The commissions available in the City in the Circle were far more numerous than in Raine Town.

The commissions in Raine Town were mostly confined to the small area just outside its walls, but the ones from the City in the Circle covered a vastly larger territory.

[Golden Red Ant Nest]

[Busy Ant Black Burrow]

[Ant Tide Burrow]

...

Lu Cang accepted a total of five ant nest commissions. Then, at the recommendation of the young lady at the reception desk, he also picked up two commissions for other Dungeons that were on the way.

It was probably because he was part of a Legendary Adventurer’s Guild.

Just for accepting a few commissions, he was invited into a private room, where a young lady in a low-cut dress and black stockings personally explained the features of each Dungeon.

’Hmm...’

’This Adventurer’s Guild rank really is useful.’

’The service is just too attentive.’

After accepting the commissions, he followed Chi Cheng to the Celestial Passage Bridge.

The [City in the Circle] was enormous.

Furthermore, mounts were forbidden within the city.

These transparent bridges, which leaped across the sky and crisscrossed in every direction, were another major feature of the City in the Circle.

[Acceleration]

[Rapid Movement]

[Sprinting]

[Endurance Recovery]

The bridges were imbued with magical enhancements. He’d heard they were the collaborative work of a Level 5 Architect and a Level 5 Mage.

Bridge access stations were set up throughout the City in the Circle, and the bridges themselves crisscrossed in every direction, providing access to all corners of the city.

Walking on them, a single step was like taking a hundred.

It was somewhat like a bus station system, except it accelerated a person’s walking speed.

It made sense. After all, mounts were forbidden.

Ordinary people without mounts had to live in this enormous city. If they lived somewhere near the center, without these bridges, it would take several days just to walk from inside the city to the gates.

...

It took about an hour to get from the City in the Circle to the Distant Thousand Caves.

His flying speed was a little faster than before.

Although the Ice Shuttle was still his primary means of flight, Lu Cang now had plenty of other speed-boosting Magic as well.

On the way, he also saw quite a few Adventurers on the ground, riding horses, Land Birds, and Walking Lizards.

The Distant Thousand Caves was a very popular adventuring area near the City in the Circle.

Beast Tides of Demon Beasts were abundant year-round, and underground labyrinths emerged one after another.

An abundance of Demons was obviously not a good thing, but it was also for this reason that it supported the livelihoods of many Adventurers.

They landed in the Distant Thousand Caves.

Lu Cang took out a Pointer. It was provided by the Adventurer’s Guild and pointed toward the Dungeon.

Otherwise, it would be easy to get lost in such a large area.

An entrance before them was the [Golden Red Ant Nest].

A Tier Three Dungeon. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Lu Cang strode inside. With his hands clasped behind his head, Chi Cheng nonchalantly followed him in.

The caverns branched out in all directions.

Small, scattered ants were crawling all over the surrounding walls.

These ants were only about the size of a thumb, but they were Tier One Demons—Red Ants.

"Sea of Fire."

BOOM!

Before the ants could even launch an attack on Lu Cang.

A Sea of Fire instantly spread out!

The raging Sea of Fire blanketed the entire floor and walls, and simultaneously, a Flame Wave surged forth!

The Flame pushed forward like a wall!

It incinerated everything in its path.

「soul +125」

「soul +152」

「soul +111」

「soul +164」

「soul +138」

...

Lu Cang could feel thousands of minuscule souls burrowing into his body, stored away by his Death Priest specialty, 「Storage of Dead Souls」.

The two of them continued forward just like that.

Lu Cang constantly maintained six different types of barrier Magic to ensure his safety.

As for the ants burning on the ground...

Ant-type Demons.

They were often the type of Demon least welcomed by Adventurers.

Due to their small size, Professions like Warriors, Archers, and Assassins generally found them very troublesome to handle.

More importantly,

ant-type Demons were almost universally considered worthless. Good items rarely dropped from their bodies, and there was little money to be made from killing them.

Chi Cheng picked up a relatively large ant from the ground.

He rubbed it between his fingers.

The damage to the ant’s body gradually healed. Chi Cheng then plucked off one of its legs and stored it in his Space.

He was a Level 3 Gatherer, so he might as well help the kid with the gathering.

There was a corner up ahead.

Before Lu Cang even got close to the corner, he raised his hand—

A barrage of Magic—Light, Dark, Ice, Water, Fire, Thunder, Wood, Wind, Earth, Magic Power, and Arcane Magic—blasted forth!

BOOM!

A brilliant flash of light, like fireworks, shot forward!

The entire cavern trembled.

When they walked around the corner, they saw nothing but the corpses of small ants littering the ground ahead.

The mangled corpses of two huge ants with knife-like forelegs also lay among the dead.

’Kid...’

’Was such a huge display really necessary to clear out a few scouts?’

’He’s being a little too cautious.’

’The blades on these two [Knife Ants] are completely ruined.’

Chi Cheng lamented internally.

After taking out these two elites, the Lord Level boss was up ahead.

An ordinary party of Level 3 adventurers would undoubtedly face a bitter, drawn-out struggle against a Tier Three Lord.

For Lu Cang, however, it was much simpler.

The moment it appeared, Earth Spikes of ice, earth, and wood erupted from all directions, instantly skewering the [Blood Red Black Ant Monarch] and shredding it to pieces.

Chi Cheng clapped from behind. "Nice."

Then he went to loot the corpse.

"Brother Chi Cheng, how’s the loot?"

Lu Cang walked over and asked.

"The haul... maybe 5 Gold Coins."

’That’s really not much.’

It was nothing compared to Harvest Moon. During Harvest Moon, even a wild Lord would yield at least ten Gold Coins.

Clearing a Tier Three Dungeon would net twenty Gold Coins, minimum.

From start to finish, the whole thing took less than five minutes.

He did, however, harvest over 50,000 souls.

’As expected, ant-type Demons are indeed the best choice.’

’If the rest of the instances are like this one, I’ll be able to harvest 250,000 souls this trip.’

’But I still feel like it’s not enough.’

"So? Should we head to that Dungeon over there?"

Chi Cheng pointed to a different cave.

"We didn’t take a commission for that Dungeon, did we?"

"The commission wasn’t for much money anyway. It’s fine not to take it."

The entrance to this Dungeon was wreathed in a faint blue light, indicating it was likely a Tier Three Dungeon.

There was no Adventurer’s Guild mark next to the Dungeon, which meant it had not yet been posted as a commission.

Thinking it over, Lu Cang realized Chi Cheng was right.

Back in Raine Town, Dungeons were few and far between, making them hard to find. You had to accept a commission to conveniently learn their exact locations.

But here...

He had already seen seven or eight Dungeons on the way here. Even without accepting commissions, farming here for a day would yield a considerable harvest.

However, as he looked at this Dungeon...

Lu Cang fell into thought for a moment.

"Brother Chi Cheng, is there anyone around?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"There’s something I want to test."

Chi Cheng glanced around.

Most people came to the Distant Thousand Caves for the Dungeons. Generally, they found their Dungeon, discussed their strategy, and dove right in.

In fact, there were very few people just lingering outside.

Chi Cheng scanned the area with his Perception.

Although he was a Warrior and his Spirit wasn’t as strong as a Mage’s, the Perception Ability of a Level 6 Warrior was still terrifyingly potent.

"There are five people within a one-kilometer radius, but none of them can see us."

The Distant Thousand Caves was a maze of interconnected caverns, large and small, with extremely complex terrain.

"Good."

Lu Cang raised his hand toward the Dungeon.

「Sacrifice—1000 souls」