1: Have 8 billion people worldwide been collectively kicked out of the "game"?

(Ahem, this is a robbery, hand over your brains. If there are any mistakes, please skip over them and don't take it too seriously. ＼( ` Δ ' ) ／)

"Ding—Detected stable Soul fluctuations from the Myriad Races of the Heavens, meeting the entry standards for the 'Survival in Ten Thousand Realms' game."

"Ding—Heavenly Dao System initializing, currently binding all participants... Binding successful."

"Ding—Initial attributes for all participants have been forcibly balanced, racial talents temporarily Seal-ed, only basic physiological characteristics retained."

"Ding—'Survival in Ten Thousand Realms' game rules loading:"

"1. Participants will be randomly teleported to the Myriad Races of the Heavens (including cultivation, high-martial, technological, apocalyptic, etc., worlds). Goal: Survive."

"2. Killing monsters grants experience points for leveling up. Monster Ranks: black iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, epic-grade, Legendary Rank, mythical-grade, eternal-grade, heavenly dao grade, Transcendence Level. For every level gained by a monster of the same quality, experience points increase by 100% (e.g., a Level 1 black iron ordinary monster grants 10 points, Level 2 grants 20 points, Level 5 grants 50 points)."

"3. Monster Quality: ordinary, elite, leader, BOSS; experience multipliers are 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x respectively (e.g., Level 2 bronze elite experience = Level 2 black iron ordinary × 2 × 2 = 80 points)."

"4. Opening a treasure chest grants rewards; treasure chest Rank and experience multiplier rules are the same as monster Ranks."

"5. Completing random tasks issued by the Heavenly Dao allows for a return to the 'Resting World' for recuperation, with the duration of rest fluctuating based on the task rating."

"6. Personal system panel activated, including: chat (cross-world channels require permissions), trading, Storage Space (initial 1 cubic meter), attribute/skill display, pet (if any) evolution Materials display, and other functions."

A series of cold, mechanical voices resounded directly in Lin Chen's mind, as well as in the consciousness of the 8 billion humans globally and countless creatures of the "Myriad Races of the Heavens" that he had never heard of.

Lin Chen opened his eyes abruptly, discovering that a second ago he was still at his computer rushing to finish a project report, and the next second he was standing in a primeval forest filled with mist. The air was permeated with the smell of damp soil and the stench of some unknown plant, and terrifying roars could be faintly heard from afar.

"No way... I died from overwork, and I get a Hell-mode start as a bonus?" Lin Chen rubbed his dazed head, trying to digest the information in his mind.

8 billion people globally, plus the Myriad Races of the Heavens, were thrown into a battle royale game by something called the "Heavenly Dao"? And attributes are balanced, racial talents Sealed? Is this meant to make everyone (and everything) start from zero and compete to see who can survive and who can hack away?

Just then, a semi-transparent blue panel popped up before his eyes, identical to a game's system panel interface.

[Name: Lin Chen]

[Race: Human (Blue Star)]

[Rank: 1]

[Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 5, Physique 5, Spirit 5 (Initial average for all participants is 5)]

[experience points: 0 / 100]

[Skills: None]

[Talent: Awakening pending]

[Storage Space: 1 cubic meter (Empty)]

[Current World: Unknown Primeval Forest (Danger Rank: black iron)]

[Heavenly Dao Task: Survive in the unknown primeval forest for 72 hours, during which you must kill at least 10 black iron-grade ordinary monsters. Task Reward: 1000 experience points, basic attribute points × 5, black iron treasure chest × 1. Failure Penalty: Immediate erasure.]

The Heavenly Dao task was issued directly? And the failure penalty is erasure?

Lin Chen's pupils constricted; this Heavenly Dao really didn't leave anyone a way out. However, he had no time to complain; the panel before him had already provided the clearest survival goal—survive and kill enough monsters.

"As expected, there is a system panel..." Lin Chen took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He hadn't spent decades reading novels in his previous life for nothing; even though this start was absurd, the only rule to survive was to adapt to the rules and then utilize them.

"Talent Awakening pending? The previous prompt said everyone would have an Awakening of their talent..."

As soon as the thought finished, the "Talent: Awakening pending" column on the panel suddenly flickered, emitting a dazzling golden light.

"Ding—Talent Awakening in progress..."

"Ding—Detected unique special Soul fluctuation, triggering a conceptual-grade talent!"

"Ding—Talent Awakening successful: [Sublimation] (Unique Rank · Conceptual Grade)"

[Talent: Sublimation (Unique Rank · Conceptual Grade)]

[Effect: Can perform a Sublimation advancement on everything touched or perceived by Mental Energy (including but not limited to talents, skills, system panel, treasure chest, entities, void), increasing its Rank by one tier.]

[Characteristic 1: After Sublimation, the target will permanently acknowledge the owner/be controlled, and be bound to the host, unable to be plundered by any life form.]

[Characteristic 2: Sublimation has no consumption.]

[Restriction: Can only perform Sublimation advancement once on a single object.]

Lin Chen's eyes widened, his finger nearly poking the three words "Conceptual Grade" on the panel.

Unique Rank? Conceptual Grade? Sublimating everything? And can increase Rank? Permanently bound? No consumption?! This thing... is a cheat, right? It's a blatant cheat!

Although there was a "can only perform once on a single object" restriction, this was already ridiculously strong! Think about it: a black iron treasure chest, one Sublimation and it becomes bronze, the value doubles instantly; an F-Rank trash talent, one Sublimation and it becomes E-Rank, instantly escaping the bottom tier; if he got a skill book later, one Sublimation and it would level up directly...

Lin Chen's heart pounded wildly; his powerful mind instantly thought of countless ways to use it. But the next second, his gaze fell on the "Restriction," and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Only once... that's a bit of a pity."

Wait! Lin Chen suddenly thought of a key question.

"Does this talent [Sublimation] count as an 'object' itself?" "It's my talent, it belongs to the 'objects' I can perceive... so can I... perform a Sublimation on it?"

Once this thought emerged, even Lin Chen himself felt it was crazy. But he was not a hesitant person, especially in this life-or-death world; he could not let go of any possibility to become stronger.

He focused his Mental Energy, locking his thoughts tightly onto the [Sublimation] talent on the panel, and silently recited in his heart: "Sublimation!"

There were no earth-shattering phenomena, only the talent description on the panel quietly changed.

[Talent: Sublimation (Unique Rank · Conceptual Grade)]

[Effect: ...

[Characteristic 1: ...

[Characteristic 2: ...

[Restriction: Can perform Sublimation advancement twice on a single object. (Note: This talent has reached its current form's limit and cannot be Sublimated again.)]

Lin Chen: "!!!"

It worked?! Not only did it work, but the restriction directly doubled! From once to twice! Although the talent itself could not be Sublimated again, this was already a Heaven-Defying level of enhancement!

Two Sublimations! A black iron ordinary treasure chest, the first Sublimation makes it bronze, the second makes it silver directly! Materials dropped by elite monsters, Sublimated twice, jump two levels directly!

Lin Chen clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails almost embedding into his flesh, but his face could not suppress the wild joy.

"Hahaha... this wave is not a loss!"

He suppressed his excited mood and began to plan calmly. His talent was his trump card and must never be known by anyone. In this survival game with 8 billion humans and countless alien races, exposing a talent of this level was equivalent to sentencing himself to death.

"First, get familiar with the environment, find a weak monster to test the waters, and level up while completing the task." Lin Chen restrained his aura and carefully pushed aside the bushes in front of him.

His luck seemed good; not long after walking, he found a box emitting a faint white light in the hollow of a huge ancient tree. The surface of the box was carved with complex patterns, and the edges were inlaid with metal strips similar to platinum.

[Discovery: platinum treasure chest]

[Rank: platinum]

[Note: Contains random platinum-grade rewards, pay attention to the surrounding environment when opening.]

platinum-grade! Lin Chen's eyes lit up; this starting luck was simply explosive! You have to know, the danger Rank of the world he was currently in was only black iron; being able to find a platinum treasure chest here was definitely pure luck.

He vigilantly looked around, confirmed that no monsters were lurking, and quickly came to the tree hollow, locking his Mental Energy onto the platinum treasure chest.

"First time, Sublimation!"

Hum—The platinum treasure chest trembled violently, the patterns on its surface lit up with golden light, the color of the inlaid metal strips became deeper, and flowing light faintly rotated on them.

[platinum treasure chest has been Sublimated, Current Rank: diamond treasure chest]

"Second time, Sublimation!" Lin Chen did not hesitate and activated his talent again.

This time, the light emitted by the treasure chest was even more dazzling; the entire chest seemed to be wrapped in a layer of glaze, and as the patterns flowed, they faintly formed the prototype of Law runes.

[diamond treasure chest has been Sublimated, Current Rank: epic treasure chest]

epic-grade! Lin Chen took a deep breath and carefully opened the epic treasure chest.

There was no golden light shining from inside the treasure chest, only an egg the size of a fist, completely snow-white, lying quietly inside. The surface of the egg was covered with fine fox-fur-like patterns, and a faint phantom of a curled-up little fox could be seen.

[Obtained: epic-grade · White Fox Pet Egg (Capable of Shapeshifting)]

[Quality: epic-grade]

[Note: After hatching, you can obtain a White Fox pet with Shapeshifting ability, with huge potential.]

A pet egg capable of Shapeshifting! And it's epic-grade! Lin Chen's heart pounded wildly again. The role of a pet in this kind of survival world is self-evident, let alone an epic-grade pet that can Shapeshift.

He did not hesitate at all and immediately locked his Mental Energy onto this White Fox Pet Egg.

"First time, Sublimation!"

The patterns on the surface of the White Fox Pet Egg instantly became clear, the eggshell glowed with a layer of soft seven-colored halo, and the little fox in the phantom seemed to move slightly.

[epic-grade · White Fox Pet Egg has been Sublimated, Current Quality: Legendary Rank · White Fox Pet Egg (Capable of Shapeshifting)]

"Second time, Sublimation!"

This time, the light erupted from the pet egg even overshadowed the previous epic treasure chest. The patterns on the eggshell came completely alive, turning into mini White Fox phantoms flying around the egg body, and a faint holy aura permeated the air.

[Legendary Rank · White Fox Pet Egg has been Sublimated, Current Quality: mythical-grade · White Fox Pet Egg (Capable of Shapeshifting)]

mythical-grade! Lin Chen looked at the White Fox Pet Egg in his hand that was emitting a holy aura, his mouth grinning from ear to ear.

A conceptual-grade talent at the start, casually picking up a treasure chest and Sublimating it twice to become epic, then Sublimating the pet egg obtained from it twice to become mythical-grade directly? This "Survival in Ten Thousand Realms," doesn't seem that hard after all.

(All things such as treasure chests, Materials, items, monsters, etc., are divided into: black iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, epic-grade, Legendary Rank, mythical-grade, eternal-grade, heavenly dao grade, Transcendence Level)