"What in the world is this?"
Ye Feng was bewildered as he opened the dark box, finding a pink donut inside.
"A... a pink donut?"
"Big brother, is this donut the shard of the divine stone?" Little Xiao asked, pointing at the donut in the dark box with a hint of surprise.
"I..."
Ye Feng was equally confused, unsure how to answer.
"Whoosh!"
Just then, a gust of wind blew by.
The pink donut instantly corroded, turning black, and then into powder that scattered with the wind.
"This donut has been in this box for who knows how long, it's completely carbonized~"
"It shouldn't be a shard of the divine stone!" Bing's voice chimed in.
"But there's nothing else inside~" Jiang Shishan asked, puzzled as he looked at the empty dark box, save for a small pile of black powder.
"This..."
Ye Feng was also at a loss.
Even if Bing's judgment was wrong, the system had clearly indicated the presence of a divine stone...
"Wait!"
Ye Feng's expression changed as he suddenly realized.
The system had indicated "divine stone," not "shard of the divine stone."
If it wasn't the decayed and carbonized donut, then it could only be the dark box itself.
With this thought, Ye Feng examined the dark box he hadn't paid much attention to before. He found that he couldn't identify the material of the box at all, and the entire exterior was inscribed with mysterious runes...
"It must be this!"
After some thought, Ye Feng decided to trust the system's prompt.
Although he still didn't know what this divine stone was for!
"How did you know about the divine stone shards?" Ye Feng asked Bing after a pause.
"This... it's passed down through word of mouth among the seniors of the City of Arcane Arts!" Bing hesitated slightly before revealing, "Not just our City of Arcane Arts, but the high-level officials of those powerful large human survivor bases also know about the news of divine stone shards in this City of Despair!"
"Moreover, almost all the large human survivor bases and some wandering super powerhouses want to obtain the divine stone shards!"
"I'm not entirely sure of the specific reason~"
"But there are rumors that the強化血清 (Strengthening Serum), 絕境藥劑 (Desperation Potion), and Arcane Energy are all related to the divine stone shards~"
"Including 20 years ago, Tà Xīng City, which boasted powerful technological strength and claimed to have built interstellar warships, reportedly also benefited from divine stone shards." Bing recalled and slowly explained to Ye Feng.
"Tà Xīng City?"
Ye Feng frowned. He seemed to have seen this name somewhere but couldn't recall where.
"Yes!" Bing nodded. "Back during the Great Cataclysm, when almost everyone was struggling to survive, Tà Xīng City was already vowing to unify the entire continent..."
"However, later... Tà Xīng City was almost completely annihilated overnight..."
"Their proud, top-tier mechs were torn apart by enemies with their bare hands... A radius of dozens of miles, Tà Xīng City, which claimed to be able to withstand nuclear bombs, was split in half with a single blade..."
By the end of her explanation, Bing's face showed deep disbelief.
"This!"
Listening to Bing's words, Ye Feng felt a chill run down his spine.
Splitting a city in half, could that truly be done by a human?
"However, I only heard these things, and it's difficult to verify~" Bing added after a pause.
"Bing, Ye Feng, we don't have much time left~"
"In at most two hours, we'll have to leave!" Jiang Shishan said, taking out a hexagonal device.
Each side of the hexagonal device had a circular metal piece inserted into it, which was a survival coin.
"This device is called a spatial teleportation array sensor, used for precise positioning between two points of a spatial teleportation array."
"Otherwise, even if you walk into a teleportation array built by the seniors of the City of Arcane Arts, the final teleportation destination might have a deviation~"
"Moreover, this sensor has a function that can guide its owner to the corresponding spatial teleportation array~"
"When people from those large survivor bases enter the City of Despair and carry this device, they also know to head in this direction~"
"It's foreseeable that others might come here later..."
Jiang Shishan pointed to a position on the hexagonal device. "There's a progress bar here, which synchronizes with the spatial teleportation array~"
"When the progress bar is full, it's the optimal time to enter the spatial teleportation array~"
"Once the person carrying this sensor enters the corresponding spatial teleportation array, the array will close!" Jiang Shishan added.
"It seems a bit complicated~" Ye Feng scratched his head.
He had previously thought the technological level of this "Remaining Fire" world was not very high, but now he realized he had misunderstood. There were very advanced things.
It was just related to Arcane Energy...
"Oh right, Bing, what's the deal with your Arcane Energy?"
"Does everyone have it?" Ye Feng, having witnessed the power of Arcane Energy used by Bing, Jiang Shishan, and others, felt a bit envious and naturally hoped to master it himself.
"Uh... it's okay if you don't answer~" Ye Feng felt a bit awkward, as if he had stumbled upon a core secret.
"This... Arcane Energy does exist in everyone~"
"In fact, Arcane Energy permeates every corner of this world~"
"However, some people can use it naturally, while others can't even sense it~" Bing paused slightly and then spoke.
"Only by awakening one's own inherent Arcane Energy can one control the Arcane Energy in nature!"
"Even so, this is just the first step. In this state, Arcane Energy can only be used for strengthening the body~"
"And when the inherent Arcane Energy within one's body can undergo attribute changes, the power of Arcane Energy is truly displayed!" Bing then looked at Little Xiao with surprise and confusion.
"Attribute changes?" Ye Feng didn't quite understand this.
"Yes!" Bing nodded. "With attribute changes, the power of Arcane Energy undergoes a qualitative transformation. It's no longer just about strengthening the body; offense and defense are greatly enhanced."
"Arcane Energy has five common attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth~"
"Mei You, whom you saw controlling flames earlier, is fire-attributed, and Bi Mao, who controls soil and stones, is earth-attributed~" Seeing Ye Feng's confused gaze, Bing spoke again. "Of course, there are also some rarer attributes, such as my ice attribute, and Xiao Shan's wind attribute, etc."
"These attributes are generally complementary or counteracting, but it's not absolute~"
"Each attribute has its own unique mark, and through this mark, one can use Arcane Energy..."
"Furthermore, according to records, some attributes are extremely special, with perhaps not one in a million people possessing them, or even possessing all five common attributes..." Bing clearly knew a great deal about Arcane Energy and quickly explained to Ye Feng.
Finally, she took out a somewhat tattered and old book and handed it to Ye Feng. "If you're interested, you can take a look at this~ It might be helpful for Little Xiao~"
"I... am there no hope for me?" Seeing this, Ye Feng immediately understood Bing's implication.