The girl selling goods at the market had never seen money before.

"Sir, the target has disappeared."

A soldier reports.

Upon hearing this, the team leader chuckled: "A Shadow Fiend who can use items, she's intelligent... Did you bring recording equipment? Send me the footage later, this is an important discovery."

"Yes, sir!"

"Hey, Xiao Wang, where's your gun?"

-----------

In the darkness, Bai Jinxuan kept an eye on the guild's camp while fumbling for the laser gun in her hand.

This is an item containing a magic crystal engraved with light elemental magic. It also has single-shot, rapid-fire, burst, and other modes, making it a very powerful and feature-rich item.

Moreover, at the end of the stock, there is a concentrated magic crystal for power. This thing is different from ordinary magic crystals; it is a magic crystal that has been processed with special technology and can be reused.

In other words, when the laser gun is low on power, it can be used again after being recharged with a new magic crystal.

The battery life is also top-notch.

"No wonder they knocked me out of the shadows in an instant."

Bai Jinxuan complained as she tossed the gun into the treasure box.

Using this thing on the dark third level would be too conspicuous; she'd have to study it more carefully later. Right now, her goal was to figure out what was going on on the third level.

After a brief battle, she realized that the strength of the troops on the third floor was completely different from that on the second floor. The guards here were extremely vigilant, and they could immediately become alert at the slightest disturbance and then try to open fire.

Besides, the territory of the third-level guild is very small. They haven't even built a city yet. Everyone is maintaining a passage—the passage to the portal to the fourth level.

It's not far from the portal to the third level, and with soldiers guarding it, explorers can easily reach the fourth level on foot.

However, the toll is also higher than the previous two levels, more than 10,000 yuan per person, which is simply robbery.

No wonder most explorers stop at the second and third levels. The third level is not a place where explorers can make money at all. When they first arrive at the third level, they only have two choices in front of them.

First, go back to the second floor to receive welfare.

Second, go to the fourth floor and take a gamble; you might just turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.

Most people choose to go to the second level for no other reason than that there is a hard requirement to go to the fourth level: the explorer's rank must reach level four.

Without the ability to fight equally matched monsters and lacking a suitable magical environment to improve, reaching the fourth rank under these circumstances is nothing short of a pipe dream.

After all, the difficulty of advancing in rank increases exponentially, and the reason they become explorers and do this hardest, most tiring, and most dangerous work is because they have no money.

Without money, it's difficult to improve oneself on the ground; one can only keep taking medicine and exercising daily, spending the most time but getting the least benefit.

The difference became apparent instantly.

Bai Jinxuan recalled No. 4 Middle School and suddenly understood why Zhang Hu, a fourth-grade student, was so popular there.

Tier 4 martial artists? Very few, far too few!

For ordinary people, the peak is basically level 3. To be able to advance to level 4 is undoubtedly the mark of a genius.

All of this is because the third level of the dungeon is an extremely dangerous place with very low returns.

Having realized this, Bai Jinxuan also prepared to run away.

Since she can't practice her skills on the third floor, she might as well go back to the second floor to challenge herself, collect more materials, produce potions, and take over the potion market.

You should know that the school gave her a factory; with production equipment, she could easily start her own company.

Just as she was thinking about how to sneak into the portal to the fourth level, the lights in one of the camps suddenly went out.

"Shadow Fiend attack! Shadow Fiend attack!"

The soldiers guarding the camp quickly shouted, and then all the guards who were on high alert raised their laser guns and, with a few swishes, cut through the shadow that enveloped the light.

In an instant, the magic lamps lit up again, and a hideous, black dog, resembling a zombie, lay on the ground, its body cut into several pieces, turning into black mud that seeped into the ground.

Bai Jinxuan frowned.

The way this Shadow Fiend moves through the shadows is so similar to her own.

Just as she was contemplating whether to catch a Shadow Fiend and dissect it, a Shadow Fiend quietly appeared in front of her.

It was a spherical shadow demon, emanating black mist, its tentacles twisting, floating in the shadows.

Yes, in the shadows.

At the same time that Bai Jinxuan saw it, it also twisted its body and saw Bai Jinxuan.

Unlike the outside world, the shadow space is like underwater, with fewer distracting things blocking their view, allowing them to see each other very clearly.

What's going on? The Shadow Fiend's shadow and my shadow are actually in the same space?

At that moment, Bai Jinxuan broke out in a cold sweat.

This is tantamount to hanging her on a fishhook, bleeding her out, and then throwing her into the sea to wait for sharks to come and feast on her.

At this moment, the Shadow Space transformed from a safe house into a monster's lair.

Bai Jinxuan wanted to get ashore quickly, but then she realized that there was another group of hunters on the shore with guns raised, waiting to shoot.

If she goes ashore at this time, wouldn't that be like a lamb entering a tiger's den, courting death?

Disguise yourself and act like a passerby? That won't work. There are too few passersby on the third level. Soldiers can tell at a glance whether someone has entered the portal or not. There's no way to slip by like you could on the first and second levels.

Or should she just fight the monster? No, that won't work either. There's definitely more than just this one Shadow Demon on the third floor. If she attracts all the other Shadow Demons, she's doomed.

As for emerging from the shadows and hiding in the dark, that would be even more foolish; it would be like burying one's head in the sand like an ostrich. She might not be able to see the Shadow Fiend, but the Shadow Fiend could still see her.

Damn it... If all else fails, I'll just have to fight Shadow Fiend!

Bai Jinxuan made up her mind, left a mark on the spot, and then confronted the shadow demon.

Although she has always attacked the surface through shadows, her extensive combat experience has made it possible for her to attack the creatures inside the shadows as well.

If it dares to attack me, I'll use my lightning-fast dodge and Gan Jiang Mo Xie sword to kill it!

I can do it now!

She gripped her twin swords tightly, bent her knees and lowered her waist, her pupils contracted to pinpoints as she stared intently at the spherical object shrouded in black mist.

Time seems to stand still at this moment.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds...

Suddenly, the Shadow Fiend moved.

Is it coming!?

The next second, the Sphere Shadow Fiend turned around and floated away as if it hadn't seen her at all.

Bai Jinxuan: "???"

Book 1: Chapter 88: The Girl Who Ventured into the Shadows

Was I ignored?

Bai Jinxuan was a little confused. She was quite certain that the Shadow Demon had discovered her.

When the other person looks at you, there is a noticeable pause in their body, which means that they have a thought process.

Could it be that it mistook me for one of its own kind?

Thinking about it carefully, it's actually quite possible. He was wearing a cloak, which could still be effective even in the shadows. Therefore, in the Shadow Demon's eyes, he was just a rather strange-looking creature of his own kind.

It's normal to ignore yourself.

"Phew~ I thought it was going to start a fight, but thankfully we made it through smoothly in the end."

She breathed a sigh of relief, but soon, another thought came to her mind—if this Shadow Fiend would ignore her, what about the others?

If they really considered themselves one of their own, wouldn't all the Shadow Fiends stop attacking them?

Wow, is there a better place in the world to practice martial arts?

and many more......

Bai Jinxuan realized something and shifted her gaze to the guild camp in the distance.

I don't think I've ever heard of any place that stores Shadow Fiend materials.

In other words, even if she kills a lot of Shadow Fiends, she won't make any money; it's like working for free.

After considering all this, it's a bit of a loss; the gains are halved, meaning you can only practice your skills but not make money.

But for Bai Jinxuan today, this is not a big problem. She has activated the [Arrogance] cheat, which allows her to absorb magic power very quickly. As long as she walks around the third floor more, exercises, and breathes fresh air, she will naturally become stronger.

I spent 20 credits to buy the auxiliary software, so I need to make good use of it.

So she began to move, and soon a new Shadow Fiend appeared in front of her.

Compared to the outside world, the view in the shadow space is much blurrier. When Bai Jinxuan saw the other person, they were 50 meters apart.

It was a black arm with four thin, long fingers, like a shadow, slowly stretching out and reaching for the magic lamp beside it.

Because it was so thin, the guards didn't even notice it, and as a result, it touched the magic lamp, and with a clench of its claws, the light source suddenly went out.

In an instant, countless arms of various shapes stretched out from the 'deep sea' and launched a frenzied attack on the creatures trapped in darkness.

In an instant, a soldier's leg was torn to shreds by dozens of claws. In desperation, he quickly pressed the switch on the laser gun.

The beam swept across the surroundings, severing several of the Shadow Demon's arms, but the weak light source was simply not enough to drive away the Shadow Demons.

A spider-shaped shadow demon crawled out, raised its sharp forelegs, and stabbed fiercely at the soldier's back.

The laser gun flew out of his hand, landed on the ground, and sliced ​​his teammate in half.

The scene suddenly descended into chaos, with soldiers becoming easy targets in the darkness, attacked by hordes of Shadow Demons.

Fear, struggle, screams... negative emotions spread throughout the camp until the reinforcements brought new light, at which point the Shadow Fiend receded like a tide.

The warm light illuminated the darkness.

The camp was a scene of utter devastation. Some soldiers were covered in scratches, their wounds oozing blood. Others clutched their empty left arms, letting out muffled groans. Still others had been torn to pieces, their flesh and blood scattered everywhere on the ground.

Bai Jinxuan, who witnessed the whole thing, fell into deep thought.

So many Shadow Demons suddenly appeared, but none of them attacked her. My initial assessment is that the Shadow Demons on the third floor really won't attack her on their own initiative.

In addition, the movements of these Shadow Demons were too predictable; in Bai Jinxuan's words, they were... not quite alive.

From turning off the lights to attacking and finally retreating, the Shadow Fiends showed no independent judgment whatsoever; they were like a group of zombies, acting entirely on instinct.

There are too many suspicious points; we need to get closer to Shadow Fiend.

Bai Jinxuan made up her mind. Now that she was certain that the Shadow Demon would not attack her, she was safe in the shadows and could explore this land at will.

Turning around, she continued into the darkness, observing the surrounding terrain as she went.

The third level is somewhat similar to the second level, with forests and wastelands. The guild camp and the portal are located in a large wasteland, which is very open and can be quickly detected if a monster approaches.

Now, Bai Jinxuan has entered the woods.

Unlike the second level, the forest here is more twisted, without towering trees, and is full of dark, shriveled tree trunks.

Even the vines had hardened, resembling spider webs scattered haphazardly in various corners.

Bai Jinxuan squatted down and wiped the ground with her index finger.

The soil was very hard, and there were no signs of any life activity on it; it was undoubtedly a barren land.

I slipped into the shadows and looked up at the sky.

The sky was completely black. If it weren't for the Night Walker providing her with vision, she probably wouldn't even know if the third level was top-down or not.

It's really too dark here.

There is no light source, and even if there were, it would be quickly extinguished by the Shadow Fiend.

There was no food or water, and the place was deathly silent. There was no sign of dawn, as if it were a huge cave with only stone walls above us disguised as the sky.

To summarize the third layer in one sentence: it is not a place where life can survive.

However, if you put aside the details and look at the terrain as a whole, Bai Jinxuan felt that it was quite familiar.

The environment is much the same as the second level, except that there is no water in the river, no grass in the forest, and only countless shadow demons patrolling here.

Driven by curiosity, Bai Jinxuan set her sights on a shadow demon that looked very much like a snake.