Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

It was quite high.

For reference, a seven-story residential building nearby wasn’t even as tall as the Teleportation Gate.

Its surface was a slowly rotating, deep-blue vortex, like a solidified nebula, from which fine spatial ripples constantly emanated.

Outside the Teleportation Gate, multiple heavy assault squads from the Guard Legion stood strict watch. The muzzles of their guns were pointed down, their hawk-like gazes scanning the crowd, and silhouettes of snipers could be seen in many of the surrounding residential buildings.

Many areas along the southern border showed signs of attack and infiltration. Although the eastern border was calm and quiet, no one dared to let their guard down.

They absolutely could not repeat the same mistakes and let yesterday’s tragedy happen again.

In the outer area, a crowd had gathered, yet they remained orderly.

People only needed to focus for a moment, establish a link with the Rune structure with their minds, and their bodies would quietly dematerialize, being sent to their destination without a sound.

The method of operation was no different than usual.

At that moment, a Guard Legion officer was shouting through a megaphone: ”Attention, everyone! For the time being, do not teleport to the central hub of the Rune Land! I repeat, do not go to the Rune Land!”

”The place is completely swamped with people!”

His voice was hoarse as he yelled, ”The entire Holiday Shopping Plaza is packed to the gills! It’s a sea of people. Not only are the rooftops full, but the sky is also filled with people floating around like kites.”

”The South Gate 2 and South Gate 3 areas were attacked eight minutes ago and are in urgent need of combat support! We ask all capable individuals to please head to the warzone immediately!”

’Just as I thought...’

Su Chen figured the appearance of the teleportation hub had indeed caused a huge number of people to rush to the Rune structure’s location.

Some went to provide support, some were just there to watch the excitement, and some might have simply been there to shop. In any case, the entire Holiday Shopping Plaza was definitely swamped.

”Let’s not go to the Rune structure’s location for now, then.”

Su Chen had always hated crowds; he even went out of his way to avoid holidays when traveling in his RV.

”Let’s go to Gate 3,” he said.

Yan Ruoruo nodded.

The two communicated with their minds and quickly completed the mental interaction with the Teleportation Gate.

In an instant, the coordinates of ten Teleport Anchor Points appeared in their minds, lighting up like stars on an overhead map of the city.

Among them, the central point in the Rune Land was the brightest and most glaring.

”Select South 3.”

Their minds locked on.

Their vision suddenly went black, and space rippled like water.

When the two opened their eyes again, they had arrived at the civic plaza in Wanghai District.

The view here was extremely wide, with no tall buildings to obstruct it on any side. However, there were quite a few people around—at least two hundred—and with flashes of brilliant light, powerful individuals from other teleportation points were continuously arriving.

BOOM!

Just then, a crimson Celestial Fire descended from the sky, hurtling straight for the plaza’s Teleportation Gate. A figure in the air let out an angry shout, and a massive, curved shield of light suddenly unfurled, forcefully deflecting the Fireball’s trajectory.

The blaze roared over the crowd’s heads and slammed into a small hill in the distance, sending scorched earth and shattered rock flying everywhere.

”You almost fucking killed someone!” one person cursed, their face pale.

The figure who had summoned the light shield, wreathed in the glow of the Light Element, merely shot the person a sideways glance, completely dismissing them.

”Quit your whining. Weren’t they trying to protect the Teleportation Gate?” someone immediately said, playing the peacemaker.

In fact, that Light Element Mage was a top-tier expert from the West Gate 2 border. He had a notoriously short temper, and everyone was afraid that a few more words would spark a conflict.

Su Chen ignored the argument. His gaze followed the parabolic arc of the Celestial Fire, locking onto the forest to the south.

”Let’s go.”

The next second, he grabbed Yan Ruoruo’s right hand. Light and Dark Particles suddenly intertwined and enveloped them, instantly covering their figures.

After activating Aurora Flash, a single use spanned a kilometer. After using it twice in succession, they had already arrived deep within the dense forest.

”Shoot an Echo Arrow to the left and another to the right,” Su Chen said.

Yan Ruoruo did as she was told. With a soft twang of her bowstring, two Echo Arrows wrapped in Spirit Threads shot through the air, disappearing into the woods to the east and west.

At the same time, Su Chen’s brow furrowed. His Strong Will focused into a beam, forming a sharp Spirit Arrow that shot straight ahead into the depths of the forest.

However, there was nothing ahead; not even a bird was startled.

”Someone’s here.”

In the overwhelming tide of Perception, the spiritual ripples from the Echo Arrow Yan Ruoruo had shot to the left scanned the outlines of three figures moving at high speed.

Not only were their Western faces revealed, but even their Elemental fluctuations were reflected in the two’s Sea of Consciousness, every detail laid bare.

Of course, the three also became instantly alert. Realizing they had been exposed, two of them showed signs of panic. After activating their own concealment techniques, they quickly darted forward.

Su Chen raised an eyebrow. His Resonance ability quietly activated, and the trail of the Dark Element fluctuations stretched out in his Sea of Consciousness as clearly as a spider’s thread.

In less than half a minute, this patient old hunter had already positioned himself behind the enemy figures.

At this moment, Su Chen didn’t take another step forward.

The two ”panicked and fleeing” figures ahead came to a sudden halt. With a cold snort, the panicked expressions on their faces were instantly replaced with looks of cold cruelty.

’The act was up!’

But they were also a bit annoyed. The other party was clearly a crafty veteran with powerful Perception Power, who had actually detected the kill zone they had set up in the forest between them.

In reality, Fire Element explosive traps were buried in the forest’s humus layer. To enhance the explosions, they had even placed a strange, poison-laced steel fruit nearby to create shrapnel damage.

Not only that, but a Thunder Element electric net, as thin as hair, was stretched between the tree trunks, forming a high-voltage tripwire array covering a ten-square-meter area.

And all of this was laid bare and completely visible to Su Chen’s Elemental Resonance and Telekinesis Perception.

”A clumsy trick.”

Immediately, Su Chen gently raised his right hand. The Rune Gloves on his palm flashed faintly as a Spiral Wind Blade quickly took form.

That was no ordinary Wind Blade.

On the blade itself, four layers of Attached Damage fluctuations coiled one after another, stacking simultaneously into a single strike. The transparent airflow swirling around it gave off four wisps of Elemental Particle fluctuations.

The instant it shot out, the air ten meters ahead was instantly vacuumed away, forming a visible conical collapse. The decaying leaves on the ground were rolled to the sides as if crushed by immense force.

BOOM!

As it swept across the trapped area, it triggered a chain reaction of explosions. Flames shot to the sky and arcs of electricity flashed wildly, instantly turning the entire patch of forest into a Purgatory.

But the Wind Blade pierced through the aftershock of the explosions, unstoppable, and slashed straight toward the figures in the distance.

A massive, light-forged figure holding a shield suddenly appeared to block it, but it all seemed fragile and useless. The guardian split down the middle, and along with the Caster behind it who had hastily raised a barrier, it was cut in half at the waist.

”Fuck!”

On the other side, the pupils of the figure retreating into the distance constricted in shock, his face filled with horror.

A dignified Lv6 Corona Guardian couldn’t even hold on for a single breath.

And the Lv5 Holy Shield that Simmons himself had up still couldn’t slow down this killing blow.

The Wind Blade’s remaining power didn’t stop there; it continued forward, leaving clean, smooth cuts on two ancient trees behind them.

”Monster!”

Although fights between Rune Mages often involved high-stakes duels where one-shot kills were common, with glass cannon matchups making it difficult to withstand each other’s attacks...

...a Wind Blade attack this outrageous was completely beyond imagination.

For Simmons, ranked 192nd on the Trial Tower’s ladder, to be mercilessly one-shotted like this was simply too absurd.

But the figure that had been cut down and destroyed left behind a puppet doll, also severed at the waist.

’A substitute doll!’

The Trial Tower in Oran City settled its leaderboard rewards weekly. For the first week, the top 250 on the ladder were all gifted a standard-issue ’substitute doll,’ which had the effect of negating one instance of lethal damage.

Upon death, the actual person could also achieve the grand feat of ’resurrection’ at the Rune Crystal Pyramid Tower.

This was the source of confidence for the large number of experts invading Dongfu City.

”A little interesting.”

Su Chen had naturally noticed that a lethal hit had been evaded by some kind of strange item.

He wasn’t the least bit annoyed; instead, he showed great interest.

”Capture him alive.”

After sending a signal to Ruoruo through their Spiritual Link, Su Chen closed the distance. With a flash of intertwining light and darkness, he instantly appeared before a blond-haired man.

The man had correctly predicted his arrival point and cast a Golden Light Scissors spell there, but the formidable attack passed right through Su Chen’s dissipating afterimage, causing no damage at all.