Chapter 90: The Collapsing Mountain

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: The Collapsing Mountain

Li Heng couldn’t have agreed more with Bao Yaoyao’s final words: if worst came to worst, tear the Teleportation Talisman and leave.

Survival was paramount!

In fact, he didn’t even need her reminder. Li Heng’s left hand was already gripping the Teleportation Talisman, ready to use it at a moment’s notice.

But Li Heng hadn’t left yet for two reasons.

First, his curiosity about the altar. Since the symbol he had seen on the stone block was just an acute angle and the high platform was incomplete, Li Heng had been guessing that the full altar would only be formed when the islands merged.

Second, he had discovered Dungeons in both the Wild Wolf Valley and Fallen Jiao Icefield secret realms. He wanted to wait a little longer to see if he could find a new Dungeon in this one.

Of course, his curiosity about the altar wasn’t that important to him. It didn’t matter whether his guess was correct; it was just a matter of satisfying his curiosity.

He was far more interested in the second reason!

Li Heng believed that recording a new Dungeon was extremely important for him.

He knew perfectly well that his current level of strength was entirely thanks to Dungeons!

However, "Total Exploration" type secret realms had a limited number of entries to ensure their resources could regenerate. After he enrolled in Soul Energy University, there was no telling what kind of secret realms he would encounter.

So, since he had a Teleportation Talisman, Li Heng wanted to wait a bit longer. In any case, he didn’t feel any pressure at the moment.

He’d been on the island for six days without a single system prompt about recording a Dungeon. So, he felt this island merger was his chance.

He suspected that the summit formed by the ten merging mountains would be an excellent recording point.

But recording a Dungeon was one thing. Just as Bao Yaoyao had said, survival was what mattered most!

If a situation arose that he couldn’t handle, he would definitely bolt in an instant!

What was a Dungeon compared to his own life!

There was no shame in teleporting away! ℯℯ𝑙.

So, Li Heng took several steps back, cautiously observing his surroundings. The moment something seemed off, he would vanish!

—

As Bao Yaoyao ran down the mountain, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She had been so focused on retreating that she hadn’t paid close attention to the tone of her conversation with Li Heng, or the overall atmosphere.

By the time she reached the foot of the mountain and returned to their original resting spot, it suddenly hit her.

There was a sense of finality in the words Li Heng had just spoken to her...

’That finality... it felt as if he was prepared for something to happen at any moment. What on earth is Li Heng thinking?’

"Whatever, now’s not the time to overthink it. I need to hurry to the edge of the island. After the islands merge, I should be able to cross over to the others!"

Bao Yaoyao shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She didn’t understand why Li Heng wasn’t retreating or what he was still doing up there. But she wouldn’t be any help by staying, so running for it was the most important thing.

However, after running for some time, Bao Yaoyao suddenly stopped. She realized she had run into an area she had never been to during her six days here.

She had been running with her head down, not knowing for how long, with only one thought in her mind: get away from the mountain!

’I think... I’ve already run past the boundary of the island. Does that mean...’

’The islands merged while I was running?!’

The thought had barely crossed Bao Yaoyao’s mind when she froze. A large crowd of people had suddenly appeared in her line of sight!

In six days, they had explored the entire island. Other than her and Li Heng, there shouldn’t have been anyone else. But now, a large group of fellow examinees had suddenly appeared.

At the same time, she glanced behind her and saw that, at a fair distance, the ten mountains had already "fused" into one!

’Have... I really run this far?’

Between the crowd in front of her and the merged mountain behind, Bao Yaoyao was certain: the islands had finished merging!

"Hey, you there! Are you by yourself?"

Just as Bao Yaoyao spotted the large crowd, someone in the group spotted her too and immediately called out.

Now that she was far from the mountain and had run into other examinees—about twenty of them, both men and women—Bao Yaoyao’s racing heart began to calm down, at least a little.

She took a deep breath to compose herself and then walked toward them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

RUMBLE...

...

But before Bao Yaoyao could take more than a few steps, the sound of shattering rock suddenly erupted, wave after wave, assaulting everyone’s ears!

The sound of shattering rock immediately drew Bao Yaoyao’s attention. A thought struck her, and she quickly looked back toward the mountain she had just fled.

The mountain was collapsing!

The massive peak formed by the ten mountains was now completely collapsing, kicking up clouds of dust and sand as the sound of shattering rock echoed endlessly.

But the mountain’s collapse was only the beginning. Pillars of white light shot out from the crumbling mountain, converging in mid-air to form a Hexagram Array!

The sudden landslide, the trembling ground, and the brilliant pillars of light—this series of events, happening almost simultaneously, left the twenty-odd examinees completely stunned.

Everyone stared blankly, watching the mountain continue to crumble and disintegrate, the pillars of light shooting skyward, and... the Hexagram Array in the sky!

Looking at the Array in the sky, Bao Yaoyao immediately connected it to the altar on the summit. She also noticed with a sharp eye that this Hexagram Array seemed to be missing a point!

And the missing point was in the direction of the very mountain she had just fled!

’The Rune Stone Blocks that I... that Li Heng and I destroyed together... that’s why it’s missing a point!’

Wait!

’The mountain is collapsing...’

"Li Heng!"

Bao Yaoyao’s attention had been fixed first on escaping the mountain, then on its collapse. Suddenly, she remembered the stone blocks they had destroyed together just a short while ago.

She finally remembered that the boy she had spent the last six days with was still on that summit!!

Unable to control her emotions, she cried out Li Heng’s name.

"What is that?"

"Why is there an Array in the secret realm?"

"Do you think some kind of treasure is about to appear?"

"Let’s go! I don’t know what’s happening, but we need to get away from that thing!"

"Let’s bounce! Whatever it is, this whole setup looks bad!"

"Slower people in front, faster ones cover the rear! We’re pulling out!"

Meanwhile, though the twenty-odd examinees she’d just met had varying expressions and thoughts, they quickly reached a consensus: they all wanted to get away from the collapsing mountain and the Array in the sky.

"Hey, are you coming with us?"

A girl holding a set of darts saw that Bao Yaoyao was alone and had appeared out of nowhere. After a moment’s thought, she walked up to her and asked.

But Bao Yaoyao was just staring at the collapsing mountain and the brilliant Array behind her. An awful feeling washed over her, and her nose began to sting.

Bao Yaoyao felt she was beginning to understand the finality in Li Heng’s words.

Because as she watched, the Hexagram in the sky was now missing another point...