Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

Lin Yu stood there, stunned for a moment.

"What's going on?" He touched his chin, looking completely bewildered.

"Why does this guy seem to be avoiding me? He wasn't like this during the last transaction."

Lin Yu shook his head and quickly put this little incident behind him.

Since he already knew the rules he needed to know, the administrator's attitude didn't affect his decision to explore the Black Mist.

After a brief period of weightlessness and a sense of spatial displacement, Lin Yu found himself standing in an indescribable place.

The ground beneath my feet felt cold, hard, and slightly uneven, like some kind of metal or rock platform.

All around was an endless, dense darkness that seemed impenetrable. This darkness was not simply a lack of light, but rather a viscous, flowing, and almost living "object" that slowly rolled and writhed, blocking out sight and swallowing sound and perception.

A musty smell permeated the air.

The spiritual energy here is extremely thin and filled with impurities and chaotic fluctuations. Cultivating here is much less effective and may even lead to demonic possession.

The only source of light came from behind him.

Lin Yu turned around and saw that the gate of the 9527 residential area was like a lonely lighthouse, emitting a soft white light, opening up a weak safety zone with a radius of about ten meters in the boundless black fog.

"This is the world of black mist..." Lin Yu murmured to himself, his [Heavenly Eye] instinctively activating as he tried to see through the surrounding darkness.

However, even the "Heavenly Eye" was suppressed here.

The field of vision was compressed to about 100 meters, beyond which was a blurry, twisted, and writhing darkness.

One can only vaguely sense the flow of energy, but cannot see the specific objects clearly.

Just then, the black mist not far ahead churned violently, and with a teeth-grinding "crack" sound, a twisted figure slowly condensed into shape.

It was a monster entirely pieced together from pale bones, resembling a hunting dog, but with three constantly rotating heads with empty eye sockets, sharp bone claws on its limbs, and exuding a dense aura of death and an unstable energy fluctuation.

【Wandering Bone Demon Projection】(Gold Level)

Description: A low-level projection commonly found in the black mist, formed from the remains and fragments of fallen powerful beings and the dissipated death energy eroded and transformed by the black mist. It has a strong appetite for devouring the energy of living beings and a strong desire to attack, but its structure is unstable.

"We encountered a monster right away?" Lin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly, but he showed no sign of panic.

This kind of gold-level monster poses no threat to him.

The three heads of the bone demon turned towards Lin Yu simultaneously, and a ghostly blue soul fire suddenly ignited in its empty eye sockets. It let out a silent roar, exerted force with its limbs, and transformed into a white afterimage as it pounced over, its bone claws aimed straight for Lin Yu's heart.

Lin Yu didn't even draw his sword.

With a thought, the void beside him trembled slightly, and a verdant vine shot out like a venomous snake.

puff!

The vines precisely wrapped around the bone demon's neck and tightened sharply.

Click!

The fragile neck bone was no match for the flower demon's power and was instantly crushed to pieces.

The soul flames of the three heads flickered violently for a moment, then went out.

The entire Bone Demon's body collapsed with a crash, turning into a pile of broken bones. Then, as if corroded by the black mist, those broken bones quickly melted and evaporated, leaving only a small cluster of crystalline objects resembling gemstones on the ground.

[Obtained: Source Crystal (Gold-grade material) *1]

"Is this the Source Crystal?" Lin Yu recalled what the Void Walker had mentioned: a good item that could improve skill proficiency and had a chance to drop when killing projections.

Lin Yu picked up the crystal. He didn't stay in one place. He chose a direction and began to explore cautiously.

The community gate acts as a "lighthouse," and its location is fixed. It cannot stray too far, otherwise it is easy to get lost in the endless black fog.

The platform beneath their feet seemed to be an enormous passage or wreckage, extending into the depths of the black mist.

The Sky Eye can barely see the structures that resemble metal walls on both sides, but most of them are severely corroded and damaged, and are full of pits and cracks.

After walking about a kilometer, the scene before him made him pause slightly.

In the slightly thinner part of the black mist to the side and front, a huge, twisted, and broken structure could be vaguely seen.

It appeared to be part of the wreckage of a huge ship, rusted and partially embedded in a larger metal platform.

The surface of the wreckage was dull and lifeless, as if it had been silent here for countless years.

"This is... the ruins of some neighborhood?" Lin Yu's heart stirred, recalling the Void Walker's words.

The ruins of many failed communities were scattered in the black fog.

He slowly approached.

The interior structure of the wreckage had mostly collapsed, and it was filled with an atmosphere of decay and death.

He used his sword sheath to pry open a twisted hatch, revealing a dark space scattered with unrecognizable fragments. Occasionally, he could see one or two long-dried and decayed skeletons, their clothes and equipment long since devoid of spirit, reduced to mortal decay.

Nothing of value remains.

Lin Yu exited the wreckage.

These ruins are like tombstones in a world of black mist, recording the stories of neighborhoods swallowed up by the black mist.

Lin Yu continued his exploration.

During this time, he encountered several similar bone demon projections, as well as another type that was like a shadow and could launch mental attacks. He easily killed them all and collected several lower-level source crystals.

These monsters are generally not very strong, but they appear and disappear unpredictably and have strange attack methods. Silver or gold players who are not familiar with the black mist can easily suffer losses.

The drop rate isn't low, but it's not high either; it's definitely not 100% guaranteed to drop Source Crystals.

Suddenly, the [Heavenly Eye] sensed an unusual energy fluctuation coming from the left front, which seemed to be much purer than those bone demon shadows.

Lin Yu approached quietly.

Beneath a massive, rib-like protruding metal structure, a faint, milky-white light flickered in and out of the black mist.

Three or four bone demons gathered around the light.

He no longer concealed himself and took a step forward.

The bone demons immediately sensed the presence of living beings and roared as they pounced.

A flash of sword light!

The Demon-Slaying Sword wasn't even fully drawn; it merely emitted a cold, moonlit arc.

Puff puff!

Three heads burning with soul fire shot into the sky, and the Bone Demon's body instantly disintegrated.

The last one got entangled in the flower vines and followed suit.

After collecting his loot, Lin Yu searched the vicinity again, dealing with a few wandering projections and collecting two or three pieces of source material crystals. Feeling he had a basic understanding of the surrounding environment, Lin Yu decided it was time to return.

Even for him, spending a long time in the black fog would cause a strange sense of oppression and mental exhaustion.

Following the faint connection between himself and the apartment, Lin Yu successfully returned to the warm, white-light safe zone.

Standing at the apartment entrance, looking back at the boundless, churning black mist behind him, Lin Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

My first exploration of the black fog wasn't particularly thrilling; it was more about novelty and new knowledge.

He saw the ruins of the community, encountered a strange projection, and also gained his first resource.

Indeed, as the Voidwalker said, danger and opportunity coexist here.

……

Back at the apartment.

As soon as Lin Yu entered the room, he felt something churning inside his body. He frowned and immediately began to circulate the Divine Fire Heart Sutra. The heart fire circulated within his body for several weeks, and soon wisps of black energy were expelled from his back.

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes as he watched the black energy that had been expelled from his body and then directly destroyed by the statue of the True Lord.

"When did these things enter my body? If it weren't for the demon-slaying effect of the True Lord statue, I wouldn't have noticed it at all."

Lin Yu was somewhat surprised, after all, the inner fire within his body was constantly circulating, yet he hadn't noticed anything strange about these black energies entering his body.

"It seems that ordinary people can't stay in the black fog for too long. I'll have to bring some pure spring water next time. I just don't know if the spring water can purify this black fog." Lin Yu stroked his chin.

All I can say is try again next time. If the Pure Spring Water can be used, that would be a good thing for Lin Yu, as it would mean that Pure Spring Water is also in demand for players of Diamond level and above.

After resting for a while, he took out the spoils from his trip through the black mist.

Several pieces of [Source Crystals] of varying sizes and colors were placed on the table.

The largest piece came from the original bone demon. It was the size of a pigeon egg, and its entire body was a translucent pale gold color. Inside, there seemed to be a subtle flow of energy slowly rotating.

The smaller pieces were dull in color and had much weaker energy fluctuations.

【Original Essence Crystal (Gold Grade)】

Category: Special Materials/Consumables

Effect: Contains pure energy and fragments of rules, which can be absorbed to enhance proficiency in knowledge-based skills. The absorption efficiency is related to the quality of the crystal and the user's comprehension.

Description: A gift of black mist, but also the remnants of a curse.

Lin Yu picked up the gold-grade source crystal. It was warm to the touch, and he could clearly feel the pure energy contained within it.

He tried to follow the system prompts, holding it in his palm and slowly circulating the "Divine Fire Heart Sutra" to guide its energy into his body.

Unlike absorbing spiritual energy, the energy of the source crystal is more direct and pure, and it enters his sea of ​​consciousness almost without needing to be refined.

He began to try to recall the knowledge in his mind.

With the injection of energy, Lin Yu felt as if his brain had been upgraded, and his learning efficiency and comprehension of the knowledge in his mind had improved significantly.

He learned techniques and abilities that were already in his mind, such as Thunder Technique, Heavenly Eye Technique, Divine Fire Heart Sutra, and Molten Flame Demon Body, much faster.

Although the improvement might be negligible for him now due to the low crystal level, it is indeed real.

"It really works!" Lin Yu's spirits lifted.

He estimated that the enhancement effect of a gold-grade source crystal was almost equivalent to the results of his cultivation over several days. If it were in the Daoist study, the effect would probably be even better.

"No wonder the Voidwalker said this is a place to quickly improve skills." Lin Yu looked at the crystal in his hand that gradually shrank and eventually turned into nothingness, his eyes flashing with excitement.

Improving knowledge-based skills often requires a lot of time and effort.

This is really too useless for players who have to go through a life-or-death game every seven days. Only a small number of players like Lin Yu would like this ability. Most players actually prefer skill cards to knowledge.

After all, it's ready to use right away, without any learning required.

Lin Yu couldn't say whether this was good or bad. His preference for knowledge stemmed purely from his access to powerful knowledge channels and the Taoist study room, as well as the magical Time Chamber in the neighborhood.

Now it seems that this source crystal is undoubtedly a shortcut.

He absorbed the remaining low-quality crystals as well.

"It seems that hunting down the projections in the black mist and collecting source crystals is an important way to improve my strength next." Lin Yu clarified his goal.

Those projectors were generally not very strong, which was perfect for him to "grind monsters" and practice his skills.

Moreover, the potential resource points and relics within the black fog are also worth anticipating.

"It seems that I won't be able to truly rest during my rest time from now on."

Thinking of this, Lin Yu gave a wry smile. This game was really outrageous; it didn't even intend to give them a moment's rest.

I've only had some free time for a short while.

……

Over the next few days, Lin Yu's life became more regular.

He spent most of his time each day exploring the black fog.

With the aid of the "Sky Eye" and his keen intuition for danger, he gradually became familiar with the black fog environment within a radius of about five kilometers centered on the 9527 community.

The roaming projected monsters became his main "experience packs".

The monsters in his area came in various shapes and sizes, but their strength was generally average.

Lin Yu has yet to encounter anyone who can fight him for more than three rounds.

He had originally planned to test out his newly acquired diamond-level skill, [King's Battle Technique].

But the enemy couldn't even last ten seconds, so what's the point of testing it?

Over the course of a few days, Lin Yu's backpack gradually filled with more source crystals, although most of them were still of silver and gold quality.

He used all of these crystals, and Lin Yu also discovered something interesting.

That is, he discovered that as long as he used Source Crystal and then Shadow Clone, his Shadow Clone would have the enhancement effect of the crystal.

This directly boosted his cultivation speed by a significant margin once again.

To be honest, Lin Yu didn't know if this counted as a bug in the apartment game, but he didn't care. He would just use it first, regardless of whether it did or not.

In addition to fighting monsters, Lin Yu also kept an eye out for potential resource points or ruins.

Unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on his side immediately.

After several days of exploration, he found nothing but monsters and ruins of various neighborhoods.

On the fourth day of his rest, Lin Yu prepared to enter the black fog as usual.

Just as he was about to touch the dark vortex on the door, a thought struck him, and he remembered the strange-looking administrator from before.

"Perhaps we could ask it again? For example, are there any known resource points or danger zone markers nearby?"

Although the other party was cold last time, it doesn't hurt to ask.

He tried to contact the administrator using his privileges.

A moment later, the familiar white orb of light condensed in front of him once again.

"Player Lin Yu, what's the matter?" The synthesized voice of the light sphere remained flat, devoid of any emotion.

"I'd like to know about the situation in the foggy area surrounding the 9527 residential complex. Are there any known resource point coordinates, or any dangerous areas that require special attention?"

Lin Yu asked directly.

The light sphere was silent for a few seconds, then replied: "Database information: There are no stable resource points recorded around the 9527 community."

Danger zone marker: None.

The black fog environment is constantly changing; all information is for reference only. Please refer to actual exploration for accurate information.

The answer remained watertight, consisting entirely of official statements.

Lin Yu was unwilling to give up, so he asked several more questions from a different angle, but the light sphere still acted as if it didn't want to talk to him and that he shouldn't talk to it either, and just brushed him off.

"This concludes the answer. Players are encouraged to explore on their own."

A few minutes later, Lin Yu wanted to ask some more questions, but after leaving a sentence, the light sphere disappeared with a "whoosh," even faster than last time.

Lin Yu stood there, his brows furrowed.

"This guy..."

This is so different from when he first saw it! Good heavens, so you administrators are just killing people and not burying them, huh?

After thinking for a while without finding a solution, Lin Yu could only suppress his doubts for the time being.

It seems I won't get any useful help from the administrator; I'll have to rely on myself.

Stepping into the black mist once again, Lin Yu decided to explore even deeper today.

Previously, his activity radius was within five kilometers, which was relatively safe.

Today, he plans to expand the exploration area to about ten kilometers.

Having chosen a direction, Lin Yu sped up.

The ground beneath our feet continued to stretch forward, but the ruins on either side began to grow denser and larger.

He even saw a mountain range stretching across the black mist, its end in sight. The mountain range was covered with many huge traces of destruction, which did not look like they were formed naturally, but rather like the marks left by a man-made battle.

Lin Yu wasn't surprised; such marks could be made by a platinum-level being, and the damage from a diamond-level battle would only be greater.

These signs of damage appear to be quite old, suggesting that something likely fought in those mountains a long time ago.

The oppressive feeling in the air gradually intensified as one went deeper, and the sparse spiritual energy contained more chaotic energy, which made people feel irritable.

The field of view of the "Sky Eye" has been compressed to about 150 meters.

After walking about seven or eight kilometers, Lin Yu suddenly stopped.

[Heavenly Eye] sensed an unusual energy fluctuation coming from the left front.

The fluctuations didn't feel chaotic like those from a monster projection; instead, they seemed quite normal.

This is really strange; Lin Yu hasn't encountered any normal energy fluctuations in this black fog.

"Could it be... a resource point? Or something else?" Lin Yu pondered as he moved closer.

After navigating several pits that resembled small mountains, the scene before him caught his eye.

In a relatively open depression formed by the collapse of the platform, a small patch of strange plants was growing.

These plants are pale blue all over, and their shape is like a miniature version of coral, with a faint light flowing between their branches like stardust.

They are rooted in the ground, and the surrounding black mist is slowly gathering towards their roots.

At the heart of these plants, three fist-sized, sapphire-like fruits emanated pure energy fluctuations.

Are they absorbing the black fog?

Or perhaps the black fog was their natural nourishment.

This is really interesting. From the perspective of the Heavenly Eye, the energy of the black mist is chaotic and disordered, but the energy display of these plants is surprisingly normal.

So, are these plants considered resource points?

Lin Yu looked over.

【Starlight Orchid (Platinum Grade Material)】

Description: A strange plant that grows in specific energy nodes or void radiation areas, containing the power of stars and life energy. It is a precious material for making high-level potions and forging star-attribute equipment.

【Starlight Fruit (Platinum Grade Material)】

Description: Starlight Orchid absorbs special energy and condenses its essence over a long period of time. It contains even more magnificent star power and a small number of rule fragments. Direct consumption can improve mental attributes and mana limit, and there is a chance to learn star-related skills or improve the proficiency of corresponding skills. It can also be used as the main ingredient for potions or for forging cores.

"Great stuff!" Lin Yu's eyes lit up when he saw the item description.

Sure enough, his luck wouldn't stay that bad forever. He hadn't had any good results in the past few days, but today he came across a resource point, and the resources inside were exactly what he needed.

Those three Starlight Fruits can directly increase mental attributes and mana cap, which is quite good for Lin Yu, who consumes a lot of mana.

Of course, it's very useful, but not that much. After all, what Lin Yu urgently needs right now is not magic power, but a way to quickly restore it.

After all, his skills that consume a lot of mana are calculated as a percentage.

Lin Yu did not rush up to pick the fruit immediately, but instead activated his [Heavenly Eye] and carefully scanned his surroundings.

Based on his experience with the Voidwalkers, there are usually guardians near these resource points.

Sure enough, with the keen observation of the [Heavenly Eye], he discovered that in the shadow of the Starlight Orchid, there were three clusters of distorted energy that were almost integrated with the surrounding environment.

Their aura was obscure, but it couldn't escape Lin Yu's all-seeing eye.

"Three platinum-level monsters..." Lin Yu quickly discerned the strength of these monsters.

This lineup isn't weak, but it's normal, considering there's a lot of Starlight Orchid here. With so many Platinum-grade materials, it's normal to have multiple Platinum-grade monsters guarding it.

Lin Yu was only slightly wary, but not afraid.

It's just platinum level, what's there to be afraid of?

"Perfect, I'll use you guys to test my skills."

After confirming that there were no other monsters around, Lin Yu hesitated and did not go forward immediately.

He summoned flower fairies, sending them from underground to the location of the three mimic hunters.

Just as the willow vines drew near—

Lin Yu suddenly rushed out, drawing his Demon-Slaying Sword, which, carrying a sharp sword aura, thrust straight at the nearest mimic hunter.

The three monsters reacted extremely quickly, sensing the danger the moment the willow vines suddenly attacked. Their camouflage instantly vanished, revealing their hideous forms, which resembled dark purple carapaces covered in compound eyes and sharp scythes.

Chi Chi Chi!

But the flower demon was faster. The three monsters had barely taken shape when the flower vines shot out and tightly bound two of them, their sharp thorns injecting poison and restricting their movements.

"The King's Battle Manual!"

As Lin Yu gave a low shout, a surge of scorching energy seemed to explode from the depths of his dantian, instantly sweeping across his entire body.

……