–I’ve been thinking the same.- Wang Dingshan agreed without hesitation. –We’re not here to enjoy ourselves—this is a world full of danger.-
–But merely increasing the difficulty shouldn’t be the Demon Hero Hall’s original intent, even if that’s important too,- Yang Zicang said.
–Then what do we do? It looked easy when we watched, but it’s so hard to pull off.-
In the small team of just five, a chorus of complaints erupted, rivaling the noise from the underground prison.
Yang Zicang rubbed his temple, and a sudden spark of inspiration hit him.
Noticing the change in his expression, the others turned to look. Yang Zicang lifted his head with a hint of delight and said,
–Oh, I have an idea.-
–What is it?- Zorro asked first.
The others chimed in eagerly: –What’s your idea?-
–Remember those mental power fields where I obtained the ‘Spiritual Imprints’ last time?-
–You mean those psychic game cartridges?- Wang Dingshan’s eyes lit up.
–But those are just minigames. What we need to build is an Arena City.-
Yang Zicang’s eyes gleamed. –What’s the point of the ranking battles? It’s just to decide which city is superior!-
–Ah… you’re right.-
Wang Dingshan nodded.
Jiao Ma’s small fist slammed into her palm. –Exactly! If we can design an Arena City that lets everyone rank the cities without sacrificing too many lives, that would be the best Demon Hero Hall.-
Wang Dingshan pulled out his companion Enightmare, shaking it vigorously with both hands. Lele was jolted dizzy, opening his drowsy eyes.
{I’m in the middle of clearing a level… What are you doing?}
–Lele, you’re always hanging out there. Got any good ideas?-
{Huh? I don’t know what you guys are talking about.}
Wang Dingshan got angry at once, shaking the scratch-off ticket that resembled monster skin, and said, –Stop pretending. If you don’t pitch in, you’re not touching those psychic card tapes for months!-
Lele fell into a grave silence.
{Then I’ll go ask the Dog-Head Advisor.}
–？–
The group watched Lele, who kept his eyes closed. Wang Dingshan heaved a heavy sigh.
–Forget it, this guy’s hopeless. We’ll have to rely on ourselves.-
After a few seconds of silence, Jiao Ma bit her small silver teeth and pulled out the group leader badge. A glint of determination shimmered in her eyes.
–My father might be fighting in these palaces right now. I… my wish is that one day we can be together again. If I were the maker of the Demon Hero Hall, I would certainly want him to keep getting stronger, over and over, constantly surpassing his past self, and become the strongest in this world!-
In everyone’s eyes, a –flame- ignited from deep within, carrying a complexity of emotions beyond words.
–Right! Our purpose is to filter out the unqualified, nurture those with potential to grow stronger, and create for them a shortcut to keep getting stronger!-
–That’s right, a shortcut!-
At this moment, the five of them suddenly had an epiphany—they seemed to grasp the true meaning behind the existence of something like the –Demon Hero Hall.-
–New Moon level C-class intersecting ground, Full Moon level B-class intersecting ground, Crimson Moon level A-class intersecting ground, and now the Demon Hero Hall.-
Yang Zicang murmured, lifting his head:
–This is actually the path to becoming stronger that this world designed for us, isn’t it.-
They all felt a tingling sensation run across their skin.
–That’s right! You little rascal. If I remember correctly, Zicang should have been able to stabilize the A-class intersecting ground long ago, right?-
–Yeah.- Yang Zicang was a bit stunned.
Wang Dingshan and Zoro both looked at Yang Zicang, a malicious grin spreading across their faces.
–Exactly. So, the Demon Hero Hall must be a place that only someone like you at your absolute limit can clear.-
–What do you two want?-
–What do you think, our little guinea pig?-
Yang Zicang pressed his hand to his forehead. He felt that a few careless words had just landed him a painful job.
After a long day of work, once everyone had left, this ten-square-kilometer psychic field returned to its green hills, clear waters, and fragrant blossoms.
Jiaoma stood alone on the empty grassland.
–I hope I can reach the Trajectory of Fate soon, as the creator of the Demon Hero Hall.-
……
Chronos Expansion State, Day 15—that is, seven and a half days later in real time.
In the Gothic-style grand hall, the crowd was surging. In addition to the Mo Ying Hall production team, many of their friends had also come inside to watch the excitement and take advantage of the rest time.
Gong Huanwu was conducting the preliminary review behind the table at the very front.
A total of sixty-two production teams—over the past half month, everyone had turned out works they considered passable.
These works, whether in terms of the scenes or the simulated psychic monsters within them, were fairly simple. Most bore the shadow of B-level or even A-level interlaced spaces.
Some teams simply copied more complex B-level interlaced lands—flipping their terrain left and right, or inserting areas like flames and mental illusions.
Moreover, for those areas, most of them only performed phantom demonstrations of Nen abilities, because no one was yet familiar with how to actually create flames in a Nen field.
–Group 7, prepare.-
–Not good enough. Next group, start the demonstration…-
Yang Zicang and his party watched the tense yet lively scene and exchanged uneasy words: –Only four months left. If everyone is in this state, I’m afraid the Mo Ying Hall may not be completed.-
Soon, clear shouts came from the front again.
–Group 10, prepare.- The voice of the assistant beside Officer Gong spread to every corner.
On the other side of the short table,
Huan Bao’er shook her head. –Put it down for now.-
–Then did we pass?-
–I’ll notify you later.-
The leader of Group 9 lowered his group leader badge in disappointment. The phantom of the assessment scene that had materialized before them retracted back into the badge. From their expressions, the others knew they had failed to meet the Chief Executive’s standards.
Soon it was the turn of Group 18.
Under the watchful eyes and encouragement of her former team members, Jiao Ma led her four teammates toward the long table.
Huan Bao’er, catching sight of the remarkably obedient little Jiao Ma, cracked a faint smile. Her gaze swept over Yang Zicang before returning to the girl.
–You have a very capable quadrilateral team member. That should make you more precise in controlling the intensity, shouldn’t it?–
Jiao Ma nodded with a goofy grin. –Please take a look, Godmother Huanhuan.–
She handed over her group leader badge with both hands, her heart thumping softly. Once given away, it might never return to her hands again.
Hearing that address, Yang Zicang’s heart skipped a beat.
He then started to wonder suspiciously: had his transfer into Jiao Ma’s department and becoming her teammate really been a casual, blind-eye act by these executives?
It seemed highly suspect—Jiao Ma had very few male teammates, and those she did were all middle-aged uncles.
As he was thinking, Yang Zicang suddenly noticed Huan Bao’er shooting him a smiling glance.
Gong Huanwu took the hard, card-like strip from Jiao Ma’s hand and slid it into an Enightmare device resembling a cassette player. This video-recorder-like Enightmare emitted a phantom sound.
{Oh~ Not bad at all.}
In Enightmare’s eyes, golden and emerald hues glowed, outlining a phantom building of light and shadow—the very psychic illusion field that Yang Zicang, Jiao Ma, and the others had been working overtime to construct over the past two weeks.
It was a venue like an interlaced rat’s nest, with three floors in total, each floor having three intersections crisscrossing within it.
–Jiaojiao, tell us about your spiritual field,- Gong Huanwu said.
The people nearby saw the arena beginning to take shape and gathered around.
Jiao Ma nervously glanced at Yang Zicang, and the young man responded with an encouraging look.
–Our first layer has very fast monsters, but they aren’t particularly aggressive. This is to take into account the support personnel in the participating teams.-
Many people nodded. Several team leaders belatedly slapped their heads and muttered,
–How could I forget? Not everyone has strong combat abilities.-
The person beside him wore an innocent expression, as if this team’s arena had only focused on increasing the difficulty.
Jiao Ma continued,
–Starting from the second layer, enemies appear that can only be easily eliminated with telekinesis and sound waves. At the same time, this layer is divided into two parts. We built a small room on the third layer containing the final reward. However, the door to the third layer can only be opened from behind by another team, and they must obtain the items stored in another room on the second layer—a room that cannot be entered—before they can proceed.-
–The door can’t be opened from this side, right?-
–Mm-hmm,- little Jiao Ma nodded nervously.
–Team A cannot directly enter the house to obtain the final item; Team B must open the first door, and the key to the second door is with Team A. So, a battle between teams is inevitable, right?-
–In that case, even if one team arrives first, they have to wait for the other. Indeed, this arena already has a fairly good degree of completion.-
Everyone nodded lightly. This team hadn’t simply copied the interleaved space scene.
The interleaved space is an ordinary terrain that actually exists. However, the scene designed by Team 18 clearly has artificially guided content for mutual competition.
Gong Huanwu said, –The scene has some competitive elements, but the scoring content inside is also very important. How did you set the strength of the monsters that need to be fought?-
Several people looked at Yang Zicang and Wang Dingshan at the same time.
–For the first floor, we set monsters that can only be passed by Wang Dingshan at his limit. As for the second floor, it’s monsters that require Yang Zicang to go all out to pass.-
Huan Bao’er smiled lightly: –With psychic types, ranged, and melee, this venue is enough to give most city teams a tough time.-
Her fair knuckles lightly tapped the table: –Okay, put it down. Go to the side and wait for the results.-
Jiao Ma happily bowed, pulled Ding Jiaojie’s arm, and walked out. Seeing the chief’s expression, she felt that what she had done was fairly good.
Taking advantage of the time while Gong Huanwu was putting away the group leader credentials and recording, the assistant beside him announced loudly: –Team 19, get ready.-
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