Chapter 4: A Demon Within the Stone

“This feels just like playing a video game,” someone with dyed yellow hair shouted, his voice pressed low in excitement. He was practically leaping in place, showing off as if performing some kind of acrobatic display—clearly, he was on an adrenaline high. Of course, he too had cultivated the Spirit Swallow Technique to the Innate Realm.

In fact, at this moment, among the group, save for those who had chosen the Purple Glow Technique, as long as one picked either the Mountain Shifting or the Spirit Swallow Technique, and drank the last drop of water in their flask and finished the two vegetable cakes, they would certainly gain sixty years of inner strength and successfully reach the Innate Realm of martial arts.

“Whether this is a game or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that we could very well die here.”

A middle-aged man with a dignified face spoke, and with a single sentence, the weight of mortality settled upon them all. Death—a word often felt so distant—now seemed close enough to touch. At such a moment, did it really matter if this was a game?

“My name is Shen Qianshan, also from P City. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that there are fifty of us gathered here—all from P City. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. After all, when we were choosing from the Transmission Monuments, there were thousands, even tens of thousands, of participants, many of them foreigners.”

“Assuming, for a moment, this is a game, then its purpose must be to make us cooperate. My guess is the enemy is just too fearsome—like that giant spider, which might very well be a monster from the world of immortals.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Even Wei Cheng had seen Shen Qianshan from a distance before; he was a high-ranking executive in some corporation. In fact, among the fifty, nearly a third recognized him.

“President Shen, whatever you say, we’ll follow!” several voices immediately chimed in, even the brash, yellow-haired youth gazing at him with admiration rather than protest.

“To know yourself and the enemy is to win a hundred battles. We don’t know enough about that giant spider yet, so first we need to understand ourselves. Earlier, we had three cultivation techniques to choose from. I believe this is more like a kind of class selection.”

“Now, those who chose the Mountain Shifting Technique and have reached the Innate Realm, please stand to one side.”

Shen Qianshan wasted no words and began to give commands.

No one objected; Wei Cheng and others stepped out. There were twenty-two who had chosen the Mountain Shifting Technique—a clear preference for defense over offense.

Shen Qianshan himself joined them, then continued, “Now, those who chose the Spirit Swallow Technique and have also reached the Innate Realm, please stand over here.”

With a rustle, twelve people—mostly women—stepped forward.

That left sixteen men and women standing awkwardly in the center, faces full of embarrassment, helplessness, and regret—each one silently cursing the misleading legends of Purple Glow.

They’d all been drawn by the famous reputation of the Purple Glow Technique, only to find that after draining their water and finishing their food, no matter how hard they cultivated, they still couldn’t break through to the Innate Realm.

The difference between reaching the Innate Realm and not was as vast as the gulf between a weakling and a superhuman.

After a brief silence, Shen Qianshan spoke again, “Everyone, there’s no point in obsessing over whether this is a game. Even if this is a trial prepared by immortals, we cannot afford to be careless.”

“What’s more, we’ve already made our choices—there’s no turning back now. The fifty of us have been placed here, and there are a few possible scenarios.”

“First, we might all have to reach the Innate Realm to defeat the spider demon and get the next Transmission Monument, which could contain a new technique or an external skill compatible with our chosen methods.”

“Second, perhaps not all of us need to be Innate Realm. The three techniques may represent three classes. Even if your Purple Glow inner strength hasn’t reached Innate Realm, it might still deal significant damage to the spider demon. In other words, we still have a good chance of passing, but the cost will be that, since you haven’t reached the Innate Realm, once your Purple Glow energy is depleted, you won’t be able to recover it.”

“Third, we could wait here and let you sixteen continue cultivating the Purple Glow Technique until you reach the Innate Realm. The only issue is, we don’t know if time is on our side.”

As Shen Qianshan outlined these possibilities, a heavy silence fell. Those who’d cultivated the Mountain Shifting and Spirit Swallow Techniques turned to look at the sixteen in the center—their thoughts unspoken but clear.

“President Shen, maybe we should wait a bit? Perhaps in just a few days, they’ll break through,” Wu Hongwei suggested. His granddaughter had chosen the Purple Glow Technique, and the choice was critical.

But now Shen Qianshan fell silent. Whatever he said would offend someone. If these sixteen refused to fight the spider, wouldn’t the remaining thirty-four be sent to their deaths?

Though he fancied himself a man of ambition, he didn’t have the courage to charge out first.

At present, waiting seemed the only option.

But with no clean water or food left, could these sixteen truly advance to the Innate Realm in a short time?

Just then, a man Shen Qianshan had assigned to keep watch over the spider demon came running, his voice trembling with terror, near tears.

“Something’s wrong, President Shen! The big spider is laying eggs—baby spiders are hatching!”

Panic erupted at once. Until now, the group had managed to stay calm because the tunnel entrance was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side—the giant spider was as large as a heavy truck, more than ten meters long, and couldn’t squeeze through.

But if the spider started spawning smaller ones, everything changed.

“Everyone, if we hesitate now, we’ll only suffer chaos. We can’t wait any longer. While the spider demon hasn’t changed its tactics and the baby spiders are still few, we must strike together and kill it!” Shen Qianshan’s decisiveness rang out—Wei Cheng shared the same sentiment. This was no time for hesitation or waiting for a miracle.

Unfortunately, even though most of them had quickly become Innate Realm warriors, at heart they were still ordinary law-abiding people. The scene devolved into chaos. Like headless chickens, everyone scrambled madly for the safety of the mine tunnels they’d previously sheltered in.

Only about a dozen, still calm, remained, looking at each other in confusion.

But soon, a sibilant rustling approached, and a dozen spiders the size of washbasins scuttled swiftly into the tunnel. Even the last calm few lost their composure—after all, this was no game.

“Kill!”

Shen Qianshan proved himself a true leader, shouting with composure even in crisis. He swung a pickaxe with force, smashing a spider to pulp, its juices splattering everywhere.

The power of example is immense. Four or five others, including Wei Cheng, seized their courage and charged, pickaxes swinging. In moments, they had crushed all the spiders—it was surprisingly easy.

“Everyone, stay calm! See? It’s not that difficult,” Shen Qianshan shouted, seizing the chance to restore order—a necessary trait for a leader.

In that instant, Wei Cheng felt sure that following Shen Qianshan promised a bright future.

The rest of the crowd calmed rapidly as well, many of the women looking at Shen Qianshan with shining eyes.

“Everyone, there’s no time to lose. I believe we should join forces and make a concerted push forward—”

But before Shen Qianshan could finish rallying them, out of nowhere, a black claw shot forward and pierced his chest.

His sixty years of Mountain Shifting inner strength failed to protect him.

“Ugh…ugh…” Shen Qianshan waved his arms in despair, his eyes full of unwillingness and confusion.

The shock for the others was overwhelming.

Screams erupted; some lost control of their bowels in terror. In the next moment, more black claws appeared, snatching up the screaming people in clusters.

This time, everyone saw clearly: the black claws were emerging from the rock beneath their feet.

There was more than one monster.