novelraw Chapter 120 : Song of Sand and Mirage
Chapter 120 : Song of Sand and Mirage
The interior of the temple was very spacious, without any traces of habitation, looking just like a building modeled in a game, without any warmth.
Various energy body shapes were painted on the walls with thick ink pigments.
The Zhu Jing Fu team looked at them one by one.
"This painting is too abstract."
Zhou Chen looked up at the ceiling. Compared to the energy body diagrams painted around them, the murals on the ceiling were much harder to understand.
In the very center was a concentration of intense black, with the black spreading out in various colors. The pigments around seemed to be stirred together, with unclear edges, making it difficult to distinguish which part belonged to which object above.
Chen Sui was observing the surrounding murals when she heard his voice and couldn't help but look up.
With this glance, she immediately froze in place.
The live broadcast camera recorded this scene. Originally, this abruptly appearing temple was quite unexpected for the Star Net audience.
Song of Sand and Mirage was an energy field that had appeared in recent years. Besides the initial rescue mission, there were several subsequent clearances, and even a border riot last year that prompted the Border Army to conduct another rescue mission.
It could be said that the Star Net audience and the Border Army had some understanding of Song of Sand and Mirage, but this appearing mirage, as well as the mirages encountered by other academies, were scenes never before seen even by the Border Army who had already entered the energy field.
When the camera focused on the image, the Star Net audience first agreed with Zhou Chen's words.
[Indeed somewhat abstract]
[So energy bodies really have no artistic sense]
[Come on, only some special high-level energy bodies have human-like intelligence. Most energy bodies are basically single-minded species that can be commanded by higher entities. Don't expect them to have any artistic sense]
[Energy bodies having no artistic sense is something to be grateful for. Otherwise, they'd be too much like humans, and how would we fight them?]
Energy bodies already had home field advantage; if humans didn't have intelligence, how could they overcome energy bodies?
This statement gained agreement from many people.
The camera remained focused on the ceiling, and among the stream of bullet comments, one suddenly floated by.
[Why do I feel like that black mass looks just like a fracture?]
[Damn, you saying that startled me]
[Check the control room, Master Ji is explaining]
When Chen Sui focused on the ceiling, the control room also looked there at the same time.
At the instant she noticed the anomaly, Master Ji Qing and two others on the review panel also paused for a moment.
That black mass—anyone who had seen a fracture before could quickly recognize it.
Around the fracture, several colors converged, precisely corresponding to high-level main energy body groups.
And the entire ceiling's background was smeared with a deep green, with green energy crisscrossing through it like vines, entangling the energy bodies within.
"This mural should be explaining the process of the fracture bringing main energy bodies."
Master Ji Qing said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the surrounding deep green. According to the simple logic of energy bodies, it should represent a kind of wood attribute energy.
The control room camera focused on the light screen. Jian Run looked at Ji Qing: "Master Ji, do you think this mirage scene seems to be explaining information between energy body groups?"
Ji Qing nodded: "It seems to be that way now. The initial descent of the fracture on the ceiling brought the main energy body group. This energy was extremely weak at first, but then was disturbed by green energy, gradually growing stronger."
"This green energy is the key to the energy bodies' enhancement."
The word "enhancement" reminded others present.
The abnormality of high-level main energy body groups was also a Star Alliance secret, even higher classified than space attributes.
If this green energy caused changes in the main energy body group, then, might other energy bodies have also undergone such changes?
In the control room, the reviewers thought for a moment, then returned their attention to the Zhu Jing Fu camera feed.
"Let's watch more. There are many murals in the temple, there should be quite a bit of information."
The instant Chen Sui looked up at the ceiling, her mind involuntarily visualized the scene.
When the fracture first descended on the starry sea, carrying a huge energy storm, all the plants in the Star Alliance withered instantly. Star Alliance biology suffered a massive blow, the entire biological system severely collapsed, and star beasts were forcibly selected.
The surviving star beasts, under the influence of the energy storm, went through multiple stages: loss of control, frenzy, mutation, and crystallization, becoming the energy bodies of today.
And among them, controlling these energy attributes was a group of energy bodies. They quickly occupied Star Alliance territory, spreading out huge energy fields, even directly occupying entire planets.
Energy fields spread toward the center of the Star Alliance.
Among these energy fields, the first to form was a wood attribute energy field.
All extinct species of the Star Alliance could be found here, various plants and flowers.
This energy field seemed like a huge biological repository, storing all species information, then mutating them and sending them to various energy fields.
That energy field filled with plant aura, Chen Sui always remembered.
—That was Flower Cloud Dream, one of the ten major energy fields.
Her eyes slowly converged, and when they refocused, she noticed an intense gaze from beside her.
"You've been staring for a long time, figured out anything?"
Zhou Chen asked curiously: "I think this thing looks a bit like a fracture, don't you think?"
Chen Sui's eyes flashed as she suppressed her racing heartbeat, calmly replying to him: "Yes, it's a fracture."
"The surrounding energy fluctuations are wind, fire, metal, earth, lightning, light, water, darkness, and wood attribute energy bodies."
Chen Sui concealed the final space attribute, replacing it with wood attribute, because the green pigment traversed throughout.
This explanation wasn't dissonant.
Zhou Chen nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. Seeing his hesitation, Chen Sui said understandingly: "It's okay, this isn't important."
Zhou Chen nodded heavily. Seeing his teammates paying attention to the surrounding murals, he looked around somewhat helplessly, then noticed Puluo standing in front of a mural, also appearing somewhat at a loss.
Zhou Chen saw him as a savior. In a group of internal competition among academic elites, two academic underperformers who accidentally mixed in formed their own alliance.
He rushed over and whispered to Puluo: "Do you understand what you're looking at?"
Puluo's honest eyes flickered as he tried to explain: "This should be an energy body, and this is—"
"Acting, keep on acting," Zhou Chen detected Puluo's unease from his somewhat floating voice, so he chuckled a couple of times, "I don't understand it."
Puluo immediately breathed a sigh of relief, honestly saying: "Then I don't understand it either."
The two stood together, scratching their heads, occasionally glancing at their three teammates.
Chen Sui was confirming energy body types with the other two and looking at the surrounding energy field images to deduce which energy field it was.
The Star Net audience's attention wasn't on them because the other two anxious academic underperformers had too strong a presence.
[These two are playing me]
[Come on, at least pretend, there are so many people watching]
[Puluo did pretend, but didn't last a few seconds. Once he heard Zhou Chen's confession, he also gave up]
[Hahaha, it's really funny, Chen Sui directly told him, this isn't important]
[Hahahahahaha, speaking of which, as teammates, they really understand him]
[These three people have analyzed this entire area]
[Wow, why are there so many energy body murals in San Sheng? It's really scary]
[I remember Poplar Star has another energy field, full of energy body paintings]
[You're talking about the Song of Fierce Paintings, right? Poplar Star's energy fields all seem to have some connection to art]
[Alright, I see Zhou Chen looks like he can't stand it anymore]
The next second after this bullet comment appeared, Zhou Chen and Puluo had already proactively joined the three-person team.
"Didn't we come in to find energy bodies to fight? How did we end up in an energy field basic theory class?"
He asked with a puzzled face, because the surrounding knowledge seemed like exam points, making it even more headache-inducing.
After seeing the final mural of San Sheng's own energy field, Chen Sui said to Zhou Chen: "We have to wait for the mirage to go underground, which hasn't happened yet."
Zhou Chen impatiently stomped his foot: "Why won't this thing sink down already?"
Perhaps his tone was too irritated, causing his verbal magic to be incredibly powerful at this moment, or perhaps the mirage had been on the surface for too long and it was time for transformation.
Just as these words fell, when the five from Zhu Jing Fu had just approached the corridor and hadn't even had time to enter the inner hall, the entire temple began to shake violently.
The huge outer pillars swayed. Chen Sui looked back and saw several cracks appearing in the stone pillars, with beams of light bursting from the cracks.
These beams of light were so dazzling that by the time the shaking of the temple gradually subsided and the light from the stone pillars dimmed, enveloping the surroundings in darkness, the Zhu Jing Fu team realized they had already arrived underground.
"Boom!"
Within the temple, a burst of fire erupted from the cracked stone pillars. The light posts in the corridor lit up, with columns of light extending from near to far, instantly illuminating the corridor brightly.
Sounds of vibration, knocking, gnawing, and crawling came from all around.
The temple swayed slightly. As Zhu Jing Fu walked toward the inner hall, Chen Sui's energy perception extended: "Energy bodies have entered."
The temple would attract a large number of energy bodies to enter, probably at the command of San Sheng's main energy body. Chen Sui thought of the temple's huge divine platform and suddenly realized something.
"Let's go to the top of the temple. The energy bodies should all be heading toward the sacrificial platform."
She speculated that if, according to the mural content, energy bodies were learning human sacrificial forms, expressing devotion to their 'god,' building a divine platform for this purpose, and compelling all energy bodies to enter it, then the energy bodies would definitely come to the divine platform to see the 'god.' This was an indispensable step.
Zhou Chen hadn't yet fully reacted, appearing dazed as he looked at the surrounding darkness, and suddenly said: "We've already come down? This temple is so obedient."
He breathed a sigh of relief, drawing out his Four-sided Mace, his fighting spirit high: "I'm already prepared!"
"After you obtained the divine technique, energy bodies all seem to be voice-controlled by you," Puluo looked at him with envy, but then thinking of Zhou Chen's experiences, he immediately became less envious.
The divine technique wasn't something ordinary people could wield.
"There are energy fluctuations on all four sides. No SSS-level energy bodies, over thirty SS-level energy bodies. Other low-level energy body fluctuations overlap too much to distinguish."
Chen Sui: "SSS-level energy bodies should come later; the compelling effect isn't that fast."
The temple had just descended, but by the time Zhu Jing Fu reached the divine platform, SSS-level energy bodies would certainly appear.
Hearing her report, the Zhu Jing Fu team didn't find it troublesome; instead, they were all in high spirits.
Zhou Chen rubbed his wrist: "The more that come, the better. That Sand Armor Beast ran away in the middle of the fight, which wasn't satisfying at all."
"Alright, Young Master Zhou, you can fight to your heart's content later," Chen Sui drew her spear, holding it in her palm. The spear blade tapped against the Four-sided Mace. As their eyes met, Zhou Chen suddenly had a brain spasm and said to her: "Shall we compete?"
Chen Sui raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Are you sure?"