Chapter 128: The World Transformed
Lu Sheng was eager to give it a try, but the others did not agree—at least Xiong Dabiao and Zhuo Lei were somewhat opposed.
Only Zhang Tiandao supported Lu Sheng unconditionally.
Yet with Zhang Tiandao at the seventh tier while they were only at the sixth, they had no right to object.
Besides, Lu Sheng’s combat strength did not require their approval. Asking their opinion was merely a formality.
Whether they joined the battle or not made no difference to Lu Sheng.
He alone was an army. Destroying several seventh-tier creatures would be as easy as turning over his hand.
Lu Sheng returned to the new location of their settlement, right at the center of the entire camp.
This was not something he had requested; it had been arranged by Zhang Tiandao.
Lu Sheng had nothing to say about it. Li Kuang and the others were too weak, so placing them in the center was actually a good thing.
Still, it was time to improve their strength.
But where should he begin?
Simply providing red pouches did not seem sufficient to keep up with their needs. As for spirit fruits, he currently had no way to mass-produce them.
The main problem was that he himself needed spirit fruits. It was impossible for him to give the water spirit fruits produced by the water spirit fruit tree to Lei Yan and the others.
He would only strengthen his subordinates once he had ample resources.
He could not neglect his own advancement just to raise theirs.
He was incapable of performing that kind of saintly sacrifice.
After thinking it over, Lu Sheng realized that he had no better option for now. He could only provide red pouches first.
Red pouches developed rather slowly. It took nearly three days before red liquid was produced inside a red fire ant’s body.
Even with a large number of red fire ants, it was impossible to produce a massive amount of red liquid in a short time.
Still, Lu Sheng believed that within a month, Lei Yan and the others would reach roughly the fifth tier.
He had no spirit fruits, but he still possessed enough red pouches.
The only question was how much his own strength could improve in a month.
By now, he had reached the sixth tier in only about a month, and that was despite his relatively slow progress when he had first arrived in this world.
He currently possessed forty sixth-tier monsters in total. Once the blood mosquitoes matured at noon the next day, their tiers would rise.
Even now, Lu Sheng felt that a sixth-tier early-stage force could crush the Boar Forest.
But for the sake of caution, it was still better to wait.
By noon the next day, he would have forty-five thousand sixth-tier early-stage blood mosquitoes.
All things considered, that did not feel like very many.
It was not even enough to make up the remainder of the number of fifth-tier peak blood mosquitoes he already possessed.
Still, as long as he was given a little more time, the freedom of the blood mosquitoes was merely a matter of sooner or later.
It was just a pity that Wang Xian had still been unable to develop a blue-quality tenfold reproduction card.
This left Lu Sheng somewhat disappointed.
Time passed, and afternoon gradually gave way to dusk.
This was also the time when the otherworld passage was about to open completely.
Lu Sheng’s true body stood on Altar Mountain, gazing toward the rocky plain. From here, he could already see the black rift that had expanded to ten thousand meters in length and a thousand meters in width.
It was becoming somewhat absurdly large, and for no apparent reason, it made Lu Sheng feel a faint sense of dread.
As he stood there silently watching, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
“My people... I can hold on no longer... The world barrier is about to open completely. Monsters will no longer need to descend through sub-dimensional spaces—or, in other words, through dungeons... They will descend rapidly... You do not have much time left.”
“The true monsters of the other worlds are greedy... powerful... and they will not spare a single living creature on this planet.”
“I will use the strength I have left to stop ninth-tier and higher monsters for one month. They will be unable to enter during this month, and within the limits of my remaining power, I will do everything I can to help you.”
“Some of the vanguard forces of the otherworld monsters will arrive in six hours. Their location has already been transmitted into your minds. The strongest among them is an eighth-tier monster. You must eliminate this vanguard force, or the final month will be shortened indefinitely.”
“These are some basic records concerning the otherworld monsters. They are rulers of other worlds, and they are intelligent beings.”
“My final strength will transform into the Hunting Board. This is the last bit of assistance I can provide you. Survive, defeat the otherworld creatures, and I will revive once more...”
The voice went directly into Lu Sheng’s mind. A coordinate, a body of information, and a ranking board appeared there simultaneously.
After the voice disappeared, Lu Sheng felt as if the entire world had fallen several degrees quieter.
The sensation made him deeply uncomfortable, though it had no other effect.
After a few seconds, it vanished completely.
Examining the new information in his mind, Lu Sheng saw that the coordinates of the otherworld monsters’ vanguard force pointed to the rocky plain before him.
It seemed that this latest upheaval in the world was connected to the appearance of this otherworld passage.
This was the final straw that had broken the will of the world. Without it, perhaps the world’s will could have held on a little longer.
Lu Sheng felt somewhat irritated, and he was especially displeased with the Mad God Cult, which had created this otherworld passage.
If not for them, and if the will of the world had endured a little longer, perhaps he would already have led his subordinates into the otherworld.
Although he was unhappy, the matter had already come to this, and he could only accept it. Still, the Mad God Cult and Cao Minghua had both entered his list of people marked for death. If he got the chance, he would definitely kill those two bastards.
Next came the information about the otherworld monsters.
To Lu Sheng’s surprise, this was not a single otherworld, but five.
Could their world really be under attack by five otherworlds at once?
Lu Sheng found it difficult to accept that they were being attacked from all sides.
The Blood Moon World
Description: A blood-colored moon appears in the night sky from time to time. Its rulers are the Bloodthirsty Bat race. Highest tier: eleventh.
The Desert World
Description: Desert terrain covers most of the world. Its rulers are the Lizardmen. Highest tier: eleventh.
The Ocean World
Description: The oceans account for ninety percent of the entire world. Its rulers are the Fishmen. Highest tier: eleventh.
The Zombie World
Description: The world’s terrain is not much different from Blue Star’s. Its rulers are intelligent zombies. Highest tier: eleventh.
The Behemoth World
Description: Information unknown. It has no apparent interest in our world. On the only occasion it took action, it pierced through the world barrier, and the palm of a single monster flattened the Central Domain, killing billions of humans. Do not provoke under any circumstances.
When he saw the description of the final world, a powerful sense of danger arose in Lu Sheng’s heart.
A single palm had annihilated the Central Domain.
Blue Star consisted of only five domains—the Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central Domains. Lu Prefecture, where they were located, was merely one prefecture within the Eastern Domain.
It was easy to imagine that the Central Domain was vast.
Yet it had been destroyed by a single palm.
What kind of overwhelming power was that?
Fortunately, the monsters of the Behemoth World did not seem interested in their planet.
Even so, the eleventh-tier monsters of the other four worlds were not opponents Lu Sheng could deal with at present.
He did not know how powerful the eleventh tier was, but for now, he was only at the sixth tier. There was still a considerable distance between him and the eleventh.
Lu Sheng had little confidence that he could rise from the sixth tier to the eleventh in a single month.
At present, the strongest people on all of Blue Star were only at the ninth tier.
It was precisely because they were ninth-tier beings that they understood the gap between their own strength and that of the otherworld monsters was not merely a difference of two tiers.
It was an insurmountable gulf as vast as heaven and earth.
The stronger they became, the more clearly they understood that advancement grew increasingly difficult the farther one climbed.
The gap between every major tier was as vast as heaven and earth, impossible to cross.
The higher one rose, the greater the strength of the laws one needed to comprehend, the more difficult that comprehension became, and the more energy was required to advance.
Not one of these conditions could be lacking. Trying to climb higher with only one of them was already as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
The combined difficulty of both was self-evident.
The strongest beings on Blue Star were beginning to feel despair.
But they still had one final opportunity.
That was the assistance of Blue Star’s will: the Hunting Board.
First-tier monster: 1 point.
Second-tier monster: 10 points.
Third-tier monster: 100 points.
Fourth-tier monster: 1,000 points.
Fifth-tier monster: 10,000 points.
Sixth-tier monster: 1 source point.
Seventh-tier monster: 10 source points.
Eighth-tier monster: 100 source points.
There were no ninth-tier monsters. At present, there were no ninth-tier monsters anywhere on Blue Star.
The Hunting Board displayed the rewards obtained from killing monsters. But beyond those rewards, the small cart beneath the board was the true key.
A shop.
Yes, a shop.
Points could be used to exchange for food, clothing, low-tier functional cards, and more.
Almost anything could be exchanged for.
Source points were different. The things that could be obtained with source points were far more powerful.
There were five items in total, each divided into basic, intermediate, advanced, and supreme grades. The required number of source points was fifty, five hundred, five thousand, and fifty thousand respectively, and each exchange could be used only once.
Energy Infusion: The surest method of raising one’s tier, provided one’s comprehension of the laws was sufficient.
Dao Comprehension Platform: Accelerates comprehension of the laws.
Origin Mirror: Raises a monster’s quality, with red quality as the maximum.
Spatial Token: Allows teleportation to any location on Blue Star. Fixed price: five hundred source points per use.
Calamity Token: Controls natural disasters on Blue Star.
The appearance of the Hunting Board could be said to be the only hope the strongest beings on Blue Star had left.
Without it, perhaps they might as well simply wait to die.
With the will of Blue Star producing this development, the entire planet erupted into turmoil.
The frightened made up the majority. The appearance of this news even drove some people who believed death was inevitable into madness.
They began acting without regard for the consequences, and the atmosphere somewhat resembled the beginning of the apocalypse ten years earlier.
The delicate order that had finally been established was shattered completely in an instant.
Places under the control of powerful organizations were still relatively stable. Those ruling forces would crush anything that should not be happening with an iron fist, extinguishing the schemes of those with ulterior motives.
But in places without a ruling power, riots began to break out.
On Altar Mountain, Lu Sheng drew a deep breath.
After sorting through the thoughts in his mind, he finally understood what was happening.
At most, they had one month left.
He wondered how far he could advance in that month.
If he lacked sufficient strength to face the monsters that were about to arrive, he could only hide in a sub-dimensional space and bide his time.
If possible, he did not want to hide in a sub-dimensional space.
He glanced at the distant rift but had no intention of going to inspect it.
They had already said that an eighth-tier existence was there. Would going over not be courting death?
That matter could be left to the major powers to handle.
If even those major powers were helpless, then Lu Sheng would have no other choice either.
The appearance of this crisis made Lu Sheng decide to accelerate his pace.
If he could not deal with the Boar Forest, surely he could deal with other sixth-tier monsters.
Those sixth-tier monsters that acted alone were his best hunting targets.
He would hunt them while waiting for the blood mosquitoes to mature the next day.
With that thought, Lu Sheng stopped hesitating and prepared to act.
Just as he was about to leave, Xiong Dabiao sent someone to find him at the camp.
It was certainly related to the matter that had just occurred.
As soon as Lu Sheng walked out of his room, he discovered that the entire camp was in chaos. Everyone was terrified and at a loss.
They were all discussing the information that had just appeared in their minds.
Lu Sheng found this somewhat irritating. Was there really any need for them to behave like this?
It seemed that he needed to give them a speech.
Unfortunately, killing his own monsters did not earn him points, which meant he could not obtain source points either.
Otherwise, he could have exploited the monsters in his possession to farm a loophole.
Without immediately going to find Xiong Dabiao, Lu Sheng first called Li Kuang to his side.
“Gather everyone from our settlement and have them wait for me. I need to calm them down and reassure them.”
Lu Sheng looked at Li Kuang’s complicated expression and spoke calmly.
“What? You don’t believe I can lead you all to survive?”
At those words, Li Kuang’s eyes brightened. Lu Sheng’s words seemed to carry a kind of magic, and his panic quickly subsided.
“I understand, Lord Lu Sheng.”
Li Kuang went down to make the arrangements, while Lu Sheng headed for the conference room established by Xiong Dabiao and the others.
Only the four of them were in the conference room.
All four were present now, and the atmosphere was frighteningly silent.
Lu Sheng had no intention of wasting time with them.
“What is this? Have you all lost the confidence to survive?”
“Why are you wearing faces as if you are waiting to die? Don’t we still have one month?”
“But...” Xiong Dabiao said helplessly, “Their rulers are eleventh-tier existences. What can we use to resist them?”
“When the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. Do you think you are the tallest? Your job is to manage the camp properly and work hard to improve your strength.”
“The Hunting Board is our hope now.”
“Besides, so what if the rulers of those otherworlds are eleventh-tier? It is not certain that they will personally take action.”
Lu Sheng’s words struck the hearts of the other three one after another.
The room fell silent again, and Xiong Dabiao said nothing more.
Yet his expression still belonged to a condemned man awaiting death.
“What are you worried about? If refusing to resist means certain death, then resisting at least gives us a chance to survive.”
“Then we... will carve out a bloody path!”
The silent Zhang Tiandao finally spoke.
“Lu Sheng is right. If refusing to resist means certain death, then we will carve out a bloody path!”
“There are plenty of people stronger than us. How do we know that none of those major powers possess an eleventh-tier existence?”
“Perhaps our own planet has eleventh-tier beings as well.”
With Zhang Tiandao’s words, Xiong Dabiao and Zhuo Lei’s spirits recovered considerably.
The silence in Xiong Dabiao’s eyes slowly transformed into something fierce. Finally, he slapped his hand against the table.
“Fine! To hell with them! If they want our lives, we’ll slaughter every monster that dares invade us!”
“Exactly! The Hunting Board is our opportunity!”
The other three, having regained their composure, began to burn with fervor as well.
Under the coming disaster lay an opportunity for them to rise.
Seeing that their fighting spirit had been rekindled, Lu Sheng prepared to leave.
Xiong Dabiao stopped him.
“Lu Sheng, do you have any plans?”
Lu Sheng smiled.
“I have no plans. My plan is to sweep through the sixth-tier monsters first and raise my own strength to the seventh tier.”
“You can make your own preparations. I will not be acting with you from now on. If I do, you may not even get a taste of the spoils.”
Lu Sheng had no intention of giving away his resources, so he did not plan to act alongside them. If they did, they would only hinder one another.
After saying this, Lu Sheng left. He still needed to return to his settlement and give a speech to restore everyone’s morale.
The three men in the conference room fell silent for a moment.
Zhang Tiandao spoke first.
“All right. Lu Sheng has his own path. We cannot keep up with him, and forcing ourselves to follow will only drag him down. We should start thinking about our battle plan.”
“Mm.”
Xiong Dabiao and Zhuo Lei both nodded, agreeing with Zhang Tiandao.
The three of them spread a map across the table. It was a one-to-one reconstruction of District Thirteen, based on the map Lu Sheng had brought back that day.
As for Lu Sheng, he returned to the people under his command.
Standing at the front, he began to speak.
“I believe you have all received the information in your minds.”
“When the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. All you need to do is seize this opportunity and improve your strength.”
“This is a crisis for us, but it is also an opportunity.”
“With the Hunting Board, killing monsters will allow us to grow stronger.”
“I do not know whether you have carefully examined the Hunting Board. If you have not, look at it now. As long as you kill monsters, you can obtain everything you need to increase your strength.”
“I know what you are all thinking. There are terrifying eleventh-tier beings among those monsters.”
“But you must understand that our Blue Star is not inhabited only by the small number of people gathered here. There are many other powerful forces.”
“The high-tier monsters will naturally be dealt with by them. We only need to take care of ourselves.”
“Have you not killed enough monsters to survive until now? All that will happen next is that more monsters will appear.”
“But with the Hunting Board, I believe those monsters are nothing more than nourishment for our growth.”
“Why should monsters be allowed to invade us?”
“Why can’t we invade their worlds?!”
“If there is no road, then we will kill our way through and carve out a bloody path!”
“One day, we will kill our way into the monster worlds as well!”
Lu Sheng stood at the front and spoke. By the end, his voice had grown increasingly impassioned and powerful.
The blood in everyone’s hearts began to stir, though it remained suppressed, not yet released.
“I am willing to follow Lord Lu Sheng, carve out a bloody path, and invade the otherworlds!”
Lei Yan, Lu Sheng’s foremost loyal follower, performed his role perfectly at that moment.
With him taking the lead, the passion in everyone else’s hearts was completely unleashed.
“I am willing to follow Lord Lu Sheng, carve out a bloody path, and invade the otherworlds!”
“I am willing to follow Lord Lu Sheng, carve out a bloody path, and invade the otherworlds!”
“I am willing to follow Lord Lu Sheng, carve out a bloody path, and invade the otherworlds!”
The entire settlement of a thousand people erupted in a thunderous roar. At that moment, they no longer feared the road ahead.
If their strength was insufficient, they would improve it. With the Hunting Board, as long as they worked hard to kill monsters, their strength would certainly rise.
Before, they had lacked a direction in which to strive.
Now, they had one.
A blazing fire burned in their eyes.
It was the flame of vengeance.
The scenes of how miserably they had survived in the past replayed again and again in their minds, and their fury toward the monsters was ignited completely.
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