Chapter 132

Chapter 132

Wangu Town.

Nestled on the remote fringes of the Immortal Realm, Wangu Town was a solitary city of sand, deep within the vast, desolate 황沙. It was separated from the Demonic Domain only by the towering, flame-veined peaks of Yanjing Mountain.

Yanjing Mountain, absorbing millennia of infernal energy from the earth's core, constantly spewed volcanic ash across the sky. This often led to bizarre phenomena: one moment, the sky would be clear and sunny; the next, sandstorms, torrential rain, or scarlet clouds might blanket the heavens, creating Wangu Town's unique landscape.

Luo Ci sat in the town's largest tavern, ears perked, listening intently to the conversation at the next table. Their words struck him as both strange and oddly familiar.

"Talk about rotten luck. My sect just sends us on missions all day—either picking flowers here or gathering herbs there—and the experience points are pitifully low. I finally maxed out my affinity with the elders, only for them to give me a five-star mission with no bonus rewards..."

"You've got it easy. A friend of mine joined the Cloudtop Sect, and the competition there is cutthroat. He slaved away for years just to become a menial disciple. As for gaining favor with the elders? That’s a distant hope."

"No kidding. But this game is uncannily lifelike. The visuals alone are mind-blowing—I’ve never even seen any glitches. No wonder so many people play it."

Luo Ci found their words bizarre yet vaguely familiar. Propping his chin on his hand, he mused until he dimly recalled a cosmic anomaly in the ancient realm years ago. Little Furball had mentioned it was due to the Immortal Realm merging with other worlds, and they’d even discussed it back then.

Luo Ci found it marvelous, but Little Furball had simply said that beneath the Immortal Realm lay three thousand lesser worlds, so such convergences weren’t particularly unusual.

Were these people treating the Immortal Realm like a game?

"Anyway, we’re all here because of the 'Retrieve the Sect's Sacred Artifacts' quest, right?"

"Yeah. According to the background lore, the Demon King stole all these artifacts during the Immortal-Demon War, so they’re probably all in his lair..."

At the mention of the Demon's Lair, the group fell silent, a collective shiver running through them. The game was so immersive—its scenes and visuals so lifelike—that they couldn’t help but treat this world as real.

"Supposedly, my clan’s leader was one of the most vocal back then... until the Demon King clawed out his lungs..."

"Having your innards torn out is nothing. The Beast Taming Sect had it worse—their elders were gutted and thrown into a beast-refining furnace for forty-nine days, turned into human-core pills, and eaten like candy by the demons."

In any other game, they might’ve joked about people becoming "human candy," but the realism here was too intense. They shuddered in unison.

"As for the Beast Taming Sect Leader... his fate was even more gruesome. His limbs were bitten off at the joints, and he was forced to watch as beasts devoured his body. After enduring endless torment, he finally died—only for his soul to be ripped out and stuffed into a pig’s body. Branded and penned up, he was fed swill while his disciples were made to watch..."

The atmosphere turned oppressively somber. The Beast Taming Sect Leader’s fate was so horrifying that merely imagining it was unbearable.

Someone muttered, "Makes you think... being obliterated outright sounds merciful."

After a long pause, another spoke up, feigning cheer: "Look on the bright side—if things get too bad, we can always log off. The quest rewards are too good to pass up..."

The thought of the rewards slowly stiffened their resolve.

The tension began to ease.

"But how do we even find the Demon's Lair?"

A player dedicated to exploration spoke up: "While exploring the realm, I’ve collected ancient fragments. Piecing them together, it seems the Demon's Lair has seventy-two paths leading out. Based on forum reports, I’ve scouted this area and found a few likely candidates—especially the Earthfire Tunnel. It’s seemingly endless, so it’s probably the right one."

"Wow, you’re amazing!"

Most of them were too busy grinding reputation with NPCs to bother with world exploration, so this player’s dedication was impressive.

Luo Ci’s ears perked up. He’d come here specifically for the Earthfire Tunnel.

When he’d asked Lu Yun if there was any way to make the clay man speak, the reply had been just three words: "Fire Root Tongue."

He’d never even heard of it, and Lu Yun’s answer was maddeningly terse—was he in a bad mood? Luo Ci shook his head and refocused.

He’d asked the Cloudtop Sect Leader, who was equally unfamiliar with the name. Only after consulting an elder from the Herbal Immortal Valley did he learn it was a rare spiritual herb that grew once every thousand years at the border between the Immortal and Demonic Realms.

Not wanting to trouble Yun Xi until he found it, Luo Ci had quietly left the Cloudtop Sect and come here alone.

But after two days of searching, he’d found no trace of the Fire Root Tongue. Locals claimed never to have heard of it. Now, hearing about the Earthfire Tunnel, the similar name made him wonder—could it grow there?

"Can I come with you?"

At the sound of that melodious voice, the group looked up—and froze. How could anyone be this beautiful? At first, they assumed he was another player, but the lack of a nameplate confirmed he was an NPC.

"Whoa—NPCs can be this pretty?!"

Someone rubbed their hands eagerly. "Can we raise his favor? I wanna max it out..."

"Let’s take a picture first!"

"Guys, chill. Don’t scare the little NPC."

Luo Ci tilted his head. They seemed to think he was an NPC—which, from their perspective, he technically was. But would they still let him tag along?

The little fox fretted.

But his worries were unnecessary.

Players encountering an NPC who asked to join usually assumed it was an escort quest—proof they were on the right track.

This group was no exception. They chorused their agreement: "Of course! Let’s go together! What’s your name, cutie?"

Luo Ci: "I’m Luo Ci. And you?"

They introduced themselves enthusiastically—except for the exploration-focused player, who scratched his head. The name sounded familiar... Had he heard it somewhere before?

Following the explorer’s directions, the group easily entered the Earthfire Tunnel.

As they walked, Luo Ci studied the cave walls intently.

The plants growing here, nourished by the clash of immortal and demonic energies, were unlike any elsewhere. But none were the Fire Root Tongue.

Noticing his search, someone asked eagerly, "Looking for something, cutie?"

Luo Ci crinkled his nose. Why call him "cutie" when they knew his name? Still, he answered seriously: "A spiritual herb called Fire Root Tongue."

"Is that it?!" A player with a spirit-owl pointed toward the heart of the lake.

The lake wasn’t filled with water but with boiling magma.

Faint traces of fire-attribute spirit beasts lurked within, so the group treaded lightly.

The spirit-owl circled briefly above the lake’s center, where a colorful spirit mushroom grew. Its surface resembled a blooming flower, but something at its core had been cut away.

Someone guessed, "Maybe that was the Fire Root Tongue, and someone got here first?"

Luo Ci examined it closely. The spirit mushroom looked like a yawning maw—and given the name "Fire Root Tongue," it might’ve indeed been the mushroom’s "tongue."

If it only grew once every thousand years, and someone had taken it already... Would he have to wait another millennium?

Disheartened, Luo Ci continued onward until the tunnel’s end, finding nothing resembling the herb. He was now certain—the missing piece had likely been the Fire Root Tongue.

"The Demon's Lair... we're really at the Demon's Lair?!" Hearing the players' voices, Luo Ci snapped back to reality, realizing they had reached the end.

The end of the underground lake was a long, dark corridor. After working together to move the floor tiles and climbing out of the tunnel, they were greeted by the imposing sight of a Demon King's palace.

A crimson moon hung in the sky, thick demonic energy gathering into sinister clouds overhead.

The Demon's Lair was eerily silent, its entire structure jet-black like obsidian, resembling solidified lava. Bizarre, jagged stone sculptures were scattered everywhere, bathed in the eerie crimson glow of the red moon, creating an unsettling atmosphere that sent chills down their spines.

Luo Ci stared curiously at the outline of the Demon's Lair.

It felt strangely familiar.

His little head tilted slightly, his delicate face rosy from the heat, making his skin appear even paler. A bead of sweat formed on the tip of his nose as his large, round eyes fixed on the Demon's Lair, filled with confusion.

The sight made everyone’s hearts soften. The players, thinking he was scared, rushed to reassure him: "Don’t worry, we’ll protect you."

Luo Ci blinked and slowly looked away.

After the initial excitement of infiltrating the Demon's Lair, everyone’s mood began to turn to agitation and despair. The place was simply too vast—they had walked for hours, feeling like they were going in circles. "This place is huge! How long will it take to find anything...?"

Even the exploration-loving player was getting a headache. "All these palaces look the same. It’s impossible to remember."

"My head is spinning from all this walking. How does the Demon King not get lost living here?"

Arriving at yet another nearly identical spot, the group was completely disoriented. Luo Ci pointed in a direction. "We should go this way."

Naturally, everyone followed him without question. "This path seems right—the palace looks even grander than before..."

"And the door beams here are exceptionally high. Did you notice?"

Luo Ci frowned in confusion.

The Demon's Lair felt like a bottomless swamp to him.

He had sensed it earlier—something was watching them from the shadows.

But he didn't pursue the thought. His attention was entirely captured by the architecture.

It was all so familiar.

Wasn’t this the divine palace he had lived in for thousands of years?

Entering the palace he was so accustomed to, the familiarity grew stronger. Even the beds matched exactly the ones in his divine palace—at least in shape.

At first, everyone was on edge, expecting demon sentries to be stationed inside. But when they found none, they relaxed, sighing in relief.

Yet the moment they let their guard down—

"Skritch... skritch..."

A strange, rustling sound echoed through the empty, silent Demon's Lair, eerie as if countless many-legged creatures were skittering across the ground.

The noise seemed to come from nowhere, growing louder and louder, until it became an overwhelming tide, making their scalps tingle.

They turned to see countless monsters emerging from under beds, inside cabinets, and beneath the floors—creatures formed from condensed demonic energy, with only dim awareness, swarming toward them like a black tide.

A single monster was no threat, but thousands of them surging together like a dark flood were suffocating, pressing down on them with immense pressure.

The players paled, trembling as they huddled back-to-back, surrounded by an countless swarm.

Then someone gasped, "Hey—look! The red moon in the sky—it’s turned into three!"

Everyone looked up. Indeed, there seemed to be three red moons—until they focused and realized only one was real. The other two were a pair of enormous predatory eyes.

The crimson moonlight streamed through the lattice, casting a colossal shadow above the Demon's Lair. Now they understood why the door beams were so high—a massive, monstrous head towered above them, its jaws agape, its crimson vertical pupils staring down like lifeless red moons.

Everyone froze in shock.

A voice shrieked, jolting them back to their senses: "R-run—!"

The beast’s head roared, the sound like a thunderclap exploding on them.

The deafening roar threatened to burst their eardrums. The players trembled, clutching their ears, dizzy and disoriented. Those with weaker cultivation even vomited blood—the scene was terrifyingly real.

Luo Ci was also startled by the sudden roar. When he first arrived in this world, he had been chased by heavenly lightning, and ever since, he had developed a deep fear of thunder.

Though he had five tails now, his shape-shifting ability was still his weakest skill. In his panic, he instinctively reverted to his fox form—a small, fluffy arctic fox, soft and fragile, with wide, trembling eyes that could melt anyone's heart.

The nearest player instinctively shielded him.

The players desperately mustered their strongest spells, launching a multicolored barrage of spiritual energy at the beast’s head. But when the dust settled, the effect was like a gentle breeze—not a single scratch, not even enough to tickle.

They were instantly frozen in terror.

The beast’s enormous eyes glinted with contempt.

This was to be expected.

A century ago, during the great immortal sect war, he had fought alone against the combined forces of sect leaders and clan heads—and even held the advantage. These players, who had only just begun cultivating, were nothing in comparison.

One casual swipe of his claw could crush them. Just rolling over would flatten them.

Even a sneeze would leave them barely alive.

Hopelessness engulfed them.

The difference was insurmountable.

They never should have come here.

Suddenly, a small white bundle leaped forward, charging straight at the beast’s head.

"No—!"

To the players, the little fox’s action was like a moth flying into flames. Some reached out to grab him, but his fur was too slippery—he dodged their grasp effortlessly.

Was this a forced story death?

Some players were so distraught, tears sprang to their eyes—only to freeze in shock when they saw the tiny, fluffy creature collide with the massive beast’s head... and actually send it toppling backward, exposing its belly.

The beast seemed just as stunned, its fanged jaws opening as it belched searing demonic energy.

"ROOOAAARR—!"