The so-called Primordial Land was, in essence, a special type of labyrinth with its own self-contained space. But to call it a "labyrinth" would be rather misleading—it was more accurate to say this place was an entirely different dimension.
Moreover, unlike traditional labyrinths, most of the resources and creatures here didn't respawn. That meant the first adventurer to set foot in the Primordial Land would hold an enormous advantage.
"What a place… This is truly a gold mine!"
Daniel's eyes gleamed as he stared at the row of treasure chests before him, utterly dazzled.
While the items inside these chests might not rival the high-end loot from elite labyrinth grinds, the appeal was in the sheer convenience. As the saying goes: many grains of sand build a tower. These chests didn't need to be farmed, guarded against, or even earned—they were just lying there in plain sight.
Even more absurd, the area was vast.
Daniel had only skimmed the nearest mountainous region and already spotted over a hundred chests. That was just what he could see from his current position. As for the more distant peaks? He didn't need to think hard to imagine the sheer number of treasure chests that would be hidden there as well.
He had hit the jackpot—this time, he had really struck gold!
Daniel couldn't help but inwardly sigh with excitement. But just then, something appeared in the distance.
A monster.
[Simian Wraith]
[Level: 30]
[Skills: Heartpiercer, Frenzy]
[Description: A common monster native to the Zalot Mountains]
The moment the Simian Wraith came into view, it let out a guttural growl and charged straight at Daniel.
But Daniel didn't panic in the slightest.
He raised his hand and casually tossed out a [Great Fireball]—it smashed into the creature's face with a fiery explosion.
–167,600
BOOM!
The massive fireball exploded, reducing the Simian Wraith to a crisp in an instant.
However, at almost the exact same moment, howls and growls echoed through the surrounding peaks. From the cliffs and mountaintops all around, monsters emerged in droves—dense, swarming shadows with eyes glowing crimson.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of beasts glared directly at Daniel.
"Oh? Still got the nerve to look at me?"
He snorted coldly, raising his staff with not a hint of fear. Then, he summoned his next spell—[Thunderfall Shield].
–326,200
–326,200
–652,400!
The damage numbers floated up in rapid succession.
At Daniel's current power level, it didn't matter how many monsters came at him—they all died just the same. It was like mowing grass: simple, efficient, and oddly satisfying.
Dozens of monster corpses were electrocuted and scorched to charcoal, tumbling down from the cliffs like a grotesque rainfall.
[You have slain Simian Wraith. Max HP +100]
[You have slain Spirit Cat. Max HP +100]
[You have slain White-Feathered Eagle. Max HP +100]
A cascade of system prompts appeared before Daniel, and he could visibly feel his health bar increase—if only slightly.
Of course, grinding monsters like this wasn't the most efficient choice right now. Since he hadn't yet completed his Star Upgrade Quest, he wasn't gaining any EXP.
Still, thanks to the passive effect of [Ode to Life], the loot wasn't bad at all.
Daniel took a brief glance at his status and couldn't help but inhale sharply.
Under normal circumstances, each level-up only increased his max HP by 100 points. But this time, just from tossing out a single skill, his HP had surged by 13,800!
Even he hadn't expected that—apparently, he'd accidentally killed a mini-boss or elite without realizing it.
"Damn! That felt good!"
Excitement surged through him. He twirled his staff and urged his Shadow Leopard mount forward toward the nearest silver treasure chest.
In standard loot classification, treasure chests were ranked much like teleport gates: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, and so forth.
Their appearance rates followed a rough 100:1 ratio. That meant one silver chest would spawn for every 100 bronze, one gold chest for every 100 silver, and so on.
While bronze chests were technically still treasure, Daniel didn't even glance at them.
Who was he kidding?
With time being so limited, and Primordial Land overflowing with loot, why would he waste a single second on such low-tier junk?
Even while riding, Daniel kept his hands busy—his staff continued to hurl out spell after spell.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
With each spell, more monsters fell like raindrops from the sky, their charred corpses littering the ground. It was a scene straight out of an apocalypse.
Even within just those few steps he'd traveled, Daniel noticed another increase in his max HP—though not as much as the first time.
This was likely because many of the monsters he'd slain were repeats of the same species. According to the effect of [Ode to Life], only the first kill of each species granted bonus HP. Subsequent kills of the same type yielded nothing.
A few more [Thunderfall Shield] casts later, Daniel realized the skill's effectiveness was starting to diminish.
If he wanted real results, he'd have to start targeting bosses, or even World Rank bosses.
That gave him a deeper understanding of [Ode to Life]. Just farming mobs wouldn't cut it. He needed elite kills.
Soon, Daniel arrived at the silver chest and didn't hesitate.
"Open!"
[You have obtained: Simian Wraith Horn x4, Maple Grass x12… 4,000 gold coins]
"…Huh?"
Just a single silver chest and he earned 4,000 gold coins?
Was making money really this easy?
But the euphoria quickly passed, and Daniel calmed down.
Sure, for the average adventurer, 4,000 gold coins was a decent windfall. But for someone like him, a pile of mid-grade materials and a handful of coins were barely worth 10,000 gold coins in total value.
Opening a silver chest? That only netted him a paltry profit.
If that was the case, wasn't it way more profitable to farm supreme chests in regular labyrinths?
Those only took a second to generate. He could casually throw out a couple of skills and trigger a supreme chest without even having to move.
Each supreme chest dropped around 20,000 gold coins worth of loot.
Daniel arrived at a ridiculous but inescapable conclusion:
Opening silver chests was a total waste of time.
"Forget it. No more silver chests from now on!"
Feeling like he'd been scammed, Daniel grumbled to himself.
Silver chests… what a bunch of trash.
If any other adventurer had heard that thought, they might have coughed up three liters of blood on the spot.
What kind of lunacy was this?
These treasure chests spawned right by the roadside. No monsters guarded them, no locks or keys were required—just touch and collect. Free gold coins, plain and simple.
And he called that a waste of time?
For the love of the gods, please act like a normal human being!
But Daniel had his reasons. If he weren't in such a hurry to complete his Star Upgrade Quest, he would've much rather been grinding level-30 labyrinths instead.
One supreme chest every second. A few hours of farming would result in an astronomical fortune.
But for Daniel, gold coins weren't the real goal.
What truly mattered was strengthening himself.
After all, his Star Upgrade Quest required him to slay a World Rank boss.
And if he had enough strength, would he ever need to worry about gold coins again?
With overwhelming power, wealth would naturally follow. He could earn as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Thinking of that, Daniel's gaze shifted to a massive boulder in the distance.
Atop the boulder sat a shimmering, radiant gold chest, shining with an ethereal glow.