Age of Evolution

Chapter 277: 277: The Holy Relic

Lin Zhen rose and came out of his tent. After transformation by the Domineering Stone, his senses had heightened to a level where he could perceive sounds that others could not, or barely hear.

Wu Hai was speaking into a walkie-talkie in his tent.

“What? A holy artifact…? Rage Dragon Beast’s lair, huh…? Okay… a mask…

should not… I’ll monitor it…”

There was an ongoing stream of fragmented conversation and odd sounds.

After returning to his tent and resting for a while, Lin Zhen was called by Wu Hai to get up—it was already dawn.

Believing all was well, Wu Hai announced, “Let’s all pick up the pace. There’s a Rage Dragon Beast’s lair near the entrance to the second layer. We aim to get there within two days, explore the lair, and make our expedition worthwhile. Several batches of martial artists have tried before us and failed. Even if we can’t enter the second layer, as long as we can find something valuable in the dragon’s lair, it will not be a wasted trip.”

As the team proceeded, Qin Huashang approached Lin Zhen. “Young bro, we’re going to explore the Rage Dragon Beast’s lair. I’m certain you’ll make a great discovery,” she said optimistically.

Lin Zhen curiously asked Qin Huashang, “Why do you always call me ‘young

Qin Huashang’s charming eyes lowered a bit. “Promise you won’t get mad at what I’m about to say?”

“Of course not.”

Only then did Qin Huashang quietly say, “You know, you remind me a lot of someone.” “Who?”

“My idol, Lin Zhen.”

Upon hearing Qin Huashang’s words, Lin Zhen remained tight-lipped for a moment. She seemed somewhat bashful.

“Oh, that Lin Zhen. I’ve heard I seem to have a similar build to his.”

“Yes, I adore him. I’ve been following his career since he defeated those Sand Russia war generals in Gale. At that time, I wasn’t married and even dreamt of marrying him. Sadly, I got married later….”

“What about your husband, sister Qin?” Lin Zhen didn’t expect this glamorous woman to be his fan, which made him engage in further conversation.

“He died on our wedding day, fighting in a brawl to help a fellow martial artist friend,” Qin Huashang solemnly shared.

“You should find yourself another man.”

“Well, maybe, but right now, I don’t even want to consider it. I’ve collected all of Lin Zhen’s clips and often review them. Although Lin Zhen and I seem light-years apart — I’ll probably be stuck at the lower star level while he’s destined to soar up high — when I see you, I feel a strong resemblance. I know Lin Zhen inside and out and your profile and expressions are nearly identical to his.”

Lin Zhen smiled without saying anything, thinking to himself how incredible women’s observational abilities are.

Qin Huashang continued, “Sometimes, I wish that even if Lin Zhen isn’t my husband, he could at least be my little brother. Then, I could hold him openly, and when he’s pleased, he might even hug me. If he could really hold me once, then I could die with no regrets!”

Looking at this woman, who clearly should have left dreaming to the younger ones but still liked dreaming herself, Lin Zhen smiled.

All through the journey, Qin Huashang showed him some of his own clips. “This is a photo of him defeating the Sand Russia martial artists. Look how naiVe and cute he was then…”

“This is from when he descended the Zhao Dong Building in Zhao Dong. Look at him stepping on a crow with shining eyes. I knew then that I was in love with him…”

“And this, this is from the preliminary War God’s Knockout.”

“This is his shot when he defeated Huo Luofu, so cool!”

“And this… this is from a TV interview where he pledged to invest 600 billion in rebuilding Ice City’s wall….”

Lin Zhen looked through the chronicles of his past, none of which he had collected himself. He hadn’t expected this woman to have them all.

“Ah! I actually shouldn’t have come to the Ancient Gods’ Legacy. Wu Hai had made himself clear about the exploration of the Rage Dragon’s lair and the second layer; my skills simply aren’t there yet. But I was too bored and needed some adventure in my life. Otherwise, I might just die missing Lin Zhen. I didn’t expect to meet you here. Although you’re not Lin Zhen, you make me feel comfortable, I don’t find you repelling at all. That’s why I’ve been kind to you.”

Lin Zhen glanced at Qin Huashang. “Sister Qin, you’re not thinking of using me as a substitute for Lin Zhen, are you?”

“Hehe, would you be willing? An Ming, if we both survive, will you accompany my sister once for Lin Zhen?”

Lin Zhen looked at Qin Huashang in surprise, but she suddenly smiled and said, “I’m just teasing you. Look how scared you are. I’m not that easy. If you want me, you’ll have to work for it. Humph!”

As she said this, Qin Huashang gave Lin Zhen a faint look, which was rather charming.

Lin Zhen seemed a bit dumbfounded: “I really envy Lin Zhen. How great it would be if I could be him.”

During the following three days, Qin Huashang enjoyed chatting with Lin Zhen about life, dreams, and even the future. Despite exhibiting quite a bit of jealousy, Lin Zhen sometimes seemed unhappy. Whenever Qin Huashang mentioned herself, Lin Zhen would appear rather indifferent, with a jealous look on his face.

It was fine on the first day, but from the second day onwards, Qin Huashang gradually stopped talking about this topic with Lin Zhen, and their relationship cooled down.

During the nights, Lin Zhen would continue practicing his Spatial Folding.

On the first night, Lin Zhen’s progress was still incredibly fast, achieving a completion rate of one in six hundred and seventy seconds.

The second night was slightly slower. Lin Zhen improved his completion rate to one in eight hundred and fifty seconds, which was already quite close to one in a thousand seconds.

On the third night, Lin Zhen gave it his all and directly improved his completion rate to an impressive one in nine hundred and ninety-nine seconds. However, he was still lacking just a tiny bit to reach one in a thousand seconds.

“I’m short just a tiny bit. I am now adept to the fullest extent possible with my current technique. What I need now is a modest increase in power. There hasn’t been a chance to practice since my arrival here. Maybe a few meditations, preferably with an S-level crystal, would allow me to achieve a conversion within one-thousandth of a second. Unfortunately, I don’t have any S-level crystals right now. If I used a quasi-S-level crystal, it would take a lot of time, which I’m afraid I don’t have.”

Early in the morning on the fourth day, the team finally arrived in front of a mountain peak.

The mountain peak was very high, almost touching the ceiling of the first layer. There was a metal door at the summit, which was the entrance to the second layer. However, there was also a Winged Dragon nest nearby and numerous Winged Dragons were hovering over the mountain top. It would certainly not be easy to get past them.

There were already several teams gathered at the foot of the mountain, all seemingly ready to explore the Rage Dragon Beast nest.

“We’re late, there are already quite a few teams here.” Qin Huashang said.

Wu Hai shook his head: “Not too late, these teams haven’t entered yet. A small squad can’t explore the Rage Dragon Beast’s nest alone. I came here hoping to join forces with other small squads.”

Seeing Wu Hails team approaching, a member of the European Union team whistled: “Another team’s shown up, another one heard about the Holy Artifact and wants a piece of the action.”

Luo Fei was stunned: “What Holy Artifact is he talking about?”

Zhang Zhen replied coldly: “Rumors have been circulating these past few days that there’s a Holy Artifact in the Rage Dragon Beast’s nest. A Holy Artifact is something a notch higher than a top-quality Star Artifact. No one knows if it’s true or not. But all the Star Realm Experts who have arrived here have gone to the second layer. If there really is a Holy Artifact, then it’s a matter of which team can get it.”

Lin Zhen didn’t ask any additional questions. The reason he followed them to the Rage Dragon Beast’s nest instead of leaving was for the chance at a Holy Artifact.

Of course, he knew about Holy Artifacts. Within the Star Realms, Star Artifacts were considered standard weapons, mass -produced items, while only Holy Artifacts were the exclusive weapons of the experts. In his previous life, the strongest weapon Lin Zhen had ever used was a lower-grade Holy Artifact sword. In this life, if he wanted to confront Star Realm Experts, a Holy Artifact was a must-have.

Wu Hai walked over and started talking with the other team leaders.

There were three teams gathered here, one from India, one from the African Union, and one from the European Union.

Each team had comparable strength to Wu Hai’s – a quasi-Star Realm leader, followed by a few Level 9 and Level 8 War Gods, and each team had a Spiritual

Mind Master. However, Lin Zhen on Wu Hails side seemed a bit weaker, a Seventh -level War God, a late Golden Stage Spiritual Mind Master – while the other teams had Level 9 War Gods, two late Golden Stage mind masters, and an early Dark Gold Stage mind master.

The leader of the African Union team even recognized Wu Hai, and greeted him when he saw him coming: “Wu, so you’ve finally arrived here.”

“Ebola, you’re still here? You’ve been here for a month, haven’t you moved to the second layer yet?”

“That’s right, but you have to understand, Wu, moving up to the second layer is not easy. I’ve seen three teams go through the mountain peak to the second layer, and none of them lasted a day before they retreated. One team was left with two people, and one team was left with only one person.”

“That dangerous?” Wu Hai looked surprised; he had been looking forward to the second layer all this time.

“The teams were all composed of quasi-Star Realm experts, they could only sneak around the borders there. Do you think it’s dangerous or not? That’s a world for Star Realm experts.” Ebola spread his hands.

Wu Hai seemed a bit disheartened upon hearing this: “Have you entered the

Rage Dragon Beast’s nest?”

“We went in, but the nest was very deep. We didn’t get very far each time we went in, and we always ended up retreating. And every time we lost some soldiers. The team we have now is put together temporarily for this purpose. We plan to go in again when we have more people.”