Chapter 82 Earth: Beast Tide (Part 23)

The whereabouts of the world's first late-stage Tier Two monster remained uncertain. When it arrived at this mountain two days ago, it unleashed a violent beast tide upon the city. Thereafter, monsters led by mid-stage Tier Two elites launched assaults on major cities. That monster had not left yet; as long as it stayed here, the beasts attacked repeatedly. Otherwise, their attacks would be limited to once a day.

Spirit Sight, activate!

His eyes turned golden-red, a result of his unique inner energy. Although his Spirit Sight lacked the normal range for distance, it granted him the ability to see through things. He could peer through the monsters’ skin, observe their veins, muscles, and the gaps between their bones, even penetrate obstacles like rock layers over five meters thick.

He jumped swiftly onto a branch, pushed off, and sped toward the mountaintop. Rather than flying above the forest canopy, he wrapped his body in inner energy and moved through the leaves, minimizing attention from the monsters below. The Tier Two and above monsters had all been led away to attack major cities; only low-tier monsters remained. Sensing Yi Gang’s aura, they dared not interfere. His speed was so swift that they abandoned any attempt to track him.

As he neared the summit, Yi Gang knew he could no longer bluff his way through as before. Less than thirty meters ahead, a mid-stage Tier Two monster crouched, alert.

Such a situation only occurred near the late-stage Tier Two monster—mid-stage elites acting as guards, and not just one. Truthfully, if that late-stage beast personally led these mid-stage monsters into battle, there would be fewer than twenty cities on the planet capable of withstanding their assault.

Many wondered why it hadn’t done so. Some suspected the nation possessed some hidden, ultimate weapon, a trump card capable of destroying the monster but not to be used lightly, thus forcing the beast to send its mid-tier subordinates rather than act itself.

“Sunset Arrow!” Yi Gang drew his bow and nocked an arrow. For this operation, he used his finest equipment.

Inner energy surged, illuminating the runes on both bow and arrow, as if golden flames ignited.

The monster sensed his presence and lunged. But this played perfectly into Yi Gang’s plan. He released the arrow, wrapped himself in inner energy, and dove to avoid the attack. The arrow shot straight through the monster’s eye, exploding within its brain.

He didn't need to look back. He trusted his marksmanship and the arrow’s power. The monster’s strength was formidable, but not enough to survive such a blow. There were hundreds of mid-stage Tier Two individuals on Earth, but Yi Gang believed none surpassed him in archery.

He swiftly dispatched the first monster to buy himself time, avoiding being surrounded by the remaining beasts. Each step left a crater in the ground from the recoil of his strength—a movement technique he invented, fast but only in a straight line.

At the summit, a bird-like monster, as tall as a man, opened its eyes.

A human approached, targeting it.

It felt that this battle would decide its fate.

No longer bound, it could fight with full force. Its long-hidden nature burst forth, and it unleashed a stream of flame at the charging Yi Gang.

Where the orange-red fire passed, grass and trees withered, earth cracked, and air twisted, lingering without dispersing.

Sun Meng sensed Yi Gang’s predicament; his consciousness descended.

“Do you have confidence?”

“My inner energy is special—I can withstand this heat!” Yi Gang replied.

“Then let’s do it!”

Nine Star Arrow!

With Sun Meng’s help, he didn’t need to focus on maintaining his inner energy flow. Nine arrows were nocked and drawn.

They fired in succession, streaking in a line toward the flames.

Even his best arrows were incinerated by the fire, but each arrow neutralized some of the flames, and the ninth appeared right before the monster.

The firebird monster flared its wings, dodging instantly. With a sweep, it conjured two fireballs, then shook, splitting them into four, then eight, joining with the flames in its mouth to form nine fireballs.

The guarding monsters who arrived at the scene turned and fled. If this fire touched them, they would only die, burned to ashes.

Yi Gang took a deep breath, stood firm, and looked to the sky. The heat made it impossible to breathe normally; he held his breath and drew his trump card.

A special arrow.

It was not crafted officially, but given to him by Little Rabbit. It had belonged to her mother, left behind after failing to break through to mid-stage Tier Two. She never understood why, but after the failed attempt, only this strange bone remained, yet she could sense her mother’s aura from it.

“Little Rabbit…” Yi Gang felt the coolness from the arrow, and the mark on his brow shone. Sun Meng’s phantom appeared behind him, mirroring his actions.

First Arrow of Sunset!

Golden-red inner energy wrapped a silver-blue arrow. The nine fireballs burst like balloons, dissipating into spiritual energy.

“Wah—!”

A flash of unwillingness appeared in the firebird monster’s eyes. The icy blue arrow in its chest glowed, and a massive explosion of fire lit up the sky.

In everyone’s mind, the system’s voice echoed:

“With the power of civilization itself, this punishment assessment has been passed. Civilization score increased by five points. Internal unification detected, civilization belief has reached cohesion standard. Initiating civilization core condensation.”

At that moment, Sun Meng, having been about to leave, smiled and turned back to sit cross-legged on his bed, synchronizing with Yi Gang to help him condense the civilization core.

The collective consciousness of every life form belonging to Earth’s civilization was drawn together, converging at the site of the monster’s explosion, at the core, where golden-red and silver-blue intertwined—a crystal sphere appeared.

At that moment, Sun Meng received the system’s prompt: he could exchange any items in his possession at one-tenth value for Earth.

Without hesitation, Sun Meng exchanged all the cultivation insights he had compiled, the complete technologies acquired, the special materials, and all the cards in his possession for Earth.

The civilization core radiated brilliantly. Though its spherical form had not yet fully depicted Earth’s terrain, as Sun Meng transferred those items, it began to transform anew.

Everyone on Earth found themselves immobilized, able only to witness the evolution of their civilization core.

The once spherical core gradually took the shape of a continent, surrounded by a thin membrane of void, shielding its interior from turbulent, chaotic currents.

They also noticed that the previously unabsorbed Moon and Sun formed brand-new substitutes within the membrane, followed by a sky full of stars. Everyone knew these were merely projections of external stars, not real entities. But as their world advanced, these projections would become real stars, including sun and moon.

Sun Meng, meanwhile, felt his connection to Earth growing ever stronger. He was also acutely aware that two auras on Earth were breaking through, advancing from mid-stage to late-stage Tier Two. Having achieved a new breakthrough in this strange state, Sun Meng had reached the peak of Tier Two.

Earth’s civilization had ascended further, attaining peak Tier Two. Sun Meng now understood why Mu Xingye valued those special metals so highly, and why Pix was able to foresee the existence of the ruins.

Now, he and Earth’s civilization stood atop all contenders in this assessment, becoming one of the few qualified to compete for the ultimate championship.

At the same time, Mu Xingye and Pix sensed Sun Meng’s breakthrough.

“As expected, your guess was correct. Could this be humanity’s miracle?” said Pix.

“What’s wrong? Do you regret changing your species’ evolutionary path?” Mu Xingye smiled.

“No, though this miracle amazes me, it does not suit my kind,” Pix replied. “Now that he knows our purpose, we must implement the second plan.”

“I think he understands our intent now. Cooperation will proceed more smoothly,” Mu Xingye said, glancing in the direction of Sun Meng’s room, a slight smile on his face.