-----

  “ROAR!”

  A gigantic, three-headed, bzing wolf-like monster roared, t over four meters tall. The behemoth easily dwarfed all monsters within this S-Rank Dungeon withiower’s First Floor.

  With its three heads, it stantly unleashed explosive fireballs at his foe, a single, petite rabbit girl with pointy ears and short brown hair. Her golden eyes shone brightly as they turned e-colored, and her aura of Ki and Mana bining quickly bzed, geing fmes of her own.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  She used this powerful aura to enhance her physical body, moving rapidly with her rabbit foot, which allowed her to give potent hops from one pce to ahe wolf chased her, rushing towards her and swinging its giant cws.

  “You’re even using your cws?!”

  She evaded the deadly cws with bzing speed, and then swung her huge hammer against the monster’s paw, crushing its fingers and shattering its cws.

  CRASH!

  The three-headed wolf gave out a scream of agony, quickly stepping ba pain and fusion. Its bzing aura released several fireballs within the cave interior, which the girl rapidly started to gather into her aura.

  “{Bzing Ki Aura: Fire Absorption}!”

  FLUOSH!

  The fmes gathered around her body and fused with her Aura, emp her even more and helping her leap towards her foe’s head as she released a bst of fire from beh her.

  “Gotcha!”

  She swung her hammer at the three-headed monstrosity, crushing its third, middle head with a sirike, blood spttering everywhere.

  CRASH!

  The monster agonized; one of its heads died, yet the others remained alive. Their jaws operying to tear the girl apart with deadly attacks.

  “{Body Reinfort}!”

  Her body suddenly increased its durability and defense, and the jaws of the monster ended up being uo pierce through her bck-scale dragon armor or her powerful, tough skin.

  As the fangs tried to tear through, she used this opportunity to finish the monster off, imbuing Ki and Mana into her hammer and suddenly transf it.

  “{Shapesmithing Arts}: {Spear Form}!”

  Her hammer absorbed her energies and transformed its shape into a sharp, silver-colored spear overflowing with crimson fmes, which she used to piere of the wolve's throats and therieve it to destroy the other.

  CLASH! CLASH!

  She quickly leaped away as she saw the monster’s two sting heads bleed out and die, its giant body finally colpsing over the floor, spreading fmes and blood across the room.

  “Hahh… I-I did it!”

  The girl celebrated with a smile, looking at the system notification, showg she had gained several levels! And with each level, she felt her body and her internal crow stronger, more refined, and reinforced, with Ki overflowing through her body.

  The g of someone behind her resonated as the young woman quickly ran towards the in of the g, finding a geous silver-haired woman whose body seemed pletely made of golden light.

  “Well done, Peperina,” she said. “You’ve grown siderably strohis week. I think you’re probably at an even higher level than most of the S-ranks in my world, surprisingly enough. This method seemed to also work well.”

  “Bing Xue! Thank you so much for helping me so far. I hought I would ever plete so many dungeons in just a week.” Peperina ughed. “I feel s... So fident! The more I leveled up, the more my body became tougher. And I was even able to awaken Papa’s powers from his bloodline.”

  “Yes, you’ve worked well. The power of cultivation also awaken bloodlines; no matter how thin the blood might be, with enough cultivation, you force its powers to e out eventually.” Bing Xue nodded with a smile. “It worked well that your level wasn’t high; like this, your cultivation was able to begin right away and grow at the same time as you leveled up. People whose level was already very high from the beginning have slrowth pared to yours. You’re catg up to my other disciples very quickly, Peperina.”

  “I never imagihat being leveled would help me grow faster than stronger people.” Peperina ughed. “And father’s powers... So this is Shapesmithing? And also the Fire Element! I have fully awakened both.”

  “Yes, the bloodline abilities of your father are Fire trol, Absorption, and also Shapesmithing,” Bing Xue said. “They were the powers and abilities of your father’s tribe, the Bzer, right?”

  “Yeah, usually Dad suppresses his fire powers because they be dangerous, but when he goes to the smithy, he unleashes them. I always admired that and always wished I could one day use them,” sighed Peperina. “But the first time I used something simir, I panicked, and I was uo tain them. I was afraid of the harm I could bring others. And because of that, I didn’t like fighting or anythied to that.”

  “Well, after over a week of fighting, do you feel better?” Bing Xue asked. “I know the act of taking another life is harsh, even for animals or monsters. But it is a necessary thing to do to bee strong. Monsters as are also creatures that could threaten is, so taking care of their poputions so they do not overflow cities or vilges is a necessary task.”

  “I do feel better, and yeah, I uand that as well.” Peperina smiled. “Though I have only tapped into the surface of these powers... But to further advance, I think I o climb the tower as well. I want to go to the sed floor, where the tribe of my mother inated from. I want to find them, my long-lost family, and then talk to mom about how I met them and if they ever remember her anymore.”

  “I see.” Bing Xue smiled. “You’ve bee strong enough and have a good reason, so I suppose I bring you along. I was going to climb to the sed floor as of now.”

  “Eh?! Really? I e?” The little rabbit wondered.

  “You could, but aren’t you tired? You should rest for a day at least,” said Bing Xue.

  "Nah, I’m fine, really! Your Ki cultivation teiques always keep my little body strong and refreshed,” Peperina nodded with a fident smile. "So, I join? Pretty please? I’ll behave and try to be of help, of course!”

  “Oh well, you said you took a two-week vacation in the adventurer guild, right? I suppose you join then. You’re strong enough to protect yourself,” Bing Xue smiled.

  “Ahh, right, my job... I’ve been sidering quitting it now,” Peperina said. “I want to grow stronger and explore the tower. Find my mother’s family, and then climb even higher where the Bzer Dwarves Tribes live. I want to meet my people and learn about their cultures."

  “Well said, a very good decision, and also a very hard decision,” said Bing Xue with a nod. “It is also perhaps a very noble reason to bee stronger, one I approve of very much. Let’s go then, dear. I’ll bring you along.”

  “A-Are we going together alone by any ce?” Peperina wondered as she stored the monster’s corpse inside her ste ring.

  “Oh, of course not. Urbosa ae, my wives, are ing along,” said Bing Xue. “They also have many things to do on the sed floor. Also, I am bringing along someone from my world, a young human man named Seth. I will tell you more about him as we go.”

  “Ah, alright!” Peperina nodded, masking her slight disappoihat she wouldn’t get to spend aloime with the real Bing Xue and not just a Doppelganger, a projeade out of her powers.

  The two made their way out of the dungeon, finding hundreds of monster corpses, most of which were creatures between Levels 600 and 800, which Peperina had singlehandedly defeated.

  Indeed, she had bee very strong, and with her, Bing Xue was able to further perfect her own teiques and cultivation and growth formations, allowio further synize Level Growth and Cultivation Growth.

  Eventually, she wants to perfect it to the point that even Leveling Up itself be hastehrough Cultivation and not just the other way around. Perhaps ba Murim, power was something that could be obtained over many years—hundreds, sometimes thousands of years.

  However, right now, that wasn’t the case anymore. With threats and worlds colliding together thanks to the Tower, an endless downpour of monsters, dungeons, pyers, and malicious gods stantly appeared, making the Tower an even more dangerous pce than even Murim.

  If they don’t grow strong enough,

  .

  .

  .

  (Bing Xue’s POV)

  We arrived on the first floor without any problems, moving towards the vilge where we met with Estrel, Umbra, ahan. Why is he here from all pces? Is a giant body not really hard to dis? The people of the vilge are panig already.

  RUMBLE!

  His enormous divine body made the skies rumble, golden and bck lightning surging everywhere; his serpentine body seemed to move across the clouds freely, although he had a slightly worried expression on his face.

  “Leviathan! Why have you desded from your Divine Realm again? I told you that your very presence cause natural disasters, and you haven’t even mastered your Divine Powers enough to hold them back.”

  “I'm very sorry, Master Bing Xue! I was just too worried, and when I heard that you were ing back, I had to e talk to you personally!”

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  As I asked him, Estrel broke her silence.

  “I ’t believe you chose that disgusting multi-headed serpent as the new god of our world! Just what is wrong with your head, master?!” The pesky girl pined. “I would have rather had the entire world destroyed thahan being the new God!”

  “Sister, I think you’re being too harsh,” sighed Umbra. “Besides the two of us, Leviathan was the most a living being and also the stro. He was there even before we were born, based on the people’s beliefs and faith. He’s teically our elder, you know?”

  “Shut up! He’s dumber thawo of us, so I am not going to call him a wise elder or something; he’s a rabid beast that oe my divine spirits and tried to eat me when I went to reprimand him!” said Estrel.

  “Huh, I had no idea there was this drama between the old gods ahan.” Urbosa smiled with a slightly mog expression. “I’m gd that Leviathan has bee the new god now.”

  “Yeah~ holy, I wouldn’t have been able to accept having this type of person as a goddess…” sighed Merkite, crossing her arms.

  “What an annoying little twat.”

  “Indeed.”

  The two were pokirel’s face with their fingers, annoying the very annoying girl.

  “H-Hey, stop it! I tried being a good goddess!” She was about to cry already.

  Damn, I never khose two had this side to them; they’re definitely eveer now.

  “Hah, please five my sister; she’s always this way, even though she said she was trying to improve,” said Umbra. “Just yesterday she said she loved me and wao make things right again, but she’s too prideful, so she has to act like this, or she will feel embarrassed about opening up and being more ho.”

  “W-What?! Umbra, why did you say that?!” Estrel cried.

  I see, so she’s actually trying to improve; that’s nibsp;

  It’s good that she’s trying to love her brother now; it would have been nicer if she tried when she was alive.

  She’s now something like a minod tied to me as a summons, unfortunately.

  Now, let’s talk with the real god here.

  “Um, are those two the old gods?!” Leviathan wondered. “I-I thought you had killed them before, Master Bing Xue-”

  “I was able to revive them as Divine Spirit Familiars,” I answered. “Now, Leviatha’s get to the point. I am in quite a hurry to go to the sed floor, so tell me what’s wrong. I ’t sense anything threatening right now, though. I hope this is not for something minimal.”

  “I-It’s not, look! I was sent this…”

  Leviathan suddenly gave me a blue-colored jewel, and when I grabbed it, a proje was created.

  FLUOSH!

  And it showed several figures—divine beings, gods, perhaps, or their avatars.

  “This is a message to the goddess known as Bing Xue, who had siwo gods of Floor 1.”

  “We represent the gods of the Fourth Order.”

  “And we want to offer you a new opportunity.”

  -----

  Pach