Wage Arrears...

Following the Small Ruin Tide, Black Moon Gorge seemed to enter a period of relative calm.

[Correspondingly, opportunities to gain military merits are decreasing, Sha Soul Crystals is also decreasing.]

[You begin forging the second Hundred-Blade Ring.]

[It took you two months to get your first Hundred-Blade Ring.]

[You took twenty-one days to get the second Hundred-Blade Ring.]

[With the benefits of "Quality Sleep" and "Workaholic," you've successfully balanced your work in the Black Moon Camp, personal cultivation, and treasure refining.]

[Soon, the third Hundred-Blade Ring was completed.]

[Seven months later, you will have completed the eighth Hundred-Blade Ring, and you will have run out of Sha Soul Crystals.]

[Ninety-two Hundred-Blade Rings are still needed to reach the Myriad-Blade Star River.]

[Two Hundred-Blade Rings are still needed to reach the Thousand-Blade River.]

[It's been almost two years since I came to Black Moon Gorge, and I still haven't successfully refined the Thousand-Blade River.]

You need more Sha Soul Crystals.

[You even began plotting to venture deep into the Lifeless Plain and personally hunt down the Blood Sha.]

[Age 21, three years of work experience.]

[Trait being generated...]

[Congratulations on obtaining the Trait: Wage Arrears (Level D) -- Your income cannot be received on time, and the delay is unknown. Payday is always "on its way".]

[Current Equipment Trait (13/13): Heavy Tomato User (S-tier) / Salty Fish (S-tier) / I'm the Client (S-tier) / I’ll Make Three Points (Grade A) / Early Leave (A -Grade A) / Artisan Spirit (Grade A) / Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement (Grade A) / Bully at Home (Grade A) / Friend of Women (Grade A) / Quality Sleep (Grade A) / Workaholic (B-tier) / I Love Working (B-tier) / Overtime (B-tier)]

Should we replace it?

Lu Ping felt deeply betrayed by the system.

We promised to be together for life, to live a good life.

Now they've given me another D grade, and payday is always just around the corner!

You have no heart, my lord.

[You choose not to change.]

[On this day, Lei Hanxiao sent you a telepathic message, inviting you to his cave abode.]

Lei Hanxiao has fully recovered from his injuries.

[When he saw you come in, he pointed to the stone bench opposite you.]

["Sit."]

Lei Hanxiao poured two cups of Spirit Tea and pushed one towards you.

[You sit down, remain silent, and wait for the leader to speak first.]

"Commandant Lu, what's your opinion on the Small Ruin Tide incident last time?"

You picked up your teacup, but didn't drink it.

"The Camp General was incredibly brave, and the Black Moon Camp brothers fought with their lives; we were fortunate enough to hold the line."

Lei Hanxiao shook his head, his voice unconsciously rising two decibels.

"Don't give me that bureaucratic nonsense. You know that's not what I'm asking."

He pointed his finger and tapped it twice on the stone table.

"A Small Ruin Tide, two Sha Generals. This doesn't make sense."

[You put down your teacup, adopting a posture of attentive listening.]

[Lei Hanxiao's voice was somewhat low.]

"Those things in the Lifeless Plain have no camaraderie, no sectarian distinctions. They only have the instinct to devour."

When Sha Generals Sha General, there is only one outcome: they fight each other, devouring each other's Sha Qi and remains.

"They will continue to devour until one of them accumulates enough power and transforms into the Ruin King."

[Lei Hanxiao drank the Spirit Tea in his cup and then said,]

"But last time, those two Sha Generals didn't devour each other. They cooperated."

"A force that openly drew the firepower of Thousand-Person Tiger Roar Formation withstood a single sword strike from me."

"Another one, cloaked Law Treasure Concealment, lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike me deadly before my old strength dissipates and my new strength is generated."

[Lei Hanxiao raised his eyelids and looked at you.]

What does this level of tactical coordination signify?

[Continue with what he said.]

"This indicates the existence of a higher-level being that forcibly suppressed their devouring instincts and issued commands to them."

Lei Hanxiao nodded.

["And,"]

[Lei Hanxiao continued,]

"The formation of Sha General requires the remains of a high-level being as its core. However, they are not necessarily accompanied by High Antiquity treasures."

"Those two Sha Generals, one clad in High Antiquity Battle Armor, the other wielding Concealment Cloak, were themselves exceptional individuals, one in a million."

"The simultaneous appearance of two extraordinary individuals in a Small Ruin Tide is no coincidence."

[Lei Hanxiao puts down his teacup.]

"I suspect that an unprecedented Great Tide is brewing."

"The time might be thirty or forty years from now."

[Upon hearing this, you felt a chill run down your spine.]

You are now twenty-one years old.

[Forty years later, when you are around sixty years old, the Great Battle of Demon-Severing Cliff will break out.]

[Song Fuan stood alone, facing off against the Demon Race army.]

You pieced these fragmented pieces of information together.

[A great Ruin Tide is brewing in the White Tiger Domain, and a full-scale attack from the Myriad Demon Domain will take place forty years later.]

Could there be a connection between the two?

[Have the Myriad Demon Domain and the Western Extremity Ruin Sha colluded?]

Although Human Race and Demon Race have a blood feud spanning millennia, the Ruin Sha is the common enemy of all living beings.

How could the Demon Race possibly collude with the Ruin Sha?

[However, in the last simulation, during the Battle of Demon-Severing Cliff, it seemed that only Song Fuan, a Body Integration Realm, fought to the death among the entire Human Race.]

[All other high-ranking Human Race cultivators were absent.]

[If the Great Tide of the White Tiger Domain and the Demon Turmoil at the Demon-Severing Cliff erupted simultaneously...]

[You sit on the stone bench, a bitter feeling welling up inside you.]

[Lei Hanxiao noticed your expression was off and assumed you were frightened by the speculation about the Great Ruin Tide.]

He tapped on the table, pulling you back to reality.

"I reported the situation at Black Moon Gorge to West-Suppressing Sword Pass."

Lei Hanxiao's voice lowered even further.

"The news from Guanzhong confirmed my suspicions."

"At the same time as our attack, twenty-three Forward Outposts along the Sha-Suppressing Great Wall also suffered similar unusual attacks."

"Those camps... were all wiped out."

"Our Black Moon Gorge is probably the only outpost that survived the attack by the Sha General."

Inside the cave abode, the air seemed to freeze.

[Twenty-three outposts, that's twenty-three Nascent Soul Camp Generals, and nearly thirty thousand cultivators.]

[They were all wiped out overnight.]

[Like a pre-planned mopping-up operation.]

[Deep within the Lifeless Plain, there may very well be some being gradually plucking out the eyes that the White Tiger Hall has extended.]

[Lei Hanxiao continued, seemingly completely unconcerned about how astonishing the news he had just dropped.]

"Since the Small Ruin Tide subsided, the area outside the canyon has been unusually calm for the past few months."

"It was eerily calm."

"The number of Wandering Sha and Military Sha has decreased by 90%. It's as if the Lifeless Plain has suddenly become a pure land."

"Something unusual must be going on."

"Over the past few months, I've sent out seven groups of Scouts. They're all the best veterans in the battalion, skilled in Concealment, tracking, and with top-notch survival skills."

"Not a single person has returned."

[The cave abode fell silent again.]

"Black Moon Gorge has become blind."

"West-Suppressing Sword Pass has ordered us to investigate the unusual activity ahead. But sending ordinary Sword Cultivators out would only be suicide."

[Lei Hanxiao stood up and walked up to you.]

[This Nascent Soul Perfection Camp General, at the peak of his cultivation, clasped his hands in a fist salute to you, his subordinate at the Golden Core Middle Stage.]

"Commandant Lu."

"Currently, in the entire Black Moon Gorge, only two people have the ability to venture deep into the Lifeless Plain and return alive."

"One is me. The other is you."

You remained silent.

You know he's telling the truth.

[Lei Hanxiao put down his teacup, his tone sincere.]

"Lu Ping, I know you're no ordinary Alchemist. You must have your own purpose in coming to the White Tiger Hall."

"I don't care which Aristocratic Clan you're backed by, nor do I care whether you're the Sword Master's illegitimate son or not."

[Upon hearing this, you nearly coughed up blood.]

[Even Lei Hanxiao, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, has started believing such outrageous rumors?]

[Lei Hanxiao continued.]

"All I know is that the brothers of the Black Moon Camp survived because of you."

"If you can uncover the true nature of the Lifeless Plains, the million Sword Cultivators of the entire White Tiger Domain will be better prepared."

"I, Lei Hanxiao, as the Camp General of the Black Moon Camp, request that you make this trip."

[Options pop up.]

[A: Decisively refuse. I'm here to work and earn Sha Soul Crystals, not to be a suicide squad. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.]

[B: Accept the mission. Fortune favors the bold. There are bound to be countless Blood Sha deep within the Lifeless Plain. Take advantage of this opportunity to collect a batch of Sha Soul Crystals and complete the Myriad-Blade Star River as soon as possible.]

[C: Pulls out the "White Tiger Hall Labor Contract," points it at Lei Hanxiao's nose, and yells: "Making the technical director do the work of a front-line Scout? Do you want to quit your Camp General?! I'm going to the White Tiger Hall labor arbitration to sue you for illegally transferring him to a different position!"]