Chapter 274 A Nationwide Treasure Hunt Frenzy
The dark red rust that had peeled off the sea-stabilizing needle due to the erosion of time floated upstream in the raging underwater currents.
It was like a drop of ice water falling into boiling oil, instantly igniting this deep-sea ruin that had been silent for millions of years.
"Take it! At all costs!"
The main engines of hundreds of human deep-sea submersibles roared simultaneously, and thousands of Green Zone cultivators, riding flying swords and using water-avoiding spells, rushed towards the palm-sized piece of rust like arrows released from a bow.
Directly below them, tens of thousands of mutated sea monsters were equally enraged. Their enormous bodies writhed violently in the seawater, their sharp bone spikes and claws tearing through the undercurrents, charging fearlessly into the human barrage with the most primal and pure greed.
Rumble!
Armor-piercing shells exploding, sirens roaring, and the light of orthodox cultivators' sword techniques intertwined in the abyss, creating a magnificent yet tragic picture of death.
But this massive meat grinder that took place above the Crystal Palace in the East China Sea is just a microcosm of the complete madness that has gripped the entire Earth.
With the successive appearances of the Sword Tomb of Mount Emei, the Temple of the God of War in the Desert, the ruins of the Dragon Palace in the East Sea, and the remains of the South Heavenly Gate of Mount Tai, the old ceiling that had always shrouded all of humanity, known as "Cyber Cultivation," was finally kicked down in an extremely brutal manner.
A brand new "Resurrection 2.0 Era," filled with endless greed, death, and the myth of instant success, has arrived with unprecedented ferocity.
Green Zone, Kyoto Union Supreme Council Building.
The piercing alarm and hurried footsteps had been going on for a full twenty-four hours.
"Immediately halt the exoskeleton production line in the Seventh Fortress! Allocate all refined alloys and high-energy spirit stones to the array masters and ancient script deciphering team!"
An elder statesman slammed his fist on the holographic conference table, his eyes bloodshot. "Who's going to hunt those low-level monsters on the front lines now? If we can bring back a complete piece of armor from behind the South Heavenly Gate of Mount Tai, or make a copy of half a scroll of the ancient sword manual from the Sword Tomb of Mount Emei, our combat power will undergo a qualitative change! All resources should be prioritized for the relic reclamation troops!"
The entire war machine of the Green Zone made an extremely abrupt yet highly efficient turn in a very short time.
The regular troops originally used to defend the Yellow Zone front were massively redeployed to form well-equipped "Ancient Relics Exploration Teams," which set off in a grand manner to various famous mountains and rivers.
In the yellow zone, this madness was amplified more than tenfold.
Bloodstone Town, the largest black market trading square of the Casual Player Alliance.
The giant electronic screen, originally used to offer rewards for high-level demon beast cores, is now filled with densely packed lines of blood-red subtitles that send adrenaline soaring.
[Buying fragments of broken swords from the outer reaches of Emei Mountain at high prices! As long as they contain ancient sword intent, one or two fragments can be exchanged for ten doses of Tier 2 Demon Blood Inhibitor!]
[Urgently Hiring Hunters! We have a partial map of the outer perimeter of the Desert War God Temple. Food and lodging provided. If you find any bones, the profits will be split 50/50!]
[A hefty reward is offered to a traditional Feng Shui master skilled in locating burial sites! No fighting required, just the ability to decipher the ancient formations—one hundred spirit stones per day!!!]
The entire black market was like a powder keg that had been completely ignited.
Countless lone hunters, driving modified off-road vehicles and sporting cheap cybernetic implants, frantically recruited teammates in the plaza. Their eyes gleamed with the light of gamblers. Even veteran hunters, who had been resigned to their fate due to exhaustion, drew their rusty vibrating blades once more and joined this massive gold rush.
"Have you heard? Old Ding, that half-crippled guy, found some kind of sword embryo in the side hall of Emei! Now his pseudo-spiritual root has changed, and he even dares to confront Golden Core cultivators in the Green Zone!"
"Damn! We missed the Emei train, but now the whole world is full of pitfalls! As long as we're willing to risk our lives to fill them, we might just dig up something real from our ancestors' graves!"
After this series of strange phenomena was completely detonated, geological changes began to occur one after another in the famous mountains and rivers, remote wilderness, and even island mineral veins on Earth that were originally rich in spiritual energy.
Deep in the Qinling Mountains, a mountain peak collapsed overnight, revealing an astonishingly large ancient alchemy site. Tens of thousands of hunters from the Yellow Zone and monsters from the nearby forests fought a bloody battle in the valley for a few discarded bronze cauldrons containing medicinal residue.
Beneath the snow-capped mountains of western Sichuan, a massive glacier cracked open, revealing an extremely cold tomb that buried an unknown ancient swordsman. Countless rogue cultivators, risking being frozen into ice sculptures, frantically crawled into the crevice.
On the cliffs of Wuyi Mountain, in the icy lakes of Changbai Mountain, and even deep within a long-abandoned old coal mine, remnants of various sizes, dilapidated caves, and mineral deposits began to emerge.
The entire Earth is like a giant blind box field that has been completely turned upside down.
Light was emanating from everywhere.
People are dying everywhere.
But everywhere is filled with myths and miracles of getting rich overnight, rising to the top in one step, and even becoming a saint in the flesh.
At the social level, ordinary people have fallen into an unprecedented frenzy and loss of control.
On the virtual internet, the once most popular topics of fighting games and celebrity gossip have long been overshadowed by various thrilling and alluring "relic live streams" and "ancient secrets".
[Shocking! A high-level sea monster has fallen outside the East Sea Dragon Palace! A convoy of lone players has managed to obtain a complete dragon tendon!]
[Top Secret! Another brick has fallen from the South Heavenly Gate of Mount Tai! Three powerful clans in the Green Zone are engaged in a fierce battle outside the Jade Emperor Peak!]
[Exclusive Offer! Safe Route Map for the Ancient Cave in the Qinling Mountains! For only 500 spirit stones, it will guide you directly to the main tomb chamber, avoiding the killing formations! (Note: No refunds or exchanges; you are responsible for any injuries or deaths.)]
The logistics teams and teleportation array businesses in the city experienced explosive growth. Countless shops specializing in selling "anti-riot shields for historical sites," "powerful miasma-avoiding pills," and "instant ancient script scanners" sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
In this crazy era, even ordinary people who have no cultivation and haven't even been implanted with pseudo-spiritual roots have started to fantasize.
"If I could sneak into the outskirts of those small ruins and pick up a broken sword or a scrap of paper... could I, like in the novels, turn my life around?"
This extreme, irrational greed has spawned countless scams and countless deaths.
Some people use counterfeit ancient jade to swindle and cheat in the black market; some form so-called "civilian exploration teams" but use their members as cannon fodder to step into killing formations after entering the wilderness; and many more ordinary people are torn to pieces by raging monsters or remaining restrictions as soon as they step into those dangerous areas that even high-level cultivators fear.
Opportunities are surging.
Deaths are also skyrocketing.
The order on the outskirts of the city is beginning to face unprecedented pressure.
But no one stopped.
Because those real-life examples of people changing their lives overnight act like the most potent stimulant, repeatedly stimulating everyone's senses.
However, in this global "treasure hunt" that has driven all forces into a frenzy, there is one extremely powerful force that has maintained an almost eerie silence.
Kunlun.
The ancestor of all mountains, the heavenly palace atop the clouds.
While the outside world was already engulfed in bloodshed, with turbulent waves crashing over Emei Mountain, the desert, the East China Sea, and Mount Tai, the gates of Kunlun remained tightly shut.
The mountain-protecting formation was activated at full power, and dense spiritual mist blocked out the inside and outside. The entire mountain range looked like a colossal figure standing at the end of the sea of clouds, coldly looking down at the madness that swept the world below.
No disciples descended the mountain.
No elders went out.
No one dared to disobey the decree already passed down by the Dao Lord.
Those relics in the outside world are opportunities to change one's fate that cultivators and demons alike would risk their lives for.
But for Kunlun, it was merely an added bonus.
Kunlun has no shortage of spiritual veins, Taoist treasures, secret realms, or a future path.
It doesn't need to rush into the ruins like those forces down the mountain to snatch a meager scrap, the fate of which is uncertain.
Kunlun remained silent.
This silence, however, made the outside world realize more clearly that the world above and below the mountain was no longer the same.
Gu Qingjing sat quietly deep inside the main hall, her gaze fixed on the system panel.
The credibility value on it has already exceeded an extremely exaggerated number, and it is still rising at an astonishing rate.
There was no joy in his eyes, only a calmness that was almost absolutely rational.
This is the era he truly wanted to see.
Kunlun sits firmly atop the mountain, while the masses outside are tearing each other apart, filtering each other out, and eliminating each other in the wave of "Mythology Revival 2.0".
Someone will die.
Someone will go crazy.
Some people will actually crawl out of this bloody grinder.
And this world can never go back to what it was before.
......