Cooperation

Following the flow of the river downstream, a massive stone platform appeared at the end, seemingly the only place in the Jade Corridor where vegetation existed.

On the platform stood a circular dome, its edges entwined with green vines that extended down to the pillars supporting the structure.

Several Spirit Realm Travelers had already arrived at this location.

Everyone watched the monster on the stone platform with grave expressions: a nearly five-meter-tall stone giant with numerous vines growing across its body.

The Vine Giant struck a challenger who had attempted to dodge, the immense impact slamming him into the ground.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, and by the time the Vine Giant raised its fist, only a concave crater remained; the challenger was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing that the challenger had been eliminated, the Vine Giant crouched down and remained motionless, the light barrier surrounding the stone platform descended, and the crater gradually repaired itself, returning to its original state.

Whenever a challenger attacked the Vine Giant, the moment it stood up, the surrounding light barrier would descend, preventing the challenger from escaping and barring anyone else from entering.

"Another failure. Who's next?"

Turner said, eyeing the other Spirit Realm Travelers with a vigilant attitude.

He could not be certain that everyone here possessed their first jade, so everyone was wary of one another, guarding against a sudden sneak attack.

Although it seemed possible for everyone to show their jade, no one made such a proposal.

What if the other party had nothing, but you revealed two jades and became their target?

There was no rule stating that if you saw someone else had nothing, everyone would gang up to eliminate them first.

Even if someone suggested showing them, it was likely that only one person would comply, while the others would tacitly choose to conceal theirs.

"This stone statue is too strong; I have no way to defeat it. You guys go first."

One Spirit Realm Traveler suggested, as it was clear to him that they were absolutely incapable of defeating this stone statue.

"You go ahead, I'll look for another way..."

"I'll observe a bit more..."

Everyone understood that they could not defeat this stone giant, yet as the river flowed here, this seemed to be the only place to obtain the third jade.

"Why don't we all go together?"

A female voice made a suggestion, and everyone looked over.

A woman with purple hair, dressed in red leather armor designed for mobility, exuded an air of competence. She wore no ornaments and held a greatsword in both hands.

"Don't be ridiculous. Can we even cooperate?"

"I highly doubt you even have your first jade."

"Even if we cooperate to defeat this statue, how would we distribute the jade?"

Every Spirit Realm Traveler present had spent a long time in this trial, the shortest being three days and the longest over a week.

They had all put in significant effort to collect one or two pieces of jade.

This Spirit Realm journey had already drained too much of their energy, and throughout this trial, other Spirit Realm Travelers had attacked them from time to time.

Only here, at the end of the river and before the final piece of jade, could they enjoy a brief, temporary peace.

No one was willing to trust others; many trials, even if unstated, allowed for the plundering of items collected by others.

At this final juncture, they naturally could not afford to let their guard down; no one wanted their days of investment to go to waste.

One had to realize that just getting into this trial required immense luck, and there would basically be no second chance to enter.

Velint sighed, knowing she could not persuade these people; they had lost all trust in companions long ago during the mutual attacks of their previous 'allies.'

Yet, Velint vaguely sensed that cooperation was the key to obtaining the third jade.

Although those currently stepping up were all melee combatants, Velint had observed that the Vine Giant required the cooperation of two people to be defeated.

She noticed that when swords and axes struck the vines, they snapped almost instantly.

However, when facing the hard rock, melee weapons could not exert enough force, only slowly chipping away small fragments.

When a challenger who knew Ignition stepped up, Velint noticed that the flames struggled to burn the vines, yet when they touched the rock, she could clearly feel the stone layer shrinking slightly.

It takes a spellcaster and a melee combatant working together to defeat that Vine Giant, Velint thought.

She had originally intended for everyone to go together; although everyone present was a melee combatant, many who traveled the Spirit Realm knew a few spells bestowed by the realm.

It was just that their firepower was insufficient; each person could likely only cast five or six times before running out.

She felt that if everyone cast spells, the Vine Giant would absolutely not be able to withstand their combined assault.

But this group had been traumatized by the mutual attacks of those desperate to get their first jade during this trial, and no one dared to cooperate with anyone else.

She shook her head; even though she had voiced something that completely contradicted their perception, no one suggested they all unite to eliminate her first.

Everyone likely held a piece of jade, and they did not want a chaotic battle, fearing that a rash fight would lead to someone else launching a sneak attack to steal the jade they held.

After obtaining the blue jade, Fran had been attacked by quite a few people while traveling along the river.

"Why are these people acting like lunatics? They just attack without saying a word."

These people's attacks were directly crushed by Fran's overwhelming stats; one person was even sliced in two by a single Wind Blade from Fran during their charge.

It seemed that since she already possessed the red jade stones after they died, there were no drops whatsoever; not even a single blade was left behind.

What Fran found somewhat strange was that, aside from the person she had killed to obtain the red jade stone, the other attackers seemed incapable of speech; no matter what she said, they ignored her completely.

Furthermore, their intelligence felt somewhat impaired; she would be in the middle of preparing to cast a Wind Blade, yet they would only start to dodge once the Wind Blade had already been thrown, resulting in them being struck and killed instantly.

She couldn't fathom how they fought; who waits until they see an attack coming to dodge? It was as if they weren't even human.

After she finished dealing with these small fries, she caught sight of the stone platform in the distance.

And nearby, Velint was already waiting there.

She knew she couldn't keep searching for people there; she had to intercept the others before they reached the stone platform and explain things clearly, because once they arrived and were exposed to that tense, hostile atmosphere, nothing she said would be of any use.

Velint looked at the person before her wearing a robe, presumably a spellcaster, and her eyes lit up.