The moment the upgrade completed, Fang Zhen felt like a 220-pound man who had suddenly lost 55 pounds. It was as if he’d just had a deep, restorative massage and woken from the most refreshing sleep of his life.

He had never felt this good.

The massive boost to his Constitution brought Fang Zhen a huge, pleasant surprise.

He had guessed that exceeding 15 points in Constitution would cause a qualitative change, but he never expected it to be this significant.

All his stats and abilities were improving so quickly.

’But it makes sense when I think about it.’

Even without Extraordinary Power, the gap in human physical fitness can be enormous. Some people can’t even handle a single burpee, while the Guinness World Record holder can do 3,378 push-ups in an hour.

If the difference between mortals is already so vast, how much greater would it be with the existence and enhancement of Extraordinary Power?

Fang Zhen also finally understood why Jilenna’s strength had leaped so dramatically the second time he had hired her as a combat partner.

It turned out that exceeding 15 points in any attribute resulted in a qualitative leap.

’This must be the first step toward true transcendence.’

Fang Zhen was already looking forward to seeing what kind of miraculous, extraordinary changes would occur when he pushed his Constitution to 20.

After improving his Constitution, he could achieve a state of extreme focus for his various training exercises without having to neglect food or sleep.

In addition to honing his skills at the factory, he also figured out the Crystal Bone Warhorse and the Crystal Bone Crow, learning to summon these two bone beasts using bone energy.

Besides that, Fang Zhen spent the rest of his time in the gym, madly working to increase his Strength.

With normal training, even professional athletes using a five-day split routine would reach their limits after a few hours of anaerobic exercise per day. Any more and their muscles couldn’t take it; pushing further could even lead to rhabdomyolysis.

But Fang Zhen was different.

His Constitution was already at 16 points, so his foundation was fundamentally different from an ordinary person’s. Moreover, his recovery and endurance were beyond comparison.

He could train four times a day. When he got tired, he would eat a fitness meal, then continue training, recovering in just a short amount of time.

As a result, Fang Zhen’s time efficiency was exceptionally high. Four times the training volume, double the recovery speed, and nearly double the stamina allowed him to gain as much Strength in half a month as others would in two or three months.

Thus, in less than half a month, he managed to raise his Strength attribute by a full point through sheer force of will.

During the previous dungeon, Fang Zhen’s Strength attribute had naturally increased by 1 point to 12 from constant activity. Now, with this half-month of insane training, it had risen to 13.

Although it wasn’t a qualitative leap, it was at least respectable.

Fang Zhen also knew that this kind of hellish training was only effective in the early stages. Later on, it would likely become increasingly difficult to raise his Strength just by pumping iron.

But he didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he expected to become a god just by lifting weights anyway.

Constitution was truly the core attribute. After raising it, as long as lifting weights could boost his relatively weak Strength attribute and keep it from holding him back, there would always be Extraordinary methods later to make further progress and break his limits.

And so, on the day the dungeon was set to open, Fang Zhen was in the best condition he had ever been in his life. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

At this moment, Fang Zhen was fully geared up.

He was clad in full plate armor, minus the gloves. The King’s Belt was fastened around the armor’s waist, fitting snugly against the plates, allowing him to easily draw his main weapon and access the Extraordinary Items and other equipment stored in its subspace.

He still chose to bring the Holy Garment’s container, inside of which he had packed a paraglider.

Inside the King’s Belt’s main compartment were an AWP sniper rifle, an HK416 assault rifle, a submachine gun, several pistols, grenades, landmines, and ammunition—as well as a long spear.

The main compartment of the King’s Belt was supposed to hold the King’s Sword, but if he stored it there, it would be difficult to access his other weapons.

So, he placed the King’s Sword in the Holy Garment’s container instead.

After Fang Zhen finished his preparations, the countdown for the Nameless World, Act IV: ’Demon Duke’ dungeon finally reached zero.

Instantly, the dungeon information appeared on his screen.

"The queued dungeon’s opening time has been reached.

Dungeon Name: Demon Duke

World Setting: Nameless

Dungeon Difficulty: Nightmare

Do you wish to confirm activation of this dungeon?"

Fang Zhen chose ’Yes’.

"You have confirmed the activation of the dungeon ’Demon Duke’. The dungeon has been added to your main interface queue."

The Dungeon Life game presented an option to spend 25 Merit Points to obtain information in advance.

Of course, Fang Zhen chose ’Yes’.

"You have obtained information regarding the ’Demon Duke’ dungeon.

Analyzing dungeon data...

The information for ’Demon Duke’ is as follows."

"Dungeon Background Confirmed:

"Within the Zambein Kingdom, the seeds of civil war are being sown. The current, brief peace is merely the calm before the storm.

The root of it all is the struggle for the throne among the descendants of Joseph II of the Zambein Kingdom.

The Sith Clan are descendants of Joseph II’s second son, the Balenzuo Clan are descendants of the fourth son, and the house of Tarrenno are descendants of the fifth son. All three families are branches of the Zambein Dynasty’s Royal Family.

The current king, Joseph the Thirteenth, was once a wise ruler. However, a demonic assault caused him to lose some of his faculties, rendering him weak, incompetent, and his rule chaotic. He suffers from intermittent bouts of hysteria, plunging the nation into turmoil.

Duke Sith has seized this opportunity to press his claim to the throne, setting the stage for civil war.

Meanwhile, Duke Balenzuo and Duke Tarrenno are also eyeing the throne with avarice.

Behind the scenes, the Queen and the Eldest Princess seem to have their own agendas, while the Church also appears to be playing an ambiguous role in the struggle for the throne.

Civil war is imminent.

The Ashton Territory, which you once saved, has also been drawn into this political storm.

Unbeknownst to all, the one pushing for civil war is a true demon hiding in the human world. One of the three Dukes is a demon in human guise, and its motives are mysterious and unknown."

"Generating key dungeon information:

Magic: A form of Extraordinary Power used by Mages, most of which is highly offensive in nature.

Divine Art: A god-given ability that does not rely on Mana or self-cultivation, but is gained solely through piety.

???: A special power, not yet fully decrypted.

Generating threat units within the dungeon:

Combat Mage Corps: One of the core forces of the Zambein Kingdom, a group of Mages who possess powerful physiques and close-combat capabilities.

Traits: Although there are minor frictions between individual Mages, they are a very united group. Without a valid reason, provoking one Combat Mage is equivalent to provoking their master, classmates, disciples, friends, relatives, and a whole network of others.

Combat Mages possess physical conditioning and combat skills on par with a Knight, in addition to wielding powerful Magic.

Divine Protection Knight: Special Knights of the Church who possess a divine blessing, are immune to certain types of magic, can use Divine Arts, and whose physical bodies are considered nearly perfect within the Nameless World.

Traits: The power of a Divine Protection Knight comes from their piety toward and blessings from their god. Their power is not restricted by conventional anti-magic measures, but they can be corrupted if their faith is broken.

Demon: An evil creature driven by chaos, tyranny, and destruction, which hates and seeks to destroy all order.

Traits: Possesses a powerful physical body, destructive magic, and strange powers.

BOSS:

Demon Duke ???

Behavior 1: Will never reveal its demonic identity until the very last moment.

Behavior 2: Once its demon form is triggered, it will kill everyone who knows its secret.

Dungeon Objectives:

Objective 1: Identify the Demon Duke hidden among the three Dukes of Zambein.

Objective 2: Learn the Demon Duke’s true name and kill it.

Optional Objective 3: Discover the connection between the Demon Duke and the Kingdom’s civil unrest.

Optional Objective 4: Uncover the Demon Duke’s true purpose.

Optional Objective 5: Lead the Ashton Territory to a higher standing within the Kingdom."

Fang Zhen stared at the information, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it.

He slowed down and read through it all again carefully.

’This mission is pretty tough. There are so many objectives.’

’And even with the information decrypted, some parts are still not fully revealed.’

’So this is what a Nightmare-difficulty dungeon is like?’

Fang Zhen felt that even for the Nameless World, a Nightmare-difficulty dungeon was no simple matter.

But he didn’t shrink back.

On the contrary, his fighting spirit was ignited.

’So what if it’s Nightmare difficulty?’

Fang Zhen pulled up his skill menu.

’Dungeon Life, upgrade me!’