Add points infinitely starting from the error panel.

He truly is a master hidden in plain sight!

From his professional status as one of the Four Saints to his behavior, personality, and the fact that he conceals his true name, he exudes the image of a reclusive master.

Judging from Zhang Ming's appearance, he looks to be in his 30s, but his real age could be over 70!

Looking at the character list again, after adding Zhang Ming, he gained a new ability: Life Growth, which is the same ability he gained when adding Hua Nuonuo.

Zhao Ziqi wondered what would happen if he gained the same ability again. He thought to himself, "I'll take over the ability."

A simple prompt window appears.

[Receive the existing ability to "generate energy," automatically integrate it into the existing ability, and undergo a enhancement.]

【Ability: Life (Legendary/Second Tier) - Description: Greatly enhances one's own vitality and self-recovery ability.

Active: Power Conversion (consuming life force to convert into short-term power)

Next stage enhancement: Life Force Absorption (Select a plant-type target, absorb its life force and convert it into your own life energy) – Cost: 1 Ability Point (Note: Currently have 0 Ability Points)!

At the moment of the ability evolution, Zhao Ziqi felt his heart pounding. When he actively activated the power conversion, his own life force would flow into his heart, in exchange for a short burst of power.

The next enhanced characteristic of "Life" then appears, "Life Extraction," which allows one to extract the life force of plants and use it for their own benefit—it's incredibly powerful!

Unfortunately, it lacks certain abilities.

After closing all the windows, Zhao Ziqi held a brown, antique-style compass in his hand. It was heavy, with a delicate texture, and looked quite old.

Lu Mingming leaned closer to examine the antique compass, her small eyes narrowed to slits, she grinned to reveal her neat teeth, and her eyes, though not very wide, were wide open.

"Wow, this is a miracle! Bro, that was incredibly safe!"

The term "rare object" refers to a special category that is distinct from extraordinary items.

These items cannot be crafted; they originate from secret realms or reality, each possessing a unique origin. They are characterized by special abilities, a wide variety that always exceed people's imagination.

This is why rare and precious items are invaluable, difficult to obtain, and extremely scarce.

"That's right. The Awakening Trial for Extraordinary Beings only allows one item to be carried into the secret realm, held in hand. However, there are size restrictions on the carried item, and extraordinary items are not allowed. Only rare items... are exempt!"

Zhang Ming raised his chin slightly and squinted his eyes: "Now that you've found me, I'll guarantee your safety!"

This object is called the Jack's Compass; it points to the direction your heart clearly desires.

With the Jack Compass in hand, Zhao Ziqi listened to Zhang Ming's description and was overjoyed. This was too reliable.

With this Jack's Compass, coupled with one's own high attributes, ability growth and trajectory, what is there to fear in the most difficult extraordinary awakening trial!

"Brother Zhang, I owe you a huge favor."

"Don't mention favors, I can't stand that stuff." Zhang Ming waved his hand and said, "This thing isn't always accurate, it depends on the situation. Whether you can come out alive depends on your own abilities."

The next day, April 20th, at 5 PM.

The living room in Lü Mingming's home.

红字倒计时在赵子麒眼前闪烁：5…4…3…2…1！

Having said all he needed to say, Zhao Ziqi remained silent, gripping the Jack compass tightly, concentrating intently, and vanished from the living room in an instant, under the watchful eyes of Lü Mingming and Zhang Ming.

"Brother Zhang, what do you think... what are the chances that Zilong will come out alive?"

Zhang Ming leaned back on the sofa, chugging a can of Budweiser beer. After a burp, he said, "During the special training yesterday and today, this kid's physique and perception were far superior to the average person. With the help of the Jack Compass, it's probably about 30% better."

"Only 30%!"

"What else? This is the highest-level trial realm. I should be thanking my lucky stars if I can come out alive, and with my compass!"

"As long as the person gets out alive, everything else is secondary. Zilong is my good brother!"

"Are you speaking human language?" Zhang Ming couldn't hold back any longer.

……

[You have arrived at the Trial Location for Transcendent Awakening: The Dark Forest — Objective: Leave alive to complete Transcendent Awakening.]

A notification message appeared in front of Zhao Ziqi's eyes.

The warm sunlight shone on his cheeks and onto the grass. Zhao Ziqi's nose twitched slightly as he smelled the dampness. The surrounding trees were far apart, their sparse branches adorned with lush green leaves.

It seems this is the trial ground, the Dark Forest. The surroundings are neither dark nor dense, and sunlight easily filters through the sparse branches, scattering across the grass.

On both sides, the soil and the roots of large trees exposed collapsed stone pillars and moss-covered stone statues, with only half of the statues' heads showing, and long, pointed ears, suggesting they were elves.

One second, he was still at Lü Mingming's house; the next second, he was in an adventure scene resembling a traditional RPG.

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound rang out from the west.

"Coo-coo, Goblin—!"

Zhao Ziqi looked up at the sound and saw five green goblins appear on the forest path, four carrying spiked clubs and one holding an iron scimitar.

"Chase...chase Goblin!"

The five goblins, like mad dogs with bloodshot eyes, watched as the human ran faster than a rabbit and disappeared into the bushes.

"Awooo!" The goblin captain slashed at a tree with his scimitar, making a sound of gritting his teeth, before leading four goblins away along the path.

Zhao Ziqi was hiding not far away.

I lay in the grass and watched the five goblins walk away.

"Phew..." I breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, his strength was as high as 12 points, his speed was fast enough, and his perception was strong enough. If it were an ordinary person, he would have been caught and captured by these five goblins as soon as he came up.

After watching the five goblins disappear into the distance, Zhao Ziqi carefully stood up, looked up, and his pupils widened instantly! His heart began to race.

A grayish-white, desiccated female corpse lay diagonally on a collapsed stone pillar, with a large hole the size of a palm in her skull, as if it had been pecked through by something, which was chilling to look at!

Deep inside the gaping hole in the skull... the solidified black, viscous substance was rotting brain matter. Zhao Ziqi had never seen anything like it before, and instinctively took a half-step back.

Suddenly, I felt a soft, cotton candy-like texture under my feet. I turned around and looked down, and saw that I was stepping on a rotten, pale human hand with dark spots on the skin that looked horrifying!

Holy crap!

My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, and a chill ran straight to the top of my head.

Zhao Ziqi took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Zhang Ming had mentioned that he didn't know the specifics of the Dark Forest, but anything in the secret realm could be a clue, hiding the possibility of survival.

Whether or not one can forge a path to survival depends entirely on their own abilities.

Suppressing his discomfort, Zhao Ziqi observed the corpse that caused him both physical and psychological distress.

The deceased was a male, with a robust build and a height of at least 1.9 meters. The fatal wound was a cut on his back, which cleaved from his shoulder to his waist, scapula, spine, and even ribs.

Goblins are generally less than 1.5 meters tall, so they cannot inflict such devastating cuts!

The female corpse with its skull pierced by a guillotine, and the male corpse that had been brutally severed before them, both hinted that a terrifying, unknown entity lurked within this forest.

"Let's take a look at the compass first."

The newcomers encountered goblins upon arrival and hadn't even had a chance to use the artifact—the Jack's Compass.

Zhao Ziqi picked up the strange compass and opened the wooden box.

The antique compass, inside its glass case, has only a black pointer, which will point to the place that is clear in one's heart and what one desires.

What I was thinking about was, of course, the way to survive and leave the secret realm.

But…!

"How could this happen!" Zhao Ziqi frowned.

The black pointer in the compass swung back and forth, sometimes clockwise, sometimes counterclockwise, and finally, it started spinning wildly, making a clicking, clattering sound like gears turning.

Click. Zhao Ziqi closed the compass. It seemed that his mind was not clear enough at the moment. He needed to gather enough clues and confirm safety information before he could use it to point out his way to survival.

"Huh...!"

Zhao Ziqi's gaze fell to the lower left corner of his field of vision.

The exploration map, no bigger than the palm of your hand, floats there, inconspicuous.

Inside the secret realm… there was actually an exploration map! Zhao Ziqi was overjoyed!

The moment my gaze fell upon it.

The exploration map zoomed in automatically, revealing complete information to Zhao Ziqi.

[Secret Realm Area: Dark Forest (Exploration Progress: 2%)]

[Note: Upon completion of the Secret Realm Trial, you will receive allocable attribute points based on your final exploration progress.]

Zhao Ziqi finished reading the exploration progress description of the secret realm area.

Higher exploration levels mean more attribute points to allocate, but in this highest difficulty Awakening Trial Realm, higher exploration levels mean an extremely high risk of death.

If you insist on pursuing the maximum exploration level, then it's like Wu Dalang trying to drink giraffe milk—jumping around and sucking it up.

……