219: One difficulty after another

Stand by.

The defense line on Beishan in Changtu County did not relax with the departure of the Titan Vicious Beast.

Instead, the atmosphere on site became even more tense.

Everyone knew that against irrational Vicious Beasts, Martial Artists could win with intelligence and martial prowess.

But against the Outlanders...

Both sides were on the same level.

At this very moment.

The peak of Beishan was almost leveled by several meters due to artillery fire.

The scene was filled with smoke, accompanied by a strong, murderous aura.

Yu Qi and Chen Guoan stood not far from the crack in the ground, leading the charge.

As commanders of the entire scene, their responsibility and ability did not allow them to direct from behind.

Instead, they had to stand on the front line and kill the enemy!

Behind them, battle flags from Martial Artists from various places fluttered.

The Zha Tian Gang's battle flag was not particularly conspicuous among them.

Their numbers were also the fewest, barely four people.

Although there were few people, Qi Chuanyu talked a lot!

“I say, brothers, when the Outlanders come up later, we must stand back-to-back; this tactic is the safest.”

Liao Zhongyang nodded in approval: “As expected of the strategist, well done.”

Jian Tong also agreed: “The power of the collective is the strongest.”

Meanwhile, Shen Bei stood on his tiptoes, glanced forward, and asked: “Old Qi—”

“Call me Xiao Qi, or Qi Qi, either is fine. Why add 'old'? Am I very old?”

“Alright, Old Qi.”

Qi Chuanyu: …

Damn it.

If he hung out with Shen Bei for a few more years, he'd live ten years less.

Shen Bei then asked: “Do you know the ultimate goal of the Dungeon defense battle?”

“To protect humanity!” Qi Chuanyu blurted out.

It was that noble.

Shen Bei shook his head: “That's only one aspect. The most important strategic goal is to establish a foothold in the Dungeon and set up a frontline base, not to let the Outlanders establish a foothold in the enemy territory.”

“What are you trying to say?” Qi Chuanyu asked, puzzled.

Shen Bei grinned: “Later, we'll bypass the battlefield. We won't care how others fight; we'll sneak into the Dungeon.”

As soon as these words were spoken.

The eyeballs of Qi Chuanyu and the other three nearly burst!

What?

While others were engaged in a large-scale group battle, we would sneak into the Dungeon?

What, are we going to raid their home base?

You can't play like this; you'll get us killed!

Cold sweat broke out on Qi Chuanyu's forehead, and with a mournful face, he stammered to Liao Zhongyang: “Do you know the biggest mistake you made in your life?”

Liao Zhongyang was stunned, pointing at his own nose, questioning: “Me? Mistake?”

“You shouldn't have shown off how to do Stance Training correctly to Shen Bei back then, you damn show-off!” Qi Chuanyu roared.

Liao Zhongyang: …

“If you hadn't shown off, Shen Bei's attributes would have plummeted. How would he have gotten into a Martial Arts University? If he didn't go to a Martial Arts University, could he be spouting such nonsense here?”

Qi Chuanyu completely blamed Shen Bei's plan on Liao Zhongyang for teaching Shen Bei Stance Training back then…

Liao Zhongyang almost vomited blood.

Things that were completely unrelated, and he had to blame me.

How boring.

Shen Bei waved his hand and said: “Such a good plan, and you, a dog-headed strategist, are not appreciated?”

“Can I say goodbye?” Qi Chuanyu asked in return, crossing his arms.

Shen Bei: …

Jian Tong also said from the side: “Isn't it a bit too sudden…? This plan is too dangerous. If we're going to enter the Dungeon, we should do it after we've cleared out the Outlanders.”

The others nodded in agreement.

See?

Even the “girlfriend who holds a minority of the truth” said so; Shen Bei, don't be crazy.

But Shen Bei exuded an aura as if he was above all things, looking down on all beings: “This is called taking them by surprise, seizing the initiative. You guys don't understand a thing.”

Qi Chuanyu rubbed his forehead and said to Jian Tong: “I can foresee that when you two get married, your words will definitely have no weight.”

Jian Tong glared fiercely at Qi Chuanyu and snorted.

Just as the few of them were still arguing about Shen Bei's proposed plan.

An anomaly occurred!

From the crack in the ground, a vast expanse of grey, hazy mist, like a tide, suddenly boiled and surged. It appeared out of nowhere, and under the sunlight, it spread rapidly like tens of thousands of monsters, engulfing the entire battlefield!

“What is that? Are the Outlanders playing smoke and mirrors?”

“This looks like fog.”

“Why is it foggy?”

“What's going on?”

“No! This looks like…”

All the Martial Artists waiting to fight the Outlanders were somewhat bewildered.

The Outlanders hadn't come up, but this strange mist was surging up instead.

At this moment, an officer gave an order, directing a team of men towards the rolling mist, wanting to see what it was.

And in their line of sight, Yu Qi and Chen Guoan witnessed it firsthand.

That team of soldiers became alert at the edge of the mist, but as soon as the grey mist touched them, these five or six well-trained, elite soldiers collapsed to the ground without a sound, their lives unknown!

“Damn it!”

“What is this thing?”

Seeing such a scene from afar, the scalps of Yu Qi and Chen Guoan, these two great leaders, suddenly tingled.

Let alone Yu Qi, even Chen Guoan, who had commanded the opening of the Permanent Dungeon twice, had never seen this thing!

In the previous two times, the first wave was Vicious Beasts, and bombing them was enough.

Then came the tug-of-war with the Outlanders, depending on who inflicted more pain and who was more willing to invest resources.

But at this moment, the Permanent Dungeon in Changtu County was pulling out strange tricks, making Chen Guoan completely at a loss.

But without thinking, the two instantly shot out into the air, their figures like meteors streaking across the night sky. In one or two blinks, they crossed a distance of over a hundred meters, appearing in the direction where the grey mist was surging!

“Be careful, there might be poison in the mist!”

Yu Qi roared, and the next moment, he suddenly struck with an open palm from a distance, unleashing a violent torrent of True Qi without reservation. Amidst a series of explosive air currents, a silver storm, comparable to a Category 10 typhoon, suddenly erupted in front of him.

Beside him, Chen Guoan's face was also ashen. He attacked without holding back, raising his hand to explode the air, creating a fierce gale, wanting to disperse the strange grey mist surging towards them.

However, in the very next second, what made both of them's faces change drastically was that the surging tide of grey mist seemed to be an illusory existence.

Even the strong storm they unleashed, comparable to a hurricane, could not disperse it in the slightest!

“This…”

Yu Qi and Chen Guoan were immediately terrified and retreated repeatedly.

At this time, some Martial Artists also curiously stepped forward, wanting to display their Martial Skills, their unique techniques, to make a statement.

But the deathly grey mist continued to spread like a tide, and Yu Qi and Chen Guoan, their faces ashen, retreated step by step while roaring:

“Don't come over, there's something wrong with this mist!”

Yu Qiuyi and a group of younger generations quickly came behind Yu Qi and Chen Guoan, looking at the vast, unsettling tide of grey mist in front of them, and asked anxiously:

“Grandpa, what is this thing?”

At this moment, Yu Qi and Chen Guoan attacked again while retreating, using True Qi to explode the air and create strong winds, trying to stop the advance of the mist tide, but it was as futile as before.

Yu Qi stopped, his face grim: “I don't know. This thing is definitely not just simple poisonous mist; it's more like a living poison! Be careful not to get contaminated!”

After a simple probing, they still hadn't figured out why this tide of mist in front of them couldn't even be dispersed by their attacks, but the fate of the few guards they had seen earlier indicated that being contaminated by this grey mist was probably not a good thing.

“Sir, something's wrong!”

Yu Haoran, Yu Qi's grandson, who had the most acute perception, closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before exclaiming in shock:

“I can't perceive the internal situation of this grey mist; it has swallowed my Martial Skill's perception extension!”

“Let's attack together! I don't believe in this evil!!”

Staring intently at the tide of mist that covered a good portion of the battlefield, Yu Qi took a deep breath, his hair standing on end. Boiling silver flames instantly illuminated a space of several tens of meters, and then he made a fist in the Void Realm, and a silver light blade, purely condensed from True Qi, appeared in his hand.

Clang!

In the very next instant, a sharp, explosive roar echoed through the night sky. Yu Qi slashed fiercely at the tide of grey mist from a distance, a dazzling silver light tearing through the air. Beside him, Chen Guoan, Yu Qiuyi, and other Martial Artists also let out low roars, attacking the grey mist from afar.

Chh chh chh!

Violent energy fluctuations collided fiercely, the ground cracked, and large areas of the scorched battlefield vibrated and flew under the impact of the aftermath.

The hazy tide of mist paused slightly, then surged and erupted violently like a flood breaking a dam, completely engulfing Yu Qi and Chen Guoan and the others like a tide in an instant!

“Not good!”

Yu Qi and Chen Guoan both roared, each grabbing a Martial Artist beside them. They pushed off the ground, intending to take the people and escape the range of this strange mist.

However, at this very moment, a contemptuous, cold, and strangely accented voice sounded:

“Humans… such boring resistance…”

Buzz!

The next moment, an incomparable pain and sense of weightlessness swept over Yu Qi and Chen Guoan like a mountain collapse and a tsunami. Even in the minds of Yu Qiuyi and Yu Haoran in their hands, the feeling was as if hundreds of thousands of steel needles had simultaneously pierced into their minds, violently stirring them.

At the same time, their mental consciousness seemed to fall into the eighteen layers of Hell. Every single detail from their growth to the present—love, hate, separation, joy, anger, sorrow—transformed into an overwhelmingly vast nightmare, surging and raging in their minds!

Thud.

In just an instant, the few people who had just leaped up crashed to the ground, their expressions twisted, their bodies trembling violently. It was unknown what kind of toxin invasion they had suffered, but they seemed to have lost the ability to resist!

Rustle rustle rustle…

At this moment, the omnipresent tide of grey mist suddenly surged violently, and a sinister, mysterious figure, seemingly condensed from mist, appeared.

This figure's body was constantly enveloped in a deathly mist, making it impossible to discern his exact appearance. He looked down at Yu Qi and the others twitching on the ground and chuckled:

“Interesting ants.”

At this very moment.

The occurrence of this scene left all the Martial Artists on the field at a loss.

Even Yu Qi and Chen Guoan, who were as high as eighth-rank, couldn't withstand the poisonous mist. What about the other Martial Artists…?

They could only retreat step by step, watching the poisonous mist gradually erode the battlefield, yet powerless.

However, at this moment.

A figure moved in the opposite direction.

With composure and elegance, he leisurely and unhurriedly walked into the poisonous mist.

Everyone was bewildered.

The poisonous mist that Yu Qi and Chen Guoan couldn't withstand—are you going in to die?

However.

The next moment.

A crisp slapping sound came from within the mist.

Then came Shen Bei's incredibly arrogant voice:

“So you're the one causing trouble, you bastard, aren't you?”