New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 126: Attacking Chan City
After filling the [Shadow Dream Hole], the Tiger Demon sneaked through the shadows and quickly turned back, moving upwards away from the influence of [Cicada City] until it stopped at the edge of the pollution layer.

It followed the pre-made markings to an open underground cavity and began unloading.

At this time, a group of strong ordinary monks were already waiting. There were about 20 of them, all mercenaries that Commander Zuo had temporarily recruited from unknown sources.

Initially, these individuals possessed complex backgrounds, surpassed human strength, and were assembled through coercion, inducement, and other tactics, making them untrustworthy. However, within the Shadow Realm, Yuan Zhu conducted a two-day PPT induction program for them, yielding encouraging results.

He first used the [Holy Light] to target the employees, conducting a series of mental pollution checks and killings, and incidentally severely damaged the 'true qi system' in their bodies, while also removing the hidden pollution hazards and hidden injuries in their bodies (pre-employment physical examinations and free disinfection).

Then, Yuan Zhu took advantage of their weak emotional intelligence and dragged them all into the fledgling "Cockroach Village" for a 30-hour PPT brainwashing session called "Extinguishing Intelligence for Dreams" (corporate culture, establishing dreams).

Under rounds of technically incompetent "pure slideshow loops combined with toxic chicken soup for the soul bombardment," these poor mercenaries, who came here to make money, endured endless violent brainwashing.

Despite its limited technical capabilities, it was a miracle. Their minds were being polluted by the Holy Light, violently breaching their defenses, while they were being mindlessly fed with junk information like PPTs, toxic chicken soup, and pledges of allegiance to Yuan Zhu.

The process was brutal, comparable to the brainwashing of the Winter Soldier. By sheer force, they managed to create miracles, forcibly destroying and distorting the minds of these mercenaries (establishing the correct values of struggle).

This made them willingly develop the illusion that "I have a bright future" and actively join the [Pastoral Village] founded by Yuan Zhu and become the first batch of core backbones.

As a legitimate enterprise, [Muye Village] is not some illegal pyramid scheme shell company that defrauds people by illegally imprisoning them and then violently brainwashing them, defrauding them of their money.

On the contrary, [Pastoral Village] is truly engaged in industry, focusing on insect and livestock breeding. Master core technologies and join us to receive a super gift package.

Each employee has a [Human-Level Shadow Demon Bug] as the size of a large blue trash can as a protective battle pet, but the value of this employment benefit exceeds the employee's own.

In addition, the first generation village chief Yuan Zhu generously gave away the [Shadow Eggplant] to carry out a new round of strengthening and repair on the body that was originally slightly injured by the [Holy Light Physical Examination], and concluded a contract with the [Pastoral Village].

...

Over the past three days, the eggplant-headed ghosts have been attached to the [Insect Pillar Hub], extracting shadow pollution to rapidly develop and grow, and actively sowing and planting "shadow eggplant seedlings" within the domain of law.

These shadow eggplants accidentally combined with the ubiquitous 'fine roots of the fairy tree', greatly strengthening the plant's side, and began to grow profusely in the law domain as a 'shadow-type pollution plant'.

The Tiger Demon intends to accelerate this process, hoping to cultivate a special variety that can decompose its roots and release "shadow aura." This plan is far from successful, but the large-scale growth of "shadow eggplant seedlings" will allow it to harvest a large amount of "shadow eggplants" after being refined by the "Shadow Dream Hole."

It was perfectly suited to parasitize the mercenaries' flesh and blood, but it failed to significantly enhance their already impressive physiques. This was because the weakest of these individuals had only condensed 30 acupoints, while the strongest had already surpassed 100, enabling them to form a three-meter barrier with Qi threads.

Therefore, the enhancement effect of [Shadow Eggplant] on them is ≈0. The greater effect is that they can master an additional "Shadow Power" for free, and establish a connection with the [Shadow Domain], so that they can practice the new version of [Shadow Breathing Method].

Ultimately, they used the Shadow Eggplant Roots within their bodies to control and bind their own Shadow Demon Bug. For this great gift alone, they couldn't let it go. Furthermore, they still had their dreams to support them, and with the Shadow Dream Hole as bait, they ultimately decided to keep doing this for a while.

At this moment, this group of employees waited for a long time and successfully handed over to the Tiger Demon.

Yuan Zhu summoned the Shadow Dream Hole once again, opening the passage and releasing the minions, who then began moving the supplies within the space. The new employees also actively piled the supplies onto the pre-prepared carts, then used their Shadow Eggplants to control their pets, acting as laborers to transport the supplies, moving towards the camp's Pastoral Village.

After the first round of supply transfers, Chairman Yuan Zhu set out again, personally stealing supplies. Inside the cavity platform, the other half stayed behind, and the new employees in charge of the response waved goodbye to their boss's back, illuminated by the fluorescent slime mold.

He couldn't help but sigh, "This new force is really great. Not only does it have a bright future, but the atmosphere is also great. They're really willing to give benefits, and the leader is even going to the front lines himself. All we need to do is provide the hard labor and be responsible for the reception and transportation."

Beside him, an underground wanderer from another insect city nodded in agreement, "Yes, I've never been on such a safe mission before."

"Mr. Yuan is a good leader. I have come to appreciate [Muye Village] and want to stay and do a good job."

"Is this place really willing to give us a chance to break through to the [Heavenly Rank]?" "The Zuo guy is already trying. We just need to wait and see..."

...

On the other side, Yuan Zhu, who had risked his life, relied on the cover of [Shadow Dream Hole] to return to the warehouse with ease and start the second round of shopping.

Then comes the third round.

He spent a full half day, running back and forth four times, before finally emptying the warehouse. He was also exhausted, but despite the [Boss Template] constantly drawing shadow power, he always kept the mana bar at its peak.

But its physical strength and energy were greatly consumed, so after resting for another half an hour, the Tiger Demon officially set foot in the underground city of the lower city.

Revisiting the old place, it successfully circumvented the surveillance array using the defense map in its hand. Looking up at the circular dream holes in the air, it murmured softly, "This is the last trip. I hope it goes well."

Unlike the theft-stricken middle city, the lower city is heavily defended. The number of 13 dream holes in the sky already illustrates the strength of [Cicada City].

Even if they succeed in the end, it will inevitably arouse vigilance, fix the loopholes, and there will be no second chance to attack.

Therefore, the Tiger Demon did not rush to attack, but as agreed, he took a detour to an inconspicuous building in the east area of the 'underground city' and began to wait silently.

About half an hour later, Zuo Fan and his personal guards were patrolling nearby and then appeared in the room.

"My Lord, this is the latest patrol route map for the 'underground city' I got."

After reading through the list, the Tiger Demon discovered that there weren't many potential targets. There were only two: a place in the West City district where cultivation elixirs were stored, and an incinerator in the East City district where a small amount of [Insect Gold] was stored.

In terms of value, [Insect Gold] is naturally the most precious, and its quantity is rare, making it easy to carry. However, the incinerator is not a storage building, but a refining site. It is only a temporary storage for a small amount of newly refined [Insect Gold] that has not yet been transferred.

The gains from attacking here are uncertain, but they will definitely not be too high.

Another pharmacy stores a large quantity of 'insect pills' for the mid-level cultivators of Insect City. The quantity is huge, but the individual value is not high, so they rely on quantity to win.

The total value of the pills in the alchemy room is extremely high, but the difficulty of transporting them is also enormous. Even if you fill the [Dream Hole] to the brim, you can't take away even 1/10 of it.

"Any other goals?"

"Actually, I also know that there are secret vaults in Chan City that store high-level elixirs, insect gold, armor casting, cultivation techniques, and so on. However, they are scattered across five different locations in Chan City, and are guarded by five Heavenly Rank Supreme Beings."

Tiger Demon: "There are 13 Dream Holes in the sky above [Cicada City], how many Heavenly Ranks are there?"

Zuo Fan: "Chan City currently has a total of 11 Heavenly Rank cultivators, five of whom are supremely powerful, each controlling a Dream Hole, and all of whom are descendants of the City Lord. In addition, there are two Heavenly Rank cultivators, also from the 'Cicada Clan' lineage. The remaining four are Heavenly Rank cultivators from other Insect Cities. They reached some kind of deal with the City Lord's lineage and chose to stay and settle there. It is suspected that they are related to the 'Dream Hole' in the sky."

"The numbers don't match. There are 13 Dream Holes in [Cicada City]. How come there are only 11 Heavenly Ranks, and only 5 of them are controlling the Dream Holes?"

Commander Zuo: "Although Chan City has many Dream Holes, they are the result of the joint efforts of the City Lords and Supreme Beings from ancient times to the present. Of the five Supreme Beings, only the City Lord has opened up the thirteenth Dream Hole. The other four have refined the Dream Holes left behind by the former and brought them back under their control. As for the remaining seven, they remain ownerless and are used to maintain the operation of Chan City. Dream Holes can cultivate Heavenly Rank, but Heavenly Rank may not be able to control Dream Holes, let alone open them."

Tiger Demon: "That's good news."

He also thought that he might be able to fight 1vs13, and if he couldn't bear it anymore, he would choose to return to [Happy Home] and leave the mess behind.

(End of this chapter)