Was this the true Primordial Difficulty?

Ying Huaixu suddenly found this interesting.

Because none of this had been mentioned in the game.

The game had mostly followed the main story and unlocked new maps.

Gossip like this was probably something he could only hear after actually transmigrating into this world.

Of course, Ying Huaixu had not asked those questions at random.

He had felt something was strange back when he was playing the game.

When they did the world quest in Falling Radiance City, disciples of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had targeted them almost as soon as they arrived.

The key was that it had been a trap.

In the game, they had first uncovered the Thousand Mechanisms Sect's plan in Falling Radiance City.

They intended to sacrifice the entire city to summon Mile-High Heaven's emissary.

Early on, the players had worked themselves to the bone, destroying hideouts and killing Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciples, yet they had ultimately failed to prevent Falling Radiance City's fall.

The emissary had descended anyway.

In fact, if Lü Qingyi had not appeared at the end and scared the emissary away, they would all have died in Falling Radiance City.

So the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had not just been trying to summon the emissary-they had also been plotting to kill Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples?

After all, once the players sent the intelligence back, the sect had dispatched quite a few more disciples as reinforcements.

In other words, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had deliberately leaked their plan to lure people from the Divine Firmament Sword Sect over.

They were fishing for prey, while also gambling on the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's arrogance.

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect figured that no one particularly powerful would come to a tiny mortal city.

Besides, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect was watching the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, and the Divine Firmament Sword Sect was watching them right back.

But both sides were watching the big players. No one paid any attention to the small fry.

Having worked all this out, Ying Huaixu found himself torn instead.

He could tell the sect about this directly.

But no one would believe him.

They had not even reached Falling Radiance City yet.

But what if the sect did believe him?

If the sect sent experts to secure Falling Radiance City and perhaps even prevented the emissary's descent altogether, what would happen to his subsequent quests?

Besides, this mission was also an opportunity for Ye Ningshuang, a chance for her to show just how terrifying her Netherworld Spiritual Root was.

If he interfered and Ye Ningshuang lost that opportunity, what would happen to the subsequent Hongmeng Missions?

Ying Huaixu rubbed his brow in frustration.

"Young master, are you all right?"

Ye Ningshuang, who had been watching Ying Huaixu closely, hurriedly asked when she saw how exhausted he looked.

Ying Huaixu shook his head. "I'm fine. Just a little tired!"

He Xiuyuan spat out the chicken bone in his mouth and suddenly gave Ying Huaixu a meaningful look.

"After those questions you asked, I've started to think there's something suspicious about this mission!"

"First, the timing of those Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciples was far too convenient. And those bandits-looking back, it all feels like someone put them up to it!"

"No one out here would dare impersonate a Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciple, since our Disciple Tokens can verify their identity. And why would there be bandits so close to the Divine Firmament Sword Sect? It makes no sense!"

"So could this mission be a trap the Thousand Mechanisms Sect set for us Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples?"

Ying Huaixu stared at He Xiuyuan in surprise.

Holy shit, dude, something's off about you. You were a total lovesick idiot in the game! None of this ever happened!

He Xiuyuan suddenly stood up.

"No, if this really is a Thousand Mechanisms Sect trap, they would've known our approximate location the moment you killed that first disciple. We're in danger!"

Ying Huaixu shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about that. We're safe for now. They're casting a long line to catch a big fish, and we're just small fry. We might even be the bait!"

The other two Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples looked utterly bewildered.

What were they talking about?

Were we even living in the same world as these two?

Ye Ningshuang was also nervously clutching her clothes with both hands.

She was genuinely frightened now.

He Xiuyuan frowned.

"Then should we..."

Ying Huaixu interrupted him. "But this is only speculation for now. We have no solid evidence. No one would believe us, and we'd just give the Thousand Mechanisms Sect a convenient excuse to accuse us of slander!"

He Xiuyuan nodded in agreement.

"Something's wrong!"

Suddenly, Ying Huaixu's hair stood on end.

He had just seen a mass of red exclamation marks appear around the ruined temple!

"Shit! Stay alert!"

Ying Huaixu hurriedly called out.

In an instant, the five of them formed up back-to-back.

"Awooo..."

Just then, low howls rose all around them, making their scalps prickle.

Ding! Side quest: Slay the wolf pack!

Ying Huaixu drew a deep breath.

"Fuck it! Kill them!"

With that, Ying Huaixu shot forward.

Then he unleashed his perfected Heavenly Frost Sword.

In an instant, blue sword light flared outside the ruined temple, accompanied by the wolves' agonized howls.

Ying Huaixu, whose scalp had been prickling a moment earlier, was now delighted instead.

His experience kept rising.

Three hundred points at a time.

But before long, Ying Huaixu could no longer feel happy about it.

These wilderness monsters' stats were way too fucking high.

The ones he had killed earlier were all fodder.

Soon, however, the elite monsters appeared.

At the sight of those elites, Ying Huaixu truly felt the difficulty of the Hongmeng World for the first time.

No wonder Primordial Difficulty was exclusively for players who spent money.

On normal difficulty, elite wilderness monsters-especially Gray-Furred Wolves like these-were only the size of small calves at most.

But the elite wolves before him stood five meters tall.

And there were dozens of them.

"How the fuck am I supposed to fight these?"

Ying Huaixu was stunned.

He actually felt the urge to turn around and run.

But he couldn't fucking escape.

The elite monsters surrounded Ying Huaixu in an instant.

They were extremely aggressive, and their attacks were blindingly fast.

Bam!

One of the elite monsters swatted Ying Huaixu away.

Before he even hit the ground, another wolf sent him flying again with a swipe of its paw.

Then came the third, the fourth...

Meanwhile, the number of Blood-Coagulating Pills in Ying Huaixu's equipment slots dropped like a ticking countdown!

"Fuck, am I a spinning top to you?"

Ying Huaixu was shocked to discover that he could even be stun-locked.

The instant the stun wore off, Ying Huaixu dodged.

Then he hurried out of the wolves' attack range.

He Xiuyuan and the others stared at Ying Huaixu in shock.

After taking attacks like those, Ying Huaixu had not even coughed up blood.

Was he really only at the Body Tempering Fifth Layer?

Ying Huaixu roared, "What the fuck are you staring at? If you don't do something, we're all going to die!"

He Xiuyuan immediately snapped out of it.

"Don't panic, junior brother! I'll help you!"

Then He Xiuyuan drew his sword as well and charged at the elite wolves.

But the very next second...

Whoosh...

Ying Huaixu felt a gust of wind rush past him.

Then came a bang!

Ying Huaixu turned around in bewilderment.

He saw He Xiuyuan coughing up blood as he staggered to his feet amid the rubble.

"Hey, hey, hey... You can't even take one fucking hit? You've got to be kidding me!"