146: Crystal Forest

The next day. The center of Civilization Relic No. 1.

A towering palace floated amidst the clouds, appearing and disappearing from view.

Below it, surrounded by unidentified crystal structures nearly a hundred zhang high, the entire area resembled a crystal forest without leaves. This was the final assessment site of Civilization Relic No. 1.

Twenty kilometers away from this area, thousands of people were marching on foot toward this place. Meanwhile, it was the same from the other three directions.

The Great Xia team.

"Ji Zhiming, the number of people has dropped by half," said Teng Hai.

"Hmm, those with Level 4 talent who just entered the Second Realm made the right choice by not participating in the assessment. With so many people now, they can fully focus on clearing out the surrounding Yao Beasts and exploring other areas."

"The assessment content for the ruins is different every time; there's no experience to refer to. Otherwise, it would have been worth a try."

Teng Hai nodded.

The thousands of people were fast.

Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the central area of the ruins.

"What is this?" Everyone looked at the crystal forest before them, unable to help but wonder.

"I don't know. Previous data didn't mention this; it must be part of this assessment."

"Then what should we do? Should we go in?"

Ji Zhiming shook his head. "Wait."

"Wait?"

"Yes."

Another ten minutes passed.

Click... click...

A crystal Puppet condensed on a crystal tree trunk and walked in front of the crowd.

"Welcome, Geniuses of the Blue Star Civilization, to the Genius assessment of the Wanyuan Civilization."

Ji Zhiming stepped forward. "Hello, may I ask how we can ascend to that palace?"

"Pass through the crystal forest, ascend the Myriad Phenomena Plank Road, and reach the end to arrive at the palace and accept the final assessment."

"Could you introduce it to us?"

The crystal Puppet nodded. "This crystal forest has a radius of ten kilometers and contains tens of thousands of crystal beasts, ranging from First-Order to Fourth-Order in strength."

"Crystal beasts like elemental stones. When you encounter a crystal beast, you can give the elemental stones you have collected to it. If they are satisfied, they will naturally let you pass. Of course, you can also rely on your own strength to defeat the crystal beasts you encounter and reach the center of the forest."

At this moment, Xiao Weiqing stepped out and asked, "Do crystal beasts of different strengths require the same amount of elemental stones? How do we judge the strength of the crystal beasts?"

The crystal Puppet shook its head. "I cannot say."

After speaking, the crystal Puppet hid back into the crystal tree trunk.

"The assessment begins!" A majestic voice resounded in everyone's ears.

"What do we do?"

"We'll see. What else can we do? In the end, it still comes down to strength. I'm going in." Luo Dechang waved the giant hammer in his hand and walked into the crystal forest.

Stepping into the crystal forest, Luo Dechang's figure disappeared.

"He's gone?"

"It seems like entering the ruins; we will be separated. Everyone, there's no other way. Let's rely on our own abilities."

Ji Zhiming also said, "See you at the top."

Nearly three thousand people entered the crystal forest one after another.

Xiao Weiqing stepped into the forest range, and the scene before his eyes shifted. He was surrounded by countless crystal trees.

At this moment, a childish voice rang out.

"Hey! This road was opened by me, this road was planted by me. If you want to pass through this road, leave behind 3 elemental stones—no, 5!"

A humanoid crystal beast, wearing a pumpkin head on top, holding a crystal mace in its hand, shouted at Xiao Weiqing.

Xiao Weiqing looked at the crystal beast, which was less than a meter tall, and felt like laughing.

"Where did this brat come from? Where are your parents?"

The crystal beast was displeased upon hearing this. "I'm not a brat. My number is 54213. I've grown up and can come out and work on my own now."

"Fine, so exactly how many elemental stones do you want?"

"5, no, 4!"

Xiao Weiqing was amused. "Exactly how many? You don't even know which is more between 5, 4, and 3, do you?"

"Don't laugh!" The small crystal beast No. 54213 was furious.

"Of course I know! The number that comes later is bigger, so 3 is definitely more. Give me 3 elemental stones, and I'll let you pass."

Xiao Weiqing shook his head; he had no interest in debating with this crystal beast about which was larger, 3 or 5.

"Clang!" A flash of fire.

Click!

Crystal beast No. 54213's arm holding the mace fell off.

"Ah~ my arm!" The little crystal beast scurried up the tree and disappeared into it.

A few seconds later, a small hand reached out from the tree roots and picked up its own arm.

Without lingering, Xiao Weiqing glanced at the arrow direction on the card on his arm and began to move forward.

Ten kilometers—it wasn't exactly close, but it wasn't that far either.

...

Thud!

"10 elemental stones, otherwise..."

"Boom!"

With one slash, the crystal beast in front of Xiao Weiqing fell apart. It quickly reassembled, but the crystal beast, which was originally 2 meters tall, was now a size smaller.

"The mountains are high and the road is long; just you wait!" The crystal beast flashed into a nearby tree to hide.

Xiao Weiqing glanced at the card.

"The golden dot in the middle must be the center. That means there's only half the distance left."

"Speed up!"

...

"Boom!"

"Kid, don't think of leaving without leaving behind the elemental stones."

"Fire Owl~"

"Bang!"

"Ouch, my knee!"

"Big brother, don't hit, don't hit! Go this way, it's closer here."

"And you can avoid No. 13."

Xiao Weiqing looked down at the crystal beast.

"No. 13?"

"Yes, No. 13. Those with numbers in the top hundred are all crystal beasts over three meters tall. The lower the number, the stronger the strength. In our direction, No. 13 is guarding the very back."

"Oh, and you?"

"Me? My number is 998."

Xiao Weiqing asked, "What kind of beings are you?"

Crystal beast No. 998 was a bit confused. "We are just these kinds of beings."

Xiao Weiqing: "..."

"Why do you want elemental stones, and what is your relationship with this crystal forest?"

The crystal beast answered, "Eating elemental stones makes our strength stronger. This big tree is where we were born; we were born here. We usually rely on the crystal trees for survival. If our strength isn't enough, we can't leave too far."

Xiao Weiqing nodded slightly. A strange race. Following the direction indicated by No. 998, he continued forward.

A few minutes later.

"Damn it!"

"Damn No. 998."

Xiao Weiqing now had the urge to go back and uproot No. 998's big tree.

In front of him, a crystal beast nearly four meters tall exuded great pressure. Behind it was a plank road suspended in the air, connecting to the palace in the clouds.

The massive crystal beast spoke, "elemental stones."

"How many do you want?"

"All of them."

"If I give them to you, will you let me pass?"

"No!"

"What's your number?"

"No. 3!"

Xiao Weiqing was expressionless as he drew half of the Red Dragon blade.

Seeing this, Crystal No. 3 raged, "You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!"

Thud~ thud~ Crystal beast No. 3 covered dozens of meters in two steps, and with a fist from above, it smashed down with a boom. It felt like it wanted to hammer Xiao Weiqing into the ground.

"Flame True Body!" Xiao Weiqing did not underestimate it and immediately entered the Flame True Body state.

"Slash!" The Red Dragon, wreathed in Refined Fire, slashed fiercely at Crystal beast No. 3's fist.

"Clang!" The blade collided with the fist, emitting a loud metallic sound.

This strike directly halted the impact of Crystal beast No. 3, while Xiao Weiqing retreated several steps, backing behind a crystal tree.

A thick arm reached out from the crystal tree and grabbed Xiao Weiqing. "Lord No. 3, I've caught him!"