Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

The first thing that appeared on the light screen in front of Victor Cromwell was a prompt about the bloodline test.

[Congratulations on reaching level 20! You have gained the authority to unlock the Bloodline of All Races. The Bloodline of All Races will draw upon mythical beasts, monsters, and calamities from the mythology and legends of your nation as its bloodline source.]

To acquire this bloodline, you must pass the basic test of the divine beast you choose. During the test, you can conquer the beast with your own strength, or you can appease it by sacrificing your own people or offering sacrifices (maze ingredients) to speed up the test.

Are you ready to confront those ancient beings? Yes or no!

Victor Cromwell didn't understand, but he decisively chose yes, which he did understand.

Suddenly everything went dark, and when light and perception returned, he found himself standing at the entrance of a massive temple that was so disorienting it made him lose his sense of direction.

Beneath your feet lies a plaza paved with massive stones, polished smooth as a mirror by countless ages of wind and sand, stretching to the horizon.

Looking up, he saw the colossal structure supporting this "sky"—the stone pillars of the temple's forecourt.

Each stone pillar is as thick as a giant tree in mythology that supports the heavens and the earth, with an estimated diameter of over ten meters and a height of over fifty meters.

The surface of the stone pillar is covered with extremely intricate reliefs, including distorted abstract stars and countless repeating geometric patterns.

The ancient, dim light emanating from behind the stone pillar cast a huge, silent shadow, completely engulfing Victor.

Stone sculptures rise from the ground, no, no, they are so huge that they resemble sacred mountains.

Victor Cromwell saw countless mythical creatures from the Americas, including thunderbirds, Wendigos, and minotaurs, but his gaze was always drawn to the statue in the very center—the statue of Quetzalcoatl.

The snake's poised and majestic prone posture filled him with awe.

The main body of the snake coiled around a huge base, each scale clearly and distinctly carved, the size of a shield, layered upon layer, gleaming with a cold, hard luster.

Looking upwards, one sees its iconic neck, covered in magnificent feathers, and its head held high, slightly turned towards the entrance, as if waiting for something.

The pair of stone wings on its back were not fully open, but rather half-folded, clinging tightly to the sides of its massive body.

Even so, its wingspan is large enough to cover half a football field, and the outline of each feather is clear and sharp.

Victor Cromwell felt a heavy force pounding in his chest, and he couldn't help but kneel down in front of the statue.

The live stream audience was completely shocked by this scene. For the first time in the world, they witnessed what it meant to have the bloodline of all races. What were those dog shit maze monsters compared to these legendary ferocious beasts? They were nothing but chicken shit.

[A netizen from the Free Nation: Absolutely right, absolutely right, that's exactly the feeling! Quetzalcoatl, the most powerful legend in our Americas.]

[Free Nation Netizen: Is this the mutual journey between Quetzalcoatl and Victor Cromwell? Are we Free Nation invincible this time?]

[A netizen from the Great Cold Country: I'm so envious! The first person in the world to awaken their bloodline, please take me under your wing!]

[A netizen from Russia commented: "This is impressive. I wonder what the process is for awakening one's bloodline."]

[A netizen from India: Quetzalcoatl looks very powerful, but what's the price?]

[A netizen from the Free Nation: I'll pay the price, get the hell out of here!]

Quetzalcoatl's empty eye sockets seemed to be "looking" at Victor Cromwell, and a notification appeared on the system screen.

Please select the bloodline type you wish to awaken.

In Victor Cromwell's vision, an aura appears, which can move according to his will and is used to select the object of his bloodline awakening.

Without hesitation, Victor Cromwell manipulated the aura and chose Quetzalcoatl.

Please confirm your choice; this choice cannot be changed.

Victor Cromwell was thrilled and filled with boundless pride. "Confirmed! The Bloodline of Ten Thousand Races, activate it for me!"

"Click-clack click-clack..."

As Victor Cromwell made his choice, the magnificent statue began to peel away layer by layer, collapse, and finally transform into a beam of light that shone on the temple square.

Within the pillar of light, a feathered serpent god with a wingspan of about 20 meters appeared, preparing to conduct its so-called test on Victor Cromwell before it.

[A phantom of Quetzalcoatl has appeared, its level is 5 levels higher than yours. You can gain Quetzalcoatl's approval through three methods: fighting it, offering sacrifices, and making offerings. When the progress bar reaches 100% approval, you will pass the test and successfully awaken.]

[Please note that each sacrifice results in the loss of one citizen. Due to the weakness of mortal life force, the effect is extremely minimal. Therefore, the same method as the descent is used, dividing the nation's population by the national fortune value to calculate the actual number of sacrifices.]

You will not die during the battle, but you will lose health. You can repeatedly restore your health and challenge it again until you succeed.

Victor Cromwell didn't understand, so he grabbed his weapon and charged forward with his battle pet.

Being 5 levels higher than your own level makes this assessment quite difficult.

However, the assessment also allows for ample leeway; as long as you accumulate 100% approval, you pass without dying in battle, which means you can slowly grind it out.

If you have a lot of food and props in your personal space, you can use them to make offerings to the other person, which will also earn you recognition.

The fastest way is still sacrifice, which is quite brutal.

"Today is the day I become the first explorer of Earth!" Victor Cromwell bent his knees and leaped into the air, wielding his sword in both hands, and slashed down fiercely.

Its battle pets also roared and charged forward, joining the attack.

But the next second, Victor Cromwell was slapped back as soon as he jumped up, fell heavily to the ground, lost 40% of his health bar, and his health dropped by 20%.

"What??? How is that possible!" Victor Cromwell didn't understand, nor did he need to, because being bad was the original sin.

He tried charging again, but it was still no use; he and his battle pet couldn't get close at all. "Did I fail even after giving it my all?" Victor Cromwell looked utterly defeated.

He glanced at Quetzalcoatl's approval rating: 0.1%. Forget about approval, what the hell is the difference between this and looking down on me?

Fortunately, there were two other options for gaining recognition, and Victor Cromwell clicked on the offering first.

After the offering function was enabled, all the items that could be offered in his personal space became clickable and available, such as food and beast cores.

Items that cannot be offered as sacrifices, such as blueprints and weapons, turn gray.

"No, I can't use my precious food and beast cores for this purpose; it will severely slow down my development." Victor Cromwell rejected the option outright.

(Ball generates electricity, has everyone gotten home yet? Did you manage to snag a ticket home? Should I ask Kabu to come pick you up? It can fly!)