199: Chapter 199 The Wan Hai Islands

The exterior of the entire building resembled a silver longsword thrust into the coastline, its base embedded in the seawall, while its tip pierced straight into the clouds.

The glass curtain walls refracted the light from the sea; seen from afar, the entire structure looked like a giant Source Crystal polished by the sea breeze and sunlight.

Under the guidance of staff members, the participating teams from the five countries entered through the main gate one by one.

Just after stepping into the lobby, Lu Cheng felt that something was wrong.

The lobby was crowded; the observation area, media area, and VIP reception area were all packed with people.

Many people held terminals in their hands, frantically filming in their direction.

"They're here, they're here!"

"Lu Cheng!"

"Holy crap, it's really him!"

"Little Spirit Fox, Mommy loves you!"

Snow Spirit was originally lying in Lu Cheng's arms, lazily swinging her two tails.

Hearing someone call her name, her ears twitched slightly, and she lifted her head to look over.

Her icy blue eyes blinked.

The crimson-gold fox fire at the tip of her tail flickered gently.

"Ahhh, she looked at me!"

"She really looked at me!"

"Help, why is she so cute!"

Academic Director Zhao Mingshan walked in the front, his expression somewhat subtle.

He knew Lu Cheng had a certain fan base, but he hadn't expected fans to be camping out even at the Demon City Seaside Relic Center.

On the right side of the lobby, someone suddenly raised a holographic support sign.

Several large characters appeared on the support sign.

[ Chengmenlixue ]

Below that was a line of small text.

[ Little Xue always supports Lu Cheng and Snow Spirit! ]

Immediately after, several young girls nearby shouted in unison.

"Chengmenlixue, guarding you to become King!"

"Brother Lu calls the roll, whoever comes gets cooled off!"

Lu Cheng's footsteps faltered.

A brief blank expression appeared on his face.

What the heck?

Chengmenlixue?

How come he, the person involved, didn't know about this?

Heavenly King Lin looked at the support sign, then at Lu Cheng, held it in for a long time, and finally squeezed out a sentence.

"Brother Lu, you've got quite the presence."

Xu Xinglan looked down at her terminal and said indifferently:

"The Houbo super-topic was established, it seems... last week..."

"The fan group is called Chengmenlixue, abbreviated as Little Xue."

"The super-topic's follower count has already broken three million."

Lu Cheng: "..."

He was silent for two seconds.

"Why do you know this so clearly?"

Xu Xinglan was expressionless.

"Because I also use Houbo."

Tang Zhiwei chuckled softly.

"Brother Lu, you're someone with a fan club now."

Just as the atmosphere of the onlookers became increasingly heated, several management personnel finally walked out from inside the building.

The leader was a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue uniform.

He wore an Advanced authority badge of the Seaside Relic Center on his chest, with over a dozen staff members following behind him.

"Contestants, welcome to the Seaside Relic Center."

"Please follow us to the preparation area."

As he spoke, he raised his hand.

The viewing areas on both sides of the lobby were immediately separated by a soft blue barrier.

The fans and media could only film from afar and could no longer get closer.

Lu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, he didn't have to continue being publicly executed.

However, before leaving, that group of "Chengmenlixue" fans was still waving very hard.

Under the guidance of the staff, everyone entered the interior of the building.

After passing through the first identity verification door, the noise from outside was instantly cut off.

The interior space of the Seaside Relic Center was extremely vast.

In the center was a huge vertical atrium that ran from the top floor all the way down to the depths of the underground.

Floating around the atrium were layers of circular platforms, with independent gates and protective Formations on the outside of each platform.

Transparent elevators shuttled up and down in the atrium, moving at extremely high speeds without making a sound.

Xu Xinglan looked at the surrounding structure, the pale cyan spirit patterns in her eyes flickering slightly.

"Spatial expansion technology; the interior space of this building is much larger than it looks from the outside."

The staff member smiled and said:

"The Seaside Relic Center utilizes some relic space stabilization technology."

"Each floor here corresponds to a different type of simulated relic."

"Volcanoes, snowfields, deserts, urban ruins, deep-sea caves, ancient battlefields... there are specialized floors for different training needs."

Jiang Xuance couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.

"This is just too rich."

Heavenly King Lin glanced around.

"Demon City is Demon City after all."

The staff member brought everyone to a special elevator.

There were three identity verifications at the elevator entrance.

The first one scanned the contestant authority.

The second one scanned life fluctuations.

The third one was verified personally by two guards wearing black combat uniforms.

Lu Cheng could feel that although these two guards looked like ordinary staff, their aura was extremely solid.

They were at least at the Advanced Hua Hai Realm, and there were even more auras hidden in the dark.

The security here was exaggeratedly strict.

The further down they went, the higher the security Rank.

The elevator began to descend.

Basement level 1.

Basement level 2.

Basement level 3.

And the place they were going to was at the very bottom.

Basement level 12.

The further the elevator went down, the darker the surrounding light became, and the smell of the sea in the air became more and more obvious.

Ding.

The elevator stopped.

Basement level 12 had arrived.

The doors slowly opened.

A damp sea breeze rushed toward them.

Even though they were still underground in the building, the wind carried a clear salty taste, and one could even hear the faint sound of tides in the distance.

Before them was a huge preparation lobby.

At the end of the lobby, there was a semi-circular relic portal.

The portal was built from dark cyan stone, its surface covered with complex source patterns, and the center was a flowing blue-black light curtain, like the deep sea slowly surging within the door.

Standing before the door were two powerful individuals with deep auras.

One was a Dragon person, wearing a black long trench coat, with cold and stern features, and the badge of the person in charge of the Seaside Relic Center on his shoulder.

The other was a Nordic person, with white hair and blue eyes, tall, draped in a silver-gray robe, with a faint chill on his body.

Both of them were at the War King Realm.

The Dragon person in charge saw everyone arrive and raised a hand to signal for silence.

"Contestants."

"We are the persons in charge of the third event."

The Nordic person in charge took over, his voice deep, transmitted into everyone's ears through a translation Formation.

"The name of this simulated relic is..."

"Myriad Sea Archipelago."

As his voice fell, everyone's terminals vibrated simultaneously.

A rule document was sent to everyone's terminal.

The Dragon person in charge continued:

"In this round of the competition, points are obtained by killing exotic beasts, cracking mechanisms, finding dropped items, and completing hidden tasks."

"The specific point calculation method has already been sent to your terminals; you can check it yourselves."

"Normal competition is allowed inside the relic, and snatching dropped items and point targets is permitted."

"But intentional killing is prohibited."

"When encountering life-threatening danger, the terminal will automatically trigger a protective teleportation."

"However, I need to remind everyone that the environment inside the relic is complex, and the teleportation mechanism is not absolutely instantaneous."

"Therefore, do not entrust your life to the rules."

This sentence made the atmosphere in the lobby sink slightly.

The white-haired Nordic person in charge raised his hand, and a ranking appeared above the lobby.

[ 1st Place: Dragon ]

[ 2nd Place: Sakura Island ]

[ 3rd Place: Tianlan Ancient Kingdom ]

[ 4th Place: Nordic Union ]

[ 5th Place: Eagle Country ]

"The entry order for this round will be arranged in reverse order based on the current ranking."

"The last place enters first and gains one hour of exploration time."

"When the fourth place enters, the third place will enter thirty minutes later."

"After the third place enters, the second place will enter twenty minutes later."

"After the second place enters, the first place will enter ten minutes later."

The members of the Dragon team looked at each other.

Academic Director Zhao Mingshan explained in a low voice on the side:

"Because of your appearance, the other four countries have strong opinions about the balance of this exchange tournament."

"They believe that Dragon sending you to compete has seriously undermined the fairness of the same-age competition."

Lu Cheng: "..."

"Wasn't my eligibility to compete already reviewed?"

Academic Director Zhao Mingshan said indifferently:

"It was reviewed."

"But they are not convinced."

"So, after the other four countries paid some price, the higher-ups agreed to give each country a certain degree of priority compensation for the third event."

"There was no such rule in previous years."

Jiang Xuance asked: "What price did they pay?"

Academic Director Zhao Mingshan glanced at him.

"Relic quotas, resource exchanges, joint exploration rights—you don't need to worry about the specifics."

"In any case, Dragon will not lose out."

Lu Cheng rubbed his chin.

"Then why didn't they demand to have me swapped out?"

Academic Director Zhao Mingshan looked at him, his tone very calm.

"They did."

"The higher-ups didn't agree."

Lu Cheng: "Oh."

Academic Director Zhao Mingshan added a sentence.

"And the higher-ups said that if they think you are disrupting the balance, they can go back and cultivate a seventeen-year-old in the Meridian Opening Realm to beat you."

Everyone: "..."

After hearing the entry rules, the Eagle Country team's expressions finally looked much better.

At least they had a one-hour head start.

Although they got zero points yesterday, if they played the third event well, there might still be a chance to catch up.

Adam looked at Lu Cheng, his eyes complex.

He had recovered a bit, but the spot on his face where he was hit seemed to still be aching faintly.

He didn't say much, just led the Eagle Country team into the portal first.

The blue-black light curtain swallowed their figures.

One hour later, the Nordic Union entered.

After quite a while, it was finally the Dragon team's turn.

The Dragon person in charge looked at them.

"Alright."

"Go in."

Everyone walked toward the relic portal in turn.

Lu Cheng walked in the middle, holding Snow Spirit.

The moment he stepped into the light curtain, the surrounding environment did not change immediately.

They first entered a long, narrow passage.

The passage was built of gray-black stone slabs, and the walls on both sides were covered with ancient murals.

The style of those murals was very strange.

In the first painting, the sky was not a sky, but an inverted sea.

Countless islands floated on the sea, and on the islands were cloud palaces, divine trees, and huge torii gates.

Those palaces hung high between the sea and the sky, yet they were like an archipelago.

In the second painting, a long bridge descended from the depths of the sky and sea.

The bridge was not a stone bridge, but a floating bridge woven from light, waves, bone fragments, and star sand.

Half of the bridge was in the sky, and half was in the sea, like a path connecting the gods and the archipelago.

Beside the mural were carved several ancient symbols.

In the third painting, two blurry figures stood at the end of the floating bridge.

They held a long spear in their hands, thrusting the spear tip into the Chaos sea.

With every stir, the sea pearls dripping from the spear tip would turn into an island.

Below some islands, huge black tentacles extended, as if something was supporting the entire archipelago from the seabed.

The fourth painting was even more eerie.

A divine kingdom hanging high above the sea cracked open.

The gods fell from the bridge.

The bridge broke into seven sections.

The seven bridge sections fell into seven sea areas, turning into seven island chains.

The section in the deepest part was carried away by a nine-tailed fox-shaped shadow, disappearing into the black sea tide.

Seeing that nine-tailed fox shadow, Snow Spirit suddenly lifted her head.

Her two tails tightened slightly.

"Papa."

"That..."

Lu Cheng asked in a low voice: "What's wrong?"

Snow Spirit stared at the mural.

"Don't like it."

Lu Cheng narrowed his eyes.

He looked back again.

The murals behind were more fragmented.

There were people wearing divine masks sacrificing on the sea.

There were countless paper boats drifting into the depths of the archipelago.

The last painting only had half left.

In the picture, a bridge rose from the sea surface, leading straight to the sky.

On the bridge stood a group of faceless people.

They looked down at the sea surface.

And beneath the sea surface, countless eyes were watching them.

Heavenly King Lin couldn't help but frown.

"These murals make one uncomfortable."

Lu Cheng looked at the paintings on the wall and suddenly asked:

"Why does every relic have these kinds of murals inside?"

Gu Changqing glanced at him.

"Not every one has them."

Xu Xinglan said:

"But relics with murals usually indicate that relatively complete civilization records once existed here."

Heavenly King Lin took over.

"Relics are originally from another world, or things left behind by some world fragments from ancient times."

"If intelligent life has lived there, they will naturally leave behind myths, writing, architecture, and traces of sacrifices."

"If nothing is left behind, that is actually more dangerous."

Lu Cheng raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Heavenly King Lin said:

"Because it means the things inside do not want later arrivals to know what it once was."

The passage was silent for a moment.

The smell of the sea breeze became more and more obvious.

That damp, salty, fishy aura, mixed with sunlight and rotten wood, surged from the end of the passage.

Snow Spirit lifted her head from Lu Cheng's arms, her nose twitching slightly.

Ahead, the light became brighter and brighter.

Everyone walked to the end of the passage.

The next second.

The view suddenly widened, and blinding sunlight spilled down.

The sound of waves roared into their ears.

Lu Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

After his eyes adjusted, what appeared before him was a sea so vast it was almost unreal.

The azure blue sea surface sparkled under the sunlight, and countless islands of all sizes floated in the distance.

Some islands were covered with dense forests.

Some islands emitted faint black smoke like volcanic cones.

Some islands floated in mid-air, with waterfalls cascading down from below, the water turning into white mist as it fell into the sea.

Huge seabirds swept across the sky, their cries sharp.

Further away, one could see a broken light bridge spanning between several islands.

The bridge seemed to be formed from moon-white stone and sea waves, with parts of the bridge body already broken, leaving only fragments floating in the air.

Lu Cheng looked back.

Behind them was a seaside stone gate.

The stone gate was embedded in the cliff of a small island, surrounded by green vines and glowing shells.

The sand under everyone's feet was as fine and white as snow.

The sea breeze blew over, carrying a salty taste that was as real as could be.

Jiang Xuance crouched down and grabbed a handful of sand.

"Is this really a simulated relic?"

Xu Xinglan opened her terminal.

On the terminal screen, a blank map automatically popped up.

As their location was confirmed, the map began to generate the surrounding terrain.

[ Region: Myriad Sea Archipelago · Initial Island ]

[ Current Team: Dragon ]

[ Point Tasks Enabled ]

[ Kill Exotic Beasts: Obtain points based on Rank ]

[ Crack Mechanisms: Obtain points based on difficulty ]

[ Find Dropped Items: Obtain points based on rarity ]

[ Hidden Tasks: Not triggered ]

[ Current Points: 0 ]

Xu Xinglan looked at the terminal.

"We can use the terminal to draw the map, and it can also display the scoring tasks in real-time."

Tang Zhiwei stepped lightly on the beach.

"The environment is too realistic."

Lu Cheng looked at the vast archipelago before him, thoughtful.

If he hadn't known in advance that this thing was modified from a real relic, he might have really thought it was just an Advanced simulation space.

But now that he knew the truth, looking at everything before him felt completely different.

How much of all this was real?

Lu Cheng looked down at the task interface on the terminal, then looked up at the archipelago in the distance.

"By the way..."

"Can relics actually be modified?"

Xu Xinglan pushed up her non-existent glasses.

"Theoretically, if the relic structure is stable and the core area is under control, it is indeed possible to carry out a certain degree of encapsulation and rule integration."

"But the difficulty is very high."

"Especially for this kind of large-scale spatial relic."

"The fact that Dragon could turn this into a competition venue shows that they have already mastered control over the periphery of the relic."

Lu Cheng looked further into the distance.