected small towns.
Even a mere part of its projection on the tenth floor was enough for countless adventurers to spend vast amounts of time exploring.
Of course, the actual Dark Palace itself was not as complex as the projection.
The three current guardians all had their own fortresses within the Dark Palace to reside in.
However, the guardians had also inherited the fine qualities of the Master of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, working hard on the front lines. They only returned to the Throne Hall of the Dark Palace to report on their work or to meet with Dalun Li.
Aside from the rooms of the various guardians, the Dark Palace also housed Dalun Li's treasury.
Inside were all of Dalun Li's collected magical artifacts and accumulated treasures.
It was still under construction.
After all, the treasury was of paramount importance; all its defenses had to be the absolute pinnacle of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
Previously, Dalun Li had always kept his treasures right before his eyes, where he could see them at any time.
But as the treasures grew more numerous and the piles grew higher, moving them became increasingly troublesome.
Some magical artifacts had special effects that clashed with others, and materials required extreme care during every transfer. Thus, the treasury was being built within the Dark Palace.
Other than that, the vast Dark Palace had no other inhabitants; it truly lacked anyone to look after it.
From the empty gardens to the vast corridors devoid of any decoration, it was quite bare.
“We thank you for your guidance, Lord Purple Hammer!”
“If you manage to see the guardian lords, could you perhaps mention this matter?”
“After all, it is very difficult for our man-bodied spider race to even come into contact with them.”
After nodding his agreement, Purple Hammer followed the man-bodied spiders across the broken, dim earth, heading toward Spider King City.
However, the ground of the Exiled Land was heavily fractured, and no proper roads had been built yet. In many places, they had to advance via spatial silk suspended across rift canyons.
Fortunately, the spider backs of the man-bodied spiders were quite spacious.
After a long trek, they finally spotted a flash of green amidst the grayish-black, lifeless, broken terrain.
A colossal tree towered over the flat ground.
Countless thick roots surrounded the giant tree, pushing out of the earth to connect the shattered land, supporting a city that was a fusion of wooden roots and giant stones.
In the surrounding soil, the land was no longer so desolate; grass and trees grew, creating a life-filled oasis in the middle of the desert.
This was the handiwork of Guardian Zeno.
This was the power of a guardian who stood beneath the Lord and protected him.
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