The pitch-black hill quickly split apart, stacking into a majestic black palace that towered over the yellow sand.
That black palace was the size of a mountain, majestic and brimming with power.
At the final moment, that orb had actually taken the initiative to transform itself into a part of the tenth floor.
It had abandoned its initiative!
Sure enough, the Earth Vein Power spared the black orb that had proactively merged into the tenth floor, bypassing the palace to continue carving the edges of the floor.
However, when the tenth floor was completely opened, a problem finally arose.
Dalun Li discovered that he simply could not manipulate the tenth floor.
The power the tenth floor contributed to the dungeon was also quite weak, less than half of the ninth floor.
He couldn't even transfer himself to the tenth floor.
It was as if the tenth floor no longer belonged to him.
But fortunately, the black orb also lost its ability to spread and devour.
By becoming part of the tenth floor, the black orb lost its initiative.
It had shifted from its previous form into a palace.
It was like a wild beast turning into stone.
But what was he to do? He was locked in; sooner or later, he would be cleared and killed.
Wait, in this situation, adventurers who cleared him could continue downward to clear the black palace.
He wasn't the final boss anymore.
The black orb couldn't act, but it had locked him in place.
Once he died and was cleared, wouldn't it become the master of the dungeon and smoothly take over?!
"Oh no, I've become the body double!"
Dalun Li's heart skipped a beat, and the words slipped out.
This maneuver—the orb actually managed to pull off such a move at the last second.
Without a doubt, it had experienced a flash of intelligence in the face of the crisis of destruction.
Dalun Li rolled around in frustration on the ninth floor.
He couldn't create new floors anymore; even if he did, they would be separated by the tenth floor, meaning he'd just be handing new floors over to the black palace and strengthening his opponent.
The only way to break the deadlock was to seize back his tenth floor.
"Great, now I've become the challenger!"
After watching adventurers try to clear him for so long, he now had a final boss of his own to clear.
But he wasn't completely without a chance.
There should be a core inside the palace.
Dalun Li didn't know what form the opponent's core took, but it should be a monster. As long as he defeated the core, he could take back the tenth floor.
The core's level should also be lv10.
After all, since the opponent had merged into the tenth floor, it had to be restricted by the rules of the dungeon.
Within the dungeon, a floor boss's level would never be higher than its floor.
But even at lv10, there were differences.
A human adventurer's lv10, a floor boss's lv10, Dalun Li's lv10, and the lv10 of this black palace's core.
They were four completely different dimensions of combat power.
This lv10 floor boss of the black palace might be the strongest lv10 in history.
But compared to its previous invincible state, he at least had a fighting chance.
Dalun Li landed on the pedestal and thought of a strategy.
Having watched so many adventurers challenge him, he had learned a thing or two.
With his current strength, challenging it would be suicide.
He had to increase his power as much as possible and be fully prepared.
However, the only thing supporting his power right now were the nine floors of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
Thus, his growth had a limit.
He had to rely on external objects—magic items.
Dalun Li took out the piece of Earth Vein Essence.
This was the one dropped from killing that third-rank priest.
Compared to a small piece of Earth Vein Essence, this one was much larger and could be decomposed into 1,000 Earth Vein Power.
Killing a first-rank extraordinary being yielded a small piece of Earth Vein Essence, which could only be used to make lesser magic grade items.
This Medium Piece of Earth Vein Essence should be able to create a greater magic grade item.
As for masterpiece grade, he would likely need an even larger piece.
The hope of making a masterpiece grade item with this size of magic essence was slim.
So what materials should he use?
Continue using the copper-inlaid wood from the Wellmouth Sentries?
That would be too wasteful; if he used that, the power would likely be extremely limited even if he succeeded.
He needed to create a new, powerful boss and use materials from that boss to make this magic item.
Dalun Li put away the Earth Vein Essence and then took out a cloak.
This cloak was also an item from that Horned race priest and was a magic item itself.
[Moon-spotted Cloak] lesser magic grade. Can hide one's aura and appearance, while also providing resistance to and weakening magic attacks. Contains a faint aura of an evil god; gazing upon it will cause a backlash.
"...Ugh, it stinks like death."
Dalun Li tossed the Moon-spotted Cloak aside.
He couldn't use this cloak to deal with the tenth-floor boss; he'd be asking for trouble.
However, like the Whirlwind Badge, this cloak could also absorb Earth Vein Power—about 40 to 50 per day for a lesser magic grade item.
Now that the dungeon was thriving, the daily growth of Earth Vein Power was considerable, and Dalun Li wasn't willing to take risks for such a small amount.
He'd stuff it in a treasure chest and give it to some destined person.
After dealing with the spoils, Dalun Li looked at Tongmu.
Tongmu had not given any warning, so it seemed there was no danger outside.
Dalun Li's biggest worry was that after dealing with this evil god fragment, other fragments or believers would rush over to save it.
Now, it seemed he didn't need to worry.
"Can the dungeon block detection...?"
Dalun Li swayed his body and landed on the pedestal; for now, he could only think on the bright side.
But trouble was certainly coming.
Since that Horned race priest worshiped this evil god, there might be other companions behind him.
Now that the priest was dead here, they might come to check the situation eventually.
But if they were just ordinary humans, he didn't need to worry for now.
He was only afraid of an evil god fragment coming to deliver a dimensional strike.
Dalun Li waited on the pedestal for his power to recover while continuing to think.
This crisis had shown him how powerless he was.
In his own home, he had no resistance against the devouring of an evil god fragment.
He had to improve his resistance in that regard.
At the same time, he needed to project his power beyond the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
After waiting until his power was fully restored, he floated up from the pedestal once more.
Without a moment's rest, he extracted a whole chunk of magic iron ore from the ninth floor and condensed it into a magic iron ingot.
"Extremely high hardness, and it contains mana; its resistance to magic should also be quite high."
Dalun Li looked at the magic iron ingot and began testing it, becoming more pleasantly surprised the more he tested.
This kind of magic iron ore should be very valuable and could be used to make mana equipment or even magical artifacts.
Unfortunately, the reserves were too low.
The ore in the entire grotto was only a thin layer on the surface.
Since there was so little, Dalun Li had no intention of leaving it for the adventurers; he would hide it just like the substitution tree.
He continued to dig out a few more magic iron ingots.
Then, he broke off a relatively thick branch from the substitution tree on the seventh floor.
The young substitution tree was truly weakened this time, but at least it was alive; he would find a way to nourish it later.
Looking at the materials before him, Dalun Li picked through the massive pile of junk nearby.
These were all pieces of equipment dropped after adventurers died.
Because more high-level adventurers were coming to the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, the gear they dropped was naturally getting better.
He picked out four longswords, a steel pauldron, two sets of leather armor, and a steel helmet.
These were all mana-infused equipment; when piled together, they emitted a magical aura.
Next, he dug out a pile of copper ingots and plucked a bunch of branches from the magic trees on the fourth floor, gathering his ideal materials.
The mana from this pile of materials was already quite impressive.
The stronger the monster he created, the more power he consumed.
With such a pile of materials...
"I feel like the power supporting me from the nine floors is going to be sucked dry."
Dalun Li glowed with silver light and began to activate his ability.
The stone pedestal supporting him hummed, as if under immense pressure.
The pile of materials on the ground changed accordingly.
A massive magical aura kicked up the yellow sand.
Nearby, Tongmu swayed in fear and shrank into the sand.
Branches grew like flesh and blood, with the branch from the substitution tree becoming the core, providing powerful life energy.
The magic iron ingots were picked up by the branches, growing into a slender skeleton at the center.
Large amounts of red copper blocks wrapped around the magic iron, providing a certain amount of flexibility to the hard metal and thickening the bones.
The tough and flexible leather armor was pierced by roots, stretching out as if it had gained life and adhering to the surface.
The steel armor turned liquid-like, wrapping around the joints.
The steel helmet covered the head, with horns extending from both sides like a hard exoskeleton.
Red copper encased the magic iron, extending four arm bones from the torso, with branches growing along them.
As the overall growth finished, a wooden layer began to cover the body, forming a suit of armor.
On the surface of each layer of armor, hard magic iron encased the exterior.
At the forearms of the four arms, sharp curved sword blades extended like bone, wrapped in poisonous purple Sword Qi.
Sharp claws formed of magic iron also extended from the tips of the four hands, glinting coldly.
Thick and long legs covered in armor supported the body, providing absolute explosive power.
By now, Dalun Li's power was almost exhausted.
But he still didn't stop; with some heartache, he picked out several rubies from the treasure pile.
He embedded all the rubies into the monster's chest, and mana instantly gathered there.
A faint red glow appeared on the surface of the monster's entire armor.
Scorching heat brewed in the monster's mouth, as if it could spit fire at any moment.
The ninth-floor boss: Desert Sword Attendant.
Rate on N.U.
