Chapter 74: The Strange Metamorphosis of the Crystal Cluster

The new world was still as desolate and silent as Qian Ye had last seen it. It took an hour for the thirty-thousand-strong army to gradually advance into the uncharted territory. Despite selecting only the strongest warriors and having them take blood glands in advance, many of them still showed signs of discomfort, and some even perished outright.

After sending back the soldiers who exhibited adverse reactions, Qian Ye’s first priority was not to push deeper into the new land but to direct the engineers to build defensive fortifications on the high slopes in front of the valley, intending to securely protect the entrance. At the same time, he dispatched dozens of small teams to scout in all directions and map the terrain, so they could immediately grasp the surrounding environment and movements.

Qian Ye himself, along with Carol, prepared to explore further.

The stone platform in the valley remained unchanged, appearing to be just a pile of rocks. Beyond the valley lay the area where the dark gold ore deposits were found. Seeing the vast expanse of raw dark gold, Carol couldn’t remain calm.

After a brief investigation, Carol concluded that this must be a vein of ore, and it was extremely shallow, with the ore exposed on the surface. Such a rich deposit of resources existed only in legends, in the upper regions of the Evernight continent, and without exception, these were traditional core territories of the four dark races. To find such a resource right at the entrance of the new world was unexpected.

It was easy to imagine how fiercely contested the new world’s territories would be in the future.

Qian Ye, however, shifted his focus away from the ore vein. He attempted to ascend, and after several tries, finally adapted to the rules of the original force in the new world. He rose somewhat shakily into the sky. From the high vantage point, a few massive stone pillars in the distance caught his attention. These pillars, each hundreds of meters tall, bore clear marks of wind and frost, yet their surfaces clearly showed prism-like structures, indicating they were man-made.

On the distant horizon, a streak of blue-green appeared. According to the Empire’s research, the beasts’ diet should contain various metal components. If this were common, the plants in the new world would often exhibit colors like dark green, blue, and dark red. The distance was hard to judge, and Qian Ye felt his vision blurring, possibly due to the considerable distance. All he could make out was what seemed to be a forest.

A forest implied a large amount of life, and potentially, a significant number of beasts.

As he observed, Carol also acclimated to the new rules governing the original force, finally able to rise steadily and join Qian Ye.

Qian Ye pointed toward the distant stone pillars, “Let’s go check those out first.”

“Alright.”

Both being top-tier powerhouses, they had increasingly adept control over the original force, and their flight speed was getting faster, eventually matching that in the Evernight world. In the blink of an eye, they covered dozens of kilometers and hovered in front of one of the massive stone pillars.

Up close, the appearance of the pillar was even more striking. Its diameter reached over ten meters, and its surface was marked with grooves, clearly indicating that it was constructed from cut stone blocks. However, the blocks were enormous, each measuring several meters in size and weighing tens of tons. How they were assembled into such a structure was a mystery.

Qian Ye flew around the pillar, observing the top, but found nothing unusual. He pondered for a moment, then sliced off a piece of stone with his sword, but saw nothing special—it was just ordinary rock.

They explored other pillars for a while, finding no remarkable features. Carol placed her hand on one of the pillars and carefully sensed it, then turned to ask, “Do you feel anything?”

“No.”

“This pillar is wet.”

Qian Ye extended his finger and tore off a piece of stone, examining it closely. The surface was unusually dry, but there was indeed a bit of moisture inside.

Carol felt it for a bit longer, then confirmed, “This pillar is absorbing moisture and original force from the surroundings, and perhaps something else as well.”

The air in the new world was humid, but everything was dry, caused by the original force drawing out moisture. And this pillar could absorb both moisture and the original force from the air.

Qian Ye drew Dongyue, plunged it into the pillar, and twisted his wrist, extracting a small stone core. This core revealed nothing, but through the hole, Qian Ye’s true vision detected the flow of the original force underground.

Qian Ye landed at the base of the pillar, “Let’s dig down and see.”

Carol and Qian Ye began digging, their speed bordering on madness. The ground sank rapidly, and soon they were ten meters deep. Suddenly, a blue light flashed, and a cluster of light blue crystals appeared before them.

The cluster was about the size of an arm, partially buried in the pillar, and seemed to have grown there. As soon as it appeared, Qian Ye heard a loud buzzing, like the sound of sharp bees.

Carol crouched and examined the cluster, “Is this what concentrated original force looks like in the new world?”

Inside the crystal, swirling clouds of mist shimmered, even though it was sealed, the intensely concentrated original force could still be felt. These misty tendrils were the product of extremely condensed original force.

Qian Ye suddenly felt a presence, pulling Carol up, “Something is coming.”

They soared into the air, instantly reaching the top of the pillar and standing firm.

In the distance, a cloud of dust rose, and a dozen or so beasts rushed towards them. These beasts varied in size and type. They charged straight to the pillar, and upon seeing the crystals, they went wild, leaping into the pit. The first beast that jumped in was immediately seized by another, which threw it out of the pit.

The bite was so powerful that it severed the first beast’s hind leg. The other beasts, seeing their companion injured, flew into a frenzy, tearing it apart and devouring it. Once the blood spilled, the beasts lost all restraint, fighting each other savagely. In a flash, the ground was littered with dead and wounded, leaving only the strongest standing, though it was heavily injured.

This beast resembled a lion or tiger, with six legs and a long, strong tail adorned with bone spines. It stood several meters tall, a giant by Evernight standards, but in the legion of beasts Qian Ye had seen, it was only of average size.

It jumped into the pit, bit down on the blue crystal, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. The crystal entered its belly, and the beast began to stagger, barely managing to leap out of the pit. As it stepped forward, it collapsed, writhing in pain. Its skin undulated, as if many small beasts were burrowing beneath its flesh.

In a moment, the beast’s skin split, and bone spines protruded. Beneath the skin, plates of bone scales emerged, slicing through the hide, causing a bloody mess. As it transformed, its size increased by nearly half. Now larger, the beast was emaciated, barely able to stand. It staggered to the other corpses and began to devour them greedily.

From head to tail, the beast now had rows of bone spines, and key areas like its shoulders and rear had bone scales, clearly indicating a new level of attack and defense. As its body stabilized, it suddenly raised its head, looking at Qian Ye and Carol atop the pillar, its eyes showing a distinct change in emotion.

If before it was a beast driven by instinct, now it had become an intelligent creature.

Seeing the transformation, Qian Ye’s eyebrows rose, “So, this is how the commanders in the beast legion are born.”

Within the beast legion, the division of labor was clear, and there was a distinct hierarchy. Some beasts were obviously larger and more powerful than their kin, and even their appearances were markedly different. This six-legged panther, with its strength and speed, was a primary ground attacker, and its commander was this type of armored, intelligent six-legged beast with bone spines and scales.

The armored beast on the ground stared at Qian Ye, slowly retreating, then suddenly turned and fled.

How could Qian Ye let it escape? In a flash, he blocked the beast, and Dongyue struck its back with a heavy blow. The attack was lightning-quick, giving the beast no chance to evade. It was pressed to the ground by the heavy sword.

Qian Ye used the flat of the sword, intending to try and subdue the intelligent beast. Yet, even under absolute force, the beast struggled desperately, preferring death over surrender. After a standoff, Qian Ye reluctantly cut its neck.

Qian Ye and Carol returned to the base of the pillar and began digging, finding more clusters of crystals. Some were large, some small, and a few were just emerging.

After examining them, Qian Ye carefully extracted three of the largest clusters, storing them in Anduia’s space. These crystals could awaken a beast’s intelligence, and Qian Ye planned to send them to Zhao Jundu for study with the help of the Empire.

At that moment, a small object in a corner of Anduia’s space moved, emitting intense fluctuations that impacted Qian Ye’s consciousness.

Startled, Qian Ye’s consciousness scanned the area, remembering what the rock-like object was. It was a mother insect he had encountered in the Great Vortex, which had remained dormant since he obtained it. Unexpectedly, it awoke at this moment.

Qian Ye removed the mother insect, and the moment it left Anduia’s space, it attacked, biting his finger. The insect was small, but its bite was incredibly powerful, tearing through his skin.

Caught off guard by the sudden strength, Qian Ye’s grip loosened, and the insect escaped, flying to the crystal on the pillar and devouring it. The tough crystal was like candy to it, crunched and consumed in no time.

Before long, the crystal, larger than the insect itself, was completely eaten, and who knew how its stomach managed to hold such a large volume.

After consuming the entire crystal, the insect spat out a mass of white threads, forming a cocoon and encasing itself.

Qian Ye smiled wryly, looking at Carol, who was dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected a living creature to be kept in such a spatial device. They exchanged a few words, deciding to leave the cocoon undisturbed and wait, anticipating a quick mutation process, given the precedent with the beasts.

Soon, the cocoon was breached, and out emerged a heavily armored, arm-length insect. It looked up, its first glance falling on Qian Ye, and from its compound eyes, a sense of familiarity was evident.

It opened its back armor, extended two pairs of wings, and launched itself at Qian Ye like a bolt of lightning!

Carol, startled, prepared to whip it, but Qian Ye raised his hand, pressing down the thunderwhip. In that brief moment, the insect reached Qian Ye.

But it did not bite; instead, it quickly climbed up Qian Ye’s body, settling on his shoulder, and affectionately touched him with its antennae.

Carol was astonished, “Could it be because it drank your blood?”

“Maybe. My bloodline is unique, and since it has gained intelligence, it might consider me family.”

“This little guy looks nice, but I wonder how strong it is.” Carol eyed the insect, hesitating to touch it. Even as a girl, she was somewhat unnerved by such a large bug.

The insect, seeming to understand Carol’s words, let out a short chirp, then shot like lightning towards a beast corpse. There was a muffled thud as it crashed through the beast’s skull, exiting the other side. The entire process was like a high-caliber, high-level original force sniper rifle, fired point-blank at the beast’s head.