On the 31st floor, we stopped fighting so conservatively so that the rank promotion would happen sooner. We successfully triggered the message on the 33rd floor: [Difficulty Rank promoted. Your new rank is: Leopard. Floors cleared: 33]
On the 39th floor, we found our first Ascended Beast. At the talent level gained from the treasures of the Mortal Snake Temple, even this opponent was still weaker than me, though not by very much. It took a while to put down, partially because I was sticking to strategies and attacks that minimized risk to myself.
