Chapter 61: Camp Tremors

The fifth wave of the offensive brought forth a Tier 4 demon, the "Roaring Fang Beast." Compared to the Thunder Frenzy Lion, while the Roaring Fang Beast's claw strikes lacked thunder-elemental damage, it possessed a far more terrifying beast charge. It could gather strength in place and lunge forward; being hit head-on meant certain death, and even a glancing blow would shear away half a body.

Let alone Qian Gongyu and the others, even Yan Qing himself had to fight it with utmost caution, not daring to get too close and only lingering on the periphery to chip away at the Roaring Fang Beast's feet.

After an earth-shattering, grueling battle, the Roaring Fang Beast finally collapsed outside the city wall.

The time elapsed was three and a half minutes.

"Is this... the power of Foundation Establishment?" Jie Yuanshao murmured.

Standing at the very front of everyone were the "Blade Vanguard" and the "Tear-Crowned Mermaid," which were the upgraded forms of the Blade Warrior and the Narcissus Mermaid respectively—in short, advanced statues. Upgrading to advanced statues required a massive amount of rare resources, and even after hoarding for several rounds, Yan Qing and his team only had enough to upgrade these two.

Before the upgrades, they had all guessed that the advanced statues should be at the Tier 4 level, but they had not expected the gap between Tier 4 entities to be this vast. The Roaring Fang Beast, which could shatter Tier 3 couriers like ragdolls, looked like a flustered, toyed-with stray dog in front of the Blade Vanguard and the Tear-Crowned Mermaid.

The Blade Vanguard did not gain any special abilities aside from becoming exceptionally fast. It could slice away the Roaring Fang Beast's fangs the instant the beast reached it, fluidly sliding to evade the beast's charge in one smooth motion. Even Yan Qing could not execute such an exquisite, perfect dodge—the dodge distance of "Jiang Shi" was simply too short, and any attempt to evade would still result in a collision. Until the Roaring Fang Beast fell, the Blade Vanguard had not lost a single drop of blood.

This was not solely the credit of the Blade Vanguard. In fact, the Roaring Fang Beast seemed to possess a keepsake that allowed it to unleash extremely ferocious, wide-area claw strikes. But whenever it did so, the Tear-Crowned Mermaid would lightly tap its long spear, forming a massive water mirror in front of the beast, reflecting its fatal attack right back onto itself.

The Tear-Crowned Mermaid's offensive power was far inferior to the Blade Vanguard's, and even lagged behind the statues of other comrades, but without it, this battle would never have been so effortless. Its functionality was truly peerless.

This was the genuine combat power of Tier 4—Foundation Establishment creatures. Throughout the entire battle, everyone else could do little more than watch their performance. Leaving aside the four humans, even the ordinary statues paled into absolute insignificance.

Compared to them, the Thunder Frenzy Lion and the Roaring Fang Beast were nothing more than small fry or minor vanguard leaders of the Tier 4 level.

As the statues returned to their original states, Qian Gongyu rushed over eagerly to touch the Tear-Crowned Mermaid's long spear, her face full of envy. "Is this a Tier 4 keepsake? Is there any way to borrow it and play with it?"

"I'm begging you, Jiang Shi, if possible, please, please don't tell me," Shang Xinlei said, pressing her palms together. "I'm just an ordinary wealthy and powerful person; I simply cannot handle an opportunity this massive."

"C-Can it be?" Jie Yuanshao whipped her head around. The noble-mannered aristocratic lady's throat bobbed, her expression a mixture of panic and eager anticipation like a stray cat being offered food by a stranger, as she asked yearningly, "Can we really obtain Tier 4 keepsakes?"

Too lazy to humor them, Yan Qing glanced at the countdown timer and froze instantly.

"The next wave of monsters will attack in 64:15."

He checked the time several times to make sure it was correct before breaking the bad news to his teammates.

Qian Gongyu had not yet reacted and stretched lazily, saying, "I'm so tired. We have to go scavenge for half an hour again."

"No!" Shang Xinlei said. "We triggered the fifth wave's attack early. Didn't they say we could stack the search time of two rounds? Why is there only an extra cup of tea's worth of time?"

"That means the search time after the fifth wave is reduced to just a cup of tea," Jie Yuanshao analyzed calmly. "Yet yesterday, we clearly had a full half-hour after the fifth wave."

At this moment, Yan Qing clicked the [?] button next to the countdown. Three days in, it was only on the third day that he remembered to check the specific rules of this instance dungeon rather than blindly bumbling through it by intuition.

"The first four stages are beginner stages. Upon completion, the rewarded rest times are 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 60 minutes. After the fifth stage, each completion grants only a base rest time of 5 minutes."

"For clearing the fifth, tenth, and twentieth stages for the first time, a special reward of 60 minutes of rest time is granted."

"Initiating the next wave of monster attacks early allows rest time to be stacked."

Only the first four stages had bonus rest time, and afterward it dropped to a mere five minutes?

On second thought, Yan Qing realized this was the only reasonable design—how much time could players possibly spend lingering in this dungeon? The first four stages totaled two and a half hours. Even if most of that time in the middle was spent gathering resources, such a long playtime was already absurd. Aside from college students and the unemployed, who could casually carve out two and a half hours to play games without interruption?

Moreover, the upper limit of this dungeon was ninety-nine stages. If players could scavenge for an hour after every single stage, wouldn't they have to play for hundreds of hours? Word of that would cause not just the players, but presumably even the government, to suspect whether the developers of *Courier* were utilizing a virtual game to cause mass sudden deaths through malicious design.

The correct way to play this dungeon was to farm resources using the first four stages every day, and then speed-run the subsequent stages, adapting on the fly even when facing difficult bottlenecks. It was simply that Yan Qing had been lingering around the first five stages until realizing this today.

Once a child steps out of the ivory tower, they discover that the world does not grant you an abundance of preparation time.

"So, the coming half-hour will determine just how far we can go." Jie Yuanshao let out a long breath. "Then let me, in the name of the Jie family, measure the dimensions of the Dormant Woodlands as far as possible."

"A lot of people are watching from the outside, so Eldest Miss Jie, you mustn't hold us back," Shang Xinlei smiled.

"Oh, right!" Qian Gongyu suddenly grew excited, her entire body regaining its vigor as she clenched her fists, raring to go. "Once word of the Dormant Woodlands spreads, my Qian family can achieve fame across the Liang Kingdom alongside your Jie and Shang families! With such renown, we at least won't have to worry about our aristocratic quota being eliminated by the imperial court!"

"With me and Eldest Miss Jie as your acquaintances, are you still worried about your family?" Shang Xinlei chuckled. "Call us elder sisters, and your big sister will guarantee you a lifetime free of care."

"Sister Yuanshao, Sister Xinlei!"

"You actually placed her name before mine? Are you looking down on me? Heh heh, daring to offend me like this, you're finished!"

"Ah?"

"Stop fooling around, Jiang Shi has already left," Jie Yuanshao spoke up. "She seems deeply invested in whether we can break through to the tenth stage... stop dilly-dallying."

Qian Gongyu paused slightly, turning her head to gaze in the direction "Jiang Shi" had departed, seemingly lost in thought.

...

...

Chairs and a tea table had been moved into the open space at the entrance of the Dormant Woodlands. Zhou Ye leisurely washed and brewed tea, pouring cups for the others with meticulous movements that revealed him to be an experienced tea connoisseur. The northern regions favored fine wine, while the southern regions prized fine tea; minding none of this, everyone sat right there to sip the brew. Qun Yushu immediately raised an eyebrow. "A slight sweetness at the tip of the tongue with an endless aftertaste, and our spiritual energy is slowly recovering—could this be the legendary Azure Drop Bud?"

"Precisely. It can only be cultivated within the secret realm of the Hundred Herb Garden, and requires three months to harvest once," Zhou Ye smiled. "Even I only have this tiny bit left."

"It seems the Zhou family's research into secret realm cultivation has yielded fruitful results," Chen Linchuan remarked. "I wonder if you've managed to cultivate spiritual medicinal herbs?"

"It is possible, but the quality is far inferior to what the Hundred Herb Garden secret realm produces naturally," Zhou Ye said with a wry smile. "Come to think of it, even a year of cultivation isn't as rewarding as clearing the Hundred Herb Garden once."

Though he said this, everyone could be certain that the Zhou family managed the Hundred Herb Garden quite profitably—the Zhou family's apothecary shops operating in both the Zhou and Qi kingdoms were the best proof of this. Even if a year of farming yielded less than a single raid, farming carried zero risk, whereas raiding the Hundred Herb Garden could potentially incur casualties if all of the Zhou family's elite forces were thrown in.

Among the many Tier 3 secret realms, the Hundred Herb Garden did not yield the most resources, yet it was the most coveted precisely because of the vast medicinal fields within. In the intervals between conquering the secret realm twice, the Zhou family could exploit the fields to harvest massive amounts of produce, unlike other secret realms that had to be left idle.

"That fifth wave just now," Chen Linchuan glanced toward the Dormant Woodlands, "ended remarkably fast."

"Did any of you discern what the Tier 4 demon of the fifth wave was?" Qun Yushu slapped his thigh and laughed self-deprecatingly, "Just listening from the entrance made my legs go weak."

"Compared to that, I'm more curious about how they resolved a Tier 4 demon so swiftly," Zhou Ye said as he continued to brew tea. "If they borrowed external force, will that external force transform into their treasure chest reward?"

Unconsciously, everyone glanced at the personal score leaderboard not far away. There were dozens of names on the board, but the combined scores of everyone else could not match the fourth-place Qian Gongyu. And the combined scores of Qian Gongyu, Jie Yuanshao, and Shang Xinlei still fell short of the top-ranked Jiang Shi.

The Dormant Woodlands had never witnessed such high scores, and no one knew what their treasure chests would yield. Even if Jiang Shi's chest could not produce treasures that directly granted Tier 4 power, what about Tier 3? For instance, skill manuals, Tier 3 keepsakes, foundation-enhancing elixirs, or perhaps even...

"Even Tier 4 demons have appeared," Chen Linchuan slowly stated. "Would it really be strange if a Foundation Establishment Pill was awarded?"

Hearing this, everyone drew a sharp intake of breath. Even Jie Zilong could not help his heart racing.

A Foundation Establishment Pill!

Even though everyone present consisted of important figures from various major clans and seasoned prodigies tempered by time, not a single person dared claim certainty that they could acquire a Foundation Establishment Pill in their lifetime!

"Jie Zilong, Shang Yue," Zhou Ye raised his teacup with a smile. "Congratulations to both your families for seizing the initiative."

It sounded like auspicious phrasing, but the atmosphere abruptly grew tense. Zhou Ye's meaning was crystal clear: your two families had already secured immense benefits, so you ought to step aside from whatever came next.

Jie Zilong looked toward the young man seated beside him. The youth possessed an elegant appearance and luxurious attire, but his frail physique and pale complexion gave him an inescapable aura of sickly weakness.

"I traveled for two days to reach the woodlands," the youth said slowly. "I still need time to understand the situation."

"Modest and steady, truly befitting the literary lineage of the Shang family," Zhou Ye smiled. "Still, it is indeed unwise to rush to a decision. Commander Lu also requires time to investigate the case. Ah, such a proper gathering at the Dormant Woodlands, how did a murder case end up happening here?"

"The sixth wave has begun," Qun Yushu suddenly announced.

Silence fell as everyone listened closely to the movements. Chen Linchuan's expression turned stern. "Roughly... one Tier 4 demon, one Tier 3 demon, plus a large number of retainer minions. However, for them, it should not be difficult to resolve."

Things unfolded precisely as Chen Linchuan anticipated. By the time the tea Zhou Ye had brewed cooled down, the battle within had concluded.

Expecting another half-hour wait, they were surprised when the seventh wave of the demon horde commenced almost immediately.

"One Tier 4 demon, plus five Tier 3 demons?" Qun Yushu exclaimed in astonishment. "Isn't this difficulty escalating way too fast?!"

This time, the battle consumed slightly more time, taking a full quarter of an hour before the fighting inside quieted down. Thinking they would surely rest now, they had barely caught their breath when the eighth wave of the demon horde descended.

"Two Tier 4 demons..." Jie Zilong looked somewhat apprehensive. "This is getting close to the entrance difficulty of a Tier 4 secret realm..."

"Their scores are rising rapidly too," Qun Yushu glanced at the leaderboard. "After clearing this wave, Jiang Shi's score will break 9,000. Two Tier 4 demons won't be able to stop them."

Whether two Tier 4 demons could stop the people inside remained unknown, but the impact on the camp outside was immense. Bystanders had retreated a hundred paces away from the entrance, and even couriers felt waves of lingering palpitations. The pressure exerted by a single Tier 4 demon was enough to make mortals' legs shake; with two demons compounding that pressure, the faint-hearted might even suffer incontinence and paralysis.

Once the eighth wave ended, Zhou Ye and the others exchanged glances and noticed a thin layer of sweat on everyone's skin. Looking toward Jie Zilong and Shang Yue, they said with genuine sincerity, "Congratulations, congratulations! Your two families truly have a wealth of talent emerging in this generation!"

Even they felt trepidation outside, yet Shang Xinlei and Jie Yuanshao were facing two Tier 4 demons head-on inside the Dormant Woodlands. Regardless of their actual combat prowess, their mental fortitude was bound to be extraordinarily transcendent. Perhaps ordinary people deemed raw talent the most important trait, but to elite aristocratic clans, possessing the mental resilience not to be crushed by fear in the face of crisis was the foundation of true strength—after all, talent could be trained or artificially cultivated, but poor mental fortitude could never be nurtured.

A smile involuntarily surfaced on Jie Zilong's face as he said, "That child Yuanshao will probably surpass me soon enough."

"The eighth stage is already this difficult," Qun Yushu sighed. "I wonder how many stages the Dormant Woodlands actually has."

"Rumor has it there are ninety-nine stages."

"Ninety-nine?" Everyone was rendered speechless. Zhou Ye shook his head in sheer disbelief, smiling wryly, "Only legendary immortals could possibly make it that far, right?"

"Who knows how far they can go... and it's starting again?" Qun Yushu listened intently. "One, two... the ninth stage actually features a full four Foundation Establishment demons!"

"Even if they manage to hold on, this is likely their absolute limit," Chen Linchuan tapped the tea table lightly. "Shang Yue, have you made up your mind yet?"

The sickly pale youth coughed once, seeming entirely oblivious to the fact that everyone was awaiting his response as he leisurely sipped his Azure Drop Bud and slowly replied, "Until I lay eyes on Xinlei, I will not make any rash decisions."

Chen Linchuan's gaze flickered. Zhou Ye continued pouring tea, yet under the earth-shattering pressure of the four Foundation Establishment demons, his hand trembled uncontrollably, causing the poured stream of tea to sway erratically.

At some point, Lu Wangji had already stepped outside to wait. Everyone stared at the entrance of the Dormant Woodlands, waiting for the life-and-death struggle within to draw to a close.

A quarter of an hour later, the sounds of battle gradually subsided. Jie Zilong let out a long breath and stood up, followed closely by the others. Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Qun Yushu gazed at the vacant entrance, his expression turning one of sheer disbelief. "No way..."

The corners of Jie Zilong's mouth twitched as he stared fixedly at the entrance. Shang Yue coughed three times in succession and let out a soft sigh.

Time seemed to crawl, making everyone feel as though they could hear the ticking of their own heartbeats; yet time also flew past in the blink of an eye as the tenth stage of the demon horde descended.

This time, not even Tier 3 couriers dared linger near the entrance. The grass at the entrance was flattened by howling gales, and the world grew dark and gloomy, as if catastrophe had arrived.

"A Tier 4 Demon King!"

Guarding his precious teapot, Zhou Ye spoke in a tone blending dread and excitement, "A Foundation Establishment Demon King that even Tier 4 couriers cannot fight alone!"

"And aside from the Tier 4 Demon King, there are three more Foundation Establishment demons." Qun Yushu actually laughed aloud. "This is probably the closest I'll ever get to a Tier 4 Demon King in my entire life."

If they had previously harbored ulterior motives and malicious intent, right then... they still harbored ulterior motives, but alongside them, an uncontrollable curiosity welled up in their hearts.

Devoid of interests, devoid of jealousy, devoid of victory or defeat.

They simply wanted to know just how far these four youths could ultimately go.