Chapter 850: The Raid Progression Begins!

"Having fully grasped the wondrous and profound truths of Bodhi, sever the demons, return to the source, and unite with the Primordial Spirit!"

Within a quiet, secluded chamber of the Nalan Family residence, Nalan Hongwu sat cross-legged, his palms upturned toward the heavens.

In his mind, he repeatedly recollected the sermons of Patriarch Subhuti, combining them with the insights and understanding he had garnered from Shopkeeper Fang's words over recent days.

He verified and integrated these revelations, one by one, into the cultivation techniques he had mastered.

An aura, far more terrifying and formidable than before, was continuously stimulated and unleashed from his form...

Among the player community in the shop, some chose to cultivate a single path, while others gathered the strengths of many schools, dabbling in all aspects before selecting one as their specialized expertise.

Naturally, there was also a certain regional division among them, shaped by different customs and styles.

For instance, in the East Continent and the Immortal Inheritor Continent, players like Nalan Hongwu mostly focused their studies on *The Legend of Sword and Fairy*, *Pili Mitian*, *Feng Yun*, *Dungeon & Fighter*, *Journey to the West*, and the like.

The West Continent, however, cleaved closer to *World of Warcraft*, *Dark Souls*, *League of Legends* (wherein the majority of heroes shared a similar style), and so forth.

...

At the Yuanyang City shop, because of a group of Western Region players who had been playing tirelessly from the 60s era down to the current version, *Dungeon & Fighter* was relatively more popular here than in other branches.

Next in line was the Half-City shop.

Naturally, the places with the fewest *Dungeon & Fighter* players were the new East Continent shop and the new Canglan City shop.

Therefore, to prepare for the arrival of the newly unlocked version, several cleaning staff members in the shop, including Jessica and her companions, were currently working tirelessly in their part-time roles, translating the official novels and spin-off lore.

In the rest area of the Yuanyang City shop, a blonde beauty and two handsome foreign men formed a supreme cleaning trio; beside them lay a mountain of materials as they carried out their current duties.

The official website only provided basic introductions, lacking more detailed information.

Their responsibility was to consolidate the data collected from the lore and various questlines, turning them into feature posts to be uploaded to the official forum and the main tieba for players to read and comprehend.

Beside them even lay some materials concerning "Arthas" and "Frostmourne" for the upcoming expansion, *Wrath of the Lich King*...

...

The Seventh Apostle, Anton, was a super giant turtle bearing a colossal volcano upon its back; legend had it that when its enormous body stretched out, it could reach the very ends of the world.

Feeding on energy, it wantonly devoured the power of entire worlds, to the point of causing their total energy depletion, and it was precisely because its home world had been destroyed by such exhaustion that it had come to this continent.

Unlike before, in many games—such as *The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4*, where the one who ultimately defeated Xuan Xiao was the Nine Heaven Mystic Maiden, leaving players to do only what was humanly possible and leave the rest to fate; or in *World of Warcraft*, where the one who slew the Old God C'Thun was not the player, as players merely acted as the vanguard to fulfill supporting and depleting roles.

Because back then... they were inherently weak, possessing neither the ability nor the strength to handle such monumental crises.

But with the passage of time, they had gradually begun to grow... These players were no longer minor characters who could only play second fiddle behind those powerhouses; they... had also begun to step onto the stage of history, stride by stride!

No matter what they were in reality, within the game, they were the true geniuses; as time marched on and they endured catastrophe after catastrophe, they gradually comprehended even more powerful ultimate arts, surpassing the mentors who had once taught them, and had even risen to a height where they stood shoulder to shoulder with the mighty existences they had once looked up to!

Thus, in this interception battle against the Seventh Apostle... these players were the absolute main force!

At this moment, upon the screens of numerous players, including those from the Western Region, as well as Zong Wu, Nalan Mingxue, and others... the night was silent, and across the vast, boundless sea, peering through the ocean mist into the distance, one could faintly discern a colossally massive continent; upon that land, a fire seemed to ignite, burning the very heavens.

Looking closely, one could finally tell that it was actually an ancient giant turtle whose body was as vast as an immense continent, with a volcano on its back piercing straight into the sky!

Its four limbs stretched out into the bottomless sea; those four giant legs were like pillars holding up the heavens, stepping upon the seabed while its body stood high above the expansive surface of the ocean.

This boundless sea, compared to this apostle of overly gargantuan proportions, was as easy to wade through as a small stream.

At this moment, inside the internet cafe, Song Qingfeng and a crowd of players gathered behind to watch, staring at the giant continent that was gradually consuming the entire screen: "Holy crap... this is about to burst the screen open!"

Simultaneously, a massive warship, followed by several battleships, sailed first in a wedge formation before spreading out in a single line.

They actively intercepted the path of this giant turtle!

Right upon that mammoth vessel named the "Noble Sky," braving the surging sea breeze, the robes of those at the bow fluttered wildly. Some bore gorgeous, radiant heavy swords on their backs, their eyes blood-red and their bloody hands ferocious; some held massive crosses planted before them, military cloaks draped over their shoulders; some wore grey Daoist robes with both hands raised, a strand of black light gauze slowly wrapping around their eyes...

Figure after figure, about twenty people in total, gathered almost all the top adventurers (players) in the game today, and directly before them was that massive behemoth of the sea.

...

At the same time.

Outside Half-City.

Beneath the Underworld Sea, passing through a stretch of deep water that was as silent as death, the space beneath the sea was like an endless abyss, growing deeper and darker.

A dark and sinister aura surged along with the undercurrents of the seabed; this deep underwater realm, classified as a forbidden zone by all cultivators of the sea territory, saw its undercurrents grow increasingly turbulent.

Accompanied by the silent roars of sea monsters and demons on the ocean floor, that bottomless marine abyss seemed to crack open further downward, revealing a thin fissure.

Beyond the fissure, faint glimmers of eerie light appeared, and the seawater began to flow backward; indistinctly, a colossally large foot of a giant soft-shelled turtle seemed to be visible!

That terrifying aura caused countless seabed demons to flee in all directions!

In the darkness, a voice seemed to speak: "Who would have thought... truly who would have thought, that a path leading to the Human Realm actually exists from this place...!"

"This Heaven-Swallowing Turtle has expended no small amount of energy to widen the fissure!" another voice added. "Though the qi of the Human Realm is not as abundant as our realm's, we can replenish ourselves well enough when the time comes."

"Naturally, such a natural supply depot is more than enough to sustain us for several months! Moreover, using the path of the Human Realm to transfer to the God Realm will take no effort at all! This war is won by our clan!"

...

Inside the Jiuhua City, Half-City, and Yuanyang City shops.

Upon the screens, that sea in the dark night was illuminated by a sky-piercing fire, turning the clouds crimson across the heavens.

A massive patch of black mist spread across the surface of the sea.

The vast black fog gradually swallowed everything in the surroundings, piece by piece.

Visibility instantly dropped to an extreme low.

In the darkness, the ghostly sound of the wind drifted over, hiding an unknown number of demons within.

"The teams have been formed!" Zong Wu shouted loudly, holding a scroll of the battle plan in his hand. "First, clear out the source of this black mist, all assault squads—!"

Upon the deck, countless people leapt up, blades unsheathed, stamping fiercely upon the sea surface; their entire bodies instantly shot forth like cannonballs, charging toward that giant beast of the sea!

"The assault begins!"