18: Chapter 18 Big Boss

At that moment, time was stretched to its limit by the scorching air.

In Shield Mountain's world, only that door panel remained, etched with countless sword marks and cracks, along with the eyes behind him—some terrified, some dazed, and some despairing.

He wasn't just blocking a spell; he was using his last breath to hold up a fragile barrier called "hope" for the "family" behind him.

He heard the sound of the wind.

No, that wasn't the wind.

That was the shriek of the fire rain tearing through the atmosphere, the prelude to the arrival of death.

"Boom—"

The first fireball slammed into the door panel greatshield.

That greatshield, reinforced with century-old wood and iron from the Black Wind Stockade, was as fragile as a piece of rotten wood thrown into a furnace before the spiritual fire.

It didn't explode; instead, it was ignited, carbonized, and then annihilated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

An irresistible force surged through the shield and crashed into Shield Mountain's back.

His spine let out an overwhelmed groan, and his entire body was pinned against the shield. With a "thud," both knees sank into the mud, making the earth tremble.

But he did not fall.

Crimson blood overflowed from the corners of his mouth, nostrils, and eyes. His honest face was distorted by extreme pain, yet he still held on with his flesh and blood, fighting for those negligible fractions of a second of life for those behind him.

Then came the second, the third...

Like a meteor shower of doomsday judgment, they fell incessantly, covering the entire front line.

The orange-red light swallowed everything.

The players' screams were completely drowned out by the roar of the explosions. Their fragile bodies turned to charcoal in the spiritual fire, then were torn to shreds by the violent shockwaves.

Those makeshift pot lids, furnace doors, and sheet metal shields couldn't hinder the fire rain in the slightest before melting into scalding molten iron.

The white light of death flickered frantically across this fire-baptized land with unprecedented frequency, as dense as a sea of despairing stars.

The entire battlefield turned into a silent purgatory.

When the embers of the last fireball dispersed, only a charred pit remained, with wisps of green smoke curling upward.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur, the stench of burning, and a sickeningly sweet, metallic scent unique to mana scorching.

Chen Ping stood by the edge of the pit. The dirt on his clothes had been shaken off by his mana, leaving only his handsome yet distorted face to reveal the endless rage and the feeling of being defiled within him.

He was panting heavily. Casting a "Fire Rain Spell" of such power was a massive drain even for a Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivator like him.

He looked at his masterpiece, the mess on the ground, and the few survivors in the distance who had luckily been on the edge of the spell, fleeing in terror. The killing intent in his eyes was gradually replaced by extreme contempt.

He didn't even bother to hunt down those ants.

He had already used the most direct and brutal method to show this pack of ignorant curs what "Heavenly Might" was.

"Remember this smell," he whispered in a raspy voice to the empty, scorched earth, as if making a proclamation or venting his frustration. "This is the only end for those who dare to offend an Immortal Master."

After saying that, he flicked his sleeve and turned away. He didn't even spare another glance at the carriage, which had also been affected and was now half-charred. He walked away with unsteady steps without looking back.

The Household Servants behind him were either dead or injured. Their faces were ashen as they scrambled to follow him, no longer possessing any of their previous arrogance.

They only wanted to leave this ghost-like place shrouded in death and fear as quickly as possible.

...

The Ancestral Hall, the respawn point.

A flash of white light occurred, and Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet's figure materialized.

Her face was pale, and her legs were so weak she could barely stand.

The deafening explosions and the final roars of her comrades before their annihilation still echoed in her ears.

On her retinas, system notifications scrolled frantically like a blood-red waterfall.

[Player 'Shield Mountain' has died.]

[Death Penalty: -1200 contribution points (Ultra-high penalty), dropped item 'Damaged Door Panel Greatshield'.]

[Respawn Countdown: 180 seconds.]

[Player 'Infrastructure Maniac' has died.]

[Death Penalty: -950 contribution points, dropped item 'Fine Entrenching Tool'.]

[...]

A string of death notifications almost covered her entire field of vision.

Inside and outside the Ancestral Hall, white lights flashed one after another. The respawned players stood dazed like puppets who had lost their souls.

There was no cursing, no shouting.

Only a deathly silence.

On everyone's face, the fear and confusion of the moment of death remained.

Demolition Office Director sat on the ground, staring blankly at his empty hands. His beloved fine steel broadsword was left forever on that scorched earth.

I Love Exploiting Loopholes leaned against the wall, his fingers trembling slightly. The schemes and traps he took pride in seemed so ridiculous and powerless in the face of absolute strength.

This was the most tragic, thorough, and one-sided defeat the player base had encountered since the server opened.

It wasn't a narrow loss; it was a total crushing.

Little Trumpet took a deep breath, suppressing the nausea churning in her stomach.

With trembling hands, she opened her system panel and pulled up a video she had just fully recorded using her talent ability, Battlefield Record.

From Chen Ping getting out of the carriage to the fire rain destroying the world, not a single frame was missing.

She looked at the video of Shield Mountain's resolute back as he braced the shield with his body, and her eyes instantly turned red.

Gritting her teeth, she uploaded the video to the only official forum for "Xianxia World: I Can Summon Players," which was built into the players' consciousness.

She typed out the title of the post:

[Pinned/Blood Red] "Documentary: Facing a Qi Refining Cultivator, the Gap Between Us and 'Gods'" — Video evidence, the faint-hearted should not enter!

...

After three seconds of silence, the forum exploded.

It was like throwing a lit match into a ten-thousand-ton barrel of gunpowder.

[First!!! Holy crap! What the hell is this?! Is this a CG?]

[Bullshit! I just died in there! My respawn CD is three minutes! I lost over a thousand contribution points! Damn it!]

[Finished the video, my hands are shaking... That NPC named Chen Ping killed someone with one finger? That Fireball Spell... the damage numbers must be overflowing the screen, right?]

[My god, big boss Shield Mountain... that last turn... I'm a grown man, and I'm crying.]

[Shield Mountain here! Just respawned! Damn, it hurts, it really freaking hurts! It felt like my bones were burned to ash! Tell the brothers, the door panel can't take it! We need to switch to Vibranium!]

Emotions of anger, shock, sadness, and disbelief swept through the entire forum in an instant.

Countless non-combat lifestyle and exploration players were intimidated by the bloody video and that terrifying combat power.

For the first time, they felt the cruelty of this world so vividly.

This wasn't like any game they had played before.

The price of death was so heavy.

The enemy's power was so despairing.

[Demolition Office Director: Stop whining! What's with all the crying! Isn't he just a Mid-Stage Qi Refining NPC? His mana bar is short! He must be drained after using that ultimate! Next time, a thousand of us will go! Ten thousand! We'll pile up bodies to kill him! My broadsword dropped; whoever kills him, I'll give them a new one!]

[I Love Exploiting Loopholes: @Demolition Office Director, calm down. Human wave tactics are useless. I've replayed the video seventeen times and drawn several conclusions.

1. **Flying Sword**: Extremely fast, has a slight lock-on, and can penetrate ordinary armor not reinforced by spiritual energy.

The only way to defend against it might not be parrying, but evading or interfering.

2. **Fireball Spell**: High single-target burst, has a casting motion (raising a hand), and a clear trajectory. Theoretically dodgeable.

War God Number One was too reckless and tried to tank it, resulting in a free kill.

3. **Spiritual Energy Shield**: Automatic defense, can block our 'magic-breaking' physical attacks, but doesn't seem to completely block out smells.

This is a breakthrough point.

4. **Fire Rain Spell**: Area of Effect (AOE), long casting wind-up (hand seals), massive power, but the mana cost must also be massive.

He clearly showed signs of panting and unsteady steps after casting it.

**Summary:** This isn't a god. This is an "elite mob" made of flesh and blood who gets tired, pants, has skill CDs, and mana limits.

He's strong, but not invincible.

We lost due to insufficient intelligence and tactical errors.

]

I Love Exploiting Loopholes' analysis post was like a sedative, instantly calming the fanatical or despairing atmosphere of the forum.

The players' thinking began to shift from venting emotions to actual tactical discussion.

[Infrastructure Maniac: @I Love Exploiting Loopholes, you're right! Our traps were too shallow! Next time, we'll dig ten meters deep, and instead of bamboo, fill it with sewage! Doesn't he love being clean? Let him take a bath! Also, for fortifications, civil engineering is useless now; we must use rune technology! We need to find a way to get Grandpa Li or the Ancestor to teach us how to carve formations on walls!]

[Skillful Hands Mending: Our 'Anti-Magic Group' had the wrong idea. We shouldn't use powder; we should use liquid! Something viscous! Like honey, tung oil, or asphalt! Slap it all over his face and see how he performs hand seals then! Also, although the Prickly Grass powder didn't break his defense, he clearly frowned, which means mental interference is effective! Next time, we'll all equip megaphones and sing "Tante" in chorus while he's casting!]

[ID Holy Sword of Physics: Hello everyone, I'm a newbie who just entered the game three days ago, specializing in the 'Prospecting' lifestyle profession. Based on the sound and speed of the Flying Sword in the video, I've roughly calculated that its initial velocity is at least 200m/s and it contains a high-frequency vibrational energy that can instantly dismantle the molecular structure of ordinary shields. To counter this, simply increasing thickness is useless; we need to use composite or flexible materials to dissipate the force... I suggest using the 'Tough Pigskin' from the wild boars we killed, lined with the juice of 'Sticky Glue Grass' to make a type of soft armor. It might have a miraculous effect.]

Posts full of wild yet seemingly logical ideas began to emerge frantically.

Failure hadn't crushed these players.

Instead, it was like a bucket of cold water, waking them from the dream that this was just a "game" and stimulating the terrifying potential of the fourth calamity deep within their bones.

They began to give Chen Ping and the "cultivators" he represented all sorts of appellations.

"Mage," "Version Daddy," "Elite Template," "Walking Armory."

Each title represented their deepening understanding of this type of enemy.

Fear was being replaced by analysis and research.

Anger was being transformed into the drive and plans for revenge.

After an unknown amount of time, an extra-long, bolded, and red-titled ten-thousand-word article was pinned to the top by the moderator, overshadowing all previous posts.

Poster: 'Shield Mountain'.

Title: "Feasibility Report on 'Shield Wall Flow 2.0' and Multi-Branch Collaborative Combat — To All Brothers Who Refuse to Yield"

In the post, Shield Mountain didn't mention his sacrifice. Instead, he used the calmest and most objective language to review all his mistakes as the main Tank (T).

He proposed that when facing a "Mage," a single-branch shield wall was just a sitting duck.

Future defense systems must be three-dimensional and in-depth.

He outlined a brand-new tactical system:

1. **[Heavy Armored Xuanwu Group]**: Led by him. No longer pursuing a single greatshield, everyone will carry tower shields and form a tortoise formation. The core task isn't to tank head-on, but to rotate positions through the formation to absorb damage and buy time for the backline.

Shields must be enchanted by Grandpa Li, even if it's just the lowest-level [Sturdy] rune.

2. **[Anti-Magic Ghost Spider Group]**: Led by Skillful Hands Mending. Comprehensively upgrade harassment items.

Asphalt, manure buckets, sticky glue nets, Bright Light Talismans (if obtainable), Noise Talismans... everything centered on interrupting spellcasting, polluting the environment, and interfering with the five senses.

3. **[Kamikaze Bee Swarm Group]**: Composed of reckless men like Demolition Office Director and War God Number One. No longer brainless charging, but lurking on the flanks. The moment the [Anti-Magic Group] succeeds and the enemy is staggered, they launch a fatal blow and retreat immediately, never lingering in the fight.

4. **[Skyfire Hawkeye Group]**: Composed of all ranged players. Not seeking kills, but saturated firepower coverage.

Throw as many sharpened wooden spears as there are;

Toss as many low-level Fireball Talismans as there are.

The goal is only one: to deplete the enemy's Spiritual Energy Shield and force him to move.

This report was well-organized, with clear divisions of labor and precise goals.

It twisted all the players' sparks of wisdom into a single rope.

It reinjected a steel backbone into this "rabble" whose spirits had been broken.

In front of the Ancestral Hall, the deathly atmosphere was broken.

The respawned players looked up one by one, silently opened the forum, and read the post.

Their gazes were quietly changing.

The initial shock and fear had faded.

Replacing them was a cold, wolf-like calmness and focus.

Demolition Office Director stood up and brushed the dirt off his buttocks. He didn't shout anymore; he just walked to Grandpa Li's blacksmith shop and started looking for any usable iron.

Skillful Hands Mending led a group of female players into the back mountains. Their targets were the most disgusting, viscous, and filthy plants and swamps.

Shield Mountain picked up a piece of a shattered door panel from the ground, his eyes resolute.

The shame of failure, the pain of death, the annihilation of comrades...

All of this would turn into fuel.

In front of the Ancestor's hall, these Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren from another world were undergoing a complete transformation.

A war named "Revenge" had already quietly begun in their hearts.