Scourge Messenger

Chapter 253 Foundation Establishment Breakthrough in the Secret Realm

As soon as Yan Qing entered the secret realm 'Lake Heart Island', he understood why Rat Monk's application kept getting rejected.

The terrain is absolutely terrible.

The terrain of the secret realm is almost indistinguishable from the outside world. It is just a small island in the middle of a lake. There is not even a single rock on the island, which means there is no cover at all. Once you encounter an enemy, you have to defend all directions. You have to start from scratch to build any defensive fortifications, and there is no room for buffer.

If Yan Qing's guess is correct, the demon attacks in the Lake Heart Island Secret Realm should be one wave after another. For players, this should be their favorite mode, similar to the classic tower defense mode of 'Protect Athena'. There is no need to travel or watch the plot, just go on a killing spree.

But for the military town, this is undoubtedly the worst dungeon mode.

What constitutes good terrain?
'Shichenxi' is a good terrain.

The main combat environment is inside caves, with corners and ceilings, making it easy to create insurmountable fortifications. This ensures that the messenger only needs to deal with one demon at a time. As long as there are heroic figures like the Rat Monk who dare to take the initiative to fight on the front line, the military towns and soldiers can systematically and gradually eliminate all the demons inside.

No wonder I heard that the island in the middle of the lake can only be attacked a maximum of ten times a year. The consequence of not being able to build defensive fortifications is that the messengers can only rely on themselves to hold the line. The maximum number of people in this secret realm is 30, but it may take hundreds of second-level messengers to be rotated to clear it once. Not to mention that the messengers are exhausted and wounded, they also have to repair the tokens and organize the armor after the battle. It is equivalent to fighting a high-intensity war. Once a month is already too much.

Jie Julu's decision not to let Rat Monk come was indeed well-intentioned. Rat Monk, an elite second-tier member, was a core member in 'Shichenxi', but in 'Huxin Island' he could only be a cog in the machine, contributing little but with a much higher probability of injury or death. Allowing him to join the third-tier team was no different from watching a promising talent choose one of the four major professions of biochemistry, environmental science, and materials science; both were a waste of time.

But this time was different. Sun Chaozong, the middle-aged man who always had a resigned look on his face when entering the secret realm, was now excitedly chattering with his face flushed. The others were similar. Everyone stared at the white-haired old man standing at the front with burning eyes. They might not have been as excited as they were when visiting a brothel.

This is the allure of clinging to powerful figures; you demons of the secret realm, you are the true challengers!
"Everyone, prepare your defensive tokens and stand behind the line. Since there has been no practice, you will fight individually once the demons land," the Boundary Deer commanded. "The Great General hopes that you will do your best and hold out until the very end before retreating. Your performance will be rewarded with corresponding battle merits."

Upon hearing this, the messengers' fighting spirit soared once again. Yan Qing noticed that everyone had a blooming golden chrysanthemum on their shoulder, indicating that everyone had 50% damage reduction, making it incredibly easy to hold the line in the third-tier secret realm.

However, Yan Qing found it a bit strange. Was this old man really that kind?

Not only did they help them clear the third-level dungeon, but they also provided them with sufficient security so they could hone their skills. No wonder the Liang Kingdom called the Zhou and Qi Kingdoms "northern barbarians." Their moral standards were indeed quite human-like in the Central Plains Three Kingdoms!

Once everyone was ready, Jie Julu stepped out of the line, and the lake surface immediately bubbled up as if boiling. Shrimp soldiers and crab generals emerged from the water step by step. They were on average three meters tall, holding long spears and broadswords covered with coral and seaweed. Their shells shone in the sunlight as they silently marched toward the island in the center of the lake.

"Lake Palace Assault Troops"

"Lake Palace Giant Warrior"

Not to mention the messenger on the island in the middle of the lake, even Yan Qing, watching from outside the screen, felt immense pressure from the third-level secret realm. When this group of demons surrounded them, their tall and ferocious bodies could almost block out the sunlight. The island was less a foothold for the messenger and more a feast for the demons.

There's no plot, no exploration; the theme of this secret realm is so simple and clear: survival of the fittest!
There were nearly twenty demons, most of them fighting two against one, with only a few elites like the Boundary Giant Deer taking on one-on-one combat. The Rat Monk was one of these elites, single-handedly taking on a giant warrior. The giant warrior wielded a giant axe, each strike powerful and heavy, but the Rat Monk dealt with it effortlessly. He chanted Buddhist prayers for seven steps and soon had the monster covered in wounds. He only needed a little time to kill the demon.

However, the secret realm is a team battle, and since the Rat Monk is so capable of withstanding pressure, he will naturally face even more pressure. When the others can't hold on and have to retreat, the Rat Monk will naturally face a dilemma of one against two or even one against three.

In less than a minute, although the Rat Monk successfully fought off the Giant Warrior, he also took six or seven hits from other warriors, and his protective mirror was mostly destroyed. At the same time, the number of demons besieging the Rat Monk also increased to three. Yan Qing withdrew when he saw that things were going well. At this time, only the three third-level messengers, including the Boundary Giant Deer, were still able to persist and even kill the enemy.

"Giant Deer, step back." "Yes!"

Hearing the old man's instructions, Jie Julu and the others didn't hesitate. They used their movement to gather the demons together before fleeing. When the demons tried to give chase, Jie Huangchao had already transformed into a black shadow and appeared before them, and then—

one strike!
No one saw Jie Huangchao make any big moves. All they saw was him punching the demon in front, and then the demon and all the remaining demons behind him exploded instantly. Red, blue, and yellow blood, flesh, and shells were scattered all over the ground, and a 'V' shaped mark appeared on the island's ground!

While everyone was still stunned, the second wave of demons had already landed on the shore. The leader was a five-meter-tall demon that looked like a crocodile, named "Lake Palace Pig Dragon General". He was followed by twenty shrimp soldiers and crab generals!
The combination of an elite demon general and a large group of demons appearing in this open terrain makes them even more troublesome for the messengers than the Demon King!

Jie Huangchao reappeared in front of the crocodile demon with almost horizontal steps. He stood on tiptoe and gathered his strength in an incredible posture. His right fist burst into flames, sending the crocodile demon flying more than ten meters into the air. Then he teleported above the crocodile demon and knocked it down with a flaming hand chop!

boom!
A violent tremor shook the island in the lake, and towering waves surged across the surface. Most of the messengers, except for a few, were thrown to the ground. When they looked back at the scene, the crocodile demon had been reduced to a pool of blood and gore. The remaining demons had been pulverized by the fiery shockwave from the crocodile demon's landing, leaving a huge, circular, charred crater in the ground!

"It's here! The Great General Chongtian's signature move, Vajra Fire!" Sun Chaozong was so excited he almost cried. "Legend has it that the Great General used this move to destroy half of Chang'an County in one strike. Vajra Fire ravaged ten miles, leaving corpses strewn everywhere and not a blade of grass growing!"

Yan Qing's heart stirred. He wasn't surprised that Jie Huangchao could instantly kill a demon in the third stage of the secret realm. A Foundation Establishment Messenger should have this kind of suppressive power. But if he wasn't mistaken, Jie Huangchao had injected flames into the crocodile demon's body and then slammed it into the ground, creating a meteorite-like destructive effect, turning single-target damage into area-of-effect damage.

This technique has nothing to do with divine artifacts, nor is it even a secret method. It is simply his special application of 'Vajra Fire' and is an original technique.

From Dongshou Zhenren and Suolong Zhenren to the current Jie Huangchao, Yan Qing vaguely sensed that their application and expansion of supernatural powers seemed to far surpass those of game characters. At least Yan Qing had never heard of any player being able to inscribe supernatural power imprints on mineral materials and trigger them from hundreds of miles away—there are no traps with such long distances in the game, so players can't use them.

While game characters have a significant advantage in the first to third job advancements, local messengers who can achieve the fourth job advancement and reach the Foundation Establishment stage despite such scarce resources are all exceptionally talented and gifted. Their research and application of supernatural abilities will likely far surpass those of game characters who are constrained by the system framework.

The huge commotion in the lake interrupted Yan Qing's thoughts. A giant golden fish demon king emerged, standing ten zhang tall, clad in armor, and wielding two large red copper hammers. When it reached the island, each step it took shook the island, as if it were stepping on everyone's hearts.

"The Great King of the Lake Palace Goldfish Spirit"

Boom!
It leaped from the water and slammed its hammer at the nearest Jiehuang Chao. A deafening roar followed as Jiehuang Chao blocked its bronze hammer with its left hand and delivered two punches with its right fist to the Goldfish Demon King from a distance, forcing the Goldfish Demon King to retreat.

"Whoa!"

With a thunderous roar from Jie Huangchao, the screen went black, revealing countless tearing marks. Yan Qing could only vaguely see countless black shadows flying in the air. At the same time, three negative statuses appeared above the Rat Monk's health bar: 'Fear', 'Darkness Blindness', and 'Binding'!
Ka!

The sound of dozens or even hundreds of punches erupted simultaneously in an instant. Such overwhelming destructive power made Yan Qing's scalp tingle even through the screen.

In the chaotic darkness, the back of Jie Huangchao suddenly appeared on the screen. Blood-red tattoos appeared on his back, depicting millions of corpses, blood flowing for thousands of miles, and evil spirits roaming the world. Even though Yan Qing had little cultural literacy, he could feel the fierce and murderous intent coming from the tattoos!
In the blink of an eye, the darkness vanished, and all the negative effects disappeared, as if it had all been a dream. Only the corpse of the third-stage demon king, the goldfish spirit, turned into bloody mud, reminded everyone that they were fortunate enough to be among the few in this world to witness the Foundation Establishment Messenger's full power. Many people couldn't help but feel a sense of awe amidst their longing. Even a third-stage messenger was still too insignificant under the overwhelming power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Only Yan Qing couldn't hide his excitement; his eyes were practically glued to the screen.

Because on the corpses of these demons, there appeared spoils of war that shone with golden light for several feet!

(End of this chapter)