Ding Meng squatted on the ground without moving, a thoughtful look on his face. After a long time, he answered, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Devourer's Realm."
"The Devourer's Realm?" Little Rascal and Xiao Ai's voices were filled with uncontrollable surprise.
Ding Meng nodded. "This isn't the real Devourer's Realm. It should be the border between the human world and the Devourer's Realm. If we go further in, we'll arrive at the real Devourer's Realm."
The Devourer's Realm was a different civilization. Its way of existence was completely different from the human world. Its greatest characteristic was its homogeneity. From the perspective of the human world, homogeneity was pollution.
The Devourer's Realm's use of Origin Energy was inferior to the human world's, but its pollution of matter was considerable. Furthermore, it mainly relied on poison. It could be said that the Devourer's Realm was a highly polluted world. The so-called border between the Holy Grail Federation and the Devourer's Realm existed in the real world as well. The Zeratul Star Field between the Devourer's Realm and the Holy Grail Federation's Realm was this kind of environment. It was half polluted and half barren. The creatures of the Devourer's Realm couldn't survive for long, and normal humans had a hard time surviving there.
"But this poison can actually block our detection and telekinesis vision." Xiao Ai was shocked.
Ding Meng nodded. "That's not surprising. The Devourer's Realm's poison is refined using Origin Energy. The principle behind it is completely different from how we humans extract, decompose, and condense it. After refining it, it has many strange effects. It can block all kinds of signals."
Little Rascal agreed. "I've seen this description in the database before. It's said that the Devourer's Realm is an extremely polluted place. Even the ion detectors of human starships can't penetrate it."
Xiao Ai fell silent. She could somewhat understand Ding Meng's train of thought. The system had created such a map for the final stage of the exam. Perhaps it was to encourage the students to explore. Whoever discovered a new continent or found something good would most likely receive a large number of points.
Killing each other wasn't the right way to go. No wonder Jiang Haiyi and the others had agreed to form a secret team.
"Someone's coming from behind!" Little Rascal suddenly warned.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ding Meng suddenly laid down on the ground. A sharp and bright ice spike flew over his head. The ice spike pierced into the wall of the cave and exploded with a "peng" sound. The inconceivable thing happened. The shattered ice Origin Ability once again transformed into a thick ice wall at a speed visible to the naked eye. It actually blocked the passage behind him.
The person who launched the sneak attack was very smart. The moment they arrived, they sealed off your path of retreat, leaving you with no space to dodge.
Sure enough, a black cross-shaped blade flew in a circle, aiming straight for Ding Meng's head.
Ding Meng decisively turned around and took the opportunity to kick back with his right foot facing the sky. The tip of his boot hit the center of the cross blade.
"Ding!"
The cross blade miraculously bounced back and was caught by the wrist of a mirror image.
It wasn't just one person. There were two of them. The two figures paused, as if they were shocked by Ding Meng's astonishing reaction and skills.
Even Jiang Haiyi might not be able to react this way when the two of them worked together. However, the mirror image in front of them was definitely not Jiang Haiyi.
Ding Meng slowly got up. He didn't fight back. Instead, he sighed and said, "Luckily, I'm here. If it was anyone else, they would have been killed instantly."
The two mirror images still didn't move. They just looked at him quietly.
Ding Meng quickly said, "Lu Ming, Guan Bai, Mao Luan, Mao Zhan, Bai Yue …"
After he read out the names, the mirror image on the right finally let out a sigh of relief. "Yiran, don't do anything. This is Ding Meng."
The mirror image on the left casually waved his hand. The ice wall behind Ding Meng quickly turned into a puddle of snow.
Of the two people in front of him, the one who had released the cross blade was Du Mo. Ding Meng had seen this weapon on Cypress Planet. Weapons used to kill people usually wouldn't be revealed easily. It was probably because the exam was so important that Du Mo had brought it along.
The one who had released the ice-type Origin Ability was Liang Yiran, who was ranked third on the leaderboard. He didn't expect that the campus belle of Starlight University wasn't just a pretty face. Her Origin Ability was quite solid.
Facing the powerful Ding Meng, Liang Yiran took the initiative to reach out her hand and say, "Hello!"
"Hello!" Ding Meng also shook her hand in greeting.
However, everyone's appearance was exactly the same. Their voices were also neither male nor female. It gave off a strange feeling.
Liang Yiran took the initiative to say, "They are looking for the Phantom Tree."
Ding Meng was stunned. The Phantom Tree was a product of the Devouring World, and the Thousand Shadow Foil he had on him was made from the branches of the Phantom Tree.
Du Mo explained, "If you pick the leaves of the Phantom Tree, you can obtain a large number of points. Ding Meng, let's move together."
Ding Meng nodded and didn't say anything else.
He was curious that the final test of this exam was actually the Phantom Tree. He had heard the Nightmare Lord mention this before. This poisonous plant had to be picked by a monster from the Devouring World using a very unique method. If this group of students wanted to find the Phantom Tree, they wouldn't be looking for the leaves. They would be courting death.
Sure enough, the tunnel extended underground. Moreover, with every distance they traveled, the viscous liquid on the walls would increase. The soil and gravel would decrease, and the green venom would gradually change color, gradually turning from green to blue. It felt as if they were in a swamp world.
This undoubtedly confirmed Ding Meng's judgment. This map really did lead them to the Devouring World.
Little Rascal said, "The density and color of the venom indicate that it has been homogenized."
Xiao Ai corrected him. "No, the map has been modified. According to my analysis, the current environment, even the air should contain a very high concentration of harmful substances. Normal humans won't be able to breathe at all, and Origin Ability users will be able to withstand it. However, if you go any further without any protective equipment, then even Origin Ability users won't be able to survive …"
Ding Meng understood the meaning of these words. Right now, Du Mo and Liang Yiran weren't wearing any armor, but the two of them were still exploring the path ahead unharmed. This proved that the map had indeed been modified. At the very least, the venom had been weakened. The real Devouring World definitely didn't look like this.
Little Rascal asked curiously, "Ding Meng, have you been to the Devouring World before?"
Ding Meng nodded silently. "Yes, I have."
Little Rascal was surprised. "At the time, you hadn't fused with the K-virus yet. You actually managed to survive. What a miracle."
Ding Meng was just about to reply when Xiao Ai suddenly alerted him. "A large amount of harmful substances has been detected in front of us. It's 200 meters away from us."
Liang Yiran said, "We've arrived!"
Ding Meng's eyes lit up. He could finally see the image of the depths of the earth's core.
This was a very large cavern. Actually, calling it a cavern wasn't really appropriate, because the four walls were covered in a sticky purple liquid. The liquid was constantly churning, and it felt like a lump of rotten meat was being corroded.
At the center of the cavern was a circular pool filled with clear water. A strange short pillar stood in the center of the pool. This pillar looked like a strangely twisted tree stump, and at the top of the stump was a flickering light.
"This should be the place!" Du Mo said, because there was no way to go any further.
Ding Meng also noticed that with the pool as the center, there were eight five-meter-wide paths paved by liquid poison. They formed a meter-shaped bridge, and looking down from the gaps, one could see an endless abyss of darkness. The cavern also faintly formed three layers of paths. From this map, it looked like the core of the cavern was the bright spot in the center.
Du Mo was about to go forward when Ding Meng stopped him. "Don't go in!"
Ding Meng looked at the path on the other side and saw that in a corner of the path, a large group of people was standing there discussing something. From the number of people, it was definitely Jiang Haiyi's group from Center 1.
Du Mo suddenly understood. Jiang Haiyi and the others had come down first and didn't go in rashly. There must be something going on here.
Ding Meng used his telekinesis again, but unfortunately, there seemed to be a layer of invisible miasma around the bridge. His telekinesis couldn't see through it.
Little Rascal muttered, "I don't think this is a problem with the World-Devouring Poison. Our telekinesis is so strong; it's impossible that we can't see through it."
Xiao Ai's voice turned cold. "Our performance in the first two stages was too good."
Ding Meng sighed softly. He also thought about this point. The final map was designed based on the results of the first two stages of the test. It weakened the abilities of the students who were especially outstanding. For example, Ding Meng's applied telekinesis was limited in this map. The system made it ineffective. Sun Shiling's spiritual illusion attack was also weakened.
The final stage of the test seemed unfair, but it was actually very fair. Everyone was back to the same starting line. In the end, the standard of strength was made up of many factors. Using one's brain was one of them.
Liang Yiran obviously thought of this point as well. She casually took out a yellowish-brown stone and gently tossed it onto the bridge.
With a thud, the stone landed on the liquid bridge. The poison was like the mouths of countless demonic beasts, fighting to swallow it.
"Tsk —"
The stone actually turned into a thick cloud of black smoke that spread into the air.
Liang Yiran sucked in a breath of cold air. "That's a Dazzling Ore. It actually vaporized. The World-Devouring Poison … is it really as powerful as the legends say?"
Du Mo was also a little dumbfounded. This meant that the chances of using battle armor to force their way across were very low. The key was what to do after they rushed over. No wonder Jiang Haiyi and the others didn't make a move. They already knew how powerful this Meter-Long Bridge was.
The system also had all the students in it calculated. You all think that your family background is good, you have money, and you can afford to buy or modify the best battle armor on the market. Fine, I'll make sure you can't even use a single battle armor.
Little Rascal couldn't help but laugh. "The creator of this map is quite something. Does he want to kill everyone here?"
Xiao Ai's voice was still deep. "Mm … not bad!"