BXBX NOVEL Chapter 132: [Instance: Touch of the Spirit]
They were already clutching their teleport scrolls, ready to escape the moment the void invaded.
Now, another crisis?
Can we catch a break?
Luckily for them, danger did not immediately strike.
The vortex created by the massive influx of materials ultimately collapsed, forming a brand new small world. Although the players were swept up in the chaos, they were unharmed.
Instead, they found themselves observing the continuous expansion of a newborn world as bystanders.
"Where are we?"
After a few minutes, the players snapped out of their dizzy state, asking in confusion.
They realized they were no longer in the Netherworld realm. Instead, they were in a strange area surrounded by flat, grayish-yellow soil and sparse trees.
It seemed like a rather dilapidated or declining world, but in the distance, a vibrant green light surged, exuding life.
The players watched as the sparse trees grew lush with leaves, producing fruit. Seeds fell to the ground, new trees sprouted, grass spread, and flowers bloomed.
All under the glow of that vibrant green light.
A scene of thriving life and burgeoning growth unfolded before their eyes.
As the players stood bewildered, they heard a prompt in their ears.
[You have entered a special area.]
[You have entered the instance: Touch of the Spirit.]
What\'s going on? An instance??
The players were baffled. They didn\'t want to challenge an instance right now! They wanted to go home!
High above, "Constantine" stored the Netherworld Water in his item inventory, while the surrounding world remained stable, indicating that this was no longer the Netherworld realm.
On the ground, David wore a puzzled expression, while Faye shook her head in a daze, clearly indicating that even the ancestors in her mental space were confused by the scene.
Despite their bewilderment, Sterl and Felicia shared a sudden realization—
When the Netherworld Water appeared and the world boss emerged, the Dark Moon Alliance did not intervene.
Now, with the collapse of the Netherworld realm forming a new instance, everything seemed to unfold so naturally.
Could it be that the item Gloria desires is within this instance?
Instantly, the two became extraordinarily vigilant.
The [Transcendence] system didn\'t offer any special prompts this time. After waiting for a while, all the players received new information.
[Objective: Witness the birth of the Newborn Sprout of Creation.]
[Reward: None]
"Did anyone get any special messages?"
"I just got this one!"
"Me too, what\'s going on?"
At this point, "Constantine" had already vanished from the sky.
The players mustered up the courage to talk amongst themselves, but they all found the same single message on their panels.
After hesitating for a while, the group decided to walk towards the area emitting the vibrant green light.
After all, the name [Newborn Sprout of Creation] suggested it might have the power to bring life and rejuvenate the land.
The green light ahead continuously transformed the barren land into fertile soil.
Clearly, there was a high probability that the [Newborn Sprout of Creation] was there!
Although the players anticipated encountering the formidable "Constantine" again, they were determined to complete the task and return home with their 10 Legend Points!
Fortunately, the journey wasn\'t fraught with significant challenges. They just heard various explosions in the distance.
They did encounter several elite second-class monsters along the way.
However, this group of over two hundred players was composed of the strongest second-class individuals in the Dark Moon Alliance, easily soloing elite monsters of their own level.
Thus, the monsters were quickly dispatched...
But the monsters didn\'t drop anything, nor did they yield experience points. Upon death, they evaporated into foam, as if everything was just an illusion.
This alerted many players, prompting them to tear open several scrolls in an attempt to dispel any illusions, but the environment remained unchanged...
Reluctantly, the players continued forward.
Meanwhile, Sterl\'s main body was busy.
"Celestial Stars!"
Boom!!
In the sky, a blue Celestial Star crashed into the ground, unleashing a fiery shockwave and scattering blue energy threads. In an instant, hundreds of wolf-like creatures were shredded, pulverized into meat pulp, or vaporized by the intense heat.
Sterl nodded slightly.
Killing monsters didn\'t yield experience or blood energy, but he could still collect stardust.
This led him to a subtle realization: Stardust wasn\'t derived from the physical energy of the monsters upon death but rather from the residual spiritual energy.
This was similar to his first trial in the Divine Mountain Empire, where he could also absorb stardust from illusionary monsters.
"So, in a certain sense, this instance is just an illusion?" he pondered.
However, Sterl didn\'t dwell on it for long, as he knew a fierce battle awaited him.
He would likely face the Dark Moon Alliance, possibly even some demigod-level opponents, or the goddess herself.
Sterl\'s thoughts were clear. He, too, wielded the Moon Law and knew he could be tracked through it.
Thus, after confronting the Dark Moon Goddess, he planned to ascend to godhood to cleanse the tracking power from his body.
Then, to ensure his escape, he would ascend again to clean off any residual tracking energy.
...
The instance entered a period of calm. The players cautiously explored while Sterl frantically killed monsters to collect stardust, preparing for the potential battle ahead.
After about half a day, the players finally arrived at the source of the vibrant green light.
They saw an incredibly towering tree before them.
What was bizarre was that despite its massive size, towering over a thousand meters high, the tree was entirely withered and decayed, exuding a sense of deathly stillness.
The only extraordinary aspect was a newborn sprout growing in the center of the dead branches.
The sprout looked lush and vibrant, full of life and brimming with vitality.
Despite knowing that this was beyond their reach, the players couldn\'t help but feel a strong desire.
Some things are so precious that their value is evident at a glance.
The players felt a wave of comfort just from breathing in the air, which was no illusion. They saw a prompt indicating—
[You have absorbed the aura of the Newborn Sprout of Creation, permanently increasing your life force. Current maximum enhancement: 1/1.]
One by one, the players showed expressions of astonishment. Just a single breath of air enhanced their life force? This seemed a bit overpowered, didn\'t it?
In Faye\'s mind, Felicia was marveling, "Even my soul power has recovered a bit! This is incredible!"
"Ancestor, what should we do now?" Faye asked obediently.
"What should we do? Just stand here and wait." Felicia replied.
"We can\'t possibly guard something of this level by ourselves."
"And considering the effects of this Newborn Sprout of Creation, it\'s almost certain that this is what Gloria is after."
So, Faye obediently stood in place, showing no intention of coveting the invaluable sprout.
In reality, it wasn\'t just her. Many players present could see the preciousness of the Newborn Sprout of Creation, but they all stood still, not daring to move an inch.
A few seconds later, the players witnessed a bizarre scene near the Newborn Sprout of Creation.
It appeared to be an illusionary scene—
A middle-aged man, existing only within the withered tree, emitted a faint glow. This was the embryonic form of the Newborn Sprout of Creation.
The middle-aged man then cast some unknown spell, re-forging the instance world into the Netherworld.
The vitality from countless beings living in this world nourished the sprout within the withered tree, allowing it to grow slowly.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the middle-aged man\'s figure no longer appeared, but the Newborn Sprout of Creation gradually matured, emitting a dazzling light in a part of the Netherworld.
Suddenly, a familiar figure to the players barged into this world from the void.
It was none other than the God of Heaven Water, whom the players had encountered earlier!
What followed was the story of the God of Heaven Water. He arrived in the Netherworld to wait for the not-yet-fully-grown Newborn Sprout of Creation.
He founded a religion and toiled painstakingly.
But somehow, the news of the Newborn Sprout of Creation leaked out.
Several god-level beings appeared from beyond the world.
A terrifying war erupted in the Netherworld.
A dreadful divine war ensued, leading to the tragic fall of the God of Heaven Water. The entire world was left riddled with wounds and in ruins. The world\'s essence became so polluted that it could no longer sustain powerful beings; only second-class creatures could move about in this world.
And the middle-aged man who first found the Newborn Sprout of Creation never appeared again…
As the players silently watched the story of this world, they seemed to feel the endless suffering and calamity that the Netherworld had endured.
At this moment, the sprout hidden within the withered tree shone brightly once more. Everyone present understood that this divine object had finally matured!