Scourge Messenger

Chapter 158 Demonic Way
"Did something good happen?" the pharmacist suddenly asked. "You look very happy."

Yan Qing was genuinely surprised this time. He and Yao Shiyuan were separated by a screen! The alternate account was expressionless when not speaking, so how did she know I was happy through the alternate account?
"Why do you say that?"

"Because you've been jumping around all the time, little sister," Yakushi said, looking speechless.

Yan Qingcai realized that he had been unconsciously pressing the jump button. Since leaving the room, the bunny girl had been hopping and skipping forward. Not to mention the pharmacist, even the servant leading the way noticed that this little girl, who had turned the mountain stronghold upside down as soon as she arrived, was in a very good mood.

To be honest, it's perfectly reasonable for players to press the jump button while walking; in fact, the jump button in most games exists for this purpose. Compared to environmental interactions like climbing and jumping, the biggest significance of the jump button is giving players something to do while traveling. However, Yan Qing used to be very careful about his alternate character's persona, and even if he felt bored while walking, he wouldn't randomly press the jump button. He has indeed become a bit lax.

She must have been angered by Shang Xinlei. The atmosphere had clearly built up to the point of breaking up, but she actually said that it was just one day of not eating together. Yan Qing not only fell for her trap, but also gave her a rare keepsake, only to be mocked mercilessly by her... If I believe her again next time, I'll be a dog, Yan Qing thought through gritted teeth.

"No, I was just thinking about how my brother was cheated on by a woman, and I got a little angry for a moment!"

"You should be grateful that a woman is willing to lie to a weirdo like your brother..." the pharmacist said sincerely.

Even from just a few snippets of conversation with the bunny girl, the pharmacist already knew that the brother she spoke of was definitely not a normal person—what normal person would encourage their young, second-stage genius sister to charge into the Shu Road Mountains? Was he deceived by a bad woman? Serves him right!
Yan Qing wanted to refute her, but according to the character design he had created for the Bunny Girl these past few days, there was no option to uphold her brother's dignity in her dialogue choices. So he had no choice but to change the subject: "Is it really okay to leave Sister Wuqiu and Sister Shidong in the room?"

"We can't keep bringing them along forever. From the very beginning, when we decided to come to Shudao Mountain, we were prepared to be in danger." Yaoshi Yuan said calmly, "The manual only gives them a chance to have power, but true power comes from courage and talent. Without these two things, even if the weak are fed to become third-level messengers, they are nothing but weaklings... The current situation is much better than I imagined. It can make them feel the crisis and pressure, but it will not put them in danger. In this environment, the weak only have two paths: either they transform into butterflies or they are completely destroyed."

Aren't you afraid—

"Since they've chosen this path, what do I have to worry about?" The Pharmacist smiled smugly. "As long as they can keep up with me, whether it's their second or third job advancement, I'll fight for all the resources they need!"

After the downfall of the Duke of Jin's mansion, the pharmacist gained a deeper understanding of the white fox's words.

In this world, the weak cannot become the strength of the strong; no matter how many there are, it's useless. The only one the strong can rely on is another strong person. If the messenger is satisfied with her status and power, then she can indeed act arbitrarily and eliminate dissidents, just like her father. But if she wants to go further, what the messenger needs is not subservient subordinates, but allies of equal status.

But how many people can one meet and understand in a lifetime?

Personality cannot be trusted; people always change. Twenty years ago, who could have imagined that the loyal and righteous Pharmacist Moke would die a traitor without a proper burial? Only friendship is the only chain worth holding onto, and the longer it lasts, the stronger it becomes. That's why Pharmacist Moke was willing to start from scratch to train Wuqiu and Shidong, who had been with him for many years. That's why White Fox chose to go back to save Snake Dog; they will stand side by side many more times in the future.

So... the pharmacist is willing to peek at the bunny girl's reaction. I'm already showing such a strong liking for someone, little sister, you should be tempted by me, right?

Her words were sincere, but her intention to take the opportunity to gain favor with the Bunny Girl was also entirely genuine. If Wu Qiu and Shi Dong were worth cultivating her strength, and the thieves were worth cultivating her friendship with, then the Bunny Girl, who possessed both friendship and strength, was worth the Pharmacist's willingness to go to great lengths to keep her by his side.

Yaoshiyuan had already decided that as long as Bunny Girl agreed, even if her brother, whom she always talked about, came looking for her, Yaoshiyuan would not hesitate to smash his head in—she actually really wanted to do that.

But when she saw Bunny Girl hopping around again, she was as happy as a rabbit.

They followed the servants through the mountain stronghold. The servants were very respectful, and whenever they looked at a building in the stronghold, they would immediately introduce it: "That is the No. 3 drying yard. The cured meat produced there tastes very good. You two may have some to try... That is the gathering of heroes. Fine wine is provided day and night. As for the food, it depends on whether the cook is present. But you two obviously don't need to go to such trouble. Just tell me what you want to eat, and I will deliver it directly to your residence... We have arrived. The three great protectors are waiting for you on the second floor of the Demon-Slaying Hall."

The most magnificent and central place in the entire stronghold was not the residence of the three guardians, but this Demon-Slaying Hall. As soon as the bunny girl and the pharmacist entered, they felt as if they had entered a bustling market in a big city, with noise and noise hitting them at them.

On the first floor of the Demon Slaying Hall, there were many long tables where dozens of people were drinking, chatting, gambling, and arguing. More than half of them were red-named individuals—or rather, half of them were not red-named individuals—they were banging on the tables and making noise, but they were not fighting; they were bargaining.

"Xiongda, you three brothers are going too far! You think three people can share five wolves? We have ten brothers!"

"If you're not willing, then you go and hold off the first wave of the wolf pack's attack! What use are ten hunters who can't even equip their defensive tokens if no one holds off the first wave? Do you really think you can shoot an arrow through a Shadow Wolf's head?"

"Damn it, isn't anyone going to kill the Wind Wolf King? We'll handle everything else. We just need someone to distract the Wind Wolf King's breath attack. As long as they're fast enough, we'll take them! We're willing to give up 30% of the profits. As long as the Wind Wolf King's breath attack is distracted, we'll get 30%!"

"Even Blood Attendant doesn't dare say he can lure them away, so who the hell would be willing to die? Red-haired devils, you can draw lots to decide your own fate."

"Heh, if you're so confident about blood analysis, why don't you go ask the blood analyzer?"

"If I were to invite the Grand Protector, I'd rather have the leader of the Northern Journey team lead the group. What a bunch of cowards..."

"You red-haired demon, watch your mouth!"

"Me! Forget it!"

The argument quickly escalated into a glass-throwing battle, creating quite a commotion. However, the group remained relatively restrained, only throwing glasses and not actually fighting.

On the first-floor wall hung a huge blackboard with a crookedly drawn map of the secret realm. Besides the terrain, it showed the specific distribution of demons, each with a name. For example, the Shadow Wolf, closest to the entrance, had over ten names listed below it: "First Batch: Xiong San Brothers, Ten Hunters," "Second Batch: Black Wolf Society, Chai Family Father and Son," "Third Batch: Poison Gentleman, Fire Vanguard, Nameless, Dragon Pride..." At that moment, the red-haired ghost seemed to have finalized a cooperation agreement with another team. They went over and wrote the names of both teams below the Wine Pool Wolf in the center of the secret realm.

"This is to claim a demon-slaying mission."

The pharmacist, who had already learned about this, explained, "They accept the demon-slaying missions for the next day, entirely voluntarily. Any number of people can participate, and the three guardians won't interfere with their internal allocation. However, they must pay a toll to Mount Shu for every demon they slay. Of course, they also have to pay taxes on the treasure chests within the secret realm."

"They're willing to take such a loss?" Bunny Girl asked, puzzled.

"Because demons themselves are the resources they need," the Pharmacist said. "They can skin and process them themselves, or sell them to Shu Dao Mountain in exchange for spirit jade. Didn't we just pass by many drying grounds? Those are the places where the secret realm wolf meat is made."

At this moment, the servant leading the way said, "Merchants usually sell demons to Shudao Mountain and then buy dried meat from Shudao Mountain. Messants can eat fresh meat freely in the mountain stronghold, but dried meat that can be preserved for a long time is very expensive. It takes ten spirit jades to buy one piece. Many messengers come up the mountain just to buy dried meat."

"Huh?" Bunny Girl was very puzzled, and there were so many things she didn't know which one to ask.

The pharmacist was unsurprised: "It's normal. Messengers who leave the military town basically have to find a way to buy food from there. Ordinary grains don't keep them full for long. If a second-tier messenger only eats ordinary grains or beef and pork, he'll need at least four meals a day. It's fine if he stays in one place, but these demonic messengers often wander around after leaving the mountain. If they don't prepare food in advance, just finding food will take up most of their day."

The pharmacist was like this all the way. In the first few days after escaping from the military town, she didn't have time to hunt. She relied on blood-replenishing pills to maintain her condition. If she didn't fill her stomach, she wouldn't have the strength to fight.

"The wolf meat from the Third-Rank Secret Realm can be made into jerky, which, when paired with a little grain, provides a strong feeling of fullness, and one jerky can last for several days. Although the Third-Rank Secret Realm is very difficult, dealing with the Shadow Wolves at the entrance is not too difficult. There is a reason why Shudao Mountain is a dangerous place for demonic cultivators. As long as you have the strength, it is not difficult for demonic messengers to obtain supplies here."

Yan Qing had previously wondered why the demonic messengers would cluster in one place. After all, they weren't starving people with nowhere to go; they could easily hide in a small place, gather in the mountains, and become kings and tyrants.

Unexpectedly, they really were starving people, or rather, the vast majority of the messengers were starving people. Once they left the secret realm, just finding food would become a problem that the messengers would have to face. After all, they didn't have as much time to eat as Yan Qing, and they didn't have to cook for themselves. Today they ate the special meals prepared for Jiang Shi by the Qi Kingdom's military camp, and tomorrow they ate the vegetarian meals prepared for Rat Monk by the Liang Kingdom's military town.

The messengers of the demonic path are there to rob, kill, and set fires. They can't possibly be halfway there in the wilderness and suddenly have to start a fire and cook because they're starving, can they?
The righteous messengers don't have this problem at all; even when they go out on field missions, they have excellent logistical support, and the military town doesn't lack food. Looking at it this way, while the demonic path offers freedom, they have to solve all their problems on their own; the righteous path, while relying on background and connections, has an organization that guarantees they won't live too badly.

As for accepting demon-slaying missions, this is where the demonic path differs most from the righteous path. Generally speaking, if the righteous path decides to attack a secret realm, they will definitely clear it, because the treasure chests are the most valuable. The demonic path is different; if no one is willing to fight the Demon King, then they will not fight it. After defeating the previous demons, they will reset the secret realm.

The reason is not hard to understand. The military town is only responsible for the high-level messengers, and can spend a lot of time and even casualties to attack the secret realm, because the high-level messengers only care about the treasure chests after clearing the level; but the demonic messengers are responsible for themselves, so they will only do what they can. Besides, most of the demonic messengers are bullies, so how could they risk challenging powerful demons?

Since no one is willing to clear the dungeon, it's better to reset it multiple times so everyone can fight the Shadow Wolves a few more times and get more rewards.

According to Shang Xinlei, the righteous path reveres existence, while the demonic path values ​​non-existence. These are two completely different ecosystems, neither right nor wrong, but in terms of results, the resource output of the military town is bound to be higher than that of the demonic path's dangerous lands... No wonder the demonic messengers, despite possessing such powerful weapons as the Asura Token, can only cower in these mountainous areas and act arrogantly.

Yan Qing also discovered that although the Demon Messengers seemed fierce and their Asura Tokens could penetrate defensive barriers, the vast majority of them were poorly equipped.

After all, having gotten used to killing and looting, who would be willing to go through the hardships of adventure in secret realms to acquire equipment? If they were willing to fight in secret realms, they wouldn't have ended up in the demonic path.

More importantly, in the game, the Asura Messenger can upgrade their equipment on the battlefield, while the Demon Messenger here can only purchase tokens from the other three kingdoms through the black market, naturally only obtaining inferior goods. The superior tokens are already pre-ordered by the major powers before they are even released. That's why Bunny Girl and Pharmacist were able to kill the Demon Messenger like chickens along the way; the Asura tokens couldn't compensate for their equipment disadvantage.

So, if a military officer were to transform into a demonic cultivator, like Xue Xiang Bei You Ban Ruo and the others, wouldn't that be the answer? For example, if He Lan Que were to transform into a demonic cultivator, wouldn't he become the sharpest spear of the He Lan family?
Putting aside how many people Helan Que would have to kill to switch to the demonic path, the more important point is that transforming a normal token into an Asura token would significantly reduce the token's lethality.

It was only after seeing so many Asura Relics along the way that Yan Qing realized how low their output was.

Ye Kai's Hundred Poison Cotton Hands has a base damage of only 5 points of poison damage, which is enough to hit humans, but it's practically a tickle against demons. Moreover, only his poison mist ability can penetrate defenses; his normal attacks do not have this penetrating property.

If Yan Qing's guess is correct, to enhance the output of the Asura Relic, a large amount of Blood Slaughter Value should be needed to upgrade the relic.

In the game, it's simple; there are plenty of missions on the battlefield. But in reality, they can only hunt other people, and not even ordinary people.

Given that the growth of the Bunny Girl's colorless killing value slows down dramatically after exceeding 100, the Demon Messenger's blood-red killing value would probably need to kill other messengers to see a significant increase once it exceeds 100.

To go from 100 to 1000 kill points in the third stage of the Demonic Path, how many second-stage and third-stage cultivators would one need to kill? To go further down this path, one must become stronger with each battle, and the stronger one becomes, the more one must fight. It can be said that the Asura is determined to wage war, and the flames of calamity will burn away the tears of all living beings.

Therefore, it's not impossible for powerful forces to cultivate a third-level demonic cultivator, but they must first destroy a third-level military town cultivator and then use a large number of messengers to feed him back up... Although aristocratic military towns are not charitable organizations, they still pay attention to the return on investment.

If the Crimson Asura in the game is a broad and promising road, then the Crimson Demonic Path in this world is probably a narrow bridge that only a very few people can cross. The rest are just villains who bully the weak and get by by using the Asura token.

(End of this chapter)