The Shackles of Power, Everyone's Speculation

Gao Linzhi found it amusing; this guy was far too confident.

The other party is merely a pawn in my game.

However, he smiled, then suddenly began to reflect: Could there be another chess player behind him?

There definitely are.

This is precisely why he keeps a low profile; he needs to uncover the secrets behind the system in order to truly master its power.

"The time has come. I will take you to the Crimson Blood Jiao's forbidden area."

"The elders of all the tribes are in place. You have three-quarters of an hour to enter the Secret Realm."

Xiong Yi led him back to the Bear Clan's secret pavilion, where he saw the leaders of various clans sitting around the magic array.

The fox clan chief's Fox Charm eyes sparkled. "Young man, you actually passed the Ultimate Trial; it's truly astonishing."

"Such a hero is most to the liking of my fox clan. Would you like me to introduce you to a few beauties?"

"No need," Zhang Mingzhen replied calmly.

He had no interest in the furry animal ears.

"How ungrateful! Fox women are always sought after by all races." The Fox Charm gave a light scolding, and seeing that he had no intention of responding, she could only turn her head away dejectedly.

Wolf Clan Chieftain Lang Yin said in a deep voice, "The seal is about to be broken."

"I must remind you that no one knows the current situation of the Crimson Blood Jiao in the Secret Realm."

"Perhaps the tribe still exists, or perhaps it has long since vanished. Take care of yourself."

The magic array suddenly shone brightly, and Zhang Mingzhen stepped into the swirling vortex of light.

The heatwave was like a prison.

This is the feeling the moment you step into the Secret Realm.

He felt as if he had fallen into a furnace, the cracked earth steaming with blazing flames, the desolate plains deathly silent.

Can life truly survive in such a desperate situation?

Time was of the essence, so Zhang Mingzhen summoned his contracted beast Wildsea Candle Dragon, and took to the air to search.

The aquatic dragon appeared listless in the scorching environment, its wings flapping with resistance—the sweltering heat was nothing short of a cage for it.

Go to the lower left.

On the dragon's back, Zhang Mingzhen noticed that the ground in a certain spot was dark in color, and an unusually high temperature was surging from the reddish-brown mottled cracks in the ground.

As you get close, a wave of heat hits you, making you feel as if you're standing inside a volcano.

"Dig it up."

A faint commotion could be heard emanating from deep underground.

Despite its discomfort, the Wildsea Candle Dragon tore through the scorched earth with its giant claws.

Amidst the rumbling of the earth's ley lines, a swarm of crimson-scaled, four-legged beasts emerged from the fissure.

Their eyes are cloudy, their armor is thick like plating, and they resemble giant sand lizards.

A system notification appeared. "Crimson Blood Jiao, a fire-attribute, social Warcraft..."

All other information has been hidden.

Even the system no longer labels its information?

However, since this has been identified as the target, it must be the location of the lair.

Zhang Mingzhen just here to grind monsters.

"Clear and suppress."

He signaled to Zhulong to cooperate in the battle, forcing all the creatures in the cave out of the abyss.

The dragon beast raised its head and roared, and a mighty waterfall poured down from the void— the Overturn the Sea Technique stirred up raging waves, surging towards the scorching earth.

It doesn't need to exert much power at all; it only needs to use the power of water to force those Crimson Blood Jiao hidden underground to the surface.

Water and fire have been antagonistic since ancient times. Stimulated by this water magic, the demonic beasts hidden underground could not suppress their killing intent and burst out of the ground one after another.

They roared at him in a deafening roar, as if venting their anger.

Looking around, there were several thousand Crimson Blood Jiao. It seemed that this race had not yet reached the point of extinction, which brought Zhang Mingzhen some comfort.

It's unknown how much of his life essence it would take to prematurely create an Azurewave Clan. If it's not much, just looking at the number of demonic beasts in front of him, it would be enough to support thousands of the Azurewave Clan for his use!

With his mood improving, Zhang Mingzhen didn't delay any longer and launched an attack on the few Crimson Blood Jiao that were charging at the forefront.

Although it was a magic-type demon beast, and also had the blessing of Orc Race blood, possessing strong magic resistance and a robust physique, it was still no match for Zhang Mingzhen's absolutely overpowered strength.

With a barrage of wide-range attacks like Bear Strike and Eagle Strike, the thousands of demonic beasts were soon annihilated.

At this moment, the system suddenly displayed a prompt:

"Should we exterminate them all?"

"Should we keep the fish fry?"

Zhang Mingzhen naturally chose to exterminate them all.

"Keep killing!"

However, after killing them, there was no joy on his face—contrary to his expectations, not every Crimson Blood Jiao could condense its heart essence.

He had slain thousands of demonic beasts, but only obtained a little over a hundred drops of blood, a result far below his expectations.

"Tsk, a bunch of useless trash."

If I had known this would happen, I should have asked the orcs outside if they had any methods to increase the chances of obtaining essence blood from the beginning.

Compared to thousands of monsters, a hundred or so items are far too meager in terms of loot.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."

To avoid missing anything, he and the Wildsea Candle Dragon split up and searched the area carefully for any other Crimson Blood Jiao's lair, but ultimately found nothing.

And at this time...

A system notification suddenly appeared:

"Your act of genocide has incurred the wrath of the God's Domain, and your talents have been sealed for 24 hours."

"What?" Zhang Mingzhen was immediately shocked.

He then felt a sudden weakness.

And at this time...

Suddenly, three Crimson Blood Jiao pounced up from underground.

Zhang Mingzhen was immediately terrified.

He then realized how troublesome these opponents, whom he could easily defeat, had become after he was no longer incapacitated!

A skill that could easily kill an opponent with tens of thousands of health points now only deals a few hundred damage.

The opponent could not hit me before, or the hits would only cause me a few dozen or a few hundred damage, but now, I'm getting thousands of damage in one go!

The opponent has a strong ability to regenerate health, and can also hide underground to recover.

Previously, I had unleashed explosive damage, instantly killing the opponent without giving them time to heal or dodge.

After his attributes dropped by more than half, he immediately experienced the pain of Ordinary Player.

He couldn't fight, he couldn't stand still, and he was ridiculed by his teammates.

"Hateful!"

"Damn system, it actually sealed my talent!"

In the end, the system took the blame.

Zhang Mingzhen exerted a great deal of effort and consumed many precious medicines before he was able to barely defeat the three-headed Crimson Blood Jiao.

He didn't kill them all because he was worried that their talents would continue to be sealed.

The next time it will probably be a week!

That would be disastrous.

Even Ordinary Player would probably notice something was wrong with him.

After leaving the sealed land, he reappeared in the Bear Clan's territory.

The clan leaders and elders tacitly refrained from inquiring about the aftermath of the Crimson Blood Jiao —since it was already extinct, there was no point in pursuing the matter, and no one wanted to cause further trouble for their deceased kin.

"Is there anything else you need my assistance with? Heroes who have passed the Beast King Trial are always honored guests of our Orc Race."

Xiong Yi smiled broadly, his words conveying a desire to persuade him to stay, though it was unclear how sincere he truly was.

"No need. Now that I have obtained what I needed, I will depart."

"That's a real pity. I'll definitely visit Orc City again when I have more free time!"

This farewell remark sounded much lighter than the previous one.

Zhang Mingzhen did not respond further and stepped directly into the Teleportation Array to return to the Undersea Dragon Palace.

Two days have passed since he left. He did spend a lot of time on the Beast King Trial. I wonder if Lan Yue has followed his instructions and diligently condensed her Spirit Core.

Upon returning to Dragon Palace City, the first person to greet them was the city lord, Shius.

The other person's face was filled with dejection and hatred, and their gaze was piercing.

"If you continue to look at me like that, the Dragon Palace City should be replaced."

After issuing a cold warning, Zhang Mingzhen, who was feigning composure, naturally couldn't reveal his weakness at this moment. He then asked about Lan Yue's whereabouts.

Shius shuddered, recalling this person's methods, and could only reply in a low voice, "Since you left, Lan Yue has not rested for a moment, constantly focusing on sensing her Spirit Core... Her body can no longer hold on; such overexertion is causing her life force to drain extremely quickly."

"Could you...?"

His subsequent pleas were swallowed back under Zhang Mingzhen's cold gaze.

"Lead the way."

The two traveled to the depths of the Dragon Palace City, a place that was originally where Shius secluded himself for meditation.

Inside the giant seashell, Zhang Mingzhen saw Lan Yue —she was concentrating on activating her talent, spiritual energy gathering between her palms and gradually condensing into a pure white sphere of light.

At this moment, Lan Yue was no longer a child: her hair was gray, her face was withered, and apart from her height, she exuded an aura of decay, clearly on the verge of death.

"Master." She opened her cloudy eyes, her voice hoarse like an old woman's.

"As you instructed... with all my might, I only managed to refine three Spirit Core."

"Because I am not yet an adult, my talents have not been fully awakened... I humbly beg for your forgiveness, Master."

Having said that, he presented the newly formed ball of spiritual light in his palm, along with two other objects condensed from spiritual energy, to Zhang Mingzhen.

Sensing the pure spiritual energy flowing in his palm, and looking at the information displayed by the system—it was indeed a treasure capable of elevating one's life level:

"Spirit Core (Sacred Tier Level): A unique talent of the Azurewave Clan, capable of elevating lower-level life forms to the Level-Two Life Level. It only works on life forms below the second level."

Zhang Mingzhen absorbed all three Spirit Core he had just acquired, and his long-dormant life level fluctuated accordingly, with the progress bar jumping from almost imperceptible to 0.301%.

Therefore, a single Spirit Core can advance approximately 0.1% of the process.

That's one in a thousand.

Although the numerical value may seem insignificant, with the accumulation of energy, it is not difficult to build a tower from grains of sand.

If he could command an entire Tide Tribe, breaking through his current realm would likely be just around the corner.

He paid no heed to Lan Yue's weary face and went straight for one hundred and five portions of essence blood taken from the heart of the Crimson Blood Jiao.

"With these, how many Azurewave Clan can your Holy Relic give birth to?"

Lan Yue's dim eyes brightened slightly. "There are such a number... If all of them were invested, they could probably give birth to about ten new brethren."

The thought of the upcoming birth of a child brought a faint smile to her aged face.

Zhang Mingzhen frowned. "Only ten people? At this rate, ten people can only produce thirty Spirit Core in two days, which is too slow."

He had thought he could get at least fifty, but now he couldn't help but feel regretful—if he had known this would happen, he should have kept those Crimson Blood Jiao in captivity back then, so that he could have obtained their life essence continuously.

"Master need not worry."

Lan Yue's breath was weak, and her voice was intermittent, "The clansmen who are conceived with the Crimson Blood Jiao are born into adulthood, and their speed of sensing and condensing their Spirit Core is faster than mine."

"This is the fastest method available right now."

After she finished speaking, she gasped for breath, her body swaying precariously, like a candle flickering in the wind.

"Master... I am humble and ask for only one thing."

"Elder Shius has no intention of being your enemy; I hope you will show leniency."

"I am willing to burn out my last days to produce Spirit Core for you."

Compared to that stubborn Shius, Lan Yue was indeed much more docile.

It's a pity she was born at such an inopportune time; had it been in a peaceful era, she would have been a competent Tide Saintess.

If he behaves himself, I will not make things difficult for him.

"Do you know when this 'game' and the real world will reach 90% integration? Is it only when it reaches that level that the Tide Clan can reproduce normally?"

"The inherited memories tell me that this week's events are crucial to the average level of countless adventurers and the depth of their exploration of the world."

That day... isn't too far away.

"Good."

"Your only task now is to use all your efforts to bring those ten clansmen into the world as soon as possible."

"I'm very pressed for time."

"I will obey your command."

Seeing the other party like this, Zhang Mingzhen thought of his talent, which was currently on cooldown, and a thought suddenly struck him.

He asked, "Can your form be restored?"

His tone softened somewhat.

This is the importance of shackles—power. Any power needs shackles, otherwise, it will turn Saint into a beast.

Lan Yue's expression changed slightly; she sensed the change in this cold-hearted human player.

Was the other person pitying them, or was there another reason?

She thought for a moment and said, "If this were in the original world, there might still be some hope, but..."

"In that case, I do have a place to settle you." Zhang Mingzhen took a deep breath.

He happened to obtain a fragment of a second-level world home, which he used to settle the other party.

"Really?..."

If she could survive, Lan Yue naturally wouldn't want to die.

Therefore, with a new group of the Azurewave Clan about to serve him, Zhang Mingzhen temporarily settled Lan Yue in a level-five homestead and then put the matter aside, waiting for her to recover slowly.

After completing this task, the system notification appeared again:

"You have demonstrated compassion and promoted sustainable development; your talent cooldown time has been halved."

The original 24 hours have been reduced to 12 hours.

Zhang Mingzhen felt helpless about this.

But now he understands that the Game System seems to want the strong to show mercy, which is actually to prevent the strong from killing indiscriminately and destroying its game ecosystem.

It's like how game designers can restrict top-tier players from spamming fish in the beginner's area.

That's how he understood it; he had no idea it was all part of Gao Linzhi's arrangement.

Zhang Mingzhen then turned his attention to the upcoming second territory war.

Having learned from their initial experience, the major guilds have made thorough preparations in terms of tactical deployment and resource allocation, making it difficult to replicate the miracle of the weak defeating the strong that the War Alliance had achieved before.

Even those extremely hidden special territories have now been discovered one by one by players, with many territories now revealed, inevitably leading to unprecedentedly fierce competition.

"Commander, the pressure on us in securing Fragrant Cloud City this time is probably considerable."

"According to intelligence, several guilds have already set their sights on this location."

Inside the Legion Guild headquarters, a war council meeting is underway.

Lu Zheng pondered for a moment, "That's inevitable."

"Among the major cities, Fragrant Cloud City was the first place set foot in by adventurers. Its popularity and familiarity far surpass other places, and many players have settled here."

"It is indeed extremely difficult to seize it."

"Let's activate the second plan."

"The arrangements at 'Dark Abyss' should be complete by now?"

"All arrangements have been made."

"Our people scouted the surrounding area beforehand and sent pharmacists infiltrated to gather intelligence."

"Compared to Fragrant Cloud City, there will be much less resistance there."