However, Uhtred’s wish to find a dungeon did not happen until after two whole days of grinding and searching had passed.

Uhtred strolled through the forest with his battle-axe on his shoulder, heading back to the camp to tell the others about his find. With how casually he strolled, one would think he was being suicidal, but he knew with certainty that nothing in these parts could pose any threat to him.

He had pushed far further into Zone 1 than his original landing point at the beginning. So his grinding grounds now were no longer in this area at all. And with the strength he now possessed, even the Level 10 Epicyon Wolves he had faced would not pose any threat to him at all.

[Status]

Name: Uhtred

Level: 10 (Mid) → 17 (Peak)

Race: Human

Class Grade: Primordial

Class Title: Formless

Core Attunement: Limitless (Compatible with all affinities)

Core Rank: Mortal (Next rank evolution at Level 25)

[Attributes]

Strength: 42 → 67

Agility: 49 → 70

Endurance: 40 → 61

Vitality: 39 → 58

Intelligence: 40 → 62

Perception: 42 → 65

Willpower: 38 → 55

Luck: 19 → 21

He had gained seven levels in his two days of grinding, and all of his attributes had also seen a significant increase. But most surprising of all was his luck attribute.

Somehow it had jumped from 19 to 21 for no apparent reason Uhtred could pinpoint. He had not killed any beasts these past two days that made him even slightly suspicious that it might have contained some luck essence... if there was even anything like that.

All the beasts he had fought with were simple evolved beasts. Some were prehistoric, and some were the natural creatures that roamed the planet before the integration, only more powerful. But nothing unique enough that Uhtred could even slightly think it had anything to do with his luck attribute increase.

He had also not come across any special lucky encounters. In fact, if he was to describe the past two days, aside from the monotony of grinding, his other goal to find traces of the ancient variants in the forest proved no results at all.

So in a way, he could even say the past two days had been kind of unlucky.

This kind of puzzling luck increase was the kind of situation where he wished he had Ascendant Favoured One to explain things.

"Ah, that’s right... I wonder what’s going on in my channel now..."

With a thought, he opened up his Multiversal Streaming Channel and he was flooded immediately by the messages that had piled up there for so long.

"There’s no way I’m going through all of that," Uhtred scrolled all the way to the bottom first. But as the messages blurred by, he couldn’t help but scoff in humour.

Even without reading each message individually, he could already see a recurring theme based on the few his eyes had skimmed over. Colourful curse words, threats and vents of anger about why he was keeping his channel closed, populated the entire message section. It was as though these guys didn’t know he already knew about Sponsors.

In fact, one "Nine Nether Thirty-First Young Master" even went as far as to say that Uhtred was going to face severe penalties if he didn’t open his channel within an hour...

That message had been sent four days ago, moments after Uhtred had gained full access to the channel function.

Hmm... I even wanted to entertain these guys for a bit, see what benefits I can fish out of them. But it seems they think I’m a sheep they can fleece as they like.

Uhtred reached the bottom of the messages and saw the immediate stream of new messages that began to enter now that he had opened his channel again.

> Vengeful Grandmaster of Nyxos: You puny human! Keeping this old man waiting? Who do you think you are?! Tch! You had best be thankful! If not for the System, I would have sent my 91st son to obliterate your puny planet entirely!

> Myriad Sword Ancestor of the Seventy-seventh Heaven: Impudent brat! Do you have any idea how valuable my time is? A master of my stature does not sit around waiting for a mortal’s stream to activate! Cast your gaze upon my title and tremble! If you do not offer a deep bow of apology right now, do not even dream of receiving a single one of my sword cultivation manual shards!

> Unrivaled Alchemy Grandmaster of the Crimson Star Cluster: Hmph! To think a mere native of a newly integrated world would dare to put on airs before me. I have refined planetary cores older than your entire world, boy! I originally intended to bestow a Middle Grade Essence Condensing Pill upon you for having a bit of talent to open your channel so early, but your blatant lack of respect has cost you dearly! Kneel and beg, or face the eternal silence of my blacklisting!

> Anuran All-Mother of Fertility: Fellow Cultivators, please calm yourselves. There is no need for such unseemly rage over a mere child of a newly integrated world. He has only just stepped onto the path of ascension, so it is only natural that he lacks the proper understanding of the multiverse. We should show the grace expected of venerable seniors and guide him gently, rather than threatening to obliterate his home.

> Anuran All-Mother of Fertility: That being said... little human, your behavior is indeed lacking in manners. If you continue to play these foolish games of hide-and-seek with your channel, I can easily ensure that not a single drop of my fertility blessings ever reaches your sector of your universe. Do not test me.

Do not test you...?

Man, fuck you and your damn fertility! Uhtred cursed internally.

Contrary to what their almighty names would suggest, these guys were acting no different from pompous children.

They were so blatantly suspicious that even if Uhtred had not been warned by Ascendant Favoured One from the onset, this would have still triggered all the warning bells in his mind.

Their names even sounded more grand than that of Ascendant Favoured One, yet somehow Uhtred knew with certainty that it was all pomp and barely any substance.

He ignored their messages and continued to scroll as if he hadn’t seen any of it. He already knew what he wanted to do, but he was waiting for someone in particular before he did it.

Damn, where’s that guy?

Right on cue, the one individual he’d been waiting for finally popped into the channel with a string of curses.

> Nine Nether Thirty-First Young Master: Look who finally decided to crawl out of his hole! You dare ignore my ultimatum, mortal?! Do you have any idea who my father is?! He is the ruler of the Nine Nether Star Cluster! I gave you an hour, and you kept me waiting for four whole days!

> Nine Nether Thirty-First Young Master: You are nothing but a bug from a backward planet! Your entire universe sector’s worth is not even equal to the loose change in my storage ring!

Turn on your audio feed right now, bow your head, and reveal your attributes! If you do not beg for my forgiveness this very instant, I will personally request a planetary clearance order from the high court and the moment your planet becomes public I will—

Click.

With a simple flick of his hand, Uhtred cut off the streaming feed entirely, shutting down the interface in an instant. The glowing blue screen vanished from his vision, cutting off the Nine Nether Thirty-First Young Master right in the middle of his tantrum.

Uhtred adjusted the weight of his star-metal battle-axe on his shoulder, a small, amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he continued his casual stroll through the thick forest foliage.

What a deeply satisfying feeling...

These guys were sitting in some high and mighty corners of the multiverse, completely convinced that their ancient and grandiose names gave them the right to dictate how he should run his own life.

They really thought he was just another desperate native, a sheep waiting to be fleeced and molded into whatever puppet they wanted for their own whims.

But they were entirely mistaken.

The smile on Uhtred’s face remained as he rounded the corner and slowed his pace, peering through the bushes at the camp ahead of him.

He didn’t bother to mask much of his aura as he observed the camp. And in a quick response, literally less than a few seconds after he started to observe them, Dennis was the first to lock onto his position.

Uhtred strode out of the bushes, nodding.

"Nice, Dennis. Your perception attribute is really increasing drastically."

"What? Only Dennis?" Diya pouted from where she turned a piece of meat over a fire. "I also sensed your presence after you stepped into the camp."

"Exactly," Uhtred deadpanned, motioning with his fingers in the air. "’After,’ not ’before,’" he shrugged.

Minh Quan chuckled across from Diya, drawing a sharp glare from her in response.

The old man quickly schooled his expression in an instant, then Diya let out a light harrumph before changing the subject entirely.

"Anyway, why do you have such a pleased look on your face?" she stared at Uhtred. "It’s giving me the creeps."

"Ah, that?" Uhtred chuckled, thinking back to how that Nine Nether Thirty-First Young Master must be fuming wherever he was in the multiverse.

"Well, forget about that for now. Rather, I have good news."

Everyone paused what they were doing and focused fully on Uhtred seeing his smile widen.

"I’ve found a dungeon..." he met each of their gazes. "A real good dungeon."