The sky gradually brightened, dim light filtering through the glass-like force field onto the giant beast’s corpse.
Wounds on the monster oozed a mix of pale green and bright red blood; the stench was carried away by the wind sweeping across the force field.
Beside the opened treasure chest, Diudiu murmured before drifting off to sleep, “Sister Morrie… tell me the bedtime story one more time…”
“Alright.”
The woman looked down at the little girl using her thigh as a pillow.
Leaning against the giant corpse of the monster, amidst the gurgling sound of blood, she gently swayed and whispered:
“Once upon a time, there was a little boy whose wooden axe fell into the river. As he wept, the River God rose halfway out of the water, holding a silver axe.”
“Mm…”
“He asked: ‘Child, is this silver axe yours?’ The boy cried and said no. So the river god picked up a golden axe from the water and asked, ‘Is this one yours?’ The boy also said no. Then the river god smiled and said, ‘You are truly an honest child. I’ll give you both the silver and golden axes as a gift.’”
“Sister… what happened next…”
“Then, the boy became even sadder. He said he only wanted his wooden axe.”
The woman gently stroked the girl’s pale cheek.
The girl murmured drowsily, “Sister… these people around us… might die soon.”
The woman with a slightly dirty face hummed a tune softly: “The ones we encountered, right? But there will always be those who only want their own wooden axes. I believe that.”
She lifted her head, and though her slender face bore the marks of a harsh environment, her eyes still sparkled with youth and vitality.
“I’ve only lost my bond Demonic Nightmare. I haven’t lost everything.”
She glanced at the sleeping girl in her arms and the slaughtered monsters around, then looked at the old, ordinary statue that had accompanied her for so long.
The industrial statue came from an abandoned shop. In there, this kind of stuff was scattered haphazardly on the floor and shelves.
And as a passerby in the ruined city, she instantly recognized the statue’s image: the eternal maiden, Joan of Arc.
In that fleeting moment, the woman’s dark and gloomy heart was inspired by that ancient maiden from her homeland.
“I will find you, my ‘Wooden Axe’. Right here is the stage where I will prove my existence to you.”
A section of mountain slowly collided forward; after the force field shattered, Julia picked up the girl and headed toward the Mordo Fang Chamber ahead.
{You have entered the Arena City. Congratulations on qualifying for double-return financing.}
{You will now be noticed by everyone in this world. Strive to become a shining star, and all investors in you will receive doubled dividends in Virtual Zero Sequence.}
[I have obtained a 10000N financing limit authority, valid until the end of this month.]
[I understand that if I activate the temporal sequence financing request now, everyone in this world will have the opportunity to invest.]
[Everyone in this world will focus their attention on me.]
The red circle on Julia’s chest materialized, and the quadrilateral formed by silk threads slowly rotated.
After a tense and hesitant pause of one second, the silk threads zipped across mountains and seas, sped over deserts, igniting tens of thousands of light halos.
{I am Julia Morrie. I request financing of 5100N. Each share of financing is 0.01R!}
In the light of dawn, tears welled in Julia’s eyes.
{Alexander, can you see me?}
[I have received a 0.01R investment from Zhang Yuemei.]
[I have received a 0.01R investment from Morika.]
[I have received a 0.01R investment from Yue Chimei.]
[I have received investments from Xu Aiyuan… and 127,000 others.]
……
In the Land of Lost Frequencies, a wooden cabin and a small workshop were hidden amidst the greenery within a dense forest, with all sorts of messy materials piled up under the huge trees, resembling a small black factory.
Yuan Kun was placing several especially valuable Ability Spheres in front of him—these were specially selected for him by Luo Bin from the Ability Spheres they had collected. The purpose was to help him craft firearms with better shooting range.
[Hyper-Distance Projection.]
[Stable Furnace.]
[Digital-Control Distortion.]
His hand brushed over one Ability Sphere after another, selecting the suitable ones to use on the several differently shaped firearms before him, aiming to create Demonic Nightmare weapons with long range and low Chrono consumption.
A person beside Yuan Kun was using his fingers to identify the data specifications on the gun blueprint when suddenly the circular device on his chest lit up.
“Huh? Boss, I just received a financing request from the Demon Emperor Hall?”
As he finished speaking, the silver-white model on Yuan Kun also began to glow.
“Hey? I received it too?”
Just as they were about to ask, the halos on the people around the wooden structure—whether red or white—all lit up in the faint golden refraction.
This small settlement in the dense forest instantly became lively.
“No more research today—let’s watch the competition properly!”
“Nice!”
The group projected the investment feed so the entire team could see it.
Just as Yuan Kun was settling onto a small stool, leaning against a Demonic Nightmare model off-road vehicle, planning to take a good rest today, a surprised voice came from a vine-covered hut under the big tree.
“Boss, this newly made model pistol is so weird!”
Lu Xiang, his forehead wrapped in bandages, came running out from the wooden hut, waving a pistol in his hand.
“How weird is it?”
“It’s a model weapon now, but it keeps repeating that it’s called ‘[Black Rose]’!”
“Hurry up, let me see.”
The crowd gathered around, watching as Yuan Kun took the arm, which was shaped like a Mauser pistol, and watched as the surprised look on his face quickly turned into helplessness.
[Black Rose expresses its desire for a firing chamber.]
“This thing, although it’s synced with time and can shoot over a hundred meters, it takes a thousand years between each trigger pull!”
“What?!”
“Even ten lives wouldn’t be enough for a single bullet.”
“Who the hell can afford to use this?”
……
More and more people arrived behind the Third Waterfall; by early morning, nearly ten teams had chosen either the formation matrix wheel set or the competition city, with estimates that twice as many would show up in two days.
Inside the Mordo Fang Chamber, facing the ultra-powerful monster, Tong Wenqi was receiving sensory link feeds from the lottery scene playing out in real time.
So far, the Xiongying Group members still had this place locked down, forcing everyone to draw ten times per person, or else face death.
“{Hateful bastards, Tong Wenqi, if Su’e coordinates a teleport to get you close to Lü Bu, can you oneshot that bastard?}”
Tong Wenqi’s figure leaped suddenly, dodging the flames spewed by the giant monster.
“Definitely not! He would use chronological order to protect his internal organs and brain at all times.”
“Zhang Yang’s appearance like this feels like Lü Bu is fishing.”
A person at the back of the team, wielding a giant sword and slashing at the monster’s leg, shouted, “A missed hit is as good as wasted effort.”
{Is that guy really going to have to be dealt with by Cheng Yunze?}
“Even Cheng Yunze might not necessarily deal with him, you know. That’s an attack from the sky. We can only hope that the room above where they meet has other magic teeth to block it.”
“Many are anticipating Yang Zicang’s appearance.”
“Yang Zicang is indeed formidable, but human strength has its limits. Don’t expect him to leap into the sky and punch a satellite to bits.”
That’s right.
Some thought back to a figure in the past who, once leaping into the air, destroyed a Defender in the sky.
Even that person was powerless against the satellite, ten thousand meters high.
……
Since the last time he successfully grasped the “Prologue of Death” aura, Yang Zicang had gradually become able to sense their presence.
By the latter half of the night, he could already catch the “Prologue of Death” aura once every two to three hours.
No wonder Grey Crow had urged him to use the present time to train. Even with the help of the “Right of Mental Manifestation,” it was still so difficult for him. If he were to train this secret technique from scratch, without Grey Crow’s bloodline support, he feared it would take over a thousand years to master even if he trained hard.
Yang Zicang once again perceived that indescribable aura suddenly appearing, and this time, it was even denser than any other “Death’s Overture” aura he had sensed before.
The scene swiftly shifted to the interior of an abnormally massive, empty palace.
A familiar figure appeared before Yang Zicang.
It was Liang Xi!
Liang Xi, his form slightly ethereal and illusory, was following Luo Bin and the few teammates assigned to them by headquarters, battling a giant bull-shaped rock within the large hall.
With each dodge, the earth was upheaved by the colossal hooves of the stone bull.
“Death’s Overture…” Yang Zicang couldn’t help but stand up, attempting to activate the Quintessence Loop, but naturally, it didn’t work.
Yang Zicang said anxiously:
“Senior, this is my friends—are they in danger? Can you help them?”
The Greycrow looked down at Yang Zicang, saying nothing.
“I’m begging you.”
{Why didn’t you beg me for those people before?}
Yang Zicang was momentarily speechless, then he replied in anguish:
“I can’t imagine what meaning this hellish world would have if I lost the ones who’ve supported me through every step. They are my reason to keep living in this world. Senior, is there any way you can help?”
{Do you know what comes after winter?}
“It’s… spring.”
{Exactly. The grass and trees sprout anew when spring comes.}
Yang Zicang listened anxiously to the Greycrow’s words, while simultaneously hearing, from within the hall scene, Liang Xi’s unyielding roar and Luo Bin’s stern commands.
——”Ruan Lian, use your wind field to neutralize the impact of the gravel.”
——”Wang Meng! Watch out and use Yang Zicang’s Ability Sphere!”
Boom! The man named Wang Meng, unable to dodge in time, was slammed against a large pillar by the monster’s charge, his head with sharp horns pressed firmly against it.
“Ah!” Wang Meng cried out in pain as the circular rune on his chest lit up. “Big-time Investment, I am in the Stone Temple for my…”
Silver threads spread out rapidly. Yang Zicang saw weak, white specks of light quickly entering the circular rune on his chest from the void.
“Is it this guy who will die?”
Although he could sense the prelude of death resounding here, Yang Zicang couldn’t determine exactly who it was, nor could he perceive exactly when it would happen next.
Peering into one person’s fate amidst intertwined destinies, even with assistance, is not something he can do precisely.
Grey Crow turned his head to look at the figure of the boy.
Liang Xi, like a true swordsman, had already thrust his flaming sword into the monster’s body several times with precision.
Yet, he only managed to chip off a few pieces of gravel.
{If someone is likely to die, it’ll be your young friend.}
“It truly must be him?! Why is that so?!”
{The more closely someone is connected to you, the easier it is for you to sense them.}
Grey Crow raised his clawed hand.
{In truth, winter is followed by new life. Are you willing to invest that withered vitality for your friend?}
“Invest… vitality?”
Yang Zicang stood stunned, staring at the man whose feathery form was gently drifting.
{The precious… [spark] you ignite from shattering the impossible.}
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