Scourge Messenger

Chapter 445 Crossroads
"The little figures that just died in the sand table..."

"They were too greedy and didn't get out in time. If they're dead, they're really dead," Wei Qiu said casually.

dead!
The children shuddered as they looked at the bloodstains remaining on the sand table.

"However, you don't need to worry too much. Although the path to immortality is dangerous, it's not impossible to quit halfway. As long as you withdraw in time, you can generally gain something. Many of the participants here are not first-timers, and some of the more experienced ones have even participated more than five times."

Wei Qiu smiled and said, "If you're lucky enough, you might even be able to reach the finish line without any fighting along the way. Of course, this is an extremely rare occurrence; I've only heard of it happening once, three hundred years ago."

"It's quite common to quit the path to immortality without engaging in any battle. If you're a little lucky, you might even get some rewards, such as tokens, mastery books, or spirit jade."

A heavy groan came from the side as the young man who was maintaining his longsword sheathed it, producing a metallic clang. Wei Qiu looked over and calmly said, "Gu Zheng, is there anything you'd like to add? They were arranged by Master Qianji and handpicked by Master Tianqin as candidates for the path to immortality. I welcome your advice, senior."

The young man with the long sword patted him on the shoulder and shook his head slightly. The young man with the long sword was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Pick some weapons for them."

“As long as they can lift it,” Wei Qiu said. “The next round of the Ascension Path is about to begin. Let’s watch and explain as we go.”

A wisp of mist swept across the sand table, like a loading bar in a cutscene. When the mist dissipated, the sand table was restored to its original state, and the traces of the previous Ascension Path had disappeared.

"The path to immortality has four starting points: a deserted village for solo participants, a dilapidated temple for teams of two to three, a mountain stronghold for teams of four to five, and a prison for teams of six or more."

On the sand table, two little figures descend into the dilapidated temple. They immediately smash all the sculptures in the temple, climb up the roof beams and ransack the place, and finally find a rare artifact that glows with blue light on the ceiling.

“Abandoned villages and dilapidated temples are safe, with a small chance of encountering opportunities. They are lucky, but more likely they will get nothing. Strongholds and prisons have enemies from the start, but that’s why there are fixed rewards.”

"Besides the different starting points, the routes at the four starting points are also very different. Although participants can choose other routes at intersections and other nodes, at least the first ten squares are fixed."

"The prison route offers the most opportunities but is also the most dangerous, with enemies appearing in almost every square. The deserted village route offers the fewest opportunities but only two squares will encounter enemies. If you are fast enough, you can avoid all dangers and reach the crossroads in two turns, leaving the path to ascension directly."

As Wei Qiu explained, the two little figures began their first round of movement. Reaching the fourth square, they encountered a group of bandits blocking their path in a dense forest. The two figures were prepared and quickly wiped out the bandits, obtaining a die from the bandits' treasure chest.

"The bandit dice can be combined with the immortal path dice. After using them, you can move up to nine steps in one turn, and if you're unlucky, you'll move back two steps. It seems they plan to use them directly, but... their luck isn't very good."

The bandit dice rolled a negative one, while the immortal path dice rolled a three, meaning the little man could only move two spaces.

The journey was uneventful until they reached the tenth square, the "Crossroads," when the dealer's voice descended from above: "Seekers, will you choose to take only one reward and leave, or continue onward?"

"Keep moving forward!" came the reply from the little figure in the sand table.

“There are nine crossroads in the sand table. Once you pass through a crossroads, you can choose to exit the path to ascension,” Wei Qiu said. “Each time you pass through a crossroads, you can take one more reward.”

"Can a team of six or more only take one item?" Tiger Vanguard asked.

Wei Qiu glanced at Hu Xianfeng and nodded: "That's right. However, if the item obtained is a consumable item, such as a spirit pill or a secret manual, the participant can use it directly, and it will not be counted as a reward."

After the crossroads, the four initial routes branched into six paths, with two branches available at each crossroads. The little man seemed to choose the more dangerous branch, and the participants in the rest area became noticeably serious.

As expected, the little people triggered three battles along the way, but they easily defeated them all and reaped rich rewards. At the crossroads at the twentieth step, they chose the more dangerous branch again, and then they clearly struggled much more, each battle taking much longer. "They'll probably retreat around the fiftieth or sixtieth step," Wei Qiu suddenly said.

"Because their goal isn't the Foundation Establishment Pill, but rather the rewards along the way?" Tiger Vanguard asked.

Wei Qiu nodded: "That's right. The Ascension Path itself is a top-tier third-stage secret realm, full of countless opportunities and amazing rewards. As long as you successfully exit the Ascension Path, you will gain something, more or less."

"But where do the rewards for the path to immortality come from? It only goes out and never comes in. Is the Blissful Immortal Palace a charity?"

Mi Mian tugged at Hu Xianfeng, signaling him not to ask too many questions. Hu Xianfeng's remarks not only attracted the attention of the children, but even the other participants in the rest room looked over. His questions weren't particularly insightful, but for a child who had just arrived at the Blissful Immortal Palace, to not be misled by the rewards of the Ascension Path, but instead to see through the trickery, such composure was truly rare.

"The income from the Ascension Path is not internal, but external." Wei Qiu pointed above: "A single Ascension Path betting game requires a stake of at least one thousand True Spirit Jade. The Immortal Palace can take a 10% cut of that. That profit alone is more than the rewards participants receive on the Ascension Path."

"And you're right, little friend, the Ascension Path is indeed a charitable one." Wei Qiu cupped his hands towards the north: "The Blissful Immortal Palace is the Daoist temple of the Mysterious Blissful Immortal Lord. With a single thought from the Immortal Lord, the Ascension Path will be reversed and its layout disrupted. Apart from Foundation Establishment Pills, all other outputs are unlimited. In the beginning, the Immortal Lord opened the Ascension Path to mortal messengers, allowing mortals to seek opportunities through the Ascension Path. As a result, the Blissful Immortal Palace became famous throughout the East Sea and has been at its peak for eight hundred years."

Could time be reversed, the layout disrupted, and endless possibilities created?

Yan Qing's heart skipped a beat. This sounded a lot like a reset of the secret realm. The fact that the sand table had just fogged up and then everything returned to normal proved that what Wei Qiu said was true. But with so many people in the Blissful Immortal Palace, it was obviously impossible to reset the secret realm. Could it be a partial reset of the secret realm?
Does the game have such a system? Would the official developers allow this kind of gameplay? Partially resetting secret realms is practically equivalent to some GM authority, isn't it?

Just as Wei Qiu had predicted, when the villains reached the fifth crossroads, they immediately chose to exit the Ascension Path. Most excitingly, they encountered no battles between forty and fifty steps, but instead had two fortuitous encounters, obtaining two Heavenly Fiends and Earthly Fiends and a book of secret techniques. The swordsman immediately absorbed the Heavenly Fiends and Earthly Fiends. In addition, they were able to take five rewards with them from the Ascension Path!
"This group of seekers stopped at fifty paces. Congratulations on their safe return with their abundant spoils. Welcome to challenge the path to immortality once more and step into the gates of immortality!" the croupier exclaimed excitedly.

"Gu Zheng, it's your team's turn," Wei Qiu said.

“We’re ready.” The young swordsman stood up.

"I'm getting impatient!"

"Is it finally our turn?"

Half the people in the rest area also stood up, forming a team of ten participants, each a seasoned veteran, some ferocious and ruthless, others exuding the aura of a grandmaster. Their imposing presence seemed capable of swallowing a child whole. Facing the path to immortality ahead, they felt no fear, only anticipation and excitement. Rather than an adventure, it was more like a glorious expedition.

They've come to conquer this path to immortality!

May you ascend to heaven!

Once the entire group of ten had passed through the transparent wall, one of the children couldn't wait to ask, "Is it possible for so many people to do this?"

“Of course, that’s quite common. The most we’ve ever seen was a hundred third-stage cultivators challenging the Path to Immortality together,” Wei Qiu said with a smile. “However, that’s a very rare occurrence. After all, even if they make it to the end, they can only get one Foundation Establishment Pill.”

"Can we challenge the Path to Immortality multiple times? What if a hundred people at the third stage repeatedly challenge it? Wouldn't that be a sure-fire way to win? They could keep clearing the Path to Immortality indefinitely." The quick-witted Shen Qiuqiu immediately discovered this loophole.

“You can challenge it multiple times, but Foundation Establishment Messengers cannot participate in the Ascension Path. Very few teams can continue to challenge it again without distributing Foundation Establishment Pills after clearing the Ascension Path. It’s not impossible, but it’s really rare.” Wei Qiu’s tone was inscrutable: “Moreover… there is no guaranteed way to win on the Ascension Path.”

(End of this chapter)