26: First-tier nine stars

Lin Xingyu didn't care at all, raising his blade and slashing.

The wind-splitting blade plunged into the Crystal Armored Rat's body.

A cyan blade light pierced through it, and the Crystal Armored Rat was cut in half in mid-air.

With a thought, he brought the Crystal Armored Rat's corpse into his Inner World, handing it over to the World Tree for consumption.

The World Tree's consumption ability was astonishing, and the corpse quickly vanished.

Just as he was about to continue forward,

He suddenly felt a slight tremor from the ground.

He scanned his surroundings and noticed the ground not far away rapidly rising.

"Boom—"

The ground exploded, and three Crystal Armored Rats burst out from underground.

Lin Xingyu drew his blade and charged forward.

Under his fierce attacks, the three Crystal Armored Rats were quickly slain and consumed by the World Tree.

"Crystal Armored Rats are gregarious beasts; there should be more nearby!"

Lin Xingyu continued in that direction.

Along the way, Crystal Armored Rats continuously appeared, falling one after another beneath his blade, becoming nourishment for the World Tree... On the other side.

Wang Chiyao was completely covered in mech armor, frantically attacking the Leaf Beetles.

The mech's arms had transformed into two giant chainsaws.

Amidst the deafening roar, the Leaf Beetles were sawed in half.

This was her latest researched combat method, highly efficient and labor-saving.

However, as the battle continued, the mech's surface began to glow red and emit thick smoke.

Wang Chiyao had no choice but to stop, take a large water bottle from her waist, and pour water over herself.

"Sizzle..."

Steam instantly rose, enveloping her entire being in a white mist.

"Refreshing!"

Having solved the heat dissipation problem, Wang Chiyao plunged back into battle.

"These Leaf Beetles are too weak!"

"Haha, behold my Whirlwind Slash!"

At this moment, her mech was covered in the blood of Leaf Beetles.

But she didn't care at all; instead, she fought with even greater vigor, even humming a tune... In a wilderness.

Wang Ledian stood in a mud pit, looking smugly at the corpse of a Thorn Wild Boar at his feet.

The boar's shell was covered in sharp thorns, making it look like a giant hedgehog.

"Haha, I never thought I, Wang Ledian, would have such a magnificent day!"

He tapped the boar with a wrench while muttering to himself.

"This Thorn Wild Boar is a tough nut among beasts, and I actually took it down alone!"

"My b-rank spirit seed is indeed not to be underestimated!"

Wang Ledian looked at his wrench and saw that it was still stained with the boar's blood.

He shook it vigorously.

Unexpectedly, he used too much force and slipped.

With a "plop," he fell into the mud pit, splashing mud everywhere... Not far from Lin Xingyu.

Sun Mou and his companions encountered a rat swarm.

Unlike Lin Xingyu's group of three, they were luckier, having been teleported together at the start.

The few of them were already acquainted, so they naturally teamed up to hunt monsters.

Just as they were full of spirit and ready for a big fight, they encountered the rat swarm.

Looking at the increasing number of Sharp-toothed Rats before them, Sun Mou's face turned green.

"We need to retreat quickly, or we'll be surrounded!"

"Brother Sun, you have sensing abilities, quickly find a direction for us to break through! I can't hold on much longer!"

The skinny monkey beside him held a shield, desperately blocking the attacks of the Sharp-toothed Rats in front.

Each collision made his face a shade paler.

The other team members also defended, while looking around for areas with fewer beasts.

They didn't want to crush their trial stone just yet.

The trial had just begun, and they hadn't killed many monsters.

If they left now, their ranking would surely be at the bottom, and entering Starfall Academy would be virtually hopeless.

Sun Mou's spirit seed was [Gray-backed Hound], giving him a sensitive sense of smell.

As his nose twitched, he quickly locked onto a direction:

"I sense someone in that direction, maybe they can help us!"

"Alright, that direction it is! I still have one chance to fire an air cannon, everyone get ready!"

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the team members' stomachs rapidly swelled, growing larger and larger.

When it expanded to a certain extent, he opened his mouth wide.

"Boom—"

...On the other side.

Lin Xingyu had already annihilated the rat swarm before him.

As the last evolution fruit was swallowed, a System prompt sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for advancing to Rank One, Nine Stars!]

"Phew—"

"Finally leveled up!"

Lin Xingyu rubbed his somewhat sore arms.

There were many beasts in the Secret Realm; he had encountered a rat swarm not long after entering.

After a period of intense fighting, he finally wiped out the rat swarm, and his Rank also increased to Rank One, Nine Stars.

"Score: 126, Rank One."

Lin Xingyu connected his consciousness to the trial stone to retrieve his score and ranking information.

Only three days had passed since the Spirit Awakening Ritual, and most people were still at Rank One, One Star.

Only a very few individuals had consumed Heaven And Earth Treasure and increased their Rank.

For example, that Xia Fei, his Rank was Rank One, Four Stars.

And Su Yingxue, currently at Rank One, Three Stars, likely also used treasures to enhance her strength.

However, it wasn't a big problem.

With his Rank One, Nine Stars strength, he was definitely at an overwhelming level.

Just as he drank a few sips of spring water to recover his stamina, he suddenly heard a sound from ahead.

He looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw several figures dart out from the woods, followed by a swarm of Sharp-toothed Rats.

"Holy crap! More work!"

Lin Xingyu drew his wind-splitting blade and charged over.

These were all evolution fruits; they couldn't be wasted... After Sun Mou and his companions had fled for a distance, seeing that the Sharp-toothed Rats hadn't caught up, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Phew! Finally escaped!"

"The rat swarm didn't catch up; that blockhead helped us block the disaster."

"I think the armor he's wearing is good; it should be a spirit gear, probably enough to withstand for a while."

"Look, is that Concealing Grass up ahead?"

Just then, the skinny monkey suddenly pointed at the small grass not far away and shouted.

"It certainly is; I've seen it in textbooks, I didn't expect to find it here!"

"Quickly pick it, this also counts for points!"

"Dig out the roots too; the roots are even more effective than the leaves."

The few of them quickly ran over and started picking.

Sun Mou looked at the Concealing Grass before him, and suddenly some different ideas formed in his mind.

"Why don't we smear the Concealing Grass on ourselves and go back to see how that blockhead is doing?"

"His equipment is good; after he's killed by the rat swarm, we can pick it up!"

Hearing Sun Mou's words, the few of them's eyes lit up, and they all chimed in.

"Brother Sun is right; the rat swarm will only eat his corpse, not his equipment."

"If we go now, we'll likely find his equipment. With so many Sharp-toothed Rats, he might not even have a chance to crush his trial stone."

"That's a good idea! With Concealing Grass, it won't be easy for the rat swarm to discover us."

They acted immediately!

They crushed the Concealing Grass and smeared it on their bodies.

This dark green sap could help them conceal their aura.

Sun Mou saw that they were all smearing it on their bodies, leaving only their faces and hair.

"You need to smear it all over, including your face and hair, otherwise it won't be effective!"

"Having green hair like this, isn't that a bit odd?"

"Stop talking nonsense, we're all Evolvers, do we still care about that?"

...