Across the web, immortals and true beings, their thoughts and energy creating the heavens.

Chapter 108 Take care, great hero, we'll meet again in the martial world.

On the information board of the integrated network, notification messages popped up one after another.

Lin Zhuo didn't have the time to look into it yet. He roughly knew which achievements he could unlock and which tasks he could complete. In any case, the rewards would be generous enough to raise his profession level to Lv5. But right now, he had more important things to do.

"Huff—huff—" The steed that had carried the number one martial arts master across the entire battlefield collapsed to the ground, unable to stand up, large tears welling up in its eyes and dripping down its face.

The Dharma King's Black Prison Wind True Essence invaded its body and damaged its soul. This horse was just a mortal with flesh and blood. Even though it followed such a martial artist and gained knowledge that an ordinary horse would never have in its entire life, and was nurtured in mountains of corpses and seas of blood with courage and boldness that surpassed that of ordinary humans, it still could not escape death.

Lin Zhuo couldn't save it either. Even though he himself was seriously injured and was only able to stay upright by sheer willpower and physical strength, he had no energy left to save a horse that had already completely embarked on its journey to the underworld.

When Lin Zhuo stood up from his horse, his infantry armor shattered and fell off like an ancient battlefield relic left to decay in the desert for hundreds or thousands of years, scattering all over the ground with a crackling sound. His upper body's black tight-fitting clothes also completely brittled and withered like the wings of a butterfly, revealing his bare-chested muscles. His skin was covered with stripes and spots of aging marks, and the edges of his wounds radiated out like they were on fire.

The Black Prison Wind is not a simple spiritual energy; it has been tainted with demonic energy. The laws it contains are twisted and unpredictable, and cannot be judged by ordinary standards. It is an anomaly in the current world of rune literature.

Almost all demonic energy distorts the user's temperament, making them extreme, cruel, and vicious. Dharma King Zanfeng was able to behave like a normal person because he was young and strong, and his body and mind had not yet aged to the point of being unable to resist the erosion. Secondly, his spiritual realm was quite profound, enough to quell the surging evil thoughts of hell.

Lin Zhuo needs to ask his senior brother to check his injuries. He is a knowledgeable veteran player and will surely know how to deal with the demonic energy.

Even now, though his health has plummeted from "perfect" to "poor," Lin Zhuo is still capable of fighting, and he can still easily crush any of the demon cubs present.

However, it was no longer necessary. Witnessing the death of the Dharma King, the Mighty Heavenly King was so grief-stricken that he lost his mind and had his neck severed by Luo Jueyun's sword. The Wise and Courageous Heavenly King turned to leave, but was caught up by the Alliance Leader and pierced through the heart with a sword. The remaining demonic sect masters were surrounded and attacked by the white-robed righteous followers, but they were all killed in the blink of an eye.

They won! They won a great victory! The righteous side suffered very few losses in this battle. Only a few young heroes chasing the fleeing soldiers tripped over the corpses and broke their arms and legs. The rest suffered only minor injuries. Not a single person died. I'm afraid people who describe this history in the future will not dare to believe it.

"This great undertaking is unparalleled in history, and it should be inscribed on stone to commemorate our achievements and be passed down to future generations!" The alliance leader and the heroes from various major sects laughed with joy.

Lin Zhuo squatted down in front of his mount, gently stroking its head. The horse seemed to understand its fate, so it struggled to raise its head, touched its master's wrist with its soft lips, closed its eyes, and lay down again. A stream of true energy entered its skull, and it was gone in an instant, no longer suffering any torment.

Not long after, righteous heroes stormed the main sect of the demonic sect, wiping out the remnants within the Holy Palace of Righteous Law. The Heavenly King Xinyong, who was guarding the secret vault, was killed by Lin Zhuo with a single palm strike, without even uttering a word.

The various treasures looted from this palace complex took a whole day to haul away in oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages from the five major merchant guilds. The piles of corpses and remains had not been cleaned up even after three days. More than two thousand disabled servants were rescued, and dozens of civilians who had been captured and tortured were still alive. When they came out and were bathed in sunlight, they went mad and howled like rabid dogs that had come into contact with water. They needed to be covered with cloth and it took a long time for them to regain their ability to speak.

The martial arts heroes of the Central Plains discussed where to erect a stone tablet on this sacred mountain, to inscribe the achievements of the strongest in the martial arts world, to record the courage of the White-Robed Righteous Army, the heroism of the righteous army, and the people's epic song, to write the entire journey into stone, and to erect it on the hillside above this demon cave that is about to be burned down.

When Lin Zhuo was invited to write the inscription, he shook his head, admitting that his writing skills were not good, and asked Luo Jueyun to do it for him.

The martial arts alliance leader pondered for a moment, then wrote a long article on the paper he had found. After several revisions, he had it engraved on a three-zhang-tall stele with a sword. The words were simple and straightforward, recounting the cause and effect of his journey. Many other heroes subsequently inscribed their own words on the stele, filling it to the brim.

Lin Zhuo erected a small monument at the place where the horse died in battle, briefly recounting its life story: it roamed the grasslands in its youth, was later captured by herdsmen, and was given a bridle and saddle. It was then sold in Tiannan Prefecture, where it carried Lin across the Central Plains and into the desolate western lands. It traversed the demonic lands to lead the people, and commanded armies to awe the evil forces. It helped Lin achieve great things, and was proud, brave, and intelligent, never hindering its master. It is a tragedy that it perished, and may it rest in peace forever.

Luo Jueyun came to meet him, looked at the inscription, and said, "Lin Juxia's previous statement that his writing was not good was not just modesty."

Lin Zhu shook his head helplessly, then said seriously, "Alliance Leader Luo, now that the great demon has been eliminated, the people are impoverished and everything needs to be rebuilt. The wealth plundered from the Righteous Law Holy Palace came from the people and should be used for the people. There are also many matters that I cannot attend to for the time being, and I need to trouble you to handle them on my behalf."

"Is Lin Juxia going to wash his hands of things? You've left me with a huge mess!" The leader of the alliance feigned condemnation. Of course, he wouldn't refuse. Looking at the wounds on Lin Zhuo's body, it wasn't hard to imagine the torment he was enduring. Such a generous person deserved a helping hand.

Lin Zhuo and Luo Jueyun briefly discussed several issues facing the Western Frontier.

The leader of the alliance is most worried about the resurgence of the evil cult.

"There's no need to worry about that. I know the location of the Demonic Sect's treasure. Please, Alliance Leader, invite the twenty-four leaders of the martial arts world to Anding City. Ten days from now, I will lead you all to the secret treasure."

Luo Jueyun was shocked. "Why must you do this, Master Lin? Such immense wealth is enough to benefit generations to come. Why not leave it to your descendants?"

"I'm not going to give you all this wealth for nothing. If you want a share, you'll have to agree to a few conditions," Lin Zhuo grinned.

"Since you are so confident, I have no choice but to follow your orders." The leader of the alliance shook his head helplessly. "However, money has always been a powerful motivator. This move by Hero Lin will likely cause a shock to the martial arts world no less than the destruction of the Demonic Sect."

"Hmph, only by announcing to the whole world that the treasure upon which the Demonic Sect relied for its resurgence has been emptied will those dormant demonic offspring finally give up," Lin Zhuo said coldly.

Revealing the secrets of the Demonic Cult is a necessary condition for completing the Purgatory difficulty quest "Eternal Eradication of the Demonic Plague." Players must choose between possessing the Demonic Cult's treasure and obtaining the quest rewards.

However, the requirements for this task are actually quite lenient. Players can take all the spiritual materials and treasures they want and throw away the gold and silver jewelry they don't need, as long as the total value of the treasure in the final treasury is no less than 500,000 taels of gold.

This valuable experience was gained through repeated trials by veteran players.

Lin Zhuo himself no longer needed the rewards from the [Eternal Extinction of Demonic Plague] quest, as the personal achievements he triggered were enough to fill the experience gap, but his two remaining teammates did need them.

"Senior brother! Senior brother!" A familiar voice called out from afar.

Following the sound, they saw Shu Yuliu and Fang Qingjun galloping over, crossing the blood-soaked battlefield ruins. The two women were originally in high spirits, but when they saw the horrific wounds on Lin Zhuo's body, their smiles vanished instantly.

Fang Qingjun immediately wanted to treat him, but Lin Zhuo stopped her by raising his hand.

"Don't touch it. There's still demonic energy clinging to the wound; I'm afraid it might accidentally harm you."

"Brother Lin, let's go back to the Valley of Immortality! I'll ask my father to treat your injuries!"

"No need, this is a problem you can't solve. Junior sister, let's go find our senior brother."

Shu Yuliu dismounted and said with a grin, "Hey, don't say I don't respect the elderly and care for the young. Second Senior Brother, you're injured like this, so don't walk."

Lin Zhu shook his head and chuckled, "Even if I'm like this, you still can't outrun me." Though he said this, he ultimately didn't refuse, jumped onto his horse, spurred it on, and slowly rode away.

Shu Yuliu picked up a precious steed from the Western Regions that had been wandering the battlefield, and tamed it with gentle coaxing. He then mounted the horse and rode alongside Lin Zhuo.

Fang Qingjun gazed intently, but did not follow, because she wanted to stay here and save more people; this was the promise the Medicine Buddha had made to the snowy land.

The two riders gradually accelerated, their hooves kicking up blood-stained dust as they passed the kneeling, praising crowds. They waved goodbye, and from afar, a muffled, thunderous shout drifted back: "Take care, everyone! We'll meet again in the martial world!"

The kneeling people couldn't help but stand up and wave, as if to ask them to stay, as if to say goodbye, shouting in their unfamiliar Central Plains dialect, "Take care! Jinzhumami! Take care!"

Those men, women, and children who had followed the master to learn martial arts wept uncontrollably, their tears glistening in the bright midday sunlight.

Many heroes bowed and shouted from afar, their voices echoing for miles, as if carried by the wind to carry the two riders back to their hometown.

"Take care, hero! Farewell in the martial world!"