Chapter 251: Yuanshi Tianzun: Official Walkers, Assemble Here

Chapter 251: Yuanshi Tianzun: Official Walkers, Assemble Here

What is the condition for entering the second stage?

Kill the monkeys? Kill the tree demons? Obviously neither; otherwise, everyone would have long since entered the forest's depths. Why would they be trapped in the outer layer, facing the Tree King's vengeance?

Zhang Yuanqing believed the condition for entering the second stage was choosing a faction.

At first glance, the requirement to enter the second stage (conditions must be met) seemed utterly baffling—a mess of chaotic, self-contradictory information. Mountain monkeys and tree demons posed no danger if unprovoked, yet the intelligence was labyrinthine, and the danger did not match the instance's difficulty.

This made the entire strategy process seem both bewildering and easy.

So easy it felt like a mountain climbing excursion.

Without a strongly purpose-driven main quest for the Spirit Realm Walkers, most people were currently in a state of confusion.

Meet the conditions? What conditions?

But if one compiled and refined all the information, one would discover that every piece of intel in the outer zone was actually telling the Spirit Realm Walkers one thing:

The conflict stemmed from differing factions.

The choices a Spirit Realm Walker made in the primeval forest were the faction choices.

There were two major factions in this instance: One, the Lost City; Two, the Primeval Forest.

Zhang Yuanqing had always thought he had not made a faction choice, for it was precisely because he had seen through this that he had refrained from hunting tree demons for points.

But upon seeing that message just now, he realized killing monkeys and killing tree demons were the same.

—The monkeys were the forest's guardians.

The current him was the same as those Walkers who killed tree demons for points; they all belonged to the Lost City faction.

Then, how were those of the Lost City faction to meet the condition for entering the second stage?

The answer lay before them—eliminate the hostile faction's boss.

That is, kill the Tree King and the Monkey King.

But Zhang Yuanqing felt faction choice could be altered. Two points supported this guess:

One, the Forest faction's conditions were too harsh.

In retrospect, the condition to join the Forest faction should have been not violating the contents of the notices. This notice was not a single signboard, but the content on all signboards.

Because there were always a few guys in the instance who had never killed tree demons or monkeys—for instance, the oddballs at the bottom of the leaderboard, still stuck at 3 points.

Yet these people, obviously, had not entered the second stage either.

From this, one could speculate they had violated the notices' precautions, just as Zhang Yuanqing had chatted with the mountain climbers.

He had thought nothing abnormal at the time; looking back now, he had already become Lost City faction then.

Choosing the Lost City was so simple, choosing the Forest faction so difficult—difficult to the point that not a single person had done it. This was highly unreasonable.

Two, faction opposition.

Since it was faction opposition, there ought to be a hostile faction. Yet the reality was, no one could enter the second stage; everyone was Lost City faction.

Of course, one cannot rule out that the so-called factional conflict is simply Spirit Realm Walkers pitted against a dungeon boss.

If factions can be changed, then how does one go about changing them?

Based on the intelligence gathered thus far, Zhang Yuanqing discovered a clue.

—Precautions.

From the precautions, he uncovered two peculiar entries.

"During the long journey, should you feel unwell, you may pluck wild fruit to stave off hunger."

"Should you encounter a mountain ghost, you may seek aid from the monkeys."

The remaining precautions all warned against what not to do; only these two told you what you should do.

The mountain ghost would not appear until nightfall, so it was set aside for now.

The precaution about plucking wild fruit to quell hunger might be worth a try.

He had overlooked this earlier because plucking wild fruit contradicted the prohibition against eating brightly colored fungi and fruit.

But the information gleaned from spirit-questioning just now made Zhang Yuanqing realize that "wild fruit" referred not to the fruit scattered throughout the forest, but to the fruit within the territory claimed by the monkey troop.

This explained why the precautions seemed contradictory—because they were never referring to the same fruit at all.

In any case, there was no other way; he would try picking the fruit, and if that failed, he would go raid the boss... With this thought, Zhang Yuanqing turned his gaze to the mature beauty and the young girl beside him, his voice low:

"I need to verify a hypothesis. If it succeeds, we should be able to enter the second stage."

"Really?" Joy bloomed on the Peony Fairy's mature, alluring face, though disbelief lingered.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded:

"You and the guide dog stay here. Do not wander off."

Having spoken, he caught a flash of dimness in Asano Ryo's eyes.

Drawing a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing said:

"I'll leave this corpse puppet to help you. Don't underestimate her—she's stronger than you."

A smile graced Asano Ryo's pure features; she felt she had not been abandoned, and whispered gratefully:

"Wang Tai, you really are an ally of justice."

Feeling like he'd been handed a "nice guy" card... The generation gap was too wide for Zhang Yuanqing to bother explaining. He merely grunted, closed his eyes, and activated Spirit Roaming.

His spirit form exited his body, pierced the canopy, and soared straight into the clouds, drifting ever higher.

Only when he felt his spirit's ascent reach its limit did he halt.

Zhang Yuanqing looked down upon the primeval forest; lush crowns blanketed the earth, and beyond the forest, almost nothing else was visible.

He focused his mental power, scanning movements near and far, and soon spotted, several kilometers to the east, a sizable pool; beside it lay an orchard, branches heavy with clusters of crimson berries.

Tiny as ants, monkeys frolicked joyfully among the branches and at the water's edge.

Found it... Zhang Yuanqing withdrew his gaze with delight, turning instead toward that towering ancient tree.

The Tree King’s attack frequency had dropped to its nadir; six or seven drooping vines, most striking at the ground beneath the trunk, snapped tree after tree in their thrashing, clearing a vacuum zone of unobstructed visibility.

Zhang Yuanqing vaguely made out numerous figures, braving the vines cleaving down from overhead, converging beneath the canopy.

Planning to join forces and zerg the boss? That’s hardly the optimal choice… he muttered.

Of course, if eating the fruit couldn’t shift his alignment, he would have enthusiastically rushed over to help zerg it.

Zhang Yuanqing’s spirit form descended, returning to his flesh. He discarded the Yin Corpse Blood Rose, issued the order to guard Asano Ryo, and sprinted madly toward the east.

……

At this moment, at the base of the Tree King, the assembled Spirit Realm Walkers, having weathered a number of casualties, finally managed to rendezvous.

Upon arriving here, the assaults from above had largely ceased; every Walker present had neutralized at least one strike, entering a brief window of safety.

The rendezvoused Walkers clustered together according to their respective organizations.

Led by Zhao Chenghuang, eight Night Wanderers including Sun Miaomiao, the Maoshan Sorcerer, and Yuan Ting.

Led by Ah Yi, a full eighteen Evil-class professionals including Fate Is Mine to Command, Human Nature Is Evil, No Taboos, and Shattering the Sky.

Led by Kou Beiyue, including Loyal Minister Chooses Master to Slay… a grand total of two people.

Led by Jiang Jingwei, including Ferryman, Long Live the White Tiger, The Little Match Boy, and others, twenty-four in total.

The Five Elements Alliance had lost four members.

Besides them, there were the independents—Wei Wu Du Zun, Tian Xia Jie Bai, Nine Leaky Fish—whether affiliated with minor factions or lone cultivators, as well as foreign Spirit Realm Walkers.

The most numerous faction, numbering a full forty-four.

Ninety-six people in total.

"Loyal Minister, how come you’re mixed up with a nobody?" No Taboos frowned slightly.

Before Kou Beiyue could speak, the chubby youth jumped out in a rage, berating him:

"Audacious! How dare you speak to my Boss like that."

The fatty’s Boss… the surrounding Evil-class professionals all looked at Kou Beiyue with gazes that read "good luck" and "a walking corpse."

I… I’m not his Boss… Kou Beiyue felt terribly awkward under their stares. He wanted to explain, but a young man’s pride wouldn't let him back down.

"I Command My Own Fate," dressed in a forest-style light mature look, scanned the Five Elements Alliance members, knitting her brows:

"Where is Yuanshi Tianzun? Why isn't he here?"

At these words, both the Orderly and Evil camps turned their gazes toward the Five Elements Alliance crowd.

Jiang Jingwei opened her mouth to snap back with a "What's it to you," but was stopped by Ferryman. The youth in camouflage pants spoke coolly:

"Haven't seen him since entering the instance."

The stout, honest-looking Guan Zhong Kui Bao chimed in agreement:

"I just searched the whole area. Didn't see Yuanshi Tianzun."

Hearing this, whether Orderly or Evil professionals, a tinge of disappointment was inevitable.

Facing a Saint-realm boss, they required top-tier combat power on the level of Yuanshi Tianzun.

"Could it be he's too scared to show his face, hiding away?"

"Perhaps he intends to reap the spoils while others do the fighting. So the so-called genius of your official faction is nothing but a contemptible villain."

Sarcastic, yin-yang voices rang out from the Evil faction.

"Courting death?" Jiang Jingwei raised an eyebrow.

She casually rolled up her sleeves, adopting the posture of one who would pluck a head from amidst ten thousand armies.

Jiang Jingwei was in a foul mood. Since arriving here, she had seen neither Yuanshi Tianzun nor Sister Guanya.

She was surrounded only by colleagues she barely knew.

"Little girl, so young, yet such a temper. Let this grandpa teach you a famous saying: Ox-head..."

When a Pyromancer encounters an Evil-class profession, the collision of two extreme personalities almost inevitably results in a brawl. That Evil professional was just about to unleash their trump card against the Pyromancer when they saw Zhao Chenghuang of the Taiyi Sect draw a black pistol and pull the trigger.