[Longevity Island Outskirts, Beach Landing Point]
The salty sea breeze swirled with fine sand, pelting against the worn edges of Chen Kong's tactical boots.
He supported Isabel, whose face still held a tinge of sickly green, while Liu Ma followed behind them with a limp. The toxins in Liu Ma's system had only just been suppressed, yet he was already growing restless, forcefully tugging at a collar shredded by vines while grumbling and cursing under his breath. He was clearly dissatisfied with this trial.
"Everyone, it seems you have all undergone a significant change."
Just as the group reached the beach landing point in front of the vessel, a familiar voice drifted from the ship anchored in the shallow waters.
Looking toward the source, they saw the Otter Administrator crouching on the bow of the deck. Its plump body was wrapped in its signature suit, paws playing with a golden bell. Its tail tapped lightly against the deck, splashing tiny droplets of water.
Unlike the scale of over a hundred people when they first landed, the number of students returning to the landing point this time was barely forty. Among the crowd, the tips of Isabel's hair were still dusted with ash from the top of the pyramid, Mi Yao's handheld console had a crack in its casing, and even Vivian's mechanical arm bore several distinct scratches.
With the exception of a very select few, every survivor bore injuries. It was evident just how difficult these seven days on Longevity Island had been for them.
At the same time, the cruelty of this trial remained fresh in the memories of Chen Kong and the others; the atmosphere was visibly heavy. In their eyes, this hadn't been a trial at all, but blatant murder. Many who were stronger and smarter than them had "died" during this ordeal. Although Chen Kong didn't know many of them personally, seeing fellow students perish in a strange, fallen zone caused a wave of "rabbit death, fox sorrow" grief to wash over them, making their chests feel tight.
"This wasn't a trial; it was a death sentence," Liu Ma spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. The wounds exposed after his golden transformation receded were still throbbing with pain. "Those people who were swallowed by vines right after landing, or killed by that old bastard—they were all living people."
His voice wasn't loud, yet it silenced the surrounding students. In a daze, Chen Kong remembered the blonde youth who loved sharing energy bars; he had been dragged into the jungle during the very first wave of attacks at the landing point, his cry for help cut short.
"What? Are you mourning those eliminated losers?"
The Otter Administrator suddenly floated down from the bow, landing in front of the group. Its voice was laced with mockery. Its small eyes swept over the crowd as if inspecting a pile of broken parts.
This look was the spark that finally ignited Liu Ma's temper.
"Losers?"
Hearing the Otter Administrator's sarcastic tone, the hot-headed Liu Ma could no longer restrain himself. He lunged forward two steps, standing over the administrator with his chest heaving violently. "You threw us into a fallen zone crawling with monsters and watched us get hunted like lab rats, and now you have the nerve to call them losers?"
Though he knew he was no match for a Natural Disaster-level Administrator, the memory of the students' eyes before they died and the despair of nearly having his Star Energy sucked dry by vines caused his fury to override his reason.
The Otter Administrator looked up with a half-smile. It brushed the dust off its paws, the mockery in its eyes deepening. "Oh? You want to make a move on me? Or do you think your meager skills are enough to beat me?"
Despite its casual expression and plump body, it radiated an unexpected pressure. Liu Ma instantly felt as if he were being stared down by a savage beast, and a chill ran down his spine. However, his internal rage and an inexplicable sense of anxiety allowed him to overcome his dread. He clenched his fists and slowly raised his thick arm.
He never wanted to experience a trial like this again. He had to convey his dissatisfaction to the Otter Administrator and the managers behind it; he had to let them know they weren't lab rats to be toyed with.
Before his fist could fall, however, a hand grabbed his wrist.
"Idiot."
Liu Ma turned and saw that the one stopping him was Mi Yao, the man he had fought alongside not long ago. Mi Yao had heavy dark circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot from the series of high-intensity battles. Even in this state of exhaustion, he forced himself to sneer at Liu Ma, clearly not approving of what he was about to do.
The reason was simple: the power gap between Liu Ma and the Otter Administrator was too vast. Even Liu Ma knew this. He also understood that his outburst wouldn't change much. But the thought of the carnage upon landing and their subsequent struggles made his face darken.
"Is it not being an 'idiot' to be treated like a lab rat, to have our lives toyed with, and then choose to be submissive about it?" Liu Ma demanded.
Faced with the questioning, Mi Yao's eyes narrowed as he said mockingly, "That's why I say you Low-Rank Stars are all fools. Why can't you learn to use your brains before using your fists? Why don't you take a look at the deck first?"
Stunned, Liu Ma instinctively looked in the direction he was pointing. To his shock, the previously empty deck was now crowded with people. Many figures in familiar tactical suits were moving about. Some were bandaging comrades' wounds, others were leaning against railings drinking water, and the blonde youth was waving an energy bar with a brilliant, dazzling smile.
"Is that... Mark? Isn't he dead?" Liu Ma's voice trembled.
The blonde youth he remembered being dragged away by vines was currently munching on an energy bar, the holes in his tactical suit exactly as Liu Ma remembered.
"What else could it be? They obviously didn't die," Vivian's voice came from the side. She pushed up the glasses that had slid to the tip of her nose, her mechanical pupils flickering with the blue light of data analysis.
She had suspected something was wrong with the trial very early on. The danger level was simply too high. While they were the cream of the crop among the Association's younger generation, they were still young and lacked sufficient cultivation time. Throwing them into a dangerous fallen zone without supervision didn't fit the definition of a "trial." Therefore, Vivian had wondered if death on Longevity Island wasn't true death. However, since a person only has one life, she didn't dare risk it despite being fifty percent certain.
Now, it seemed her guess was entirely correct. The core of Longevity Island was "Equivalent Exchange." The so-called "death" was likely a rule-based teleportation back to the ship. This was probably a "deal" struck between Libra and the Star Envoy Association long ago. As for who the parties involved were or why Libra agreed to the deal, Vivian had no way of knowing.
Seeing this, even a bruiser like Liu Ma finally understood.
Wait... so after all that, it really was just a trial!
At this thought, Liu Ma's fist slowly unclenched, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. Recalling his impulse to attack the Administrator, his ears turned red, and he could only scratch his head with a sheepish grin.
"What, decided not to hit me?" The Otter Administrator's voice was full of amusement as it watched the embarrassed Liu Ma. "It's good for a young man to have spirit, but never let anger cloud your judgment. Otherwise... you might misunderstand a 'good person'."
The Administrator emphasized the words "good person," clearly taunting Liu Ma. This time, Liu Ma didn't say a word in response. He just took it.
Seeing this, the Otter Administrator shook its head helplessly. Liu Ma had decent talent, but his temperament left much to be desired. Especially compared to a certain Son of the Stars, the gap... was like heaven and earth.
The Otter Administrator's gaze bypassed Liu Ma and finally settled on Tendo at the back of the crowd. In the next second, its casual gaze turned grave, as if it were seeing something truly extraordinary.
The silver-haired youth stood right before it, yet the Star Energy fluctuations on his body were like a bottomless lake, impossible to gauge. The Otter Administrator's heart skipped a beat. Before departure, the Grand President had specifically instructed it to pay close attention to Tendo's growth, but the current Tendo had already exceeded its predictions.
Though it didn't know what Tendo had experienced during the trial, there was no doubt this monster had grown stronger again. I'm really curious what realm he's reached now. He shouldn't be far from "Natural Disaster," right?
The Otter Administrator gave Tendo a deep look before suppressing its urge to ask, turning to the crowd with a smile.
"Alright everyone, follow me onto the ship. Soon, the Association's safety zone construction team will arrive to perform a thorough overhaul of this island. Before long, the territory of our New Federation will have a new addition called 'New Longevity Island.' And every one of you will have left a vibrant mark on its history."
The Otter Administrator paused, then raised the small bell in its paw and rang it.
Ding-ling-ling~
The gentle sea breeze carried the crisp sound of the bell along with the Administrator's next words into everyone's ears.
"I declare the Longevity Island Trial successfully concluded!"
[On the Returning Ship]
Chen Kong helped Isabel onto the deck. Watching Liu Ma fooling around with Mark in the distance, he let out a helpless smile. Mi Yao had returned to his lone-wolf state, leaning against the railing alone and using repair fluid to fix his handheld console.
As the camera lens panned out, Tendo soon appeared in the eyes of the interdimensional audience, standing at the stern of the ship. Tendo gazed at the receding Longevity Island. The setting sun cast his shadow very long, and his Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye glowed faintly. In the vision only he could see, the phantom of the "Equivalent Exchange" law above the island was fading, eventually merging into the horizon.
"Tendo, what are you thinking about?" Jing Liuli's voice was full of mirth as she "thudded" a bottle of chilled juice against Tendo's arm.
Anyone else would hesitate to be so bold, but Jing Liuli wasn't afraid. After all, their relationship was special! She was the number one person under Caroline! (As self-proclaimed by Liuli).
True to her expectations, Tendo smiled as he took the juice and twisted off the cap. The sweet scent of orange mixed with the sea breeze drifted into his nose. The ice-cold liquid slid down his throat, instantly dispelling the summer heat.
After a moment, Tendo calmly gave her an answer. "Nothing much. Just wondering how much longer these peaceful days will last."
"Peaceful?" Jing Liuli was stunned, her mind flashing back to the "thrilling and dangerous" trial. No matter how you looked at it, recent events were far from peaceful. But considering Tendo's strength and his "composed" and "effortless" demeanor during the trial, perhaps such experiences truly were peaceful to him.
Jing Liuli shook her head and then stated her reason for finding him. "Anyway, Tendo, Caroline asked me to get you. She seems to have something to say to you."
"Mhm." Tendo nodded, then turned and walked across the deck toward Caroline's room.
He pushed open the door and saw Caroline sitting by the window, her brow furrowed as if in deep thought. Seeing Tendo arrive, she immediately looked up. A rare look of seriousness appeared in her dark green eyes.
"Tendo, are you sure you want to give the 'Miracle Stone: Exchange' to me? You should know that this thing would be quite useful to you as well."
Facing Caroline's inquiry, Tendo casually pulled over the chair next to her and sat down lazily. "Caroline, for me, this thing is worth studying, but there's no need to keep it in my hands permanently."
"But—"
Before Caroline could finish, Tendo interrupted her. "...No 'buts'."
Caroline froze, seeing a rare expression of seriousness on Tendo's face. She understood he wouldn't change his mind. She fell silent. As Tendo's "tool," she felt she shouldn't be a burden to him.
Seeing her like this, Tendo immediately guessed her thoughts and teased, "Caroline, Miracle Stones have their own affinities. I held onto it before just to see if a Natural Disaster-level domain could only condense a single law, or if there was a way to integrate more. I verified that question not long ago and got my answer. Therefore, while keeping it is useful, it's not as useful as you think. I've obtained the puzzle piece I wanted; it's time you get yours too. After all, if I'm not mistaken, you don't have much time left, do you?"
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi