Chapter 87 Earth: Beast Tide (Part 28)

Once again, the end of the month arrived. In the span of half a month, Sun Meng and his companions saw no improvement in their metal gathering efficiency, as though some invisible rule was restraining their actions. Whether it was monsters causing trouble or other unforeseen obstacles, the final amount they divided among themselves ended up being exactly ten times that of the previous time.

Additionally, they discovered that others were also mining for metals. Both parties became aware of one another, but neither showed any intention of communicating, let alone testing each other’s strength.

“It’s obvious that this is the system’s rules at work. It seems we won’t be given much leeway to exploit any loopholes,” Mu Xingye remarked. “Still, we’ve managed to gain some advantages so far. From here on, we’ll need to be more cautious. I have a feeling the next phase of the trial is about to begin.”

“It’s only at times like this that one can appreciate the genius of the game’s creators. We have no way of perceiving how these rules operate, and can only passively accept them,” said Pix. “I’ve already started setting up some basic defenses. Even if a horde of monsters suddenly emerges from underground, we’ll have time to escape.”

“The monsters we’ve encountered lately haven’t been unusual, nor have we found any new mines or remarkable places. It seems we’ll have to wait for the system’s intervention before we can discover anything more,” Sun Meng added. He had grown accustomed to battling these late-stage Tier-Two monsters, killing about ten of them daily, not to mention even more of the weaker ones.

Yet he couldn’t shake the odd sensation that his fighting style was less that of a cultivator and more akin to a high-level martial artist.

He had discussed this with people back on Earth, where the cultivation system was itself in a transitional phase. Prior to Tier Two, cultivators relied mainly on martial arts in combat, while spells and magical attacks depended on talismans. After reaching Tier Two, whether one focused on the martial path or the path of magic, practitioners possessed formidable long-range attack methods, much more powerful than Sun Meng’s current techniques.

This left him in a rather awkward position.

Sorting through the basic cultivation models from Earth, Sun Meng tried to extrapolate and deduce where his own cultivation path might have gone astray. Soon, he found the root cause: the Houyi Bow, a sealed divine weapon he had obtained in a quest world. His rapid and relatively easy progress was centered around this bow, influencing both the formation of his magical avatar and his combat methods. Even when he entertained thoughts of close combat with a sword or practicing spells, in actual battle he would always, without hesitation, reach for the bow.

Back in his room, Sun Meng took the Houyi Bow in hand, closed his eyes, and focused his mind on the weapon. Ever since reaching the middle stage of Tier Two, he had been able to perceive what lay within.

A perpetually unfolding scene, as if engraved into the bow: ten suns blazing in the sky, Kuafu chasing the sun, and Houyi shooting down the suns.

Within this space, he gained insight into the path of archery and the inheritable knowledge within. He could clearly see the ‘heaven’ above, comprising five layers of sealed space. He had tried to approach them before, but whenever he neared the seals, scorching flames would erupt—flames too intense for even him to bear. Only by retreating to a safe distance would the fire vanish.

His intuition told him that with one further breakthrough, he could unlock the first layer of the seal.

Watching the final segment of Houyi shooting down the suns, Sun Meng once again began to meditate, repeatedly imitating Houyi’s archery techniques. Although it appeared as if each shot was simply aimed and released, deeper contemplation revealed that each arrow carried a distinct intention.

Sun Meng had already mastered the first two arrows and had recently begun to grasp the third.

He drew the bow again and again, channeling his inner energy, aligning his will with that manifested in the scene.

He felt as if he had become Houyi himself, drawing his bow under the scorching sun-baked earth, intent on saving the world, aiming at the blazing suns overhead.

The third arrow—Sundown Arrow!

The first arrow locked onto the target, the second pursued it, but the third was defined by its power to penetrate.

The first two arrows struck the Golden Crow’s chest; the third pierced straight through the chest of the third sun-bird!

After countless repetitions, suddenly Sun Meng’s vision went black, and his consciousness snapped back to reality. He shook his head—this session had lasted longer than usual; he felt genuine fatigue.

Preparing to enter a state of recovery, a thought struck him.

‘I was supposed to be investigating the reason my cultivation system had been affected. How did I end up practicing again instead?’ It seemed that during his training, he’d completely forgotten his original intent.

He tried to re-enter the Houyi Bow, but now felt so mentally exhausted that sleep threatened to overtake him at any moment.

For now, Sun Meng had to set aside his questions. What secrets did this bow hold, and why had it led to his current state? Yet, having come this far, he had no choice but to continue along this path.

Given the circumstances, this kind of game likely wasn’t the first of its kind. The legendary tales and prehistoric ruins might well be remnants of previous civilizations. Perhaps, even now, advanced civilizations were watching their struggles and taking delight in this cosmic game.

The more he thought about it, the more stifled he felt. Irritated, Sun Meng simply went out to hunt monsters, hoping to distract himself.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed. Half a month prior, Pix had sent messages to the civilizations they’d previously worked with, calling them to gather at the temporary base at the foot of the mountain. Though many dismissed him, a fair number still came—most of them had just advanced to the middle stage of Tier Two, with only a few preparing to break through to the late stage.

Over the next half month, a great number of lower-tier monsters near the foot of the mountain were slaughtered. Every participant received a bit of metal, and when they transferred it to their home civilizations on the exchange day, they uncovered the secret.

Just as the exchange day ended, the system’s voice rang out.

“The first phase of the assessment has ended. The second phase begins now. All participants must gather within the Metal Mountains within fifteen days and hunt the mutated metal beasts. The civilization warship exchange mall is now open, and trades may be made at any time.”

Sun Meng looked at the new items now available in the exchange list—everything from basic structural templates to a wide array of technical details. However, aside from certain key technologies, the rest were only at the late Tier-Two level, with further options still locked.

Sun Meng drew a sharp breath. The system was clearly pushing them toward fierce competition. Anything exchanged before the next exchange day would remain in the hands of the contestants, which meant it could be stolen!

So, their earlier efforts had already given them a head start. With the previous month’s harvest and the fact that Earth had already begun designing their plans, they were now a step ahead of those civilizations who had only just discovered this secret.

Pix and Mu Xingye found Sun Meng, their expressions less confident than before.

“Things haven’t gone as we expected. This game’s system isn’t as rigid as we thought. Our previous strategies may have pushed it to its limits. Now, in this new phase, our advantage isn’t as great as we’d hoped,” Mu Xingye said.

Just after the exchange day, they had sent almost all their metals back to their own civilization, leaving little in their hands.

“We’ll just have to get to work as quickly as possible. There’s still half a month left, right? This time there shouldn’t be any rule limiting the amount we can mine,” Sun Meng said.

“That’s true,” Pix replied, “but what about the other civilizations? Some of them have probably guessed that we already profited handsomely.”

“We’ll just have to identify a few more mine sites! Anyway, given their current technological limits, they’ll have to band together if they want to develop a mine fully,” Mu Xingye said. “Now is when the real race between civilizations begins. Whoever reaches Tier Three first will be the true victor.” With that, Mu Xingye turned and walked away.

Mercy? That was out of the question!