Chapter 93

Since evolving into a Cardfang Soldier, Ellen has rarely been hit by enemy skills during battles. The once-core talent skill, [Remains], has never been used in combat.

However, Ellen has never slackened in practicing this skill.

When facing an enemy far stronger than himself and unable to use [Shadow Stealth], [Remains] becomes his assurance for a desperate comeback.

The plague demon vine’s thorn ball floated mid-air, attacking from the shadows below, making it difficult to quickly approach the core. Ellen opted for a frontal breakthrough.

Using [Remains] to separate and reassemble his bones, he bypassed the enemy’s attacks to close the distance—an old tactic he had mastered during his time as a little skeleton.

This series of rapid exchanges occurred in the blink of an eye. All that could be seen was the white silhouette of the skeleton flashing amidst the countless poisonous thorny vines. In the next instant, the battle reached a critical moment.

Mu Huiyue, closely observing the battlefield, would not miss the opening meticulously created by the Cardfang Soldier.

“Ellen, Bone Spike Assault!”

The reassembled skeleton fixed its hollow gaze on the floating thorn ball, with nothing but a flickering ghostly blue flame burning in its eye sockets.

A calcified glow flashed across its hands, enveloping the bone blades with searing soul-burning netherfire.

This was the triple-strengthened dark-type attack skill: Bone Spike Assault!

With two razor-sharp bone blades, the Cardfang Soldier struck the floating thorn ball from both sides, carving a massive intersecting cross.

From within the bone blades, ghostly blue flames erupted, piercing through the protective thorny vines and directly scorching the core of the plague demon vine.

The thorn ball trembled violently, spraying countless drops of dark purple venom. These rain-like viscous droplets were not only toxic but highly corrosive, causing Ellen’s white skeletal frame to sizzle and smoke.

Ellen did not retreat into the shadows. Enduring the venom’s damage, he doubled down on his sword’s power, using the blazing bone blades to tear apart the vines entangling the thorn ball.

The more frantically the plague demon vine reacted, the more it confirmed that Ellen’s judgment was correct!

The thorn ball’s tremors grew increasingly intense. When it realized the venom was ineffective in halting the Cardfang Soldier’s actions, the plague demon vine extended more thorny vines, lashing them fiercely at the skeleton before it.

Mu Huiyue clenched her fist, forcing herself to steady her racing heart as she witnessed the scene.

Not yet… It’s still not time for the decisive strike!

Ellen neither dodged nor avoided the attack, letting the thorny vines crush the bones of his chest. The force carried through his skeletal frame, unable to halt, and several vines slammed heavily into the thorn ball that was locked in a standoff with the intersecting bone blades.

The tangled mass of thorny vines could no longer hold. Trembling, it cracked open slightly, revealing the core within, wrapped in dark purple venom.

Now’s the moment!

A four-layered summoning array materialized out of thin air above the thorn ball. From it, the fully recovered Xiao Cloudhound, Baiya, stepped forth, dark energy gathering intensely in its mouth.

A dark glow flickered in Mu Huiyue’s eyes as she channeled all her strength through the bond to Baiya. Countless strands of dark-attribute energy compressed and converged, flowing between them through the contract, forming a powerful resonance that echoed like a heartbeat.

Beastmaster Talent: Dark Attribute Amplification – Combat Resonance!

“Baiya, unleash your maximum-power Moonburst!” Mu Huiyue commanded loudly.

At her order, a massive shadow energy orb, larger than Baiya itself, formed in front of the Xiao Cloudhound. Raising its head, Baiya hurled the ultimate attack, imbued with all its and its Beastmaster’s combined strength, toward the core of the plague demon vine, hidden within the thorns.

Boom—

A violent explosion instantly engulfed the entire battlefield. The brilliant radiance of the moonlight pierced through the clouds and toxic rain in the sky, while the ground rumbled with a deep tremor. The piercing shriek of the plague demon vine echoed across the heavens and earth.

The foul-smelling gale stirred Mu Huiyue’s long hair as she turned back amid the aftermath of the explosion, looking toward the wheat field behind her, protected by black mist and skeletal phantoms.

The rapidly decreasing counter finally stopped at [1/100].

As the residual shockwaves dissipated, the thorn ball of the plague demon vine was nowhere to be seen. A glowing stone, shimmering with flowing light, dropped to the ground—the Guardian Crystal of the seventh layer.

Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but smile as she ran toward her beloved beasts.

“Well done, Ellen, Baiya!”

She hugged the exhausted Xiao Cloudhound, ruffling the pup’s fluffy fur. “You did amazing, Baiya.”

Baiya tilted its head and gently licked its Beastmaster’s fingers.

From the shadows emerged the Cardfang Soldier, shrouded in black mist, his form fully reassembled after surviving the plague demon vine’s final strike.

Mu Huiyue extended her hand toward him. The skeleton understood her gesture, forming a loose fist with his elongated finger bones and lightly bumping it against hers.

“As expected of my Ellen.”

The girl’s bright eyes sparkled, carrying the exhilaration of a hard-fought battle.

This trial was a victory belonging to her and her companions!

Mu Huiyue stepped forward to pick up the Guardian Crystal of the seventh layer left behind by the defeated plague demon vine.

The scene within the Trial Illusion shifted as well, transforming from a toxin-filled wetland swamp back into a lush forest of green hills and clear waters.

Mu Huiyue felt a familiar sense of weightlessness, her consciousness momentarily dazed. When she came to her senses, she was already standing amidst a crowd.

Her appearance immediately caused an uproar.

The final challenger everyone had been waiting for in the Trial Illusion had finally emerged.

Lin Lin and Han Ruoyunn, who had been waiting here all along, spotted Mu Huiyue instantly and pushed through the crowd to reach her.

Seeing the Guardian Crystal of the seventh layer in Mu Huiyue’s hand, Lin Lin clicked her tongue, her face showing a look of frustration.

An Emperor-Class species at the Mature Stage, and Mu Huiyue had actually defeated it!

Han Ruoyunn, on the other hand, looked impressed. She had felt a tinge of regret for not facing this national champion during the ranking tournament. As expected, Mu Huiyue lived up to her reputation!

Clearing all seven layers of the Trial Illusion wasn’t just about defeating an Emperor-Class species at its Mature Stage.

It meant that Mu Huiyue had excelled in every preceding layer, preserving enough Wheatfield Points to create the flexibility she needed for the decisive battle in the seventh layer.

“Congratulations on clearing all seven layers, Huiyue,” Han Ruoyunn said with a smile.

“Ku-wah-wah!” The Hammerling beside her waved its hammer enthusiastically, mimicking its Beastmaster’s tone.

“Thank you,” Mu Huiyue replied with a smile before turning to Lin Lin. “Regardless of how it happened, the win is mine, Lin Lin.”

“Congratulations,” Lin Lin said with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms casually.

The three exchanged a few brief words before Mu Huiyue glanced around at the gathered crowd. They were all Beastmasters who had come to participate in the Contract Trial.

She asked curiously, “After clearing the trial, why haven’t you gone to find a suitable contract beast?”

Theoretically, clearing the Trial Illusion would lead to the S-class Secret Realm, ‘Abundant Flow Basin,’ home to the Witherflourish Spirit Deer. There, trial-takers could use the Guardian Crystal to form a contract with their desired beast.

At the moment, they were surrounded by lush greenery, the air brimming with vibrant wood- and earth-elemental energies. This was undoubtedly the interior of the Abundant Flow Basin.

Yet the Beastmasters who had cleared the trial remained gathered here, as if waiting for something.

Realizing this, Mu Huiyue paused, her expression faintly startled.

Could they be… waiting for her?

“‘Abundant Flow Basin’ seems to have gained a new restriction,” Han Ruoyunn explained, her expression equally puzzled. “We weren’t able to leave this area earlier.”

A native of the Western Continent, Han Ruoyunn had never heard of such restrictions existing in the Abundant Flow Basin before.

“Earlier, we guessed that the restriction might require all trial-takers to be present before we could explore the secret realm further, so we stayed here to wait for you,” Lin Lin explained, shrugging. “Now that the last one has arrived, let’s get ready to move forward.”

As if to confirm her words, the entire space suddenly trembled just as she finished speaking.

The sound of something heavy shattering echoed, and everyone turned toward the noise, seeing a massive crack split open in the sky of the secret realm. The crack spread into countless tiny fractures, creating a web of fissures.

The surroundings began to transform—not the abrupt shift of an illusion but a visible, gradual change.

The trees in the forest withered, their vibrant green leaves turning dry and yellow. As they fell to the ground, only skeletal veins of the leaves remained.

The flowing rivers evaporated, leaving behind dry riverbeds littered with sun-scorched pebbles and unidentified bones.

The lush vegetation vanished, and fields of thriving crops faded into barren wastelands. The once-abundant wood and earth elemental energy dissipated entirely.

The formerly prosperous and lively Abundant Flow Basin had turned into a desolate and lifeless wilderness in mere moments.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden transformation.

Mu Huiyue turned her head toward a small dried-up river at the forest’s edge, its exposed riverbed visible in the distance. Just moments ago, the water there had been crystal clear, teeming with extraordinary wild creatures stopping by for a drink.

“…Is there an eighth layer to the Withering Prosperity Deer’s trial realm?” Mu Huiyue asked slowly.

“There isn’t,” Han Ruoyunn replied quickly. “Even if there were an eighth layer, it wouldn’t place all of us in the same space… The only thing that could do this is a stable secret realm of the Descension Stage.”

“Ku-wa-wa…” The Hammer Soldier tugged anxiously at its Beast Tamer’s pant leg.

Mu Huiyue adjusted the investigator’s wristband to exploration mode and looked at the readings.

The values on the display began fluctuating wildly, showing no sign of stabilizing. They spiked beyond the trial realm’s range, briefly meeting the threshold for an S-grade secret realm, before abruptly plummeting back to standard readings for the real world.

Her brow furrowed slightly. It was extremely rare for the investigator wristband’s readings to behave erratically, though she had encountered something similar not long ago.

This sudden decay of the Abundant Flow Basin felt eerily identical to the scene when the Ultimate Form of the Wrathful Rock Tortoise descended.

“There seems to be a way out ahead,” Xu Chenglu, accompanied by his Scarlet Shell Turtle, approached the group. His expression showed a hint of unease.

He glanced at Mu Huiyue, clearly recalling the incident with the Wrathful Rock Tortoise as well.

“Should we go and check it out?”

…

Time rewinds to before Mu Huiyue completed the trial.

The two senior organizers of the Harvest Festival continued monitoring the progress of the trial through the “Vision System V-Type” projection terminal.

Under normal circumstances, trial participants who passed would enter the “Abundant Flow Basin” to begin exploring and searching for their ideal contract companion. The projection terminal would record each participant’s actions and the internal conditions of the secret realm.

However, it seemed there was an unexpected issue with this year’s contract trial. The projection terminal appeared to be experiencing a signal delay, unable to project the internal scenes of the secret realm for an extended period.

The trial participants who had passed were also not initiating their exploration; they were all gathered together, standing in front of a blank, void-like background in the projection.

As the last trial participant finally emerged, the issue with the projection terminal’s signal still hadn’t been resolved. The president of the Beastmaster Association in Pingchuan City had a look of discomfort on his face and was preparing to make a call to inquire with the on-site leader.

After dialing the number, not long after, the projection screen flickered and then went completely black.

It was unclear what was said on the other end, but the president’s eyes slowly widened in disbelief.

His voice was tinged with astonishment: “…What does it mean that the connection point has disappeared?”

“Literally? We can’t confirm the existence of the ‘Abundant Flow Basin’?!”

The B-level investigator beside him also received an urgent communication from the Bureau of Affairs, and his face also showed an expression of disbelief.

The guardian deity of Western Continent, the Withered Glory Spirit Deer, and the “Abundant Flow Basin” it inhabits—a stable S-level secret realm with an entrance connection point and countless secondary connection points that have existed for over a thousand years—just moments ago lost all connection to the present world.

The secret realm has vanished.