The act of snatching monsters was rare in the other eight provinces before they fell to the demons. Back then, monsters were abundant, and the guilds were widely dispersed, which minimized conflicts.
However, now that various major powers had gathered, there were hundreds of guilds, big and small, in the Central Heaven Province. With so many powers converging in an area with scarce monsters, everyone would resort to any means necessary to complete their tasks and grow stronger. Daily monster-hunting missions only required players to land the last blow to count as completed.
Sulan had thought that those players in black robes wanted to steal the final blow on the monster. However, to his surprise, they didn't head for the monster at all; they went straight for the official players.
"Where did this terrifying organization come from?" Sulan wondered. "Could they be players from another country? Or perhaps they're members of the Fate's Chosen?"
Both possibilities were quite likely. While Eastern Chengzhou was predominantly inhabited by players from China, there were still a small number of players from other countries. Game allocation was based on regions, not nationality, so players from other countries could enter Eastern Chengzhou if their initial location was within China. The second possibility was that members of the Fate's Chosen had infiltrated the game. They were known to dress in black and were the only ones bold enough to confront the officials directly in China.
Sulan found it intriguing. He didn't immediately leave but decided to observe the battle between the two sides. The official team had a total of five spirit-level players, with four at the initial stage and one at the intermediate stage. Among them was a woman in her mid-twenties, with delicate and beautiful features, but her face was currently filled with grim determination.
The players in black robes had clearly come prepared. They knew the approximate number and strength of the official team members. Not only did they outnumber the officials, but they also held a slight advantage in terms of strength. Among them, there were seven spirit-level players, two more than the officials.
Sulan's interest was piqued. He considered assisting the official players. If these players were from another country, he wouldn't mind eliminating them. If they were from the Fate's Chosen, he wouldn't let them go so easily.
Seeing Sulan approach, one of the spirit-level players among the players in black robes warned him in a deep voice, "Kid, this is none of your business. If you don't want to die, leave immediately."
At this moment, Sulan had changed his appearance and displayed his pseudo-spiritual level under the effect of the False Breathing Stone. The players in black robes didn't take him seriously.
Sulan ignored their warning and turned to the official players. "Who are these people?"
The official players were initially surprised to see Sulan, but when they realized he was a spirit-level player, their expressions brightened. Even though they couldn't turn the tide of the battle, having an additional spirit-level player would help them withstand the current situation and buy some time for reinforcements.
The woman at the intermediate stage of the spirit level, named Xu Yulan, quickly replied, "I am Xu Yulan. You might have heard of me. We are from the official faction. If you can help us, we will surely reward you afterward."
"Xu Yulan? I haven't heard of you," Sulan shook his head.
Xu Yulan frowned slightly, about to say something more, when Sulan interrupted, "But helping you a bit won't hurt."
Hearing Sulan's willingness to assist, the leader of the players in black robes spoke in somewhat broken Chinese, "Kid, you better think it over. Helping them now may not necessarily bring you any benefits. On the contrary, if you offend us, be prepared for our retaliation in the future."
"If you help us now, I can personally give you ten drops of spirit-level monster blood."
The players in black robes simultaneously threatened and enticed Sulan, looking as if they had him cornered.
Ten drops of spirit-level monster blood were already a substantial amount. Ordinary players would need to hunt ten spirit-level monsters to obtain that much. For ordinary players, it was a significant wealth.
Xu Yulan, feeling anxious, added, "Friend, don't be afraid. This is our territory, and these Japanese players can't do anything to you. Moreover, these people won't keep their promises. Even if you help them, you won't get any rewards."
Sulan glanced at Xu Yulan and replied with a question, "Do I look like a foolish person to you?"
"Erm…" Xu Yulan was momentarily speechless.
Seeing Sulan step in to help the official players, the leader of the players in black robes spoke again, "Kid, I advise you not to make a mistake! These people are running out of strength, and even if you help them, it won't change anything."
Xu Yulan quickly added, "Don't worry. As long as you stall them, our reinforcements will arrive soon."
She seemed worried that Sulan might not be strong enough, so she continued, "You don't need to deal with those spirit-level players; just distract the ordinary players."
"No need for that," Sulan replied casually.
With a wave of his hand, a sea of flames suddenly enveloped the area. The flames were so abundant that it seemed like an ocean of fire, covering everything.
This was a bloodline combat technique that Sulan had acquired, capable of launching large-scale attacks against enemies. It might not be very effective against transcendent-level monsters, but it was certainly overkill against these spirit-level and ordinary players.
The sudden appearance of the fire was shocking, and everyone was taken aback by the unexpected inferno. They were momentarily stunned.
"What… What kind of technique is this?"
A terrifying aura filled the air, and everyone felt the presence of death.
"Not good! Run!" Finally, one of the players in black robes realized that the sea of fire was coming for them and shouted urgently.
But it was too late.
As the flames descended, their scorching heat seemed to ignite the air itself, and their raging power tore through everything. In just a moment, most of the flames had dissipated, revealing a scene that left the official players in astonishment.
The black-robed players who had been in battle with the officials just moments ago had all disappeared, not a single one remaining.
It had happened so quickly.
The official players stared at the scene, speechless for a while. If not for the scorch marks on the ground and the lingering traces of the flames, they might have thought they had hallucinated the whole event.
After a moment, Xu Yulan, the woman in the intermediate stage of the spirit level, was the first to react. She looked at Sulan, her expression filled with astonishment.
But Su Nan had already gone far, and just as she was about to chase after him, Su Nan's figure had already disappeared.
"Big sister, who is he? How come I've never heard of such a formidable person before?" The other several spirit-level players reacted and immediately looked at Xu Yulan for answers.
Xu Yulan looked in the direction Su Nan had gone, eventually giving up the pursuit. She looked at the scorched marks left on the ground and said, "This is definitely not something a spirit-level player can do; he's a mysterious-level player!"
"Mysterious-level? A mysterious-level player of the elemental magic system?"
"Could it be Zhang Yang? Wang Nan is of the physique system; only that Zhang Yang is of the elemental magic system."
The crowd was restless, with discussions abound. They had seen the top ten players on the leaderboard before, but someone like Su Nan, who could easily annihilate spirit-level beings with a wave of his hand, was unprecedented.
"Zhang Yang doesn't look like this. Maybe it could be Lang Thirteen."
"Lang Thirteen has never been seen by anyone. What if Lang Thirteen is also of the elemental magic system?"
They began to speculate that the mysterious figure they had just encountered might be Lang Thirteen, whom no one had ever seen.
Xu Yulan shook her head and said, "It might not be Lang Thirteen. In this game, there are some means to change one's appearance. Perhaps Zhang Yang changed his appearance, that's also possible."
The ability to change one's appearance might be unfamiliar to others, but as one of the important members of the official organization, she had seen it before.
Not long ago, an official player had acquired such an ability.
"No wonder he said he hadn't heard of me before. Such a divine player, maybe we'll have the chance to meet again."
...
"Congratulations, you have completed the daily task 'Hunt 12 spirit-level extraterrestrial visitors,' and 30 points of demonic power have been awarded."
"Current available demonic power: 31 points."
Killing five spirit-level beings earlier, plus the seven now, made a total of twelve.
Today, Lang Thirteen's mission was finally completed.
A little over ten minutes later.
Su Nan arrived at Qianshou Town.
Upon arriving, Su Nan suddenly realized that his connection with the few demons he had branded with blood marks back then had become much clearer.
"This is a coincidence. Lao Yang and Ying Gao are here too."
When he learned that the Eight Counties couldn't hold out, Su Nan had instructed Lao Yang and a few demons to come to the Central Heaven County in advance.
He thought that they would find a safe place to hide, but he didn't expect them to come here.
"I wonder where Hu Xiaotian is."
Su Nan thought of Hu Xiaotian again; he still wanted to find Hu Xiaotian to trigger Lang Thirteen's mission.
Instead of immediately looking for the demons, Su Nan changed back to the appearance of Zhang Yang and headed towards the Exorcism Bureau in the town.
As he approached the Exorcism Bureau, Su Nan suddenly felt that his strength was being suppressed!
The suppression was quite apparent, making him feel like he had entered a node of the Celestial Forbidden Array.
"Could it be that the Celestial Forbidden Array of Qianshou Town is set up inside this Exorcism Bureau?" Su Nan couldn't help but guess.
Arriving in front of the Exorcism Bureau, without waiting for him to notify the guards, he saw a familiar figure coming out of the bureau.
It was an old man with white hair and a youthful appearance.
"Elder Ji!"
Su Nan recognized the old man; he was Ji Changfeng, the head of the Exorcism Bureau in Jiuting County.
"Zhang Xiaoyou!"
Ji Changfeng was also taken aback when he saw Su Nan. Then he noticed something and was even more surprised. "Zhang Xiaoyou, are you already a mysterious-level player?"
Su Nan nodded and said, "I didn't expect to see Elder Ji again here."
Ji Changfeng took a while to recover from the shock of Su Nan's newfound strength. He said, "Qianshou Town is under the jurisdiction of our Great Yu Dynasty, and as a member of the Exorcism Bureau, it's only natural for me to be here."
Then he thought of something else and added, "You must be here to see the County Lord, right? The County Lord is currently inside discussing matters with another Martial Emperor; it might not be convenient to meet you right now."
"Another Martial Emperor? How many powerful individuals has our Great Yu Dynasty mobilized this time?" Su Nan asked.
Ji Changfeng replied, "This time, it concerns the survival of our human race, so we must give it our all."
"In addition to the forces of the Three Sects and Six Schools guarding each of the nodes, our Great Yu Dynasty has also dispatched a Martial Emperor and several Martial Kings to each node."
"Eight Martial Emperors and twenty-two Martial Kings in total. This is all the strength we have, and currently, there is only one Martial Emperor guarding the Imperial City."
"Eight Martial Emperors and twenty-two Martial Kings!" Su Nan was astonished.
Upon further thought, he found it strange. With such formidable strength in the human race, if they had used their full strength earlier, perhaps the Eight Counties would not have fallen.
Su Nan voiced his doubts.
Ji Changfeng shook his head and explained, "It's useless; these forces may seem numerous, but compared to the Demon Clan, they are still far inferior."
"In the previous two invasions, neither my human race nor the Demon Clan used their full strength. You should know that most of the Demon Clan's demons are in the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, and no one knows how many Demon Emperors there are. It is said that there are at least thirty, far surpassing our human race."
"This time is different from the previous two times. Our human race has merged the Celestial Forbidden Arrays of the Nine Counties, and the Demon Clan can only take advantage of the gaps in the Celestial Forbidden Array's power. This period of time won't last long, at most, it will only be the time it takes to brew a cup of tea."
"The time it takes to brew a cup of tea?" Su Nan thought.
About six or seven minutes, roughly the time he needed to earn a large amount of contribution points, which would be quite challenging.
But from the perspective of the human race, the shorter the time, the better.
Afterward, Su Nan chatted with Ji Changfeng for a while before leaving the Exorcism Bureau.
He had come here to gather information for tomorrow's mission, and now that he knew about the preparations of the human race, he didn't need to meet the County Lord anymore.
Leaving the Exorcism Bureau, Su Nan followed the connection between him and the few demons to find out about the actions of the Demon Clan this time.
The demons were not within the range of Qianshou Town but to the north of it, which was no longer part of the Central Heaven County.
When Su Nan transformed into the appearance of a wolf demon and found the demons, he saw that they were in a rather sorry state.
(End of this chapter)