CHAPTER 100: CHAPTER 93: THE BEAST THAT DEVOURS MISFORTUNE

From a high vantage point, Lin Chen was indeed holding a puzzle. Although it looked ugly, it still vaguely formed a complete puzzle.

"How did you finish so quickly?" Tang Xuehai asked, puzzled.

"Pushing the puzzle pieces up, down, left, and right on the stone door is bound to be slow and probably takes half a day. But on paper, you just draw according to the order. It’s not difficult," Lee Zhen explained.

"Then why did you design a stage with such a big loophole?"

"...."

Lee Zhen and his companion were silent, and finally, Huang Xiaotian spoke up, "This is the correct answer after all."

"....."

This time, Tang Xuehai was left speechless.

...

Lin Chen smoothly solved the first stage and fully understood the intentions behind Lee Zhen and his partner’s design.

Simply put, it’s all interconnected.

The patterns on the stone door looked like puzzles, but they were actually clues.

Lin Chen was able to see through it at a glance because he knew that most people couldn’t complete a 31-piece puzzle in a short time.

This time was meant to be a bonus, how could they set such a difficult question?

The only possibility was...

Brute force cracking.

Yet, he strategically left the clues on the door, so those who only used brute force would miss the later clues.

Lin Chen could tell that Lee Zhen was sincerely trying to set him up...

Because Lee Zhen always thought Lin Chen believed he was smart, so he would quietly stay in place figuring out the puzzle.

There were a total of ten clues, corresponding to three different paths.

This was also designed to prevent one player from dominating while others lacked the gaming experience.

Of course, there weren’t just ten treasures inside, but these ten were the most valuable.

"Which one is the Venerable Bone?" Lin Chen hesitated.

After pondering for a long time, he finally ruled out the middle path because he knew this setup had a bit of a targeted feel towards him, so the middle path was inadmissible.

That clue was too simple, which didn’t fit Lee Zhen’s mindset of designing challenges.

In the end, Lin Chen chose the most difficult path, after all, the Venerable Bone was the most valuable.

At the moment Lin Chen moved, Lee Zhen and Huang Xiaotian both panicked. The latter said, "Oh no, Lin Chen really fell for our tricks this time."

"..."

Lee Zhen was speechless as well.

He admitted he was somewhat targeting Lin Chen.

Yet, concerning the Venerable Bone, he wanted to give Lin Chen a special favor.

Who would have thought Lin Chen would trick himself by doing nothing?

What is this even?

No move turns out to be the best move?

Although Lee Zhen won this time, he felt worse than losing.

...

After all, Lin Chen isn’t a god. He couldn’t possibly understand all of Lee Zhen’s thoughts.

But on the next most challenging path, Lin Chen gained plentiful rewards.

His first encounter was with the Earth Fox puzzle.

On a patch of ground, there were a hundred holes, each with a Divine Fox head sticking out, requiring him to find the one and only Divine Fox.

Lin Chen didn’t even think about it and skipped it immediately.

"This is not a relic, it’s purely a trip to the amusement park," Lin Chen shook his head helplessly.

This was not Xiaobai’s forte; it should be left to those information-type Beastmasters.

Upon hearing this, Lee Zhen felt like cursing.

The challenges they set before were primarily focused on adventure, but Lin Chen saw through them, forcing a change in direction.

Rushing to the second stage, Lin Chen really began his adventure of violent gameplay.

This stage was more interesting:

On either side along a path, there were five Flame Foxes each. They intermittently hurled Super Fireballs in both directions.

The Explorer needed to pass through without being hit by the Super Fireballs, reaching the final position where the Stone Box was placed.

As seen, several Spirit Beasts belonging to Beastmasters were already hit, with firemen rescuing them.

Xiaobai immediately got excited and prepared to dash forward at full speed.

"Don’t rush."

Lin Chen watched the fireballs flying back and forth and started to ponder.

These fireballs seemed random, but perhaps not...

Alright, they really weren’t governed by any pattern.

However, these Divine Foxes differed in strength, causing variations in their fireball releasing speeds.

After observing, Lin Chen drew curves on the ground.

"Understand?" Lin Chen asked.

Xiaobai took another look and memorized it.

"Charge!"

Lin Chen shouted.

The nearby Beastmasters and staff focused their attention. Who would have thought Xiaobai hadn’t remembered, launching full force with the technique "four-cow charge," stunning the whole scene, and arriving straight at the destination.

"Moo!"

Xiaobai turned to Lin Chen, asking if it went the right way.

"...."

Lin Chen was speechless, not completely unrelated, just entirely irrelevant.

He ultimately underestimated Xiaobai’s speed....

Nonetheless, the reward was obtained amid the jealous gazes of other Beastmasters. Upon opening, it was surprisingly good, containing two Advanced Calming Pills.

"Not bad, I enjoy this kind of game."

Lin Chen put them away and quickly rushed ahead.

....

Artificial Ruins

On the middle path, a girl dressed in plain white walked leisurely before finally getting overwhelmed and sitting on a rock to rest, speaking to the Spirit Beast next to her:

"Xiu Xiu, perhaps we should give up. We’re just not suited for this sort of thing."

The girl was named Bai Ling, not from Jiuxing City, and beside her, the Spirit Beast named Xiu Xiu had a peculiar appearance with a protruding belly, most distinctly characterized by its mouth.

Though not exactly ugly, it wasn’t cute either, like something out of a girl’s aesthetic preference.

This type of Spirit Beast is called:

[Calamity-Devouring Beast]

[Skill: Death Devouring]

Although the skill name sounds quite mighty, it essentially just eats...

It can consume anything, even the toughest metals thrown in, it can digest.

This type of Spirit Beast is categorized as a Combat Pet, but its combat abilities are exceedingly poor, and perhaps due to the ancestral bloodline rupturing, the Calamity-Devouring Beast’s evolution is not much different, with minimal skill changes and no additional skills.