Chapter 88: Island Merger

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Island Merger

「Day six of the Secret Realm College Entrance Exam.」

Li Heng and Bao Yaoyao had both reached the mountaintop. They gazed at the scene in the distance, each with different feelings.

Their conversation last night had ended on a pleasant note.

But early this morning, on the sixth day, the island began to shake again—and this time, the tremors were more violent than ever before!

The island’s sudden shaking made Li Heng wonder if it was about to merge with the other islands, which would explain the violent tremors.

He also made the connection to the stone blocks on the mountain, so he had immediately gotten up and headed for the summit.

As for Bao Yaoyao, she had seen Li Heng running up the mountain. Although she didn’t know why, she knew that as a "salted fish," just standing around doing nothing would leave her incredibly vulnerable.

Obviously, following the big shot was the safest option!

And so, one after the other, they reached the summit and took in the scene before them.

In the distance, islands of varying sizes were converging on their own from all directions. At the same time, their island was also moving in a specific direction.

Aside from the countless islands in the distance, the most visually striking sight was much closer: nine "special" islands.

These nine islands were special because they were moving in formation with the island the two of them were on, and at a considerable speed.

What made them so special was that each of the nine islands moving with theirs had a mountain on it!

And the altitude of those mountains was nearly identical to the one they were on!

"S-So many mountains..." Bao Yaoyao was instantly stunned.

She had already gotten a scare yesterday when she went up the mountain for some fresh air and had spent the whole night worrying. Then she was jolted awake early this morning by tremors so intense she thought a massive earthquake had struck the island.

She thought the "great terror" she’d been dreading had finally arrived. After realizing it was just the island moving, she calmed down a bit and followed Li Heng up the mountain.

She’d been anxious the entire way up, but now, Bao Yaoyao wasn’t anxious at all. Her mind had gone completely blank.

Her eyes could only see one steep peak after another!

If she’d seen mountains during normal times, Bao Yaoyao definitely wouldn’t have been so shocked, let alone dazed. But this was the Desolate Moon Islands!

This was the Secret Realm for the college entrance exam!

Unlike Li Heng, who was calm enough to notice that the mountains were all at a similar altitude, Bao Yaoyao’s thoughts had ground to a halt. Only a single idea remained in her head: ’Mountains. There are freaking mountains everywhere!’

Seeing this, Li Heng’s heart also pounded in his chest. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but judging by the islands’ formation, he guessed the time for them to fully merge was fast approaching.

Besides the similar mountain altitudes, Li Heng also noticed that the outlines of the slightly more distant islands seemed to resemble their own!

Similar mountain altitudes.

Similar island outlines.

Combined with the earlier discovery that the stone blocks and high platform were likely just part of an altar...

An audacious idea suddenly flashed through Li Heng’s mind. After a moment of silence, he took the Teleportation Talisman out of his medium-sized Space Stone and placed it in his left pants pocket.

Then, with his left hand clutching the Teleportation Talisman in his pocket and his right hand holding the Empty Cicada Longsword, he slowly walked toward the pile of stone blocks.

Li Heng’s sudden movement, with one hand stuffed in his pocket in a rather cool-looking posture, snapped the dazed Bao Yaoyao back to her senses. She was then plunged into deep confusion. ’What... What is the big shot doing?’

Encountering a single mountain during the exam already felt like bad luck to Bao Yaoyao. Even after learning there was an altar on it, she could only chalk it up to being supremely unlucky, as if cursed from a past life.

Thankfully, while heaven had closed a door, it had also left a window open for her, allowing her to meet a dependable and trustworthy big shot like Li Heng.

But even with the big shot here, seeing all ten mountains assembled was a shock that left her feeling truly "surprised"!

’Thanks a lot, whoever designed this Secret Realm exam. I hope that whenever you play cards, your 3-4-5-6 straight is always missing the 7, and whenever you go grocery shopping, the prices have always just gone up—super-sized increases, at that.’

Bao Yaoyao’s expression was truly grim.

But for now, besides watching Li Heng, Bao Yaoyao felt it was best to just be a good little salted fish.

’Don’t ask questions. Don’t speak. Don’t make any sudden moves!’

’Just wait for the big shot to work his magic, then cheer ’666’ from the sidelines at the right moment. That’s all I need to do.’

Extrapolating from the "acute angle" symbol they’d found earlier, and now seeing the orientation of the other nine mountains, Li Heng felt more and more certain that the idea that had just flashed through his mind was probably correct.

"Bao Yaoyao! Come give me a hand!"

He had resolved to do something, just to be on the safe side.

"Big shot! What’s up?"

Bao Yaoyao was surprised to hear Li Heng call her over. Looking at the nine towering mountains around them, she couldn’t imagine what help she could possibly offer now.

"This is just my personal opinion, but what do you think about us destroying these stone blocks?"

Li Heng’s tone was calm, but inwardly, he wasn’t confident at all. He was worried. ’What if destroying these stone blocks leads to some unforeseen negative consequence?’

’The System didn’t indicate that these stones were linked to "Soul Qi," so destroying them probably wouldn’t be a huge problem. Still, I want to play it safe.’

’In a Secret Realm, the unknown means danger!’

’Even though I feel like my strength is decent in this Secret Realm, I absolutely can’t get arrogant!’

’If a problem arises after we destroy the stones, we’ll find a way to solve it. If we run into something we can’t solve, it won’t be too late to retreat then.’

But Li Heng felt that just going ahead with it himself would be doing this... well-endowed girl a disservice. He felt a faint sense of guilt, as if he were just using Bao Yaoyao as a tool.

Besides, Bao Yaoyao seemed to know more about altars than he did. Letting her handle it would probably be better.

So, taking everything into consideration, Li Heng decided to first ask for Bao Yaoyao’s opinion and advice.

---

’Destroy the stone blocks?!’

!!!

’That’s right, why didn’t I think of that from the start!’

’These stone blocks are part of the altar!’

’If you can’t solve the problem, you have to tackle the root of it!’

’Destroying the stone blocks now is the same as destroying the altar, isn’t it?!’

’Brilliant!’

’The big shot truly lives up to his name. His way of thinking is on another level.’

After hearing Li Heng’s suggestion, Bao Yaoyao quickly processed the logic, then nodded. "I think the big shot is right!"

After answering, she seemed to think of something else. She frowned slightly and then added another sentence.

"But what if we just break them and they can be repaired later? Or what if they still work even when they’re broken? Big shot, I think we should play it safe. After we destroy the blocks, let’s just throw them into the sea! What do you think?"

’That’s... actually a great idea!’

Li Heng thought to himself, but he didn’t say it out loud. Instead, with a frank expression, he said, "Then let’s divide the labor. You destroy them, and I’ll throw the pieces into the sea. How about it?"

Imagining the crisis had been averted, Bao Yaoyao nodded happily. "No problem!"