Chapter 119 - 114: Array Destruction Mission

Chapter 119: Chapter 114: Array Destruction Mission

It was a message from the Fat Monk.

That guy wouldn’t casually disturb him unless it was something important. Su Tan didn’t dare to delay.

After instructing Chen Xiaoqi to train diligently, he put down what he was doing and immediately logged into the Void God Realm. Because Su Tan was now one of the Virtual World’s administrators, his access was completely unrestricted. There was no time limit, nor were there any logging restrictions. He could log in anytime, anywhere.

Right after the Fat Monk sent the message, Su Tan logged into the Void God Realm and entered the Divine Mansion.

"What’s wrong?" Su Tan asked.

Seeing Su Tan appear, the Fat Monk came out to greet him, overjoyed. "There’s a massive movement in the Void God Realm!" he said anxiously. "After their army of two hundred thousand Yin Demons was crushed last time, they’ve changed their strategy. They aren’t planning to send ordinary Yin Demons anymore. Instead, they’re setting up arrays to directly guide over the powerful creatures from their side.

"They’ve begun building numerous Guiding Arrays within the Marching Battlefield, intending to use them to directly transport their experts over. If we don’t stop them, it could lead to a massive disaster. That’s why I called you here to think of a solution."

"Isn’t that simple? Just destroy their arrays!" Su Tan said.

"The arrays are located in extremely hidden places, making them very difficult to find. Furthermore... they’re heavily guarded by Yin Demons! It’s incredibly hard for the Ten Thousand Races Cultivators to even get close! I really don’t know what to do!"

The Yin Demons had deliberately concealed their actions. If the Fat Monk hadn’t discovered them by chance, they might have finished the arrays entirely unnoticed. At first, he had merely joked about the Yin Demons being quite clever; a grand array or two wasn’t something he took to heart. However... when he realized that there were over a thousand half-finished grand arrays—perhaps even more—his legs nearly gave out from sheer terror.

"You’re just afraid that if you issue a quest, you won’t have any rewards to give out. That’s the real reason you called me, isn’t it?" Su Tan said, throwing his hands up.

"Hehe..." Feeling as though his mind had been read, the Fat Monk rubbed his bald head and offered an awkward smile. "That’s part of the reason, yes!"

Without Su Tan here, he had absolutely no way to go to the Cemetery of Cultivation Techniques to pick out Secret Manuals. Without rewards, who would be willing to undertake such dangerous quests?

Su Tan shrugged, shaking his head at the monk’s antics. He carefully studied the distribution of the Summoning Arrays within the Marching Battlefield. Upon finishing, a wave of astonishment washed over him, leaving him silent.

There were just too many.

"There are over a thousand suspected arrays?"

The Yin Demons were indeed cunning. They had set up numerous arrays within the confines of the Marching Battlefield. A rough estimate put the number at over a thousand! All of them were grand arrays. Moreover, the number of arrays was still increasing. These were all arrays capable of transporting super experts.

"A mix of truth and falsehoods..." the Monk said. The Yin Demons were intentionally laying down a smokescreen. "Some are indeed real, while a portion of them are fakes. To confuse us, they’ve created countless arrays, mixing the real with the fake. It’s likely a precaution against our sabotage, which is why they deployed so many at once... Some might appear to be Guiding Arrays on the surface, but secretly... they might be deadly trap arrays."

The deployment locations were all basically marked by the Monk on a sand table. A sweep of Su Tan’s Realm revealed a densely packed spread. They were like stars filling the night sky. This was absolutely a massive operation.

"What should we do now? Their arrays... are multiplying by the minute. If even one or two succeed, they can bring their Yin Demon experts into the Marching Battlefield, posing a massive threat to the Ten Thousand Races Cultivators," the Monk asked.

Su Tan’s face darkened as he paced around the room with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, his footsteps halted.

"It’s not a major issue; it can still be salvaged!" Su Tan said. "Issue a quest to destroy the arrays!"

"But if we launch a frontal assault, the Yin Demons will definitely mount a full-scale resistance. All they need to do is delay us for a little while, and the arrays they’ve set up will activate. It won’t help the situation at all..." the Monk said.

"Who said we have to attack them openly? Aside from fighting them head-on, we can also use stealth and assassination..." Su Tan said.

"Assassination?"

"Exactly. This mission will focus primarily on covert operations," Su Tan said. "In fact, whether the arrays are real or fake doesn’t matter. As long as they can earn rewards, I think... the players will be very happy."

To the players, the Marching Battlefield was just a game. A game meant entertainment and play—fun was the fundamental premise.

"Are you saying they can get rewards even for destroying fake arrays? Wouldn’t we suffer a massive loss?!"

"We can give greater rewards for the real arrays and smaller rewards for the fakes," Su Tan explained. "By doing this, we can further stimulate the players’ enjoyment in searching for the real arrays. A mix of real and fake, but all yielding some sort of harvest—this will fully mobilize everyone’s interest in playing!

"Right, this mission’s main storyline will center on exploration and destruction. The uncertainty and the element of gambling—isn’t that a form of fun in itself?"

It was just like opening treasure chests. Inside, there would be grand prizes, alongside some cheap trinkets. Getting to gamble for precious prizes at a very low cost—how could that not be interesting?

"To lower the cost for everyone and help them better complete the quest, we can also provide the players with a mini-map marking the suspected array locations. The higher the danger, the more likely the place holds a real prize, and the clearer the marked point should be..."

Su Tan and the Fat Monk discussed their countermeasures and quickly outlined a viable plan. They had to provide the players with enough assistance.

"Go get it done," Su Tan said.

"Alright!"

Shortly after, in the Marching Battlefield.

"DING~ Attention all players, attention all players..."

The Monk controlled the NPC old man to issue an announcement to the players. "After a silence of over a month, we thank you all for your support of Divine War version 1.0! To reward all our players, the Marching Battlefield is about to launch a new main storyline event... Shatter the Yin Demons’ Conspiracy: Array Destruction Operation!"

The old man’s image materialized in the gloomy sky. Formed from thick smoke, he loomed high above, looking down at the players below. The old man didn’t appear easily. Every time he showed his face, he brought massive "benefits" to the players. Therefore, the vast majority of players highly anticipated his descents.

"Old man, you finally showed up! It’s been a month... Do you know how I’ve spent this past month? I’ve been waiting for your news every single day until my hair turned white!"

"Tell us, what benefits did you bring us this time?"

"I missed you to death!"

"Love you!"

Seeing the weather-beaten old man conjured by the Fat Monk, many players’ eyes lit up. The previous battle against the Yin Demon Army had allowed countless cultivators to break through overnight. They had been eagerly anticipating the next event. And they had ended up waiting for over a month.

"The Yin Demon Army suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of the Stag, inciting fury among their higher-ups. After executing hundreds of responsible parties, the demons have decided to make a comeback. However... this time, it won’t be as simple as sending an army to slaughter us. Having suffered greatly in the last great war, they are preparing to take a different approach. They have built Guiding Arrays within the Marching Battlefield to guide over their Yin Demon experts to exact their revenge!"

The storyline fabricated by the Fat Monk slowly unfolded.

"There is no shortage of powerful entities among the Yin Demons. If the guidance is successful, it will bring a terrifying disaster upon the world. In order to stop the Yin Demons from succeeding, the great Inheritors are leading numerous Ten Thousand Races Cultivators to shatter their despicable schemes and destroy the Yin Demons’ Guiding Arrays!"

It seamlessly connected to the storyline of the previous quest. There were no flaws whatsoever.

"Quest: Assassination - Destroy the Yin Demons’ Guiding Arrays.

"Reminders:

"1. The arrays consist of both real and fake ones.

"2. Rewards will be given for destroying both real and fake arrays.

"3. There are no restricted methods for this mission. As long as you can destroy the Yin Demons’ Guiding Arrays, any means are permitted. Inheritors, please feel free to exercise your creativity...

"4. The game will provide players with the suspected locations of the Yin Demons’ Guiding Arrays, as well as provide Teleportation Array Points to teleport players near the arrays.

"5. Based on your performance in the previous battle against the Yin Demons, the level of detail on the map gifted to you will vary. The more outstanding your performance was in the last quest, the more detailed your map will be for this mission...

"6. For specific details, please consult the lovely Qing!"