Chapter Thirty-Three: The Final Battle Before Farewell

Fire Demon Crystal, Banshee Talisman, Source-Gathering Spirit Tree Seed, Hou Yi’s Divine Bow, Dream Flower—five items collected, all tasks completed.

The next morning, Sun Meng sorted through his spoils, but he was in no rush to leave. First, the month wasn’t over yet. Second, he’d triggered a side quest.

“Shao Tan’s obsession: Years ago, Shao Tan left Shaolin after clashing with Tripitaka over the philosophy of the Shadow-Seizing Divine Technique. Though he was defeated, he never let it go. Use the Shadow-Seizing Divine Technique to challenge Tripitaka head-on and defeat him.”

“Well, since I have nothing else to do, I might as well have a match before I leave!” Truth be told, Sun Meng felt a twinge of regret—he still hadn’t broken through to mid-stage of the second rank. Though breakthroughs in minor realms didn’t net great rewards from the system, every bit counted.

Now, with just over four months remaining in the first stage of the trial, no one would complain about having too little foundation.

He left his room and went to Tripitaka’s door. “Master,” Sun Meng announced as he entered. Tripitaka was reading.

“What is it?”

“Master, I feel as if I’m just a step away from a breakthrough…” Sun Meng began, but Tripitaka looked up. “The Shadow-Seizing Divine Technique?”

Sun Meng nodded. “I…”

Tripitaka interrupted, “You’ve already forged your own path. Frankly, even if I handed you the manual, it wouldn’t help much. This technique was only ever meant to be cultivated to the early innate stage; proficiency and some minor tricks are all that differentiate practitioners.”

Sun Meng fell silent, staring at Tripitaka.

“Very well! I suppose this too is an obsession of yours. If you don’t resolve it, even if you break through, your state of mind will carry a flaw.” With that, he led Sun Meng to a spacious room—ideal for sparring.

Tripitaka stood before the Buddha statue. “Begin!”

In the next instant, neither moved, but their shadows leapt forth, scaling the walls and rising to the ceiling, where the duel began.

From fists and feet to secret arts, only their shadows could be seen darting around the room. Half an hour passed, and the shadows returned to their sides.

Suddenly, the two moved—man to man, shadow to shadow.

Abruptly, Tripitaka’s body stiffened. Sun Meng seized the moment, landing a palm on Tripitaka’s chest. He hadn’t channeled any energy into the strike, so it only sent the master stumbling back.

“That was a fine move. What’s it called?”

“Shadow Bind,” Sun Meng replied with a smile.

Tripitaka glanced at his own shadow, now bound as if by ropes, and nodded. “It seems you’ve moved beyond mere manipulation of shadows—I myself could not do this.”

“That’s because Master’s heart isn’t set on this technique,” Sun Meng said, withdrawing his shadow. The match was over.

Tripitaka drew a book from his robe. “This is a summary I compiled, combining your cultivation method with my own insights. By my calculations, it should allow you to reach mid-innate stage smoothly. Beyond that, progress will remain unpredictable. I also sketched out a basic method for manipulating cloud energy—it’s still in its infancy.”

Sun Meng accepted the book. “Master, you knew?”

At this point, he could not deny that Tripitaka had long accepted his departure.

“You! You’ve always been this way. Once you set a goal, no matter how circuitous or long it takes, you see it done. Now, you’re ready to break through at any time—meaning it’s time for you to leave.”

Sun Meng knelt and kowtowed three times, then turned and pushed open the door.

“If ever you grow weary, you may return at any time. Shaolin will always be your home.” Tripitaka’s voice echoed after him as Sun Meng leaped to the rooftop and, with a few swift bounds, left the monastery behind.

“All tasks complete. Once I break through, I can leave,” Sun Meng murmured, wiping away tears that were not his own.

Three days later, Sun Meng successfully broke through to mid-innate stage and, enveloped in a beam of light, left that world.

“Three main quests completed, overall rating S. Five side and hidden quests completed, overall rating A. One minor stage breakthrough, reward: one random draw.”

As the system prompt sounded, a row of five boxes appeared before Sun Meng, along with the six items he’d brought from that world and a prize wheel. Five boxes—choose four—with a minimum prize of late first rank.

He could also select four out of six items, with a prize draw minimum of mid-first rank and a maximum of late second rank.

Now, he could finally see the detailed functions of the six items:

The Fire Demon Crystal transforms into a Fire Spirit bloodline, endowed with an innate fire seed; once integrated into Earth, it would allow humans to possess a stable innate spiritual constitution.

The Banshee Talisman would introduce the banshee race to Earth, along with an evolving system of corresponding curse arts.

The Source-Gathering Spirit Tree Seed was self-explanatory—it would ensure the emergence of a stable spirit plant on Earth.

Dream Flower, also a spirit plant, would have diminished effects without the previous world’s laws.

Hou Yi’s Divine Bow was the only item that could be used exclusively by Sun Meng; only one copy would appear on Earth, with its effects limited.

Finally, Tripitaka’s compiled cultivation insights—the most valuable to Earth at present.

“The cultivation insights and the spirit tree seed are must-haves. Contestants can choose Hou Yi’s Divine Bow to enhance personal strength.” The red bullet comments floated by. Sun Meng nodded, hesitated a moment, and included the Dream Flower.

Although the commentary offered no opinion, Sun Meng knew they didn’t quite understand.

“It’s best to cultivate this quickly and develop it into a potion. I think it’ll be useful against spirit beast hordes and future enemy invasions.”

“A good idea, contestant. We hadn’t considered that,” the red commentary floated across the screen after a moment.

Blind draw, pick four out of five, with a guaranteed minimum—there was no need for Sun Meng to hesitate.

He quickly made his choices and proceeded to the prize draw.

A second-rank spirit stone vein, a global aura rain, a packet of first-rank spirit rice seeds (one thousand grains), Spirit Eye bloodline, and a complete compendium of runes (early second rank).

Without hesitation, he redeemed them all. Though four months remained, he believed Earth would be ready to defend itself before the trial began.

On Earth, the spirit stone vein appeared on the northwestern plateau of China. With the arrival of the aura rain, vast oases emerged in the former desert, and even the remaining arid regions began to develop unique ecosystems, no longer barren wastelands.

Seeing this, the other countries breathed a sigh of relief—though China benefited most, the gap was not insurmountable.

However, the spirit rice seeds were given to China, the reason being their expertise in agriculture. Once China promised to provide ten thousand seeds to each of the other four major nations within a month, the issue was temporarily resolved.

The rune compendium, as knowledge, was rapidly catalogued and studied by research departments worldwide upon its integration into Earth’s civilization.

China’s research progressed fastest—hardly surprising, since Sun Meng’s prior establishment of a mana cultivation system had given them a distinct advantage.

Moreover, nearly all top talents in Chinese research institutes had awakened the Spirit Eye, so it was only a matter of time before all these gains were fully assimilated.

Looking at his remaining points, there were plenty left.

He spent a hundred on an infinite quiver—feed in materials and it would automatically generate arrows, which could be recovered; the limit was early second rank.

A useful item for now, originating from a magical rune civilization. In fact, Sun Meng had considered trading his rune compendium with them, but they had ignored him.

After practicing archery and confirming the current capabilities of Hou Yi’s Divine Bow, Sun Meng rested for two days, awaiting the end of the month.

“Contestant, please prepare. The new mission world is about to open. This task will be in team mode, with final rewards divided into team and individual contribution. Top reward: mid-third rank; lowest: early second rank. This mission will last three months, with no main quest refresh during that time.”

Sun Meng raised an eyebrow—he hadn’t expected this. He thought all tasks would be solo until after the first trial.

He wondered about his teammates’ strength. To be honest, having reached mid-second rank, he felt a little confident.

As the beam of light teleported him, this time, he was not alone.

“Everyone, get up! The bandits are attacking the city again!”