The Core let its mana flow cleanly and freely into every corner of the upper floors, excluding the sixth one that had its population already replenished and the fifth one to which it had heretofore restored vitality, as well as not forgetting the single lone Vampiric Squirrel.

  Although considering the sheer scale of the number of Mors Termites, even without replacing them, the floor would still pose a threat. In fact, The Core reckoned that if it allowed breeding, then the Mors Termites would have replaced their own members without issue. Although the aftermath would have been more problematic, there was only so much space on this floor, and expanding it wasn't in the plan.

  Regardless of such trifling thoughts, it still made sure to add and even out the ground of the fourth floor that had been dug out by the Slow Invader. It didn't know why anybody would bother with that or how beneficial it would be to the cultivators in the long run, but that certainly didn't keep it from ruining the hard work of the excavator.

  The Core could only be amazed at the fact that they didn't injure any Spectre Trees to gather their sap, considering how much the invaders wanted to take from it. Although it wouldn't be surprised if they only refrained from that to come back with shovels in order to dig one out and transport it to the surface. Somehow.

  The new Nature Deer that materialized from its mana plopped gracefully down to the ground and immediately started running excitedly around the floor, familiarizing itself with it and sharing no thoughts whatsoever about the Invaders it had yet to meet, if it would meet them at any point in its life.

  The Core, looking at him while speeding up the growth of the False Fruits on the Spectre Trees, decided it was a good mindset to have. Sure, it would be best if the Invaders died in the dungeon and aided its growth, but that didn't happen, and the manual didn't show any spells capable of reversing time, therefore making it a done deal.

  It was going to get used to the thought of Invaders going down as deep as they did when its dungeon would prove capable of killing them at that depth, it was sure. Until then, it must continue restoring the dungeon and then improving it. The harsher floor plan was always a great idea.

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  The second floor was replenished with monsters, mundane animals, and plants, while the first was only given mute bats and silent rats, as it never had anything more in the first place.

  With that done, it was time to implement the harsher floor plan! And to figure out how it was going to work in the first place.

  Should it only have it as a thought-out plan in its mind that it executed when it felt the Invaders exceeded the current floor set's capabilities, or should it already exist somewhere, and it would only need to activate it when it felt it was necessary?

  But if it was the latter, how would that work? That would have to depend on how far it would take the more dangerous floor plan idea.

  If it meant only higher-level monsters, then it could hide them in an adjacent room to the floor that would only open at its command, letting the monsters out to deal with the cultivators its weaker counterparts weren't capable of handling.

  The same could be done if it picked a different species of monster that would also have to be higher leveled.

  The other option of creating them on the spot would be harder to execute since creating something strong takes time, precision, and mana. Therefore, if it were going for this approach, it would not be optimal, so after a bit of thought, The Core discarded it outright.

  It also really wanted to create a completely separate floor set, along with the higher-leveled monsters, but it quickly realised that it didn't really know how.

  The only way that could work would be if it created a spatial gate that would be ineffective most of the time, letting every invader through to the standard floors and would only activate at its command, transporting the cultivators to the more dangerous counterpart of the floor beneath.

  It would be a glorious sight to behold, especially if it made the counterpart floors the direct opposite of the base forms. Since the Invaders would have different expectations and therefore preparations, there would be a higher death rate, although given it would only activate for those who would breeze through the standard, that might not necessarily be true.

  Regardless, it was no use fantasizing since it had no means nor knowledge to achieve this; instead, it should focus on making the side room for housing higher-leveled monsters.

  And just as The Core descended to the lowest floor and was about to begin excavating the adjacent room, it felt a tug on its awareness. Multiple tugs, as all the humans on the eighth floor were communicating undue distress. All except one.

  Curious but not alarmed, as there were no Invaders, The Core glanced at them and found the Only One's counterpart's corpse.

  The Core thought, incredulously.