Chapter 133 : Lord Guan Appears? Absolutely Impossible!
Chapter 133: Lord Guan Appears? Absolutely Impossible!
The location of the Core Corruption Zone of Wo Niu Mountain had already been confirmed.
Because as long as aerial reconnaissance was conducted, one could clearly see that the center of Wo Niu Mountain was shrouded in a large area of mist, with some sort of power isolating that region from the rest, making it impossible to directly scout what lay within.
The Calamity Army, with the help of multiple native NPCs including Zhou Ji, discovered several routes into the central region of Wo Niu Mountain. Thus, they decided to split their forces and act from multiple directions, hoping to quickly find the correct method of entry.
The squad led by Black-Eyed Rui Ge chose a southern path.
This elite squad of twenty-five players was quite formidable. They easily wiped out the various mutated beasts on the outskirts of Wo Niu Mountain, and up until now, the team had suffered no casualties.
“We’re already inside Wo Niu Mountain!” Black-Eyed Rui Ge judged roughly through the map. “If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to complete the exploration of this route today!”
The internal environment of Wo Niu Mountain was extremely hostile. The closer they got to the center, the more severe the corruption they witnessed became.
“There’s a valley up ahead. It might lead to the Core Corruption Zone, but it looks like there are quite a few humanoid monsters inside!” Chenxi reported what she saw through the Thunderhorn Eagle’s vision.
Salted Fish Thrust perked up and said, “All the monsters we’ve encountered so far were twisted aberrations of plants and animals. We haven’t run into humanoid monsters yet!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge nodded, “Might be related to the Core Corruption Zone. Let’s go take a look.”
The group of players entered a blood-red valley.
There were at least seventy to eighty humanoid monsters wandering within.
These monsters stood about two meters tall. At a glance, their body proportions resembled humans, just slightly larger in size.
But on closer inspection, one would notice they had no facial features. Their entire bodies were a bloody mess, resembling clumps of coagulated paste. It was as if some force had smashed and ground their skin, flesh, bones, and organs into pulp and then forcibly molded them back into human shapes.
What was worth noting—
Even though these creatures were unrecognizable masses of flesh, each of them still wore a yellow headscarf, tattered armor or clothing, and wielded various weapons.
【Yellow Turban Demonized Soldier】, Level 10 Elite Unit…
Description: Former Yellow Turban Army members who had fled into the Wo Niu Mountain region and were later corrupted by the Abyssal Nightmare, transformed into terrifying monsters.
Street Slayer was a bit surprised, “Eh? Yellow Turbans? Why are there Yellow Turbans in Wo Niu Mountain?”
Midnight Pig Slayer replied, “What’s so weird about that? Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang were Yellow Turbans too!”
Chimera Wraith also said, “After the fall of the Yellow Turban Army, Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao led a remnant force and turned bandit in Wo Niu Mountain. So finding Yellow Turbans here isn’t strange at all.”
Salted Fish Thrust: “Bah, who cares where they came from. As long as they drop Essence and EXP, that’s good enough. Even though they aren’t Tier-Two, there’s a lot of them. We’ll probably make a killing from this wave.”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge: “Don’t get careless, or we’ll die in a ditch!”
The group lay in ambush for a while. Once the timing was right, Black-Eyed Rui Ge activated Shadowstep, sneaked in, and took out one Demonized Soldier with a backstab, successfully drawing the attention of nearby enemies.
“Roar!”
Though these Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers had no mouths, their bodies trembled with a frenzied low growl, dealing mental damage to nearby targets.
Aside from psychic attacks—
These monsters could also dash short distances to strike quickly. Their combat style was raw and straightforward, yet quite dangerous.
Despite being a top-tier Level 13 player, Rui Ge couldn’t hope to win in a direct fight against twenty or thirty of them at once.
While the more distant monsters hadn’t arrived yet—
He quickly lured the enemy into their ambush zone.
“Kill!”
Salted Fish Thrust and Street Slayer, both Tier-Two warriors, were the first to charge out. Relying on their high defense, they absorbed the initial wave of attacks.
“Go to hell!”
Chimera Wraith raised her Flame Stone Staff.
This staff was looted from a Dragon-Lizard Commander, and after her upgrades and enhancements, its quality had reached Tier-Two, Green Mid-Grade, strengthened to Level 4.
The Flame Stone Staff not only greatly boosted mana and mental attributes, but also provided nearly +40 bonus to all fire-based attacks.
In the next moment—
A burning Wind Blade was unleashed.
It was Chimera Wraith’s signature skill: Flame Blade!
The Flame Blade was about a meter long initially, but as it traveled and expanded, it grew in length. By the time it struck the first Yellow Turban Demonized Soldier, it was already three to four meters long.
Swoosh!
The Flame Blade pierced straight through!
The target was instantly split in half and killed!
The residual force extended the blade to ten meters long—
Taking down three more enemies behind it and dealing heavy damage!
“So that’s a Fusion Skill? That’s insanely powerful!” exclaimed Toasting the Moon, along with the other players.
Chimera Wraith’s Flame Blade was devastating at close to mid-range and had strong spread damage at longer ranges. Its high speed made it nearly unavoidable—extremely practical.
At the same time—
Little Bell also joined the fray.
She wielded the Wind Blade Staff dropped by Green Eyes, the Dragon-Lizard.
This staff was even higher in quality than Chimera Wraith’s, significantly boosting wind-based damage.
Flaming arrows enveloped in fast-rotating green currents shot out. Although weaker than the Flame Blade in raw damage, they had twice the attack power, speed, and range of ordinary Fire Arrows, and only a 2-second cooldown.
144!
305 (Critical)!
153!
In just a few seconds—
Little Bell had taken down a charging Demonized Soldier.
She continued swinging her staff. Windflame Arrows fired like a machine gun. While the skill wasn’t as destructive as other green-grade attack spells, it made for an exceptionally strong Normal Attack!
Fast, long-range, short cooldown, highly accurate.
A must-have skill for kite-style combat!
This group of players weren’t ordinary. The first twenty or so Demonized Soldiers were wiped out without even getting close. But soon, the sound of battle drew in dozens more from afar.
This time, there were a lot more of them!
It put real pressure on the Calamity Army players.
Chimera Wraith launched another Flame Blade, hitting seven or eight enemies at once. Then she raised her staff again, conjuring a boiling fireball—
Explosive Flame Spell!
With a wave of her hand, the fireball turned into a fiery streak, flying into the group of Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers before exploding like a bomb—causing significant damage and applying a burning effect.
“Die!”
Street Slayer activated Savage Charge, tanking the frontline with Iron Armor Technique and a Protection Charm, knocking several enemies to the ground. A Qi-Slash then blasted more into the air.
“Let me show you bastards the might of my Frenzied Tiger Blades!”
Wielding twin sabers, Street Slayer used the Frenzied Tiger Blade Technique he learned from Zhou Ji. Unlike Qi-Slash, this skill had no cooldown, and every strike came with massive destructive power—it was a Normal Attack Skill.
In no time, he had taken down several enemies.
At that moment, a Demonized Soldier broke through to Street Slayer’s rear, about to stab him in the back of the neck—only to get speared in the butt by a Crimson Snake Spear.
Salted Fish Thrust appeared.
“Hahaha! Shadowstep is awesome—perfect for me!”
He had specifically trained in Shadowstep, becoming the first stealth-capable warrior. While less mobile than a ranger, his top-tier gear made his damage and defense unmatched.
Other players also went all out.
Though their team was powerful, the Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers were numerous, and as Level 10 Elite Monsters, their strength couldn’t be underestimated—casualties were inevitable.
Two Demonized Soldiers used their dash skills to dodge spells and appear before a warrior player. One of them chopped down on his neck with an axe.
Bang!
The Taiping Protection Charm shattered.
Thanks to Iron Armor Technique, his head didn’t fly off—but the hit still caused serious damage.
Panicked, the player used a Qi-Slash to push back the attacker—only for another Demonized Soldier to pierce his heart with a spear.
305 (Lethal Critical)!
After killing one player, the two monsters headed straight for the backline, aiming at the fragile monks and warlocks.
“Watch out!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge quickly dispatched the monster in front of him and activated Windstep, rushing back to assist.
However—
Right then—
“No big deal! Leave it to your chubby bro!”
Midnight Pig Slayer’s round figure charged forward to intercept, undergoing a jaw-dropping transformation.
A powerful energy quickly enveloped his body—
His physique expanded. All his equipment vanished, replaced by a suit of leather armor. Fine green scales covered his skin. His eyes became slitted like a serpent’s.
From a fat human—
He had turned into a humanoid, obese, dark green-scaled lizard.
He took a direct hit from a spear-wielding monster—yet only suffered minor damage.
“Hahaha! Think you can bully a healer? Eat my claw first!” Midnight Pig Slayer sneered and swiped his claws, sending the enemy flying, then engaged another in a brutal brawl.
After monsterizing—
Midnight Pig Slayer fought two at once—
Without falling behind in the slightest!
Toasting the Moon and others were stunned.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge’s eyes lit up, “Dragon-Lizard Transformation Secret Art, huh? Didn’t expect the fat guy to have learned it!”
All this time—
Healers were strictly support.
Their damage couldn’t compare to other classes.
But after the Dragon-Lizard Transformation Secret Art appeared in the territory, the healer role had undeniably changed.
Midnight Pig Slayer’s health and defense received a considerable boost, and his melee combat strength rivaled that of a Tier-Two Elite Monster at Level 11. He could easily fight and win against two Level 10 Elite Monsters on his own!
Of course, while the transformation was powerful, it came with limited duration and significant mana consumption.
Other than that.
Once transformed—
New skills would be gained.
For example, after Midnight Pig Slayer entered Dragon-Lizard form, he acquired several temporary skills such as “Rending Claw,” “Venomous Claw,” “Poison Resistance,” and “Combat Instinct.”
But his original skills could not be used in this state.
In other words, while the Transformation Secret Art granted Midnight Pig Slayer decent combat strength, it also made him lose his healing abilities and rendered him unable to support others in battle.
“So ugly!”
Chenxi looked at the fat lizard with a face full of disdain.
Although this skill could be learned with her attributes, she really didn’t want to become something that looked like that. She wondered if there would be better-looking transformation skills available in the future.
Chenxi raised her Brilliant Stone Priest Staff, conjuring a Wind Blade that struck an approaching Demonized Soldier.
Although she had yet to learn the Transformation Secret Art, Chenxi had already mastered several attack spells, granting her decent offensive capabilities.
After an intense battle—
A total of eighty-one Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers were eliminated.
Two out of the twenty-five players were killed.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge frowned slightly. Though the loss of two wasn't major, the fact that there were casualties even before discovering the Core Corruption Zone was not a good sign.
【You looted the spoils: Essence +2100, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragments +3800, Yellow Turban Demonized Soldier Axe +1, Yellow Turban Demonized Soldier Boots…】
【You looted the spoils: Essence +2100, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragments +3700, Yellow Turban Demonized Soldier Broadsword +1, Yellow Turban Demonized Soldier Helmet…】
【……】
Although the Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers were humanoid monsters, their Essence and Magic Stone drop rates were quite a bit lower than those of Dragon-Lizard Soldiers. Fortunately, their numbers were high, and they weren’t too hard to kill.
Eighty-one Demonized Soldiers—
Dropped a total of 170,000 Essence.
That was about 6,800 Essence per person on average.
A considerable income indeed.
After all, going from Level 11 to Level 12 only required 10,000 Essence!
Of course, in practice, those Tier-Two veterans who contributed more would get a larger share, while Tier-One players without standout performance would get less.
“This trip was definitely worth it!”
Toasting the Moon felt a surge of excitement.
Even if his share was smaller, this battle alone could net him over 4,000 Essence. Given how many similar monsters were likely ahead, he might even be able to ascend to Tier-Two in one go through this operation.
“These Demonized Soldiers have a surprisingly high gear drop rate. Almost every single one dropped two pieces of equipment!” said Salted Fish Thrust after checking the loot. “Even though it’s Tier-One gear, it’s all high-quality. The stats and build are pretty decent.”
The others were quite satisfied with this as well.
Even if the quest wasn’t completed smoothly—
They would still profit handsomely from this monster hunt.
After a brief rest, the group continued forward. They encountered several more small groups of Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers, but the low numbers made them easy to handle.
Not long after—
The Calamity Army squad reached the end of the valley.
A larger group of Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers appeared ahead.
Although this group was sizable, with only about twenty monsters, all the players present wore grave expressions.
The reason was obvious—
Among this group of Demonized Soldiers—
There were several unusual figures.
These humanoid monsters stood about 3.5 meters tall, with bulging muscles and extremely powerful builds. They looked like three Green Giants stacked together.
They wore yellow headscarves, their bodies were entirely crimson, and they were covered in bone spikes. Their arms were especially thick, their wrists broader than the waists of strong men, and their fists were as large as millstones—one punch from them would be devastating.
【Yellow Turban Strongman】, Level 11 Elite Unit...
Description: A special force cultivated by secret methods within the Yellow Turban Army. After being corrupted by the Abyssal Nightmare, they descended into madness and mutated.
“Tier-Two Elite Monster!”
“This could be trouble!”
“Good thing there are only two of them!”
This group was composed of twenty-two Yellow Turban Demonized Soldiers and two Yellow Turban Strongmen. Though the Strongmen seemed formidable, the small number made them manageable.
No hesitation needed!
Each one was walking EXP!
After strategizing with the team, Black-Eyed Rui Ge sneaked forward and launched a surprise attack on one of the Yellow Turban Strongmen.
The Strongman had thick skin and dense flesh. Even though he was hit in a vital spot, he didn’t fall—instead, he let out a berserk roar, stunning Rui Ge momentarily.
A giant stomp struck the ground—
Instantly unleashing a powerful Shockwave.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge was blasted several meters away.
25!
52!
He quickly steadied himself and consumed a Healing Pill. That roar had a stun effect, and the Shockwave was no joke—close combat would be tough.
Before he could fully recover—
The Yellow Turban Strongman charged up.
Twin massive fists came smashing down.
Taking the hit would mean certain death or crippling damage. Rui Ge activated Flashstep to evade just in time, then used Windstep to keep distance and countered with a Qi-Slash across the monster’s body.
45!
Barely a scratch!
This monster was insanely tanky!
Bone spikes all over its body began to squirm, quickly growing multiple times in size. Each spike was sharp as a dagger. It then activated Charge, launching toward Rui Ge.
He dared not take it head-on, relying on agility to dodge. Meanwhile, the second Yellow Turban Strongman also got drawn in.
“Now’s the time!”
“Kill the small ones first!”
With Rui Ge distracting both Yellow Turban Strongmen and several Demonized Soldiers, the rest of the team quickly cleaned up the weaker monsters, then focused fire on the Strongmen.
Though it was true the Strongmen had high health, defense, and powerful attacks, their combat style was overly straightforward and lacked tricky skills. Once surrounded by players, they were helpless.
Finally, amid enraged howls—
Both Yellow Turban Strongmen were taken down.
The players quickly looted the spoils.
【You looted the spoils: Essence +6200, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragments +9500, Yellow Turban Strongman Chestplate +1, Yellow Turban Strongman Talisman +10!】
【You looted the spoils: Essence +6200, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragments +9500, Yellow Turban Strongman Legguards +1, Yellow Turban Strongman Talisman +10!】
The loot from Yellow Turban Strongmen was far richer than from Demonized Soldiers.
The Yellow Turban Strongman series gear was Tier-Two Equipment. Though it was only White, Low-Grade, it was part of the Strongman Set. With repairs, it would be fully usable and quite valuable.
In addition to gear—
The Yellow Turban Strongmen also dropped a type of talisman.
【Yellow Turban Strongman Talisman】: Tier-Two consumable, White Mid-Grade quality. Consumes 50 mana to increase Strength +30, lasts 15 minutes, 45-minute cooldown.
Effectively increased Strength.
The higher the player’s level and stats, the better the effect. After the Protection Charm and Golden Blood Sacrifice Talisman, this was another new type of talisman—practical and powerful.
“Another huge haul of Essence!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge was pleased with the loot.
He planned to head back and try the Enlightenment Tower again.
He had a good feeling this attempt would succeed.
The group reached the end of the valley and saw ahead a vast forest dyed blood red, shrouded in dense mist.
“This should be the fog we saw during aerial recon. Looks like we’re very close to the Core Corruption Zone.”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge judged, “Let’s go in and see if there’s a path into the Core Corruption Zone.”
The players immediately split into scouting parties.
And before long, there was a special discovery—
Toasting the Moon returned to the group: “I found a strange cave.”
Upon receiving this intel—
Black-Eyed Rui Ge quickly regrouped everyone.
Twenty players soon arrived at the cave discovered by Toasting the Moon.
The cave looked unremarkable. If not for Toasting the Moon’s sharp observation, it would have been hard to spot.
【You are being polluted by Abyssal energy…】
As they approached, everyone felt an intense Abyssal aura, suffering various degrees of stat reduction depending on their level.
“Definitely suspicious!”
“That’s some serious corruption!”
“Even stronger than Luoshui Execution Ground!”
“There better not be anything weird inside!”
“Could this be the lair of the Core Corruption Source?”
“No way!”
“Doesn’t look like it!”
“Whatever—charge in! When has the Calamity Army ever been afraid?!”
“……”
Everyone began discussing in a flurry.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge asked, “Toasting the Moon, did you go in?”
Toasting the Moon nodded and said, “Did some preliminary scouting. The space inside is extremely vast—almost eerily so. The pollution was too intense, so I didn’t go deeper.”
Rui Ge nodded. “Let’s go!”
No matter what—
Let’s go in first and talk later!
The players cautiously entered the cavern. It appeared to be gourd-shaped, and the further they went in, the larger the space became. It seemed to have been corroded by some kind of supernatural power.
The cave wasn’t dark.
Because there were many glowing white and green crystal clusters.
【White Abyss Crystal】: Tier-One Material, White-Quality
Description: A rare crystal formed from abyssal energy under specific environmental conditions. Widely used in forging, alchemy, and other production activities.
【Green Abyss Crystal】: Tier-One Material, Green-Quality……
They're materials?
And there seem to be a lot of them.
Though no one knew how they had formed.
Even if this place wasn’t the location of the Core Corruption Source—
Just discovering these resources alone made it a worthy trip.
As the players delved deeper into the cavern’s core, they found not only an expansive space but also vegetation. The trees were twisted and malformed like fleshy tumors, making it feel as though they’d entered the belly of some colossal beast. The players’ corruption continued to intensify.
“Everyone look!”
“What is that thing!”
They arrived at the end of the cavern.
There stood a massive red crystal wall, from which grew numerous veins, tumors, and tentacle-like masses. All the Abyssal Aura was seeping from this enormous crystal wall. In its center, a vague and imposing humanoid figure seemed to be sealed within.
Far too blurry—
Difficult to make out.
Could this be the source of the corruption?
“Who dares trespass upon this forbidden ground! Leave at once, and I may spare your lives!”
A deep and authoritative voice echoed throughout the vast cavern.
It could speak?
Everyone was slightly surprised.
Midnight Pig Slayer laughed, “Hahaha! Our Calamity Army fears neither gods nor ghosts, let alone death! What the hell are you, barking at us players? If you’ve got the guts, show your health bar and fight us!”
“Old Pig!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge stopped the reckless Midnight Pig Slayer.
He stepped forward to the pollution-filled red crystal wall and asked, “Are you Zhou Cang, by any chance?”
The others were slightly stunned upon hearing this.
Could it be that the being sealed inside the red crystal wall was Zhou Cang, missing for over a decade? Everyone took another look at the red crystal wall—it did look like a plug, sealing off some passageway.
If that were the case—
Then the area behind the red crystal was the real Corruption Zone.
This red crystal wall might be acting as a barrier, blocking the corruption.
Naturally, they thought back to Zhou Cang, who had gone missing in Wo Niu Mountain over ten years ago. And from that time onward, there had been no further outbreaks of corruption in this area. That would mean the person in front of them might very well be Zhou Cang, sealing the corruption himself.
That authoritative voice fell silent for a second. “Could it be—you are former comrades of Zhou Cang?”
Salted Fish Thrust couldn’t help but ask, “Wait, so you’re not Zhou Cang? Then who the hell are you, and why are you here?”
That voice calmly replied with two words: “I—Guan Yu.”
The moment they heard that name—
Everyone present felt as if they’d been struck by lightning.
A single, unified thought burst into every player's mind:
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
A character of this level appearing in the early game? Just thinking about it made it obvious something wasn’t right!
Author’s Note:
A new week is here—please toss me some recommendation votes. Also, just to clarify: I’ve been writing 6,000-character chapters every day lately, which is why there have been fewer updates per day. I’ll try to do double releases to hit 10,000 when I can, but since I’m not writing full-time, daily 10k outputs are unsustainable. The main reason is this book’s subscription rate is quite low—only a little over a thousand on average—so I have to work other jobs to make ends meet. That said, I still have many ideas for this story and will definitely see it through to the end.