"Thirteen minutes. The Saint Master and I worked together, and it still took thirteen minutes to bring this thing down. It really was tough." Wang Linchi stared at the corpse of the Shock Devil, his expression one of utter shock.

Of course, it wasn't just him and the Saint Master; the Game System helped too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the power to pull it off.

The rewards were also substantial; the Experience Value he gained skyrocketed him straight to level 127.

It might seem like a huge leap, but it was perfectly normal. If a level 1 Player took down a level 110 unique world boss, would they only gain two or three levels? That would completely break the game's balance.

Not to mention the Experience Value from other Abyssal Demons.

It was precisely because of this massive amount of Experience that Wang Linchi had ventured into a level 110 Abyss Difficulty dungeon.

He had previously grinded monsters for three days and gained some levels, but he had absorbed them all. Thus, when he entered this dungeon, he was still level 1.

Additionally, Wang Linchi acquired a condensed crystal worth one billion Abyss Crystals and a quest item used for large-scale battles.

[Horn of the Bull Demon]

[Type: Quest Item]

[Stored in inventory. When facing Demonized-type enemies: for every additional 100 Demonized-type enemies, Health +10, Mana +10; for every additional 1,000 Demonized-type enemies, Attack +100, Defense +100; for every additional 10,000 Demonized-type enemies, Root Bone +1, Spiritual Power +1 (Stacking has no upper limit)]

This quest item, the Horn of the Bull Demon, was the horn that the Saint Master had broken off the Shock Devil. The Game System had transformed it into a quest item.

Compared to the Demonic Bone Necklace, this Horn of the Bull Demon just isn't in the same league, Wang Linchi thought. The Demonic Bone Necklace can be used anywhere, but the Horn of the Bull Demon is more limited. Unless it's a large-scale battlefield like this Battle of Xuanzhou State, it won't even meet the minimum activation requirements in other types of dungeons.

However, it should be useful for this situation. Considering the number of Abyssal Demons outside the city, there must be at least a million of them.

The city hasn't fallen, but that's only thanks to the Game System being effective, not because the Demon Slaying Army actually has the ability to hold off so many Abyssal Demons.

Wang Linchi maintained his pessimistic outlook. If the Horn of the Bull Demon's buffs were percentage-based, it would definitely be a Divine Artifact. After the enhancements from a massive amount of Abyss Crystals, plus my level 1,000 Righteous Scholar Suit, my character's attributes are already absurdly high. Otherwise, how could the Saint Master and I have killed the Shock Devil? Besides using exploits, we also had the help of my game character and the Game System.

Wang Linchi took some measures to clean up and prevent any unexpected issues.

As for the Shock Devil's corpse, he didn't need to worry. The Game System had very thoughtfully collected it and, using it as the source, began to eliminate all traces left by the Shock Devil. From the looks of it, the Shock Devil had likely only recently been born and hadn't fully matured. The impact wasn't significant and probably wouldn't cause any other bugs.

Back in the city, Changsun Kui was swamped with work. He was momentarily stunned when he saw Wang Linchi return.

"Master Wang? You're back so soon! Could it be... a failure?!" Changsun Kui's heart sank. However, he didn't entertain the thought of blaming Wang Linchi; after all, it wasn't something a mere human could handle.

"I succeeded," Wang Linchi said, taking out the Horn of the Bull Demon as proof. It was, after all, broken off the Shock Devil's head; it should serve as some proof.

"Failure wouldn't be... Succeeded?!" Changsun Kui was utterly astonished. He had never imagined Wang Linchi could actually succeed. This was truly unexpected.

"Good, good, good!" Changsun Kui exclaimed, repeating "good" three times, his face beaming with a smile that nearly overflowed. "Thank you, Master Wang, for buying us an entire night!"

"This way, we can evacuate even more civilians."

Although the dungeon was named the "Battle of Xuanzhou State," it was essentially a one-sided slaughter. The Demon Slaying Army of Xuanzhou State had been continuously evacuating civilians.

Wang Linchi didn't ask how they had managed to prevent the Abyssal Demons from attacking the city overnight. He figured the Game System had probably intervened directly, like a deus ex machina.

"I'm afraid that might not be enough. I suspect that besides the leader of those Abyssal Demons, there might be other Commanders," Wang Linchi stated directly.

The Shock Devil was, at best, a side quest, not part of the main storyline. If Wang Linchi hadn't completed this side quest, it would have only made the main storyline more difficult. Completing it didn't reduce the main storyline's difficulty; it merely brought it to its normal level.

In fact, Wang Linchi suspected the Game System had crammed all Abyssal Demons and Demonized Creatures below level 110 into this instance. He figured that for every one he killed here, one less would appear in other dungeons.

"Is this information reliable?" Changsun Kui's smile froze.

He didn't ask Wang Linchi where he obtained the information. Whether it was true or false was ultimately meaningless, because in their current situation, they couldn't defend the city even if the enemy had no Commander. The total number of Abyssal Demons on the enemy's side likely outnumbered all the people and animals in the entire city combined. However, if there was a Commander, their city would probably fall even faster.

"It's just speculation, not concrete information," Wang Linchi replied calmly.

However, Wang Linchi's words didn't bring Changsun Kui any relief; instead, his expression grew even graver. In Changsun Kui's eyes, Wang Linchi was an experienced Demon Suppressing Sorcerer who wouldn't make baseless guesses. Therefore, this speculation was highly likely to be accurate.

"Then... what should we do now?" Changsun Kui muttered under his breath. Then, seeing Wang Linchi, his eyes lit up. "Master Wang, can we attempt another decapitation strike?"

Wang Linchi was completely bewildered. A decapitation strike? How am I supposed to do that? I don't even know who the enemy Commander is, what they look like, or where they are. How can I possibly carry out such a task? Besides, to assassinate an enemy leader amidst a million Abyssal Demons... I'd probably need a character template like Xiang Yu to pull that off.

"I know this is asking too much of you, Master Wang," Changsun Kui said with a hint of helplessness. "But given our current situation, we have no other choice."

"I can do it, but the problem is, where would I go to kill them? After all, the existence of another Commander is just my speculation," Wang Linchi said. He was willing to try—it was his theory, after all—but he needed enough information first, not just to charge in blindly.

Changsun Kui pondered for a moment before replying, "Leave the verification to us, the Demon Slaying Army."

"Master Wang, you've already ventured into perilous lands for us; there's no reason to ask you to investigate this as well."

"However, it will take some time. We should be able to give you an answer within four hours."

Where are you going to find such information? Wang Linchi wanted to retort. You can't even leave the city, and it's not like the Abyssal Demons are going to chat with you. How could you possibly find out? In reality, he knew the Game System could simply pull the data. The four-hour timeframe was probably a buffer, a way to rationalize the information gathering, or perhaps to give Players time for other activities, like triggering side quests or resting.

"No problem, but the sooner, the better. Time waits for no one," Wang Linchi agreed. He wasn't particularly interested in triggering other game activities; his priority was to deal with the Abyssal Demons as quickly as possible.

"I'm afraid speeding things up will be difficult, Master Wang. You know matters like these are never that simple."

"A little more time will also allow you to rest and recuperate, Master Wang, especially since you've just returned."

Changsun Kui declined, making it clear he couldn't expedite the process.

"Alright then, please be as quick as you can." Hearing this, Wang Linchi understood it was likely a limitation of the Game System itself. Otherwise, given the Game System's nature, it would probably love nothing more than for Players to be endlessly slaughtering Abyssal Demons.

"Master Wang, our Demon Slaying Army naturally understands your earnest dedication," Changsun Kui said generously, not being stingy. "We'll have someone arrange some food for you. Please rest and recover first." He then had his subordinates prepare a table of food and wine, intending for Wang Linchi to eat his fill and rest well before undertaking any further tasks. After all, how could one perform well otherwise?

Wang Linchi didn't refuse and followed the attendant out.

There was nothing more for him to do there. Changsun Kui was also extremely busy; if Wang Linchi's matter hadn't been so crucial, Changsun Kui truly wouldn't have been able to spare the time to talk with him.

Wang Linchi checked his own attributes, which had inflated considerably. By making a simple calculation based on the buffs from the Bull Demon Bone quest item, he deduced that the number of Abyssal Demons he was currently facing was at least three million.

He couldn't fathom where so many monsters had come from. How could such a small place possibly contain them all? Abyssal Demons varied in size; they weren't all the same build.

This realization filled Wang Linchi with despair. With such a vast number, even if they just stood still and let me kill them, it would be an incredibly arduous task. Killing three million pigs would already take an immense amount of time, let alone Abyssal Demons that would resist and swarm him.

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