Chapter Seventy-Seven: Earth · Beast Tide (Eighteen)

“It seems we were clearly lured here under false pretenses. The technology in this place is far more advanced than we imagined—it doesn’t resemble a ruin at all. It’s more like a reward instance governed by system rules,” Sun Meng said as he pushed open a door.

“So you mean this ruin is actually a place meant to reward those who discover it? Then why did Pix share it with us? Wouldn’t it be better to keep it to himself?” Cocoralu asked.

“He certainly could try to come alone, and I believe he’s capable of it. But if he has such an opportunity, with so many contestants, he can’t be the only one. What if others also find it and they collide? Or perhaps there are more benefits to be gained,” Sun Meng replied. As he spoke, the Houyi Bow appeared in his hand again. He drew the string, and an arrow of inner energy shot forth.

A roar sounded, and a lizard-like monster that had been hiding revealed itself before them.

“As expected, what we encountered earlier wasn’t normal. This is what it should be!” Sun Meng said, firing another arrow upwards. The inner energy arrow exploded into a rain of projectiles, falling all around. Dozens of hidden, small lizard monsters perished beneath the arrows.

“Flaming Ray!” Cocoralu swung her staff, conjuring crimson beams that continuously shot into the distant monster horde.

“We’re actually surrounded?!” Cocoralu edged closer to Sun Meng, not truly afraid, but the mass of staring eyes unnerved her.

“If these were ordinary monsters, even racial talents couldn’t block your senses in such an environment. Either it’s the effect of the ruin, or these monsters aren’t of a new species,” the crimson barrage floated by.

Sun Meng said, “My sensing abilities haven’t been affected, yet they managed to hide right under my nose. If they’re not new species monsters…”

Suddenly, Sun Meng became alert. The Five-Colored Earth card in his personal space vanished, and a multicolored barrier enveloped him and Cocoralu, blocking a second-tier lizard monster’s sneak attack.

“So this is what item cards do—more like a magical artifact for me, but for Earth’s civilization, it’s a special environmental modifier,” Sun Meng felt the connection with the Five-Colored Earth, his consciousness guiding it to form an arrow.

He shot it, and midway it scattered into countless colored particles, instantly wiping out half the surrounding lizard monsters. Even some early second-tier monsters fell, beset by a dozen particles at once. The remaining creatures sensed the threat and retreated like a tide.

Cocoralu unleashed a dozen fireballs, leaving behind scores of lizard corpses as the rest fled without a trace.

Immediately, they noticed their points increasing continuously. They hadn’t exchanged the corpses—the bodies disappeared on their own.

“Look at that!” Cocoralu pointed at something ahead resembling a cultivation chamber.

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They approached the chamber. Though the writing was unfamiliar, they could understand it.

“This is the 1,532nd gene beast cultivation experiment. The goal is to create a gene beast with powerful stealth abilities for exploring newly connected worlds. Experiment begins…”

“So these monsters aren’t native to this world,” Cocoralu remarked. “I’ve received a new magical beast bloodline card.”

“Me too—a spirit beast bloodline card. It seems every civilization may face the same issue,” Sun Meng said, eyeing the card in his hand. They had finished exploring the room; staying longer would yield nothing more, as signaled by the token.

“So, every room is like this?” Sun Meng looked at his card. This card was different from previous reward cards—it was a template card. Once taken out of the ruin, it could be copied for a limited time by consuming points. This was what Pix meant about sharing the spoils with everyone.

Leaving a room locked its exit; just as they’d seen before, it was impossible to detect the presence of a door.

Three rooms in succession, each with different monsters, all originally created by the civilization. Their power was limited, but their talents were stronger than the newly mutated monsters outside. The rewards varied but were categorized like the previous ones.

The four of them regrouped at the entrance, displaying their cards. That’s when they noticed the problem: you could copy the cards, but the copies wouldn’t alter their original content. To fit one’s own civilization, a second conversion was required!

This was a trap!

All of them simultaneously thought the same thing, and now understood why Pix dared to offer such promises to outsiders—it didn’t hinder his own progress, and those who received the items had no grounds to complain.

Leaving the cultivation chamber, everyone else emerged as well. Each person’s token flew out, converging in Pix’s hand, reverting to the original token.

They exited the ruin as a group. The situation outside was now calm. The monsters had fled quickly once they obtained their rewards, but couldn’t enter, so they waited outside. Of course, some lingered to prevent Pix and his group from reneging.

Pix was the first to step out. When the last person exited, the ruin’s door closed, gradually vanishing before everyone’s eyes, as if it had never existed.

Immediately, the token in Pix’s hand transformed into a stone tablet, projecting a huge screen filled with all the cards they had gained.

Pix announced, “Everyone, I keep my word. All the technical data we acquired in the ruin is yours to exchange freely. It’s not our doing, but the rules—there’s only one day in total. Please help yourselves!”

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The contestants stared at the screen, most excited, for many of the cards were precisely what they needed. Though they required points to redeem, their civilization level couldn’t otherwise access such things. Yet some noticed that many of the cards were of repeating types.

The first to exchange appeared quickly, having earned points from killing monsters outside. But soon, strange expressions appeared on their faces.

“Why are these…”

Pix responded, “That’s exactly what we hold. All of us can testify. Would you like to see?” He glanced at Sun Meng and the others.

Mu Xingye stepped forward, holding several cards. “You can check carefully—these are what we have, not cards exempt from conversion.”

Sun Meng and the others also produced cards, but all were copied from others, not ones compatible with their civilization.

Seeing this, the others had nothing more to say.

Back on Pix’s ship, which had become a temporary base, with small robots constantly modifying the area, a simple large camp had formed. It couldn’t guarantee absolute safety, but provided a basic place to rest.

Looking at the cards in his hand, Sun Meng gazed at the screen. “What do you all think now?” He opened the cards—all related to beasts. In other words, humanity on Earth now faced a problem: Earth’s lifeforms recognized by the system were not limited to humans.

Previously, although all nations knew of the existence of spirit beasts, there was no formal acknowledgment. Officially, humans hadn’t admitted that spirit beasts were an equal species.

But now, the issue was placed directly before everyone.

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