144: Hidden Thunder Dragon

His gaze lingered for a moment, then swept across the area around them: "We don't have much time."

His voice was steady: "Youlong Dojo, Lei Jiu'an."

"From a Dojo."

Qin Jin raised an eyebrow slightly and responded, "Martial Abyss, Qin Jin."

"From Wu Yuan Academy?"

Hearing the reply, a hint of excitement flashed in Lei Jiu'an's eyes, and he extended his hand, saying, "Please enlighten me."

As his words fell, he moved!

The golden patterns on his shoulders and back rippled, his figure burst forward, and as his origin power surged, a peculiar aura formed around him, faintly resembling a dragon coiling around him. He stepped and ran, the dragon shape accompanying him, like a soaring dragon piercing through clouds.

At the same time.

The moment he started, behind Qin, the beeping sound stopped.

The charging bar was full.

The restrictions on the teleportation gate vanished, and the vortex inside spun, fully activating the withdrawal point.

Almost simultaneously.

Within this previously silent area, figures emerged from their hiding places, rapidly approaching the teleportation gate. In their rush, some immediately engaged in combat, while others, without conflict, quickly drew near.

In front of the teleportation gate.

Lei Jiu'an closed the distance, his figure suddenly leaping up. As his power surged, the dragon-shaped aura grew even more spirited, one fist forward, one fist back,

He descended upon Qin from above, his aura coiling around him, like a fierce dragon pouncing on its prey.

It was at this moment.

Qin moved.

As the opponent's fist descended from the sky, he raised his hand into a palm, blocking it.

Palm and fist collided, emitting a explosive sound.

"This aura, a Second Transformation?"

Perceiving the opponent's strength, Qin Jin's tone was calm: "Not bad, but not enough."

And just as his voice sounded.

He gripped the fist, completely enveloping Lei Jiu'an's hand.

Lei Jiu'an didn't hesitate. His origin power surged, and he used the momentum to rise again, bringing his other fist towards Qin. The dragon-shaped aura around him swayed with it, like a dragon's claw striking forward.

The distance between them was extremely close.

Qin Jin's speed was even faster than his.

The moment he gripped the fist, his origin power burst forth. Qin stood unmoving in front of the teleportation gate, but fierce lightning surged around him. His origin power transformed into lightning, and then—the lightning coalesced, rising around his body, forming a Thunder Dragon!

The moment the Thunder Dragon formed, it seemed as if a true dragon's roar actually reverberated.

This was a technique from the Lightning Marsh True Explanation.

During the Tiancang Immortal Dynasty era, the world was full of endless divine wonders, and true dragons were available for cultivators to emulate.

Now, he activated this technique with his origin power, unleashing it.

After undergoing successive transformations, the cultivator's method and the martial path had already established a connection within him.

The Thunder Dragon ascended, roaring.

Lei Jiu'an's fist swung out, and in the next instant, the Thunder Dragon, just inches away, roared forth. The dragon-shaped aura around him blocked it for a moment, then shattered. It was then that Qin released his grip.

The Thunder Dragon impacted Lei Jiu'an's body, causing him to retreat repeatedly. In the next instant, the power contained within it burst forth, lightning spread, and a teleportation halo rose, making the opponent's figure disappear.

A true dragon slays a false dragon.

"The Po Xian Cup has age restrictions; it won't exceed three years up or down."

"Someone from a Dojo, undergoing a Second Transformation at this age, must be a direct disciple or a secret disciple. It's quite rare."

"Too bad."

"Still not enough."

A thought flashed through his mind.

Qin did not rush to collect his spoils of war.

He looked around, sweeping his gaze across the area. This withdrawal point had attracted seven or eight teams. Some were alone, while others had found teammates from their own faction. Battles were occurring nearby, and many people, with clear objectives, were charging towards him.

More accurately, they were charging towards the teleportation gate behind him.

His eyes lowered slightly, and Qin Jin's mind stirred, activating his Secret Treasure at this moment!

Behind him, a mountain and river scene appeared. Compared to when the Secret Treasure first emerged, some parts within it had begun to solidify, showing obvious improvement.

At the center, a divine tree swayed, and the fruits above it grew increasingly numerous.

A domain-type Secret Treasure.

The moment the Secret Treasure was activated, it rapidly expanded, almost instantaneously enveloping all enemies within this area. A sense of suppression immediately assailed them.

Activating the Secret Treasure was not to defeat the enemy, but merely to prevent them from escaping.

In that instant, Qin Jin moved.

With the Secret Treasure's enhancement, his speed increased by another notch, transforming into a streak of light, instantly approaching the nearest opponent. His origin power burst forth, accompanied by the flashing teleportation halo.

In the next instant, he attacked others.

Some tried to seize this opportunity to change direction and approach the teleportation gate, but the moment they made a move, they clearly felt the sense of suppression abruptly intensify.

This battle began in an instant.

And it ended quickly.

The afterglow of the teleportation halo still lingered, and many spatial items, as well as temporarily made simple packages, lay on the ground. However, there were no other people around the teleportation gate.

"What a pity."

"Didn't encounter any bigger fish."

Qin collected all of his spoils.

For this Po Xian Cup, there were two types of opponents he hoped to face.

Firstly...

The third-year students from the seven major academies. Each academy only sent one third-year student, so their strength was imaginable.

Secondly...

It was the Spiritual Energy User!

This Lei Jiu'an was already an unusual individual. Hailing from a Dojo, and able to undergo a Second Transformation at this time, the Dojo he came from was definitely not ordinary. However, compared to the top students of the seven major academies, he was undoubtedly at a disadvantage.

However, the area of the civilization ruins was vast, so not encountering them was normal.

After gathering his spoils, Qin calculated the time and waited there.

No one else came after that.

During the first exploration and search, most participants were in the adaptation phase and clearly wouldn't try to push the time limit.

At the final three seconds.

Qin Jin stopped waiting and stepped into the teleportation gate.

Ripples flowed, and after Qin Chi entered, the teleportation gate closed, falling silent once more.

Due to the existence of the [Charging Phase], the maximum time for fixed withdrawal points was five minutes earlier than the search time.

Throughout the entire civilization ruins, as time passed and the three-hour countdown ended, mist rose, shrouding the place once again.

The surrounding environment changed.

Qin Jin appeared in the courtyard.

The moment he appeared, a light screen materialized in front of him, displaying information.

"Student Qin Chi, do you require healing services?"

"Note: Healing requires points, and the cost varies depending on the severity of the injury."

"Note: Those with zero points can deduct points in advance."

"Note: If negative points exceed 200, you will be directly eliminated from the team competition."

Qin raised an eyebrow slightly.

"So, the healing aspect was waiting here."

"This undoubtedly increases the cost of [defeat]."

"You win, I lose, and the gap between us widens a bit more."

"However, this is a competition. The stronger should naturally have more advantages."

A thought flashed by, and Qin Jin thought of more: "If this continues, as the number of searches increases and factions gain means of communication,

perhaps scenarios of group hunting others will emerge."

"Instead of improving oneself, it's better to weaken others."

He took out his spatial item and, manipulating it, used his wristband to scan the items he had acquired.

As he expected, ordinary tools, materials, food, etc., were not on the points list at all.

The old lightsaber exchanged for 20 points.

The diary yielded no results after scanning. The wristband prompted that it needed to be parsed into information content before being submitted for point evaluation.

The black box he obtained, the core component of a mechanical body, was worth 230 points.

After checking his own gains, he began to examine the gains from his final interception of others.

Some had simply collected a pile of junk, while others had some minor valuable items. The most stable source of points, however, was spatial equipment.

In the wristband's point evaluation, spatial equipment was priced in the tens of points range, fluctuating slightly due to minor differences in specific spatial size.

In reality, the value of spatial equipment is clearly more than that, but within the civilization ruins, the ability to produce so much spatial equipment is undoubtedly, like food, a special aid from the organizers, hence the restriction on points.

After picking up another spatial item, Qin took out its contents, which fell into the courtyard. His gaze swept over them, then suddenly froze.

It was a special instrument, predominantly white, less than half a person's height.

The wristband scanned, and information appeared.

"Basic Healing Device"

"Points": 510 points.

A healing device!

Qin briefly recalled that this spatial item should belong to the participant who tried to seize the opportunity to enter the teleportation gate during the final interception.

"No wonder he was so intent on evacuating."

"So he found a big score."

A thought flashed through Qin Jin's mind.

Although he himself wouldn't use it, given that healing required extra points, the value of such a healing device was higher than its actual score.

Even if points couldn't be traded, those strong enough could even use this healing device to act as a "field medic," charging others for healing during the exploration phase in exchange for other items.

Of course—

This would also be putting the cart before the horse.

Qin finished scanning all the items and finally looked at his wristband.

"Current accumulated points": 1640

"There's no real-time ranking, so I don't know how this score stands."

"However, the initial search area was too barren, so it won't create a large gap. I wonder if the next exploration area will be deeper."

Thoughts flowed through his mind, and Qin's gaze settled on the healing device and the diary.

"Next exploration, I can bring them in."

"Items brought out of the ruins, once their points are evaluated, will not be reclaimed. This means they can be used directly. I don't need the healing device myself, but if I encounter a situation like Chi Wenwu's today, I can help them."

"I'll keep the diary with me and parse it as soon as I have a parsing method."

A thought flashed.

Qin Chi thought of more.

His gaze lingered on the healing device: "The same item should only be scanned for points once. A competition of the Po Xian Cup's caliber wouldn't have such obvious point-farming loopholes."

"However, items like the healing device are inherently valuable. If one were to drop it, it would be a significant loss."

Qin's gaze shifted, looking at the mechanical core that was still frozen to the side.

"If the person from Shenji Academy saw that, they'd probably modify it into a core component for a mech."

The people from Shenji Academy had opened up Qin's thinking.

With his profession as a mech pilot and his recent studies, he could also achieve the same goal as them—creating a temporarily controllable mech—provided he had enough materials.

However—

This held little significance for him.

Everyone has their strengths, and for Qin, in this Po Xian Cup, he had absolute confidence in his own strength and still had too many trump cards unused.

Since that was the case, it was better to continue cultivating.

If, in the later stages of the team competition, he truly encountered a similar situation, he would either smash the opponent's mech.

Or snatch the opponent's mech!

A thought flashed, and Qin Jin returned to the lounge, sat cross-legged on the bed, and quietly began to cultivate.

About two hours passed.

As the prompt sounded, a teleportation vortex appeared in the courtyard.

Qin Chi had already prepared everything, taking his spatial item, and stepped in.

A sensation of traversing came.

In the next instant, the surrounding environment changed. Qin shifted his gaze, sweeping over the situation around him.

His gaze first focused on a tall building.

From the outside, it appeared to be a large library.

The overall structure of the library was still intact. The side closest to Qin Jin had floor-to-ceiling windows, most of which were broken. Looking inside, one could still see fallen bookshelves and books that were somewhat decayed, some seemingly still readable.

"Good place."

Qin Jin's eyes lit up: "Libraries contain the most information, and there might even be translation devices or similar equipment. This teleportation location is very good."

"The architectural style of this civilization ruin is quite similar to the Federation's. Could it be that some optimization was done during its construction?"

He raised his wristband and opened the map.

Nearby fixed withdrawal points were displayed.

At the same time, Qin discovered that he could zoom in and out of the map.

While manipulating it, the map zoomed out, and Qin Chi saw a winding path light up in another direction, extremely far from his current location.

That was the area he had explored during his first search.

"The distance is very far, so it's indeed a random teleportation."

"However—"

"If viewed from the entirety of the civilization ruins, this search area is a bit deeper than the initial one."

The wristband was put away.

Just as Qin was about to enter the library directly.

Footsteps sounded from the corner ahead. Sensing something, Qin Jin's brow slightly raised, and he looked over.

From around the corner, a graceful figure stepped out.

It was Bai Huaiyu!

This time, at the very beginning of the teleportation, he encountered his teammate.

"Qin Jin."

Bai Huaiyu looked around with great interest, and her eyes lit up when she saw Qin Jin.

"This time, I ran into you."

"Looks like my luck is good."

Hearing her words, Qin Jin thoughtfully said, "Did you encounter our classmates during your last exploration as well?"

"Shi Luoshu."

Bai Huaiyu spoke the name: "Our initial teleportation locations weren't far apart, and we made contact at the start, but we quickly separated."

"That third-year senior seemed to have his own plans."

Qin Chi nodded.

He pointed to the library on one side and said, "Together?"

"Okay."

Bai Huaiyu readily agreed.

The two had already met when they first arrived at the academy and were quite familiar with each other. After walking side by side into the library, Qin Jin's gaze fell on the covers of the mostly decayed books, sweeping over them.

Unknown script.

It should be from the same source as the diary and would require deciphering.

His gaze swept around, and Qin went straight to the management desk on the first floor, preparing to see if there were any translation devices or similar equipment.

After all, this wasn't a real civilization ruin, but a competition ground, so there must be a solution.

Just as Qin was searching.

Bai Huaiyu's eyes grew even more interested. She stepped towards the fallen bookshelves, bent down, and gently picked up a book, looking at its cover and softly reading aloud.

"Stars—Apocalypse."

Within the vast library, there were only two people.

With Qin Jin's current hearing, the sound clearly entered his ears.

He blinked, stopped his actions, looked at Bai Huaiyu, and his eyes rippled as his voice sounded.

"You recognize this script?"

Bai Huaiyu's expression was calm, and she nodded.