Endless Evolution: Last Star Chapter 1529: Glowing Tip

Regardless of Adam and Alexia's actions, the blue spiders held back from charging at them. They merely observed from a distance, perched atop the peaks, lingering by the web and crystals, or skulking in the dim corners of the cave walls.

Yet the moment the trial commenced, the dynamics shifted dramatically, leaving the spiders primed to lunge at them.

Or was that truly the case?

"What the hell is that?" Alexia blinked a few times, struggling to determine if her eyes were deceiving her.

Dozens of spiders advanced steadily toward them, marking only the initial wave of the assault.

Still, not one among these arachnids proved genuine. They mimicked real spiders in appearance, yet their forms consisted entirely of woven energy.

"Are these... fucking ghosts?" Alexia scowled deeply.

Adam squinted intently while the spectral spiders crept closer from every angle. Their motions and auras mirrored those of the authentic creatures perfectly, with just a single exception:

"I get it now. Taking them down would simply scatter a fragment of energy, and that's it. The real spiders keep spectating from afar, just as before."

Next, he tilted his head upward, his gaze expanding in surprise.

Out of the 600 sockets, thirty had already dimmed, and every ticking second extinguished yet another.

’Ten minutes for 600 sockets? Does that mean one second per socket?’

Precious moments were slipping away fast.

"Alexia, do you spot the Glowing Tips?" Adam inquired.

To claim 60 Glowing Tips, they'd need to snag one every ten seconds on average. Factoring in their duo, that broke down to one per twenty seconds each—the lowest pace allowable for trial success.

But less than 600 seconds remained at this point.

"Nah, maybe it’s their legs?" Alexia gestured toward the closest spider. The ends of its limbs glowed vividly, saturated with intense blue radiance from potent energy.

Adam shook his head firmly.

"No, it can’t be that straightforward—"

Before his words could trail off, Alexia surged ahead, positioning herself right in front of the spectral spider.

She channeled energy into her fist, obliterating the spider in one powerful blow. Though composed of energy, its form shattered realistically under the impact.

Crack.

A leg broke free as Alexia twisted swiftly to seize it.

"Hell yeah!" Alexia shouted with glee. "One down! Only 59 left!"

Yet Adam's expression lacked any delight; he simply indicated the tip.

"Agh?"

Alexia’s complexion drained pale while the blue tip faded away, vanishing right in front of her.

"No! No! No! It’s mine!" She lunged to grasp the escaping energy, but her efforts proved useless.

This wasn’t the item they sought. It failed to qualify as a Glowing Tip.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Seconds dragged on mercilessly, and despite forfeiting 100 seconds while dispatching dozens of spectral spiders, they hadn’t secured even one Glowing Tip.

"Agh... Agh... Silvana, any ideas?"

Silvana shook her head.

"I don’t know. Maybe they’re hiding somewhere, or you need to fulfill some special conditions, or..."

A subtle shimmer snagged the edge of Adam’s vision abruptly, drawing his gaze skyward.

Beside one of the eight stone spires, a spectral spider loomed motionless. It resembled the others in every way, save for a single trait—the golden tip resembling a horn sprouting from its head.

At a blistering pace that even startled Alexia, Adam bolted forward, gliding across the water’s surface to avoid letting the spider slip away.

The golden spider quivered, detecting the looming danger from the Phantom. Its companions sensed the peril too and hurried to defend it, but they arrived too late.

Slash!

Adam lashed out with his needle, slicing the golden spider cleanly in half.

The golden tip arced upward as Adam seized it in a vice-like grip, desperate not to let this prize escape.

Alexia’s blue tip in her grasp dissolved into nothingness, but the true Glowing Tip pulsed and morphed into a radiant star, darting toward Adam’s arm and lingering beside his shoulder as a petite amber sphere.

They had claimed the first among the sixty Glowing Tips.

Adam and Alexia shared a quick look, both pondering the spider’s sudden appearance, until an idea sparked in Adam’s mind.

He funneled energy toward his eyes, sharpening his sight to its peak in order to detect the tiniest energy shifts.

The instant he did so, nearly a dozen spiders bearing golden tips on their heads revealed themselves to him.

Silvana conveyed the details to Louis, who promptly clarified it all for Alexia. The exchange wrapped up in mere seconds, allowing both to now perceive the concealed golden spiders.

In contrast to the spectral spiders, the golden variants didn’t stay constantly in view, numbered only a handful, and actively masked their auras. Attacking Adam and Alexia held no interest for them, as it strayed from their intent.

"I see. The ghost spiders serve only as distractions, meant to burn through our time. But how could that be? Why did they evade our notice for minutes on end?"

Adam lifted his gaze once more, the solution clicking into place.

The spiral crystals crowning the eight peaks blazed with brilliance, crackling electrical surges tracing their surfaces. Earlier, this effect lay hidden, but with the trial’s onset, the spiral crystals enveloped the whole cavern in a pervasive energy field.

This mechanism birthed the ghost spiders and bestowed upon the golden ones their elusive properties.

Adam’s immediate impulse was to smash the spiral crystals. Absent their influence, the golden spiders could no longer veil themselves effectively.

But the very moment this crossed his thoughts, he detected runes drifting around the crystals. They flickered into existence and out again, making it clear that trial regulations shielded every crystal.

A handful of ghost spiders slunk up behind Adam, yet a lone sweep of his needle reduced them to twisting currents of energy.

"Hey, Alexia, we gotta pick up the pace."

He flashed a sly grin.

"Ready for a race?"

Her eyes ignited with a fierce blaze in reply.

"Hell yeah!"