Moonstone Spirit Dew and the Elite Trial

Lu Yuan stepped through the stone gate and emerged onto a vast expanse of gray-white rock.

He glanced around. It was much like the outside — nothing but bare terrain, empty in every direction.

At that moment, a vast, resonant voice boomed from above.

*Shiman Tower?*

Was that the name of this gray-white stone structure?

He'd heard that many ruins in the Land of Origin were left behind by long-destroyed civilizations. Perhaps this one was no different.

"Trial participant XI9201, welcome. The Shiman Tower trial is about to begin. You have thirty seconds to prepare."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Thirty seconds passed quickly.

"Trial start! Current level: 1."

*Crack.*

With a sharp sound, the gray-white rock directly ahead compressed and coalesced, forming a stone man roughly 1.8 meters tall. It resembled a Stone Man, but far more refined — more detailed in its construction, even bearing its own face. Its power felt on par with a Stone Man at about 10% tempering.

Lu Yuan gripped his greatsword and watched the creature with care. He knew little about these trials, and even less about the stone man's true capabilities. Better to be cautious.

The stone man let out a low growl and charged. Its weight was considerable — each footfall on the rocky ground sent a dull, heavy thud through the terrain.

It closed in, clenched its fist, and hurled a wind-cutting blow straight at Lu Yuan's face.

Lu Yuan sidestepped. His greatsword swept through the air and sliced into the stone man's neck.

*Clang!*

Cracks erupted across the gray-white stone. The entire neck shattered. The head toppled. The body crashed down behind it.

*Whoosh!*

The stone man dissolved. A single drop of white liquid — faintly threaded with silver light — drifted up into the air.

Lu Yuan reached out and caught it. It was condensed into a perfect sphere, as if enclosed in a thin, transparent shell.

"Level 1 trial passed. Reward: 1 drop of Moonstone Spirit Dew."

Land of Origin information surfaced in his mind immediately: Moonstone Spirit Dew was consumed directly.

He swallowed it without hesitation.

It dissolved into a stream of gentle, warm energy and flowed into his body. He could feel his Gene Chain beginning to temper — slowly, but steadily.

About as much spirit power as a single Spirit Crystal. Nothing dramatic from just one drop. But the energy itself was clearly gentler and easier to absorb than Spirit Crystals. For him, that meant he could take it down on the spot, mid-combat, without needing to find somewhere quiet to sit and focus.

His eyes lit up as he studied Moonstone Spirit Dew's properties in his mind.

It was a cultivation resource. Compared to Spirit Crystals, its spirit power was milder and more readily absorbed. Beyond that, it nourished the body, healed wounds, and with sufficient quantity, could even reinforce the flesh's defensive capability.

He filed all of that away and turned his attention back to the trial.

"Trial participant XI9201, proceed to Level 2? Declining will exit Shiman Tower."

Could he actually refuse?

"Accept!"

"Trial start! Current level: 2."

The gray-white ground stirred. Ten stone men materialized.

With a chorus of low growls, all ten charged at once.

For an ordinary Gene Warrior, ten might be within reach.

Lu Yuan raised his greatsword and surged forward to meet them.

*Clang. Clang. Clang.*

He cleared them quickly.

Reward: ten drops of Moonstone Spirit Dew.

He absorbed all ten on the spot.

*Not enough. Not enough — more. I need more.*

The thought surfaced unbidden, almost greedy.

He understood the frustration. Spirit Crystals came with a hard limit — absorb too many at once and the Gene Chain risked collapse. That ceiling had always constrained him. But Moonstone Spirit Dew carried no such restriction. If he could absorb freely, without any cap, he could push straight to 100% tempering in no time and start working on breaking the Gene Lock. As for spirit power itself — with the pile of Spirit Crystals stockpiled in his battle-mark space, he'd never run dry.

Ten drops barely registered. He hardly felt the difference.

But his Gene Chain was tempering. Smoothly, without resistance.

*If I had a massive supply of this, I could break through in record time.*

Meanwhile, outside the Shiman Tower, in the ruin's open space—

A flash of white light. Zhuo Ming reappeared in front of the tower.

"Zhuo Ming! You made it out! How many levels did you clear?"

Zhuo Ming glanced around and answered with a quiet, satisfied grin. "Two."

His golden-haired teammate walked over and leaned in close.

"I got ten drops total," the youth said in a low voice. "Used one back in Level 2 — and that stuff is something else. Better healing than standard potions, and it restores spirit power at the same time. Honestly, without that one drop, Level 2 might've had me."

He broke into a wide grin. "Same for me. Moonstone Spirit Dew is basically a healing potion and a spirit power potion fused into one — it's like ten extra lives dropped into your pocket. I didn't expect ruins to have something this good. Absolutely worth it."

"No argument there!" Zhuo Ming said, buzzing with excitement.

Both of them stared toward the tower with expressions of naked longing.

The golden-haired youth scanned the area and lowered his voice. "Yuan-bro is definitely clearing Level 3 — not even a question. The captain, though... I actually think there's a shot. The gray-white stone men are close to Stone Men in terms of strength, and fighting a hundred at once would be rough at the captain's level, but with the Moonstone Spirit Dew as backup, it might still be doable."

As he said it, his own eyes went red with envy.

He sighed. "What a shame. If I were just a bit stronger... clearing Level 3 would mean a hundred drops. A hundred..."

Zhuo Ming's response made the golden-haired youth nod along — and then he sighed again, that wistful look deepening on his face.

*If only they could be that strong.*

Back inside the tower, Lu Yuan absorbed his Moonstone Spirit Dew and entered Level 3.

"Trial start! Current level: 3."

The gray-white terrain came alive. One hundred stone men emerged — packed together in dense ranks, surging toward him like a tide, like thousands of troops cresting a hill.

Even a far stronger Gene Warrior standing in his place would feel their scalp crawl at the sight.

Lu Yuan smiled.

His defense was impenetrable. He had no safety concerns. With the Spirit Crystals stockpiled in his battle-mark space, spirit power was never going to run out. And as long as he could sustain his combat techniques, this many stone men at this strength level posed no threat to him whatsoever.

He charged in.

It took time. But eventually, all one hundred gray-white stone men lay broken.

Reward: 100 drops of Moonstone Spirit Dew.

*Just like that chest back in the Gray Rock Forest.*

He absorbed all hundred drops immediately. This time, he could feel the difference in a way that the earlier rounds hadn't given him.

If those had been Spirit Crystals — a hundred of them — he'd be straining at the edge of his Gene Chain's capacity right now. The threat of collapse would be real. But the Moonstone Spirit Dew flowed in like water through an open channel. Not a flicker of resistance. His Gene Chain was tempering at full speed, and he could feel it happening — steady, clean, uninterrupted.

*Not enough. Not enough — more.*

The craving came back sharper than before.

He ran the numbers. Even at higher tempering percentages, where each step forward demanded more spirit power, a thousand drops of Moonstone Spirit Dew would still move the needle meaningfully. And following the regular trial's pattern — one, ten, a hundred — the next level would presumably bring a thousand stone men. A thousand drops.

That wasn't a small number.

But then the voice came from above, and everything shifted.

"Detected: Trial participant XI9201 has cleared the Level 3 trial. Qualified to unlock Elite Trial. Open?"

Lu Yuan blinked.

*Elite Trial?*

He hadn't expected this.

He hesitated. The voice from the sky prompted him again to make his choice.

Lu Yuan took a slow breath.

If the Elite Trial still rewarded Moonstone Spirit Dew — or offered something even better — it was worth the attempt. Higher tier, higher yield. But if there was nothing valuable inside, it was pointless risk. Worse, an elite trial might carry genuine lethal danger. If he died here, he'd be expelled from the Land of Origin, and everything he'd earned today would be gone in an instant.

He turned it over.

Then his expression settled.

*You never know what you're capable of until you push yourself.*

His defense was solid. Spirit power was not a concern. The gray-white stone men at this power level, no matter how many of them came at once, couldn't touch him. He'd gamble on it.

"Open."

A resonant cry rang through the ruin:

"Trial participant XI9201 — Elite Trial, opening!"

In the open space outside the Shiman Tower—

Everyone who had been murmuring quietly about their haul went still at once. Every head turned toward the tower, eyes wide with shock.

"An elite trial?! That's actually a thing here?!"

"Cleared Level 3 that fast, then immediately had the confidence to unlock an elite tier — whoever that is, they're no ordinary person."

Zhuo Ming's voice cut through the crowd, sharp with surprise.

The golden-haired youth looked equally stunned. "After Level 3, there's an elite tier? Is that actually harder than Level 3?!"

Both of them fell silent, staring at the tower with undisguised envy.

*If only they were that strong...*