87: Chapter 87 Countdown to the Spirit Fruit

Boom!

His feet shattered the ground as Lin Yan headed straight toward the nearest golden beam of light.

After rushing for about twenty minutes.

Looking up at the sky, that nearest golden beam of light pierced through layers of forest, connecting heaven and earth in a straight line. A golden giant tree hundreds of meters tall rose from the ground, its canopy blocking out the sky, and countless golden leaves swayed in the wind.

A hazy, sacred halo enveloped an area of several thousand meters, and at the very top of the canopy, a fist-sized golden spirit fruit hung suspended.

It shone with brilliant golden light, like a sun.

Pale golden restrictive spiritual energy flowed around it, steadily protecting the unripe golden spirit fruit.

That was the Element Forest battle zone, and also the birthplace of one of the five golden spirit fruits.

The closer one got to the target battle zone, the more eerie and deathly silent the atmosphere became.

The monster fights and Contestant skirmishes that were visible everywhere before had all vanished without a trace.

Along the forest floor, fresh monster carcasses, shattered armor fragments, and dried bloodstains could be seen everywhere.

Many people had heard the news and rushed over in advance, hoping to seize the initiative, but in the end, they were directly eliminated.

Ordinary Contestants dared not even approach the radiation range of the golden spirit fruit.

Because everyone knew clearly—the top geniuses were all gathered here.

A few minutes later, Lin Yan stepped out of the ordinary forest boundary and into the brand-new Element Forest battle zone.

The scene before his eyes changed abruptly.

At the same time, the dark and oppressive forest around him gradually disappeared, replaced by an extremely brilliant and strange forest.

The trees were crystalline throughout.

There were fire trees burning with flames.

There were cold trees covered in ice crystals.

There were thunder vines flashing with lightning.

There was even a sea of poisonous flowers emitting purple toxic mist.

Above the sky, torrents of elements flowed continuously, as if the entire world were filled with elemental power.

At the same time, a system prompt sounded.

The moment he crossed into the area, two brand-new battlefield rules crashed down.

[ Current battlefield terrain: Element Forest — This area contains various elemental creations; touching them will produce unexpected effects ]

[ Element Forest exclusive rule in effect, Elemental Roar — Randomly spawns single-element storms of fire, ice, lightning, poison, etc., throughout the area, continuously causing corresponding elemental erosion damage. Elemental skills and Talents have their power increased by 50%, and skills and Talents matching the element storm's attribute have their power doubled. ]

[ Overlay rule: Stiffening Amplification — After all targets are attacked, the duration of control effects such as stiffening, stun, and imprisonment is doubled, and the effects of control skills are comprehensively strengthened. ]

After entering the new battlefield, Lin Yan rested for a moment, used a potion to restore his health to full, then moved his body and steadily headed toward the core area of the light beam.

The wind howled, thunderclouds rolled faintly in the sky, and fine arcs of lightning struck the forest, each carrying a violent aura of destruction.

What was spawning at this moment was a lightning-attribute Elemental Roar.

The entire airspace was interwoven with lightning, continuously showering fine electric currents, constantly eroding the physical bodies and protective spiritual energy of everyone in the field.

Thanks to the element doubling rule, the lightning-attribute geniuses in this area saw their combat power soar by more than 30%, occupying an absolute geographical advantage.

And the Stiffening Amplification rule made everyone feel even more tense.

Here, once controlled, it was almost a certain death sentence.

Lin Yan stepped into the core area, activated his Bloodline Sensing, and his gaze swept over the figures standing all around, instantly seeing the various top geniuses lurking there.

Each one was a peerless genius who dominated their own territory, a ruthless character possessing an A-Rank Talent, and a hidden powerhouse at the top of the rankings.

The entire forest appeared calm and waveless, but in reality, murderous intent lay in wait, with undercurrents surging.

A burly youth wrapped in red flames stood with his hands behind his back on a highland piled with volcanic rock, billowing heat waves steaming from his body, the air distorted by the high temperature.

Han Yan! A top powerhouse from the five major Safe Zones, with the A-Rank Talent [ Blazing Sun Battle Body ].

A pure, ultimate burst-style melee fighter, his body carried scorching flames. He was violent and unruly, loved to fight, became stronger when facing strong opponents, and crushed the weak. He loved nothing more than to clash head-on with top powerhouses. The amplification from the Elemental Roar pushed his explosive power to a whole new peak.

At this moment, his eyes were slightly closed, and the flames around him were restrained and subdued. He looked calm, but in reality, his battle intent was already fully charged, waiting only for the golden spirit fruit to ripen before unleashing the most violent slaughter.

On the other side of the forest, a woman in plain clothes stood quietly on a treetop.

Her dark hair fluttered with the thunderous wind, and fine lightning surrounded her. The lightning falling from the sky was constantly drawn by the gravitational force around her, merging into her body.

Su Yueli! A-Rank Talent [ Heart of the Thunder God ].

The genius best suited to the current environment in the entire field.

The Element Forest, filled with thunderstorms, was her absolute home field. With lightning damage, lightning control, and speed bursts all comprehensively amplified, her combat power here far exceeded her usual level. Every gesture could summon heavenly thunder and earthly fire, deterring the entire field.

Her eyes were cold and clear as she gazed at the spirit fruit tree in the center, suspended with golden light. Her aura was steady, but she had been silently accumulating power for a long time, waiting only for the moment of ripening to strike with thunderous force and seize the fruit in one fell swoop.

Deep in the shadows of the forest floor, no figure could be seen, only countless tiny cyan-green vine roots silently spreading underground, covering every inch of land in the entire core battlefield.

Teng Qianhe! A-Rank Talent [ Ancient Life Vine ].

The genius in the field most skilled at resource contention and battlefield control.

She never clashed head-on, yet she was the most daunting.

Hundreds of vine roots were hidden underground, covering every corner of the field, ready to erupt at any time to bind, entangle, imprison, and block movement.

Not only with the elemental attribute amplification but also with the overlay of the Stiffening Amplification rule, her control effects were directly doubled. Once entangled, there was no escaping.

She hid in the shadows, no one knew her exact location, but she had already controlled the movement routes of everyone in the field, waiting to reap the rewards as the third party.

On the edge of the high-altitude clouds, a figure was indistinct, constantly performing short-distance spatial leaps, with an extremely eerie speed.

Ye Wuying! A-Rank Talent [ Spatial Leap ].

Universally recognized as the number one person most likely to seize the golden spirit fruit.

Unsolvable displacement, instant close-quarters approach, ignoring terrain, ignoring distance gaps.

He constantly calculated the distance, predicted the landing point of the ripe spirit fruit, and calibrated his teleportation coordinates. His eyes were determined; he was bound to win.

Besides these four top A-Rank Talent geniuses, there were more than a dozen powerhouses from the top of the rankings lurking in the forest, each with their own trump cards, guarding their own positions. No one made a sound, but everyone's nerves were taut.

And on a treetop that was the most elegant spot in the crowd, a figure in white faced the wind, with poetic charm flowing around him.

"Hidden blades in the forest wait for the dawn, heroes compete for the world. I lay my blade across to listen to the wind and rain, contending not for the mundane, but only for the frost."

Li Qingxiao closed his eyes, leaning against his sword, his fingertips lightly tapping the blade as he chanted in a low voice, looking dashing and peerless.

He did not contend or scramble, did not build up momentum, did not set up controls, and did not make calculations, as if he had no interest in the golden spirit fruit at all.

Yet, among all the geniuses in the field, no one dared to ignore him.

Entering the Dao through poetry and sword; the greatest sounds are silent.

A true top-tier sword cultivator does not strike unless necessary, but once they do, it is a decisive, fatal blow.

Lin Yan stepped into the center of the battle, instantly becoming the focus of many people's gazes.

"Which genius is this? To be so bold!"

"He actually dares to step into the center of the battlefield!"

Countless hidden murderous intents quietly fell upon Lin Yan.

The wind rose and thunder roared; the entire Element Forest was suffocatingly silent.

Everyone was waiting.

Waiting for that peerless spirit fruit to ripen.

The golden beam of light in the sky became increasingly blazing, and the system countdown slowly emerged.

[ golden spirit fruit ripening countdown: 30 minutes. ]

[ 20 minutes. ]

[ 10 minutes. ]

Time passed slowly, and the aura of every genius was quietly climbing to its peak.

Teng Qianhe's underground vines had completely spread out, weaving into an inescapable net;

The lightning around Su Yueli had accumulated to the extreme, and the thunderclouds in the sky pressed down heavily;

The flame power within Han Yan was boiling and surging, his battle intent monstrous;

Ye Wuying locked onto his final teleportation landing point, ready to strike;

Li Qingxiao finally stopped chanting, his fingertips gently brushing over the sword edge, a sharp gleam appearing in his eyes.

Ten thousand geniuses lay in wait, murderous intent filling the forest.

The entire Element Forest waited only for the final moment.

[ golden spirit fruit ripening countdown: 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1! ]

The great battle erupted in an instant!