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Chapter 243: 242: The Powerful Demon Clan! (16,000 words, seeking subscription!)

Chapter 243: 242: The Powerful Demon Clan! (16,000 words, seeking subscription!)

Translator: 549690339

Du Gang and the others didn’t have to wait long before the leader who had gone to change shifts walked over.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Now I’ll explain the situation of the Abyss to you…”

Although the leader has a hooked nose and appears intimidating, he is very courteous. It was unclear whether this was his general attitude, or if he was acting this way because the three of them were special.

“The Abyss, actually it isn’t exactly within our world…”

The leader explained, laughing, “The Eighteen Layers of Hell are separate, with each level being an independent space… Hmm, this space is the intersection between two realms, our human race can enter, and their demon clan can also enter…”

“Each level is quite similar, with the layouts also being the same. You should have learned about that, right?!”

Little Hawk King nodded, saying: “Cousin, are there three paths divided into upper, middle, and lower, with a defensive tower located at a certain distance on each path?”

The leader laughed: “Correct, according to the distance, we refer to the outermost tower as ‘First Tower,’ the second tower inward is called ‘Second Tower,’ and the tower before the third highland crystal is called ‘Highland Tower.’…”

“You better not take these three main paths. They constitute the main roads and are extremely wide. They’re generally where the official armies of both sides wage wars. Individual participation in the warfare would result in a high death rate…”

“Apart from these three main roads, there are mountain routes, river routes, and valley routes in between, which we call ‘field.’ Our human individual warriors usually operate in these areas…”

“As for the enemy, they usually guard within their territory in the field. Occasionally, some demons would cross the border…”

The leader continued, “These demons, some take a human form, some other shapes. But most are predominantly human-shaped. It’s easy to distinguish them because the demons emit a demonic aura, something you will recognize once you see it…”

He laughed, saying, “You have arrived at a good time. We are currently invading the demon clan’s First Tower territory. The enemies’ First Towers on the upper and lower paths have all been broken, only the mid-path First Tower remains…”

“So, you can safely explore the field areas on the upper and lower paths…”

The three of them nodded continuously. Seeing that Little Hawk King didn’t ask any questions, Du Gang, who couldn’t help himself, quickly said, “Cousin, where are the strong demons usually located? Where are the First Tribulation God-Spirit Level demons more common?”

The leader laughed, “The quantity of Third Tribulation God-Spirit Level entities in the first layer of the Abyss is limited, only nine are allowed, by either our side or the demon clan. But these entities are basically stationed at the frontline of the towers of both sides…”

“The Second Tribulation God-Spirit Level entities are also limited. In the first layer of the Abyss, each side only has 99 Second Tribulation God Spirits, and they’re basically divided into three groups, guarding the three paths!”

“So, you don’t have to worry about running into these powerhouses…”

The leader pondered for a moment and added, “However, you still have to be cautious. Because occasionally, some demons from the towers would sneak through small paths and attack other towers indirectly. So when you are at the curved areas between two towers, you must be extra vigilant…”

Seeing their serious expressions, he laughed, “Don’t worry too much, the demons rarely do this, it just happens once every few decades…”

“Now, our Abyss is quite stable. The forces on the three paths hardly move around; everyone is fighting on their own lines…”

Hearing these words, the three of them immediately felt relieved.

They were worrying they would encounter Third Tribulation demons everywhere. Now it seemed much safer!

The leader laughed, “Thanks to this multi-layered setup, the Abyss has basically become the best training ground on our continent. There isn’t a genius from any tribe that hasn’t gone through training in the Abyss!”

After thinking for a bit, Du Gang asked another question, “Cousin, how much are the corpses of these demons worth?”

The main purpose of coming here was still to make money.

The leader bluntly said, “As for the use of the corpses of the demon clan, I’m not sure. But our superiors do indeed recycle them. Prices vary according to weight. For God Spirit Level demons, it’s basically one divine crystal per pound…”

“Ordinary human-shaped demons are not heavy, merely tens of pounds, and the heaviest is just over a hundred pounds…”

Du Gang noticed that he was talking about God Spirit Level demons and curiously asked, “If the demon corpses of any level are recycled by weight, is the price the same?”

The leader nodded, “Same. When our superiors recycle, as long as it’s a God Spirit Level, the price is the same. However, powerhouses of higher levels cannot enter lower level Abyss. So there’s no such thing as people killing low level demons to make profits…”

“In addition, in the first layer of the Abyss, most entities at Second and Third Tribulation Levels are military personnel. So, ordinary people can’t come to the first layer to farm demons…”

He thought for a moment and added, “Not just the first layer, it’s pretty much the same situation up to the sixth layer of the Abyss…”

Next, Du Gang and the others gained some more knowledge. They said their goodbyes to the leader and headed towards the Abyss.

“If they pay by weight, aren’t we going to make a fortune?”

At this moment, Long Aotian felt as if he was about to drool. To him, these demons seemed like walking ATMs.

Little Hawk King smirked, “Didn’t you hear what my cousin said? These demons from the Demon Clan are tremendously strong, with intense physical power. Trying to kill them is no easy task…”

Long Aotian laughed, “What’s there to fear? We are three against one; can’t we simply hunt them down?”

“Hunt?”

Du Gang chuckled, “What are you thinking? Didn’t you hear what my cousin told you? The demons usually operate in small groups of five. Rarely do they split up. We are only three, and we are planning to hunt down a group of five?”

Long Aotian remained unaffected and said, “Let’s then wait. Just wait until we find a stray demon and then strike…”

Soon, the three men moved down the road. They traveled ahead, eventually reaching the sixth layer of the Communication Zone, also known as the God Spirit Level Communication Zone.

“Abyss Third Layer, Three short of Two, requires Four Tribulations God Spirit Level, powerful physique, proficient in close combat…”

“Abyss Second Layer, Four short of One, requires Three Tribulations God Spirit Level, skilled at reconnaissance…”

As soon as they walked in, they were dumbfounded by the clamor and shouting around them.

“Are they recruiting team members?”

The three men were intrigued, reminded of gathering at the dungeon’s entrance during their cosmic game, where groups would be formed amidst shouting and yelling.

“Should we recruit people?”

“Should we?!”

Du Gang contemplated and said, “Everyone else is in groups of five, and we only have three. That puts us at a disadvantage. Why don’t we recruit two more who are familiar with this place?”

“Sure!”

The three immediately started looking for like-minded people to fill their ranks.

However, as they looked around, they noticed a peculiar trend.

“The loudest calls were for recruiting Four Tribulations God Spirit Level for the third layer and Seven Tribulations God Spirit Level for the fifth layer!”

“Not only that, but it seems like there are more people on these two levels…”

Du Gang frowned, “That doesn’t add up. The First Tribulation God Spirit Level should have the most people!”

Suddenly, a pleasant voice came from behind them.

“First Tribulation God Spirit Level players rarely come here voluntarily. Most of them who come here are serving a term, and usually form teams at their respective family residences…”

Du Gang turned round to see a stunningly beautiful woman standing there, dressed in a suit of black armor that revealed just the right amount of her attractive figure.

“My name is Qiao Bing, and I’m at the peak of First Tribulation. I came here to form a team freely. Are you interested in joining me?”

“We?”

Du Gang was taken aback, “Can’t you tell this is our first time here?”

Qiao Bing smiled sweetly, “Yes, I can. But is there a problem?”

Du Gang furrowed his brows, “Like you mentioned, there are many First Tribulation players in family residences. Why aren’t you recruiting people familiar with this place?”

Qiao Bing laughed, “Simple. Most teams in family residences consist of those serving compulsory military service. They’re not really strong and tend to be extremely cautious. They probably wouldn’t even dare to cross the front lines…”

“This here is the Freedom Team Formation Communication Zone. Those who dare to come here are the strong ones…”

“Furthermore…”

Qiao Bing raised an eyebrow, pointed at Little Hawk King with a smile, and said, “You have one with wings here, an excellent scout!”

Du Gang frowned, “Don’t we have divine thoughts for reconnaissance? How far do you expect to scout?”

Qiao Bing chuckled, “Inside it’s different from out here. The sky inside the Abyss is gloomy, and the air is filled with who knows what element that severely limits the range of divine thought; it’s almost useless…”

“Not only that, but there are also many peculiar areas in the wilderness of the Abyss, filled with strange bushes. Anyone hiding in them cannot be detected by divine thought, and even their breath becomes untraceable…”

Hearing these things, Du Gang quickly nodded in agreement. The experience that came with having been inside made a difference. They knew more than he and his group did.

He turned his head to the others, “What do you think? Shall we join her team?”

Both the Little Hawk King and Long Aotian were intrigued. After all, their chances of survival would surely increase if they partnered with someone already familiar with the surroundings.

Worried that they might disagree, Qiao Bing added, “I’m an assassin, a very powerful one at that. I’ve been here three times already, and apart from the first time when I only took out one member of the Demon Clan, I eliminated more than ten demons in my subsequent visits!”

“Ten?!”

Although the trio was uncertain whether ten was a significant number, they inferred from her tone that it must be something impressive.

After some thought, Du Gang finally decided, “Alright, we agree to join your team!”

Qiao Bing immediately grinned, saying, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t be a burden to you!”

A burden?

Du Gang glanced at Long Aotian, then at the Little Hawk King.

He wondered if the woman had misunderstood something.

At this thought, Du Gang coughed and asked, “Did you team up with others on your previous three occasions?”

Qiao Bing nodded, “Yes. In my first attempt, I teamed up with my clan. They were too cautious, and just waited in ambush for the Demon Clan to come to us. We didn’t encounter a single one. In the end, I had no choice but to go in deeper and ended up encountering a single demon…”

She started laughing, “Though, I had better luck the next two times. I teamed up with people from the Ancient City…”

“You guys are from Penglai Academy, right?”

Du Gang nodded, “What’s wrong with being from Penglai Academy?”

Qiao Bing chuckled, “People from your academy who have survived the first tribulation usually have top-tier abilities. You’re all very strong. My successful ten-plus kills in the last two attempts were mainly due to the strength of my teammates…”

Du Gang suddenly realized; this woman thought that they’d come here for training after graduating from Penglai academy…

Those students are typically exceptional individuals or even saintly figures from various clans and, naturally, possess formidable strength.

But here’s the thing. The three of them are newly ascended god spirits. They snuck away to come here…

They exchanged glances, but no one volunteered any explanation.

Both Long Aotian and the Little Hawk King deliberately displayed their arrogance.

Seeing their behavior, Qiao Bing became more reassured, “Once we go inside, you’ll recognize my capabilities!”

Du Gang coughed slightly, saying, “So, shall we wait a bit longer? Maybe wait for someone who has survived the First Tribulation?”

Qiao Bing nodded, “Let’s wait. The Demon Clan usually forms teams of five. If we go in as a four-man team, one of us will have to take on two. It may be difficult…”

“If we go in as a team of five, it will be more straightforward – everyone will have an opponent. The weaker ones can slow down the enemies while the stronger ones can eliminate their opponents and then assist their teammates…”

“So that’s how it is!”

With that, the trio finally understood the fighting dynamics inside the abyss.

“Let’s post a sign here and wait!”

Qiao Bing quickly took out a sign and wrote on it, “Looking for one more. Preferably, a God Spirit who has survived the First Tribulation…”

“By the way, what are you guys good at?”

“What are we good at?”

Though taken aback, the three quickly replied in turn.

Du Gang starting off, “I’m good at learning. I always excelled in school…”

Long Aotian chuckled, “I’m good at spending money. People who don’t know how to indulge usually come to me…”

The Little Hawk King added, “I…”

“Enough!”

Qiao Bing revealed a hard to read expression and after rolling her eyes, explained, “I don’t mean that by ‘good at’…”

“Well, in the abyss, we like to assign labels to ourselves. You should understand, team configurations are usually set at five people, so this simplifies introductions and categorization – it’s much easier…”

“For example, I’m an assassin. That means I specialize in assassination, I have particular methods of stealth, my attack power is very strong. I can serve as the assassin in the team, or as a main or secondary attacker…”

Seeing their confused faces, she chuckled, “Allow me to explain slowly!”

“Normally, based on your specialties, you choose different positions and labels…”

“Common occupational labels include: Assassin, Support, Scout, Main Attacker, Secondary Attacker, Warrior, Destroyer, Tank and so forth.”

“A ‘Main Attacker’ is someone who, in a five-man team, undertakes the primary offensive role in the abyss. When encountering enemies, the weakest demon is given to the main attacker. The main attacker is the first to take down the opponent, then shifted to assist others…”

“A ‘Secondary Attacker’ is the second most offensive role in the team, facing the second weakest demon…”

“The ‘Scout’, like him, either has wings or some other ability that allows them to detect the demon clan in advance. Scouts are usually very important…”

“‘Support’ roles are rare. They usually involve individuals who excel at healing magic or other specific abilities…”

“‘Warrior’, doesn’t need any explanation. Most are warriors without defining characteristics, just filling up team numbers…”

“‘Destroyer’, the meaning is pretty obvious. Either they’re god spirits or have very strong divine thoughts. Such individuals often serve as the main attackers…”

“Finally, there’s the ‘Tank’, typically those possessing great physical strength. Tanks don’t play much of a role in general, but in teams with assassins or destroyers, they are invaluable. They can hold back multiple opponents, creating opportunities for the former to strike!”

Du Gang asked curiously, “So, does a team have to have people with different profession labels?”

Qiao Bing laughed and said, “Not necessarily. Under normal circumstances, a team with a scout, three mages, and an assassin is the strongest, having both offense and mobility. But, except for teams that have cooperated for a long time, most people are just matching up with teammates here…”

“So, there’s never a perfect combination. All kinds are possible!”

She added, “This ‘Destroyer’ doesn’t strictly refer to those with powerful divine thoughts. Generally, anyone with powerful attacks falls into this category…”

“Moreover, these professions are not your own labels, but are based on a certain attack power…”

“Say, for example, an ‘Assassin’. In the first level of the abyss, to dare to call oneself an assassin, one must have a single burst of at least 30 divine power, plus a way to conceal oneself. If not, you don’t qualify! ”

“Again invoking the example of a ‘Destroyer’, regardless of the means, you need a single burst of over 50 divine power or 5 divine thoughts to be qualified as a destroyer! ”

She chuckled and said, “Of course, there are very few assassins and destroyers. When most people form teams, they end up with five warriors…”

Pointing at the Little Hawk King, she stated, “I am an assassin, he is a scout. What about you two?”

The trio had already gathered some information from Qiao Bing and knew this woman had misunderstood them, believing they were strong contenders fresh out of the academy.

However, the trio didn’t explain and pretended to be something they weren’t. The Little Hawk King didn’t say anything and simply accepted his assumed role as a scout.

Du Gang and Long Aotian exchanged glances.

Du Gang coughed lightly and declared, “I might be support!”

“Support?”

Qiao Bing laughed, “What skills do you have?”

Du Gang didn’t hesitate to show off his divine pen.

“You’re a Confucian scholar?!”

Qiao Bing was surprised, but then became extremely enthusiastic, “Oh my! I can’t believe I bumped into a Confucian scholar, I’m so lucky!”

With her face glowing a bright red, she looked as though she had stumbled upon an unexpected treasure.

Du Gang was surprised, “Are Confucian scholars really that popular in the abyss?”

“Absolutely!”

Qiao Bing excitedly said, “Scholars are not simple, with a hand in prophecy technique, they can attack the enemy or strengthen friends, they are definitely hot favorites in the abyss!”

Hearing this, Du Gang finally let out a sigh of relief.

At least he was of some use, he shouldn’t die in a pit…

After a moment of happiness, she turned to Long Aotian and asked, “What about you? What profession are you?”

Scout, support, compared to a warrior, these are quite rare. In her eyes, Little Hawk King and Du Gang were those with strong scouting and support capabilities.

One with wings naturally advances and retreats, one has the means of prophecy, simply invincible!

Therefore, she also started expecting Long Aotian’s performance because she discovered that Long Aotian had a pair of horns on his head.

This is a symbol of the people of Dragon Family in the Ancient City, this means that his strength should be very strong!

Long Aotian began to ponder.

What am I good at?

What is my profession?

Support? No!

Scout? No!

Tank? No, either!

Assassin? Even less!

Warrior?!!

But as a warrior… is it too ordinary?

These two guys, one is a scout, one is support, and I am the only warrior? It’s such a loss…

“Cough cough!”

After a long time thinking, Long Aotian coughed and said: “I guess I can probably be considered half a Destroyer…”

“Great!”

Qiao Bing had an excited look on her face, “I am so lucky to have met you guys!”

“A destroyer, a scout, a support, plus me, an assassin, if we had another tank, it would be perfect!”

While she was excitedly immersed in her own world, Du Gang and Little Hawk King quickly cast their gaze towards Long Aotian.

Du Gang glared at him: You don’t know your own strength, dares to choose Destroyer?

Little Hawk King glared at him: Truly shameless, do you even have two Pascals of Divine Thought? You choose to be a Destroyer?!

Du Gang: Exactly, the demand for Destroyers is to have a single outbreak of at least 5 Pascal Divine Thoughts or attacks above 50 Ers of Divine Power, do you fucking have that?

Long Aotian: I don’t care, you guys are scouts and supports, I am the only warrior? Besides, as I just explained, I’m half a destroyer. I’ve got the Pascals and the Ers, I’m just lacking some numbers at the front…

Du Gang: Psh, shameless!

Little Hawk King: You fucking don’t set people up, be self-aware later, and don’t occupy the Master Transmit position!

At that moment, a masculine porcelain voice came through.

“Everyone, I just heard that you’re looking for a tank?”

The four of them quickly woke up and looked over.

They saw a burly man with two bull horns on his head, holding a three-meter-high large shield, looking at them.

“Wow, he’s so tall!”

This bull man was two and a half meters tall, the shield was three meters, his body was full of muscles, he looked very attractive.

Seeing people coming and going, the bull man quickly said: “My name is Niu Dazhuang, peak of First Tribulation, strength is extraordinary, able to fight one against two, is an outstanding tank, with rich experience in being a tank…”

“You’re the one!”

Qiao Bing set her eyes on him and laughed: “Your size is enough!”

Niu Dazhuang’s face was joyous, “Thank you!”

Qiao Bing then put away the sign.

She laughed: “It looks like we have gathered our people!”

“Next, let’s decide on the Master Transmit and Assistant Transmit!”

She didn’t hesitate for long, and immediately said: “Brother Long, you will be the Master Transmit, and I will be the Assistant Transmit, how about it?”

Du Gang and Little Hawk King immediately opened their eyes wide, staring at Long Aotian.

Long Aotian nodded finally after seeing the expectations in Qiao Bing’s eyes and the excited look of Niu Dazhuang beside her.

Can’t you see what your abilities are, you dog?

Du Gang was silent for two seconds then, “Everyone, let’s do a simple self-introduction.”

Qiao Bing and Niu Dazhuang immediately looked at them.

Du Gang started first, saying: “My name is Du Gang, a student of Penglai Academy in the Ancient City, out for the first time for training, with mastery in prophecy technique…”

“From Penglai Academy?”

Qiao Bing was somewhat surprised, “I thought you were from Holy Confucian Academy, what is your prophecy art?”

Du Gang laughed: “Oh, I exchanged it with Holy Confucian Academy using a Saint’s technique…”

“What?!”

Qiao Bing and Niu Dazhuang both stared at him in shock, “Exchanging with a Saint’s technique… Amazing!”

They both involuntarily gave him a thumbs up!

Du Gang coughed and didn’t talk anymore.

Next was Little Hawk King, he said: “I’m similar to Du Gang, I’m also from Penglai Academy, it’s my first time out…”

Perhaps feeling that he was not prominent enough, he added, “On my way here, I encountered an attack by a Third Tribulation God Spirit and I escaped…”

“What!?””

Qiao Bing and Niu Dazhuang were once again shocked and overjoyed.

This time, their luck was extremely good, they actually ran into three top-level talents!

And they are the type of top-level talents that just came out.

If a permanent team could be formed, it would be amazing. They could eat the good and spicy food later!

Suddenly, the three of them turned their attention to Long Aotian again, full of expectations.

They seemed to want to hear about his great achievements.

Long Aotian’s head was in a mess.

The two guys in front were too arrogant, always leaving him behind, making him lose face.

What should be said?

Should I say that I can transform?

You say I have dragon horns?

After pondering for a moment, Long Aotian finally spoke.

“My name is Long Aotian, let’s skip the rest, and just talk about what happened recently. An exchange team from the Holy Confucian Academy came to our Penglai Academy, and we had a large-scale combat competition with 33 combatants each. At the time, I fought against the strongest Confucian scholar!”

What a shameless bragger!

Right now, Du Gang wishes he could expose Long Aotian on the spot. Why did he let him fight Yang Jun without any points?

Long Aotian was perfectly calm, not disturbed at all.

I’m not lying; I indeed fought against the Confucian scholar, the strongest representative!

“What?!”

Qiao Bing and Niu Dazhuang were shocked again.

Long Aotian fought the top Confucian scholar sent over by the Holy Confucian Academy?

Doesn’t it mean that he is the strongest in Penglai Academy ?!!

We’re lucky!

Qiao Bing, full of excitement, said, “Let’s hurry up and leave!”

Du Gang coughed, asking, “errr, may I ask how we should fight once we get in?”

“Oh oh!”

Qiao Bing quickly remembered that it was their first time here, explained it to them excitedly: “Our team is extremely strong, with scouts, support, a destroyer, an assassin, and a tank!”

“Thus, we can use the standard formation, scouts will identify the movement of the Demon Clan to determine the target, the tank picks twice its number, in the front and then the support pulls an opponent. The two weakest ones are given to me and the main DP, we’ll quickly beat the opponent, then help the others…”

“Understood…”

The three nodded, mulling it over in their minds.

The main DP isn’t very effective, but the assassin serving as a sub-DP should work, right?!

“However, considering that you are unfamiliar with the abyss, I will take the initiative to be the team leader, alright?”

Qiao Bing explained, “Mainly to make decisions quickly, on-the-spot!”

The other three looked at each other, but had no further opinions and agreed.

As long as the three of them had no objections, Niu Dazhuang naturally wouldn’t object.

“Alright, since that’s the case, let’s set off for the abyss!”

Qiao Bing smiled, leading the way, explaining, “Each layer of the abyss has an entrance below, the first layer is closest to the surface, and it takes us only half an hour to get there!”

Soon, under Qiao Bing’s guidance, the five successfully arrived at the entrance to the first level of the abyss.

At the entrance, there was a particularly large platform, and on the edge of the platform, there was a mirror-like feature as if standing on the ground.

“That’s the first level of the abyss, going through there leads to the main camp…” Qiao Bing timely explained.

At this moment, many people were still standing on the platform, all looking at them.

Faced with these weird looks, Du Gang whispered a question, “What are these people doing?!”

Qiao Bing replied, “These people came out from inside, they either lost their companions, or are waiting for people at the door…”

“Let’s go, let’s go inside!”

Truth be told, she didn’t really know either, after all, she’d only been here three times.

Niu Dazhuang on the side seemed to know something, but seeing her say it like that, he didn’t say anything extra and followed the others inside.

Walking into this water-like boundary, it was like walking into another world. The abyss, initially visible everywhere, underwent a change.

In front of them, a gigantic crystal fortress towered high.

“This is the main base, guarded by our military powerhouses…”

Du Gang and the others nodded, continuing to observe the surroundings.

In front of the main base, two towers that were hundreds of meters high boldly stood erect, while beneath them, a 30-40 meter wall circled around them. Similarly, soldiers on patrol stations were scattered above.

“These two towers are known as the Gate Towers, serving as the base’s final defense. If the enemy manages to breach this far, it would signify that our level of the abyss is on the brink of being overthrown!”

As Qiao Bing spoke, she continued leading the group along the path, gesturing towards the three roads in the distance, “Those three large roads correspond to the upper, middle, and lower paths, respectively, being fundamentally the battlefields of both armies. Don’t be deceived by how close they seem from here; the further out you tread along these roads, the greater the distances become…”

In no time, after roughly half an hour, they arrived beside another crystal tower.

Qiao Bing cheerfully stated, “This is one of the three path crystals, which people also refer to as the high ground…”

With that, she pointed downwards.

Indeed, underneath the high ground, there was a gap of nearly ten meters to the adjacent world.

“We will not traverse via the main path on the high ground, but from the centre of the two high ground paths…”

Quickly, she led the group along the wall to the central location, where a small gate was situated.

“Once we descend from here, that’s what they call the wilderness area…”

Saying so, she led the way by jumping down, with Du Gang swiftly following suit.

“See, observe the distant tower, as long as you stand a little higher, you can see it!”

She casually mentioned this, pointing in the direction of the tower which was slightly blurry from the distance, but still discernible.

“Determining one’s location in the wilderness is straightforward; find a place with an unobstructed view, observe how many towers are on each side, then you’ll know if you’re in the vicinity of the first or second tower…”

Du Gang nodded, committing these seemingly trivial know-hows to memory. These might appear inconsequential, but in reality, they could be life-saving knowledge.

He tried to probe with his divine thought. As expected, similar to the situation he had previously experienced, his divine thought was affected by an unknown element in the atmosphere. Even though the others were right in front of him, he couldn’t detect them.

“Don’t bother using your divine thought here, it is basically useless. You can only depend on your eyes. Furthermore, always be wary of the grass here as people often hide in it…”

While speaking, Qiao Bing took out a hand-drawn map and placed it on the ground.

“Let’s first study this map, and figure out where we should hunt next!”

Observing this, Du Gang immediately moved closer.

The map was incredibly straightforward, being square-shaped. The human base, labeled in human language, was situated at the bottom corner of the map, while the demon base, labeled in the demon language, was located at the diagonal opposite corner.

If you were to consider the directions, the human base is at the lower left corner of the map, while the demon base is at the upper right corner.

Aside from the middle road that ran in a straight line, the upper and lower paths formed a right angle, meeting at the other two corners at the edge.

At the very center of these three paths, the human wilderness and the demon wilderness were symmetrically positioned.

Qiao Bing pointed at a small dot marked outside the high ground at the lower left corner of the map, stating, “This is our current position, belonging to the lower part of the wilderness area, that is, the wilderness area between the middle and lower paths…”

“Between our wilderness and the enemy’s wilderness, there’s a river. This river serves as the central point and is where frequent battles between the two wildernesses occur…”

“In any case, let’s head towards the vicinity of this river first, then set up an ambush at the valley along the edge, and watch for any enemy crossing the river…”

“If there are any and their strength is not too strong, we can try to strike first to get in some practice…”

Fearing that the other three might disagree, Qiaoping Bing hurriedly said, “This is a more cautious approach. I know you all are powerful, but we need to understand each other first. If our first cooperation goes well, we can consider infiltrating the river and launching an attack on the opposite side!”

“Alright, no problem; we’ll listen to you!”

Du Gang immediately agreed. In the abyss, there was no need for hubris. Qiao Bing had an abundance of experience, so heeding her words was the best option.

Qiao Bing nodded, gratitude evident on her face. She hadn’t expected Du Gang and the others to be so supportive of her team leading efforts.

At this moment, the Little Hawk King spoke, “What about me? I am a scout, right? When do I start scouting?”

No matter what, since we’ve come in, we must take it seriously.

Qiao Bing laughed, “No need for that now. Most of the people in our wilderness zone are our own. The Demon Clan is scarce, so there’s no need for reconnaissance…”

“We’ll see when we get to the river!”

After Qiao Bing finished, he continued, “Since we’re all fine, I’ll arrange our team formation!”

“Niu Dazhuang, you’ll be the tank, stay at the front to handle any possible ambushes…”

“No problem!”

Niu Dazhuang, who was clearly no stranger to the abyss, had no objections to this arrangement and dutifully moved to the front with his giant shield.

Qiao Bing nodded, “Scout at position two, support at position three, Destroyer at position four, and I’m at the end…”

Du Gang and the others found it interesting, like playing a real-life role-playing game, quickly positioning themselves according to Qiao Bing’s orders.

At this time, Niu Dazhuang asked, “Where to? Toward the horse race track or the dragon pit?”

It was evident that he was also very familiar with the terrain near the river.

Hearing such professional terms, Du Gang and his companions breathed a sigh of relief; they likely wouldn’t have found their way if they hadn’t encountered these two.

After contemplating for a moment, Qiao Bing said, “To play it safe, let’s head to the three-way junction. It’s near the next tower. If anything goes wrong, we can escape towards the first tower.”

“Let’s go!”

Soon, under Qiao Bing’s command, the team finally embarked on their journey.

When they finally walked into the forest, they realized how difficult the path would be.

The trees were dense and packed with thorns. Beyond the forest, there were stone walls forming mountain paths.

The stones were strangely shaped and twisted, forming a natural maze. Without guidance from a regular visitor, a stranger to the area would likely get lost.

Niu Dazhuang, who frequents the area, had no hesitation in leading the group through an intertwining passage, reminiscent of the Dunhuang stone caves.

In no time, they left the stone maze and entered the jungle again.

The trees in this jungle were close together and large, providing plenty of cover in this environment where divine senses couldn’t be used.

Du Gang glanced through a gap in the trees towards the distant tower, which slowly came into view as they neared.

“That’s the second tower down the road, right between the highland and first towers. It’s relatively safe here, but once we pass the second tower, we need to be cautious. Some Demon Clan squads cross the river and hunt in this area…”

Niu Dazhuang, leading at the front with his shield, jovially explained to the group.

“By the way, how are we splitting up the loot?”

On their travels, Du Gang finally thought of this crucial question.

Qiao Bing smiled, “Generally, within a fixed team, the loot is divided based on ability or strength. We however, are a newly formed temporary group, so we will share the spoils equally. So, every one of us gets an equal share!”

Upon hearing this, Du Gang, Long Aotian, and Little Hawk King heaved a sigh of relief.

Splitting equally is good, as long as they didn’t refuse to share later because of jealousy over their revealed powers.

As the group moved deeper towards the river, their pace was slowly decreasing. The joy and laughter of earlier had disappeared.

Everyone stared tensely at the path and surrounding trees, wary of possible ambushes.

Along the way, they came across two groups of the human wards team resting. They greeted each other briefly and quickly moved on.

Suddenly, Du Gang furrowed his eyebrows, “Qiao Bing, your map is wrong…”

“What?”

Everyone was taken aback. Qiao Bing looked confused, unable to understand what Du Gang meant.

Hadn’t Du Gang never been here before? How could he claim the map was wrong now?!

Niu Dazhuang, leading the way, looked perplexed. He often took this route and never noticed anything wrong before.

Du Gang frowned, “Your map’s scale is 1:3,000,000. The distance between the river and our starting point is 7.5 centimeters on this scale. Meaning, the two locations are actually 225 kilometers apart. However, we’ve already traveled 225 kilometers according to your map. We should be at the river by now…”

He looked at Niu Dazhuang and asked, “Niu, how much longer until we reach our destination?”

“How much longer?”

Niu Dazhuang paused, then replied, “About half an hour?”

Du Gang quickly pulled out a piece of paper and started calculating.

“Given your current speed, you’ll cover about…”

“Twenty kilometers in half an hour!”

Du Gang turned to Qiao Bing, “This suggests that your scale was wrong…”

“Give me the map!”

Startled, Qiao Bing quickly took out the map and handed it to Du Gang.

Du Gang quickly grabbed it, without a moment’s hesitation, he crossed out the old scale and rewrote it.

“1:3,266,666”

“This is the correct scale!”

The four of them were all dumbfounded.

This is… a true study king!

They didn’t know whether he was right or wrong, but his imposing aura…

Avoid provoking him, avoid provoking him!

The group remained speechless for the rest of the journey.

Compared to Du Gang, they felt their math education was wasted…

When I memorized multiplication tables, I thought I mastered math. Today, I realized, I did not!

Carrying these thoughts, they arrived at the three-way junction!

The name ‘three-way junction’ was fitting. In the middle of dense jungle, three paths diverged in three directions, starkly visible in the center.

At this moment, the tree-way junction was empty, not a single leaf was out of place, making it very conspicuous.

The group hid in the jungle, carefully monitoring the junction.

The jungle was dense, filled with thick trunks and shrubs. These shrubs were nearly a meter tall, providing perfect cover for someone squatting.

Not only Du Gang and his companions, but even the bulked up Niu Dazhuang with his huge shield, easily hid among the shrubs.

Qiao Bing whispered, “Basically, no one dares to walk on the ‘three-way junction’, because you never know how many people are hidden in the forests on either side, or how many among them are enemies…”

Du Gang chuckled, “So these three paths are basically ornamental?!”

“Not entirely!”

Qiao Bing chuckled, “At least it guides us through the forest and helps us keep our bearings…”

“See there? The path that heads down leads to the first tower. The one in front goes to the river. While the one uphill leads to the dragon pit and other places…”

On their way there, they hadn’t followed a specific path, but rather navigated through the forest, which is why there was no path initially.

Du Gang, always alert to their surroundings, asked, “So, what do we do now?”

Everyone’s gaze turned towards Qiao Bing, as she was now the team leader.

Qiao Bing directly said: “Wait, let’s squat in these bushes and see if any members of the Demon Clan appear. If there are some, and their strength is average, we’ll attack them!”

“Okay!”

So, the five of them hid in the bushes and squatted down.

After about ten minutes, a rustling sound suddenly came.

“Swish swish swish!”

It was a slight sound, but it was definitely a sound of movement in the bush.

“Over there!”

Qiao Bing whispered, pointing in a direction.

Everyone quickly looked there, indeed, from afar, the bushes were shaking and the leaves were squeaking.

Du Gang had already quietly taken out his divine pen and gold foil, ready to use at any moment.

Unknown to others, a small dagger had appeared in Qiao Bing’s hand.

Big Zhuang tightened his grip on the huge shield in his hand, looking like he was ready to charge out at any moment.

Long Aotian and Little Hawk King were holding their hands like claws, preparing for a significant move the next second.

“Snap!”

Suddenly, a figure jumped out from the bushes, followed by two, three, until there were five.

“Don’t attack, they’re humans!”

Seeing that everyone was a bit tense, Qiao Bing quickly shouted.

Hearing this, people like Du Gang sighed in relief.

After the five people emerged from the other side, they looked around and seeing no one, continued forward. Their formation was similar to that of Du Gang and his team, and there was a muscular man walking in front, with the others following behind.

These five moved quickly, at least faster than when Du Gang and his team arrived, and soon they disappeared from sight.

Seeing this, Long Aotian laughed and said, “There are no demons coming. Shall we follow them and see?”

But Qiao Bing shook her head, “It’s not necessarily that there are no demons, it’s also possible they just haven’t come out…”

“The Demon Clan could also be hiding in some bushes around here, but they didn’t come out because they didn’t feel confident about meeting these five…”

“Wait some more…”

And so, they waited again.

This time, they actually had a chance.

They saw five figures coming this way from afar, just like humans in appearance, but cloaked in a demonic aura.

“The Demon Clan!”

This time, even if people like Du Gang hadn’t seen the Demon Clan before, they recognized them at first glance.

“What should we do? Do we attack?!”

Qiao Bing thought for a moment, her eyes scanning continuously, obviously assessing the enemy’s strength. After a while, she nodded and said, “Attack, these demons don’t seem too strong!”

After that, she said, “The Demon Clan has a different custom from us humans. Only the strongest can walk at the front. Therefore, the tank you go and deal with the first and second demon, Scout, you go and handle the third person, Support, you hold down the fourth person and give us status in your spare time…”

“Destroyer, you go and deal with the fifth person…”

Qiao Bing didn’t call their names, but very skillfully referred to them by their positions. At the same time, she said, “Support, you note to provide opportunities for me, I will ambush your opponent…”

“Okay!”

The tactical discussion ended quickly. As the members of the Demon Clan got closer and closer, Qiao Bing suddenly shouted, “Attack!”

In a moment, Big Zhuang, who was already holding the giant shield, roared and rushed towards the enemy without a second thought.

“Oorah!”

The demons on the other side obviously had experienced being ambushed before. They yelled loudly and quickly met the enemy.

“Bang!”

With a loud noise, Big Zhuang was the first to collide with the leader of the demon squad.

His shield was very large. After blocking the first demon, it swiftly moved towards the second.

“Clang~!”

Caught off guard, the second demon was hit and staggered, looking angry and ready to kill Big Zhuang.

“Oorah!”

The first demon yelled at the second demon, as if saying, this is my opponent; you find someone else.

The second demon was dissatisfied, glared at Big Zhuang, and turned to leave.

However, Big Zhuang did not let him go. After knocking the first demon away with his shield, he leaped forward and stopped the second demon as well.

“Oorah!”

This time, the second demon was completely furious. Ignoring the yelling of the first demon, he directly charged towards Big Zhuang.

Seeing this, Big Zhuang sighed in relief and quickly started his defense.

As a tank, his top priority was certainly to pull in the first and second demons and draw their aggression. Only then did he consider his mission accomplished.

The rest had nothing to do with him. As long as the others slowly deal with their opponents, they could win.

In fact, there was an error in what Qiao Bing said earlier. In reality, any powerful character can potentially become the focus of the battle.

For instance, now that Big Zhuang was dealing with two, the remaining four had an easy time against three demons.

But the reality was not like this.

According to Qiao Bing’s plan, Little Hawk King was to deal with the third demon, Du Gang the fourth, she would ambush the fourth, and Long Aotian would take on the fifth alone.

The plan was perfect!

However, a problem arose.

Little Hawk King, Du Gang, and Long Aotian were not as strong as she imagined!

On the contrary, the three of them were newbies, all weaklings with only one divine thought.

Du Gang was a bit better. At least his divine power was 18, although he was still weak but slightly stronger than the other two.

“Puff puff!!”

LIttle Hawk King had just stopped the third demon when he started being beaten and bleeding profusely, oozing golden blood.

He knew that his strength was weak, but he didn’t expect to be so weak!

“We’re all just at the first tribulation God Spirit level!”

Little Hawk King was unwilling and began using his Claw Rifts the Sky technique.

“Claw Rifts the Sky!”

Not only that, but he had also transformed into a giant hawk and began to fight with this demon.

“Ah?!”

Qiao Bing, who was planning to secretly ambush the fourth demon, was dumbfounded.

Is Little Hawk King really that weak?

She remembered, she had seen another person with a hawk-like nose before, who was extremely powerful, and could kill a member of the Demon Clan with a single strike.

And their team’s Little Hawk King…

Not only did he not manage to kill in a single strike, he even transformed into a giant hawk and used the Supreme Technique…

“Bang!”

What stunned Little Hawk King was that his Supreme Technique, Claw Rending the Sky, was blocked by a third-level demon…

“It was blocked?!!”

How is this possible?!

He didn’t dare to believe it, and looked quite shocked.

This is a Supreme Technique, how could it be blocked so easily?

But he had overlooked that, even if it is a Supreme Technique, it requires energy to be displayed to unleash its full power.

The four types of Heavenly Energy techniques are, in a way, sources of amplification, and higher-levelled techniques create larger amplification.

However, this amplification is based on your own power foundation.

Little Hawk King merely possesses a divine strength level of one, and even if he has the Supreme Technique to amplify his power, the power he could exhibit is based on his level of one divine strength.

“Damn, was I deceived?!”

Qiao Bing was flabbergasted. She discovered that it wasn’t just Little Hawk King, but the other two were the same as well.

Long Aotian also transformed into a green dragon, and started battling with one of the demons. But judging by his loud threats but weak actions, this guy also had a very weak foundational strength, obviously his divine power was weak as well.

On the other side, Du Gang didn’t lie to her. A gold foil soared into the sky, indeed weakening the enemy’s strength…

However, Du Gang was still being chased and brutally attacked by the enemy, it was a critically dangerous situation where he looked like he could be killed at any moment.

Qiao Bing’s mouth twitched slightly.

I explained to them painstakingly for half a day, thinking that I had found treasures and encountered top-level geniuses, but…

After observing for two seconds, she understood!

These three people really are top-level talents!

But… damn it, these three were talents that haven’t grown yet!

These were clearly guys who just entered the God Spirit Level, with only one level of Divine Power…

“Damn!”

At this point, Qiao Bing didn’t allow herself to think too much, she could only suppress her thoughts and continue sneaking towards the fourth demon.

“Kill!”

At this moment, Du Gang’s deity was fighting with the deity of the Demon Clan, with both deities having similar power levels, their battle was going back and forth.

However, Du Gang himself was almost annihilated by the enemy, consistently on the retreat.

The originally relied upon and powerful Sky Breaking Stance could now be easily broken by the enemy.

Not just that, Du Gang even used the World Creation techique.

“Boom boom boom!”

The noise was indeed loud, loud enough that it could probably be heard from miles around.

But the problem was, the power was weak…

A shadow of an ax tens of meters long slashed down, and it was directly shattered by the enemy’s blade!

This small Demon Clan team had obviously recognized the extraordinary strength of Du Gang and his team, and were all surprisingly delighted, laughing out loud.

“Ula, ula!”

It’s as if they were saying, these people are talents, killing them gives additional rewards!

Their movements and sword techniques became even more fierce.

At this moment, Du Gang had no choice but to go all out, if he continued to hold back, he would be done for.

“Transform!”

With a roar, Du Gang transformed into a three-meter-tall giant.

“Huh?”

Looking at his unchanging height, Du Gang was taken aback.

He was still somewhat unaccustomed to being only three meters tall after transforming.

After all, in the universe, he would be a hundred million meters tall after transforming, which was terrifying.

Now…

He might be just a little taller than Dazhuang!

However, his strength and speed greatly increased, and he could just about resist the enemy’s attack.

“Take a hit, give me a chance!”

Suddenly, a voice sounded in Du Gang’s ear.

It was Qiao Bing!

His eyes filled with tears, damn, you finally came.

He thought that this woman might have abandoned them after seeing their strength and fled on her own.

Meanwhile, the demon on the opposite side yelled ‘Ula!’ again and, lifting his demon blade, hacked towards Du Gang.

Take the hit?

Thinking of Qiao Bing’s words, Du Gang had no other choice. Without giving it a second thought, he quickly used the World Creation technique again to resist the blade.

“World Creation!”

At this moment, Du Gang activated all his 18 levels of divine strength and hacked at the blade.

“25 levels of divine power?”

At this moment, it seemed as if he had some kind of clear enlightenment, or perhaps he sensed the power contained within the enemy’s blade.

“Boom!!”

As expected, just like he had thought before, the enemy’s blade seemed normal but it slashed with the strength of 25 levels of divine power, instantly destroying Du Gang’s axe shadow and the remaining power continued to hack at him.

“Ula!”

The fourth demon was very excited and yelped once more.

Perhaps he was just an ordinary demon, and was somewhat excited to see a human genius being defeated by him.

“Kill!”

Just at that moment, a petite figure bolted out from the shadows and quickly charged towards the fourth demon.

“Clang~”

The fourth demon also reacted promptly and hastily withdrew his blade to block the incoming dagger.

But it was too late. His strike did not employ any technique, and the divine power it carried was incredibly weak, less than 10 units. It was unable to block Qiao Bing’s long-prepared attack.

“Swoosh!”

With a crisp sound, the neck of Demon Clan’s Rank Four was instantly severed.

“35 units of divine power!”

Du Gang saw the strength of Qiao Bing’s attack with that one action.

“Destroy!”

Around the same time, she transformed into an Asura, maintaining her speed and swiftly springing into action. She directed her attack towards the Demon Clan god who was waging a one-on-one battle in the air.

“Swish swish!”

The dagger in her hands seemed to tear through the void, managing to attack the divine being successfully.

“ugh!”

In an instant, the god affiliated with Demon Clan’s Rank Four died on the spot, dissolving into smoke.

Obviously, her dagger attack contained divine thought in it, which let the attack succeed by surprise.

Seeing this, the remaining gods of the Demon Clan were taken aback and hastily ascended to higher altitudes to continue their battle.

On the ground, the four members of the Demon Clan became chaotic once they realised that they were one member short, all desiring to break away.

Though the Rank One and Rank Two Demon Clan members had the most power, they were clamped down by Da Zhuang and couldn’t free themselves.

The Demon Clan member battling Little Hawk King and Long Aotian showed no hesitation. After blasting the two out of his way, he swiftly escaped.

“Damn, two got away!”

Qiao Bing cursed but did not order Du Gang and the others to give chase. She knew that even if the three caught up, they would not be able to restrain the enemies.

So, she reluctantly disappeared into thin air and quickly returned, heading towards the direction of the Rank One and Rank Two Demon Clan members.

Du Gang and the other two quickly grouped up.

“What should we do? Should we assist them?”

Long Aotian was the first to ask. At this moment, he was covered in blood, the golden blood splattering onto the ground like it was worthless.

Little Hawk King was in a slightly better state as he had been battling in mid-air, hence, he was hardly injured.

Seeing this, Du Gang collected some of Long Aotian’s blood while he was still shedding it. He quirked a smile then asked: “How to help? Have them kill us? Or take us hostage?”

Being so weak, don’t they realise where they stand?!

At this moment, Little Hawk King spoke: “What actually happened? I thought we could cause some damage, but my Claw of the Sky Tear was easily shattered by that Demon Clan member’s single attack.”

Long Aotian nodded and said, “The same happened to me. My Divine Dragon was also shattered into pieces by a single strike.”

They both turned to look at Du Gang.

Du Gang shrugged and said, “I think I’m a bit stronger than you two. At least, I withstood the attack and was able to weaken it somewhat.”

Indeed, compared to Little Hawk King and Long Aotian’s complete defeat, Du Gang’s 18 units of divine power left him slightly better off, even though he was still at a disadvantage.

In the battlefield, Da Zhuang continued to hold off two enemies. Meanwhile, Qiao Bing moved close by discreetly, picking an opportune moment to suddenly attack using a dagger, which evoked three steps’ worth of blood. She managed to kill the Rank Two Demon Clan member on the spot.

Immediately afterward, she revealed herself and teamed up with Da Zhuang. Together, they attacked the Rank One Demon Clan member.

“Woola!”

At this moment, the Rank One Demon Clan member had most likely understood that he won’t be able to escape. He let out a yell and the whites of his eyes rolled upwards as he transferred his consciousness to his god.

“Boom!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qiao Bing went straight for his neck, cutting it off and twisting his head off.

“Bang!”

In the sky above, the four Demon Clan gods which were still present quickly escaped, fleeing to a farther distance.

Du Gang frowned at this scene, “What does this mean? Did the Demon Clan flee?!”

Qiao Bing nodded and said, “Killing gods is difficult. Our gods have similar strength in attacking, hence it’s difficult to defeat them.”

Du Gang suddenly understood, “So, what they call Demon Clan bodies, this is what they mean!”

They had only killed the Demon Clan’s bodies, not their gods.

Qiao Bing nodded and said, “That’s correct. Over here, not just them, but us too. Once we start to fight, we should immediately separate our gods and let them fight in the sky.”

“This way–even when our bodies are destroyed, our gods can escape and reconstruct a new body when the time comes.”

“The amount of divine power isn’t related to the body. The divine power is stored in the Divine Orifice. Even though the gods can’t release divine power, your original divine power can still be released as long as you have a new body.”

After hearing this, Du Gang finally realized why the bodies of the demon clan were so light.

Damn, these people really don’t temper their bodies. If they lose, they leave their bodies and their gods escape.

If they win, they likely take your body with them as well.

“No wonder Demon Clan members’ bodies are calculated by weight. They use some special materials to reconstruct their bodies, and these materials are calculated by their mass.”

Qiao Bing nodded, “Not only them, but us too. Once our bodies are destroyed or taken away, we can only reconstruct.”

Her gaze at Du Gang and the others was complicated, giving off a feeling like she was eating a shit-flavored chocolate.

Dazhuang was feeling complicated as well. Even though he was preoccupied with his own opponents, he wasn’t unaware of the situation of the other three. Thus, he met their gazes with a complex expression.

“Why don’t you talk about you three…”

“Cough, cough!”

Du Gang coughed and said, “It’s true that this is our first time leaving the Ancient City and going to the Abyss.”

“We were not intentionally hiding our strength, it’s just that…”

Long Aotian continued, “we might have overestimated our abilities…”

Qiao Bing scoffed, “Overestimated? You sure were bold to take up the position of the main damage output!”

Long Aotian felt awkward, “I’ve always been the main output back at the academy…”

“Also, the enemy’s strength was stronger than we anticipated, so…”

Qiao Bing was left speechless.

She retorted irritably, “Tell me honestly, when did you three advance to God Spirit Level?”

The three looked at each other. Du Gang replied as the representative, “Er… about two months ago?”

“Two months…”

Not only was Qiao Bing speechless, even Da Zhuang was at a loss for words.

“You advanced to God Spirit Level just two months ago, yet you dared to come here? I ask you, have you ignited your divine fire? Have you opened all your divine orifices?!”

Hearing this, Long Aotian happily said, “We have all ignited our divine fire and all our divine orifices have almost been opened.”

“Unlucky… it really is unlucky to run into the three of you!”

Qiao Bing shook her head, “Let’s retreat for now, withdraw to thirty kilometers behind and then we will discuss our next steps.”