19: Hidden levels!
Song Ming nodded.
Then, he took out a red crystal ball the size of a human head from his backpack.
It still emitted a faint glow.
Song Ming then used his Mental Energy to activate the item.
The red light on the crystal ball suddenly intensified.
Then, it condensed into a beam and shot towards the ground in front of him.
An illusory portal immediately appeared.
The surface of the portal was also carved with countless terrifying demon bas-reliefs.
They were lifelike.
As if they were about to step out of the portal!
Seeing this illusory portal lying flat on the ground, Jiang Rong exclaimed in surprise, "You actually found the hidden dungeon of Demon City!"
"I just found it, do you have any way to open this door?" Song Ming asked.
Upon hearing this, a hint of smugness appeared on Jiang Rong's face.
It seems there are things you can't do either.
Previously, she had been suppressed by Song Ming's incredible abilities, not even having a chance to make a move.
She couldn't help but feel very frustrated.
Now, Song Ming finally had a use for her.
"You want to enter the hidden dungeon? Coincidentally, I have the item to open this door, but I have one condition!"
"What condition?"
"It's very simple. Call me 'Jiejie' (older sister) and I'll give you the item!"
Jiang Rong smiled playfully, staring intently at Song Ming.
Who told him to treat her like a stranger the entire time?
Now that she had the chance, of course, she had to get a little 'revenge'.
"Forget it if you don't want to!"
Song Ming frowned, then was about to put away the crystal ball.
"Alright, alright, I was just teasing you, don't be mad, okay!" Jiang Rong stomped her foot, her expression utterly speechless, and could only mumble softly:
"I'm a great beauty after all, what's wrong with asking you to call me 'Jiejie'? You wouldn't lose anything!"
"Less nonsense, quickly take out the item!"
Song Ming was used to Jiang Rong's playfulness and urged her.
"Here, this is it!"
Jiang Rong took out a circular, pitch-black token from her backpack. It had no patterns on it, only a circle of incantations along the edge.
[Minor Thousand Worlds Token: Holding this token can open the entrance to most Minor Thousand Worlds portals!]
Minor Thousand Worlds!
Song Ming had learned about them from textbooks.
The dungeons they were currently entering were likely projections left on Blue Star by different worlds.
These worlds varied in size, strength, and weakness.
Therefore, they were divided into Minor Thousand, Middle Thousand, and Major Thousand Worlds.
With Blue Star's current strength, it could only be considered a Middle Thousand Worlds, far from comparable to those Major Thousand Worlds.
And the so-called Abyss Gate was actually a bridge connecting two worlds.
The hidden dungeon within the dungeon.
It was very likely the closest to the real dungeon world.
No.
Perhaps it could allow him to directly enter the real world where the dungeon was located.
"Hey, Song Ming, are we going in now? Behind this door is a real world, and the danger level is definitely several times higher than the hell-level dungeon!"
"You know a lot about these things?"
"Of course! I'm telling you, only by entering our Divine Xia Academy can you truly come into contact with the secrets of this world. Otherwise, you'll just be a frog at the bottom of a well!"
Jiang Rong said proudly.
Song Ming pondered for a moment.
He wasn't hesitating whether to enter the hidden dungeon.
He was thinking about what Jiang Rong had said.
It seems that only when he passes the Divine Xia Academy entrance exam will he be able to truly access the truth of the world!
Song Ming activated the Minor Thousand Worlds Token with his Mental Energy.
[Do you want to open the Demon City hidden dungeon?]
[Note: After opening the hidden dungeon, you will enter the real world's Demon City!]
"Open!"
As soon as Song Ming finished speaking, the illusory portal in front of him suddenly stood up.
And gradually solidified.
Then, the Minor Thousand Worlds Token floated towards the standing portal.
Immediately, the portal to the hidden dungeon opened, revealing a hazy, blood-colored scene behind it!
[Demon City hidden dungeon has been opened!]
[Completion Conditions: Collect Materials to Seal the Fire Lava Demon again / Kill all the demons in Demon City]
[Different levels of rewards will be obtained based on the evaluation after completion]
Song Ming glanced at the completion conditions.
His eyes narrowed.
It seems this guy called Fire Lava Demon is the final BOSS in the hidden dungeon.
However, collecting Materials to Seal the demon or whatever would be too time-consuming for him.
The second condition was more to his liking.
Just kill them all directly.
Why so many twists and turns?
However, Song Ming still applied another shield to himself before walking towards the half-opened portal.
Seeing this, Jiang Rong couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
Others didn't know the dangers of the hidden dungeon, but she knew them perfectly well.
Because it was a completely real world.
Anything could happen.
However, she still followed behind Song Ming and entered the hidden dungeon together.
It's likely that even Jiang Rong herself didn't know why she would trust a high school student who had only Awakened his profession a few days ago so much!
...
Outside the dungeon.
Zhong Dafei, who was waiting nearby, couldn't help but ask, "Song Ming, how long has he been in?"
Yuan Qian checked the time, "It's only been less than five minutes! What's wrong?"
"Only five minutes? That's good!"
Zhong Dafei breathed a sigh of relief. With the strength Song Ming had shown, even if he couldn't defeat the BOSS, he should be able to escape successfully.
Not to mention there was a Divine Xia Academy student with him.
Just as Zhong Dafei and the others were silently waiting.
A sudden announcement appeared on the light screen outside the hell-level dungeon's light gate.
[The hell-level Demon City Dungeon has been completed by the team (Song Ming 100%, Jiang Rong 0%), SSS-rank evaluation, completion time 5 minutes 07 seconds!]
"Holy moly, first clear of a hell-level dungeon, I didn't see that wrong, did I!"
"No, 100% participation? That Jiang Rong seems to be a Divine Xia Academy student, right? She ended up just being a bystander!"
"Five-minute speed clear, wait a minute, why do I feel like this Song Ming is a bit familiar!"
Everyone waiting at the dungeon entrance began to discuss.
Zhong Dafei also saw the announcement and was too shocked to speak.
Yuan Qian and his teammates looked at each other.
A Level 10 Aura Master's first clear of the hell-level Demon City Dungeon.
Were they living in the same world as Song Ming?
"Captain, I heard that our East China Academy is going to specially recruit a support-class student, right here in Yunhai City, who also achieved the first clear of a hell-level novice dungeon!"
"It couldn't be this Song Ming, could it!"
"Yes, I heard a teacher mention it, and it seems he even refused!"
"So, Song Ming doesn't even bother with our East China Academy, then what about him and Chen Yuanyuan...?"
Yuan Qian and his teammates couldn't help but turn their gazes to Chen Yuanyuan, who was standing nearby.
The latter's face was ashen.
It was unclear whether it was due to regret or jealousy!
Zhong Dafei recovered from his shock and, seeing that Song Ming was still not at the light gate, couldn't help but ask, "No, they've cleared it, so why haven't they come out yet?"
"He broke the clear record, plus it was the first clear of a hell-level dungeon. Could it be that he opened an item to enter the hidden dungeon from a treasure chest?" Yuan Qian said.
Hidden dungeon.
Everyone's hearts were startled.
This was not only the dungeon closest to the real world, but its difficulty was also several times higher than the hell-level.
Clearing a hell-level dungeon and then going to a hidden dungeon.
Could he really do it?
"I hope he can give us a miracle!"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Dafei became even more certain of his guess.
Perhaps after today, there would be no more Demon City Dungeon!