I can find treasures in my dreams.

The hidden realm of the sunken sand abyss.

On the vast and boundless Gobi Desert, sandstorms whistled past, carrying gravel with them.

Just as Yang Fan was traveling through the river of time with His Majesty Binas, tracing ancient mysteries, his eldest son Yang Donglin, along with Liwen and Zhou Furui, encountered an unexpected crisis while searching for the Emerald City of the Cangfei Civilization.

Yang Donglin, piloting the Tiangong No. 9 battle armor, suddenly changed his expression and shouted, "Something's wrong!"

Following closely behind, the Moon Spirit Warrior Livin, only half a breath later, also issued a warning: "My Soul Moon Power..."

The words are not finished yet.

"Boom——!"

A deafening explosion came from beneath our feet.

The Gobi Desert began to tremble violently, as if a raging earth dragon was turning over.

Grotesque cracks spread from afar, the thickest reaching two meters in width and stretching for over ten kilometers, shattering the ground into fragments.

next second.

A dozen or so terrifyingly large stone worms suddenly burst out of the ground, bringing with them a cloud of dust, and surrounded them from all directions.

These stone worms are all over 100 meters long, and their bodies are formed entirely of dark black rock, with thick rocky shells covering their surfaces.

Their heads are covered with rows of densely packed sickle-shaped mouthparts, which gleam coldly when they open and close, and can easily tear through steel.

Dozens of pairs of thick stone feet are arranged on both sides of its abdomen. Each step it takes makes the ground tremble. The sharp claws on its toes are deeply embedded in the Gobi Desert, leaving deep pits.

Their eyes, like two burning dark red flames, exuded a deathly yet violent aura, locking onto the three of them.

Even more terrifying is that the rocks on the surface of the stone worms keep falling off, and the moment they hit the ground, they twist and recombine, turning into stone monsters of various shapes.

Among them are ferocious beasts covered in stone armor with exposed fangs; and stone birds with wingspans of several meters, their wings as sharp as knives, circling in mid-air.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of small stone monsters gathered around each stone worm, lined up neatly like a well-trained rock army, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

Yang Donglin frowned deeply.

Zhou Furui's breathing became extremely heavy, and he subconsciously turned on the firing switches of all the thermal weapons on his armor, instantly switching the plasma blade on his left arm to its highest power.

Livin's pretty face turned deathly pale instantly. She raised her exquisite longbow with her left hand and conjured three magnificent arrows of light with her right.

A few days ago, the dangers in the Gobi Desert were concentrated at night and during sandstorms. Although it was desolate during the day, there were no monster attacks. But now, such a terrifying beast tide has appeared even during the day.

After the game enters the next stage, the difficulty will not increase slightly, but will double.

at this time.

A message flooded into the three people's minds without warning, as if it were directly imprinted into their souls:

"Welcome to the Trial Grounds of the Stubborn Stone, lost soul. Prepare to face the test of General Stubborn Stone."

"Important note: The Stubborn Stone General cannot be truly killed. Every time it dies and is reborn, its combat power will double."

"Please try your best to live on!"

Livin's pretty face fell completely.

The so-called "stubborn stone generals" are undoubtedly these giant stone worms in front of us.

Unable to be truly killed, and with each rebirth, their combat power doubles, this is no test at all; it's clearly an endless death struggle!

What chilled her to the bone even more was the sinister intention of the game designers—they only told her it was a test, but never mentioned the conditions for passing it.

If they cannot find a key breakthrough, they will eventually exhaust their strength in the endless regeneration of the stone worms and die here.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yang Donglin conjured up a gilded soul card album in mid-air, hovering in front of him.

The pages of the book flipped rapidly, and a card with a ghost head pattern suddenly flew out, shattering into countless particles of light in the air, instantly reforming into an ancient bronze mirror with a ghost head.

The demonic eye in the center of the bronze mirror slowly opened, its scarlet pupils rapidly rotating, scanning the surrounding stone worms and monsters. A hurried voice followed:
“Great master, your most loyal servant is at your service, but in my observation, this is a death trap.”

"If you try to escape the battle with the Rock Generals, you will be subject to a permanent pursuit mechanism. These giants can use the power of the earth to jump, and players will never be able to get rid of them."

"When the sandstorm arrives, the stone worms and stone monsters will be immune to the sandstorm's effects. At that time, players will have nowhere to escape and will only face certain death!"

Livin felt a chill run down her spine, and a cold sweat immediately broke out on her back.

Upon learning of General Stubborn Stone's characteristics, her first thought was to temporarily avoid its sharp edge and find an opportunity to break through, but she never expected that it would turn out to be a trap!
Before the warning from the Ghost Head Bronze Mirror had faded, the Stubborn Stone General in the distance let out a low roar, as if issuing an attack order.

In an instant, thousands of stone monsters moved at the same time, and stone spears appeared in their hands, launching a fierce attack from a distance of hundreds of meters.

"Woo--Woo--"

A series of eerie whistling sounds rose and fell as countless stone spears rained down on the three of them, arriving in an instant with a sharp, piercing sound.

this moment.

With a delicate shout, the Moon Spirit Warrior gripped the exquisite longbow tightly with both hands, her soul power surging at her fingertips, decisively activating the power hidden within the longbow.

In an instant, the star and moon runes on the surface of the longbow suddenly lit up, bursting out with a dazzling silver-white light.

Livin's arm swung out smoothly, and as the bowstring of the longbow vibrated, countless crescent-shaped silver-white light blades shot out like a meteor shower.

These light blades seemed to possess their own consciousness, darting nimbly through the air and precisely locking onto every incoming stone spear, leaving no attack unattended.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sounds of rapid collisions rose and fell, like a sudden downpour pounding on banana leaves.

Each stone spear struck by the light blade would explode in mid-air, turning into countless fragments of stone that fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the torrential rain of stone spears that blotted out the sky was completely cleared away.

This strike fully demonstrated the terrifying power of the longbow, which was clearly an extraordinary supernatural weapon.

Livin's ability to control the light blade with such precision, intercepting thousands of stone spears, is enough to prove that she is no ordinary warrior, but must be an elite member of the Moon Spirit Civilization's temple guard.

The other side.

Zhou Furui dared not slacken in the slightest and activated the defensive system of the Tiangong Battle Armor with all his might.

A pale blue energy rippled across the surface of the armor, and an invisible defensive field quickly unfolded, like a transparent shield blocking the three of them from the incoming rain of flying debris. Yang Donglin's gaze was fixed on the giant stone worm in the distance, and he asked in a deep voice, "Ghost Eye, where is the breakthrough point?"

The crimson pupil in the center of the bronze mirror with the ghost head instantly shone brightest, and a hurried and obsequious voice immediately rang out:

"Great master, I have not failed you! Your most loyal servant has found the key to breaking the deadlock!"

"These stubborn stone generals conceal special mechanisms within their bellies! Only by rushing into their bellies and activating the hidden mechanisms within the three stubborn stone generals in turn can we successfully pass this trial!"

"An internal mechanism?" Livin's face immediately showed surprise upon hearing this.

Such a counterintuitive design was something she could never have come up with, even if she had exhausted all her strength, without the Ghost Eye's prompting.

One minute later.

With a muffled thud coming from inside the giant worm's belly, Livin, enveloped in a shimmering white shield of light, leaped out from the mouthparts of one of the giant worms.

Just five seconds ago, she successfully activated the third mechanism.

The so-called "mechanisms" are not physical components, but rather a manifestation of the laws governing the secret realm.

After entering the giant worm's belly, you must first kill the "gatekeeper" stone monsters that guard the core area. These stone monsters are stronger and have sharper claws and teeth than the stone monsters outside.

Only by breaking through the barriers and reaching the core area inside the abdomen can one see that illusory law mechanism.

What Liwen had just seen was a phantom stone door floating inside the core of her abdomen.

The stone door was completely transparent, with a faint halo of law surrounding its surface, and a pull ring with a bone-like luster hanging from the door.

Without hesitation, she instinctively reached out and grabbed the pull ring, pulling it outward sharply to activate the mechanism.

The moment Livin's feet touched the ground, a bizarre scene unfolded.

Those dozen or so majestic stone generals, along with the stone monster army that had already grown to more than 30,000, seemed to have been put on pause, instantly freezing in place, motionless.

"Click! Click! Click!"

Countless crisp cracking sounds followed, like the cracking of ice forming on a lake in the dead of winter.

The surface of the giant insect and the stone monster was rapidly covered with dense, spiderweb-like cracks, which grew deeper and denser.

The next second, all the stone structures collapsed with a roar, shattering into palm-sized pieces of rock that piled up on the Gobi Desert.

A gust of wind swept by, stirring up a cloud of stone dust.

The death trial that had plagued the three of them had finally come to an end.

Livin watched this scene, her tense body finally relaxing, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

at this time.

A mysterious message flooded into the three people's minds again without warning: "Lost ones, congratulations on successfully passing the trial of the stubborn rock. Your outstanding performance has earned you an exclusive reward."

The moment the information dissipated, a faint light simultaneously appeared in the void in front of the three of them.

The light flashed twice, then quickly condensed into a stone badge, which slowly floated in mid-air.

The badge is dark gray throughout and is carved from some kind of dense rock, with a smooth surface but a rough, granular texture.

On the front of the badge is a ferocious bone claw, with sharp, knife-like tips and twisted patterns at the joints, and each finger bone is clearly visible.

The bone claw seemed to be struggling to break free from the badge, its knuckles slightly bent, exuding a primal and violent aura, surrounded by a faint gray light, wriggling slightly as if it were alive.

Livin glanced at it once, and her pretty face was instantly replaced by shock.

A message about the badge immediately flooded her mind: "[Brave Badge]: Using this badge will directly increase your Spirit Points by 20. Would you like to use it now?"

The power of the Soul Moon made her instinctively understand that this was no deception.

Her soul was screaming frantically: "Eat it! Eat it now!"

The Moon Spirit Civilization was, after all, a powerful civilization capable of producing Venerables. As an elite member of the Temple Guard, she was quite knowledgeable, yet she had never heard of any object that could directly increase one's spiritual value.

Cultivating mental strength has always been the most difficult, requiring daily refinement and gradual progress. This badge is simply an extraordinary treasure!
A brave badge also floated in front of Zhou Furui, but it was smaller than Livin's and the bone and claw patterns on it were simpler.

The major stared intently at the badge, the corresponding information flashing through his mind, though slightly different: "[Brave Warrior Badge]: Using this badge will directly increase your Spirit Points by 10. Would you like to use it immediately?"

He focused on defense and support throughout the game, making the least contribution, so his reward was reduced accordingly.

Zhou Furui stood there dumbfounded for two seconds, then couldn't help but swear: "Holy crap! Is this some kind of game where you can get equipment drops? And it even adds stats directly?!"

Compared to the two, the badge floating in front of Yang Donglin was the most unique—it was the largest and had the most imposing design.

The badge was also carved from dark gray, dense rock. The ferocious bone claw on the front was a size larger than Livin's badge. The claw's palm tightly gripped a black gem the size of a pigeon egg. Black mist seemed to flow inside the gem, exuding a deep and mysterious aura.

"【Brave Badge (Excellent)】: Using this badge will directly increase your Physique by 50 points and Spirit by 30 points. Would you like to use it now?"

This is actually a dual-attribute badge!
Yang Donglin raised an eyebrow slightly behind his mask, a fleeting look of surprise flashing in his eyes before he regained his composure.

He muttered to himself, "Dad was right after all. The reward system in this secret realm is just like a game."

Before leaving the Blood Sea Shelter this morning, he had a brief remote communication with his father, Yang Fan, using the Soul Card Book.

At that time, his father told him with certainty, "The Lost Sand Abyss Secret Realm most likely has a complete reward mechanism. The model should be very similar to the holographic game on Azure Star. You can get rewards to strengthen yourself by completing the trial."

What was before them perfectly confirmed their father's prediction.

He remembered that when his father mentioned this, his tone was filled with undisguised excitement, and he specifically instructed him: "If we can figure out the rules of this secret realm and make good use of this reward mechanism, we may be able to quickly improve the individual strength of the Azure Civilization in large numbers, which is crucial for us to deal with the subsequent civilization crisis."

A bold guess suddenly popped into Yang Donglin's mind: "Could it be that Dad has found a loophole in this secret realm death game and plans to send in a large number of Canglan people specifically to fleece the game's rewards?"

Although this idea sounds incredibly difficult, with my father's unfathomable methods, it might not be impossible to do it.

At this point.

He naturally understood that he had probably become his father's "test subject" again, entering the secret realm first to explore the rules and verify his conjectures.

However, he didn't care at all; on the contrary, he enjoyed it.

Everything my father did was for the Azure Civilization, and even more so, to protect those around him. As his son, it's only natural for me to help him run errands and conduct experiments. (End of Chapter)