The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 120 - 95: Phantom Generation

Chapter 120: Chapter 95: Phantom Generation

"You want to bully the newbie again?"

Zhou Yuan sighed.

"Newbie?" Chen Guangxi laughed. "If you’re a newbie, what are those old grandmasters? Stop talking nonsense and take this move—Black Tiger Steals Heart!"

Smack!

In a flash, Zhou Yuan’s right palm struck Chen Guangxi’s wrist, deflecting the incoming lethal move. A massive boom exploded from their collision, with a gale spreading from the impact point.

Anyone other than a Cross-Training Master would have had their wrist shattered by Zhou Yuan’s palm strike. After twenty-eight days of "Dragon Blood Medicinal Bath" body tempering, his physical condition was now terrifyingly strong.

Veering away from the attack, Zhou Yuan retaliated with a backwards whip hand strike. Though it seemed soft, the hit caused the air to explode violently, bursting with an immensely strong force.

Chen Guangxi also responded with a whip hand strike, meeting force with force.

Boom!

The force wind erupted, thunderous noise roared, causing the training ground to fragment, debris flying and dust swirling.

Zhou Yuan activated the True Dragon Breathing Skill, his heart pumping, dramatically enhancing his stamina. His whip hand strikes, wrapped in Gang Qi, lashed out like a raging storm, even sharper than steel whips.

Chen Guangxi didn’t dodge or evade, taking them all head-on.

Each of their collisions resounded with thunderous roars, shaking and trembling the training ground. The splattering Gang Qi tore gouges in the ground, leaving it in ruins.

Suddenly, Chen Guangxi’s figure flickered and disappeared from Zhou Yuan’s sight. Zhou Yuan felt a chill behind his head and instinctively lunged forward, using his hands to flip over and narrowly dodge the sword finger strike from behind.

Just as he landed, Chen Guangxi’s shout rang out:

"Kangaroo Jump!"

She leapt towards Zhou Yuan with a massive jump, her fist smashing down. Zhou Yuan sidestepped, letting her punch land on the ground.

"Earthquake Fist!"

Boom!

The ground caved in, a mighty shockwave whipped up torrents of wind in the air, wobbling Zhou Yuan’s stance, almost causing him to fall.

"Mantis Fist! Snake Step! Lotus Drift! Scorpion Palm!"

Chen Guangxi pressed on relentlessly, her attack continuous, whistling through the wind.

Zhou Yuan suddenly stepped back half a step, clasping Chen Guangxi’s forearm with one hand. Taking advantage of the momentum, he pulled, disrupting her balance, and then clenched his five fingers.

——Uppercut!

Boom!

Chen Guangxi was struck by the Rising Dragon Fist on her chin, sent flying high, and crashed headfirst into the ceiling.

She braced her hands against the ceiling, forcefully pushing herself out. With a thud, a pair of magnificent golden dragon wings spread behind her.

With a flap of the wings, a fierce wind was stirred within the training ground, compressing the air, making Zhou Yuan, who was catching his breath, feel suffocated, disturbing the rhythm of his breathing skill.

"You’re cheating!" Zhou Yuan protested, "Why are you activating the half-dragon form?"

"This move is called Tyrannosaurus Flap and Fly!"

Chen Guangxi shouted, "The next move is called Meteor Destruction!"

Golden Gang Qi floated around her body, as if burning like a meteor, descending with a prodigious roar.

Boom!

In an explosive sound as if to completely destroy the training ground, the demon shadow burst into a cloud of black mist.

Almost simultaneously, a thin black beam sliced across the back of Chen Guangxi’s head.

This was Zhou Yuan’s most lethal skill, [Shadow Slice]—a terrifying kill move that condenses a strand of shadow mixed with tiny steel shards and launches it like a high-pressure water cutter, enough to cut through flesh with ease.

However, hitting Chen Guangxi’s head didn’t even cut her hair, highlighting her astonishing physical strength.

"Damn, I lost again?"

Chen Guangxi scratched the back of her head, feeling a bit itchy. That was just her. If it were any other extraordinary person, they would have had their skull split open by now.

There was no doubt; Zhou Yuan won this match.

"Alright, you’ve reached a sufficient level; you can graduate now."

Chen Guangxi raised an index finger, "I only have one request of you, as your master."

"What request?"

"If you cause trouble in the future, don’t drag me into it."

"..."

·

·

In the shower, Zhou Yuan washed off the sweat on his body and checked the system’s task log.

[Task "Study" Completed]

[Task Evaluation: A (Experience Points and Star Coins rewarded increased to 130%)]

[Comment: Your performance was exemplary.]

[Task Reward 1: Experience Points*1040]

[Task Reward 2: Star Coins*3900]

[LV21→LV22!]

[Experience Points: 910/1150]

[Star Coins: 18000]

[Allocatable Attribute Points: 1]

After this period of special training, his strength advanced by leaps and bounds.

He had achieved minor success in "True Dragon Body," allowing him to join the ranks of Martial Arts Grandmasters, becoming a rare Cross-Training Master, compensating for his fragile frame and limited close combat abilities.

The improvement in physical fitness had a ripple effect, causing slight enhancements in "Intelligence" and "Perception." Additionally, the daily "Dragon Blood Medicinal Bath" tempering had even boosted his "Charm" attribute a bit.

Zhou Yuan allocated the 1 point to Perception; now, his attributes were:

[Strength: 26

Agility: 24

Constitution: 28

Intelligence: 13

Perception: 27

Charm: 23]

"My Intelligence is a bit low. I need to find a way to boost it."

Now with 18000 Star Coins, he could afford a few items to permanently increase Intelligence and quickly found a suitable item.

[Name: Sixty Walnuts]

[Quality: Fine]

[Special Effect: Brain Booster. Increases Intelligence by 3 after consumption. Only for players with Intelligence attributes between 10-17. Each player can only use it once.]

[Note: Use your brain often, drink Sixty Walnuts more.]

[Price: 6000 Star Coins]

Almost all items and skills that directly increase attribute points had restrictions to prevent players from boosting attributes with cheap items in the later stages. The higher a player’s attributes, the more expensive the items and skills that could increase those attributes became.

Spending 6000 Star Coins, Zhou Yuan purchased "Sixty Walnuts" and drank it all.

[Intelligence +3]

He then spent another 6000 Star Coins to buy another item that could increase Intelligence by 3 points and used it.

[Intelligence +3]

In total, spending 12000 Star Coins, he increased his Intelligence attribute to 19 points, narrowing the gap with other attributes.

By now, Zhou Yuan could finally call himself an all-rounded warrior.

·

A month of special training passed, and it was already mid-July.

This summer in Xinhu was particularly scorching, the blazing sun hanging high, with temperatures breaking 40 degrees Celsius every day, rising even higher, with the record high reaching 45 degrees Celsius, quite terrifying.

But Xinhu was not alone; the climate worldwide had gradually grown abnormal over the past few months.

Temperatures above zero at the North Pole;

Massive snowstorms in America;

Floods in Europe;

Typhoons wreaking havoc in East Asia;

Violent rains in long-dry desert regions, submerging several cities, causing tens of thousands to be affected...

A series of extreme weather events seemed to signal something ominous, even ordinary people sensed something was amiss, feeling like the world was on the brink of some tremendous upheaval.

In such a calm yet turbulent international landscape, Spark Technology made a groundbreaking announcement without warning.

——New Generation VR Glasses, Mirage One!

The news caused an instant earthquake in the gaming and tech circles.

According to Spark Technology, this VR glasses had the capability to merge reality with the virtual, automatically scanning the surrounding terrain to instantly generate game scenes and enemies, allowing players to interact with reality within the game.

This so-called New Generation VR Glasses, Mirage One, was initially to be released along with "Child of Stardust" and the immersive gaming pod.

However, after the major incident with Stars Network, "Child of Stardust" had to be postponed. Consequently, Spark Technology decided to release Mirage One ahead of schedule, and announced its flagship title—"World Hunter."

In "World Hunter," players would take on the role of hunters, slaying various demons and monsters appearing in the real world. The game supported multiplayer, allowing up to 15 players to hunt monsters together offline.

This revolutionary blending of reality and virtual gaming was undoubtedly an unprecedented feast for gaming enthusiasts. As soon as the pre-sale news was released, the official game website was flooded and crashed.

The purchasing qualification for the VR glasses was even being scalped for 200,000 Federal Coins.

"Holy crap, I got the buying qualification!"

In the Control Bureau’s office, Jiang Wuming cheered, and others started exclaiming excitedly, while some sighed in disappointment, unable to get the purchasing qualification.

"Woohoo, got it!"

Zhou Yuan clapped excitedly, delighted with the Control Bureau’s fast internet speed!

He then looked at Chen Guangxi, who was watching an anime, with no interest in pre-ordering the glasses, and asked curiously, "Why aren’t you getting one?"

"This World Hunter is just a rebranded Monster Hunter, with tons of dragons inside. Do you think I want to play that?" Chen Guangxi glared at him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Zhou Yuan was puzzled.

"I’ve killed enough of my kind. Even in a game, I don’t want to be a killer anymore," Chen Guangxi said with a tinge of weariness.

"..."

Zhou Yuan knew Chen Guangxi had killed many of her relatives. But seeing her expression now, it seemed she had also killed many of her kin...

What exactly had happened back then?

Zhou Yuan was very curious, but the related information was classified, and Chen Guangxi didn’t bring it up herself, so he didn’t feel right asking.

"Lao Zhou, what weapon are you planning to use?" Jiang Wuming asked.

"Of course, the long sword. Is there any other weapon in this game besides the long sword? People who have played the sword for long have clear eyes and exude supreme confidence,"

Zhou Yuan puffed out his chest. "I’m a ten-year long-sword veteran!"

"Playing with swords, huh," Chen Guangxi critiqued sharply.

"Huh? You’re also a veteran hunter?" Jiang Wuming was surprised.

"Of course, sometimes I even open two Black Dragon rooms when I’m itching to play."

"Understood."

...

The launch of the New Generation VR Glasses sparked widespread discussion worldwide, accompanied by many other major news breaks.

Wanggu Gene made significant progress in cancer treatment; a European scientist discovered new construction materials; the conflict in the Middle East escalated, erupting into hot weapon warfare again; an earthquake in the Australian seas...

Zhou Yuan knew that the world was really on the brink of transformation.

In another month, the Eastern Paradise would open.

According to scholars, the opening of the Cave Heaven Blessed Land signaled a certain stage in the Extraordinary Wave, returning to the "era of abundant spiritual energy" from thousands of years ago, heralding large-scale abnormal events.

By then, it would be even more challenging for the Control Bureau to conceal the existence of Supernatural Power.

Meanwhile, Control Bureaus across all major regions were recruiting extensively to prepare for the impending chaos.

As for the Dongzhou Control Bureau, it was busily preparing detailed work for the opening of the Cave Heaven Blessed Land.

The Alpha Mobile Task Force was also reassigned to undertake a secret mission.

Life suddenly became much quieter for Zhou Yuan.

After waiting a couple of days, the system’s notification finally sounded in his ear.

[Dungeon Task Delivered]

[Task Name: "Lethal Manor"]

[Task objectives will be revealed after transmission]

[Accept task?]

[Yes/No]

"Accept."

[Transmission Countdown:9:59]

Zhou Yuan used the Disguise Talisman to change his appearance, then opted for immediate transmission.

Swish!

The scenery around Zhou Yuan changed abruptly, a strong sense of damp and stuffy heat assaulting him.

He found himself in a dense tropical rainforest.

[Phase One Task Objective: Reach the manor within the tropical rainforest before nightfall]