Transcendent Sequence Rune Acquired!!

Step one: Drop a large amount of level 3 metal about two kilometers from the Transcendent Sequence Rune, covering a one-kilometer area.

Step two: Place the level 5 metal at the edge of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory, no more than two kilometers from the area covered by the level 3 metal.

Step three: Send the Evil-Attracting Music Box precisely to a point two kilometers from the Transcendent Sequence Rune, within the area covered by the level 3 metal.

In Desolate Town, within the Lost Land, Cao Fengqi spent a full hour scouting and thinking around the edges of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory.

He had only one Evil-Attracting Music Box and only one piece of level 5 metal.

He might have only one chance, too.

Cao Fengqi couldn't afford to be anything less than careful.

"Time to move."

After rehearsing it no fewer than ten times in his head, Cao Fengqi took a deep breath, his face showing his determination to succeed.

He quickly placed the level 5 Thousand-Refined Metal at the edge of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory.

Carrying over five hundred jin of level 3 metal on his back, he circled along the edge toward the Transcendent Sequence Rune.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

As he advanced, he tossed pieces of metal into the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory.

Finally, Cao Fengqi took out the Evil-Attracting Music Box, looked at its switch, and turned it on.

"Jingle, creak-"

An exceedingly eerie, grating tune came from the music box. He immediately tied it to an arrow.

"This is it."

Holding the Evil-Breaking Bow, Cao Fengqi fired the arrow precisely at a point two kilometers away.

[Evil-Attracting Music Box: Level 3 quality]

[Effect: When activated, it attracts evil spirits within two kilometers. Protect it, or it will be destroyed by evil spirits. It can be activated for five minutes a day.]

"No problem!"

Cao Fengqi watched the Evil-Attracting Music Box trace an arc across the sky as its eerie music spread through the area. With a thought, he moved.

He returned to the shelter, left the Evil-Breaking Bow in the house, and returned to Desolate Town wearing only the Evil Concealment Armor.

He charged through the wind, swift and traceless.

Using the Wind-Breaking Movement Technique, he entered the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory without a sound.

"Jingle, creak-"

Meanwhile, at the nest in the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory, where the level 6 resource and the Transcendent Sequence Rune were located,

A seductive, eerie tune drifted over.

"Roar!" "Roar, roar, roar!"

The Mystic Devouring Beasts instantly pricked up their enormous ears, listening intently.

Some of them also sniffed toward the distance, catching the delicious scent of food.

"Roar?" "Roar!"

Beside a strange forging table cast from meteoric stone, glowing with a dark purple-gold light and carved with writing from the Lost Land,

Two three-meter-long Mystic Devouring Beasts that had been lying there suddenly rose to their feet and let out low growls.

Yes, two.

Not the single one Cao Fengqi had encountered last time.

One male and one female, the two leaders of the Mystic Devouring Beast race.

"Roar!"

Their hearing was more acute than that of ordinary Mystic Devouring Beasts. As soon as they heard the Evil-Attracting Music Box's eerie tune, they rushed straight toward it without hesitation.

What Cao Fengqi didn't know was that the Evil-Attracting Music Box was even more alluring to Mystic Devouring Beasts, which had no eyes and relied on their noses and ears.

Soon, every Mystic Devouring Beast in the territory was rushing toward the Evil-Attracting Music Box.

"Hm? What's that noise?"

Cao Fengqi had already reached a point one kilometer from the Evil-Attracting Music Box. Before he detected its destruction or saw any Mystic Devouring Beasts devouring the level 3 metal, he heard the familiar sound of the beasts thundering along to his right and ahead.

His gaze sharpened.

It should have worked. A large number of Mystic Devouring Beasts have been drawn over.

Cao Fengqi's heart burned with excitement. Without hesitation, he rose and rushed toward the Transcendent Sequence.

[Scan of the one-kilometer area complete: five level 1 resources, one level 4 resource, one level 6 resource, and a Transcendent Sequence Rune detected.]

In less than ten seconds, a message appeared.

"One thousand meters!"

Cao Fengqi began to feel a little nervous.

But at that moment, his mind was racing, thought after thought flashing through it.

This scan had not detected the level 5 resource inside the Mystic Devouring Beast leader's stomach.

There were two possibilities. The first was that it had already digested the level 5 resource.

The other was good news: the powerful Mystic Devouring Beast was not beside the Transcendent Sequence Rune.

Cao Fengqi took a deep breath and pushed his speed up another notch.

Five hundred meters-four hundred-three hundred-two hundred...

His heart began to pound. Last time, that powerful Mystic Devouring Beast had spotted him when he was two hundred meters away.

One hundred and fifty meters!

It's not there!

At that moment, Cao Fengqi was certain. His eyes locked on the way ahead.

At one hundred meters, the strange object glowing with dark purple-gold light came into view.

Fifty meters, thirty meters, ten meters...

Cao Fengqi reached the level 6 item. Clenching his fists, he gazed at it with shining eyes.

[Forging Table: Level 6 quality]

[Effect: A forging table belonging to a Transcendent Sequence artifact refiner. It greatly enhances Emberfire and contains a forging hammer and forging gauntlets. The forging recipes for some transcendent items are carved into its surface.]

"A forging table? Is this that Mystic Artificer's forging table?"

Cao Fengqi stood before it, staring intently.

He hurriedly looked to the right side of the forging table, where there was a clearly visible hidden compartment.

He steadied his slightly trembling hand and opened it.

A Transcendent Sequence Rune the size of an infant's fist appeared before him. Blazing, gilded patterns intertwined with dark red, and its edges were wrapped in mysterious, intricate flame patterns.

[Artifact Refiner's Transcendent Sequence Rune]

[Effect: Place it in the mouth to ignite Transcendent Emberfire and formally enter the artifact refiner's Transcendent Sequence. It contains the methods of advancement and cultivation for the artifact refiner's Transcendent Sequence.]

After reading the information on the Transcendent Sequence Rune, Cao Fengqi picked it up without the slightest hesitation and put it in his mouth.

The moment the hard Transcendent Sequence Rune entered his mouth, it miraculously turned into flames and merged into his head.

I've got it! I finally got it!

I've finally become a Transcendent Sequence cultivator!!

Cao Fengqi suppressed the excitement in his heart. Looking at the forging table, which weighed at least a ton, he hoisted it up and rushed east toward the "town slums," in the opposite direction from where he had placed the level 5 metal.

Fortunately, his constitution had already reached 45. Although carrying the one-ton forging table slowed him down considerably, he was still as fast as an Olympic champion before the Great Catastrophe.

Cao Fengqi had searched the eastern area before. It was so poor that even Calamity Rats didn't go there.

It would be much safer there.

Still carrying the two-meter forging table, Cao Fengqi rushed out of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory and ran another seven or eight hundred meters before stopping, gasping for breath.

"Roar? Roar, roar, roar!"

"Roar, roar, roar!"

At that very moment, a series of terrifying roars came from the distance.

The powerful Mystic Devouring Beasts had evidently sensed that the level 6 "delicacy" in their nest had disappeared.

Cao Fengqi glanced in that direction, and with a thought-

[Exit the Lost Land?]

[Exit!]