"No wonder I saw groups of demons in the Shenliang Mountain constructing works and collecting sacrifices. It turns out theyâre trying to taint the Calamity Realm to enhance the Demon Realmâs projection power...
Unfortunately, itâs already a bit late in terms of timing. Unless the three Saints can adjust the timing to correct the Realm Protection Array, this great battle has merely just begun. The Demon Venerables coming later are likely to be much harder to deal with than those before..."
This heavy news caused Wang Zhifanâs heart to sink. He had already pushed himself to the limit when he took down those two Demon Venerables. Now, hearing Zhenxu say that the ones he killed were just ordinary Demon Venerables, low-tier ones that couldnât even speak human language, he feared the high-tier ones he would face next would be under immense pressure.
"Thatâs indeed the case! Daoist Martial Venerable, if you donât establish the Martial Venerable Hall now to leave a legacy, then some exceptionally talented juniors will surely lose hope for advancement!
The time in our Calamity Realm is running out. Before the truly terrifying calamity begins, nurturing more disciples is keeping more sparks alive!
Even if we, unfortunately, fall at the hands of demons, disciples will continue, breaking all obstacles for our human race!"
The chubby Daoist Huayangzi, with a sword on his back, became impassioned, energetically proclaiming his stance.
Wang Zhifan could see a blazing fire in the eyes of the three super innate Daoists, a fire called the indomitable human will to fight. Even though they were high-ranking members of the human race, they didnât hide behind others; instead, they were ready to take the lead in battle.
"Is this the difference between the extraordinary world and the ordinary world... where the powerful and prestigious dash to the frontlines in times of crisis...
In a world where such power is concentrated in individuals, low-quality forces are meaningless, only powerful beings can influence the situation... their emphasis on fostering talents to discover genius is for the same reason..."
Moved, Wang Zhifan felt persuaded, no longer considering himself a mere passerby looking to get by casually; he planned to deeply cooperate with these passionate and powerful natives.
The reason wasnât entirely due to deep emotional impact; he sensed that refusing at such a time would hinder his development in Celestial Essence City, so he chose not to be stubborn.
Having understood this, Wang Zhifan decisively responded:
"Thanks to the three Daoist friends for not abandoning me. I will, as you propose, establish the Martial Venerable Hall in Celestial Essence City and widely recruit disciples! However, I know little about the specific details, so I ask for your guidance..."
"No problem!"
"No problem!"
"Qingyang, I recall thereâs a nice vacant hall east of Qingyang Palace; we could arrange for it to be repaired for use right away..."
For a moment, the discussion in Qingyang Palace among the four shifted to building the Martial Venerable Hall. The three Daoists not only offered Wang Zhifan advice but allocated a portion of Celestial Essence City for him, with everything fully equipped. The cost of building the Martial Venerable Hall would be entirely covered by Celestial Essence Cityâs taxes, requiring Wang Zhifan to spend no Copper Coin.
This undoubtedly demonstrated the genuine intentions of the three super innate Daoists to have Wang Zhifan establish the Martial Venerable Hall. They werenât the type to make empty promises but used real benefits to meet Wang Zhifanâs needs.
Thus, Wang Zhifanâs first day in this instance world passed quickly.
He didnât rest at night, instead participating in the design and construction of the Martial Venerable Hall, intending to leave a deeper mark in this world.
Meanwhile, the invasion of this world by the Demon Realmâs power didnât cease.
But since the entire Calamity Realmâs human race fully reacted under high-speed operation, the demon squads both minor and major, comprising countless human cultivators, wiped out numerous sent-in demons, Demon Generals, and even Demon Venerables.
There was a noticeable human casualty toll, but some elite cultivators significantly improved in strength through training, making it hard to say whether after rounds of combat the Calamity Realmâs overall power increased or decreased.
Regardless, at least by the second day, Celestial Essence City remained bustling and vibrant, the demon battlefield outside not affecting the cityâs unyielding spirit. After all, it was a complete victory for Celestial Essence City, with both commoners and cultivators genuinely feeling joy.
Yet a private room on the second floor of a tavern Wang Zhifan once visited had a slightly different atmosphere, with an undercurrent of sorrow pervading the air.
"Brother, youâve experienced the battlefield outside the city; share your thoughts with us."
At this moment, the six players Wang Zhifan had met gathered in the same room, with a young Xia Country player whom Wang Zhifan was relatively familiar with asking a short Asian man for his take.
Just like when Wang Zhifan seen them yesterday, the young Xia Country player had removed his black magic mirror, spinning it between his fingers, looking the most relaxed.
The short Asian man appeared to be in his thirties or forties, with no memorable features besides being short; his appearance and attire were extremely common, wearing this instance worldâs usual blue clothing. Hearing the question from the Xia Country player, he spoke slowly in a low voice:
"I agree with his view... this is a highly difficult instance; staying as far back as possible might be the correct strategy...
Yesterday on the battlefield outside, my stealth mode was often seen through by those monsters, let alone the three strongest giant monsters. Even getting close felt like a huge pressure; only when they were killed did I dare approach. But their corpses were sturdy enough to make me abandon the plan of taking samples...
The intelligence Iâve gathered in the city suggests that enemies of that scale and quality are not uncommon; they appear elsewhere too, meaning our enemies in this instance are numerous, powerful, and very dispersed..."
The short Asian man recounted calmly, glancing toward a sturdy white man leaning against a wall in the room, signaling agreement with his view. Though showing no fear, anyone could detect the subtle despair in his wordsâa worry over the daunting power level of the instance enemies.
"The three large monsters you mentioned, I observed closely too; they are indeed formidable,"
Spinning the black magic mirror with his fingers, the young Xia Country player nodded, acknowledging that he had personally observed the terrifying siege scene of three Demon Venerables during yesterdayâs demon invasion of Celestial Essence City. Even recalling the event, his relaxed demeanor remained unchanged.
"But you all know that those three monsters were consecutively taken down by the high-ranking NPCs in this city. Meanwhile, tens of thousands outside the city were defeated by numerous ordinary NPCs. Given the strength of the NPCs in this instance, we shouldnât worry too much about the so-called instance difficulty. We can choose to assist the NPCs in battle, allowing them to lead us through, aligning well with the instanceâs clearing requirements.
As for the suggestion to completely stay passive, I personally disagree because I know thereâs a hidden mechanism in the instance targeting passive players.
If we remain passive, avoiding confrontation due to the formidable enemies, and let the NPCs handle everything, according to my predictions, either the enemies will suddenly appear nearby, or even directly above us, forcing us to fight, or weâll face chronic death, where NPCs suddenly die in large numbers after a big battle, leaving us isolated and easily surrounded for annihilation..."
The young Xia Country player articulated his viewpoints methodically, mainly arguing against the thoughts of this player group considering hiding their heads in the sand due to the instance enemiesâ seemingly ridiculous strength, emphasizing that it wouldnât be easy to be a turtle, as the instance would definitely take measures against that.