Monster Paradise

After ending the call with Lin Huang, Jiang Shan was silent for a long while.

When he was young, he had also considered that if one day he were to become a Virtual God, he must go to the great world to see what the vast world beyond looked like.

However, as time went on and his own cultivation level increased, he also rose through the ranks of the Union Government and had to gradually let go of his dream.

He even thought that he would never think about it again.

However, his conversation with Lin Huang today reminded him of his dream from long ago.

“I’ve reached virtual god-level now, but I haven’t been able to visit the great world…” Jiang Shan said to himself with a wry smile.

He definitely knew for a fact that Lin Huang not having plans regarding the gravel world was true.

To Lin Huang, the gravel world was too small a stage—his arena lay in the vast sea of dazzling stars beyond!

After a while, Jiang Shan dialed Dongfang Bai’s number and briefly explained the conclusion of his conversation with Lin Huang.

Dongfang Bai and Guan Zhong were speechless after hearing what he had to say.

“Old Jiang, are you sure he said that more than two hundred of those reinforcements are True Gods?!”

“Mr. Fu was the one who said it, so it shouldn’t be anything false.” Jiang Shan nodded.

Dongfang Bai pondered for a moment before asking again, “Do you think we can trust Lin Huang?”

Jiang Shan nodded with barely any hesitation.

“I don’t think Lin Huang will be much of a problem. On the one hand, he’s a native resident of our gravel world, and he won’t want his birthplace to become someone else’s enslaved territory. On the other hand, he doesn’t seem to have any great desire for status or power. If he really wanted to take control of the gravel world, with his current overall abilities he could have done so without expending much effort. The third point is that he’s only twenty years old—his desire to explore is still at its peak, and for him, the gravel world is too small.”

After listening to this, Dongfang Bai was silent for a moment before he nodded. “I understand. How should we deal with the matter after this, then? Do we act as if it never happened?”

“We’ll just treat it as if it never happened.” Jiang Shan nodded. “Also, regarding the information about the reinforcements—it’s enough for the three of us to know about it. There’s no need to tell a fourth party. The more people who know about this, the more likely that other problems will arise, and some people may take this as an opportunity to stir up trouble. With our current situation, unity within the gravel world is still very important.”

“I understand,” Dongfang Bai agreed.

“How’s the situation over at the Abyss Brink?” Jiang Shan enquired after they were done talking about matters regarding Lin Huang.

Dongfang Bai’s face betrayed a slightly embarrassed expression upon hearing this question.

“As of right now, ten waves of invaders have tried to come through. The tenth wave has seen the arrival of thirty-three squads of explorers with thirty members each, and their combat level has been upgraded to virtual god-level rank-7…”

Jiang Shan’s expression became increasingly grave upon hearing this.

“However, the current guardians of the thirty-three space rifts are all Lin Huang’s summoning beasts, and they’re all virtual god-level rank-9.” This was what Dongfang Bai was embarrassed about. There were more than two hundred of his people, and they had all been reduced to mere bystanders.

“Virtual god-level rank-9… it doesn’t seem like they’ll last for much longer, though.” The expression on Jiang Shan’s face did not relax at all. “How are the pre-war preparations going?”

“The preparations have been completed,” Dongfang Bai replied.

“That’s good.” Jiang Shan nodded. “That trump card… it’s better to not use it unless we’re at the most critical moment.”

“Understood.” Dongfang Bai nodded.

…

Back at Dynasty’s camp, after hanging up the call with Jiang Shan, Mr. Fu could not help asking Lin Huang a question.

“Do you really plan on taking Xin Er away from the gravel world after the war?”

“I’ll probably rest for a month or two before leaving.” Lin Huang nodded. “We must make arrangements for Dynasty and Misery’s follow-up development plans.

“Besides, there are still many areas in this world that we haven’t been to yet, and Xin Er might still have places she wants to visit. Before leaving, we should go to the places we want to visit and try not to leave behind any regrets since I don’t know when we’ll be able to come back next time.

“Teacher, you should come with us. Go to the great world and take a look!” Lin Huang suddenly changed the topic and said excitedly to Mr. Fu.

Mr. Fu hesitated; he did not refuse, but he did not agree either.

“On our side here in the gravel world, as long as we get rid of the leader of the invaders, such invasions shouldn’t occur in the future. After all, the location of the entrance to the dimension-bridging tunnel that connects the great world and the gravel world is very remote, and it’s normally not so easily discovered.

“Not only that, but it also ought to be fairly unlikely for civil war to break out within the gravel world for a while after this great war. As long as the six giant organizations can find a balance, they should be able to maintain peace for a considerable amount of time.

“Besides, I think you should also think about yourself, Teacher. You can’t protect the gravel world for the rest of your life. The future of this world should be left in the hands of its future generation.

“You’ve now fully recovered from your injury, and your combat level has reached virtual god-level rank-9. There’s no longer any way for you to advance your abilities in the gravel world. However, in the great world, not only can you advance to become a True God, but it’s also not out of the question for you to break through to heavenly god-level! If you ever want to return to the gravel world, you can seal your combat strength and still come back.”

Mr. Fu was obviously swayed when he heard this.

“I’ll consider your suggestion properly when the war is won. However, for now, let’s put our focus on this war.

“Oh yes, under normal circumstances, if the invaders have been trying to test the dimensional gateways without success, will they keep delaying the start of the war? Is it possible that they might give up on the invasion?” Mr. Fu voiced his doubts.

“If it were a newly-opened space tunnel and the teleportation testing failed repeatedly, then the invaders would probably temporarily abandon the invasion.

“However, these thirty-three tunnels of the Abyss Brink have existed for a long time, and there have previously been many successful cases of teleportation. In terms of probability, even if there was a problem with the dimensional gateways, it’s impossible for problems to occur in all of them. The invaders from the great world will certainly know that the reason for the teleportation failures is because someone on our side intercepted and killed the explorers. Therefore, they won’t give up on the invasion.

“They also won’t keep delaying the start of the war. They’re testing like this now only because the suppression of the world will in the gravel world has not achieved results yet. Once the world will is completely suppressed, they’ll immediately go to war without hesitation.”

“But they don’t know which dimensional gateway is functional. Won’t they suffer a great loss if they go to war under such circumstances?” Mr. Fu asked doubtfully.

“They’ll send a large number of beginner and intermediate-level Virtual Gods to pave the way, and they won’t be testing with just a few dozen of them like they are now. They’ll send tens of thousands of them through each gateway. Once they find a dimensional gateway that they suspect is functional, they’ll send over a large number of high-level Virtual Gods for a further second round of exploration. After the two waves of cannon fodder have done their explorations, the True Gods will enter in multitudes; after that, they’ll officially arrive with an army and eradicate the entire gravel world…”

“High-level Virtual Gods are only mere cannon fodder?” Mr. Fu was having a hard time comprehending what he had just heard.

“In the great world, virtual god-level is just the starting point for cultivation. There are many powerful tribes in the great world whose children are virtual god-level at birth and by the time they grow up, they automatically advance to become True Gods. For some top tribes, some of their newborn babies may even be born as True Gods, and they automatically advance to heavenly god-level once they reach maturity.

“Furthermore, the great world is connected to countless mini-worlds, and the resources available there are more than a million times that of an average mini-world. Their rules and sequences are complete, various types of energy exist in abundance, and cultivation is much easier. Becoming a Virtual God there is a hundred times easier than in the gravel world. The number of Virtual Gods in the great world is more than the number of all the transcendents in the gravel world combined, so naturally, they can only be reduced to cannon fodder.”