25: Chapter 25 New Bounty Mission

“Abominations! Abominations!!”

Chen Xiao's roar was no longer a human voice, sounding more like a wounded lone wolf cursing the moon in the most malicious way.

He, the esteemed head of the Qingxi Chen Family whose words could decide the life or death of a hundred people, now had hair and beard standing on end, eyes bloodshot. The Qi Refinement Stage late-stage spiritual energy within him had completely spiraled out of control due to extreme rage, turning into visible cyan air waves that plowed three inches deeper into the already muddy ground beneath his feet!

The family elders behind him, seeing this scene, turned pale as death, feeling a chill shoot straight from their tailbones to their crowns.

This wasn't just destruction; it was humiliation!

It was digging up the ancestral graves of their Chen Family's century-old foundation!

An elder tremblingly reached out to touch a “Dew Herb” that had completely rotted down to black sludge. The moment his fingertip touched the foul liquid, a “sizzling” sound erupted, and a small piece of skin on his finger was instantly corroded. He jerked his hand back, his eyes filled with shock.

“It's evil energy... and potent poison! What vicious methods!”

Another elder stared fixedly at the dark green vines that had completely clogged the spiritual spring channel. The vines seemed to have a life of their own, slowly wriggling, their roots digging deep into the earth to drain the very last trace of spirituality from the land.

“Demon Vines... these are forbidden items! Evil plants listed as prohibited by the Immortal Sect Alliance a hundred years ago! That group... what exactly are those savages in the North Mountain Hollow?!?”

Fear, more so than anger, gripped the hearts of these pampered cultivators.

They could understand slaughter, they could understand conflict, and they could even understand bloody revenge between sworn enemies.

But they could not understand what was before them.

This was an act filled with mockery, malice, and a pure delight in destruction.

The other side wasn't trying to seize treasure or occupy land; they... they were like a group of bratty children using the cruelest method to stomp their favorite toy into pieces and then spitting a glob of phlegm on it.

“Investigate! Investigate for me!!” Chen Xiao's voice was hoarse like a broken gong. “Dig up the background of those scumbags! I want them dead! I want their souls destroyed and their spirits scattered, never to be reincarnated!”

...

Unlike the soaring resentment and murderous intent of the Chen Family, the player camp in North Mountain Hollow was immersed in a frenzy of joy.

When “I Love Exploiting Loopholes” led the brothers of the Unexpected Force Hall, covered in mud and grass, back to the camp with heads held high, the huge stone tablet in front of the ancestral hall—the players' leaderboard—flashed with golden light!

[Hall Destruction Leaderboard]

First Place: [Unexpected Force Hall]

Destruction points: 9527 points

Major Achievement: Successfully contaminated the century-old medicinal herb garden of the Qingxi Chen Family, destroyed the Spirit Gathering Formation, severed the spiritual spring, and caused irreversible, fundamental destruction.

Second Place: [Blazing Fire Hall]

Destruction points: 0 points

Third Place: [Iron Wall Hall]

Destruction points: 0 points

...

In an instant, the entire camp exploded.

“Holy shit! Over nine thousand points?! What did those bastards from the Unexpected Force Hall do? Did they blow up the Chen Family?”

“Irreversible, fundamental destruction... This evaluation is too fucking top-tier! Personally certified by the Ancestor himself!”

“I Love Exploiting Loopholes, hurry! Come out and tell us, what exactly did you do? How did you pull it off? Is there a recording? We'll pay to watch!”

“I Love Exploiting Loopholes” stood in the center of the crowd, enjoying the thrill of being the center of attention. He cleared his throat, a mysterious and lewd smile on his face: “A mountain dweller has his own clever plans. Brothers, remember the motto of our Unexpected Force Hall—fighting is for brutes. War is an art!”

His words drew cheers, but also completely ignited the anger of the other two halls.

“Art my ass!” A roar came from behind the crowd. “Demolition Office Director” pushed through the crowd, staring at “I Love Exploiting Loopholes” with eyes spitting fire, his gaze as if he wanted to devour him alive. “You bunch of old schemers, going off to do big things in secret without calling the brothers!?!”

The players of the Blazing Fire Hall were all eager and indignant.

“Exactly! When it comes to causing destruction, how can our Blazing Fire Hall be left out?”

“Director! Give the order! If they can wreck the herb garden, we can burn their granary! Let's see who's more ruthless!”

“Demolition Office Director” waved his hand, jumped onto a large rock, and shouted, “Brothers of the Blazing Fire Hall, listen up! Isn't the Chen Family blocking us? We'll cut off their trade routes! Don't they have money? We'll turn all their money into our money!”

His words were more effective than any pep talk.

“Rob them!”

“For the Ancestor's golden coffin!”

“Charge!”

In an instant, the players of the Blazing Fire Hall swarmed out like a group of bandits smelling blood, surging out of the mountains with murderous intent.

Deep in the ancestral hall, Lu Bei's spiritual body watched all this with satisfaction.

The “decapitation operation” of the Unexpected Force Hall was a precision strike, while the “everyone's a bandit” approach of the Blazing Fire Hall was expanding the results.

One bright, one dark; one yin, one yang. These players could always bring him surprises.

On the main road outside Qingxi Town, a caravan consisting of a dozen large carts was moving slowly.

In the center of the caravan, a large flag embroidered with the character “Chen” fluttered in the wind.

Responsible for escorting this batch of goods was a deacon of the Chen Family, Chen Ping's cousin, Chen An.

With a cultivation level at the fourth layer of the Qi Refinement Stage, he was one layer higher than Chen Ping, who had died at the hands of the players.

He was currently riding a tall horse, his brows locked in a deep frown.

The news of the herb garden being destroyed had already reached him.

The family head was furious, and the family atmosphere was depressingly heavy.

What he was escorting this time was a batch of magical artifacts and talismans to be sold in the county town, which were worth a fortune and were an important source of income for the family.

“Stay alert!” Chen An shouted to the guards around him. “The family head has ordered that it's not peaceful lately. Anyone who slacks off will be punished according to family law!”

“Yes!” A dozen or so Chen Family disciples at the first and second layers of the Qi Refinement Stage responded in unison, gripping their magical swords and vigilantly scanning the dense forests on both sides of the road.

They had no idea that deep in the dense forest, hundreds of pairs of green-glowing eyes had already locked onto them firmly.

“They're here, they're here!”

“Damn, this caravan is something else. A dozen large carts, how much good stuff must be in there?”

“Shh! Listen to the Director's command! Wait until they enter that mountain pass before acting!”

“Demolition Office Director” was lying on a hillside, chewing on a blade of grass, observing the movements below with a monocular telescope.

“Damn it, the one riding the horse must be the leader! Later, everyone, focus fire on the one on the horse for me! Ignore everyone else, take him down first!” He gave a simple and crude order in the hall channel.

The caravan suspected nothing and slowly drove into the narrow mountain pass flanked by two mountains.

Just as the carriage at the very front of the convoy entered the pass!

“Act!”

“Demolition Office Director” roared!

“Boom!!”

On the cliffs on both sides of the pass, dozens of sharpened giant logs suddenly rolled down like punishment from heaven, smashing fiercely toward the caravan!

“Ambush! Form up!”

Chen An's expression changed, and he shouted sharply.

His reaction was extremely fast; the long sword at his waist was drawn in an instant, and a cyan sword light slashed out like silk, splitting a giant log coming straight at him into two!

The other guards also hurriedly summoned their magical artifacts, spiritual light flickering to form curtains of light, attempting to block this sudden attack.

However, this was just the beginning!

“Kill!!!”

In the forest, a roar of killing erupted like a tsunami.

Over a hundred players came charging out from all directions, screaming.

They held a variety of weapons; some were standard steel sabers looted from the Black Wind Stockade, some were simply logging axes and mining picks, and some were even holding sharpened wooden sticks.

They had no formation to speak of, just like a group of crazy dogs whose nest had been poked, swarming out from the woods, from the hillsides, and even from pits dug in the ground!

Chen An's pupils constricted sharply.

What is this?

Bandits?

No!

Since when did bandits have such disregard for their own lives?

“Fireball Spell!”

A Chen Family disciple raised his hand and waved, and a fireball the size of a human head whistled into the crowd.

“Boom!”

Fire flashed, and the three players in the front didn't even have time to scream before they were instantly charred.

However, the players behind them didn't pause at all, instead charging up even more excitedly!

“Holy shit! The special effects of this spell are cooler than in the CG!”

“Brothers, hold the line! He finished casting his skill, it's on cooldown! Get him!”

“For the Ancestor!”

A player roared, holding up a tattered wooden shield, and charged right in front of the Chen Family disciple.

The Chen Family disciple flashed a look of contempt and stabbed back with his sword.

“Puchi!”

The magic sword easily pierced through the wooden shield and also pierced through the player's chest.

But, before dying, the player revealed a ferocious smile on his face. He threw away the wooden shield and used his last bit of strength to tightly grab the Chen Family disciple's arm!

“Nice job!”

Two players pounced from the side, their axes and firewood choppers hacking fiercely at the immobilized Chen Family disciple!

Blood splashed!

The Chen Family disciple couldn't even scream before he was hacked to death alive.

Such a scene was staged in every corner of the battlefield.

The guards of the Chen Family realized that what they were facing was not human at all!

Their spells could easily harvest the lives of these “enemies,” but for every one they killed, three more would immediately pounce on them without fear of death.

They would bite with their teeth, grab with their hands, and block your sword with their bodies, just to create an opportunity for their companions to attack.

This crazy, bloody, and completely cost-ignoring fighting style made these pampered cultivators tremble with fear!

“Hold steady! Don't panic! Use Flying Swords! Keep your distance!”

Chen An roared, his Flying Sword circling in the air, taking the life of a player with every pass.

But there were too many players, and they were endless!

Moreover, he realized with horror that the target of these people had been extremely clear from the start—it was him!

More than half of the players were red-eyed, ignoring other guards, and crazily surging toward him!

“Take him down! Loot his gear!”

“The horse he's riding is nice! Grab it!”

“The Director said, kill him and the contribution points will double!”

“Go to hell!” Chen An was consumed by rage, his spiritual energy pushed to the limit, his Flying Sword turning into a stream of light, instantly piercing through the bodies of seven or eight players.

But just at the moment his spiritual energy flow stuttered!

“Now!”

“Demolition Office Director” lunged out from behind a rock. He wasn't holding a sword, but was clutching a bundle of low-level explosive talismans just exchanged from the Blazing Fire Hall's warehouse!

This stuff didn't have much power, but it had the advantage of quantity!

“Die for me!”

He roared, using all his strength to hurl the large bundle of talismans fiercely at Chen An!

Chen An's face changed drastically; it was too late to dodge, so he could only hastily set up a spiritual energy shield in front of him.

“Boom—!!!”

A deafening explosion rang through the entire valley!

The fire and air waves blew Chen An and his horse away. The spiritual energy shield on him flickered violently, and finally, with a “crack,” it shattered!

“Pfft!”

Chen An spat out a mouthful of blood and fell heavily to the ground.

Before he could even get up, everything went black before his eyes.

Dozens of players, like hungry wolves, completely submerged him.

Blades, axes, picks, and even fists and teeth fell on him like raindrops.

“Stop hitting him, goddammit! Everyone stop! Loot the corpse! Hurry, loot the corpse!!”

When “Demolition Office Director” finally managed to pull the overexcited players away, all that was left on the spot was a puddle of flesh and blood that was hard to distinguish in shape.

“...Fuck, it's too smashed up.” He spat and started searching through the bloody mess.

“Found it! A storage bag!”

“And his sword! It's a magical artifact!”

“This horse is nice, who can ride? Take it back for the Ancestor to use as a mount!”

The dozen surviving Chen Family guards, watching this hellish scene, completely collapsed.

They threw away their weapons, crying and screaming, and fled back the way they came, pissing their pants.

The players let out a burst of laughter, gave a token chase, and then poured all their enthusiasm into the carnival of dividing the spoils.

Qingxi Chen Family, council hall.

“Family Head! It's bad! Deacon An... Deacon An's caravan was robbed at Qinglong Pass! The whole army was wiped out! The goods... not a single hair of the goods is left!”

A disciple scrambled into the hall, his voice full of sobbing.

“Bang!”

The teacup in Chen Xiao's hand was crushed into powder by him.

He slowly stood up, and the air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Destroying his herb garden, cutting off his financial path...

This was no longer a provocation.

This was digging up the roots of his Chen Family!

All the anger and ferocity on Chen Xiao's face disappeared, replaced by a coldness and dead silence that seeped into his bones.

He walked step by step to the center of the hall, his gaze sweeping over all the Chen Family elders and core disciples present.

“Pass on my order as Family Head.”

His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable determination.

“Gather all clan members above the Qi Refinement Stage, bring magical artifacts, and prepare talismans. Three days later...”

He paused, and word by word, squeezed out the last few words from between his teeth.

“Flatten North Mountain, leave no chicken or dog alive!”