The Monster is Coming

Chapter 461 Working Hard to Raise Money
The pale gold guardian greatsword felt as light as a feather in Tu Hu's hands.

Ahead, a "ground-shaking behemoth" resembling a rhinoceros and covered in a thick rocky shell is roaring as it charges forward.

With each stomp of its thick hooves, the ground trembled slightly, and the earthy yellow energy gathering at the tip of its nose was rapidly accumulating into a powerful impact capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks.

Despite the ferocious charge, Tu Hu remained calm.

Block.

A giant sword lay horizontally.

The next second, the earth-shaking behemoth, carrying immense force, crashed violently into the invisible barrier.

boom!
A loud explosion occurred.

Tu Hu remained standing in the same spot, but the earth-shaking behemoth seemed to have crashed into an ancient mountain range, and the violent impact was completely dissipated.

Its massive body arched violently backward due to the recoil, and the yellowish-brown energy gathered at the tip of its nose instantly dissipated. Fine cracks appeared on its rocky carapace from the impact, and its huge eyes were filled with confusion and pain.

At this moment, Tu Hu twisted his wrist, and the massive sword lying horizontally was thrust forward.

Draw your sword.

The movements were concise and efficient.

The instant the sword's edge pointed.

puff!
The colossal beast's massive body stiffened abruptly, its life force seemingly extinguished instantly by an invisible blade.

The light in his eyes quickly dimmed, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

After turning into starlight, it gathered into mist, leaving only a single piece of material to prove that it once existed.

[Challenger's Hint: Defeating the monster "Earth-Shaking Behemoth" grants 2820 Sacrificial Power.]

[Challenger's Hint: Comprehend Guardian Sword Stance +8.3.]

Tu Hu slowly sheathed his sword, feeling the sword power that existed in the darkness, and became more and more adept at using the protective sword stance.

Along the way, whether it was hordes of low-level monsters or such thick-skinned giant beasts, none of them could last a single round against his newly formed rule-based sword aura.

Completely sold out in seconds.

Although he wields a giant sword, his attacks are essentially area-of-effect attacks.

With a simple sword strike, even a mosquito flying by within the area would be struck.

With a horizontal sword parry, even if the enemy's attack covers 360 degrees without any blind spots, it will be directly blocked.

This feeling of returning to the basics of combat made Tu Hu feel extremely comfortable.

I feel that I am getting closer to the perfect state of harmony between my mind and body and the way of the sword that Grandpa Cangxuan achieved. My ultimate goal is: My heart is the principle of heaven.

After crossing this area, the terrain gradually opens up ahead, and the teleportation point of the Phantom Wasteland region is in sight.

From afar, one can hear the clamor of voices.

At the entrance to the teleportation point, a large number of new players dressed in black cloth were gathered.

The regional channel is divided into 100 sub-channels, all filled with requests to team up:
"Looking for someone to train with Ah Le in the training camp. I can stay with the team long-term, and we can go to other maps together after graduation. I can change the playstyle according to the team's needs, except for the damage-absorbing playstyle, which I don't play, everything else is fine."

"Looking for a strong team of 3 or 2, we need a healer with a healing ability that can restore life at the start of the game to efficiently clear stages and level up, and aim to graduate within a month."

"Professional A-Le Training Camp Captain, looking for two teammates with a combined Life Soul level of 30+, let's graduate together."

These vibrant sounds made Tu Hu, who had been traveling alone for half a month, feel a surge of vitality.

He didn't linger; his gaze passed over the newbies and landed on a more distant area.

That is the starting point for countless new players in the Phantom Wasteland. In this area, you can activate the permission to return to the Return Space and then return to Emperor's Tomb Village.

"It's time to go back."

Tu Hu took a deep breath, released the greatsword in his hand, straightened his robes which were slightly disheveled from the battle, and strode through the noisy crowd toward the teleportation point.

Ten minutes later, Tu Hu appeared at the Emperor's Tomb Village teleportation point.

As the white light faded, he was instantly enveloped by the familiar hustle and bustle and vibrant life.

In stark contrast to the desolate ruins of the Phantom Wasteland, the Imperial Tomb Village before them resembled a megacity.

Beneath the towering buildings, countless players of all shapes and sizes rode in vehicles like schools of fish, weaving through the air and leaving trails of light in their wake.

Each time I return, I see new buildings rising from the ground, and the city area expanding.

The changes are happening so fast that it's dazzling.

This is also the base camp in the eyes of all players, and the core functions need to be strengthened and used here.

He didn't stop to admire the bustling scene; instead, he headed straight for the weapons forging workshop located in the eastern part of the city.

Once inside the independent space, he took out his rune resonance weapon, which had been with him for a long time, from his spatial bag: the Unkillable Me (shield).

Before receiving the sword intent inheritance, this would undoubtedly have been an important part of his injury mitigation.

But now, this rune resonance weapon is practically useless.

The sword aura within the Star Vein Slot is his most powerful "weapon".

It allows him to follow his heart's desires, with rules accompanying him, invisible and traceless, yet seamlessly integrating offense and defense, reaching a state of near invincibility.

If there were individual competitive events in the future, he felt he was qualified to give it a try.

Without hesitation, he started the decomposition process.

The light on the forging table shone, enveloping the shield and rapidly disintegrating it into ever-increasing sacrificial energy numbers.

[Challenger's Note: Decomposition successful. 123500 Sacrificial Points returned (minus 5% processing fee).]

After disposing of the old shield, Tu Hu didn't linger and turned to leave the forge space.

Standing on the bustling street, he activated the gold coin plugin and contacted the liaison person of the "Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce".

After waiting for a few seconds, a message pops up in the plugin row:
[Employee ID: 328, Gold Coin Merchant Guild employee, at your service.]

Then, a chubby figure appeared on the plugin interface.

"Mr. Hard-Bang, how can I help you?" the employee asked in a warm tone.

Tu Hu got straight to the point:
"I would like to inquire about the Cross-Gold Coin Merchant Guild's service for building remote space teleportation arrays. The target is a small world... a small world that may already be damaged." Tu Hu added at the end.

The gold coin employee nodded with a smile:

“A cross-world teleportation array is no small project. You can provide the coordinates of the small world, and we will first use guidance and library information to check the condition of that world and investigate whether the world coordinates are offset before giving you a quote.”

Upon hearing this, Tu Hu immediately nodded:
"no problem."

As he spoke, he took out the Dream Weaving Crystal, which contained the wisdom of civilization, from his spatial bag.

After its consciousness entered and investigated, it found the coordinates related to the Dream World and then sent this information to the Gold Coin employees through a plugin.

"We have received the coordinate information. We will now initiate the cross-world coordinate tracing and status verification process. Please wait patiently. We will notify you as soon as we have the results."

Communication is temporarily suspended.

While waiting, Tu Hu replenished the small items in the Enlightenment Shop in Emperor's Tomb Village, and also tested various techniques of using the Guardian Sword Stance in the training ground of the Test Tower.

Several hours later, the plugin notification sounded, and the Gold Coin Merchant sent a reply.

He immediately opened it to check, and the chubby figure reappeared, smiling and nodding at him:

“Mr. Hardbang, our investigation has yielded results regarding the coordinates of the ‘Dream World’ you provided.”

"First, the coordinate state: This small plane has already collapsed completely due to excessive excavation and destruction. The world has fallen apart and the rules have collapsed. It has now entered the 'reconstruction period' in the void, and the spatial structure is extremely unstable."

"Secondly, the flow of time in this space is also problematic, with a time flow difference of 13300 times compared to the monster world. That is, if one day passes in the monster world, 13300 days will pass inside this broken plane."

"Given that this plane no longer possesses a complete world barrier, its spatial structure is fragile, and its time flow is abnormal, constructing a stable spatial teleportation array would be technically challenging and significantly increase costs. The preliminary estimated cost is approximately 139 million sacrificial energy (assessment report attached)."

Looking at the report and the long string of zeros in the quote, Tu Hu's eyes twitched slightly.

The world is shattered, and the difference in the flow of time is as high as 13300 times... This means that in the Dream World in the memories of Grandpa Cangxuan, a long time has already passed on the internal time scale.

The world has truly changed.

"Of course, if it's a one-time, high-risk teleportation array for a single person, the price can be reduced by about 50%, but there's a higher probability of teleportation failure... similar to the unstable teleportation array in the Spirit Breath World instance back then."

Tu Hu glanced at the sacrificial power that had just been replenished from dismantling weapons in his account, but it seemed like a drop in the ocean, and sighed helplessly.

"I understand. I'll contact you again once I've gathered enough sacrificial power." It seems he'll have to find a way to "earn" some money before heading to Cangxuan's hometown.

Whether it's running adventurer dungeons or going to the Ancient Gods Arena, he needs to raise this "travel fee" as soon as possible.

We'll consider the team's development after we've completed the mission.

Otherwise, I always feel like I'm being tied down by something, and I feel uncomfortable.

The direction is clear: make money, make money, and make more money.

He disconnected the plugin and was about to contact his team members when a question suddenly occurred to him.

He then looked at the guiding water sphere floating beside him and asked:
"Guide, if the flow of time in a small world is different from that in a monster world or other worlds, does that mean that such small worlds also have high development potential? After all, time is also a resource?"

When asked, the guide nodded:
Your idea has some merit; time can indeed be considered a resource. However, the development potential of a civilization depends primarily on the resource ceiling and the sophistication of its environment, rather than simply the flow of time.

[Taking your understanding of the Dream World as an example, even if the internal time flow is 13300 times that of the outside world, making the progress of civilization seem rapid, when the world's resources are exhausted and its rules are thoroughly understood, civilization will hit an invisible ceiling.]

At that time, even the longest period of time would lose its meaning; civilization would stagnate, or even perish in the ensuing infighting.

[A supreme world like the Monster World possesses near-infinite resources and endless rules, resembling a boundless ocean. When a race reaches its limit in its original small world, entering such a supreme world would break through the ceiling of civilization, granting it the possibility of continued growth and evolution.]

This behavior can essentially be seen as a transcendence of civilization, or even a leap forward in civilization.

Tu Hu nodded thoughtfully.

“I understand now. Just like a fish that grows big in a small pond, it is still limited. Only by swimming into rivers and seas can it have the opportunity to transform into a dragon. So, time is just a catalyst. The real key lies in the size and level of the world itself.”

[This can be interpreted in this way.] The guidance affirmed the metaphor of slaying the tiger, and then continued:
[You're familiar with the story of the virtual rune legions; their development in 2D games has been rapid.]

However, when their scale and overall life level reach the limit that the two-dimensional world can bear, they can no longer advance. The two-dimensional environment locks in their potential to continue growing stronger. The only way out is to break through the dimensional limitations, initiate dimensional ascension, and then embed themselves in a higher-dimensional environment like a monster world. Only in this way can they break through their original upper limit and continue to grow with the support of the higher-dimensional environment.

Therefore, you can also understand the Dream World, whose time flow differs from that of the Monster World, as a special low-dimensional world. The accelerated time gives it the appearance of rapid development, but the level of rules itself is the insurmountable ceiling for the beings born in this world.

"Brother Guidance, I understand."

This conversation helped Tu Hu understand the choice that Cang Xuan's Dream Weaver Clan made back then.

They discovered the "Land of Dreams (Monster World)," just as fish discover the entrance to the ocean, believing they have found a future with infinite possibilities.

They were so excited about it that they even announced it to the whole world.

Unfortunately, the ocean (monster world) is full of unreasonable and cruel predators.

Even if the Dreamweaver Clan hadn't encountered the Light-Eroding Clan, this little fish would have encountered other, stronger forces.

Destruction is only a matter of time.

Every time Tu Hu learns about the background of the monster world, he feels that Ah Le is the most powerful villainous force.

Without further thought, he immediately issued a call to action in the team chat:

"Brothers, gather around. We have something important to discuss, concerning our next big money-making plan."

"Received, I'll be right there."

"You're back, you've finally come back, you foolish Bangbang."

Soon after, the team members met at a tavern in a bustling area of ​​Teizuka Village.

Tu Hu did not hide anything and told the whole story of his experience in the illusion, as well as how he was entrusted by Cang Xuan's shadow to raise a huge amount of sacrificial power to build a teleportation array to send the crystallization of the Dream Weaver civilization back to its broken homeland.

He thought his teammates would question this seemingly thankless and even somewhat inexplicable decision.

But the reactions of the crowd were surprisingly unanimous.

"Send it, it must be sent!" Assassin Sui Fengpiao was the first to slam his fist on the table.

"Brother Hard, this is the follow-up story of the mission. Maybe if we send the items back, we can unlock the hidden storyline of the Dream Weaver Civilization and get tons of rewards."

The baby bottle also nodded vigorously:

"Brother Hard, I support you. You have to keep your promises, otherwise you'll always be thinking about it and won't enjoy the game... The most important thing about playing games is to be free-spirited and do what you want to do. That's what we players should be like."

"That's right, sacrificial power can be earned back, but since this promise has been accepted, it should be settled. We are a team, and we fully support your decision."

Even the most carefree mage put away his joking expression and said seriously:
"Brother Ying, although your idea sounds a bit childish, I think you did a pretty cool job. It's just sacrificing power, let's earn it together as brothers... The reward doesn't matter, the most important thing is not to have any mental issues. For your future sword cultivation, it's very important to have a clear mind."

Listening to his teammates' words, one after another, without a single complaint and expressing their support, Tu Hu felt a warm current surge in his heart once again.

Looking at these familiar faces he used to hang out with, he suddenly understood why their little group had made it all the way from Ah Le's training camp to where they are now.

Perhaps it is because they share similar beliefs and values ​​that they naturally come together and become each other's strongest support.

Meeting them is a great opportunity for me in the game.

"Good!" Tu Hu took a deep breath, suppressing his emotion, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his heart filled with fighting spirit:

"Since none of the brothers have any objections, our goal is clear."

"Next target: the world of adventurers."

"Mission: Make money like crazy." With that, Tu Hu raised the free, ordinary drink he was offered.
"Cheers to the travel expenses!"

"Cheers!" The team members all stood up, smiling as they raised their glasses to clink.

……

In the days that followed, the entire team entered the "Adventurer's World" and began a high-intensity battle mode.

They specifically choose dungeons that are suitable for their team size and have detailed guides available on the forums.

We're taking the fast-track approach; efficiency is our top priority.

To this end, Tu Hu temporarily disassembled the Qi-Eating Soul in the Star Vein Slot and inlaid the Wind-Breaking Soul to improve the team's speedrun efficiency.

As for endurance, the sword stance is related to emotions and does not consume energy.

For now, we'll just use medication to manage the injuries.

Every day that followed was fully scheduled.

Materials obtained from dungeons, even those of rare quality, are listed on the auction house as quickly as possible.

Weapons and equipment obtained from dungeons, regardless of quality, are resold in bulk to the Gold Merchant Guild.

While the direct sale price is not as high as the consignment profit, it allows you to directly obtain sacrificial power, and you only need to quickly monetize it.

The most frequent conversations in the team chat have become:
"The speed can be improved. Maybe I should also equip a Speed-boosting Soul. It's an essential Soul for speed-running dungeons."

"The newly released Wind Hunter Dagger has pretty good stats. The Gold Coin Merchant Guild can probably earn over 10,000 sacrificial power in the process."

"Let's do a total income check for today. It's 10% more than yesterday. Keep it up, brothers."

There were no complaints during that time, only mutual encouragement and fighting spirit.

The intense battle also significantly accelerated the unlocking speed of the Guardian Sword in Tu Hu's hands, leaving him with half the experience bar remaining before the next level.

More than ten days later.

When Tu Hu packed the last batch of materials from the dungeon world and delivered them to the Gold Coin Merchant Guild, and the total amount of sacrificial power finally broke through the long-awaited number, the entire team breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's enough!" Tu Hu's voice carried a hint of excitement, but even more so, a sense of relief and joy.

"I've saved up enough sacrificial energy to create a single-person risky teleportation array."

A cheer immediately erupted in the channel.

"Finally, a change of scenery. I'm so sick of this lousy dungeon. I really admire those teams that keep running the same dungeon over and over again. Don't they get tired of seeing the same scenery every day?" Assassin with the wind couldn't help but complain.

"My liver... can finally rest for a bit." The mage made an exaggerated expression of exhaustion.

"Brother Hard, hurry up and contact the Gold Coin Merchant Guild. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can be free," a warrior in the team said with a sigh.

Tu Hu looked at the number of sacrificial power accumulated in his account by the entire team and felt a surge of emotion.

Without further hesitation, he activated the gold coin plugin and connected with the staff of the Gold Coin Merchant Guild.

Before long, the avatar of the Gold Coin Merchant Guild employee who had previously worked with him appeared on the plugin display.

"Have you accumulated enough sacrificial power?" the other party asked curiously.

"That's right, the sacrificial power is in place, let's start the teleportation array construction plan directly."

(End of this chapter)