Age of Evolution

Chapter 449: 449: Leaving the Pass

Lin Zhen put away his Yin-Yang Spear, lamenting the difficulty of the Purgatory level.

“Master, don’t be dissatisfied. You should know that you’re currently only in the Comet Stage. Other people of your realm are still struggling in the ordinary difficulty of the virtual training field, while you’ve already reached Purgatory.”

Lin Zhen paused for a moment and realized that unconsciously, he had already surpassed many people of his realm.

Not to mention the Comet Stage, even the average Constant Star Stage couldn’t pose a threat to Lin Zhen anymore, considering he wasn’t just in an ordinary Comet Stage, he also had a Dark Star inside of him. The combination of two Star Powers made his Star Power comparable to an average Constant Star Stage.

With all his various methods, it would be hard for him to find an opponent within the Constant Star Stage.

Lin Zhen calculated the time remaining and concluded that the World Stone Event was only a month away.

“Time flies so fast, another year has almost passed, and I’ve practiced in the virtual field for a full ten months.”

“Master, do you want to leave now?” Chris asked.

“Not yet. I still have a month. I’ve calculated that I can break through to Comet Level 9 during this time, then leave and have a few days left to prepare.”

“Master, I suggest you buy Mithril now. After you break through to Comet Level 9 and use Fire Copper Essence again, you will break through to Satellite Stage. The World Stone event will take three months, so you need to buy at least the first two doses of Mithril.”

Lin Zhen nodded. In his Dark Star Space, all his Kirin Coins had been used to exchange for Santu River Currency and to purchase Fire Copper Essence.

He spent 60 trillion Santu River Currency, which amounted to 600 billion Kirin Coins.

“Right, you have a point. Let’s buy it, but Mithril is too expensive, 100,000 for one gram. Practicing in Satellite Stage would drain all my savings.”

“Master, as long as you have strength, you can acquire any amount of money. This World Stone Event is an opportunity, so power is the most important.”

“You’re right. Let’s buy it now.”

During this time, Lin Zhen occasionally exchanged the currencies of various advanced cosmic nations, all for Kirin Coins.

Once again, he exchanged Kirin Coins, Lin Zhen bought enough Mithril to practice until the Planet Stage.

The advanced cosmic nation currencies he had gained in the World Stone were mostly spent, only 100 million of each type remained as a souvenir. Lin Zhen had only 100 billion Kirin Coins left.

“Although 100 billion Kirin Coins may still be a lot, compared to before, I feel like I’ve gone back to the past.”

When Lin Zhen purchased Mithril, he took the time to look at the situation outside.

Currently, the Hills Star was in turmoil. An incredibly large number of people from various powers were participating in the World Stone challenge and recruiting experts from all places at all costs, hoping to gain substantial profits in this battle.

With so many experts gathered together, conflict was inevitable. At this time, forces like the Star River Giant Beast Alliance, which Lin Zhen was part of, seemed to be of little significance.

The reason was that the Star River Giant Beast Alliance mainly looked at genes. Only those with matching genes could be selected, so the number of people was minimal, making them appear weak in comparison.

Hence, other competing parties didn’t take the Star River Giant Beast Alliance seriously.

So, during this time, stories about various experts were circulating, with some people exhibiting their extraordinary talents and becoming strong contenders for the World Stone event.

Lin Zhen didn’t have time to pay attention to these outside matters and focused on practicing hard for the last month.

“Breaking news! The World Stone map has been leaked!”

“Yellow Springs Netherworld full guide, inside information, 1,000 per copy!”

“Beware of Jin Haonan’s enemies in the Heavenly Tower, he claims he will take them out at the Santu River bank.”

“Dragon Totem experts emerge, boasting they will secure at least five positions in the top twenty!”

“The only expert, Huo Li, has been expelled. The Star River Giant Beast Alliance talent has withered this time and has been continuously underestimated by everyone, possibly to no avail.”

Various news about the World Stone event flooded the internet.

In addition to the statements from various powers, many gossips about experts were also spreading.

Almost every power had its leading figures and primary targets.

In order to ensure that these key figures could successfully come out from the Yellow Springs Netherworld, many experts were sent to protect them by various forces.

This time, the World Stone had the strongest people in the Black Hole Period and the weakest at almost the peak of the Planet Stage.

Ghost creatures run rampant in the Yellow Springs Netherworld, and it is not any virtual environment but the real world. If one fails here, they might face death.

However, there were not many reliable maps for sale online. The situation within the World Stone had only been seen by one person in the Black Hole Period, who died not long after coming out. In other words, no one knew the specifics.

Based on the account of that person, people have roughly depicted some scenarios.

Legends about the Santu River, Judgment Platform, Six Cycles of Transmigration, Underground Temple, No Return Path, etc., made people look forward to the World Stone even more.

As the competition day approached, various forces had made preparations and were constantly instilling knowledge into the competitors – who should focus on breaking through, and who should focus on protection.

Here in the Star River Giant Beast Alliance, Han Sha gathered everyone together for a final discussion.

The number of people in the Star River Giant Beast Alliance has increased to over a hundred. Han Sha and others realized that their people were too few and weak. Thus, they recruited people they had previously considered promising but not their key focus, forming a second batch of students.

Unexpectedly, a talented person emerged from this second batch – a man named Hong Hao from a lower-level cosmic civilization. He obtained the gene fluid of the intermediate Galaxy Beast Flash Bee, surprising Han Sha and others.

“It’s only three days until the World Stone opens, and I’m here to remind you all that your enemies are not only the ghosts of the Yellow Springs Netherworld but also other competitors. As rivals, if you die in the World Stone, no one can avenge you.”

“Especially, pay attention to two places – Heavenly Tower and Tianqi Mining Group. Participants from these two places have strong hostility towards us.”

At this time, a new student said, “We know that the conflict with Heavenly Tower is because Lin Zhen, Huo Li, and others fought with them in the Dimensional Universe. The conflict with the mining group is because Huo Li was expelled.”

“Yeah, I heard that too. Instructor, did you expel Huo Li because of Lin Zhen? Otherwise, Lin Zhen has no consequence, and it’s almost time for the start, but he hasn’t returned yet.”

“It was Lin Zhen who started the fight, right? I heard he even forced Huo Li to pay the bar bill. Why should we be blamed for the mistakes he made?”

The relationship between the new students and the old ones wasn’t good, especially when they saw the strongest among the old students, Taishan, only obtained a gene fluid of a low-level Galaxy Beast, which made them look down on the old students.

Many people gathered around Hong Hao. As a recipient of the intermediate Galaxy Beast gene fluid, he had become the leader of many people.

Hearing these complaints, Han Sha didn’t have a chance to say anything before Hong Hao waved his hand: “Don’t talk nonsense. Instead of complaining, focus on honing your skills. If you have the strength, you don’t need to take the blame for anyone.”

“Hong Hao has such charisma. After entering the World Stone, I’ll follow him. I heard that Lin Zhen also obtained the gene fluid of only a low-level Galaxy Beast, nowhere near as good as our leader.”

“That’s right. I heard that there are more than 200,000 participants entering the World Stone this time. I don’t have the ability to stand out on my own, so I can only follow a strong person. Without a doubt, Hong Hao is one of them and is much stronger than Lin Zhen.”

The old students said nothing. There was an invisible gap between the new and the old students, and neither side respected the other.

The new students were led by Hong Hao, while the old students were waiting for Lin Zhen’s return.

About Lin Zhen’s strength, the old students also quietly discussed in private. Cao Yang said that Lin Zhen’s strength was profound and unfathomable. In the battle of the Fairy Forest, no one saw Lin Zhen exert his full strength, but he felt very strong.

Considering Huo Li’s situation, these old students secretly speculated among themselves. Perhaps Lin Zhen had obtained a high-level Galaxy Beast gene fluid, and Han Sha and Jie Li were intentionally hiding his real strength.

Han Sha continued, “After you enter the World Stone, don’t rush to go deeper. We have three months, and remember that the key is to find Cosmic Crystals. A tiny Cosmic Crystal is worth 100,000 Kirin Coins or 300 million Sanjiang Coins. If you can find tens of thousands of them, you’ll become rich.”

“Instructor, apart from finding Cosmic Crystals, what if we find treasures left behind by Yama and World King? They belong to us personally, right?”

“Yes, but I advise you to keep a low profile. World King’s treasures can be taken only if you are fortunate enough to use them. Just don’t let others discover them.”

“Understood, it is said that in the Yellow Springs Netherworld, there is a hidden World King’s treasure in every named location. I’ll definitely search carefully.”

Seeing those excited martial artists, Han Sha didn’t give many instructions.

In his heart, if these people achieved good results, it would be great; if not, there was no big loss. As long as Lin Zhen could progress smoothly, that’s what mattered.

Counting the days, Lin Zhen should be back soon. Just yesterday, he had a call with Lin Zhen saying he would end his practice today.

It had been a full eleven months since they last met, and he wondered what level Lin Zhen had reached in his training.

Time passed, and two more days went by. On the morning of the third day, just before entering the World Stone, Han Sha received a message from Lin Zhen in the Dimensional Universe.

“Mr. Han Sha, I have completed my training. To save time, I didn’t go back to where you are but arrived directly at the World Stone entrance. Come find me here.”

Han Sha’s heart, which had been held high for days, finally settled down as Lin Zhen finally caught up.

“The time to enter the World Stone has come. Let’s set off!”