Rapid Development, Mission Complete, Evil Demons Invade

"What happened?"

"What's all that noise this early in the morning?"

From time to time, people came out of their houses, grumbling unhappily.

Because of what had happened with Lu Lin last night, all the villagers had been so excited that they'd stayed up for most of the night.

They'd finally started to feel drowsy just as dawn was breaking.

Then someone woke them up.

How could they not be angry?

But when someone saw the sparkling crystals in that villager's hands, his throat bobbed. Only then did he say, his face full of disbelief, "Are those Monster Cores?"

"Impossible. How could there be so many Monster Cores? Look at that blood-red one. It already has nine markings. We couldn't possibly stand against something like that."

"Forget us. Even if Iron Hammer went out there himself, he probably couldn't hunt down a Monster Core like that."

"Good grief! Not only did you wake us up this early, you're trying to fool us too. Brothers, come on—let's beat him up!"

The villagers, still half asleep, grabbed whatever sticks and canes they could find and charged at him.

They gave him a thorough thrashing.

The man fell to the ground, wailing.

The Monster Cores in his hands scattered everywhere.

"You can't hit me! I found these Monster Cores over by the woods!"

"The woods have disappeared, and the ground is covered in Monster Cores. If you don't believe me, try cultivating with one yourselves!"

The man kept wailing.

Some of the crowd were half convinced. They picked up a Monster Core and tried cultivating with it.

Soon, a look of shock appeared on their faces.

He said, trembling,

"This is real. A Monster Core."

When Lu Lin arrived, drawn by the commotion that was growing louder and louder, he couldn't help laughing.