Forge a path to success

The stories passed down through generations in a settlement are always more credible than those in books from the outside world. From Qingxia's perspective, her interpretation is flawless. But of course, the truth is not so. The manual's authentication text has already stated the ownership of the Holy Pillar Core; the true knight is someone else entirely.

Chu Hengkong had so much to say, yet he didn't know how to begin. Qingxia loved fabricated stories, received distorted teachings, and firmly believed in unreal dreams. Such a lifestyle was extremely morbid, but should he simply tell her that everything she believed in was wrong? Should he go and tell her that the world wasn't as she imagined?

This is by no means a good idea, especially in the current situation.

He concluded by saying, "Qingxia, have you considered what will happen after we win? What if we defeat Vansalar?"

"Hmm... First, I have to take responsibility and find a place to settle Grandpa and everyone else..." Qingxia crossed her arms. "Then, once the grudges are settled, I'll go out and explore my origins! I want to find the other knights and embark on an adventure to punish evil and promote good!"

As he listened to Qingxia's reverie, he was transported back to the morning when Huilong City opened. Back then, Ji Huaisu sat among the fine grass on the floating island, talking about her dreams of finding her origins, so much like the red-haired girl now. They both had such aspirations and longings, and you stood by, only willing to encourage them, unwilling to disturb them.

"That's good," Chu Hengkong said finally. "That's good."

He finished a basket of roasted dried insects (Qingxia didn't like insects) and promised her he would continue telling her stories when he had time. Then Chu Hengkong left the hut and headed towards the settlement center. The warriors were gathered around the training ground when the old man with rabbit ears returned and was giving them instructions.

"Silar." Chu Hengkong's voice was louder than he had imagined. "I have something to say!"

"I have something to say too!" Silar jogged over, his expression unusually tense and excited. "The legendary Battle Cabbage Fortress has appeared! Get ready, let's set off as soon as possible!"

Chapter 204 Plants vs. Demon Army

The cabbage bombs crashed into the position like a string of green firecrackers, blowing up an unfortunate firefly tank.

In two seconds, this unfortunate thing was about to explode, creating a patch of renewable turf. Commander Chen Yao reacted quickly, throwing a fireball, but the cabbage leaf absorbed the flames like water. It rapidly expanded, then exploded with the help of the fire, destroying the Hurricane Speedboat fleet that had come to cover its position.

Enraged, the Demon Commander self-destructed on the spot, turning the unfortunate Fireflies behind him into ashes.

"Unleash the slaughtering demons!" the Demon Commander roared as he self-destructed. "Give those vegetable scraps a good gnaw on!!"

Dust billowed behind the battle lines as ten-meter-tall, specially crafted corpse puppets moved to the front lines. Their bodies were cages made of human bones, within which shadows, suppressed by magic, stirred restlessly. The corpse puppets released their cages one by one, and the suppressed demons burst forth, transforming into planes that seeped into the earth, crossing the boundaries of the burning fortresses erected by the burning embers, surging onto the battlefield like a swarm of sharks lurking underground.

On the opposite side of the shark swarm, the cabbage turret was beginning its next round of reloading. The willow men, clutching seeds, stood ready for battle. Behind the two lines of defense stood the towering cabbage fortress, its sheer size making it a natural "building," its layers of cabbage leaves forming the outer walls. A cold glint flashed behind one of the cabbage leaves.

"Demon Slayer Assault Team, total 67." The sniper adjusted his angle slightly. "Collect the bodies in three seconds."

"Received."

The trigger is pulled, the bullet flies, and the contained spiritual elements explode at the designated point, triggering a wide-range spiritual piercing attack. To deal with elemental life forms, attacking their phantom bodies is always the best approach.

The outcome was exactly as he had predicted; three seconds later, the heavily wounded horde of demons sprang from the shadows. "Quickly, plant the seeds!" the little animal hurriedly commanded, and the willow people scattered the seeds. The seeds took root on the demons, using the shadows as nourishment to grow into beautiful shadow-absorbing flowers.

"Watering, watering!" Gulibo hopped and skipped.

The Willow People took out their water jugs and began cultivating new ornamental plants. The Demon Commander, whose lungs were practically nonexistent, was about to explode with rage. He suddenly flew beyond the fortress's borders, transforming into a blazing cloud of fire above the battlefield. "I'll burn you all to ashes—"

A gunshot rang out, the flames turned to ashes, and the Demon of Wrath died. Shax reloaded his gun. "Which one?" Gulibo marked a new X in his notebook. "If we only count point 3, it's the thirteenth. Here comes the new one!"

In an instant, the dim sky brightened as if it were daytime. A burning arrow soared across the heavens, its arrival like a phoenix spreading its wings, its feathers scorching the earth wherever they touched. Shax fired a second specially made bullet, its tip precisely sniping the arrow in the center of the battlefield, turning it into blue dust.

“Keep the pressure on,” Shakes said. “Force the archers out.”

"Please don't add any more!" Gulibo said, his head lolling on the ground. "I'm going to be crushed to death by this..."

A horn sounded from the direction of the Burning Fortress, signaling the end of the Demon King's ravaged army. As Shax sheathed his Holy Lance, Gulipo lay sprawled on the ground, fast asleep, uttering terrified murmurs in its sleep.

"It wasn't intentional absence... Why is my year-end performance review a C?! I don't want to work overtime!"

Its predecessor sounded suspiciously abusive, and would likely provoke strong criticism from animal rights activists on Earth. Shakes casually tossed it onto the blanket and sat down on the wooden chair. A vine-covered waiter brought over an iced coffee—which he assumed was coffee, that any stimulating brown drink was coffee—and he downed it in one gulp, using the cold liquid to stimulate his nerves.

他6天没睡觉了。目前状态还可以。刚刚打出去的是倒数第三颗尘化弹，金叶的材料快用完了。很有挑战性。剩下的材料还够做3颗子弹……应该是2颗。对的，3颗。他7天没睡觉了。

The drawbacks of prolonged combat became apparent, and his thoughts began to falter. Shax clutched the necklace, the silver cross. The old bishop sat opposite him, his aged face filled with concern.

“You really should rest, Sarks,” the old bishop said. “You’ve seen me.”

"Ah, right, 10 years later," Shax muttered to himself. "A new mission?"

"There are no more missions. You've done enough for the church."

“Damn it, it’s not 2010 now, is it? Then go back to your Vatican.” Shakes sipped the air in his glass. “I’ve heard that nightmares turn into fear. I never thought I’d be afraid of a little old man who raises fish and flowers.”

“I think you’re fearless, just not well-rested. This isn’t a nightmare, it’s an illusion,” the old bishop said solemnly. “Go to sleep, child, God bless you.”

“I don’t believe in God.”

“Even if you don’t believe,” the old bishop crossed himself, “God will protect you.”

The old man's phantom dissipated, and Shax took another gulp of icy air; he needed to stay conscious. The rules here were simple: you either survive until you kill all the enemies, or you die. The Demon King's army wouldn't swarm in; there were unseen thresholds in their actions. If you exceeded a threshold, the Demon King's army would stop, raise the threshold the next day, and wait for you to use your methods again, and so on.

Extremely challenging, what a great game. He'll shoot the designer of this crap game sooner or later.

On the other side of the battlefield, at the watchtower of the Burning Fortress, Ember lowered the "Bow of Eternal Flame." The snipers couldn't break into the fortress, while the Demon King's generals would be picked off as soon as they crossed the border, resulting in a stalemate.

A very interesting match. This opponent is a tough nut to crack; even without exchanging a single word, he could discern the enemy's style from their fighting. Such an enemy deserves a fair and square battle.

The communication crystal ball lit up urgently, and a wisp of flame flickered up, revealing the limb spider's scorched face.

"Burning Ash, why haven't you finished yet?!" the Spider said anxiously. "Either you go all out and fight them head-on, or hurry up and let them escape to the settlement! But you've let them hold out for far too long! If this continues, Lord Vansalar will get interested!!"

“This is my territory, I’ll handle it.” Burning Ember stroked his fiery beard. “Go back to your Nightmare City.”

It burned the crystal ball to ashes.

Deep in the mountains, thousands of meters away, the spider reluctantly put down the crystal ball. Its many limbs rubbed back and forth like a fly rubbing its hands.

"Looks like Ember's gone crazy," it said. "Sigh, we'll just have to clean up his mess..."

A deep roar echoed from the deep mountains, and purple lightning struck the peaks, the thunder lingering for a long time.

On the towering summit of Black Mountain, the Nightmare King listened to the thunder with nonchalant indifference. Shadows rippled like water in his hand, from which came the soft voice of a woman.

"Lord Vansalal, I believe your army is headed for defeat."

"Oh my? Such a good thing?" Vansalar scratched his chin. "But my elite troops are strong and well-equipped, my warriors are holed up in their settlements and haven't come out, and my envoys have recovered from their injuries. It's a great pity that the situation is still very favorable for now!"

"Why don't we analyze it as your favorite 'game'?" the woman said. "In the first round, we obtained supplies in the secluded valley and defeated the Fallen Soul through the old man's game. At the very beginning, we made the messenger with the strongest defense retreat, which was a bad start."

"A stroke of luck!" Vansalal commented.

"The second move: decisively avoid my forest and concentrate all our forces to fight Miss Lugui. Force the strongest envoy to retreat in one fell swoop and successfully reach the settlement." The woman sighed, "Isn't that too unfair? A decision that would normally require at least several lives to make was made so easily..."

"After all, they beat that idiot, and they deserved it!" Vansalar said cheerfully.

"The third move was to use the bloodline connection to lure out night travelers and strengthen those with broken hearts; to consolidate the knights' combat power by analyzing the Holy Pillars; to enhance martial arts practitioners with the Secret Technique of Broken Hearts; and to gather intelligence on snipers and small animals. A massive boost to everyone in one turn—was that just luck?" the woman said. "The heroes' potential is indeed beyond imagination, but what I'm most worried about is that the enemy commander makes the most correct judgment every turn."

"Are you that afraid of losing?" the Nightmare King chuckled.

"No, more than that... I'm afraid you won't be able to enjoy the game because of the other party's overly calculating judgments," the woman said softly. "It's also boring to always let the heroes get what they want... How about I give them a gentle push?"

The demon king let out a terrifying laugh, like the shrieking of a swarm of bats in the mountains. The tacitly approved female voice faded away, and the shadow, now powerless, flowed through her fingers like black blood.

·

"The objective of this operation is the Cabbage Fortress." Chongming drew a large cabbage on the ground. "The explanation will be left to Shizhong; I can't explain it."

[This type of fortress belongs to the 'Combat Vegetables' series researched by city-states during wartime. They share common characteristics: rapid growth, low entry barrier, strong effects, and varying degrees of external purification capabilities. The Combat Cabbage contains various war plant seeds, its defensive power is equivalent to a level 3 Divine Tree, it can be cultivated and sown locally, and can accommodate and heal up to 200 allied soldiers.] Stone Seed wrote, [This thing… is quite expensive, and of a very high level. I don't understand where Gulibo got it.]

“That idiot gardener is from the Thorns, didn’t he? He spent all his salary on seeds,” Vande said.

"..." Everyone remained remarkably silent.

Vande's tentacles twitched: "But would any idiot who isn't even an Ascended take this thing out to sea? Seriously, would anyone actually do that?"

“It’s really not innocent that this thing bumped into you along the way,” Chongming said. “Now, let me explain the battle plan. The sighting point of the Battle Cabbage is in the middle of the ‘Ancient Battlefield of Remembrance.’ It will take you most of the day to get there at your current speed. However, the marching conditions are very complicated, and there may be many rest stops along the way. Therefore, you will need an experienced guide this time.”

He pointed at Silar: "Silar, the 28th warrior, this time you're the scout!"

The old man raised his hand in a gesture of respect, looking quite energetic: "Mission accomplished!"

“Everyone except Ji Huaisu is mobilized for the 35th mission, so don’t even think about running away.” Chongming tossed Fan De, who was trying to slip away, back to him. “The code name for this operation is ‘Soul Chaser.’ Once you find the idiot in the fortress, come back immediately. In particular, be careful not to engage in any unnecessary fighting! Even if you have the upper hand, don’t even think about killing the envoy, understand?”

"I don't understand," Chu Hengkong said. "It would be good if we could kill enemy forces along the way."

This time, Chongming was unusual and did not shout. He tapped the hilt of his knife, his expression unpredictable.

"Those who don't understand, stay. The rest of you, disperse. We'll depart in fifteen minutes."

“No problem!” Ji Huaisu raised his hand. “Then I’ll go scout the enemy situation first.”

"You better stay here and guard the house."

"Why! I don't want to! Let me go! I want to go to the front lines! I don't want to stay behind!!"

Ji Huaisu cried and made a scene, but failed to secure a spot on the front lines and was dragged away by Qingye. Chongming sat down beside the sacred pillar and drew patterns on the ground with the hilt of his sword.

“You’ve improved a bit, kid. I’ll be honest with you,” Chongming said. “You’ve won too many games so far. No other tournament has ever achieved what you’ve done. I’m worried that if you keep winning, Vansalar will get out of control.”

Chu Hengkong frowned: "Are you afraid it will stop at nothing?"

“Wrong, I’m afraid it’ll get too excited.” Chongming tapped his temple. “Remember, the common trait of calamity-type creatures is their inability to control their emotions, even this evil god is no exception. You must prevent its emotions from becoming too agitated, because you can’t predict what a madman might do. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Chu Hengkong said. “I’ve killed a lot of mentally ill people before.”

"So I hope you can avoid battle as much as possible this time, preferably be defeated and retreat, but save your lives. Only when it looks down on you will you have a chance to win later." Chongming said, laughing at himself, "It's fucking shameful, laugh if you want."

"I can only say I've tried my best," Chu Hengkong shrugged. "But in that case, don't let Qingxia go. She and Ji Huaisu are both people who can't stop themselves."

"Me too," he added to himself.

“This is the second thing.” Chongming moved the hilt of his sword, and Chu Hengkong saw that he had drawn a winged insect on the ground.

"Qingxia can no longer remain in the settlement alone."

"why?"

"Because of the things in the jungle." Chongming gestured towards the direction they entered the settlement. "When Guangshi Qingye went out, you were following behind, you should have sensed it, right?"

"That stuff is highly poisonous to Qingxia. She must never be allowed to come into contact with it alone."

Chu Hengkong pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "We are all currently in the settlement, and Ji Huaisu is also blessed by the Sacred Pillar, giving him such combat power..."

“No,” Chongming said firmly. “All the cards we have right now are not enough to deal with that thing. The reason I agreed to this operation is because you need that sniper’s help. At least one more combatant will give us hope; otherwise, it’s just suicide.”

If the situation is truly as Chongming said, then whether Ji Huaisu goes into battle or not makes no difference... no, it does.

If Ji Huaisu remains in the settlement, the unused sacred pillar can serve as a strategic deterrent. Unable to ascertain its true nature, the enemy will not dare to act rashly…

"Wouldn't it be better to continue acting on your own initiative and using a hostile attitude to cover up your judgment, just like before?" Chu Hengkong smiled bitterly. "It'll only make things worse if you speak out."

“You’re a warrior who can stand on his own now. A warrior’s fate is in his own hands.” Chongming patted his butt and got up. “That’s all the information I can share. I’m afraid of upsetting Vansalal, so I’m not going this time. Anyway, it’s no use for me to go.”

You are now the commander, and this operation is under your full command.

Chu Hengkong nodded, considering their actions after setting off. Soon, the soldiers lined up on both sides, blowing their horns to sound military music for those about to embark on the battlefield. They bid farewell to Captain Huaisu with little regret and set off on the sandy road to the ancient battlefield.

Heading straight north from the settlement, within half an hour, not a single patch of green could be seen. A thick fog shrouded the land in dust, and the soil reeked of decay. The earth was a dark brown, as if stained with blood countless times.

The road was uneven and difficult to traverse. The old man, whose legs were weak, simply sat on Qingxia's back, carried by his granddaughter. Chu Hengkong remembered Chongming's instructions and wanted to speak with the old soldier, but with Qingxia beside him, he couldn't speak directly. He moved closer and whispered, "I have a battle plan I need to discuss with you."

“I will.” Slar said calmly. “Stop for now, the recollection is about to begin.”

Qingxia obediently stopped, shouldered her spear, and prepared herself. Everyone was puzzled, but then they saw the mist surging, as if a giant object was about to appear. Chu Hengkong smelled the acrid odor of tires rubbing against the road surface, and the roar of an overloaded engine came from the mist, accompanied by the noise of torrential rain pounding against the car windows.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted.

A black sedan emerged from the fog, its doors riddled with bullet holes and adorned with the emblem of a double caduceus.

Chapter 205 Recalling the Ancient Battlefield

This is a jet-black Cadillac with a retro-designed, heavy body but smooth lines. Behind the perfectly streamlined rear, the flashing taillights resemble flames in the dark night.

Such a car is like a suited thug walking through a crowd, its refined exterior unable to conceal its violent nature. It should appear in front of the mansion of some important person, with polite waiters bowing and watching it drive away, heading to a club, a conference building, or a seaside villa a few kilometers away, to places befitting its status.

But now the luxury car was riddled with bullet holes, its engine roaring incessantly from prolonged speeding, like the dying cry of a giant beast. Qingxia peered curiously, trying to see what was happening inside the car, but the man's shouts stopped her.

"Everyone, step back!" Chu Hengkong's voice was hoarse.

Everyone quickly moved aside to make way for the badly damaged car. The car sped past like a shark; its momentum showed it wouldn't stop even with people in its path. Qingxia caught a glimpse of the driver as she moved aside. He was a man covered in wounds, wearing a blood-soaked coat, his expression contorted as if he were struggling in hell.

There seemed to be someone in the passenger seat, but it wasn't clear before the car disappeared into the fog. Shortly afterward, people heard gunshots and explosions, and then there was silence.

Chu Hengkong stared at the direction the car had gone, remaining motionless for a long time.

“It’s my car,” he said. “What happened?”

“That’s reminiscence,” Slar said. “Too many people have died on this battlefield, and their longing has affected the existing nightmares, causing incredible things to happen on the battlefield. Sometimes it’s the past surfacing, and sometimes it’s fear descending.”

He patted Chu Hengkong's calf: "It's a good thing to be able to see the memories. It shows that your heart is strong enough and will not be buried by fear."

Chu Hengkong didn't answer, because Silar was wrong. That was his fear; what he feared most in his life was what would happen after that car stopped. It was a predetermined tragedy, irreversible.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Don’t waste time.”

"Wait a little longer." The old man shook his head firmly. "Wait until your mind calms down. Memories originate from the First Abyss; the more you cling to them, the easier it is to be swallowed up by the past."