After the formalities were over and done with, Yunan and the rest returned to the 40th floor hanging palace and started working on their next adventure.Debauchery had to look for any remnants of the Phoenix clan and collect anything that is related to that, as for Yunan he was to take his time in the 45th floor and not push himself like he used to, unlike Debauched who had help reaching the 70th floor, Yunan is on his own, he was told to take as many quests as possible and not underestimate the debuff he has on him.
As for the girls, they were to make a party starting from the 41st floor, the party would include all the younger generation except for Leol and Muscles who were going to be staying at their new kingdom and help their grandparents take care of the chaos. The all-female party had Reina, Lili, Ophelia, Kitty and Sarah. Lili had the front lines, Reina and Sarah did the magic while Ophelia healed and Kitty protected them from behind.
As for Yunan he did as told for once and made his way in the 45th floor like he was on vacation. The monsters on this floor were moths and weasels, they worked together on this floor. The moths would release a poison that is harmful to explorers but can act as a healing balm for the weasels, therefore Yunan did not skimp on mana nor did he make it harder for himself, he went to the shortest way to death and executed his strongest magic attacks without even thinking twice about it, he had almost died thrice from wanting to challenge himself, so cruising through was not a very big deal now and then.
During his year-long journey on this floor, Yunan found a dead city that was buried under the dead and dry soil of the desert. The city was mainly untouched as if it was deliberately buried, that theory was proved right when he entered one of the houses and saw how intact everything was inside, time was showing but there was no trace of the erosion that usually accompanies the extent of time needed to bury a city.
Yunan had been in this relaxed mood for almost a year and thus could not be bothered to excavate the city gently, he used earth shift to remove the soil that was not part of the city, taking only a few minutes to do what archaeologists needed years to complete, revealing a magnificent city under his eyes.
Yunan told the genie to take the city inside his home, and preserve it for him until he was free to study it. The genie obliged and the city was placed inside the backyard, the first building in the endless expanse that was the forest biome.
Recently the genie has been enjoying the abundant mana and items the could be created from inside the home, the two blue mana wolves were feeding on all the materials that Yunan had no use for, mainly the pearls from the aquarium and the abundant treasures that have grown untouched in the backyard including rare and magnificent flora and fauna. Thus, with the help of the mana wolves, the genie as able to expand the house dimension greatly and it was now more than thrice what it was before entering the 30th floor.
The genie was using most of the mana it acquired through Yunan and Debauchery to upgrade the s.p.a.ce and the abundance of the raw materials and the mana generating flora and fauna, still, it did not put any mana into upgrading the system of the house nor itself, after all, there was no need for that yet.
After keeping the city Yunan resumed his exploration to finally find the boss two months later, and kill it in a shower of lightning and a storm of wind blades. Inside the chest he found the dictionary to a pictographic language, it was similar to the ancient scripts from the days of old when men had just discovered written communications.
After learning the language, the book disappeared and the chest disappeared with it. Yunan was happy with the results from this floor, his healing aura was strengthened and he could now turn into a selective aura, and his buffing spells gained a new height thanks to the ability to stack with other buffs.
Back in the house, when the weekend arrived Yunan found himself missing the feeling of being smothered in smooth and supple flesh of his harem, it was very unlike them to miss the chance of a weekend to have the time to play with him, especially with them spending their days climbing the dungeon and their nights sleeping like rocks.
The genie informed Yunan that his harem was on an exploration trip in the city that just materialized in the forest biome, especially because Yunan never said anything about it. Sighing with relief, Yunan teleported to the location where the five girls were looking around in the city, and after getting his fill of kissing and cuddling Yunan led the girls to the most magnificent building in the city, a palace made of marble and crystal, a marvel of engineering for a city that is built with rock houses.
Inside the palace, Yunan and his companions found the walls painted beautifully in murals depicting imposing beasts and majestic birds, dazzling knights in resplendent armours surrounding elegant ladies on their way to an opulent and imperial palace, striking and rich gentleman in conference around impressive artefacts, spectacular flower gardens that are adorned with flowery shy maidens and swooning b.u.t.terflies.
There was no story to tell in most of the murals nor was there a reason for their existence beyond beauty and feasting the eyes of those visiting the palace, it exhibited the splendour and grandeur of the civilization that ruled this city once upon a time.
Heading further into the palace, Yunan found the throne room, it was made completely out of carved crystal, it was so colourful and brilliant casting rainbows and shades of different colourings across the room, at the heart of the room stood a throne made from plain marble, it was not eye-catching in this splendid room, however, it gave the feeling that the one who sat on it was accentuated by the plain throne. It was designed to make the ruler look even more magnificent than the room by contrasting it with the unornamented throne.
Yunan sat on the throne because he wanted to see how the room looked to the eyes of the king, he ordered the genie to change the light entering the city so that the rays of the sun matched that of the original orientation of the city, then he told the genie to start the day cycle to see when would the king arrive and when would he leave, after watching the shades and rainbows shift and dance around the room, accentuating and conjoining at the throne between 10 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, then scattered in the room after that.
It seems that the king would sit at court only in certain times where his arrival is heralded by light and his leaving left the light scattered and unfocused like lost rays with nothing worthy of their illumination. This must be what it felt to claim to be the lord of light and the king of brightness. Yunan took his ladies in further exploration to find more about this palace, although it was quiet in here, there was no silence, one would feel like this place is full of life that was invisible, to the visitor, there was warmth in this place, the warmth of life and love and care, and Yunan could not help feel like he belonged here.