Chapter 152: Independent Manifestation EX? Continental Transmigration?!

Island……

Or rather, this lost continent, for that group of unlucky transmigrators from another world, was vast beyond imagination.

It was an expansive land they would find difficult to cross in their entire lifetimes; it was foreseeable that, whether they subsequently established tribes or developed the prototype of a primitive kingdom, for a very long period of time the scope of civilization's activity would be limited to a corner of the land.

But then again, it was no wonder, after all they were all modern people, and they had lost their main means of transportation; relying solely on a pair of legs, one indeed could not expect them to immediately restore their ancestors' glory and recall the terrifying upright ape's signature skill.

Time and environment are the teachers most capable of tempering people.

This group of unlucky bastards, who didn't know whether to call themselves lucky or unlucky, also unknowingly entered their roles and accepted the current ruthless reality.

Although this was not easy——

During the remaining daytime of the first day, a group of people basically spent it in disputes, complaints, and grumbling, indignant at the unprovoked disaster they had suffered, hatefully cursing the demon who had hijacked the plane, as if this could vent the unease and fear in their hearts and let them escape reality.

The result was that they accomplished nothing, and simply waited for nightfall to arrive.

In the dark night.

The sound of the waves seemed to become eerie; strange sounds came from the distant jungle, as if some unknown things were active at night, and even hair-raising howls could be heard……

A group of people who had been shouting and arguing fiercely during the day, discussing heatedly, now could only huddle on the empty shore trembling, no longer daring to make a sound.

But even so, they were still attacked.

In the darkness, accompanied by screams, wails, and the roars of unknown creatures, the smell of blood permeated the night, mixing into the salty damp sea wind.

By the time dawn broke slightly, the remaining people dared to tremblingly return to that original place, only to see the white beach stained with a miserable blood color, huge drag marks stretching all the way into the sea, and shocking claw marks, like the traces left by the fingers of those dragged away desperately scratching at the sand.

After the fact, a headcount suggested that four people had gone missing in this attack incident.

No one knew whether they had all been bitten by unknown monsters coming ashore and dragged into the sea, or had scattered in the chaos at the time, strayed into the intricate jungle and didn't…… no one could be certain.

The atmosphere of the second day was a gloomy and bleak keynote——

People all sat clustered on the beach, carefully keeping their distance from both the shore and the jungle, and no one spoke, only continuous low sobs rising.

No one had the mood to bring up the topics they had discussed heatedly yesterday; even though they still subconsciously believed that they had suffered an unprovoked disaster, inexplicably hijacked by a devil and brought to this strange continent…… however it was, accusations, curses, and grumbling had all been proven utterly meaningless.

Cold reality ruthlessly rolled over their faces.

Last night's bloody aura seemed to still linger at the tip of their noses; the miserable cries were vivid before their eyes.

There were also those who refused to give up, desperately trying their phones again and again; sadly, apart from the battery level clearly and steadily dropping, there was no result whatsoever, and the phone signal they longed for never appeared even once, which also meant the hope of contacting the outside world and calling for help was shattered.

Watching despair and pessimism spread, someone finally stepped forward.

It was the airliner's captain; he urged everyone to pull themselves together, frankly stating that things couldn't go on like this, and if they did nothing, they had only a dead end.

Right now it was only the second day; perhaps they hadn't felt anything yet.

But by the time they felt something, it would already be too late; at that time they would surely be both exhausted and hungry, too weak to move, able to do nothing but wait for death.

They needed food!

They needed shelter!

These were all basic survival conditions that they had to start acting on right now in order to possess.

Perhaps the captain's oratory skills were indeed quite good, inspiring enough; or perhaps at this moment people indeed needed a mainstay. They weren't unwilling to do something, but needed someone to tell them what to do, so that they could act instead of being at a loss.

Although it was unsightly, people still moved into action with difficulty one after another.

Perhaps it was comparatively fortunate; someone found some bitter but edible berries at the jungle's outer edge; someone discovered some relatively tough vines; someone also found a sunken mountain body suitable for use as a temporary camp…… after a whole day of busy bustle, no one slacked off, as if people took the opportunity of work to temporarily escape reality.

By evening, several gentlemen who only had theoretical experience in wilderness survival, after grinding their palms red, swollen, and broken, in unbearable pain, finally succeeded in making fire by drilling wood.

Fire is the symbol of civilization.

It can drive away wild beasts, illuminate darkness, allowing people to survive in barbaric regions.

On the evening of the second day, surrounded by a crude fence piled from vines, stones, and tough plants, inside that not-very-large temporary shelter, the survivors sat around the warm bonfire, listening to the howls outside, and all felt a strong sense of peace of mind well up in their hearts to varying degrees.

Unknown beasts prowled outside the shelter; in the dark night, faint cold lights lit up — pairs of cruel, bloodthirsty beast pupils.

Only, probably also wary of the burning firelight, they ultimately did not dare approach; after prowling for a good while, they left unwillingly.

Thus, the group successfully survived to the third day……

——————

——————

On the highest mountain peak nearby.

An alien-style, vastly different temple lay across the highest summit.

Xia Zhi had been here carefully observing all along, and at every moment made a move to fine-tune, conducting appropriate interference and minute adjustments.

After all, it was unavoidable; if he truly let go completely, he did not doubt in the slightest that this group of unenlightened fellows would probably be wiped out in less than two days. Now, under his intentional interference and control, they were instead gradually getting on track.

——Search for shelter……

——Identify plant characteristics……

——Use fire-drilling to make fire……

They seemed insignificant, but in reality, the entire planeload of people couldn't produce a single person who happened to master these skills. Even if someone had happened to see relevant knowledge before, it was actually very hard to recall, let alone immediately apply it in practice.

Basically it was all the result of his control.

Only the influenced people themselves didn't notice; others were even less likely to notice; everything appeared very natural and logical.

After all, it wasn't any big problem; Xia Zhi merely found those who had indeed seen the relevant knowledge points and had some experience to a degree, then used his newly mastered skill to "teach" them, helping them unconsciously light up skills meeting the prerequisites…… although only barely lit up, barely usable.

But facing the current terrible start, it could already be put to some use.

Not to mention anything else, at least this group of people immediately found direction, without having to grope and evolve arduously like fur-wearing, blood-drinking primitives before they could step onto the correct path.

Of course, control of the environment was another aspect; he deliberately placed this group of chosen people near that coastline because it was most suitable for Earth people's start; from plants to animals, the species deliberately introduced from the Fairy Kingdom side were all types relatively conforming to common sense cognition.

At least they wouldn't be very discordant, the abnormal kind.

As for truly supernatural species, lifeforms involving the non-common-sense realm, they were even closer to the interior; they did not exist on the island's periphery.

The entire miniaturized Sandbox Continent was like a map he had meticulously edited and designed, very suitable for Earth transmigrators to start farming and developing from the periphery, gradually multiplying and thriving.

As for what kind of fruit it would ultimately bear, he was full of interest and anticipation.

"Hm?"

Standing atop the Mountain Peak, Xia Zhi gazed out over every movement along the Coastline, then suddenly raised an eyebrow, and immediately his body Outline abruptly Diffused, producing countless Afterimages.

In merely a moment, everything returned to normal, all the Afterimages Converging back.

His body became clear again, and his Presence became extremely intense, as if he had suddenly appeared in Reality, yet also as if he had always stood here, letting the whistling Mountain Wind Blow through his hair and sleeves, like a Divine Spirit that had existed since ancient times, Eternally Overlooking the order of the Ten Thousand Things of the mortal world.

"Succeeded……"

Gently clenching and unclenching his fist, Xia Zhi had already understood what was going on.

Although the "Qi Refining Stage" had long been relatively Complete, there was still room to continue consolidating the Foundation, leaving space for an upgrade. That lay in the Extraordinary Meridians beyond the Twelve Regular Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which theoretically could provide a twenty-first potential point, usable for a Circuit upgrade.

The simplest was naturally to continue simulating a Holy Sword Conversion Circuit——

But that would only purely strengthen his own Output Power and instantaneous maximum firepower.

Xia Zhi, who already possessed twenty Holy Sword Circuits, naturally did not think much of that; it wasn't that his standards had risen, merely that there was a better Option, so he tended toward choosing a more functional, more useful Option when opening the additional twenty-first "Jin Zhi Xiang".

Not a Holy Sword specialized in Output.

But a Holy Lance specialized in Existence Proof.

As things stood now, after these years of Preparation, the Main Body side had also Completed this important Task, transforming the twenty-first Conversion Circuit with the possibility of simulating a Holy Lance.

He could feel that the magical energy in his body rumbled lowly as it circulated; an additional main Circuit naturally brought an extremely large increase in power, and even if it was not as completely Output-specialized in design Structure as the Holy Sword, it would not fall short by much, after all Holy Lance and Holy Sword are of the same rank.

However the Holy Lance has a more important functionality: it is the Storm Anchor that tethers the Mors Star, the "Jin Wei Zhi Ta" connecting the World's front and back.

The so-called World where Humans live is actually like a thin layer of fabric, draped over the Star as the Star's surface appearance, skin…… like a thin skin that would peel off with a light lift, a tablecloth that a gust of Wind could blow away.

As an Anchor, the Holy Lance's role is to fix this layer of Reality, tether the Star, and not let it detach.

And when this mighty power belongs to the individual, what it brings is an extremely terrifying presence.

"What does this count as…… 'Independent Manifestation EX'?"

Xia Zhi carefully experienced a certain Bizarre sensation, only feeling that the Connection between himself and the Main Body seemed to have undergone some more Subtle change; mutual Sensation became clearer, information exchange and data Synchronization also smoother, as if they had thoroughly become a zero-latency network state.

Cloud Synchronization, data interoperability?

Does this mean that from now on uploading saves no longer needs phased Settlement, but can achieve Real-time Synchronization?

He Subconsciously thought this, but right at this moment——

Boom!

A certain Bizarre tremor once again erupted without warning; in the youth's Sensation, it was as if the Spacetime he occupied had suddenly Boiled, turning into a chaotic mess.

Appeared!

But why precisely at this time? A mere Coincidence?

Xia Zhi frowned, taking advantage of the high ground, looking toward the End of the horizon beyond the Island, but very quickly his brow not only did not relax, but furrowed even deeper.

Hesitating slightly, as if to confirm whether he had seen wrong, he instantly shot skyward, ascending into the High Altitude of ten thousand meters among the Clouds.

Then……

"emmmmmm…… wait, the entire Continent crossed over?"

(Chapter End)