Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

In short, the Hyena Queen issue is resolved.

After many hardships, we finally won the white fox. Congratulations!

"Woof!"

Of course, the hyena queen wasn't stupid; these people couldn't have traveled all that way to her territory just to deliver a white fox, could they?

Its territory is rather special, but this thing isn't of much use to it.

Hyenas are easy creatures to survive—if they can't survive on their own, they just steal from other creatures!

However, the Hyena Queen didn't plan to lead the team there herself.

After all, it has important things to do right now!

"Woof!"

So it directly ordered one of its subordinates to lead the group of two-legged creatures over there.

"Thank you very much."

I'm so happy, this is probably the most relaxing one I've ever had.

The hyena queen chose a direct subordinate, who was also the strongest among her men.

So Ouyun simply named it Dazhuang.

Da Zhuang felt extremely honored to have been chosen by the Queen, and strode confidently out from among the hyenas.

"Woof!"

It probably means wishing you good luck.

Then the hyena queen scooped up the white fox with her two front paws and disappeared into the cave.

Ou Yun stood to the side watching, wondering, "Will it come back for dinner tonight?"

Leng Ruolan said probably not, "Maybe next time it will treat us to a meal."

"Wow, so fast?"

"Forbidden Zones? There's nothing they can't do, only things we haven't even thought of."

"really."

*

The purple mountain was closer than the two had imagined.

After walking for about twenty minutes, Dazhuang led the group and the purple mountain appeared before them.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes even more breathtaking.

The entire mountain resembles a giant stone pillar rising from the ground, piercing straight into the sky.

The rocks on the mountain's surface are not ordinary gray or brown, but a strange purplish-black, and the surface is covered with dense cracks.

Deep purple light shone through each crack.

Meanwhile, the Storm Core inside Ouyun's backpack was shaking even more violently.

When Ou Yun took it out, he saw that the lightning inside the core was flashing even more wildly, as if it had been encouraged by something.

"Looks like we made the right choice."

Leng Ruolan looked up. "The crystals should be inside the mountain."

Ou Yun carefully stored away the Storm Core and first circled around the foot of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, there were broken rocks everywhere, some smashed by external forces, and others that looked as if they had been bulged open from the inside by something.

Purple light seeped out from the cracks, illuminating the surrounding ground with a faint purple glow.

"How do we find it?"

Ou Yun scratched his head, "We can't just blow up the mountain, can we?"

"Haven't you blasted up enough mountains before?"

Leng Ruolan remained calm. "Let's find the entrance first. These kinds of veins usually have naturally formed fissures or caves."

Nanbei was a shrewd operator; while the two of them were wandering around, it had already found something ahead.

It stood next to a protruding rock, turned around and meowed at the two of them.

The two went over to take a look.

Behind the rock was a crack, just big enough for one person to pass sideways.

A purple light flickered deep within the crack, and a rhythmic humming sound could be heard.

Dazhuang nodded in agreement, "Woof!"

Ou Yun thought to himself, "Easy to remember, haha, looks like this trip is really going to be easy."

"Well done, North and South."

Leng Ruolan ruffled Nanbei's hair, "I'll give you extra food when we get back."

Nanbei was very happy, held its tail high, and was the first to squeeze into the crevice along with Dazhuang.

The two followed closely behind.

The inside of the crack was surprisingly spacious.

After walking a few steps, the passage suddenly opened up and turned into a natural cave.

The cave walls were inlaid with glowing minerals, their purple light intermingling, making it quite a beautiful sight.

But the most eye-catching part is the center of the cave.

A crystal pillar, about half a person's height, rose from the ground. It was deep purple, and a liquid light could be faintly seen flowing slowly inside.

The purple halo rippled outwards in concentric circles, like ocean waves.

Each ripple was accompanied by a buzzing sound—the same sound they heard outside.

Intrigued, Ou Yun immediately took two steps closer. "This is the Abyss Crystal?"

He tried touching the purple waves with his hand; they felt cool to the touch, like holding a regular iced Luckin Coffee without a cup.

Leng Ruolan also reached out and touched it. The icy feeling made her involuntarily frown. "So cold? Is it absorbing heat?"

"It absorbs heat..."

Ou Yun recalled the desolate scene outside, so out of place with the forest.

It's probably not that simple.

Is it absorbing heat, vitality, or energy?

At that time, the core of the storm emerged from Ouyun's backpack on its own.

It hovered in mid-air, with lightning flashing wildly inside, constantly releasing blue arcs of electricity into the abyss crystal.

The Abyss Crystal also responded.

Its purple light suddenly brightened, emitting an even more intense buzzing sound.

Then a thick purple beam shot out from the top of the crystal and struck the Storm Core in mid-air.

A stable beam bridge was formed between the two.

The core of the storm slowly rotated within the beam of light, and the lightning inside changed from white to purple, and then from purple to deep blue.

"Is this self-pairing?"

Watching this scene, Ou Yun clicked his tongue in amazement, "The things in the forbidden area are quite intelligent, like Bluetooth."

"Alright, alright, stop complaining, let's get to work!"

Leng Ruolan had already efficiently taken out the cloth bag and crowbar she carried with her, and while tapping around the crystal, she urged Ou Yun to hurry up.

"We need to hurry up and collect samples. This piece is too big to carry back in one piece. Let's see if we can break off a few smaller pieces to take with us."

"oh."

The two spent fifteen minutes knocking several fist-sized fragments off the main crystal.

Each piece retains the same deep purple color as the main crystal, and feels incredibly cold to the touch.

At this moment, the Storm Core's Bluetooth connection was lost, and it automatically fell back into Ou Yun's hands.

The lightning inside was no longer pure white, but mixed with a wisp of purple, making it look even cooler than before.

"alright."

Leng Ruolan tied the cloth bag full of shattered crystals tightly. "We've got the stuff, we can make our escape now. Should we say hello to the Hyena Queen when we get back?"

Ou Yun said no need, "At this point, the Hyena Queen probably won't be finished so quickly."

Leng Ruolan thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. Let Dazhuang go back and report the news. We won't go over after the Hyena Queen is done, to save time."

Ou Yun nodded, tossed the bag full of crystals over his shoulder, and said, "Yeah, they're busy connecting over there too, so let's not interfere with their love lives."

Leng Ruolan: ...

Live stream viewers: ...

"Without warning, a car wheel ran over my face."

"I haven't gotten on the bus yet! I haven't gotten on the bus yet!"

"Really? I don't believe it. Let me see."

Let me see!