Chapter 780 - 773: Scales Battlefield

Chapter 780: Chapter 773: Scales Battlefield

’So this is a Heart Vine?’

Zhou Yuanjue killed a bizarre plant creature that had burrowed out from underground, extracting a vine-like object from its body.

The vine seemed to be alive. After being removed from the plant creature’s body, it thrashed relentlessly, trying to burrow into Zhou Yuanjue’s flesh with its sharp tip.

Unfortunately, it stood no chance of succeeding.

Zhou Yuanjue could indeed feel a strong pulse of will coming from it, like a kind of transmitter. This was how the giant lifeform that constituted the Ghost Vine Forest controlled these plant weapons.

The relationship was much like that between a queen ant and its colony.

He did a quick check. Turning in a single Heart Vine to the True Talisman would fetch Ten Thousand Value Points. For many candidates, this was an exceptionally rare resource.

Furthermore, the plant creatures themselves weren’t exceptionally powerful. Their strength was rated above the First layer Transformation Boundary, roughly equivalent to two of the bird-like shadow creatures. Their abilities were bizarre, though, and their Life Force was immense. The moment they sensed danger, the Heart Vine would detach from its body and burrow underground, which made capturing one quite difficult for the average candidate.

’So this really is a bonus round. Ordinary candidates who make it this far would never hand over ten Heart Vines to get to the next stage. Instead, they’d exchange all the Heart Vines they collected for Value Points. Ten vines make a hundred thousand. If you came in as a team, you’d make back your entry fee. Kill a few more, and you could even earn a decent amount of Value Points. Anyone who made it this far is already a winner, really.’

Zhou Yuanjue understood. However, his goals went beyond that. He hadn’t come just for Value Points; a major reason was to witness the true powerhouses.

Still, that didn’t stop him from gathering a few more Heart Vines to exchange for Value Points. One could never have too many, and he was sure he’d need them later.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! ℯ

With a flash of his blade, Zhou Yuanjue cut down the bizarre plant creatures one after another. He moved with incredible speed. Between his five senses and his Energy Control Power, the Heart Vines had no opportunity to burrow into the ground and escape.

Before long, he had gathered all the Heart Vines required for the task, plus a dozen more to exchange for Value Points.

Just as Zhou Yuanjue, not yet having had his fill, was about to kill some more, the surrounding plant creatures suddenly began to flee, either by burrowing into the ground or scrambling away in a frenzy.

In an instant, the area around him fell silent. Even the swaying Ghost Vine trees seemed to have grown still.

’They ran away?’

’Did I kill too many, too fast?’

Zhou Yuanjue looked at his surroundings, slightly at a loss for words. He hadn’t expected these things would actually flee.

"Zhou Yuanjue, how are things on your end? We’re all ready to go."

"If you’re good, let’s keep moving."

Just then, Dorobaku’s voice called out.

"No problem. Let’s go."

Zhou Yuanjue nodded. He had no intention of giving chase, so he followed the others toward the next stage.

After traveling for several dozen kilometers through the Ghost Vine Forest, they approached the core of the island.

As they arrived, the Ghost Vine Forest began to recede, revealing another area enveloped in a dome of light.

It appeared to be a vast plaza filled with stone seats of various sizes, all carved from some unknown type of rock. Their design was primitive and ancient, and each seat was etched with strange pictographs, exuding an ancient, almost savage, aura.

The most conspicuous feature was a massive stone sculpture in the center of the plaza. It stood dozens of meters tall and looked just like a set of balancing scales from Earth.

A dozen or so figures were already seated on the stone chairs.

Among them, the most conspicuous—and a group Zhou Yuanjue recognized without a doubt—were the three powerhouses he had seen before on the Overweight Sea.

He already had a good idea of their identities.

The group’s arrival clearly drew the attention of the dozen or so figures seated in the plaza, all of whom turned to look at them.

"Looks like we’ll have an opportunity for a relatively fair match," "Ghost Seal" Bolaka said, looking toward Dorobaku and Anjina with a smile.

"I see. The Scales Battlefield, is it? Looks like this stage will be quite interesting," Dorobaku murmured, looking at the others seated in the plaza.

"The Scales Battlefield?" Zhou Yuanjue asked, puzzled.

"It’s a battlefield created using Dream Simulation technology. It was originally an invention of the Red Moon Civilization. They are a civilization of Warriors. They worship power, but they also value skill, willpower, and adaptability, believing that sheer power isn’t the deciding factor in a fight.

"To them, power is just one metric for distinguishing the strong from the weak. They long for fair duels. Within the Red Moon Civilization, many conflicts are resolved through such duels, but they felt that large disparities in power made many of these duels ’unfair.’ That’s why they invented this using the Dream Simulation System.

"The Scales Battlefield. When Warriors connect to the Dream Realm via the Scales Square, the Dream System assesses the strength of both combatants. It then uses the weaker individual’s power level as a baseline, balancing both participants to the same level. In other words, the stronger party will have their level and abilities suppressed.

"However, this can only achieve relative fairness. After all, even when suppressed, the one at a higher level still holds certain advantages in various aspects."

Anjina said to Zhou Yuanjue.

"I see."

Zhou Yuanjue nodded slowly in understanding. He had originally thought he would be fighting against much higher-level opponents, but it seemed the situation had changed.

’Looks like things just got a little more interesting.’

"Let’s go. Since this is the Scales Battlefield, I’m eager to see what these guys are really made of," Anjina said, taking the lead and walking into the dome of light.

Zhou Yuanjue and the others followed close behind. The instant they stepped through the light dome, the ten Heart Vines they had collected were deducted, transforming into a beam of light that shot toward the sky.

After entering the plaza, no one spoke. They each found a seat and began to wait.

During the wait, a few more candidates approached the light dome, apparently wanting to see what the next stage entailed. However, upon seeing the Scales Battlefield—and the powerful figures already seated within—most of them wisely turned and left.

Ultimately, two more people entered the battlefield. A moment later, a message entered the minds of everyone present.

"Next Stage: Scales Battlefield. Now commencing. This is the final stage."

"All participants will be randomly matched. Matching principle: candidates from the same team will not be matched against each other. Winners advance to the next round of matching. Losers will be considered killed and removed from the Mimicry True Realm."

"The last remaining individual or team will receive the final reward."

"Matching will now begin."