The Demons Descend

No wonder this instance lasted three days.

No wonder this instance restricted the amount of time players could spend in it each day.

No wonder this instance was suitable for all players.

It turned out this wasn't a trial instance at all, but a survival-and-construction instance!

"The next wave of monsters will launch its attack in 04:25."

There was no time to waste. Although he didn't know how difficult gathering resources would be, this instance had clearly been designed for four people. Yan Qing guessed that the difference between high- and low-level players lay here—high-level players gathered resources faster, while low-level players were slower.

And without a doubt, the fastest way to gather resources was for all four people to work together. They also had to assign each person specific resources to collect instead of randomly picking up junk. If Yan Qing's guess was correct, then in the original game all four players should have had construction rights. That meant they also had to agree on the direction of development. Otherwise, as long as one idiot recklessly did whatever he wanted, everyone's experience in the instance would turn into an unpredictable game of fate.

This was probably the type of instance Yan Qing disliked most: high interaction, intense communication, no entry requirements, and teammate quality determined entirely by a card draw. With good luck, four teammates might become friends after communicating throughout the three-day instance. With bad luck, it would become an out-of-game PvP experience where they hung their teammates out to dry on the game forums for three straight days.

Fortunately, he still had at least one teammate who followed orders.

"Young Miss, can you move rocks?"

"Huh?" Qian Gongyu was somewhat confused, but still answered, "Yes. I have the Storage Token Ox Bone Finger Chain, which can give my fingers the strength of nine bulls."

"Time is of the essence, so I'll keep this brief: I want you to move as many rocks as possible near the wooden house within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

After the cold and arrogant Jiang Shi finished speaking, she left the wooden house, leaving behind a stunned Qian Gongyu and two top-tier rich beauties whom she could never afford to offend.

Qian Gongyu opened and closed her mouth, then turned around tremblingly to look at Shang Xin Lei and Jie Yuanshao. She forced out an extremely awkward smile. "The two of you, my guard, she... I'm sorry. I apologize for her rudeness!"

Forget an ordinary Black Belt—even if she, a member of the Blue Belt Esteemed Class, dared speak to Shang Xin Lei and Jie Yuanshao like that, the latter could cut her down outright on the grounds that she had been insulted, and face no repercussions whatsoever.

Although Liang Kingdom wouldn't allow noble warriors the freedom to kill indiscriminately like those in Qi Kingdom and Zhou Kingdom, it had instead granted them more rights to "kill lawfully." The lower classes had to strictly observe etiquette and show sufficient respect to the Scholar Clan's nobles. Otherwise, the Scholar Clan's nobles could beat or kill any ill-mannered commoner at will.

"The time it takes to drink a cup of tea is very short. Xiao Yu, aren't you going to get moving?" Shang Xin Lei said with a smile.

X-Xiao Yu!?

Qian Gongyu was instantly dazed by this enormous surprise. She was so excited that she couldn't speak, feeling that this trip had been more than worth it. Even if Shang Xin Lei offered her no help whatsoever, as long as Shang Xin Lei called her "Xiao Yu" in front of other people, the Qian Family could escape its infamy. Just being able to speak with the Fourth Young Miss of the Shang Family was enough to make the other esteemed families look upon her with new respect.

Watching Qian Gongyu stagger out of the wooden house as though she had drunk fake wine, Shang Xin Lei looked at Jie Yuanshao. "I plan to go help. Aren't you coming?"

"Of course not. According to the information I've gathered, the hallucinations will attack within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea at most. Staying in the wooden house is the safest option, so there's no reason to go outside and move rocks." Jie Yuanshao sat cross-legged on the ground without moving. "On the contrary, you're showing that guard such favor. Even if you want to take her under your command, showing her kindness without authority is no way to control people."

"How can you still claim to be skilled in physiognomy? Didn't you realize that Jiang Shi has a personality that absolutely refuses to submit to anyone?"

After saying that, Shang Xin Lei also left the wooden house, leaving Jie Yuanshao alone inside, closing her eyes to rest.

"Everything in the world has its own hierarchy. How could anyone remain untouched? Even if they are unwilling in their hearts, they will eventually be forced to bow by circumstances." Jie Yuanshao muttered in a low voice, "Everyone will bow—including you, Shang Xin Lei."

She glanced outside the wooden house. Although they had entered in the early morning, the Secret Realm had its own celestial changes. The Wandering Star Forest was now as dark as midnight, with only a faint trace of moonlight illuminating the woods. After the others left, the originally tiny wooden house suddenly seemed extremely empty, and darkness swallowed every inch of space.

In theory, participants would bring candles and other lighting tools, but Jie Yuanshao had come here to temper her will and hadn't brought any items that would reduce the difficulty. After sitting in the darkness for a few seconds, she stood and walked to the door, muttering to herself, "I'm only going to remind them to come back quickly. The trial hasn't even started yet. How could I possibly be afraid..."

The time it took to drink a cup of tea passed quickly. Qian Gongyu only had time to move two large rocks over. Shang Xin Lei hadn't moved any rocks; she had shaved three stones into oval shapes and then pushed them, sending them rolling toward the wooden house with a rumble.

As for Jiang Shi, who had ordered them to move the rocks, she returned empty-handed.

Seeing this, Jie Yuanshao immediately showed a look of disgust. But before she could say anything, she saw Jiang Shi extend a hand toward the empty space beside the wooden house. Then a huge pile of timber appeared out of thin air and fell onto the ground.

Everyone's pupils contracted sharply at the sight. Qian Gongyu couldn't help shouting, "Jiang Shi, you have a Storage Token? And the space is actually this large! What rank is that token...?"

"I don't have a Storage Token," Jiang Shi said.

That answer was obviously unsatisfactory. Even Qian Gongyu felt that Jiang Shi was being far too rude. How was this any different from treating them like fools and trying to deceive them? However, they soon had no attention left for such a minor matter as the Storage Token.

Because the earth was shaking.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

Amid the violent tremors, the timber and stones around the wooden house seemed to be controlled by invisible builders. At an unbelievable speed, they were transformed into materials and incorporated into the construction. First, the wooden house was instantly dismantled. Then it merged with the newly added timber and stone, becoming a larger, more spacious, and sturdier Stone House.

Some of the stone was shaped into neat blocks and stacked outside into a wall. Some of the timber, meanwhile, was assembled with a clatter into huge wooden ballistae. Because Jiang Shi had brought back so much timber, six ballistae were built in total, all installed in the courtyard.

Once everything settled, the three women were speechless. They looked like rustic village girls who had never seen the world, touching the Stone House here, the wall there, and then reaching out to feel the wooden ballistae, their faces full of shock.

Of course, they weren't shocked by these things themselves. If the instance allowed them to bring slaves and supplies inside, even Qian Gongyu would have been capable of fortifying this place into a bunker. Unfortunately, this was a randomly matched Secret Realm, and the trial's hallucinations arrived very quickly. Even if they had thought of modifying the stronghold, they hadn't had time to put the idea into practice.

From ancient times until now, everyone had believed that the Wandering Star Forest Secret Realm was meant to temper one's will. Heralds could only hide in the wooden house and endure the pressure caused by the demons' external hallucinations. No one had ever thought of modifying the wooden house, and no one had ever tried.

The three of them all realized that the history of the Wandering Star Forest was about to turn over a brand-new page here.

"Vooooom—"

An extremely shrill and unpleasant screech came from the wind. Jie Yuanshao's expression changed dramatically. She hurriedly called for everyone to enter the house, then immediately shut the door and spoke at lightning speed. "Don't even think about defeating the demons that appear. These demons are hallucinations—undying and indestructible monsters. Even if a Third Rank Herald killed them hundreds or thousands of times, they would revive in an instant. The only thing we can do is stay here until the demonic tide ends."

As soon as she finished speaking, thick fog suddenly rose from the forest, and huge monsters emerged from it one after another. Some were shaped like lizards, some resembled monstrous birds, some were bats with scythe-like tails, and some were winged lions. Regardless of their kind, they were all extraordinarily huge, their scales and fur incredibly thick.

Before them, even this upgraded Stone House looked utterly defenseless.

However, most of the monsters were merely passing through. They hurried into the fog, no one knew where they were heading. Only one lizard monster remained.

"Ferocious Lizard Demon!" Jie Yuanshao said grimly. "This is a demon that only appears in the Second Turn Secret Realm!"

With a roar from the Ferocious Lizard Demon, a large horde of lesser Ferocious Lizards appeared in the fog. In the blink of an eye, there were dozens, then hundreds. One after another, they roared at the Stone House, their cries merging into a single sound like rusted butcher knives cruelly flaying their ears and souls!

Everywhere they looked, there were demons!

"Don't panic, don't get agitated, and don't go outside!" Jie Yuanshao held onto them, but she herself was trembling. "They can't enter the sanctuary. It's just that the closer they get to us, the greater the pressure we endure. Eventually, our minds may even collapse, turning us into crippled husks... So if you feel you can't hold on, you must hurry into the fog during the gap between two demonic waves. That way, you can leave the Wandering Star Forest."

"Whatever you do, don't let the demons kill you. Although that will let you leave the Wandering Star Forest directly, your souls will suffer tremendous damage, and you basically won't be able to advance any further."

"Most people can't last even the first half hour, but our house is larger and we have a wall, so perhaps it will be a little easier." At this point, Jie Yuanshao couldn't help looking at Jiang Shi reproachfully. "You should have put the wooden ballistae inside the house. Then we could still operate them. Building them outside is completely pointless—"

Whoosh!

When a lesser Ferocious Lizard entered within fifty meters of the sanctuary, the wooden ballistae in the courtyard immediately aimed and fired automatically! With the twang of bowstrings slicing through the air, a sharp bolt flew over the wall and across fifty meters of grass, piercing the lesser Ferocious Lizard's head!

Blood sprayed as the lesser Ferocious Lizard let out a mournful cry and crashed to the ground like a rag, never to stand again.