Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 33 The clown is actually me

"6."

"Six more? No way! I remember there were a lot more back then."

"I mean, you're really awesome."

The Jade Emperor stared blankly at Wang Ergou, his expression somewhat indescribable.

One player timely raised a question: "Hey, if we blow the pig to pieces, how are we going to sell it for money?"

Wang Ergou pondered for three seconds: "Control the dosage?"

Another player suggested, "How about we dig a trap?"

"That wild boar is so big, how long would it take to dig it up!"

"Use a tripwire?"

"You think an ordinary rope would be useful against a wild boar that can easily smash through an earthen wall?"

"Then let's bomb it?"

The Jade Emperor took a deep breath and asked helplessly, "Didn't you guys even calculate the production cost of gunpowder?"

The four of them turned to look at the Jade Emperor in unison, their faces showing utter bewilderment: "..."

"We spent over ten taels of silver just on saltpeter, which we had to sell all the spiritual plants we dug up to make up the money! We also spent a lot on sulfur. Did you forget that we used RMB to buy all sorts of spiritual plants and herbs and sold them to make up the cost of our experimental materials?"

Wang Ergou, feeling guilty, whispered in defense, "But, but that was to fight the boss of that adventure quest, and twenty taels of silver is enough to make several hundred jin of food..."

"Even without considering labor and time costs, a pound of gunpowder costs nearly 100 coins!"

Wang Ergou waved his hand confidently: "It's a great deal! I can definitely get rid of it for just a few dozen kilograms!"

The Jade Emperor rolled his eyes: "We work so hard all day, and then each of us only gets two or three ounces? We might as well go dig up some spiritual herbs and plants!"

Enraged, Wang Ergou snapped, letting out a sharp retort in his distinctive Northeastern accent: "Stop talking nonsense! Just tell me if you're going to do it or not!"

"all!"

"Then what are you talking nonsense for! How many explosives do you have in your backpack?"

"Two. I remember Second Senior Sister had more; she seemed to have six!"

"Let's use ours first, I still have four left!"

The two discussed it and took out the explosive pack, which had a less-than-perfect mix but was sufficient for the time being.

Wang Ergou calculated the few explosive packs left and said with some reluctance, "Let's use two to test the waters first, and we'll see what happens if it doesn't work!"

However, the herd of wild boars had long since vanished. This game claims to be AI-driven and dynamic, and things don't pause while players discuss solutions. Therefore, Wang Ergou and his companions' problem was to find another group of wild boars.

This time, their luck ran out. They searched for over an hour without finding any new wild boar herds, and Jie Ran, who tried to track down the old herd, also failed to catch up with them.

Although he graduated from a military academy and retired from a border defense technical post, he was assigned to grassroots logistics work after retirement. However, he did not forget a series of skills, and tracking a group of wild boars did not require much technical skill.

But this does not include situations like the one we are in now—

He felt as if he were being stared at by something extremely terrifying, and a powerful pressure made it almost impossible for him to breathe!
He huddled behind a giant tree, too afraid to move—his intuition told him that if he moved even slightly, the unknown thing watching him would react, and he would surely die!

"Help!" Ziran typed expressionlessly in the team chat: "I think I triggered some kind of plot, there's a BOSS!"

Wang Ergou's eyes lit up: "Holy crap!? Could this be a stroke of luck!?"

Upon hearing this, the other players opened the large map and excitedly checked Ziran's coordinates.

……

Half an hour later, Zhao Qing, who had just finished her private tutoring session, looked at Wang Ergou and the Jade Emperor, who walked out of the main hall of the spawn point with dark faces, and asked in confusion, "Didn't you go to slaughter pigs? I even saw you recruiting. Why are you back? Are you done slaughtering?"

Wang Ergou still had a sour face: "No, we've encountered a hidden plot, it might be another fortuitous encounter..."

"Isn't this a good thing? Why do you look like that?"

Wang Ergou gritted his teeth: "But we were all wiped out, and I didn't turn off my sense of smell when I died."

The Jade Emperor, his expression filled with grief and indignation, exclaimed: "I didn't close it either!"

The other two players, Jie Ran and the others, didn't seem to be doing much, but their expressions weren't very good either.

Zhao Qing couldn't fathom what kind of death could have caused them to display such bitter and resentful expressions, and to be so fixated on their "sense of smell." So she boldly guessed: "Hiss—how did you die? Did you fall into the cesspool and die?"

"Being eaten by the Nine Nether Demon, melting alive in his foul-smelling stomach... Ugh... I can't take it anymore, just thinking about it makes me nauseous..."

As the Jade Emperor spoke, he helped Wang Ergou up and started retching.

Zhao Qing looked at the group with sympathy and pressed, "Nine Nether Demon? We're almost at the point of fighting the Nine Nether Demon? Doesn't that thing only appear in the Nine Nether?"

The Nine Nether Demons are a collective term for demons born in the Nine Nether Realm, and their types are countless. Among demons, there is a strict hierarchy, based solely on strength. Based on strength, they are divided into lower-ranking demons, middle-ranking demons, and true demons. Above the true demons are numerous demon lords, who rule over a region of demons in the Nine Nether Realm.

These basic "otherworldly common sense" are taught repeatedly in the sect's daily classes, but because very few players listen attentively, not many people know these specific details.

In "Ten Continents Chronicles", apart from common animals and plants, everything else needs to be added and created by the players themselves. Among the posts that are pinned to the top of the official game forum for a long time is a post that synchronizes the "Ten Continents Chronicles Encyclopedia" in the game.

Therefore, after identification, Wang Ergou and the others could only determine that the thing that wiped out the entire team was a Nine Nether Demon, but they didn't know the specific species.

When Wang Ergou heard Zhao Qing's question, he spread his hands and said, "I don't know, that's why I said it might be a hidden encounter!"

Zhao Qing hesitated for a moment, then said, "Hmm... Do you have any screenshots of the authentication? Or could you describe what that thing looks like? Maybe I'll know!"

"I only had time to identify it, not to take screenshots. That thing was definitely more powerful than that BOSS, Huang Gong!" Wang Ergou said, trying to recall, "As for its appearance... I just remember it being a dark, indistinct mass..."

"It has no feet, only a tail, fins on both sides, and is entirely blackish-purple with no scales, but..."

It was Jieran, who rarely spoke, who hesitated before adding, "But I'm not sure, I think I saw a lot of eyes in his abdomen..."

"It's Xi! Xi the Demon!"

Zhao Qing said with certainty, "The 'Nine Netherworld Records' mentions that the Xi is a demon with many eyes, a snake's tail, fish fins, a huge mouth but no teeth, and is extremely cold and yin!"

"Good heavens! I'm speechless!" Wang Ergou looked at Zhao Qing in shock: "What kind of weird stuff is Senior Sister making you learn every day?!"

"Learn everything!"

This time, not only Wang Ergou, but even the Jade Emperor and others looked at Zhao Qing with pity—having to attend classes and learn things just to play a game is too pitiful!
"Why are you looking at me like that? I find it very interesting! Every day in class, I listen to Senior Sister tell stories, and then she teaches me how to use spiritual power and how to cultivate," Zhao Qing suddenly raised her chin and announced proudly, "By the way! Senior Sister said that my cultivation is almost there, and I can start preparing for Foundation Establishment in the next few days! She also said that she will personally protect me and assist me in Foundation Establishment!"

"Gan!"

(End of this chapter)