Chapter 614 - 252: Another Skill! What About Lifesteal
Chapter 614: Chapter 252: Another Skill! What About Lifesteal
’Hidden identity... Tomb Guardian?’
Lin Ye stared at the information that appeared on his terminal, and his heart instantly sank.
He immediately realized that the complexity of this selection process far exceeded anyone’s imagination.
If he could receive a hidden mission, it was highly likely that others had also obtained some sort of hidden identity.
This meant that the conditions for passing might no longer be as simple as entering the Ancestral Land and becoming one of the ten chosen.
His own "Tomb Guardian" identity had an objective that was in complete opposition to the public goal of the selection; they were in absolute conflict.
So, could the hidden identities obtained by others also conflict with someone else’s?
In an instant, countless possibilities flashed through Lin Ye’s mind.
But back to the hidden identity itself.
The prerequisite for expelling others who entered the Ancestral Land was to enter the Ancestral Land first himself.
He had to admit, that prerequisite alone was enough to raise the difficulty of this hidden mission significantly.
As he pondered, Lin Ye released his spiritual energy. An invisible force lifted his body, and he slowly ascended into the sky.
Immediately after, a layer of dense black scales quietly emerged on his skin. The moment light touched his body, it was devoured, allowing him to merge completely with the dim background.
Shadow Scale.
Just as he had done when entering countless rifts before, Lin Ye’s first instinct was to put the mission aside and scout the surroundings. After all, the native races of this rift alone could be dangerous enough.
At the same time, he didn’t want to attract the attention of the other candidates too early.
Flying hundreds of meters into the air, Lin Ye looked down.
Below was a seemingly endless primordial forest. The trees were absurdly tall, their canopies blotting out the sky and shrouding the land in dimness.
Amidst the dense woods, massive, pale skeletons were scattered everywhere. Some were half-buried in the earth, while others stood like small mountains, their menacing bone spikes pointing toward the dark red sky.
Beyond the forest, hundreds of kilometers away, was a scorching sea of blood churning with bubbles.
Lin Ye’s gaze crossed the sea of blood, looking toward the end of the horizon.
There, a colossal black shadow that spanned the entire sky stood silently.
He had noticed the behemoth the moment he entered this rift, but it was too far away to see clearly.
’Could that be the so-called Dragon Vein Ancestral Land?’
Lin Ye retracted his gaze and scanned the forest below him, then sniffed the air.
Sulfur, decay, and the faint scent of blood.
But there was none of the smell he was most familiar with: the scent of Source Energy Crystal Stones.
Not even the slightest trace.
He glanced again at the special terminal on his wrist.
Without a doubt, the examiners from Longyin Academy were currently monitoring their every move through some method.
Trying to devour a Source Crystal in front of everyone in this environment was clearly impossible.
Lin Ye was surprisingly at peace with that.
The next moment, he had already made a decision.
He took out the diamond-shaped bronze fragment and carefully sensed the faint, vein-like pulse emanating from within it.
The most urgent task was to find the other fragments.
And the most direct way to find the other fragments was to find the other "lucky ones" and make their fragments his own.
After fully understanding the details of his mission, Lin Ye had long since abandoned the idea of teaming up with anyone.
Teaming up with others would certainly speed up the progress of finding the Ancestral Land.
But with eight people all having their own hidden agendas, feigning cooperation while guarding against not only the Celestial Abyss Race but also their own teammates... the mere thought of it was mentally exhausting for Lin Ye.
’Longyin probably set this up as a stage for some of the more strategic candidates.’
Lin Ye couldn’t be bothered to play along; he’d rather let his fists do the talking.
As for how to tell if a fragment was contaminated...
Lin Ye was confident that with his far-beyond-ordinary Spiritual Power and the special senses of his Ancient Dragon Blood, he should be able to distinguish the subtle differences in those pulses.
Besides that, there was another reason Lin Ye wanted to act alone—
This was, after all, a genuine Celestial Abyss Rift. It was impossible for them to be the only outsiders here.
There were bound to be other native races.
Lin Ye didn’t want to miss any opportunity to plunder the traits and skills of these races.
Once he had thought everything through, a sense of clarity washed over Lin Ye.
Forget the selection rules and hidden identities.
In short, his plan of action was simple.
If he saw a person, he’d fight them.
If he saw a monster, he’d kill it.
Lin Ye lowered his altitude, flying silently forward, almost skimming the treetops of the primordial forest.
At the same time, his immense Spiritual Power spread out like an invisible spiderweb, sweeping over every corner below to ensure he didn’t miss the slightest sign of life.
Perhaps it was because he hadn’t entered the true core area yet.
Or perhaps, the entire Eternal Dragon Tomb was desolate to a frightening degree.
Even when the bloody coastline came clearly into view, Lin Ye still hadn’t sensed the presence of a single living creature.
The Painful Labyrinth was the size of a dwarf planet, and in the official ratings, it was merely a small-scale rift.
So, the scale of this medium-sized rift...
’It couldn’t be about the same size as Earth from his past life, could it?’
While lost in thought, he arrived above the vast, blood-red ocean.
The sea before him was like a cauldron of thick blood being heated. Countless bubbles surged up from the seabed and burst on the surface, releasing clouds of white steam.