Chapter 36: Broken Star

Night fell, all sounds ceased, and the sky during the waning moon phase seemed covered by deep dark red silk.

Just then, a black hole suddenly appeared in the sky.

An object trailing a blue tail flame emerged from the black hole, slicing through the long sky and heading straight for the Blood Plain region of the Di Zha Mountain Range.

Boom!

Accompanied by a deafening explosion, the blue fireball struck the vast land of the Blood Plain, smashing out a pit over fifty meters in diameter; flying debris scattered, and nearby twisted plants were scorched into charcoal by the intense heat.

As the rising steam dissipated, a huge square metal box sat at the bottom of the pit, its surface slightly warped from the violent impact.

Just then, the metal box vibrated, and a heavy metal door opened from bottom to top.

A humanoid boy about 1.65 meters tall with light blue hair walked out; he was Wearing Heavy Armor with rune patterns, his pure white pupils showing no emotional fluctuation at all, lifeless like a puppet.

Just then, a mechanical electronic voice sounded from the shuttle behind Duan Xing:

"Combat trial initiated; your trial area is a 35-kilometer radius centered on me; you must not leave the trial area during the trial, or it will be judged as trial failure!"

Leaping out of the pit, the blue-haired puppet's gaze swept over the nearby scorched earth, then he raised his right hand and pressed it against the protruding metal knob on his left chest, turning it as if winding a key.

Accompanied by continuous crisp "click" sounds, the complex patterns engraved on the armor lit up from the left chest and spread across his entire body.

At this moment, the puppet boy also turned his head to look at the waning moon hanging high in the sky; a Solemn expression appeared on his face, and as he raised his hand, a black gemstone appeared in his right palm; he clenched his fist and crushed it.

The powder from the shattered black crystal, upon contacting the air, turned into black smoke and rose upward.

Immediately, evil life forms in the Blood Plain region, like beasts smelling blood, all headed toward the puppet boy's location.

Shing!

The puppet boy crouched slightly, two blue light blades sprang from his wrists, and a trace of killing intent appeared in his pure white pupils.

His gaze swept around.

Evil dogs with fangs resembling hyenas, dark ghosts whose twisted limbs moved forward like rolling black balls, evil spirits shrouded in corrupt black fog... and a huge number of blood corpses; more and more evil creatures attacked from all sides.

At this moment, the puppet boy transformed into a streak of blue light and charged forward, darting through the crowd of evil creatures; the light blades in his hands were like scissors cutting through darkness, and wherever he passed, all evil creatures were split in two, dissolving into black smoke, leaving only black crystal stones falling behind.

His movement speed grew faster and faster during the battle, like a dancer gracefully moving among the evil creatures, the cold gleam raised by the blue blades swirling like a skirt following his body.

At this time, players exploring the Blood Plain region noticed the unusual movement of the evil life forms and curiously asked in the regional channel:

"What's going on? Who knows what happened? Why are all the evil creatures running in one direction?"

"I thought I was going to die, but the evil creatures ran away on their own; I survived by luck, happy."

"Getting ready to follow and take a look; brothers, enter my live stream to watch the live scene; those with means, donate some Shou Shou Jili!"

Facing the unusual movement of the evil creatures, curious players followed the direction the evil creatures were moving to explore.

Many players also seized the opportunity to activate live streaming mode, broadcasting live to other players who could not reach the Blood Plain in a short time, hoping to profit from this.

When players approached the area where the puppet boy was located, the scene before their eyes stunned them.

The blue figure moved freely among the evil creatures like a dancer; wherever the dual-wielded blue blades passed, the evil creatures had no power to resist, harvesting all nearby evil life forms in an extremely elegant manner.

But what the players cared about even more was the ground covered with black crystal stones.

These are energy crystals dropped only after evil creatures above level 10 are killed, which can be exchanged for Shou Shou Jili revenue at the altar in the function panel.

To the players, the ground covered with black crystal stones was no different from cash.

The price of 1 point of Shou Shou Jili has been driven up to 150 credit points, and it is difficult to receive large amounts of Shou Shou Jili; one can only find scattered players to collect it in small amounts.

At this stage, whether resource-gathering players or ordinary players, they all want to improve their strength first before considering profit issues; the shortage of Shou Shou Jili is extremely large.

Facing the ground covered with black crystal stones, nearby players took action without hesitation.

They kept picking up the crystals on the ground and throwing them into their personal space inventory.

Players who saw this scene through live streams also went crazy, leaving messages in various live broadcast rooms:

"Brother, please, please, report the coordinates in the regional channel; I am on my way to the Blood Plain."

"Ahhh, I am still on respawn cooldown; watching you pick up money is more painful than killing me; you are not allowed to pick them up, do you hear me? Do not pick them up!"

"Watching this live stream gave me a heart attack; I originally wanted to watch the drama to see what happened, but you made me watch this; I wish I had wings to fly over and pick up with you."

The regional voice channel also exploded due to the money-picking incident.

Players distributed across various regions of the Di Zha Mountain Range all gathered toward the Blood Plain direction.

Players who arrived first had also gone completely crazy; they followed the blue figure's forward movement and kept picking up the black crystal stones left on the ground.

At this time, the combat puppet boy also noticed the crowd of players gathering behind him.

When he saw them picking up the black crystal stones on the ground, a deep killing intent appeared in the boy's pure white eyes.

At this moment, he stopped his forward steps and wound the key at the left chest position.

The originally dim rune armor re-bloomed with brilliant light after the key was wound tight.

His figure immediately transformed into a streak of blue light, changed direction, and shot toward the crowd of players; his figure first crossed paths with a player; the player could not even see the puppet boy's face before the death notification sounded in his mind.

This time, the target of the puppet boy's slaughter became players.

After a large number of players crossed paths with his figure, they would dissolve into black smoke, be guided back to Di Zha Village by Yan Ming's spatial power, and have their flesh and blood reshaped underground.

"Damn, why did it change to killing us? Should we run!"

"Oh my god, in the blink of an eye, my good brother was cut in half and turned into black smoke; this guy is too fierce."

"Run what? Death only deducts 10 points of Shou Shou Jili; each evil crystal on the ground produces at least 5 points of Shou Shou Jili; picking up two randomly breaks even; hurry up and pick them up now, use a sack to carry them."

Facing the puppet boy's attack and slaughter, the players not only did not retreat but became even more crazy.

They all wanted to pick up more evil crystals before dying.

The puppet boy's information was also captured by players during the slaughter.

【Duan Xing (Tian Fu Clan)】

Hunting Grade: Level 53

Target Introduction: A descendant of the main lineage of the Sky Talisman Clan, hailed as the strongest of the new generation in the Sky Talisman Clan, currently undergoing combat trials before joining the Reverse Tide Legion.

Players who obtained information about the puppet boy immediately parsed the data and shared it in the regional chat channel.

Whether on-site or in other regions, players were shocked by the boy's hunting grade.

A hunting grade of 53 was an intensity they had never encountered in the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range region.

Duan Xing, who was in the midst of slaughtering, also noticed something was wrong.

After he killed the lifeforms that had snatched the Evil Crystals, the stolen Evil Crystals followed them, turning into black smoke and vanishing completely.

The Evil Crystals were proof of his successful trial; facing the constantly diminishing number of Evil Crystals, Duan Xing immediately panicked.

As his figure flickered, he grabbed the neck of a player who was trying to pick up an Evil Crystal, lifted him close, and stared at the player with cold, pure white eyes, asking:

"Where are the Evil Crystals you picked up?"

Duan Xing's words were automatically translated by the parsing system into a language the players could understand.

The player whose neck was being choked heard this, yet showed no fear of death in his eyes; his gaze still swept over the glowing black crystals on the ground, then he lifted his head, face flushed red, and said:

"Let me pick up one more, and I'll tell you!"

Duan Xing:...

(End of Chapter)