Start With Contracting Sprites

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"

"Hehehehe…"

"Gagaga…"

Invisible shadows emerged from the corners of the walls.

They were either Dream Demons, Dream-eating Demons, or Nightmare Terrors.

They belonged to the same evolutionary pathway. To put it simply, they were sprites from the same race, but their appearances were too similar. In the eyes of outsiders, they all seemed like invisible shadows.

Su Hao could only vaguely see different shapes under the black shadow.

-- A real mosaic sprite.

It was rare to see ghost-element sprites on ordinary days, but now that they appeared, there were dozens of them. Once their numbers increased, it immediately caused the surrounding environment to change.

The temperature seemed to have dropped by more than ten degrees, and the light also became darker, as if they couldn't see the end of the road, only strange cries kept echoing.

Senior Qin Ya, as well as the other male seniors, couldn't stand it anymore, and goosebumps started appearing on their skin. Senior Qin Ya lowered her head, and her beautiful hair covered her face. Her body trembled, as if she was scared to her limit, so…

She threw out the Holy Spirit Bird.

"Coo…"

The Holy Spirit Bird flew two and a half laps in the air. Its tiny body exuded an extremely warm glow. In an instant, the cold and dark ghost-element energy melted like snow. Many Nightmare and Dream Eater demons shrieked and quickly escaped into the surrounding black buildings, disappearing.

Only a few Dream Demons fell to the ground. The mosaic on their bodies… Cough, the black mist on their bodies had already disappeared, revealing their original bodies.

It had a round body the size of a basketball, a pair of big round eyes, and a pair of small and short hands… At first glance, it looked pretty cute.

Senior Qin Ya, who was obsessed with looks, immediately stopped shaking. She even dared to step forward and poke it.

Her fingers went right through it.

"Over the long years, this ancient city has birthed many ghost-element sprites," said Mentor Ma. "But ghost-element sprites aren't very strong…"

They weren't just weak compared to Mentor Ma, but everyone present as well.

Among the group of mosaic ghosts just now, there were already more than a dozen of elite-level ones. If it was an ordinary Sprite Trainer here, they would have long been squeezed dry… a true Nightmare Terror.

However, these intruders and the extraordinary-level sprites were much stronger than ordinary Sprite Trainers. The ones that truly need to fear, should be the native ghosts in the ancient city!

"So, don't worry. The best way to eliminate fear is to keep the enemy afraid."

Mentor Ma nagged for a bit, but it was actually for one purpose.

Removing their uneasiness, they explored their own ways.

There were more than ten people in their team. Apart from Whale Island University, there were also students and instructors from Dragon City University and other Sprite Universities.

They were all Master-level, and completely capable of moving alone.

On the contrary, not only was it inefficient to gather together, but what happened if one of them found a high-value treasure? Who would the treasure belong to?

"It's recommended to act alone or travel in groups of two. If anyone encountered danger, they could just fire the signal flare."

Of course, Su Hao traveled alone.

With Butterfly, Dazed Crow, Dumb Unicorn, and Big Fat Bear, the four extraordinary guards, the sense of security was quite sufficient. He even had an extra Bright Night Spirit that had come along to watch the show.

In the case of danger, he could even call for backup.

He chose a direction and departed directly.

Before departing, he saw that some seniors still chose to team up. Senior A teamed up with Senior B, while Senior C teamed up with Senior D.

...

After leaving the team, the feeling Ghost City gave off was even more deathly silent and cold. Only the faint red glow emitted by the dull crow could bring him a hint of warmth.

"Who exactly built the ancient city?"

"What kind of civilization existed here in the past?"

"Did the Union excavate similar ruins?"

He had asked all three questions to Senior Wu, who couldn't answer the first two.

As for the third question…

"The Union did discover similar ancient cities, but very, very few. The Union is also unsure why the civilization behind the ancient cities disappeared."

At the moment, most of the buildings in the ancient city were well-preserved, and many facilities were still running. It didn't look like they were fleeing in panic after encountering external enemies.

"Then how did this city get abandoned?"

He thought about it…

If he couldn't think of an answer, he wouldn't think about it anymore.

He was just an ordinary university monk. It wasn't his place to worry about the nation's affairs and the future of the Union.

"Let's do something practical."

Su Hao looked around. Due to the aura emitted by the Dazed Crow, there were no more blind ghost-element sprites harassing him.

But… there were still some ghost-element sprites secretly spying on them.

"Capture a few natives and get information."

Su Hao looked at Butterfly.

Butterfly looked at… Crow, Bear, and Unicorn and sighed. It helplessly accepted that ghost-catching was now its responsibility.

"Gurgle ~!" It made the dumb crow withdraw its aura.

Instantly, the light red glow on Crow's body disappeared, and the temperature dropped. "Tsk tsk" came from all directions again.

As expected, the native ghosts here were all rather… stubborn.

Buzz--

Butterfly's eyes lit up, and an invisible mental attack exploded in front of it. Balls of black shadows floating in mid-air suddenly fell, and the black mist surrounding them had already become very thin. They let out a strange cry, and indeed, they only knew how to escape after they were beaten up again.

But at this moment, two spiritual pearls flew over and hit two Nightmare Terrors. "Dong Dong".

Their illusory bodies froze when they were hit by the spiritual pearl. The whole ghost was stunned.

When they regained their senses, they saw…

A large white bear on the left looking down at them, thunder arcs coming out of its palm.

A large fire bird on the right staring at them with fire in its eyes, spewing flames from its mouth from time to time.

A water-blue beast stepping its hooves continuously. It seemed to have thought of something and spat out a ball of cold air fiercely.

Puff~

The two Nightmare Terrors swayed. Suddenly, they felt… they felt more comfortable ~!

Slap!

Su Hao kicked the Dumb Unicorn away and walked in front of the two native ghosts. He crossed his arms and lowered his eyes. On the left and right, under the contrast of the bear and crow, lightning and flames, he looked coldly at the two ghosts.

Their illusory body started trembling from the bottom up. The two Nightmare Terrors that looked like they were about to cry from fear quickly gave up their past.

"Ugh…"

"According to them, those two Nightmare Terrors have been drifting in the ancient city ever since they were born, absorbing some kind of energy that made them feel very comfortable. One day, they suddenly evolved."

The two ghosts didn't know how old they were, but Su Hao could tell.

They were more than a hundred years old. They had lived a boring and dull life for more than a century.

"The range of activity is also limited to the ancient city… The barrier outside the city not only obstructs foreign monarch ranks, but also prevents ghost type sprites born from the ancient city."

It made him feel like the ancient city was a breeding ground for ghost-element sprites.

But all kinds of traces indicated that there used to be intelligent races living here, and it was very likely that they were also humans!

"The problem is that even ghosts don't know much, so what exactly…"

Su Hao shook his head violently. Why was he worrying so much about the Union again? That was a problem that only big bosses needed to consider.

He continued to explore the ancient city, occasionally catching a few native ghosts to interrogate them.

Time ticked by. He didn't encounter any danger, but he didn't gain anything either.

Giant monolith-shaped buildings surrounded them. The doors and windows were hard to find.

Even if some walls were smashed open, the interior was just like ordinary families. The facilities and furniture were similar to theirs… It was just that the style was different, and most of it was black.

Apart from being able to judge that the people who used to live in this city were probably humans… At the very least, humanoid creatures, there were no other gains.

The rare materials that he could occasionally find also lost all their energy over the endless years.

They were useless.

"But that's not right. Since the ancient city can give birth to ghost-element sprites, correspondingly, precious materials can be born. Where are the precious materials?"

"Gurgle ~!"

Butterfly looked around and spread its perception. It also wanted to ask,

Where was the money?

"Gurgle! Gurgle, gurgle ~!"

Butterfly, whose antennae kept spinning and probing, suddenly discovered abnormal fluctuations in a certain direction.

It immediately flew to the throne above Su Hao's head and sat down. It made a fist and waved it upwards. "Gurgle! (Charging Duck)"

Su Hao's team immediately rushed in the direction Butterfly pointed.

Before long, icons representing precious materials finally appeared on the interface map. Countless icons overlapped… It was the direction in which Butterfly sensed the waves.

Tears welled up in Su Hao's eyes.

A moment later…

Dumb Unicorn rushed out of Black Slate Street. It arrived at an empty square.

Around the square, huge stone tablets pierced into the ground like giant swords, surrounding the round square inside.

Su Hao saw faint traces of a barrier at the connections of the stone monuments.

"Gurgle~!"

Butterfly also said that it sensed the ripples of the barrier. It was more obvious than the large-scale barrier covering the entire ancient city, gurgle ~!

But when he got closer, Su Hao discovered that there were actually many people outside the square and under the stone tablet.

They were also from the first batch.

He looked around and saw a member of the Dragon City University team who looked a little familiar but couldn't remember his name. He went forward and asked,

"What are you doing here?"

When this certain minor character from Dragon City University realized Su Hao was the person who had ruined his chance of winning the championship, he was initially unwilling to respond.

But after realizing that Su Hao had contributed to his slot in the first batch, he had no choice but to reply honestly, "This place seems to be a certain heritage point in the ancient city. As long as one passes it, they will be rewarded… There didn't seem to be any gains elsewhere, so basically everyone came here."

He reluctantly added, "Someone has already gotten the reward, not just the precious materials, but also the creations from the ancient civilization… The Sprite Trainer who just got the prize has already left in a hurry."

Not far away, a muscular man wrapped in a headscarf walked out, went under a huge stone tablet, and pressed his hand on the stone tablet…

Several lights flowed from the bottom to the top of the stone tablet.

The next moment, the figure of the brawny man wrapped in a headscarf actually appeared in the square.

He was teleported in!

At the same time, profound symbols appeared on the surrounding stone tablets, shining slightly.

It was a language that Su Hao didn't understand at all, and symbols were all crooked like ghost drawings. But after taking a few more looks, he actually understood the meaning behind it.

[First stage: Strength Test]

[Push the Blackstone Mountain out by 102.4 meters in 30 seconds.]

Seconds and meters probably weren't the measurement units of the ancient city civilization itself, but those ghostly symbols could be transformed into information that he himself could understand.

What kind of technology was this?

Before he could think, he noticed another change in the square.

A certain black stone tablet shot out light beams and interweaved in the square, constructing a small black stone mountain eight to nine meters tall.

"An illusion?" Su Hao looked at Butterfly.

The serious-looking brainiac Butterfly nodded slightly. "Gurgle ~"

"It isn't completely real? Well, it makes sense. If it were then it'd be creating something from nothing."

One of the members of Dragon City's school team glanced at Su Hao, then at the Butterfly Fairy that he didn't know how to describe. When he heard their conversation, he was dumbstruck.

On the square, a strong man wrapped in a headscarf summoned the sprites outside the square.

Tyrant Bear, Ground Wolf, Elephant General.

Earth-element sprites were pretty common, but these had pretty good potential.

Among them, only Tyrant Bear was extraordinary-level.

Yes, the one that fainted after Su Hao snapped his fingers.

In the eyes of the many Sprite Trainers in Peacock Nation, however, an extraordinary-level sprite was an embarrassment.

But it wasn't weak, especially in terms of strength.

"Roar!"

The silly bear let out a roar. Together with the three sprites, Ground Wolf and Elephant General, it pushed the small black stone mountain with a rumble.

About 22 seconds later, they pushed it out to 102.4 meters.

In an instant…

The symbols on the stone tablet changed, and the small black stone mountain gradually turned illusory, turning into a stream of light and flying into a stone tablet.

[First stage completed]

A stone platform rose from the square. Some items were placed above it. They were rewards.

Many people stretched out their necks or simply looked over with "Sprite Commandeering: Summon".

Su Hao could see even more clearly on the interface—the precious icon had moved just now.

"Two precious materials, worth about 100 credits."

It wasn't too valuable. After all, it was only the first stage.

The symbols on the stone tablet started to change again.

[Second stage: Dance, Sprite]

[Fly two laps around the square in 30 seconds.]

Instantly, a round runway was drawn on the periphery of the square. Numbers appeared on the stone tablet, and the countdown started.

But the brawny man in the headscarf was stunned.

None of his three sprites had wings, nor did they know how to step on air. This was an unreasonable request!

In just a moment, when General Elephant stepped onto the running track and came into contact with the ground, the brawny man in the headscarf was judged to have failed the second round.

He and the three sprites were teleported out together.

"You didn't do this to the last guy! Give me another chance!"

The brawny man kept hitting the stone tablet, but there was no response.

The explorers from the surrounding countries started to think.

"Everyone only has one chance to challenge the stone tablet."

"Besides, the content of the levels is very likely to be random… At least within a certain range."

The brawny man in the headscarf lost miserably, but as a Sprite Trainer who was considered an "embarrassment", his failure didn't affect everyone.

Before long, the next warrior went on stage.

He passed the first two levels in different forms and lost to the third level, [The sprite will be beaten a hundred times].

— The symbols were all translated.

But this warrior had also revealed new information… Cough, new information about the rules: You were allowed to surrender.

Su Hao took a look and felt much more relieved.

"From the looks of it, it's indeed a safe and harmless challenge. It's very likely it's something the ancient city had prepared for their Sprite Trainers in the past."

"And since the inhabitants of these ancient civilizations were probably also humans, it would make sense that we were also able to take on the challenge."

It wasn't a guess without basis.

Aliens were known to be very similar to inhabitants of Planet Aquamarine. Thus, it wasn't unreasonable to guess that they were also humans.

At this moment, more and more explorers surrounded the square.

There were already six people who had participated in the challenge. The best one had already reached the fifth level.

And the prizes…

There were precious materials, unknown medicines, and rewards that could directly be infused into sprites to increase their strength.

However, the expressions of the surrounding Sprite Trainers became increasingly solemn.

"The challenges are too random!"

"Yeah, Big Boss Yan Chuan is a quasi Heavenly King, but even he lost in the third round!"

"This is simply making things difficult for me!"

Seeing a big boss kneeling in the third or even second stage, a group of restless Sprite Trainers stopped.

There was only one chance, so it would be more wise if they observed and collected more information. There might still be key rules that they have yet to discover.

Sprite Trainers from all nations gave way one after another.

"Please."

"No, no, you came first. You first."

"No no, you are the guest. you guys go first."

These words were all being translated by sprites.

For a time, sprite cries were heard in various languages.

Su Hao held his chin and recalled the 15 different levels that had just appeared.

They all seemed… doable.

"Then go ahead."