webnovelfull Chapter 97 Trials
Chapter 97 Trials
Chapter 97 Trials
The sky above the Purple Radiance Secret Realm presented a strange and colorful scene, completely different from the pale purple that Chen Yuan had expected.
"That's right. The name 'Purple Radiance Secret Realm' comes from the Purple Radiance Star, not from any feature of the secret realm itself."
He quickly expanded his mental domain, and the terrain and landforms within a radius of tens of kilometers appeared clearly in his mind.
By carefully comparing the map of the secret realm, they quickly determined their current location.
"In the northwest corner of the secret realm? That's quite remote."
Due to the special rules of the Purple Radiance Secret Realm, the landing point for each entrant is random.
Chen Yuan was currently in the most desolate northwest region of the secret realm.
"Let me see, the nearest densest concentration of crystal beasts—about two thousand kilometers to the south, perhaps?"
Chen Yuan stared at the locations marked on the map. In fact, this map was drawn eighty years ago by the previous team that collected resources for the company.
At that time, all the crystal beasts in the secret realm had been wiped out. However, this race was an energy life form, and it thrived in places with dense energy.
New crystal groups can be easily created.
Therefore, this map is not absolutely accurate. Instead, it is based on the high-energy regions recorded in the last study, indicating that crystal clusters are more likely to be formed in these areas, and thus it is marked.
Elites who come here for training often go to these areas to hunt down Crystal Clan members.
After determining the direction, Chen Yuan took to the air and sped towards the target area.
Speaking of which, the Crystal Clan has a unique advantage in cultivating genetic energy. As long as they stay in places with abundant cosmic energy, their strength will soar.
Basically, it only takes 30 days for a crystal group to go from its birth to becoming a planetary crystal.
Therefore, crystals below the planetary level are almost never seen in the secret realm; the vast majority are planetary level, with occasional appearances of eternal level individuals.
As Chen Yuan continued flying south, the concentration of cosmic energy in the air increased significantly, and sporadic crystal figures began to appear on the ground.
Suddenly, Chen Yuan paused, landed on the ground, used his mental power to conceal himself, and then slowly walked to a crystal creature to observe it carefully.
This crystal-like creature resembles an antelope in shape, with a translucent crystal texture throughout, resembling a finely crafted work of art.
"Is this the Crystal Clan's innate secret technique—Mimicry?"
Chen Yuan observed with great interest.
Because of this talent that allows them to mimic various biological forms, the Crystal Clan within the Purple Radiance Secret Realm is also known as the "Crystal Beasts".
He lowered his head and observed the 'Crystal Antelope' as it nibbled at some crystals emerging from the ground. These were condensed cosmic energies, but they were too impure to be considered true cosmic crystals.
These crystals are found everywhere on the ground of the secret realm, and are used as food by some low-level crystal beasts.
After observing for a while, Chen Yuan used his mental power to penetrate the Crystal Antelope's body.
He discovered that after these crystals entered the antelope's body, the purest strand of energy was absorbed, but some impurities would accumulate, turning into a slightly turbid crystal that was "excreted" from behind.
However, the cosmic energy in these excreted crystals is actually purer than that in crystals on the ground.
"Could it be that the crystal beast's body also has the function of purifying cosmic energy?"
After pondering for a while, Chen Yuan observed the crystal antelope for a long time. Once he was certain that the antelope did not possess intelligence, he pierced its body with his sword, shattering a crystal-clear core.
Kill point +1873
"As expected, even energy-based life forms can provide killing opportunities."
Chen Yuan thought to himself.
After the crystal antelope died, most of its body turned into light and dissipated, leaving only the broken core and a few crystal-clear pieces.
Chen Yuan bent down to pick it up, examined it in his hand, and found that its internal energy was extremely pure, almost reaching 80% of that of a cosmic crystal.
"No wonder the company acquired these crystals. With a little purification, they would become large chunks of cosmic crystals."
Chen Yuan put the several crystals, each about the size of a human head, into his spatial ring.
Besides verifying whether the crystal beasts could provide killing opportunities, Chen Yuan wanted to confirm the authenticity of the company's information and whether these crystal beasts truly lacked intelligence.
It might seem a bit pretentious to outsiders, but for Chen Yuan, it's about the most basic moral bottom line.
If the crystal beast were an intelligent species, it would never go on a killing spree for the sake of a training mission without any enmity between it and others.
This persistence stems from his deeply ingrained educational philosophy from his previous life.
It wasn't that he was soft-hearted.
Just like the monsters on Earth, although they possess intelligence, they are mortal enemies of the human race. Chen Yuan showed no mercy when killing them, and hundreds of monsters died at his hands.
However, he would never raise his sword against an intelligent race he didn't know—unless the other party provoked him first.
People don't offend me, I don't offend people.
This is a principle ingrained in his very being.
If the crystal beasts are truly intelligent beings, then Chen Yuan would rather give up this training than become a ruthless lackey.
Fortunately, the facts are as the information states: these crystal beasts do indeed lack intelligence.
Given this, Chen Yuan naturally wouldn't let his compassion get the better of him; he would kill those who deserved it, all for the sake of training and killing points.
"The path to enlightenment should be like this."
The key to "doing whatever one pleases without overstepping the bounds" lies in the last three words: "without overstepping the bounds!"
"To use any means to achieve one's goal is not true seeking of the Way."
"In the pursuit of the Great Way, one can give up many things, but one must never lose one's bottom line."
"Because that's the most basic human nature."
"If one abandons even humanity, what meaning is there in attaining the Great Dao?"
Chen Yuan let out a long sigh of relief, and in an instant, his thoughts became clear and his Daoist mind became lucid.
Unbeknownst to him, his meditation technique had quietly broken through to a high level, thus entering a stage of mastery.
Chen Yuan's realm also progressed from "Great Stillness" to the most crucial "Constant Stillness".
The so-called constant is the unchanging and irreversible mind towards the Dao. Even the most difficult and dangerous situations cannot shake the heart that seeks the Dao.
According to the Buddhist teachings on Earth, this is equivalent to attaining the eighth stage of Bodhisattva status.
From that moment on, Chen Yuan's mind and will underwent an astonishing transformation.
Originally, although Chen Yuan's mind was strong, it was loose like scattered sand, relying entirely on his powerful consciousness for support.
Now, his spirit and will seem to have undergone countless trials and tribulations, forged into steel, and finally blossomed with brilliant light, faintly revealing a touch of immortal charm.
Chen Yuan paused briefly, then slowly exhaled: "Let's continue."
He continued flying along the planned route, encountering more and more crystal beasts along the way.
These energy life forms mimic various biological forms. If it weren't for their crystal-like bodies, some people might really think they were just a group of ordinary creatures.
Chen Yuan did not waste time hunting down the scattered crystal beasts.
Apart from the crystal antelope he encountered at the beginning, he only dealt with two small herds—one with about five thousand and the other with about eight thousand.
After these two cleanups, Chen Yuan's kill points skyrocketed to 98 million! Almost breaking 100 million.
The accumulated experience points also reached 357.
Two hours later, the destination finally came into view.
Chen Yuan landed in a secluded mountain hollow, activated his mental domain, and prepared to explore the situation inside.
This is a huge valley, teeming with countless crystal beasts, most of which mimic the appearance of livestock such as sheep, horses, and cattle, while a very small number mimic the appearance of predators.
Judging from their status, these carnivorous crystal beasts should belong to the leaders of this group.
"Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand—."
Chen Yuan silently counted: "Approximately 67000, mostly planetary level, with about eighty constellations... and so on!"
He suddenly sensed something unusual.
With his eyes closed, Chen Yuan concentrated his mind and focused his mental domain. The faint sensation he had just felt immediately became clear, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
On the other side of the valley, five figures were lurking. They were all at least at the fourth level of the Hengxing realm, with the leader even reaching the seventh level.
However, these people's equipment was really rudimentary. The Force suits they wore were only Tier 1, covered by a layer of Grade B alloy armor, and the weapons they carried were just ordinary alloy weapons.
"wrong-"
Chen Yuan frowned. "Even Level 3 elites are equipped with standard equipment by the company. These people are practically—"
A startling guess popped into my head: a space adventurer!
But this makes no sense at all.
Because this is a secret realm exclusive to Purple Star, theoretically, the only people who can appear in this secret realm besides the natives are the internal personnel of the Virtual Universe Company!
The only native inhabitants of the secret realm are crystal beasts.
But these poorly equipped intruders are unlikely to be company employees.
"The question now is, how did they get in?"
Chen Yuan held his breath and observed secretly.
This unexpected discovery suddenly made his originally simple training mission complicated.