At this moment, El sat quietly atop a stone monolith that towered over the dark landscape.
The stone seemed naturally formed, but its smooth and tall shape gave the impression that it had been prepared for a world watcher.
From the calculation of the floor where Yue's room was sealed, El deduced that they were now around True Level Floor 80.
The surroundings looked like a world that had lost its breath of life.
The ground there was hard and full of cracks stretching wide, overgrown with purple and black crystals that grew like leafless trees, sharp skeletons that pierced the sky with silent arrogance.
The shadows cast by the crystals created the illusion of a silent and oppressive dead forest.
Down there, between the rocky path and the shadows of the crystals, Hajime and Yue looked like two warriors constantly testing their limits.
They protected each other, ran, and dodged attack after attack from the swarms of beasts that hunted them relentlessly.
The monsters, with bodies resembling tyrannosaurs from Earth, had bone-white skin and small pale purple flowers growing on top of their heads, an irony of beauty amidst ferocity.
Their name: T-Rex, the dominant predator on this floor.
El, Hajime, and Yue's journey from floor to floor is not just a climb of strength.
For El, it was a quest for the most extreme training ground, a place where the body was forged, the soul was tested, and the limits of existence were pushed. And this floor... felt like the perfect terrain for it.
With his hands resting on his knees and his gaze piercing through the thin smoke that enveloped the terrain, El smiled faintly. "Yes... this place is suitable."
At the same time, El smiled faintly Hajime was suffering because the use of Donner had been limited by El with 20 bullets, the rest Hajime beat with his body.
"Damn! No matter how many we kill, they always pop up out of nowhere!" cursed Hajime, starting to decide to fire at the growing herd of T-Rexes.
"So many," Yue replied briefly while casting fire magic towards the horde of monsters.
"Why did that bastard choose this place anyway!" grumbled Hajime, sweat running down his forehead.
From the top of the monolith, El only smiled slightly, then exclaimed loudly, "Hajime! Don't just rely on Donner! You also have a body, use it! And don't insult your teacher, I chose this place with love!"
"What?! Love my ass!" Hajime was getting angry. "I regret this training!"
El cupped his hands, then in a calm yet stressful tone, explained, "Use total breathing concentration focusing your breath until it flows into every muscle fiber.
"Then calm your mind, and trigger your physical strength and perception to their peak! Control your body, don't be controlled!" El continued.
"Nonsense!" growled Hajime, then irritably turned Donner towards El on the rock.
Bang!
A bullet exploded towards El. However, it was caught using both fingers very easily.
"Oops, almost hit me," El said casually, then chuckled. "But good. Anger is one way to speed up breathing, as long as you know how to control it."
Raising his hands in the air, El exclaimed excitedly, as if he were a coach turning up the heat:
"MY DISCIPLE, FIGHT WITH PASSION!!!"
Hajime was getting annoyed. "SHIT!!!" he growled, too focused on the annoying El.
Suddenly, Yue's soft voice broke through the noise. "Hajime..."
"Huh? Yue?!" Hajime turned his head quickly, and his blood ran cold.
One of the giant T-Rexes had already taken Yue's petite body in its mouth, carrying her away quickly among the purple and black crystals.
"Hajime..." Yue said in resignation.
"YUE!!!" shouted Hajime, his face turning into an utter panic.
Meanwhile, El who witnessed the incident just laughed out loud from the top of the monolith.
"Hahaha... " El with a laugh that echoed among the dark crystals around her.
After a while, he let out a long breath, then looked up at the stone ceiling above with a faint smile.
"I guess... now I understand why Master likes to play fun me. Apparently... it's quite fun to have a student to play it too."
Quietly, El raised his left hand, and from within the Sky Pearl Poison, an object slowly emerged, a round piece of crystal about three centimeters in diameter, emitting a pale blue light that seemed to contrast amidst the dark landscape of the floor.
The crystal was no ordinary stone, but rather the Divinity Stone, a stone formed when large clumps of mana pools gathered and crystallized over a span of 1,000 years.
After centuries, the mana that had been saturated within the Divinity Stone slowly melted and produced a pure, highly potent liquid, a legendary healing elixir known as Ambrosia.
Ambrosia is an extremely powerful and rare medicine, formed from the pure mana essence condensed within the Divinity Stone over the centuries.
It has an amazing ability to heal wounds, neutralize toxins, and prolong life, making it a highly sought-after "elixir of life".
It is known as the "elixir of life", due to its ability to heal almost all wounds, diseases, and neutralize toxins.
It can even save someone who is on the brink of death, either by drinking it or applying it directly to the wound.
Its effects are not just healing; with regular consumption, Ambrosia can even extend one's life far beyond the normal human limit.
However, despite its wonders, Ambrosia still has its limitations.
It cannot regrow severed limbs, it does not relieve pain from severe injuries, and it cannot satisfy hunger. In a sense, the body can be healed, but biological needs must still be met.
Furthermore, Ambrosia is the only known way to survive after eating monster flesh, which is naturally lethal to most humans.
However, instead of dying from painful cell mutations, Ambrosia's extraordinary healing properties allow the body to survive and adapt, transforming the user into a monster hybrid, just like what happened to Hajime.
Even so, this process can only be successful if one possesses extraordinary mental resilience, strong enough to endure the unimaginable pain of having one's body destroyed and remolded over and over again.
Interestingly, if monsters drank Ambrosia, the effect was different: their mana could increase drastically, and even grant them higher consciousness and intelligence.
Although most Divinity Stones are naturally formed, they can also be artificially created by one or a few individuals.
Of course, that individual must possess an unusually large amount of mana, which accumulates and condenses over a long period of time, though not during a natural process.
El obtained the Divinity Stone after exchanging a 5 cubic meter diameter Space Ring for the Divinity Stone previously owned by Hajime.
The reason El wanted the rare stone was because he saw great potential to use it as one of the main materials in creating the Poison Pill, which was specifically designed to enhance Xiao Yi Xian's Calamity Poison Body.
After that, El stored the Divinity Stone back into the Sky Pearl Poison, utilizing it to simultaneously increase the quality of the energy within.
El then took out a gourd jar filled with wine from Sky Pearl Poison.
An idea suddenly crossed his mind. "What if I create a limitless wine equipment... with the Divinity Stone material?"
"Overall, I'm beginning to understand how to make Divinity Stones by simply paying attention to which energy structure they contain."
El smiled faintly, like an alchemist who had just discovered a promising crazy recipe.
He took a leisurely sip of his wine, then muttered softly, "It's worth a try... I'm curious about the results."
Ding!
Kring!
Suddenly, several system notifications appeared along with a chat message that floated in front of his. El decided to check the system notifications first.
[Servant Hell has returned from completing a Mission in the One Punch Man World with a Mission that has a Medium difficulty]
[As the Master, you receive half of Servant Avatar Hell's evaluation reward]
Ding!
[You get 20 Attribute Points and 25,000 Points]
"Hooh... One Punch Man is done?" muttered El while raising one eyebrow. "But... Is Hell friends with Saitama? Did he forget who our enemy is now?"
"It's not bad to be friends with a 3rd level authority existence, especially since Saitama is also a fighting maniac."
El shook his head softly, "He shouldn't forget. After all, he is my Avatar. But, why would he send Chat?"