Liam's gaze lowered slightly, the golden light fading from his eyes.
At the same time, he was arranging something else.
A sequence for the next script.
A setting they would eventually step into together. You know, like a whole new set.
Grander, bigger, and better than prior ones.
But before that.
Time was needed for the preparation.
Lucien couldn't enter the dungeon just yet.
Not for a while until it was within his judgement.
Liam leaned back slightly, his fingers lifting as a faint trace of golden energy flickered again.
Twirling and dancing between his fingers as they jumped around like little fairies.
Strange and oddly beautiful.
He had something to test.
A theory.
One that had already shown signs of working.
Say, are objects brought from the outside world into the space still usable once inside?
Answer: Yes, such as the spiritual plants, spiritual seeds, and even the farming equipments he bought.
They didn't lose their function within the divine space.
That much had been confirmed.
But the limit.
Was still unknown.
How far could it go?
What could be brought in?
What could be changed?
Let's say a mountain can be brought inside, would it remain the same size?
A question to ponder indeed, no?
The first dungeon was too small.
Too restricted. So instead of waiting, he decided to try something else.
Expansion.
The most crucial part of a dungeon is how to expand it. The system never gave proper guidances, it never did.
As such, Liam needed to learn everything by himself.
Using external materials, large in size and quantities.
His gaze settled briefly, thoughtful.
Everything within the dungeon followed a system.
A structure built on will, his will to be more exact.
Like a certain saying, if I willed it, then it will happen.
If that was the case.
Then what would happen if he pushed it further?
If he imposed his will directly onto it?
Would it respond?
Or reject it?
There was no clear answer and nly one way forward.
Trial and error, again and again.
With that decided, his eyes gleamed once more.
Somewhere deep within the Great Wilderness in the center of the region, a puppet with his golden imprint was already in place.
This puppet served a simple purpose, allowing him to move between distant locations with ease, while also giving him a safer ground to test his theory, far from the eyes of the city.
"Well, let's do it"
Without a sound, one of the Golden Core puppets beside him vanished, drawn directly into the divine space.
In the next instant, control shifted.
The same puppet now stood within the wilderness, surrounded by towering trees and dense foliage.
The air there was thick, carrying the quiet weight of the wild.
From time to time, roar of beasts could be heard from afar. Typical...
Then, the puppet raised its hand. Golden light flickered.
One by one, the remaining Golden Core puppets were brought out from the divine space, appearing around it in silence.
Liam's consciousness settled into the puppet, taking full control.
His divine sense spread outward, sweeping across several kilometers in every direction.
It moved steadily, brushing past trees, earth, and the faint traces of life hidden within, searching.
Only after confirming there were no stronger presences nearby did he proceed.
His fingers lifted.
Golden energy gathered at his fingertips, dense and controlled.
Then, like a net being cast, it expanded outward, spreading across the sky above the forest.
It covered everything below.
There was no explosion, no violent surge, just a vast layer of golden light stretching over the land, enclosing it.
Then, Liam closed his fingers.
Boom!
The stillness broke.
—Boom!
—Boom!
—Boom!
The golden spiritual energy responded immediately, tightening as it descended.
Threads of light began to spill downward, weaving into the earth, wrapping around trees, soil, and stone alike.
Slowly.
Like binding something delicate.
Countless strands extended from his hand, sinking into the ground, anchoring themselves deep within.
Then.
The change began.
The land within the net started to fade.
The trees, the soil, the terrain.
They dissolved, piece by piece, as if melting under an unseen force.
It was unnatural.
Yet it happened right before his eyes.
Liam didn't move.
His gaze remained steady, focused on every detail.
The result.
Matched his expectations.
This was possible.
But not simple.
Without precise control over the golden energy, something like this would collapse instantly.
Binding himself to the Mantled Whale had given him the necessary foundation, the vast amount of energy equivalent to the early stage Golden Core.
Combined with his growing control over the energy, he could now sustain this process fairly easily.
Time passed.
Not too fast, not too slow.
At intervals, he summoned additional Golden Core puppets, positioning them around the area to guard the main puppet he controlled while the process continued.
Hours went by.
And eventually.
The section of forest was gone.
Completely.
Liam shifted his awareness back.
Inside the divine space, a new mass had appeared.
A piece of land.
Floating quietly beside the dungeon's original foundation.
It exists there now.
Liam looked at it for a moment.
Then he smiled.
Wider than before.
"So that's how it works…"
His fingers lowered slightly, the golden energy dispersing.
It seemed he didn't need to wait for the system's gauge to reach completion after all.
Perhaps the gauge was more for future features rather than for expansion.
Or perhaps.
The system was never the one in control.
He was.
The dungeon was his to shape.
And the system was nothing more than a tool.
Over time, as the hours passed, the results became clearer.
A large section of land had already been taken from the forest.
Liam measured it silently.
Roughly fifty kilometers.
He paused for a brief moment, letting the number settle in his mind.
Huge.
Far beyond what he initially expected. A faint smile formed.
He didn't bother hiding it.
After all, there was no reason to.
Expanding the dungeon, his "zoo", was something worth being satisfied with.
The larger the space, the more he could utilize it. And with more room came more freedom to arrange, to adjust, to control.
Especially now.
With the number of Qi Refining beasts he had stored away in his pocket space, leaving them unused would only be a waste.
If he had the means, then naturally, he would use them properly.
Anything less would feel incomplete.
His gaze shifted slightly, thoughts moving forward.
Another question surfaced.
Could this newly acquired land be fully integrated?
Not just placed beside the dungeon.
But made part of it.
Bound by the same rules.
The same structure.
The same control.
He considered it briefly.
Then dismissed the doubt.
It should work.
At least, that was what he believed.
But before taking that step, he made sure of something else.
His perception stretched outward again, brushing across the city.
"And it seems… they've both reached the library."
His eyes gleamed faintly for a moment before returning to normal.
Hero.
Lucien.
Right where they needed to be.
He let his gaze linger for a short while, then withdrew it.
No need to interfere.
Not yet.
For now, it was better to let them focus on each other, to stay occupied, unaware of what was being prepared elsewhere.
There would be a time. And when that moment came. He would pull them both into the dungeon.
Liam exhaled slowly, his attention returning to the newly formed land.
"It's time to shape this place."
His fingers lifted slightly, golden energy gathering once more.
"To create… and design. I am not really a fan of designing."
As he began designing, Liam first extended the existing cave.
The original space had always felt too small for his liking. If it was meant to serve as a starting point, then it should at least be able to hold more, he adjusted the layout, guiding the expansion toward the cave.
The change settled in quickly.
Just as he expected, the dungeon's rules adapted to the new size without resistance.
But what followed still caught his attention.
Within the expanded space, a perfected Qi Refining shadow worm appeared.
Then more.
The number of shadow worms increased rapidly, spreading through the cave system.
Their movements weren't random, they followed patterns, shifting through the terrain with a sense of familiarity, almost instinctive.
Liam watched quietly.
They weren't acting like constructs.
Their behavior carried rhythm, habit, even subtle variation.
Alive.
That was the only word that fit.
He didn't see them as mere creations of a system.
And the changes didn't stop there.
As the cave expanded further, reaching roughly ten kilometers in area. Something new emerged.
A presence that was different from the rest.
Liam stepped into the dungeon space, his figure appearing within the cave as his gaze settled forward.
There, in the dim expanse.
A massive shadow worm floated.
Its body stretched across the space, easily the size of several houses combined. It moved slowly, its form shifting in the shadows as if blending with the environment itself.
"A boss…?"
Liam murmured, observing it closely.
Its aura was clear.
Early-stage Foundation Building.
A level that exceeded what he had expected from the current structure.
"It seems there's more to this dungeon than I thought."
He exhaled softly, the surprise still lingering.
The system hadn't indicated this.
Yet here it was.
Existing.
The shadow worm paused briefly, its massive form turning slightly.
It noticed him.
For a moment, its attention lingered.
Then it moved on.
As if he wasn't worth engaging.
Liam remained where he stood, watching as it drifted deeper into the cave.
"Not hostile… or just uninterested."
A faint smile appeared.
"Higher intelligence too."
His eyes followed its movement, thoughtful.
"Interesting…"