Heavenmark Strategy, Nightmare's Intrusion

Heavenmark Continent.

After another century of recovery, the population of the entire continent has increased dramatically.

Countless heroes rose up, began recruiting men, raised the banner of pacifying the world, and began to wage war in all directions, attempting to unify the continent and establish a lifetime of merit.

At the same time, the major religious orders began to choose wise leaders, invest in them, or simply send their own people to compete for dominance on the continent.

Of these, only three cults have the authority to determine the future direction of the continent. One of them is the Church of Doom, which possesses the means to travel the entire continent at high speed, making it extremely important in this era of inconvenient transportation.

Secondly, there is the Assassin Order. Although it suffered a split decades ago, it still has a strong foundation and commands a large number of lineage Assassin. However, their members are scattered, and each lineage Assassin chooses a wise master they recognize and uses their own beliefs to uphold justice for the world.

Finally, there is the Shadow Cult, a cult that rose to prominence in the last century. They possess extremely powerful cultivation techniques, and anyone who joins can obtain the power of the shadows. Their leader is Undying Witch, the ruler of the shadows, the Black Day.

Winter has arrived, and even the sun high in the sky is no longer dazzling. The sunlight feels bitingly cold. In this frigid world, only the yellow wine in the tavern and the fireplace on my chest can bring a trace of warmth.

The once bustling tavern was suddenly unusually An Jing, which puzzled the arriving guests, but they still chose to push open the door and enter.

After all, winter is already so cold. If he didn't have a sip of yellow wine and the comforting warmth of the tavern waitress, he feared he would lose the motivation to go out in the winter.

As he pushed open the door, some familiar customers nodded to him. The owner behind the counter served him a glass of Shaoxing wine and a dish of fennel beans as a snack, as was customary. He wasn't interested in figuring out how many ways there were to write fennel beans, but rather in noticing the reason for everyone's silence.

In a corner of the tavern, four people sat at a table. All four were dressed in black robes, behind which was a red sun, though a horizontal line had been drawn across it. The four silently ate simple food, and the customer recognized them: the Blind Ones.

Rumor has it that an internal strife also occurred within the Shadow Cult, with a faction splitting off and calling themselves the Blind Ones, who also possess the power of the shadows.

But aren't the Blind Ones supposed to only oppose the Shadow Cult? Why are they here?

Looking at the maid's ample breasts, the customer lost all interest in making a sexual encounter. He obediently drank the yellow wine, finished his fennel beans, picked up the wood-chopping knife he had left at the tavern, and went to chop wood. Even in winter, one needs to work to support oneself.

Especially when there was important intelligence, the woodcutter would wander around the mountain and soon arrive near a cave. After carefully observing that no one was following him, the woodcutter would enter the cave and then walk as if he were walking up stairs, as if he were going down into the depths of the earth. The further he walked, the darker and An Jing it became.

Despite the complete darkness, the woodcutter had clearly been here more than once. He walked steadily downhill and soon heard some faint crawling sounds. The woodcutter immediately stopped and respectfully lowered himself down.

"Four Blind Ones appeared in Cloud City today. They arrived last night and immediately requested an audience with the city lord, but he did not entertain them. They slept in the stables of the tavern last night."

Soon the crawling sounds faded into the distance, and the woodcutter quickly turned and left. Strangely enough, he had walked for a long time to come, but returned very quickly, taking only a few steps to exit the cave.

Seeing that it was getting late, the woodcutter quickly carried his axe and firewood back to Cloud City. He found that the city's entry checks were much stricter than before. He put the chopped firewood behind the tavern and left his axe there, since he would be coming back the next day anyway.

The Blind Ones who used to be in the tavern was gone, and the tavern seemed to have returned to its former liveliness. Busty waitresses moved among the farmers and drunkards, occasionally returning to the backyard to do something like half-closing the door.

After exchanging a glance with the tavern owner, the woodcutter drank another bowl of yellow wine to warm himself up, then swayed back to his still relatively intact hut. He counted the silver under his bed, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

The appearance of the Blind Ones in Cloud City can only be explained by one thing: the Shadow Cult's next target is Cloud City. If nothing unexpected happens, war is imminent, and their hard-won stable life is ruined.

The next day, the woodcutter went to the tavern again, took the wood-chopping knife from the tavern, drank some wine, and then went out of town again to chop wood on the mountain. He took out the wood-chopping knife, took off the wooden handle, and gently broke it in half. Inside, there was a hidden compartment for storing small notes.

Upon taking out the message, the woodcutter discovered that unlike the usual open letters, this one was a coded message, requiring special methods to read. This meant that he, as the messenger, was not qualified to know it, but the woodcutter was already used to it.

Holding the intelligence, the woodcutter returned to the cave and soon heard the crawling sound again. He held the note in his hand and raised it respectfully. The next moment, eight green lanterns lit up.

The woodcutter shuddered, then forced himself to suppress his fear. Before him stood a gigantic spider, and the eight green lanterns were merely its eight eyes.

The entire interior of the cave came into view: a downward staircase that seemed to have no end, with endless darkness on both sides.

After seeing the contents of the note, the giant spider did not close its eyes as usual. Although the woodcutter was only a novice believer in the Church of Doom and worked for the Church of Doom to pass on information mostly for money, he understood what the spider was about to do.

So the woodcutter hurriedly retreated, but the cave, which he could usually escape in a few steps, now seemed to have an endless staircase, with no exit in sight, and he was easily caught by the spider.

With its eight legs pulling on the silk threads, the spider easily wrapped around the woodcutter. Its huge, venomous mouthparts bit into the woodcutter's body, injected something, and then continued to wrap him up with silk threads, leaving only a silkworm behind. The spider then slowly closed its eyes and retreated.

After an unknown amount of time, a sound came from the darkness. The woodcutter stood up again and easily walked out of the cave down the stairs. The woodcutter's demeanor had completely changed.

He skillfully searched the surroundings and soon saw Blood Script appear on the rock wall beside the cave, describing the mission:

"Contractor No. 3799, welcome to Nightmare Space."

"This is the tenth nightmare world you've experienced— the Heavenmark Continent. If you complete the final golden quest, you will have the opportunity to make a wish."

"The Ultimate Golden Mission: Destroy the Shadow Cult."