Chapter 85: The Rock’s Change

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: The Rock’s Change

Li Heng thought that if he could just have a cigarette right now, it would be absolutely perfect.

He didn’t usually smoke, but having one or two when he was feeling down shouldn’t be a problem.

(Another PSA: Minors should not smoke!)

’Seriously, are you out of your mind? An ice-type Simurgh Bird guarding an earth-type Spirit Flower!’

’The Earth Rock Spirit Flower has an affinity for earth, not ice. What’s the point of guarding it?!’

Li Heng felt like he was about to lose it.

His initial guess hadn’t been wrong. This Earth Rock Spirit Flower had indeed been protected by a guardian soul beast, and a high-Level one at that!

But Li Heng never would have imagined that after spending ages cautiously testing the waters, after putting on such a big show, he would discover that the guardian soul beast of this Earth Rock Spirit Flower was none other than his own Soul Energy pet!

’In other words... I just spent a full half-hour in a battle of wits with thin air?!’

His composure completely shattered.

’It’s fine! I got the Earth Rock Spirit Flower, and this also serves as indirect proof that high-tier herbs are protected by soul beasts.’

After watching the ocean for a while, Li Heng managed to adjust his state of mind, choosing to selectively forget the last half hour.

Hmm?!

’Is that...’

Just as Li Heng composed himself and prepared to leave, he spotted a dark silhouette on the distant horizon.

There had been nothing but open sea before, so when a dark silhouette suddenly appeared, Li Heng’s gaze immediately locked onto it.

And as the first silhouette appeared, more and more of them followed, entering Li Heng’s line of sight.

’Are the islands really drifting over?’

With so many silhouettes suddenly appearing, Li Heng connected the sight to the island’s previous tremors and the things Bao Yaoyao had mentioned.

It wasn’t hard to deduce that other islands were also "drifting." From the looks of it, the area around his current island seemed to be the final destination for them.

SCRAPE~

SCRAPE~

Li Heng was staring at the distant silhouettes, guessing they were islands, when he suddenly heard a scraping sound nearby.

Following the sound, he saw that the rocks next to him were shaking.

Rocks couldn’t just start shaking on their own. Curiosity piqued, Li Heng fixed his gaze on the moving stones.

’Huh? So... there are markings on these rocks... Are they symbols, or something else?’

The stones varied in size and shape, and the markings on them were all different. Not long after they began to shake, a tremor ran through the ground beneath his feet.

’This island seems to have started "drifting" too?!’

At the same moment the tremor hit, Li Heng felt the mountain wind and sea breeze against his face grow a little stronger. He could also see that the island was moving in his three o’clock direction.

The last time the island had shaken was when the Desolate Moon appeared in the sky, but this time, it started moving during broad daylight.

Li Heng briefly marveled at the mysterious nature of the secret realm but didn’t intend to dwell on it.

He was only here to take an exam. As for how the secret realm changed, Li Heng thought it was best to simply observe, maintain a level head, and be ready to handle any unexpected developments.

Also, considering there were still two and a half days left in the exam, Li Heng believed that finding a few more herbs—or a few dozen—was a far higher priority than the "drifting islands."

After all, he still had about 6,000 Soul Energy points remaining.

’If worst comes to worst, right before the exam ends, I’ll just grab a few Tier Three herbs, spend all my Soul Energy points, and make a final push for a high score!’

He had already formulated a plan.

For the next two-odd days, his main focus would be on medicinal herbs. Finding Tier One herbs or common Soul Energy Herbs would be ideal.

If that failed, he’d just spend a few thousand Soul Energy points to upgrade some Tier Two herbs to Tier Three. That would also let him make a final push for more points.

After organizing his thoughts, Li Heng suddenly felt like he had run out of things to do.

He had already scoured the mountain for resources. The resources at the base of the mountain were far scarcer and had likely been picked clean as well. Exploring down there now would almost certainly yield little reward.

All he could do was wait for the islands to merge and see what new changes might occur.

’I never thought I’d actually feel bored during the Mystic Realm Entrance Exam. But a little boredom is fine. At least it means there’s no immediate danger.’

Simply waiting for the islands to merge wasn’t a real plan, so Li Heng turned his attention back to the still-shaking rocks.

Beyond his initial discovery of the markings on the stones, Li Heng, bored out of his mind, stared at them and noticed something new.

The shaking of the stones seemed to follow a peculiar pattern!

The stones near the edge of the mountain path barely shook twice before stopping. The ones further in, however, shook with greater force and range of motion.

The stones closer to the cliff face shook even more violently.

But the ones shaking most violently of all were the stones that had originally surrounded the Earth Rock Spirit Flower before Li Heng plucked it!

The island was shaking because it was drifting to merge with the others. Logically, the force of the tremors should have been distributed relatively evenly.

It shouldn’t be causing the stones to shake in such an unbalanced way.

Furthermore, no matter how much the stones shook, they never collided. After shaking for a certain amount of time, they slammed down onto the uneven ground.

’Slammed’ might not be the right word, though.

It was more like the stones were embedding themselves into the earth.

’Wait... embedding?’

’Are they... arranging themselves?’

As Li Heng watched, he realized that the parts of the embedded stones left exposed were the very faces bearing the markings and symbols.

And as more stones settled into the ground, their markings began to connect.

’An acute angle?’

(An angle greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees.)

Once the stones all stopped shaking and their markings were fully connected, Li Heng saw that they had formed a pattern resembling an acute angle.

The two sides of the acute angle were formed by widely distributed stones that stretched out for a great distance, nearly covering the entire summit.

And at the very top, closest to the cliff’s edge, a small, semi-circular platform of piled stones had appeared at some point.

But the platform wasn’t complete. Li Heng observed it for a moment and realized it must be only one part of a larger structure. Beyond the platform was nothing but the cliff face.

Below the platform, there were also several stone "grooves," which looked as if they were meant to hold something.

Looking at the scene before him, Li Heng couldn’t help but marvel, ’This thing... it looks like some kind of Array or an altar. This secret realm is actually pretty fun. How interesting...’