Chapter 351: Blind Box Region: Insects Transforming into Dragons

"Any brothers finished the blind leap yet? Report your coordinates, where are you?"

Before him lay the chaotic currents of a dazzling spatial tunnel; inside the shuttle pod, Li Zheng asked curiously in the squad channel.

The sound of eating dirt came first.

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt: I'm still in the spatial tunnel; I hope I don't descend at a Black Black Tide node, or this blind leap trial might end prematurely.

Family Shared Godfather: Why? What's so scary about the Black Black Tide? Although it's a random blind leap, the Nether Black Tide Legion must have roughly surveyed the descent locations; even at Black Black Tide nodes, they are generally where newborn evil spirits descend—it's not like they'd send us to a Monarch's node.

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt: Foolish; I'm not referring to the strength of the Black Black Tide nodes. Have you forgotten the God of Wealth? The mission objective for descending at an Evil Spirit node is to kill evil spirits and obtain Evil Crystals. Didn't we meet the God of Wealth back then precisely because he was collecting Evil Crystals?... The problem is, when we players kill evil spirits, we absorb them directly, leaving not even dregs behind; how can we obtain Evil Crystals?

Killing Intent Stirred: Hey, now that you mention it, if we encounter a Black Black Tide node, the trial could be judged as a failure immediately.

Game Brick Mover: Brothers, are you nervous right now?

Leopard Head Zero Recharge: Not nervous... yeah right; what I'm most worried about now is where those bastards descended. I hope Brother Di Zhao blesses them and lets them pass the blind leap trial safely.

Fun Without Whales: This is the final stage of the Training Camp phase; brothers, give it your all. There are many people watching in the livestream; don't embarrass our Liver Emperor Legion.

Amidst the chatter, a faint light ignited at the end of the spatial tunnel in Li Zheng's eyes, gradually spreading into a blinding silver-white expanse.

At that moment, the shuttle pod burst through the light membrane, its engine afterburners trailing three pale blue trajectories in the air, before being pulled by an invisible force, diving toward the earth below shrouded in black mist.

As it pierced through the thick cloud layer, the pod shook violently, and the scenery outside the window shifted from chaos to clarity.

Ink-green swamps bubbled across the surface, dark purple vines coiled around exposed rock pillars like giant pythons, and in the distance, the outlines of mountain ranges were dyed through by crimson glow, where one could vaguely see various styles of rusted weapons embedded in the rock walls.

Finally, the shuttle pod crashed into a primeval forest entangled by vines.

At this moment, Li Zheng suddenly shoved the control stick.

Hiss!

White mist rose as the shuttle pod's hatch slowly opened.

Stepping out of the pod, Li Zheng first opened the world map, discovering he was located in the southernmost region of the Pale Continent; the map showed only unexplored mist, with no navigational references available.

Closing the map, he raised his head to look at the sky.

His gaze pierced through the dense gaps in the branches and leaves, revealing layers of oppressive black clouds in the sky.

There was no Evil Moon, proving this was not a Black Black Tide node.

Turning back to look at the shuttle pod, the first thing he did was store the pod into his Spatial Satchel.

Past lessons serve as guides for the future.

Back then, the God of Wealth had his shuttle pod stolen, allowing players who accidentally discovered it to earn huge returns of Sacrificial Power, causing a sensation on the forum.

He had no intention of making the same mistake.

Looking around, this was a dense jungle.

The giant tree branches snapped off by the shuttle pod at his feet were still trembling slightly, viscous ink-green sap oozing continuously from the broken ends; nearby, the canopies of ancient towering trees blocked out the sun and sky, their gnarled branches intertwining with each other to weave an almost airtight net overhead, with only sporadic spots of light leaking through the gaps, illuminating pale purple spores in the air that resembled fireflies.

The ground was covered by a thick layer of rotting leaves; stepping on it caused one's legs to sink half a meter, and the air was filled with a pungent, foul odor.

As far as the eye could see, every rock was covered in dark yellow moss.

"Where have you all arrived?" Li Zheng did not rush to act, instead asking in the squad channel.

Immediately, the brothers of the Liver Emperor Legion began sending messages one after another.

Poor Enough to Eat Dirt: Prize guessing game; this is the moon I just photographed. Look, the moon is so big and red, so where do you think I am? (Explorer wiping tears.jpg).

Fun Without Whales: I don't know where I am either; opening the map shows nothing but blackness. I see what looks like a small village in the distance but dare not approach, fearing I'll be caught and eaten by cannibals (Explorer looking suspicious.jpg).

Killing Intent Stirred: The scenery at my descent point is quite nice (screenshot); it's a scene dominated by plant-type life forms. At the very least, when plant-type life dies, there are corpses as evidence. I'm preparing to temporarily switch to extracting a Soul of a plant type and start killing; I should be able to complete the trial requirements very soon.

Leopard Head Zero Recharge: I just exited the shuttle pod and am still descending. Damn it... I've descended right into a monster swarm. Preparing to run; brothers, let's chat later.

Realizing his brothers had already begun the trial, Li Zheng also squatted down at this moment, beginning to detect the energy fluctuations dissipated by nearby plants as well as the soil environment.

This was to judge the energy intensity of the current area, thereby determining the probability of powerful monsters existing there.

Pinching a clump of black soil mixed with withered leaves, he brought it to his nose and sniffed lightly.

Besides the earthy smell, there was also an extremely faint metallic rust odor; digging deeper, he discovered many metal fragments in the ground.

Scanning the surrounding area, he preliminarily judged that this place seemed to have once been an ancient battlefield, with weapons and equipment fragments nearly assimilated by the soil scattered everywhere in the dirt.

But Li Zheng did not feel there was any problem.

War in the Monster World had never ceased; every inch of land was soaked in blood, so discovering an ancient battlefield was perfectly normal.

And the forest beneath his feet had obviously regrown over the long years following the end of the war.

Just then, the vines behind him suddenly shook violently.

The roots of the vines were being dragged by something, and a muffled crushing sound came from beneath the soil, as if heavy machinery was moving.

Li Zheng spun around sharply, the ring in his hand instantly transforming into a golden battle blade.

In front of his line of sight, a "monster" nearly three meters tall was walking out from the depths of the forest.

This creature looked like an upright-walking rhinoceros, its spine covered in layered bone armor, yet in its hand, it gripped a rust-stained giant axe.

Its left eye was a hollow socket, while its right eye burned with eerie green evil fire; a growl that was neither beast nor human emanated from its throat, and every step it took caused the ground to tremble.

Seeing this weapon, Li Zheng couldn't help but frown.

The battle patterns on the axe blade were clearly a type of insignia from the Nether Black Tide Legion.

As his analysis swept over, relevant information appeared in his mind.

[Nether Black Tide Warrior - Iron-Spined Beast (Parasitized by Evil Gu Worm)]:

Hunting Level: Level 82.

Target Introduction: Originally a warrior of the Nether Black Tide Legion's 3293rd Legion, 7th Division, who fell in battle against the Kind-Hearted Clan; afterward, its corpse was parasitized by the descending faction, the Evil Gu Worm Clan. Using its remains as a nest, the worm swarm wriggled between the bone fissures, catalyzing the growth of layered bone armor and a mutated body. Its residual combat instincts allowed it to still wield the giant axe it was accustomed to in life, becoming a puppet devoid of self-awareness.

The analysis information allowed Li Zheng to understand why the opponent would be using standard-issue weapons of the Nether Black Tide Legion.

The Iron-Spined Beast, controlled by the Evil Gu Worm, suddenly raised its giant axe, the blade slicing through the air with a whistle as it charged forward.

Li Zheng calmly sidestepped to dodge, then crouched low and stepped forward; Gang Qi erupted from his body, and the golden blade in his hand slashed downward toward the opponent's knee joint, where there was an old crack in the bone armor.

Clang!

With a crisp sound and flying sparks, the Iron-Spined Beast stumbled half a step, the evil fire in its pupils burning even fiercer as it swung its axe horizontally in a counterattack.

Borrowing the momentum of his backward leap, Li Zheng spun the golden blade in his palm, reversed his grip on the hilt, and using the inertia of the Iron-Spined Beast's axe swing, slid sideways under its armpit.

"Instant kill."

The rune weapon hummed, glowing with golden light as it slashed diagonally upward from below.

The blade tip penetrated armor and skin, precisely severing the opponent's cervical vertebrae.

Gang Qi erupted instantly, surging into the Iron-Spined Beast's body like a Black Tide, crushing all the Evil Gu Worms within.

The power of the instant explosion caused the Iron-Spined Beast's body to suddenly swell by a circle, like an inflating balloon, as thick black gas continuously gushed out from within.

This was the life force dissipated by the crushed Evil Gu Worms.

After this strike, the giant axe in the Iron-Spined Beast's hand clattered to the ground; its massive body swayed, the evil fire in its eye sockets struggled twice, and finally extinguished.

Maintaining a standing posture, it crashed heavily to the ground; the tattered badge of the Nether Black Tide Legion on its chest struck a stone during the fall, emitting a light sound.

A Challenger notification rang in his mind; Li Zheng waved his hand to disperse the golden blade, approached the Iron-Spined Beast, squatted down, gently closed the opponent's still-open eyes, and then picked up that standard-issue giant axe of the Nether Black Tide Legion.

A blurred legion numerical code was carved on the axe handle, feeling heavy in his hand.

This weapon was severely damaged and useless to keep.

Listing it on the Gold Coin Merchant Guild wouldn't meet the completeness standards either, so he chose to sacrifice it on the spot to Brother Di Zhao, obtaining 828 points of Sacrificial Power.

With the battle concluded, he already had a preliminary understanding of the situation in this area.

Obviously, this place had once been a battlefield between the Nether Black Tide Legion and alien races, but now it had been occupied by the descending faction, the Evil Gu Worm Clan.

These creatures were somewhat similar to the Soul Beasts created by the Soul-Return Clan, according to the analysis introduction.

But in terms of mechanics, they were not even close.

Soul Beasts perfectly inherit everything except the host's rule-based abilities, including proficiency in using those abilities.

But Evil Gu Worms can only utilize the deceased's life intensity and life structure; combat talent, killing techniques, and the like cannot be extracted.

Preliminary judgment suggested this race had weak mechanics, but their clan strength intensity could not yet be determined.

The core of the blind leap trial was hunting and then obtaining loot, so Li Zheng decided to target the Evil Gu Worms for hunting going forward.

Reaching down to pick up an energy slag stone left behind after refinement, he continued exploring deeper into the dense forest.

Although the device he carried could record the hunting process.

The most critical part was still submitting the hunting loot.

The blind leap trial only looked at results, not the process; loot was the key to completing the trial.

In the subsequent exploration, Li Zheng encountered attacks from more creatures controlled by the Evil Gu Worm Clan.

Among them were Nether Black Tide veterans, as well as the remains of Kind-Hearted Clan warriors who had fought against Nether Black Tide warriors back then.

There were even twisted stitched-together bodies where the remains of Nether Black Tide veterans and Kind-Hearted warriors were docked together.

Feeling curious, after killing one of the stitched bodies, Li Zheng looked at the Guidance Water Orb and asked curiously:

"Brother Guidance, what exactly are these Evil Gu Worms? Are they a clan, or are they pet beasts controlled by some clan?"

Facing the inquiry, the Guidance Water Orb opened its eyes:

[You can understand them as entities similar to the Combat Insect Clan, but within this clan, there are multiple controllers, each breeding and controlling a batch of Evil Gu Worms.]

Having spoken, Guidance raised its hand to release a light screen, pointing at the twisted, thread-like dark red worms in the image, and continued:

[These creatures are as thin as gossamer threads, capable of easily penetrating tendons and eroding bones; their survival Cultivation Mode is a type of alternative parasitism, not obtaining nutrients from the host, but weaving together dead flesh and blood to re-stitch them into killing puppets.]

[As long as the remains of a deceased life form still exist, they will become their material.]

[For example, the broken spine of a Nether Black Tide veteran will be forcibly straightened by the Evil Gu Worms, rotting muscles will be tightened again under the control of the worm swarm, and even if joints are shattered, the Evil Gu Worms can still use silk threads to replace tendons, allowing the corpse to grip the weapons it used in life.]

"This race actually follows a shortcut to growth, having evolved a symbiotic model. They need not consider cultivation systems or the optimization of life structures; they only need to seek the flesh and blood of the strong to assemble powerful puppet lives. Even species with entirely different life structures can be precisely spliced by them, fusing two completely distinct life characteristics to birth deformed monsters."

"Simply put, in the eyes of the Evil Gu Insect Race, the flesh and blood of living beings are equivalent to spiritual ores, spiritual plants, and other materials. The equipment forged from these is a sutured puppet body. The higher the strength of the target's remains, the higher the quality of the puppet created. They skip the step of optimizing their own life structure, forging an alternative shortcut to power. However, in essence, apart from rapid growth, this method of evolution is full of shortcomings, far inferior to the Soul Beast system of the Soul Return Race."

After understanding the details, Li Zheng nodded in sudden realization.

During the battle just now, he had felt that the movements of these controlled puppets showed not a trace of stiffness.

Having heard the Guide's explanation, he roughly understood.

One could understand the Evil Gu Insects as warriors controlling mechas, with flesh and blood serving as the materials to forge those mechas.

And the swarm of Evil Gu Insects were experts in this field; any flesh and blood material could perfectly unleash its strength in their hands.

Picking up the refinement residue left on the ground, he continued his exploration deeper into the dense forest.

The Blind Leap Trial was undoubtedly a lonely journey.

But for Li Zheng, with the ability to converse in the team chat channel and over a hundred million players and tourists accompanying him in the livestream room, he did not feel lonely at all.

Occasionally, he would glance at the popularity danmu in the livestream room to interact.

Ahead lay a relatively open forest zone, where sunlight filtered through the gaps in branches and leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

Here, Li Zheng smelled an unpleasant odor.

It did not smell like rotting leaves, nor like rusted metal; rather, it resembled the clear, bitter scent of some kind of crushed vegetation.

Pushing aside the vines blocking his path, he discovered a half-withered medicinal herb growing beside a broken, incomplete shield. Dark brown stains clung to its leaves; upon closer inspection, they resembled dried bloodstains.

Sweeping his analysis over it, he discovered this was actually a fifth-stage spiritual plant.

Li Zheng immediately beamed with joy.

The joy of exploration lay precisely here; the unknown path ahead could always reveal unknown surprises.

This was also a happiness unique to players.

For other races, exploration was fraught with fear and trembling, but for them, the players, it was filled with anticipation.

He decisively reached out, yanked the herb up by its roots, and directly tossed it into his Spatial Sack for storage.

Continuing deeper along the direction where the herb had grown, the broken metal objects on the ground became increasingly dense.

He also found a metal tag the size of a palm on the ground, engraved with the words "Nechao 3293 Legion - Mad Python Battle Formation." A half-broken chain still hung from its edge; it was likely an identity tag once worn at the waist by a Nechao warrior.

The mist in the forest gradually thickened, carrying a faint sweet and bloody scent.

Li Zheng halted, listening intently. Apart from his own breathing, there was a very faint "rustling" sound, as if something were crawling among the vines.

He walked slowly toward the source of the sound, pushing aside an ancient tree entangled with vines, and his view suddenly opened up.

A sunken valley appeared before his eyes. The valley walls were embedded with dense clusters of arrowheads, some arrow shafts still wrapped in faded cloth strips.

Black mud, half a foot deep, accumulated at the valley bottom; stepping on it produced a faint crunching sound of crushing bones.

In the livestream room, players of the research faction posted danmu at this moment, suggesting that the mud here should be a layer of corpses, with layers upon layers of skeletons half-buried in the earth.

Even the substance that looked like mud might have been transformed from the remains of warriors from those days.

One could see just how fierce the war that took place here in those days must have been.

Gazing into the distance, one could see many sutured lifeforms controlled by Evil Gu Insects wandering about.

According to the Guide's explanation, this behavior was not aimless wandering but a Cultivation Mode of training compatibility used by the Evil Gu Insect Race.

They constantly honed their proficiency until achieving "man and machine as one."

Li Zheng looked up toward the eastern side of the valley, where the vines grew exceptionally thick. Bringing his vision closer, he could see some grayish-brown objects standing behind the vines.

Approaching closely, he released his Crimson Gang Qi, turned his finger into a blade, and waved his hand to sever the vines blocking his path.

He discovered that behind the vines stood a row of vertical stone slabs, engraved with blurry characters.

On the topmost stone slab, a crooked character for "Evil" was carved into the corner.

A broken sword was stuck in the muddy ground before the stone slab. Although the cloth wrapped around the hilt had faded, one could still discern it as a standard weapon used by Nechao warriors. In front of the broken sword lay a skull, nothing but bone remaining.

Li Zheng could not distinguish exactly what race the other party belonged to.

Although he had stayed within Nechao for over two years, he had only come into contact with a part of Nechao's vast system.

The region he was in belonged to the Nechao 138th Legion, commanded by the Legion Commander "Futu," and in the future, he would also go to the 138th Legion to participate in battle.

Including the 2,500 Nechao training camps from Phase One to Phase Five, all were new recruit training bases for the 138th Legion.

The alien students he had encountered accounted for merely a drop in the ocean of the Nechao Legion's vast system; there were still too many races he had never seen.

Grasping the sword hilt and pulling outward, the blade brought forth a string of attached skeletons, one of which was a finger bone still tightly clutching the copper ring on the scabbard.