142: The Thousand Star City, which has been occupied for a century

Before the radiance of the rewards had even faded, the grand and indifferent voice of the myriad laws heavenly stele boomed in the minds of the 8.53 million Trial Participants:

"The second round of the trial has ended, and those eliminated have been repatriated. Remaining Trial Participants: 8.53 million."

"The third round of the trial will bring you to face the cruelest truth of the Taichu Divine Continent."

The voice paused for a moment, as if savoring the momentary silence of the crowd below and the slight commotion that followed.

"This Clone of mine will take you to a Star City that has already fallen."

Boom! An invisible shockwave swept through all the Trial Participants. Even though they had been mentally prepared, when the five words "fallen Star City" were spoken so clearly, a chill originating from the bone marrow still uncontrollably spread.

Lin Yuan frowned slightly, standing in the crowd. Regarding the Taichu Divine Continent, his knowledge was indeed limited to the most basic information previously revealed by the myriad laws heavenly stele: those 232 tragic failures represented 232 vast Divine Domains that had completely fallen into the hands of exotic beasts, turning into scorched earth and dead zones. He had intended to complete the trial and only delve into those sealed, bloody histories after officially stepping into the Taichu Divine Continent. He had not expected that this third round of the trial would directly throw them into the very front line of that desperate battlefield!

His gaze swept across his surroundings. In the data he had asked little void to collect from the virtual network a few days ago, those top-tier Prodigies from the major powers of the Taichu Divine Continent—Luo Hou, Luo Shen, Clear Emptiness, Cang. Jiuyou, Ji Changge... their faces had long since shed the composure or arrogance of the first two rounds, replaced by a nearly solidified solemnity. They pressed their lips tightly, their eyes sharp as knives, and the aura around them tightened unconsciously. Clearly, they understood the terrifying weight carried by the four words "fallen Star City" better than Lin Yuan did.

There was no time to ask questions, no opportunity to communicate.

"Depart."

As the voice of the myriad laws heavenly stele Clone fell, space became like a lake into which a boulder had been thrown, violently twisting and folding. The light and shadow before their eyes shattered instantly, pulled into countless colorful lines of light, and were then swallowed by boundless darkness. A violent sensation of weightlessness and spatial tearing arrived; even those as strong as the Peak of the Myriad Laws Realm felt a slight discomfort.

Who knows how long it had been—perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity. When their feet stepped back onto solid ground, an indescribable, nauseating odor instantly surged into their nostrils, rushing straight to their brains.

Decay! Oppression! Despair!

Lin Yuan looked up abruptly. The scene that entered his vision caused his pupils to involuntarily constrict, even with his firm willpower.

Overhead was a dark red firmament. There were no sun, moon, or stars, only thick clouds that seemed to have congealed with blood and filth pressing down low, emitting a suffocating halo. A viscous, gray mist permeated the world, mixed with the scent of sulfur, rotting flesh, and the breath of some deeper, more evil Chaos energy.

The ground beneath their feet was cracked and scorched black. As far as the eye could see, there were endless ruins. The once-towering city walls were left with only broken foundations, resembling the remains of giant beasts; tall buildings had collapsed into huge piles of rubble, covered by a writhing, purple-black vine-like substance. Those vines seemed to possess life, slowly writhing in the deathly silence, emitting an extremely faint yet teeth-gritting "rustling" sound, like countless maggots gnawing away.

This was the human territory once known as "Thousand Absolute Star City." Now, it had been fallen for a century, becoming a dead zone occupied by exotic beasts, belonging to the outermost edge of the 899th Divine Domain, and bordering the front line of the war zone where the 898th Divine Domain had entirely fallen and turned into a breeding ground for exotic beast nests!

The silver orb of light, which was the myriad laws heavenly stele Clone, hovered above the crowd, its voice coldly declaring:

"Trial Participants, this place is the ruins of Thousand Absolute Star City."

"Shortly, I will clear the area below and establish a safe base. I have completely isolated the one-hundred-million-square-kilometer territory under the jurisdiction of this Star City from the outside world, cutting off reinforcements from exotic beasts in other areas."

"Your mission: within 7 days, clear all exotic beasts within this one-hundred-million-square-kilometer area, destroy all exotic beast nests, until the last exotic beast is slain, the last nest turns to dust, and Thousand Absolute Star City returns to the human map!"

As the voice fell, the myriad laws heavenly stele Clone suddenly erupted with a light more blinding than the sun! "Hum—!"

An incomparably thick silver beam of light descended from the sky, fiercely striking a relatively open piece of ruins below.

There was no earth-shattering explosion. Wherever the light reached, whether it was huge building debris, the writhing purple-black substance on the surface, or the hidden exotic beasts that had not yet revealed themselves, all turned into the most primitive particles in silence and were completely annihilated!

The light dissipated, and a perfectly flat square area with a side length of one hundred kilometers appeared in the center of the deathly silent ruins. Immediately after, four translucent light curtains, exuding a gentle yet indestructible aura, shot up into the sky from the four edges of the square area, closing at high altitude to form an inverted bowl-shaped protective shield.

Inside the light curtain, the light of the myriad laws heavenly stele Clone quickly converged and took shape. A base constructed of pure energy with a simple and ancient style rose from the ground. It had no complex structure; the core was a towering silver stele transformed from the myriad laws heavenly stele Clone. Around the stele were several areas: an empty assembly plaza, hundreds of rows of healing pods emitting a faint white light, a huge light curtain floating in mid-air, and a shimmering material exchange point.

"The safe base has been established. This light curtain isolates the inside from the outside; no exotic beasts can intrude, making it an absolutely safe area. The base provides basic rest, information sharing, and material exchange functions." The voice of the heavenly stele echoed within the light curtain.

Almost at the same time, a silver light flashed across the left wrist of all the Trial Participants, condensing into a simple bronze-colored bracelet.

"This is the Merit Bracelet, which records and updates your trial performance in real time. The main recording items are: 【Kill Count】, 【Nest Destruction Rate】, 【merit points】, 【Glory Points】."

The bracelet vibrated slightly, projecting a light curtain before the many Trial Participants: 【Kill Count】: 0 【Nest Destruction】: 0% 【merit points】: 0 【Glory Points】: 0

"The rules are as follows: Kill exotic beasts to obtain merit points based on their rank: Tier 1 exotic beast: 1 merit point; Tier 2 exotic beast: 10 merit points; Tier 3 exotic beast: 100 merit points; Tier 4 exotic beast: 1,000 merit points; Tier 5 exotic beast: 10,000 merit points; Tier 6 exotic beast: 100,000 merit points; Tier 7 exotic beast: 1,000,000 merit points."

"Destroy exotic beast nests to obtain glory points based on their rank: Tier 1 nest: 1 glory point; Tier 2 nest: 10 glory points; Tier 3 nest: 100 glory points; Tier 4 nest: 1,000 glory points; Tier 5 nest: 10,000 glory points; Tier 6 nest: 100,000 glory points; Tier 7 nest: 1,000,000 glory points."

"After the trial ends, rankings will be settled and rewards exchanged based on merit and glory points."