Chapter 135: The Undying Phoenix (Thanks to Seeking Pleasure and Enjoyment for the 10,000-book-coin tip; bonus chapter)

Chen Mo was suddenly adored by everyone, becoming the center of admiration among his classmates.

“Zhang Shengmo, what about your first place?” Young Master Wei looked at Zhang Shengmo with a mischievous grin.

Zhang Shengmo was flustered. “How can you blame me? That mysterious vampire is incredible, and I’m sure he’s from one of the top ten ancient martial families. I’ve never seen anyone so powerful!”

Zhang Shengmo’s B-level core equipment—the Mind’s Eye—had been exposed by the mysterious figure. That was the heart of Zhang Shengmo’s gear. If it weren’t for Young Master Wei mentioning there was a spirit stone in his family, Zhang Shengmo might have been driven to despair.

Young Master Wei smiled faintly. “If that mysterious person is so strong, why isn’t he ranked first? Why did Chen Mo take that spot instead?”

Zhang Shengmo was exasperated. “Serves him right! He refused to team up with me to kill the S-level zombies, which led to the zombie tide breaking out. He probably got swallowed up by it!”

“Shengmo, do you know that in ‘Last Stand Survival,’ there is a hidden mission that can trigger a zombie tide?” Young Master Wei’s usually calm eyes suddenly gleamed with sharp insight.

Zhang Shengmo frowned. “You mean that mysterious person deliberately triggered the hidden mission to start the zombie tide? But what’s the point? He even died in the process!”

With a flick of his feather fan, Young Master Wei lightly waved. “According to global data, the conditions to activate this hidden mission are extremely stringent. So far, it remains a legend on the Evolution Forum—no one has truly triggered it. No one knows what the reward is…”

“So you’re guessing that mysterious person didn’t actually die! Instead, he left this instance to claim some other reward!” Zhang Shengmo interrupted.

“Smart! That’s exactly it!” Young Master Wei shifted his gaze to Chen Mo and Ning Xuan, smiling faintly. “When we were in the beginner instance, if a hidden mission appeared, there was a chance it would open a new space to complete special tasks and earn rewards. Since your mysterious person is so powerful, I speculate he didn’t die but went to another space!”

“Got it! Everything makes sense now! No wonder that guy refused to team up with me to kill the S-level zombies—it was all for the hidden mission!” Zhang Shengmo suddenly understood. “If I ever find him, even if it means we perish together, I won’t let him off!”

Just thinking about his Mind’s Eye equipment made Zhang Shengmo furious.

Young Master Wei shook his head. “No, I can’t accept that. You and Chen Mo are in one instance; Ning Xuan and I are in another. Yet the final winners are Chen Mo and Ning Xuan. You lost because of a mysterious person, and I lost because of a sudden S-level zombie. Could there be a connection?”

Zhang Shengmo’s expression changed. “You mean someone is secretly protecting Chen Mo and Ning Xuan?”

Young Master Wei shook his head. “Not sure. Both of them are orphans with mysterious origins. It’s baffling. I feel like I’ve grasped a key point about them, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s really a headache!”

“Headache? Want me to help massage it?” Zhang Shengmo tried to curry favor.

Young Master Wei looked disgusted and pushed him away. “Enough with the pretenses. I’ll talk to the elders of your family about the spirit stone, but your Zhang family will have to pay a price—it is, after all, an ancestral spirit stone.”

Zhang Shengmo was excited. “Don’t worry! Whatever the cost, the Zhang family will pay!”

Without the spirit stone, Zhang Shengmo’s strength would be nearly halved.

...

Besides two Phoenix equipment pieces, Chen Mo also obtained a strange card.

The card was translucent, swirling with energy. Gazing at it carefully, it seemed as if one’s entire consciousness could be drawn in, revealing a vast galaxy and starry sky within.

[Congratulations, you have received the Evolution World Access Card. With this card, you can enter the Evolution World, a fictional realm akin to a virtual community. Anyone on Earth holding an Evolution Card can enter to play, spar, trade, socialize, and more.]

Interesting. How does one enter the Evolution World?

Chen Mo’s consciousness checked the card, and a string of information popped up immediately.

[When the number of players with Marquis-level strength exceeds 100,000, the Evolution World will automatically open. Card holders can then enter through the Novice Evolution Sphere.]

[Current Marquis-level players: 24,356]

So that’s it. One only needs the Evolution Sphere to enter, but the condition to open the world hasn’t been met yet.

At that moment, a female elf appeared above the island and sweetly announced, “Now, based on your performance in the instance, we will conduct a ranking evaluation. Note that the evaluation includes not only combat ability but also support skills, combat analysis, decision-making, and more!”

As soon as her words fell, a pillar of white light appeared before each person.

“Please enter the light pillar!”

Everyone tensed up; the ranking evaluation would determine their future prospects.

Chen Mo strode casually into the white pillar. What was there to be nervous about? He knew his own strength best. If the system rated him as Soldier level, that didn’t mean he was limited to Soldier strength; if it rated him King level, he wouldn’t suddenly be King level out of nowhere. The ranking was just a reference, nothing more.

Buzzing filled the pillar as countless white beams penetrated Chen Mo’s body. His heels lifted slightly off the ground.

A mechanical electronic voice sounded: “Data scanning! Data analysis!”

“Warning! Sample too complex. Requesting advanced access!”

“Advanced access granted. Conducting in-depth scan!”

Chen Mo felt as if time stretched endlessly. He didn’t know how long it lasted before the electronic voice announced, “Evaluation complete. Now releasing results!”

A dazzling display appeared on the pillar: eighty-four square screens, each showing the data of an intelligent unit, revealing the strength ratings of all eighty-four units.

No wonder the system took so long—it scanned all of Chen Mo’s units!

Swallowing hard, Chen Mo stared wide-eyed at the data.

First up was the Intelligent Unit Overlord’s rating: Peak Marquis level.

What? Only Marquis? This system really was unreliable. Chen Mo had thought he was on the same level as Lei Dongtian and Miyamoto Musashi, but apparently, he was one tier below. Their combat prowess was that strong! Once the Evolution World opens, Chen Mo decided he would definitely spar with them.

The second screen wasn’t the Little Prince but the ID “Dragon Young Master,” rated at Marquis Beginner level.

Goodness! He had somehow killed a Marquis Beginner player. This must have been after transforming into a zombie boss and leading a horde to kill players. He hadn’t paid attention at the time—the Golden Scale Twin Blades were too formidable, one strike per kill—but he hadn’t expected to have killed a Marquis-level player.

The Dragon Young Master’s intelligent unit was a Dragon Warrior, quite advanced. Unfortunately, Chen Mo dared not use this unit yet. A Marquis-level player must be formidable in reality. If Dragon Young Master’s family or friends knew Chen Mo had killed him, trouble would surely follow. He would keep this unit in reserve until he no longer feared anyone or any force.

The third screen showed the Little Prince’s intelligent unit, rated at High General level.

That matched Chen Mo’s expectations.

The fourth screen displayed Kunlong’s intelligent unit, also rated at High General level.

Of the remaining eighty units, fifty-four were Soldier level, twenty-six General level; all had ordinary skills with no exploitable value.

Chen Mo’s only puzzlement was that he possessed eighty-four intelligent units—did the system not mind?

Either the system considered this normal, or his intelligent brain was more powerful than the system itself, blocking the data feedback to the intelligent unit system.

In any case, Chen Mo was certain of one thing now: owning eighty-four intelligent units was beyond the system’s control, and it couldn’t do anything about it!