If the Divine Dice came from the Cosmic Starry Sky, then the beast beneath Su Ze and the others’ feet must also be an alien beast.

’An alien beast, imprisoned in the Trial Space and sealed away by the creator of the Divine Dice... It must be a high-level one, right?’

But regardless of whether it was a native or alien beast, as long as it was a beast, he should be able to get an extract from it.

Once this thought appeared in Su Ze’s mind, it was impossible to shake.

It had to be said, he was ridiculously audacious, setting his sights on the beast sealed underground within the Trial Space.

Su Ze began to seriously consider the feasibility of this idea...

’He wouldn’t know if it was possible until he tried.’

What Su Ze didn’t know was that while he was in the blue energy, accelerating the digestion of the extract, something in his Storage Pendant was also being affected by the blue energy’s acceleration effect.

The blue energy’s acceleration effect could only influence living things, and Su Ze happened to have one item on him that could barely be called a living thing.

In the space of Su Ze’s Storage Pendant, there was a small potted plant. A balsam flower was stuck in the pot.

It was the reward for winning the individual championship of the Six Nations’ Top Academies Exchange Tournament: the Tier 4 strange object, the Desperate Flower.

The flower had long since withered, leaving only a bare stalk.

But now, a flower bud was actually growing on that stalk at a speed visible to the naked eye. It slowly blossomed, its red petals glistening and vibrant.

Even after the flower bloomed, the stalk planted in the soil showed signs of growing!

...

「A few hours later...」

The blue energy around Su Ze dissipated like a puff of smoke. The Purple-skinned Kangaroo Extract in his body had been completely digested.

In just a few hours, it had accomplished what would have taken Su Ze several months to do on his own.

After the extract was digested, Su Ze observed the situation on the field.

Of the thirteen Trialists, besides Su Ze, nine had already defeated their beasts and were digesting their extracts under the cover of the blue energy.

As expected of the most elite geniuses from the major powers, their combat strength was not to be taken lightly. Facing Tier 4 beasts with combat power comparable to a peak Tier 3 beast, most of them had actually emerged victorious.

Among the remaining three, Mr. Ya was still in the same situation, playing hide-and-seek with the giant elephant beast. It was a stalemate; neither man nor elephant could gain the upper hand.

The other two were locked in a damaging stalemate with their beasts. Both sides were evenly matched and had inflicted heavy injuries on each other.

However, human evolvers had the advantage of being able to constantly chug potions to restore their status. If this war of attrition continued, Su Ze felt the two of them could still achieve victory with a bit more time.

Nine people were digesting extracts in the blue energy, two were in a bitter fight, and Mr. Ya was focused on his game of hide-and-seek. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Su Ze decided it was time to act.

He walked behind the giant kangaroo’s corpse, using the Kangaroo Beast’s body as cover, and hid in everyone else’s blind spot to start digging into the earth beneath his feet.

Su Ze took out his Moon Blade and used the Tier 3 strange object, a long saber, as a shovel, continuously digging away the soft soil below.

After a short while, a pit more than a meter long and wide gradually took shape.

Su Ze stood in the small pit, digging and digging and digging...

When he had dug more than a meter deep, his Moon Blade hit something hard with a CLANG.

Su Ze bent down, used his hands to scrape away a shallow layer of soil, and saw a smooth, marble-like flat surface revealed underneath.

This must be the "hard shell" Mr. Ya had mentioned. The sleeping beast was beneath this shell.

If Su Ze wanted to get an extract from the beast below, he had to break through this hard shell.

He gripped the Moon Blade with both hands and viciously chopped down. The resulting shock made the web of his thumb go numb, but it didn’t even leave a mark on the hard shell.

’It’s that hard?’

’There’s no way to break its defense.’

Su Ze used his Eye of Truth skill, spreading his Perception Tentacles through the surrounding area, passing through the soil to cover the surface of the hard shell.

The Perception Tentacles couldn’t penetrate the hard shell; Su Ze was only doing this to get a glimpse of the full extent of the shell beneath his feet.

But Su Ze quickly discovered that the hard shell was immense. At the very least, the area he was in was built on top of the shell, and the same was true for Mr. Ya’s area next to him.

As for the other Trialists, an invisible wall of air blocked him, so Su Ze couldn’t extend his Perception Tentacles over there. However, he could guess that the entire Trial Space they were in, this whole clearing, was situated on top of that hard shell.

’Could it be a turtle underneath?’

An image formed in Su Ze’s mind of a turtle as large as a giant island. They were currently standing on one part of its shell, and the entire Trial Space had been built upon it.

’How am I supposed to chisel through the hardest turtle shell?’

Su Ze gave it a try, hitting the hard shell with a Needle Strike. Sure enough, there was some progress—it chiseled out a shallow mark.

’As expected of Needle Strike with its piercing attribute.’

Su Ze touched the mark with his hand, and it immediately became almost invisible.

’Trying to chisel through the shell with Needle Strike would probably take eight or ten years,’ Su Ze estimated.

It was just a sudden idea to begin with. If it proved impossible, Su Ze would have to give up.

However, just as he was about to give up, his Perception Tentacles keenly sensed that a spot on the hard shell was slightly different.

It was as if someone had pried it open before.

It was like a whole watermelon that had a small window cut into it, and then the piece of rind was plugged back in. You couldn’t tell at a glance, but you could still see it upon closer inspection.

Su Ze quickly moved to that spot, dug all the way down again for more than a meter, and saw that small, slightly different piece of the hard shell.

It was a circular piece of the hard shell, about the size of a palm. To the naked eye, it looked no different from its surroundings, perfectly integrated. But under the microscopic observation of the Eye of Truth, he could still see a minuscule seam.

’So someone cut a small window into this turtle shell and then put the piece back in place?’

’Is this a lid that can be opened now?’

Su Ze felt that whoever did this must have had a reason; it couldn’t have been because they were bored out of their minds. But it seemed he couldn’t open this lid either.

’I can’t open it, but could I punch this "lid" downward?’

’It’s like opening a bottle of red wine. If you can’t pull out the cork, you can just push it inside.’

’Maybe I should try my new skill, Strongest Punch, and see if it can smash this "lid" open...’ The thought arose in Su Ze’s mind. He climbed out of the pit, looked around, and decided to wait a bit before trying.

The two Trialists who were in a bitter struggle with their beasts were also about to achieve victory. Su Ze planned to wait until they had absorbed their extracts and entered the blue energy to digest them before making his move.

At that time, everyone except Mr. Ya would be enveloped in the blue energy, unable to see what was happening outside. Then Su Ze could act freely.

He leaned against the corpse of the Kangaroo Beast, quietly watching the two Trialists’ battle.

Finally, the two of them ground down and killed their opposing beasts at almost the same time. Evolutionary Energy and Evolutionary Material seeped out from the two beast corpses and merged into the bodies of the two Trialists.

Absorbing this Tier 4 S-rank extract was not as easy for these two Trialists as it had been for Su Ze. Their bodies became engorged with blood, and they screamed constantly.

Absorbing another extract when they already had undigested ones in their bodies was a great test of an evolver’s constitution.

Because his constitution was already strong and had received a huge boost in the third trial, Su Ze was able to absorb the Purple-skinned Kangaroo Extract with relative ease.

You could say that the reward from the third trial was already paving the way for the fourth.

If someone had slacked their way through the third trial without getting a sufficient boost to their constitution, then absorbing the extract in the fourth trial would be a real struggle.

BOOM!

With a loud explosion, one of the Trialists couldn’t withstand the impact of the Tier 4 S-rank extract. He instantly exploded and died, leaving behind only the fragmented pieces of a skeleton.

In this fourth trial, he hadn’t died in battle, but had actually died from failing to absorb the extract.

However, compared to the previous few trials, only one person dying in this round was considered a small number.

The other Trialist actually managed to hold on, successfully absorbing the extract. He then also entered the blue energy to digest it.

And with that, only Mr. Ya hadn’t dealt with his opponent yet.

Su Ze jumped into the pit and began trying to open the "lid" on the hard shell. He first threw a few tentative punches at the "lid," but it didn’t move an inch.

Punching a hole in a solid wooden board versus pushing down a piece that has already been cut out—obviously, the latter is easier.

Su Ze planned to try out his newly acquired skill, Strongest Punch. This would be his most powerful attack. If even this couldn’t punch the "lid" down, Su Ze would have no choice but to give up.

Strongest Punch could fuse the properties of three of Su Ze’s skills. Su Ze was thinking about what combination would be the most logical and could unleash the most power.

’Needle Strike has piercing and explosive effects, so it’s a must-have.’

’The bonus damage against ground targets from Furious Waves is very useful. A must-pick!’

’There’s actually no need to fuse Ant Power into it. Activating it directly will have the same effect, so there’s no need to take up a slot.’

’The electric shock effect from Thunder God Body isn’t really useful in this situation.’

With that, Su Ze didn’t have many choices left. Among his remaining skills, only Gravity Dust Sand could add a gravity bonus to his punch.

Thus, the three skills to be fused into Strongest Punch were preliminarily decided: Needle Strike, Furious Waves, and Gravity Dust Sand.

Su Ze acted immediately. He first activated Liquid Life and Unyielding Will, splitting his body into ten Liquid Clones.

Then, all ten Liquid Clones activated Ant Power simultaneously.

After that, the ten Liquid Clones formed a circle around the "lid." They all raised their right fists simultaneously. The Strongest Punch, fused with the three major skills Needle Strike, Furious Waves, and Gravity Dust Sand, was ready.

’The buffs are all stacked.’

’Whether this works or not all comes down to this one punch!’

’One... two... three!’

Su Ze counted to three in his mind, and the ten Liquid Clones simultaneously slammed their fists into the ground.

A tenfold stack of Strongest Punch!

This was, without a doubt, Su Ze’s most destructive attack to date!

BOOM!

The immense impact blew away all the surrounding soil, and the ten Liquid Clones were blasted into disarray.

Pools and drops of liquid converged from all directions, reassembling into a single body. Su Ze eagerly looked toward where the "lid" had been.

A palm-sized hole had appeared there.