Chapter 300: Fifth Favorite

Legendary Stone in hand, Qin Chuan and Lin Yue dared not delay, leaving the instance passage immediately.

If the passage core is destroyed or one leaves the passage range, the passage will collapse on its own.

If they don't leave, who knows whether dozens of Legendary-tier beings won't burst in from outside the passage the next second.

As the two walked out of the passage, the passage entrance behind them quickly collapsed.

The Special Affairs Group's transcendents, who had already arrived at the descent location guided by the Heavenly Stairway map, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations." Feng Yin smiled and stepped forward, glancing at the Legendary Stone tightly gripped in Qin Chuan's hand, "It seems the first Legendary-tier contract spirit beast is about to be born."

"Not that fast." Qin Chuan shook his head slightly, "I plan to wait until we gather ten Legendary Stones and break through together with Yue Li."

He worries that after the first Legendary-tier spirit beast is born, new trouble will arise again.

After all, above SS rank there is SSS rank.

At this stage his strength is enough to handle the current secret realm and instance; gathering enough Legendary Stones for the two to advance to Legendary-tier players and breaking through in one go will not delay anything.

In that case, appropriately delaying the descent of the SSS-tier instance also counts as giving others a chance to catch their breath.

"Ten pieces…" Feng Yin showed a thoughtful expression, "Given the frequency of S-tier secret realm appearances, it will probably take about a month."

"With a month of breathing room, we could try to cultivate a few Epic-tier players." He glanced at Qin Chuan and smiled, "Since we've confirmed we can resolve the S-tier instance's descent without negative impact, the Legendary Stones can be made public."

"Exactly…" Feng Yin's eyes flashed, "Those opportunistic troublemakers can also be dealt with."

"Then it's up to you." Qin Chuan spread his hands.

A few minutes later, a post posted by the Special Affairs Group appeared on the Dream Forum.

"Why Is Luo Delaying the Assault on the S-tier Secret Realm? The Answer Is Actually This!"

The post detailed the situation of the Legendary Stones, analyzed the current situation, fully argued the necessity for top powerhouses to keep breaking through, and attached a video.

The video shows the entire process of a massive passage entrance, far larger than an A-tier instance descent, from its birth to its destruction, with a clear stopwatch in the upper right corner.

From the passage's appearance to Qin Chuan and Lin Yue walking out of the passage entrance, it took 43 seconds.

Throughout the process, no otherworldly creature had a chance to exit.

Without a doubt, this is the most convincing and reassuring direct evidence.

Combined with the preceding discussion, the recently sparked public opinion instantly reversed!

Somewhere in East Sea City, in a messy rental house, a youth with a face full of acne looked at the screen showing the scene in the post and couldn't help but utter a "tsk".

"The official dogs are whitewashing again, I spit!"

While cursing with vulgar language, he opened the post he had previously posted on the Dream Forum.

"Hero? Once the S-tier secret realm descends, he will be the executioner who destroys the world!"

Before this, the replies under that post had both agreement and opposition, roughly evenly split, each side holding their ground.

But now, a large number of mocking replies quickly appeared under the post, causing the youth to gradually flush with anger.

He couldn't help but grab his greasy keyboard and start a tongue battle with the scholars.

After a tirade filled with extreme mother‑insults drove the netizens back, the youth leaned back comfortably in his chair, picked up the half‑finished happy water from yesterday and took a sip.

"Damn, it's flat."

He muttered a curse, was about to get up to fetch a new bottle, when the landlord's door outside suddenly rang with urgent knocking.

"Who is it?" The youth, displeased, stepped toward the door in his slippers.

"Water meter check, open the door."

"What's there to check the water meter for…" The youth complained while cracking the door open a slit.

"Bang!"

The door was flung open instantly, several figures rushed in and immediately pressed the youth down.

The leader produced identification and a search warrant, waving it in front of the youth's eyes, "Ding Jing, male, 28, repeatedly fabricated and spread rumors online, defamed others, damaged reputations, suspected of libel."

"By using reckless swearing, vicious attacks, privacy disclosure and the like on the information network, he openly insulted others, suspected of insult."

"Take him away!"

At the same time, across the country many individuals like Ding Jing were hit hard by the law—these former "keyboard warriors" who often stirred emotions and provoked opposition in the net, once made countless people gnash their teeth in hatred yet could do nothing.

Now that notices have been issued nationwide, netizens everywhere clapped and cheered.

Regarding the external turmoil, Qin Chuan and Lin Yue are unaware.

Just returned home not long ago, the two now face a very important problem.

"My room isn't tidied up yet." Qin Chuan looked seriously at Lin Yue, "Lady knight, may I stay over for the night?"

"The couch is in the living room."

"No, the couch is too hard; I need a bed."

Seeing Qin Chuan in his pajamas, hugging his pillow with a solemn expression, Lin Yue pressed her lips and ultimately couldn't bring herself to refuse.

"Then it's settled, just tonight."

"Mm‑hm!" Qin Chuan nodded happily, quickly placed his pillow beside Lin Yue's, then lay down straight, pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes, "I'm asleep!"

Lin Yue sat at the head of the bed, staring at Qin Chuan for a while, a lovely blush appearing on her cheeks; she moved extremely slowly, lifting a corner of the blanket and slowly slipping inside.

"Pa~"

The night light went out, only a little moonlight filtering through the window.

Lin Yue quietly turned her head, looking at the youth's facial outline faintly drawn by the moonlight beside her, her bright eyes shining like stars.

The next instant, feeling a hand sneakily pulling her hand under the blanket, Lin Yue, like a thief, quickly withdrew her gaze, her voice sounding somewhat airy.

"You aren't… asleep?"

"Woken by your gaze." Qin Chuan gently pulled, the girl's soft body uncontrollably fell into his embrace.

"What nonsense about being woken by gaze…" Embracing in the warm hold, feeling the boy's clean, pleasant scent, the girl's blush spread all the way to her ears in the dark.

Suddenly, she somewhat anxiously grabbed Qin Chuan's hand, whispering a soft plea; her milky voice was carried by the night's cool breeze straight to Qin Chuan's heart, clear as a spring.

Go to sleep, okay~?

Qin Chuan stopped moving, and with his backhand gently grasped the girl's hand, their fingers interlaced.

"Mm, good night." —

Dream World.

As his consciousness just returned, Qin Chuan felt his waist's soft flesh being pinched neither lightly nor heavily; turning his head, he met a pair of shy and annoyed eyes.

Feeling slightly guilty, Qin Chuan quickly changed the subject, "The holy spirit embryo already showed signs of hatching yesterday; today it should hatch smoothly, right?"

Lin Yue gave Qin Chuan an annoyed glare, thinking of his licentious behavior in the blankets, she felt regret for being soft-hearted.

Although she knew Qin Chuan was changing the subject, she still nodded, "It should be soon." The holy spirit embryo differs from the previous dragon egg; it does not need external force to hatch.

As long as it's placed there, it will absorb external power on its own to hatch; you just need to occasionally watch it.

When the Dream World entrance closed yesterday, the holy spirit embryo already had a flickering light and dark glow, and close to its outer wall one could hear a sound like a heartbeat.

All these signs indicate that it is not far from hatching.

"Come on, let's go see what will hatch." Qin Chuan pulled Lin Yue and hurried to the open space outside the guild.

There was a small dirt pit there.

Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai had hatched in that dirt pit before.

Now, the holy spirit embryo was also placed here.

Not far from the dirt pit, there was a pond, in which floated a seed shimmering with a hazy light; this is another special reward capable of nurturing a Spirit Beast, the Vital Spirit Seed.

As for why the seed isn't buried in the soil… it's because when it appeared, it was floating in the water, and Lin Yue felt that perhaps this makes it easier to nurture.

All guild members had already heard the news that the holy spirit embryo was about to hatch; each one temporarily gave up on raiding the secret realm, gathering together to watch the embryo from afar, whispering and speculating what special Spirit Beast might hatch from it.

Pushing through the crowd, Qin Chuan and Lin Yue brought their retinue of Spirit Beasts close to the holy spirit embryo and waited patiently.

It seemed to sense the external situation; the holy spirit embryo's light and dark fluctuations quickened, and the heartbeat sound grew clearer, audible even without pressing against the outer wall.

The life force within also began to rise at an extremely rapid speed.

It's about to hatch!

Qin Chuan and Lin Yue simultaneously held their breath, staring intently at the embryo.

Finally, accompanied by a dazzling flash of light, the embryo began to slowly change form; when the light faded, a brand-new Spirit Beast appeared before the two.

It was a plain-looking rock Spirit Beast, with an upper body roughly humanoid, but only the upper body; below the waist it sank into the earth, constantly sending up faint yellowish ripples.

Its two arms were also unusual, lacking palms and forearms; instead, they were two stone shields roughly the size of its torso, whose adjacent sides complemented each other, seeming to fit together to form a larger complete stone shield.

【Spirit Beast Species: Rock Shield Beast】

【Spirit Beast Attribute: Earth】

【Spirit Beast Level: Juvenile Stage Lv1】

【Spirit Beast Status: Uncontracted】

【Spirit Beast Description: Earth spirit beast Rock Shield Beast, honest and good at thinking, innately possessing the exclusive trait 【Holy Spirit】, an ultra-rare species.】

Good at thinking…

Qin Chuan's eyes lit up.

So, does that mean earth theory can be left for it to study on its own?!

He just loves kids who are smart from a young age!

The newborn Rock Shield Beast unfolded its arm shields, poked its head out to observe the two and the eight little ones, instinctively feeling closeness and goodwill.

"Little guy, let's form a contract." Qin Chuan smiled and rubbed its head, then without hesitation chose to contract.

Without the slightest resistance, the Rock Shield Beast became Qin Chuan's fifth contracted Spirit Beast.

"Just call you Pan Shi."

Qin Chuan quickly thought of a name for the Rock Shield Beast.

"Hum—"

The newly named Pan Shi let out a joyful rumble, expressing its affection for the new name.

Shui Hua, Xue Gao, and Silver Horn tacitly turned their gazes toward Xiao Hei beside them.

Xiao Hei solemnly stroked his chin, revealing a thoughtful expression.

Why is it that only my name and Yue Li's contracted Spirit Beast formation match?

Could it be…

In Xiao Hei's blood-red pupils flashed a look of sudden realization.

Understood! It's a mole! Without noticing the four little ones' wild thoughts, after completing the contract, Qin Chuan again began the rapid upgrade operation to let the newborn leave childhood.

He all the way upgraded Pan Shi to Hall Tier Lv40, and with the help of the Iron Hammer raised the equipment trait to Lunar Halo Level 10 before stopping.

Compared to when it was just born, Pan Shi's size surged; originally just over a meter tall, it now stands a full ten meters high, like a small fortress there.

Although it underwent one evolution, its appearance didn't change much, merely gaining a huge plain helmet, its first star‑forge equipment, the Slate Rock Helm.

【Spirit Beast Species: Ancient Rock Shield Soldier】

【Spirit Beast Attribute: Earth】

【Spirit Beast Level: Hall Tier Lv40】 【Advanced】 【Evolution】

【Spirit Beast Trait: Earth Pulse】

【Spirit Beast Species Value: 40000】

【Spirit Beast Affection: 99%】

【Spirit Beast Skills: Star·Rock Guard (Passive), Star·Twin Shield Union (Active), Star·Rock Tide (Active), Star·Seismic Wave (Active), Star·Indestructible Rock Monument (Active), Star·Vigorous Rock Taunt (Active)】

【Equipment Trait: 【Mystic Defense (Lunar Halo Level 10): Attack reduced 50%, Defense increased 210%】】

【Current Trait Usage/Cooldown: 10 minutes/10 minutes】

【Special Term: 【Holy Spirit: Attribute Control Increased 300%】】

【Spirit Beast Introduction: Earth Spirit Beast Ancient Rock Shield Soldier, evolved from the Rock Shield Beast, its astonishing defensive power earns it the reputation of a moving fortress.】

Moving fortress…

Qin Chuan eagerly clicked to view the details…

【Earth Veins: When in contact with the ground, recovers 5% strength and 5% life per second; out-of-combat state and during active skill duration, the effect doubles.】

【Star Rock Guard: Passive skill, defense increased 25%, damage reduction increased 25%; during active skill duration, effect doubles.】

【Star Twin Shield Union: Active skill, the two shields merge into one; all defense-boosting effects double, can be maintained for a long time and other active skills can be used in this state.】

【Star Rock Tide: Active skill, burrows into the ground and moves at ultra-high speed; during this time, cannot use other skills except Twin Shield Union, gaining 20% damage reduction.】

【Star Seismic Wave: Active skill, probes a wide area's environment and target status; for each enemy or ally target within range, defense increases 10%, up to 100%.】

【Star Indestructible Stone Monument: Active skill, erects a super-large stone monument for defense; when the damage taken in a single hit is less than 1000% of its own defense and it still has strength, the monument will never be destroyed; cooldown 20 seconds.】

【Star Ardent Rock Taunt: Active skill, locks onto a target, attaches a Rock Taunt mark lasting 10 seconds; while the mark is active, if the marked target uses an active or attack skill on a target other than the user, the mark is immediately removed; if the mark is removed early, the target loses 50% of its maximum HP; cooldown 60 seconds.】

The Spirit Beast introduction never lies.

Indeed, it is a moving fortress.

(End of chapter)