Chapter 29: Ruin Harvest

Xiao Yu had just stepped into the passage when a dreamy, multicolored light enveloped him.

"xx, xx, xx..." A rhythmic, grating sound suddenly rang through the black hall.

Xiao Yu lowered his head to glance at his communication wristwatch, and a voice came from it: "Congratulations, your brain Domain width is 19, greater than 18, qualifying you for the trial base 'Elite Trial'. This is the first Elite Trial opened in five thousand years; please wait 15 minutes."

A brain Domain width of 18 is apparently the cutoff used by the Meteor Ink Star to select talent; only those exceeding this standard are eligible for the corresponding test, and passing the test grants one the status of the Meteor Ink Star.

Time passed second by second...

Xiao Yu waited silently.

"xxxxxxx..." A burst of words echoed through the passage.

Xiao Yu lowered his head to the wristwatch, which translated a sentence: "The Elite Trial has begun; please proceed onward."

Xiao Yu surged forward; after traveling 500 meters, nine branching paths appeared. He continued along the leftmost branch, and before long another set of nine branches emerged.

Like a nine‑layer labyrinth.

Xiao Yu carefully surveyed his surroundings; all around were black metal passages lined with runes, forming corridor after corridor, with no distinguishing features.

Suddenly, in a branch 500 meters ahead of Xiao Yu, the runes on a black metal wall flickered, leaking a vague black silhouette that gradually solidified into a gray‑robed figure wearing a black mask.

The same occurred in the other branches: in the nine directions surrounding Xiao Yu, each direction contained nine branches, and each branch 'gave birth' to a gray‑robed figure, totaling 81 gray‑robed figures who began converging toward Xiao Yu along the passages.

From the nine directions, nine gray‑robed figures in each direction surged at him like lightning, each brimming with murderous intent.

Judging by their speed, they were certainly ninth‑rank apprentice elites, with movement at least at the perfect level.

"xxxxxxx..." A complex sound rang overhead.

The wristwatch's translation sounded: "Mission activated: die or defeat all opponents, time limit one month."

The ruin actually offers only one option: defeat these eighty‑one high‑level war deities with perfect‑grade movement within a month.

Facing eighty‑one peers simultaneously is an enormous life‑or‑death challenge for him.

For now, the most crucial thing is not to be blocked; he must choose a direction to break through.

He silently summoned force beneath his feet, applying ten consecutive layers of power; Xiao Yu's speed instantly surpassed the speed of sound, like a blood‑red phantom charging forward.

Wielding SS-class Battle Swords in both hands, after nine successive accelerations, more than two million kilograms of impact force struck a gray‑robed figure, sending it flying backward like a cannonball; as it flew out of the passage, it collided with and knocked another gray‑robed figure away.

At Xiao Yu's speed exceeding three times the sound barrier, the group of gray‑robed figures fell behind him.

The speed of the gray‑robed pursuers from behind was clearly inferior to Xiao Yu, who continuously wielded the Nine Thunder Knife.

Ahead, only the two gray‑robed figures he had previously crushed and knocked back remained, blocking the tunnel entrance.

The moment he burst out of the tunnel, Xiao Yu was met with a joint counterattack from the two.

"Bang!" The gray‑robed figure on the left hammered a heavy fist toward Xiao Yu's head, while the one on the right kicked a foot at his abdomen.

Both the punch and the kick were as heavy as Mount Tai, exceeding a million kilograms in weight.

Xiao Yu reacted instantly; confronting the assault, his SS-class Battle Swords responded separately, multitasking. After nine accelerations, his right‑hand sword slashed toward the right gray‑robed figure's thigh, while his left‑hand sword cut toward the left figure's neck.

The sword successfully pierced the left gray‑robed figure's thick neck, embedding at least ten centimeters; his head fell off as he moved, and his body dissolved into Black Mist.

The right figure's thigh was completely sliced off, and the severed thigh turned into Black Mist and vanished.

Just as Xiao Yu was about to finish off the immobilized gray‑robed figure, the remaining 79 gray‑robed figures caught up from behind, forcing Xiao Yu to flee.

Xiao Yu kept darting through the maze, searching for openings, while the remaining gray‑robed figures did not stay clustered; they occasionally dispersed to encircle and block him.

When they scattered, Xiao Yu successfully ambushed them, usually first severely injuring one or two—such as cutting off a leg or foot—to render them immobile.

He then slayed those immobilized gray‑robed figures in subsequent ambushes.

Like a jungle hunt between predator and prey, the gray‑robed figures were the hunters and Xiao Yu the quarry in terms of situation; however, judging by the results, Xiao Yu became the hunter, and the gray‑robed figures turned into individual prey.

——

Just as the trial in the No. 9 ancient civilization ruin was raging, a major event unfolded outside.

Li Yao and his blond wife Vinina issued a sky‑high bounty of 100 billion Huaxia Currency, offering it for any solid evidence revealing who killed their son Li Wei.

In an instant, all parties were stirred; various intelligence networks and factions mobilized their channels to hunt for the murderer in light of the massive bounty.

Wealth moves hearts!

Even Luo Feng himself felt a surge of impulse.

Luo Feng suppressed his impulse, and under the pressure of the sky‑high bounty, soon mastered the Third Rank of the Nine Thunder Knife.

For safety, Luo Feng chose to sell the iron‑clad dragon eggs and war‑god combat suits he harvested in City No. 003 via the black market. He scoured martial forums and found that the nobles of Kyoto Base City had relatively good reputations.

Luo Feng assumed the alias Mr. Wei and arrived at Kyoto Base City. After his arrival, Luo Hua continued along the storyline: their romance was blocked by the girlfriend's parents, leading to a misunderstanding that caused the girlfriend to jump to her death. Fortunately, Xiao Yu deployed his personal guard to reinforce the defense patrols of Mingyue District, discovered the situation in time, and rescued her promptly.

Luo Feng also resolved to purchase Life Water to heal his younger brother's legs.

On this trip to Kyoto Base City, Luo Feng made a hefty haul: iron‑clad dragon eggs fetched 5 billion Huaxia Currency, SS‑class swords 8 billion, SS‑class combat vests 15 billion, and an S‑class combat suit, heavily worn, sold for 800 million, totaling 28.8 billion Huaxia Currency.

One could say he became suddenly wealthy.

He kept all the money in an anonymous account in the EU, without spending it rashly.

Luo Feng began a rigorous cultivation journey at home.

——

Over nearly twenty consecutive days of chasing, ambushing, and slaying, Xiao Yu successfully killed eighty gray‑robed figures.

During these twenty days, Xiao Yu could be said to have slept and rested not at all; even eating and drinking were done while in motion.

Fortunately, Xiao Yu had prepared a plentiful supply of meals in advance.

Seeing the gray‑robed figure less than a hundred meters behind, Xiao Yu instantly accelerated, his body charging like a cannonball toward it.

The gray‑robed figure also lunged at Xiao Yu, both hammers striking his head; at the instant of the figure's attack, Xiao Yu's form tilted, dodging the blow, while his sword flashed like lightning across the figure's head.

The gray‑robed figure's form halted, gradually turning into Black Mist and dissipating.

"xxxxxxxx..." A familiar voice echoed through the maze.

"It's been almost a month; finally I hear that voice again," Xiao Yu lowered his head to the wristwatch, which promptly translated the words—

"Congratulations, Elite Trial mission, successful!"

Please proceed along the passage ahead of you, keep moving forward, come see me, and claim the reward for successfully completing the assessment task.

Xiao Yu's ahead, the tough wall made of black metal actually quickly wriggled aside, forming a passage three to four meters wide; the passage was deep and secluded, and at its end there was an illusory flowing light, which was exactly the light that forms the Crystal Wall.

Xiao Yu quickly advanced along the passage and soon arrived at a hall shrouded in dreamy colorful light; the hall's length and width were each tens of meters, like a gymnasium.

The moment Xiao Yu stepped in, a large amount of colorful light gathered, quickly forming a blurry tall humanoid figure, which then solidified into a Bald Crystal Person.

"Hello, Xiao Yu." The Bald Crystal Person smiled and said a sentence, which was actually Chinese.

"Hello." Xiao Yu greeted.

"You don't seem the least bit surprised."

"Since you can appear before me in this form, given your technology, the development of the entire Earth should be under your surveillance; speaking Chinese shouldn't be a big deal!" Xiao Yu said matter-of-factly; even without knowing the plot, he thought it was only natural.

"Your mind is not bad." The Bald Crystal Person laughed and said: "Because you activated the elite trial mission, I appear before you. If you fail the trial, you will die and will not leak this news. If you succeed, you will be qualified to enter Meteor Ink Star and become a member of Meteor Ink Star, naturally you cannot leak the news here."

"Now, I grant you the reward for successfully completing the trial mission."

The Bald Crystal Person waved a hand, and instantly several items deep in the palace were lifted by a ribbon of colorful light and flew over—four items in total: a black vest, a silver arm guard, a book faintly glowing with starlight, and a hexagonal metal plate. These four items hovered before the Bald Crystal Person.

"This first item is what you call the Black God Set." The Bald Crystal Person pointed to the black vest.

"The second item, this silver arm guard–shaped device, is the Auxiliary Light Brain!"

"The third item is the martial artists' secret transmission of the Basic 123 Form."

"The fourth item is the token for entering Meteor Ink Star."

Xiao Yu reached out and took the four items; with a thought he stored three of them into his right hand's Space Ring, leaving only the silver arm guard–shaped Auxiliary Light Brain.

"You actually already have a Space Ring; it seems you have another fortunate encounter!" The Bald Crystal Person muttered softly.

"A chance acquisition."

"The Meteor Ink Token is now useless; you already know the use of the Black God Set." The Bald Crystal Person continued explaining: "Moreover, this Auxiliary Light Brain is something every Genetic Warrior and Spiritual Mind Master desires. It is of great use to you: besides possessing all the functions of your communication watch, it has many other functions, the most important of which is measuring the target's strength."

Xiao Yu first removed the arm guard originally on his left arm, put on the silver arm guard, infused a thread of spiritual mind power to permeate it; the silver arm guard quickly conformed to his skin, and furthermore, the surface of the silver arm guard actually displayed many pictures and characters, all of which were Chinese.

"You actually know how to use it!" the Bald Crystal Person said.

"I obtained some information from some ruins." Xiao Yu laughed.

"The Auxiliary Light Brain also has a translation function." The Bald Crystal Person said, "The translation software of your communication watch would leak many pieces of information, revealing the secrets here, so I have already deleted all the related information in your communication watch."

Xiao Yu nodded; this is an protective measure of the intelligent program of this ruin for the ruin.

Newbie asks for recommendations!!!

Communication can join group 763688906

(End of chapter)