Shocking Secrets, the Invasion of Worlds

Could it be that the Tide Clan were targeted for attempting to defy the rules of the game?

But this reward, doesn't it seem more like some kind of scheme against him?

After all, this reward is rather lackluster, and it could even become a huge burden.

He couldn't understand it, and he felt helpless.

Aside from this inexplicable sense of belonging reward, he also received 500,000 experience points, which at least made him feel a little better—at least his efforts weren't in vain.

When talking about death, Xi He didn't show much emotion, as if she had already accepted it calmly.

Zhang Mingzhen had no way of knowing how many years had passed between the extinction of the Tide Clan and their selection for the New World.

Along the way, apart from the corroded bones at the entrance, he saw no other traces.

All these years have passed, and it seems that the high priest has not succeeded.

"My sir, could you do me a favor?" Xi He asked Zhang Mingzhen.

The system prompts: "Does the player accept Xi He's quest? Completion will reward the Tide Clan's Holy Relic: Jade Coral Conch."

Isn't this order reversed? Shouldn't the task details be explained first, followed by a question about whether the candidate accepts?

Zhang Mingzhen once again had a vague feeling that she had fallen into a trap.

But the Holy Relic of the Tide Clan did indeed pique his interest.

The reward from the special mission just now seems to hold a hidden secret.

According to Xi He, with the Holy Relic Jade Coral Conch, there might be a chance for the Tide Clan to give birth to new life once again.

Then his role as a "belonging of the Tide Clan" came in handy—it turned out to be a series of quests.

Now that we know the purpose of the Holy Relic, there's no harm in accepting the mission.

As long as it doesn't involve him fighting against the Game System itself, it's fine.

With his current fighting strength, he had no confidence in defying the rules of the game.

He planned to consider the game selection process that Xi He mentioned at a later time.

"I agree. What do you need me to do?"

Zhang Mingzhen was prepared to face all sorts of difficult demands, but she didn't expect the task to be completely unexpected.

"Could you please venture deep into the holy land to inquire about the High Priest? This is the place where I died; I cannot leave."

This holy maiden of the Azurewave Clan clearly had a close relationship with the high priest; when she mentioned him, Xi He's tone was exceptionally gentle.

I don't know if he's still alive, maybe...

"Your high priest may have already Mutual Destruction with the demonic energy, perhaps leaving no trace of his remains," Zhang Mingzhen said helplessly.

"It doesn't matter."

"I just want to confirm if he still exists."

"As long as you open the gate to the sacred altar, if Xi Feng is still alive, she will definitely come out to see me."

If I don't see him, then I don't need to wait any longer.

"I have waited for him here for too long; my soul is unwilling to leave."

"Once I know his whereabouts, I can finally feel at peace."

Hearing this, Zhang Mingzhen felt inexplicably heavy-hearted.

It's another tragedy.

The dust of the times, when it falls on an individual, becomes a mountain.

Xi Feng should be the name of the High Priest.

After waiting for so many long years, all for a single piece of news.

"Okay, I promise you."

After saying this, Zhang Mingzhen turned and walked towards the deepest altar.

After walking for nearly fifteen minutes, we finally arrived at the sacrificial hall, which was sealed off by a huge stone gate.

The surface of the giant gate was engraved with strange patterns, which seemed to be a restriction used for sealing.

Upon closer inspection, the system revealed that the patterns were actually an array.

[Yin-Yang Separation Array]: A two-way array that separates life and death, as well as yin and yang.

The sealed gates prohibit all living beings and souls from entering or leaving.

It seems that Xi Feng set up this formation both to prevent the leakage of demonic energy and to prevent outsiders from breaking in—he probably never intended to come out alive from the beginning.

This person had long ago resolved to perish alongside the demonic energy.

Deserves respect.

However, the only way to enter from the outside now is to forcibly break through the array's defenses.

The system then marked the weak points of the formation, displaying a long red health bar.

Simply keep attacking until the magic circle's health is reduced to zero, then you can break the barrier and enter the room.

After carefully examining his surroundings and finding no other traps, Zhang Mingzhen unleashed an alternating attack formation using Spirit Strike and Ling Yue.

The barrier, which I thought I could easily break through, is actually causing my health to drop extremely slowly.

When he first stepped into this sacred land, he felt that this mission was exceptionally difficult; otherwise, even the qualification requirements for entry would not be so stringent.

Since Xi He has passed away, he cannot check its level, nor has he encountered any other monsters in the Tide Sacred Land, making it difficult to determine the level of this instance.

The strength of this sealing formation is obvious; even ordinary adventurers who have reached level sixty or seventy would probably have difficulty breaking it.

However, he was no ordinary person, and even though the trial grounds here far exceeded his current level, they could not stop him from entering.

Zhang Mingzhen's expression hardened, and he took a half step back, unleashing a series of moves with fluid grace.

Aside from the newly acquired exclusive Priest skill "Salvation Art," he has already honed all his other skills to the maximum level of ten.

Spirit Strike, Phantom Strike, Shadow Leap, Azure Eagle's Assault, Giant Bear's Might, Chasing Wind Thrust Barrage —several attacks were linked together and unleashed.

The once rock-solid health of the great array pattern called "Yin-Yang Separation" began to drop rapidly, and the array's radiance gradually dimmed until it was completely annihilated.

With the magic array removed, the towering stone gate no longer posed an obstacle.

The massive gate, sealed for countless years, emitted a deep rumble as it was pushed open, creating a gap large enough for a person to pass through.

Zhang Mingzhen slipped inside.

The moment he stepped onto the altar, a figure with its back to him came into view.

It was a man whose stature was far greater than that of an average person, Jingjing floating in mid-air.

Judging from his posture and position alone, it is highly likely that he is the legendary High Priest of the Tide Clan — Xi Feng.

"High Priest Xi Feng?"

Zhang Mingzhen slowly approached and tentatively called out.

The figure trembled violently upon hearing the sound, then slowly turned around.

His skin was covered in blue scales, and a pair of winding horns on his forehead indicated that he was indeed a Tide Clan.

However, unlike Xi He whom he had encountered before, the male Azurewave Clan before him had completely black eyes without any whites, and his face was distorted, revealing a terrifying ferocity.

He seemed to be struggling against something, squeezing out a hoarse and gloomy voice from deep in his throat:

"Who are you? Why have you trespassed on our sacred ground? What is the situation outside...?"

His levitating body was not a spirit, but a real body of flesh and blood—he was still alive.

Do you know Xiaoxi? She's the one who guided me to find you.

"You must be Xi Feng, right?"

"Xi He... Xi He..."

The name seemed to stir up deep-seated memories, Xi Feng murmured, repeating, "That's right... we are the Tide Clan."

"I am Xi Feng... Xi He and she alright? Are our people... safe and sound?"

Clearly, his prolonged confinement had caused him to lose his sense of time and become completely unaware of everything happening in the outside world.

"Xi He, and her spirit lingers outside the sacred land for a long time."

"As for the other members of the tribe... I have not seen them."

"No! Impossible!"

Despite knowing that the Tide Clan had long been wiped out, Xi Feng's condition was clearly extremely unstable at the moment.

Zhang Mingzhen therefore carefully considered his words, not wanting to provoke the other party too much.

However, this message alone was enough to make Xi Feng's eyes widen and her whole body tremble violently, clearly indicating that she had suffered a huge shock.

His suspended figure curled up, his hands gripping his head tightly, and he kept whispering in a hoarse voice:

"Impossible... This is absolutely impossible... Our race possesses Holy Relic and has successfully broken free from the control of the God's Domain... We should have succeeded... How could this be... How could this happen!"

Having endured countless years of torment in this confinement, Xi Feng's mind was clearly on the verge of chaos, even exuding a faint aura of danger.

Zhang Mingzhen quietly distanced himself by several steps, his aura held back, ready to respond to any possible attack.

Unexpectedly, after a brief period of losing control, Xi Feng gradually calmed down and began to tell him about the long-forgotten past of the Tide Clan.

"I was out of control just now, please forgive me, outsider... Sometimes I... have difficulty controlling myself."

His voice was still hoarse, but now carried a desolate calm. "It seems the fate of my Tide Clan may have been sealed from the very beginning."

"From the moment our world challenge failed, there was no possibility of escape."

"You must also be one of the 'players' chosen by the God's Domain, right? How much do you know about the God's Domain?"

Seeing that Xi Feng had regained her ability to communicate and even seemed inclined to reveal secrets about the God's Domain, Zhang Mingzhen immediately followed up, "I only know a little bit from Xi He myself."

"From what you're saying, could it be that other worlds were once chosen by the God's Domain?"

"Of course," Xi Feng affirmed. "We have no way of knowing the origins of the God's Domain."

"All we know is that it will appear in many worlds of different levels and sizes, randomly selecting targets."

"When the time is right, I will enter that world and present it with some kind of challenge."

"If you fail, the whole world will be wiped out; but if you succeed, the rewards will be beyond imagination."

"As far as I know, many high-ranking beings... are often happy to accept such challenges in order to seize the opportunity to transcend their rank."

"High-level beings? Then what level does our world belong to?" Zhang Mingzhen quickly asked.

"Yes, I don't know what level your world belongs to."

"The world inhabited by our Tide Clan has been classified as a Level Two world."

"Our people have been able to control the element of water since birth, and to perform all kinds of magic."

"Our world is surrounded by an endless ocean, and the Azurewave Clan are the masters of that world."

"However... to our surprise, we failed in the second game challenge."

"The world was then swallowed and merged with the God's Domain."

"Our race survived only by the protection of the Holy Relic, but now it seems..."

Xi Feng let out a long sigh, "In the end, it was all inescapable."

"Back then, with the help of the Holy Relic, we brought a large number of our people to this holy land to temporarily avoid the erosion of the God's Domain and wait for the opportunity to recover."

"However, I sensed that 'demonic energy' had quietly seeped into the sacred ground."

"This energy can erode the Spirit Core and corrupt their very essence."

"Upon discovering the traces of demonic energy, I immediately imprisoned it within this altar and set up a Yin-Yang isolation array to prevent it from leaking out and harming my people."

"They thought this move would protect the remaining ethnic groups, but unexpectedly..."

Zhang Mingzhen was shocked upon hearing this.

So this game has such deep secrets!

It selects worlds from all directions, using high-level beings as guides, and then devours and corrupts them.

If that's the case, then who is Guide D for the Earth world?

(Gao Linzhi: I am indeed the one.)

Zhang Mingzhen thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with an idea. Then, his mind raced, and he focused his attention on the task at hand.

In his view, the demonic energy sealed here by Xi Feng was probably not the only one that had infiltrated the sacred land.

Perhaps other undetected demonic energy had quietly infiltrated, and before they knew it... the remaining Tide Clan had been completely annihilated.

However, why is Xi He's soul able to survive, and why is Xi Feng able to remain trapped in the altar for so long?

"Why has Xi He been able to exist in spirit form until now?"

"Perhaps it's because of the Holy Relic."

"As the Holy Maiden of the Tides, she Protection the Holy Relic for generations, and it is the Holy Relic that has kept her soul from dissipating."

When the Holy Relic was mentioned, Zhang Mingzhen noticed something unusual about Xi Feng's expression—a struggle and a barely perceptible greed were intertwined between her brows.

"Holy Relic... Holy Relic of the Azurewave Clan... if I obtain it, I can..."

The shadows in Xi Feng's eyes deepened, and the name above his head gradually turned crimson, a sign that the enemy target in the game was about to launch an attack.

Previously invisible attributes are now visible on the system interface.

"Xi Feng (Level 100) (Demonized)"

"Physical Fitness (Leader Enhancement)"

"Strength: 7460..."

"Demonic state: The body corrupted by demonic energy gains leader-level attribute buffs, and all attacks have a corrosive effect."

Judging from his previous words, the other person's world was also invaded by the game, so he should also be a player.

Even if their race is superior to humans and their basic attributes are more powerful, they should never have reached such an abnormal state.

This is likely due to demonic possession distorting its attributes to a leader-level rank.

Judging from his physique alone, he is far beyond what any player could possess; his current health points have already exceeded 20 million.

Such a terrifying amount of blood is impossible for any race or profession.

However, Zhang Mingzhen was unsure whether the Azurewave Clan players also had class divisions.

He has only ever met Xi Feng, a member of the Azurewave Clan with materialized attributes, so there is no way to compare them. He can only secretly hope that the other party can still maintain his rationality and not completely lose control.

"Could you do me a favor, hero? Please retrieve for me the Holy Relic that the Tide Clan has worshipped for generations."

Although Xi Feng, who had already been corrupted by demons, still spoke politely, his expression had long lost its previous composure, and his eyes were filled with only madness.

"Good."

Zhang Mingzhen answered decisively and turned to leave—this was not a place to linger.

He secretly kept an eye on the gaze fixed on him from behind, and just as he was about to step out of the room, Xi Feng indeed launched a sudden attack!

The moment he entered the battle, the entire altar room was as if sealed off by an invisible barrier, turning into a Dungeon Space and completely cutting off his escape route.

Yao Li now, there are only two paths: defeat Xi Feng, or perish here.

"What are you doing? Didn't you tell me to go find the Holy Relic?"

Zhang Mingzhen feigned surprise, quickly dodging the opponent's attack. However, the magic was unpredictable and he still couldn't avoid one strike.

Fortunately, his defenses were extremely high, and he had also enhanced his body with Demon Armor beforehand; otherwise, he would have been in grave danger.