Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 174 Seeing Through the Rot
When the Xuanchong Corps entered the sixth level and came into contact with the villagers, the battle trial began.

Shen Qing watched as Xuan Chong led the army to prepare for battle, a strange smile appearing on his lips; he did not tell Xuan Chong the truth about this trial.

The truth is: the power source of the Rotting Guards in this sixth level is the despair in the hearts of the villagers and even everyone who enters the village (Xuanchong Army). The greater the despair, the stronger the monsters sent by the Lord of Rotting become.

On the outskirts of the village, groups of rotting monsters began to spawn, swarming around them; there were the toads from before, the rotting, humanoid fat men, and various smaller monsters. Further away, a pustule-like mass rose from the ground; then, suddenly, an anus appeared on this abscess. As this thing opened and closed, a monster resembling a toad with four extra legs, as long as a lizard and fifty meters in length, as powerful as three elephants, crawled out of this excrement.

Faced with this multi-unit force wielding monsters, Xuan Chong quickly analyzed the situation, made battle plans, and ordered his troops to retreat to the villages for defense.

Xuan Chong: "Second and third groups of soldiers, hold off the enemy on the outside for the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn! The fifth and sixth groups, immediately remove the wood and bricks from the houses and build defensive fortifications!"

Having transmigrated into this world and immersed himself in military strategy for twenty years, Xuan Chong deeply understands that one must not panic in critical moments; and this composure is not merely about appearing calm in the face of danger, but about consistently providing each group with precise and quantifiable orders based on the conditions.

Commands like "hold on" or "hold firm" that are crude and lack "gradation" are all incorrect operations.

Now, facing soldiers who weren't his personal guards, if Xuan Chong were to give such an order, it would immediately destabilize the army. — Xuan Chong instinctively avoided the wrong approach.

These soldiers are convicts whom Xuan Chong has just pardoned from prison. Their level of trust is no higher than that of the laborers he brought out from the grain depot. The only favor he can show them is that the tattoos on their faces will be removed after this battle.

However, if Xuan Chong were to travel back to the time when he was guarding the grain depot, he was confident that he could do a better job than the "Wu Fei" of the past. And if the "Wu Fei" of that time were to return here, even with the lotus seeds and the Vermilion Bird bloodline, he still wouldn't be able to handle the situation today.

…growing up without realizing it…

Xuan Chong looked at the surging monsters ahead and ordered the halberd squad leader to hold out for the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn, after which they would retreat upon hearing the sound of a gong.

The squad leader glanced at Xuan Chong, and then the soldiers reported: "The general has ordered that we fight to the death here! Anyone who dares to retreat within five incense sticks' time will be executed!"—This squad leader undoubtedly amplified Wu Fei's order.

He was using his own reputation (military honor) to continue Xuan Chong's orders, and Xuan Chong glanced at him and silently made a note of his loyalty.

The first wave of hunched monsters snarled and leaped forward like a tidal wave. Xuan Chong raised his hand, his fingertips flashing red light, and aimed it at the soldiers. All the soldiers fighting on the front lines felt a heat in their bodies, and a spark leaped onto their blades.

After Xuan Chong finished casting his spell, flaming battle banners appeared high above their heads.

This spell, "Radiant Command," enhances the soldiers' lethality, and the blade inflicts a burning effect upon piercing the enemy.

The spears kept stabbing, and these rotting, fleshy things kept surging up.

Xuan Chong glanced at the distant target, took a deep breath, and said to Bai Renfeng beside him, "Go and stop it." As Bai Renfeng prepared to draw his sword and step forward, Xuan Chong said, "Wait!"

Bai Renfeng paused for a moment: "Is there anything else the general needs to tell me?"

Xuan Chong looked at him and said, "Don't go to your death."

Then he took out lotus seeds and instructed, "Put them in your mouth."

Bai Renfeng didn't mince words. He took the lotus seed and put it in his mouth. After stepping out of the village, he faced the rolling, stinking tide and felt a sense of unease. This made his sword spirit dim and even gave rise to a slight desire to retreat.

This swordsman, imbued with sword intent, charged directly into the demonic tide, guided by the light of his sword.

Just as Bai Renfeng charged forward, three groups of six giant mosquitoes with cysts swooped down from the sky to block him. But Bai Renfeng faced the soaring demonic aura and said, "Sword drawn, stained with demonic blood!"

The overflowing sword energy swept towards the mosquito demon, instantly slicing these mosquitoes that were blocking the air into a thousand pieces. Tentacles, wings, and even a slender waist were severed by a single sword strike.

However, Bai Renfeng found it strange because the sword energy he had just released did not dissipate as if it were alive. He sensed a strange spiritual power within the sword energy that brought it to life, and this spiritual power that activated the sword energy was of the same origin as the lotus seed he was holding in his mouth.

He sensed a Daoist aura of "unbreakable" from the lotus seed. The spiritual power emanating from the lotus seed exhibited an all-encompassing characteristic. Upon entering his dantian, it melted into him instantly, like cotton candy meeting water.

With a long howl, Bai Renfeng charged towards the giant toad-lizard monster.
Xuan Chong, who was defending the village, suddenly brightened up and exclaimed, "What a sword immortal!"

…The battlefield is divided into areas inside and outside the village…

As the third incense stick was about to burn out, Xuan Chong did not disappoint the first and second groups of halberdiers who trusted him, and immediately arranged for the fifty men to be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, in the rear, a fortification had been formed. The retreating soldiers filed in through the breaches, followed by a group of toads with dog heads charging forward. With an officer's shout of "Fire!", volleys of crossbow bolts erupted from behind the wall.

The pustules on the backs of these toads burst open, and the pus spurted out like arrows. Even if a shield was stained with the pus, it would rot completely in seconds. If a soldier was infected, he would have difficulty breathing within the time it takes to drink three cups of tea.

However, as a legion that had reached the sixth level of the Rotten Tower, everyone was experienced. The pus was completely blocked by the straw mats, and while the straw mats were still being corroded, Xuan Chong used "Wind Summoning" to directly blow these poison-stained straw mats away.

Then, facing the monsters piled up in front of the barrier, Xuan Chong jumped forward, holding a ball of flame in his hand! This was the star flame he had gathered by corresponding with the Vermilion Bird constellation in the sky.

At this sixth level, not only was the power of the Azure Lotus becoming more tangible, but Xuan Chong could also feel that he could more easily draw upon the power of flames from the constellations.

At this moment, in the eyes of Shen Qing and other villagers, the Vermilion Bird appeared in the starlight above Xuan Chong's head. This made them, who originally had some ulterior motives of "dragging others down", finally afraid to move because they were intimidated by the divine power of the star.

As Xuan Chong slammed down the Starfire, the flames expanded within the small area, and the demons gradually turned to ashes in the flames.

The captain in charge of the battle squeezed out the pus from his wounds—or rather, the pustules—and sprinkled coagulation powder on them before rushing to the left side of the battlefield.

…outside the village…

Bai Renfeng, who cut into the enemy's rear, was facing alone a huge monster that could swing its tail like a dragon; and a large number of rotten, deformed monsters that suddenly turned around and blocked his way.

After Xuan Chong used his flames to burn away the little monsters blocking the village alleys one by one, Bai Renfeng killed three 500-kilogram fat, waterlogged soldier demons. Immediately afterward, a zombie covered in white hair appeared from the other side and rushed at him. At this moment, he swung his sword back and thrust it backward, piercing the zombie's forehead and annihilating the remnant soul in its Niwan Palace.

In the ongoing battle, Bai Renfeng no longer displayed the sweeping and powerful sword energy of his early days. Instead, he leaned more towards the sword techniques learned in the mortal world, dodging and weaving in this narrow space, transforming his sword energy into needle-like threads within a small area, accurately hitting his target.

Because his magical power had already reached its limit, he could not extract any more, so he had to use it sparingly.

It was precisely this situation—generating and using each bit of spiritual energy, and having to anticipate how to utilize every wisp of spiritual energy in the next step—that led him to a state of enlightenment he had never experienced before.

After hundreds of sword strikes had been used to eliminate enemies, Bai Renfeng, having accumulated experience, silently looked back and realized that his past sword energy was so crude and incompetent. He had only recklessly thrust in, and many of his sword beams had simply bumped into each other, failing to unleash their full power.

Without experiencing resource scarcity, there can be no meticulous progress; and without thinking about problems step by step under hardship, many mistakes along the way are covered up by the "strength of the period of advantage".

Now, watching his spiritual energy dwindle, Bai Renfeng couldn't help but smile bitterly; he realized he'd come to his senses too late. But every cloud has a silver lining. Just as he squeezed out his last bit of spiritual energy, unleashing his sword's light to annihilate the black-smoke-belching zombies ahead, and exhausted his last ounce of spiritual power, reluctantly preparing to use a slashing attack to finish off the three-person-tall, meat shield-like fat man, the lotus seed spiritual energy that had been integrated into his dantian transformed into an extremely pure spiritual energy. This spiritual energy, like sweet dew in summer or a warm current in winter, instantly filled more than half of Bai Renfeng's dantian.

Bai Renfeng didn't have time to look at the lotus seeds, but he sensed that they had also grown stronger, and their speed of absorbing and eliminating the surrounding foul air had doubled. It was truly a case of withered trees blossoming in spring.

…Xuan Chong's cards were just right for Bai Renfeng's original limit cards. …

Just as Bai Renfeng was about to run out of fuel, Xuan Chong led his men out of the village, and a fifty-man shooting column quickly circled around to the flank and deployed.

Within a breath, Xuan Chong used the firelight to mark the enemy's position. After establishing a firing reference coordinate system, the soldiers cocked their crossbows and aimed them at the rotting monsters on the reference coordinate system.

Xuan Chong asked Bai Renfeng, who was trapped among the enemy, "Can you still hold on?"

Bai Renfeng glanced at the surrounding army of menacing troops and shouted, "General, please continue setting up the formation and don't worry about me."

Xuan Chong nodded, and the soldiers deployed their troops. As rows of crossbow bolts were nocked, the rotting mob surrounding Bai Renfeng felt a chill run down their spines and turned to charge at Xuan Chong's force.

However, it was too late. Xuan Chong gave the order, and fifty crossbowmen pulled the triggers. At the same time, Bai Renfeng, relying on the sudden recovery of his spiritual power, unleashed a powerful move he had just comprehended.

With hundreds of silver-like sword energies radiating from him, each sword energy was still the same silver thread from his peak. Just before his spiritual energy was about to be exhausted, he could emit three or four sword beams in a single breath, but now he could emit one or two hundred sword beams in an instant.

Instantly, silence fell around Bai Renfeng, while crossbow bolts swept across the outer perimeter. The demons were pierced from both inside and out, their obese bodies bursting into flames and turning to ashes.

Bai Renfeng silently looked at the sword in his hand. In that instant, he had broken through the upper limit of what a Foundation Establishment cultivator could achieve! If that sword strike had been delivered in a celestial land free of malevolent energy, it could have even slain a Golden Core cultivator.

However, he understood that this opportunity he had just encountered was entirely due to the sacred lotus seed that Wu Yuanchang had given him. This seed had helped stabilize his mind, making him fearless against the evil energy and external demons. Furthermore, when he had a sudden realization, it had given him a wisp of spiritual energy, allowing him to unleash his power with ease.

After the battle on the sixth floor ended, the gate to the seventh floor appeared in the distance.
Xuan Chong checked the situation at the gate and confirmed that it would not change for at least five hours. So he ordered the army to rest. In the village, Bai Renfeng looked at Xuan Chong, walked over, and silently took out the lotus seeds and gave them to Xuan Chong.

Xuan Chong, on the other hand, rallied the villagers, a total of eighty-seven people. After the battle, the village's wells were full again. (The clear well water is associated with hope.)

Xuan Chong put the lotus seeds into the water. Then, after a while, he fished the bucket out of the well.

Take the lotus seed out of the bucket; at this point, the lotus seed is already a vibrant green.

Shen Qing, standing to the side, looked at the lotus seed and knew it was extraordinary, but remained silent and continued to distribute water to the other villagers. After drinking the water, the villagers all regained their former figures, and even the hunchbacked ones seemed to swell up again after being dehydrated, returning to their original physiques.

Xuan Chong then handed the item over to Bai Renfeng again.

Bai Renfeng saw the object and pondered for a moment, having just sensed its extraordinary nature.

Within a three-zhang radius, it could completely eliminate impurities and transform them into pure spiritual energy; Bai Renfeng understood that this rare treasure would be a prized possession of any reputable sect. What merit or ability did he, a third-generation disciple, possess to even touch such a thing?
Bai Renfeng didn't reach out, but instead asked, "For me?"

Xuan Chong nodded and said, "I'll lend it to you."

Bai Renfeng accepted the lotus seed and solemnly said, "I came here to exorcise demons, not to covet your treasure. I will return this item after the demons are eliminated. If I disobey, may my sword break and I die." This is the most poisonous oath for a sword cultivator.

Xuan Chong pointed to the seventh gate and asked Bai Renfeng, "Would you be willing to be the vanguard of our army?"

Bai Renfeng: "I came to exorcise demons, so I should be the vanguard." He then stepped forward.

Xuan Chong: "Wait a minute, let's stop for a while. The last boss is Bo Si, um, the mastermind behind it all~" At this point, Xuan Chong took a deep breath, turned his head to look at the village, and slowly said, "Let me exchange information with those people first, and then we'll decide."

Xuan Chong went to talk to Shen Qing and those who had been imprisoned by Wu Hanluan. However, no one else noticed that Xuan Chong's gaze towards everything around him had changed, as if he had grasped at a straw called "truth".

…Layer upon layer of maggots were wriggling on the seventh-floor door…

Although the sixth level took a long time, Xuan Chong felt his vision had become clearer after the battle. (System flashes)
Therefore, Xuan Chong began to pay attention to this "mechanism of change" and stared at the bizarre phenomena around him with a skeptical attitude.

However, at the third hour, as a golden light flashed in Xuan Chong's pupils, his vision suddenly became clear. In his new perspective, the "power of decay" no longer existed at all.

For example, the abscess that just swelled up—the abscess does exist, but it's actually just a very small spot (similar to an allergic reaction). However, the decay mechanism here can magnify a very small abscess into something the size of a palm.

Xuan Chong: The reason why people who come into contact with the power of decay become neither human nor ghost is because their perception is amplified, causing the symptoms to worsen.

For example, a small pimple in a pore, if taken very seriously, will attract the attention of the Lord of Decay and, after being blessed, will turn into a huge pustule. Then, the Lord of Decay will infuse it with "disease information," and the swollen pustule will torment the person.

If this unfortunate soul, who has caught the attention of the Lord of Decay, eventually becomes self-destructive and neglects his appearance, resulting in the appearance of more rashes and worms on his body, these rashes and worms will be amplified again by the so-called "power of decay" due to his emotions, exacerbating the suffering soul's despair.

After Xuan Chong reached the sixth level, he had already figured out the true situation of the "sudden decay" here. It was nothing more than Xie Yue amplifying various minor symptoms through information injection.

What the system is now quietly giving Xuan Chong is the informational power to prevent the corruption of the "Evil Moon".

Xuan Chong knew: "If I remain steadfast, these violent decays and swellings can be rationally observed and restored to their original state." Sure enough, during the fourth hour of rest, a palm-sized tick appeared on a soldier's body. However, under Xuan Chong's gaze, the palm-sized tick quickly shrank back to the size of an ant and was then crushed to death by the soldier.

Xuan Chong couldn't help but ask the system, "Is this the ability I redeemed?"

System: "This is your ability to 'identify misinformation' within a system of firm materialism."

Xuan Chong muttered, "In other words, there is no such thing as 'the power of decay' at all, but rather it is caused by an illusory and distorted perception."

System: "I cannot provide any indication of whether your judgment is right or wrong."

...a single glance reveals the truth...

Xuan Chong: "My name is Xuan Chong. I'm a transmigrator who has entered this world and is currently attending a history class. I'm certain that in this world's environment, under the materialistic system, consciousness has another channel to influence physical changes. This influence seems very magical to those who don't understand it. But once you get used to it, it's like fiddling with an insect with your finger or teasing a cat with a laser pointer—nothing surprising."

On the sixth floor, there are 23343 bricks and tiles, of which 637 have various cracks. The room smells unpleasant, a strange odor caused by a mixture of approximately 875 different odorants. Within a 35-meter radius, 87 mosquitoes are flapping their wings. ...

In the fifth hour, Xuan Chong led his troops into the seventh gate. Under Xuan Chong's gaze, the wooden door, which was covered with maggots, instantly became real; what was crawling on the rotten wooden door was actually a dense swarm of termites.

The green evil moon in space is trembling, because besides the lotus seed, something it absolutely cannot tolerate is about to arrive!

(End of this chapter)