Chapter 171: Beast Herd Evolution, Furnace Heart!

Although the Dongxia Republic does not endorse Divine Spirit worship, people always find it hard to avoid seeking a refuge or reliance for their empty and fragile hearts, especially since the four Divine Spirit Pillars truly exist, occasionally descend, and display their might.

With the continuous influence of several thousand years, the names of the Four Pillars are increasingly revered by more and more Transcendents who walk the Paths.

Especially for the Spiritual Path, the vast majority cannot help but submit or worship under the dazzling light like a celestial body that cannot be looked at directly.

Therefore, when Chen Ruofu revealed that Qin Shi was jointly chosen by the Four Divine Pillars, Representative Zhou immediately fell silent.

He could not bluntly say that the Divine Spirit Pillars' judgment was wrong and they had chosen the wrong person.

This was an extremely dangerous remark; if he was unlucky, he might be targeted by the Judgment Court.

"Minister Chen really kept it hidden deep; the candidate the Patrol Department launched this year is indeed a heaven-defying genius! He advances quickly and steadily on the Martial Path, and is highly valued by the Four Pillar Gods."

Representative Li's facial expression changed, then he quickly concealed his shock. No wonder, as the mainstay of Hengzhou's Old Martial Arts school, the Nanhuang Dojo did not hesitate to move from Central City to Tai'an.

There are many standards for measuring genius, but the most authoritative and indisputable one among them.

Is nothing other than the recognition of the Divine Spirit Pillars!

From the First Martial God Yan Haishan, to the later Ning Yuanhai, and then to the First Generation Ten Outstanding, almost all were bet on by the Divine Spirit Pillars.

For every Star Cup held due to the Extraordinary Tide, the top twenty basically receive the attention or blessing of Dongxia's Four Pillars.

The only exception is probably Zhang Qiang, the Master of Nanhuang Dojo, known as the Master of Ten Greats Background Board.

It is said that this person, who has never been favored by the Four Pillars, leads many to subconsciously question the value of his Grandmaster Level.

Even before the Master of Nanhuang Dojo came out of seclusion, suppressed and killed the Ying Clan's descendants, and caused a blood case that shocked Dongxia.

Claims such as Zhang Qiang merely relying on seniority to squeeze into the Martial Arts Association Headquarters Honor Committee were extremely prevalent.

Until this Nanhuang Grandmaster, clad in armor and wielding weapons, forcibly entered the Ying Clan's territory, blasted through Hengzhou's Iron Curtain Defense, and slaughtered dozens of people.

Only then did everyone feel the terror of the name "Master of Ten Greats Background Board."

"The tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind; young people being too proud and too much in the limelight is not necessarily a good thing."

Chen Ruofu glanced sideways at Representative Zhou, who looked like a defeated fighting cock, and said meaningfully:

"If it attracts the envy and jealousy of villains, and they secretly cause harm, it won't be good. I heard that in recent years at the Four Great National Universities, several special recruits who had hope of entering the Youth Class had accidents."

Representative Zhou's facial expression was very ugly; he snorted coldly and left the Temporary Command Base in large strides.

After walking a distance, his expression returned to calm, and he sent a message with his wristwatch.

"The Outer Area has fallen; Qin Shi is jointly chosen by the Four Gods and has the potential of a Shouguanzhe."

This short message would be delivered to the Education Director's Secretary's Office in more than ten minutes.

"The last Martial Path cultivator jointly chosen by the Four Gods was He Lanchan. Those who learn from him live, those who imitate him die. Chen Ruofu thinks he picked up a treasure, not knowing that the more Qin Shi resembles He Lanchan, the more likely he is to alert the upper echelons."

Representative Zhou lit a cigarette and gazed at the dense night, exhaling clouds and mist.

He also felt it was a pity; the Education Bureau's duty was originally to gather materials for the nation.

Logically speaking, a youth genius like Qin Shi, with infinite potential and a boundless future, should be supported.

But unfortunately, many historical legacy issues have never been resolved.

Those past events sealed by history are like an unfathomable whirlpool; anyone who approaches or tries to contact them will be swallowed.

"No one in the Outer Area can stop Qin Shi anymore. If his strength is truly at this level, then we can only hope for Zhou Yuanchen's performance."

Representative Zhou lowered his head and stomped out the cigarette butt, letting the Fourth War Corps discover that a "Second Generation He Lanchan" had emerged in Hengzhou.

Then it would not just be the struggle between Central City and the Urban Circle, and between the Ying Clan and Nanhuang Dojo.

If the military is dragged in, the situation will be even more complex.

……

……

The next day, when the sun leaped out of the Great Rift Valley, the morning mist dispersed the cold, heavy thin fog and frost.

Qin Shi woke from meditating with closed eyes; he opened his eyes, and a wisp of sharp light flashed past.

Mental Transformation, surging telekinesis, caused a huge change in his temperament, as if the whole person was endowed with something strange; even standing among a crowd, he would stand out.

Like a stroke of unusual color on a piece of misty white paper!

"I finally know what it's like when novels describe someone as ordinary yet possessing an extraordinary bearing."

Qin Shi continued on his way, found a shallow stream that had not yet dried up, and the water surface vaguely reflected a human figure.

His eyes, like the finishing touch of a dragon painting, made the originally somewhat immature image of the youth become deeper and brighter, carrying a trace of indescribable lofty bearing.

"Mental Transformation unexpectedly adds charm; I didn't expect that."

Qin Shi wiped his face, washed away the filth from last night's slaughter, gnawed on several protein bars, and absorbed nutrition.

After dealing with the Outer Area's final boss, the Secret Sect believer, he could now go straight to the Old Nest and enter the Middle Layer Area.

"Take another stroll, collect some materials, and by the way see if there are any big fish willing to take the bait to send supplies over."

After simply finishing washing up and eating, Qin Shi fully opened his spiritual induction within a hundred-meter range, capturing prey one after another.

The remaining War Mastiff packs, lacking the Secret Sect believers' control like a plate of loose sand, were just right for him to practice Dimensional Slash.

Hiss hiss hiss!

Black rifts appeared one after another in his palm, sweeping over with irresistible force, bringing out large amounts of blood.

Those War Mastiffs with thick skin and tough flesh were like paper mache, and his telekinesis-powered Dimensional Slash tore them apart in an instant.

"With such terrifying attack power, even a Professional Level taking a direct hit might not be able to withstand it, right?"

Qin Shi's facial color turned pale; every time he used Dimensional Slash, he felt a weakness of mental exhaustion and an emptied body.

He operated the Ru Shen Ti to recover stamina, then meditated on the Xu Kong to make his spirit perfect.

After about half an hour, his Perfect Mortal Body State returned to its peak.

He collected red crystals one by one and threw them into his tactical backpack.

Then he searched for the next War Mastiff pack and launched Dimensional Slash.

During this period, he encountered two other squads; Qin Shi was quite easygoing, letting them leave supplies and voluntarily withdraw from the competition.

Many players who witnessed the Dimensional Slash harvesting scene all did the same.

"How did this kind of monster get placed in the Outer Area?"

They all thought this in unspoken agreement.

Just over eighty points of Qi Life Force, roughly equivalent to Amateur Level Three of the Martial Path.

As a result, he was also compatible with the Spiritual Path, and had opened Spell Slots, able to cast Skills.

Two paths, Combat Power combined, terrifying beyond words!

By the time Qin Shi finished sweeping the Outer Area clean with near-obsessive compulsion, a whole day had passed.

His Tactical Backpack was stuffed full, completely filled with Materials.

"Rations are almost eaten up, time to head to the Middle Layer Area to restock."

Qin Shi continuously raised his Dimensional Slash Proficiency, finally shortening the Skill cooldown to twenty minutes per shot.

And the manipulation aspect became much finer, no longer simply rubbing it out by hand, with an extremely long wind-up that was easy to dodge.

The obvious progress made him very satisfied.

That Consciousness Sea inside his brain, the spherical Core it nurtured grew increasingly brilliant, as if polished and buffed.

"What form should the Holy Embryo condense into? The Saints and Holy Maidens, peerless heaven's favorites of the Ancient Era, all seemed to like making them into clocks, cauldrons, or towers!"

Qin Shi delved deep into the Secret Sect disciples' Old Nest, passing through gloomy pitch-black Underground Caves; the other party left behind several mechanisms, but fortunately his Spiritual Field Power had undergone Transformation, his Five Senses incomparably sharp, and he destroyed them one by one.

In the process he also reaped rich Materials; excluding the rotting flesh and biological limbs soaked in Formalin that were rather disgusting, quite a few precious metals used for Esoteric Rituals and items contaminated with heavy Netherworld aura were packed up and taken away by Qin Shi.

Because of the 【Automatic Pickup】 Achievement Trait, he would not miss a single thing of value, truly sweeping the Old Nest clean.

"Truly a hearty and refreshing great harvest."

Qin Shi could derive a refreshing pleasure from this kind of map-clearing and looting behavior.

He spent twenty minutes before passing through the intricate internal Underground Caves and returning to the surface world.

Glaring sunlight stung his eyes slightly; the terrain of the Middle Layer Area differed from the Outer Ring.

On the cliffs on both sides grew relatively dense Crystal Clusters, like clusters of weeds.

Under the sun's rays, they reflected dazzling five-colored light, extremely blinding.

"The manual wrote that Iron Rust Beasts run rampant in the Middle Layer Area; this is a Foreign Race creature born from a drastic ecological change caused by high-intensity war."

Qin Shi's Spiritual Field Power was powerful, near-photographic memory; he had long since memorized the content in his head.

He slowed his breathing, converged his Breath very finely, expanded his Spiritual Field Power far out, forming a "Perception Domain" of nearly a hundred meters.

Sure enough, he "saw" a strange Beast Herd of roughly a hundred or so.

They were two meters long, large in size, shaped like hyenas, their flesh showing metallic rust corrosion traces.

Packed densely together in a clump, the sight was spectacular.

Usually to exterminate Iron Rust Beasts, one must wear corrosion-resistant Ceramic Composite Armor, then use Gauss Rifle firepower to carpet the area.

The trickiest thing about Iron Rust Beasts is that upon taking lethal damage, they self-detonate, scattering radioactive high-temperature substances, forming a continuously burning Pollution Zone.

Once caught in the encirclement, it is very hard to escape.

Even a Professional Level Martial Artist would not rashly fall into a herd of hundreds of Iron Rust Beasts.

"One Iron Rust Beast is worth seventy points; if I solve this Beast Herd, my points should be able to catch up to those people in the Core Area."

Qin Shi pondered; Iron Rust Beasts are basically group-active, they eat metal, their mouthparts secrete strong acid and absorb iron elements, so naturally their defense is very strong, plus their great numbers — killing a few is not difficult, but annihilating the whole herd is not that simple.

"Gleaming white points placed right before me, to miss them just like that would be too much of a pity."

Qin Shi hid in a corner, observing the Iron Rust Beast herd.

He had not forgotten his goal was to break into the Core Area, secure second place and contend for first!

The accumulation of points is extremely important to him!

"Rankings refresh every three days; I must rush to raise my rank before then."

Qin Shi turned his Brain; currently speaking, his strongest Attack Method is the Dimensional Slash refined from the Void Meditation Method.

But counting on one shot to clear out over a hundred Iron Rust Beasts is undoubtedly wishful thinking.

If he attracts too much Aggro, it will inevitably trigger a Beast Herd riot, surrounding him completely.

Radioactive high heat, combined with the generated intense toxins, threat level spikes!

"The drawback of a solo player appears — one person has to do too many things."

Qin Shi sighed; if someone helped him pull aggro and provide restraint, the difficulty would drop tremendously.

He wasn't in a hurry either; he found a commanding height with good vision, settled in to wait for an opportunity.

Silently operating the Void Meditation Method, absorbing free energy from dimensional space.

When Qin Shi opened his eyes again, the sun had already slanted west, orange afterglow spilling over the Great Rift Valley.

The Iron Rust Beast herd had not migrated away; they climbed the cliffs, moving in and out among the Crystal Cluster thickets.

Occasionally opening their mouthparts, biting onto a cluster of irregular broken Crystal Clusters, carrying them to the very center of the Beast Herd.

There was an Iron Rust Beast with a rather "petite" build; its exterior looked like a condensed thick hard shell, not dirty rust color, but a seemingly hard Alloy material; its four limbs had evolved into power claws, not flesh, as if transplanted Hundred Refinements fine steel.

"A Beast King."

Qin Shi looked at that Leader Level Iron Rust Beast with a body about the size of a wolfdog; before it piled a small mountain of broken Crystal Clusters.

Other Iron Rust Beasts offered "tributes"; it lowered its head to gnaw and devour, and as it ate more and more, a sudden machinery activation roar erupted from within its body.

Like some kind of mutation, this Leader Level Iron Rust Beast's chest-full of "rust traces" kept peeling off, revealing an Iron Heart.

This object was undergoing mutation, gradually emitting a crystalline luster, like a jade rough stone ground down to reveal the plump flesh quality within, and a captivating color.

"Evolution! This Iron Rust Beast is evolving!"

Qin Shi sensed the energy surge in dimensional space, closed his eyes, observed with Spiritual Vision; the vast multitude of Iron Rust Beasts vanished, turning into specks of blood-colored light orbs, converging into a long river.

And in the center of the long river, there was an extremely thick pillar of light.

"Iron Rust Beasts are divided into 'Ordinary Level', 'Elite Level', 'Leader Level', and 'Chief Level'. The final 'Chief Level' is roughly equivalent to the Specialist Level of the Martial Path!"

Qin Shi recalled the handbook's introduction, and his heart couldn't help but surge, just as the Martial Path requires the Life Seed to be 'incubated' into a crystal when promoting from Amateur Level to Specialist Level.

Iron Rust Beasts also need to complete their own Transformation, which is to sublime the heart from iron quality into a 'Furnace Heart'.

Then they can swallow more rare metals, digest faster, and even generate quenching substances through that Furnace Heart.

Chief Level Iron Rust Beasts can convert the metal elements swallowed in their bodies into Plasma Jet, spraying high-temperature jets.

This terrifying strike makes even Specialist Levels retreat three shelters; once grazed, a flesh-and-blood Mortal Body carbonizes, unable to recover with Vitality.

"Worth ten thousand points!"

The thought that flashed through Qin Shi's mind was actually how to settle this Iron Rust Beast that was currently evolving toward Chief Level.

"Dan Ruo it completes its Transformation, a Specialist Level Foreign Race Creature would far exceed the Middle Layer Area's Food Chain! It would inevitably lead the Beast Herd to hunt rampantly..."

Through the handbook's detailed text, he roughly understood the Iron Rust Beasts' habits; they often gather in groups to launch great hunts, leaving scorched earth wherever they appear, and after a great harvest, a very long interval passes before the next 'Foraging'.

"Protection of hundreds of Beast Herds, plus the Energy Barrier of the Evolution Stage... must use ranged means!"

Qin Shi's eyes brightened slightly; he took out Wu Tao's gift from the Tactical Backpack.

That undamaged Cang Lei Composite Bow!

"With Qi Lock, plus Spiritual Field Power aiming cooperation, it shouldn't miss!"

Qin Shi was also quite Nervous; first he sought a retreat route, thinking about which direction to flee if he alerted the Beast Herd later but failed to kill that evolving Iron Rust Beast!

Taking several deep breaths repeatedly, the Ru Shen Ti operated to the extreme, tendons and Bones locked firmly, as if integrated into one, bursting with powerful strength.

He slowly looked toward that petite Iron Rust Beast, preparing to draw the bowstring.

Boom!

Violent thunder suddenly roared!

Only to see a burly big man swinging a hammer taller than others, leaping out from above!

"Where did this top laner come from, fighting me for the head!"

Qin Shi's bow-drawing action paused, an inexplicable abrupt thought jumping out.

(Chapter End)