【Congratulations, Cultivator, for slaying the Level 13 red-named monster “Giant Turtle”! You have obtained: experience points ×50, Giant Turtle Spirit ×1, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×2, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×1】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for slaying the Level 12 red-named monster “Giant Mud Earthworm”! You have obtained: experience points ×40, Giant Mud Earthworm Spirit ×1, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×1, Rejuvenation Pill ×2】
【Congratulations, Cultivator, for slaying the Level 9 red-named monster “Black-armored Yellow River Carp”! You have obtained: experience points ×30, Spiritual Energy Cluster (Small) ×1, Water-Mang Grass ×2, Yellow River Agate ×5】
Something was strange about the Yellow River.
Nan Zhi shook her fishing rod, her gaze landing on the “mountain of meat” piled up on the riverbank.
In just a single afternoon, she had reeled in so many giant water monsters using her pills. Even if spiritual energy from the earth veins had truly leaked into the Yellow River and demonized the aquatic creatures, they shouldn't be here in such massive numbers.
When things were this abnormal, there was bound to be trouble.
Could the changes in the Yellow River be related to the authorities' major operations?
Nan Zhi rested her chin in her hand, looking toward the shore in deep thought.
It was already late at night, and the second trial began as scheduled.
Standing on the stage, they looked directly out at the pitch-black center of the river. The waters of the Yellow River surged silently, with the occasional splash of a fish's tail breaking the surface.
The carcasses of the demonized animals, which had been intentionally fenced off with sheet metal, still lay crowded together on the ground, emitting a faint, fishy stench.
The trial grounds were split into two. Starting from the opera stage, silver-white metal rods were driven into the ground every three meters. The tops of the rods glowed with a faint luminescence, enclosing a square safety zone.
Thirty-one young participants formed a queue, facing the Yellow River in strict readiness. Inside the safety zone, a dozen SWAT teams were also fully armed, their safety catches off as they stood ready to fire at a moment's notice—
After all, this was merely a screening process to select candidates to enter the depths of the Imperial Tombs; they couldn't actually let anyone die.
“This is the latest technological achievement of the official research institute, the Biological Spiritual Energy Magnetic Field Device. It can block a certain amount of supernatural attacks.”
Qin Yue casually picked up a piece of gravel and threw it between the metal rods. The silver-white metal did not react at all.
Then, she switched her test subject to a flying insect.
A grasshopper about the thickness of a thumb.
Before the little insect could even flutter its wings to fly out of range, the tops of the metal rods immediately flared with intense silver light, and a transparent barrier made of countless octagons flashed into existence.
“Bzzzt...”
The grasshopper crashed into the barrier. Seemingly disoriented, it tried to escape over and over, but all its efforts were in vain.
“Everyone, the second round of the exam is about to begin. The exam will last for a total of two hours. During this time, all candidates must slay as many weirds coming ashore as possible. If anyone leaves the exam area or violates the rules, they will be disqualified.
During the exam, attacking other candidates is strictly forbidden, and teamwork is encouraged. Each kill will earn you one point, and ten points will be a perfect score.”
Qin Yue scanned the crowd and read out the rules of the competition in a clear, loud voice. After a brief, quiet discussion among the crowd, someone raised their hand to ask a question:
“If we work together to kill a weird, how will the points be calculated?”
“Cooperative kills are capped at groups of five. If a group kills a weird together, each member will receive 0.5 points. If the group has fewer than five people, it will still be calculated as 0.5 points. If the group exceeds five people, it will be calculated as 0.2 points per person.”
The authorities weren't just standing still either.
This Biological Spiritual Energy Magnetic Field Device seemed quite similar to the formations of the cultivation world; both could provide a certain level of defense.
What was even better was that the former didn't even require spiritual energy to activate, meaning even ordinary people could use it.
Was this literally cyber-cultivation?
Nan Zhi nodded to herself, listlessly flicking her fishing rod as she casually poked to death a water ghost dangling from the other end of her line.
The authorities' original intention was likely to encourage these candidates to cooperate with one another.
She was growing more and more curious about what exactly had been discovered beneath the Imperial Tombs to make the authorities take things so seriously.
Even though Qin Yue's words had been vague, the purpose of holding this trial could not be hidden from Nan Zhi, who kept her divine sense extended at all times.
With a calm expression, Qin Yue pointed to the tents and ambulances not far behind her:
“Of course, if a candidate is injured, in danger, or wishes to forfeit, they can simply drop their identification nameplate and leave the exam area.
I hope everyone understands that the purpose of this selection is not to eliminate you, but to help you realize what kind of things we will have to face in the future.
Forfeiting is not shameful, and no one will mock you.”
A cold wind blew past, but no one chose to give up.
Qin Yue turned and gave a signal. Immediately, the rising and falling cadences of a Qin Opera performance rang out along the banks of the Yellow River:
“The days are long, the nights are long, but my sorrow is longer still! Recalling the past breaks my heart! Pitiful you, departing for the Underworld at such a tender age, leaving me all alone in this desolate world!”
“—Shen-lang, if you know where our dear child is, I beg of you, send me a dream in the dead of night!”
“Shen-lang, Shen-lang... I call out to you time and time again...”
Under the deep night sky, a chilly wind howled along the Yellow River. A massive, high-definition screen faced the center of the river. The opera actors paced with delicate, hurried steps, singing in an incredibly mournful melody.
Eight massive speakers faced the Yellow River, broadcasting the mournful, lingering vibratos far across the water, where they echoed off the opposite bank and were carried back by the night wind.
Gradually, strings of bubbles began to rise from the depths of the river:
“Glub, glub, glub...”
“Glub, glub...”
“Glub, glub, glub, glub...”
As the yellow river water churned continuously, the fish-eye-sized bubbles grew larger and denser.
Suddenly, the water surface dipped, and a bloated corpse floated up. The body was nearly naked, its limbs covered in bite marks—
This corpse's eyes were wide open. Its eyeballs were gone, and its dark, hollow sockets stared straight at the opera stage.
“Pop!”
“Pop!”
“Pop!”
As if a switch had been flipped, shadows emerged one after another beneath the water's surface. One, two, three, four...
Countless bloated corpses floated upright to the surface from the center of the river. As if they were alive, they ignored the rushing current and drifted straight toward the shore.
Midnight, an opera stage by the water, and bloated corpses in the Yellow River.
It was a spine-chilling scene straight out of a horror story.
Were there really this many bloated corpses at the bottom of the nearby river?
Sitting on the bank, Nan Zhi squinted her eyes, taking in the bizarre sight in the river. Over on the other side, the more faint-hearted of the young candidates had already begun to tremble.
“This is insane. How can there be so many?”
“Where did these things come from? I've seen floaters before, but never this many at once!”
“They're coming up! They're coming up!”
“Holy crap, they look like they're alive!”
Drawn ashore by the opera, the corpses caught the strong scent of human vitality. Dragging long trails of water behind them, they lunged toward the crowd—
“Crack!!”
A cold light flashed, and foul, stinking river water splashed everywhere. On the verge of tears, Hu Manni sniffled and yanked back her entrenching tool, which had been lodged halfway into a water ghost's head:
“Ugh... this is so freaking terrifying...”
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