The Treasure Zone had become a Hell Zone.
The sun had vanished behind the thick, blood-red clouds of the Crimson Moon. The only light came from the glowing red eyes of the infected beasts and the frantic flashes of Spirit Techniques as disciples fought for their lives.
To the East, the Violet Mist Pavilion was decimated. Liu Yan (The Leader) was running. Her veil was torn, her face smeared with mud and blood. Behind her, only twenty of her original fifty disciples remained. "Don't look back!" Liu Yan screamed, firing a poison bolt into the eye of a Zombie Tiger. The tiger didn't even flinch. It pounced, crushing a straggling disciple in its jaws. "AHHH! Sister Liu! Help me!" "Keep running!" Liu Yan grit her teeth, tears streaming down her face. "The poison doesn't work! They feel no pain!"
To the North, Jian Wushuang (Sword Son) was in a similar state. He was carrying a wounded junior on his back. His "Star-Iron" injury still throbbed, but now he was facing something worse. A pack of Iron-Hide Boars—hundreds of them—were stampeding through the trees, knocking down ancient oaks like they were twigs. "The Twin Peaks!" Jian Wushuang shouted to his surviving group. "We saw a light at the Twin Peaks! Go there!"
To the West, the Beast Mountain disciples were suffering the most ironic fate. Their own tamed beasts had drunk the water and turned on them. The Beast Mountain Lord was currently wrestling his own Saber-Toothed Tiger, screaming in betrayal.
They were all running toward the same point. The only geographic choke point on the map. The Twin Peaks Valley.
The Neon Beacon
As the exhausted, terrified groups converged on the valley entrance, they saw it. It was surreal. In the middle of a prehistoric, apocalyptic jungle, a massive Neon Blue Sign buzzed with a steady, comforting hum.
[THE SAFE ZONE HOTEL] [Vacancy: Open.] [No Beasts Allowed.]
Below the sign stood a magnificent wall made of smooth, polished obsidian. It was ten meters high and radiated a defensive formation glow that felt impenetrable.
"Safety!" A Violet Mist disciple sobbed. "We made it!" "Open the gate!" A Heavenly Sword disciple hammered on the obsidian doors. "Let us in! The horde is coming!"
The doors didn't open. Instead, a small viewing window slid open. A face appeared. It was Jiang Chen. He was holding a cup of hot tea and looking at a pocket watch.
"You are early," Jiang Chen smiled. "Check-in time isn't until 3:00 PM."
"Jiang Chen!" Jian Wushuang roared, dropping his wounded junior. "Are you insane?! Open the door! There are thousands of monsters behind us!"
"I know," Jiang Chen took a sip of tea. "That creates a very compelling market pressure, doesn't it?"
He pointed to the price list pinned to the door. [Entry Fee: 1 Million Spirit Stones.]
"One... One Million?!" Liu Yan shrieked. "That is robbery! That is all the money we have!"
"Correction," Jiang Chen's eyes were cold. "That is the price of your life. Is your life not worth 1 million?"
"We don't have time for this!" Monk Kuhai (who had somehow survived the orbit throw and crawled back) shouted. "Break the door down! We are the Alliance! He can't stop all of us!"
"Yeah! Break it!" Desperation turned to anger. The disciples drew their weapons, aiming at Jiang Chen's wall.
Jiang Chen sighed. "Why does nobody respect property rights?"
He snapped his fingers. CLICK.
On top of the wall, two massive turrets rotated into view. They weren't normal ballistas. They were [Spirit Crystal Gatling Cannons] (System Reward from the Shopping Spree). Behind the turrets stood Ye Kai and Su Ling.
"Ye Kai," Jiang Chen ordered. "Warning shot."
"Yes, Master." Ye Kai pulled the trigger.
BRRRRRRRT.
A beam of concentrated spiritual fire tore through the ground in front of the disciples. It carved a molten trench five feet deep and fifty feet long in less than a second. The heat singed the eyebrows of Monk Kuhai.
The mob froze. They looked at the trench. They looked at the smiling man in the window.
"The next one won't be a warning," Jiang Chen said pleasantly. "Now, please form an orderly line. Cash upfront. No refunds."
The Transaction
ROAR! The sound of the Beast Tide was getting louder. Trees were crashing down just a few hundred meters away. The smell of rotting blood filled the air.
Panic overrode greed. "I'll pay!" Liu Yan threw her storage ring through the window. "Take it! Just let my disciples in!"
"Excellent choice, Valued Customer #1." The heavy obsidian gate creaked open just enough for the Violet Mist disciples to squeeze through.
Inside, they collapsed on the soft grass. The air inside the valley was filtered, clean of the toxic miasma. There were tents, warm food, and a medical bay. It was paradise.
"Me too! Let me in!" Jian Wushuang threw his ring. "I have 800,000 stones and a High-Grade Sword! Is that enough?"
"Accepted," Jiang Chen grabbed the loot.
One by one, the elites of the sects emptied their pockets. Decades of savings, rare artifacts, family heirlooms—all handed over to the Smiling Devil of the Mystic Cloud Sect.
By the time the last disciple scrambled inside, Jiang Chen's storage ring was glowing with wealth. He had collected nearly 50 Million Spirit Stones in assets in ten minutes.
"Close the gate," Jiang Chen ordered.
THUD. The massive doors slammed shut and locked with a heavy magical thrum.
The Siege
Seconds later, the Horde arrived. BAM! BAM! BAM!
Thousands of infected beasts slammed into the obsidian wall. Iron-Hide Boars, Wind Wolves, Berserk Bears. They piled up on each other, forming a ramp of flesh, trying to climb over.
Inside, the disciples huddled together, terrified. "The wall... can it hold?" Liu Yan whispered, clutching her empty hand where her ring used to be.
"Look," Su Ling pointed up.
On top of the wall, Jiang Chen stood on the battlements. His white robes fluttered in the wind. He looked down at the ocean of monsters. Most cultivators would be terrified. But Jiang Chen looked... disappointed.
"Is this it?" Jiang Chen muttered. "I thought a Beast Tide would be more impressive."
He sensed a presence in the back of the horde. Deep in the jungle, hidden behind the army of beasts, he felt a gaze. A gaze that matched his own. Void Treading Level 9.
'So you are watching, Xie Molin,' Jiang Chen thought, his eyes locking onto a specific patch of darkness in the distance. 'You think you are the hunter. You think I am just a greedy merchant hiding behind a wall.'
Jiang Chen raised his hand. "Since you paid for the Premium Package," Jiang Chen shouted to the disciples below. "I will show you what 'Protection' looks like."
He didn't use a cannon. He didn't use a formation. He pointed his finger at the sky.
[System: Activate 'Thunder-Fire Purgatory Array' (One-Time Consumable).] Cost: 10 Million Spirit Stones. Effect: Orbital Strike.
"Burn," Jiang Chen whispered.
RUMBLE.
The red clouds above the valley swirled. A massive magic circle, larger than the valley itself, ignited in the sky. Then, pillars of blue fire descended.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It wasn't a battle. It was an erasure. The pillars of fire vaporized the beasts instantly. The pile of monsters climbing the wall turned to ash in a split second. The fire spread outward, clearing a 500-meter radius around the gate.
When the light faded, silence returned. The immediate threat was gone. Thousands of beasts had been reduced to carbon shadows on the ground.
Jiang Chen dusted off his sleeve and turned back to the stunned, bankrupt disciples. "Dinner is served at 6," Jiang Chen smiled. "Hotpot is extra."
The Demon's Reaction
Miles away, on a cliff overlooking the valley. Xie Molin (Demon Commander) lowered his binoculars (a Spirit Artifact). His expression was no longer bored. It was stiff.
"That array..." Xie Molin murmured. "That was a Tier 8 Array. It killed 5,000 beasts in one breath."
"Commander," Beast Lord Chi growled, clutching his head. "My link... half my army was just wiped out! Who is that man?!"
"Jiang Chen," Xie Molin whispered the name.
He narrowed his eyes. "He is rich. Insanely rich. To burn a Tier 8 Array on fodder... only a madman or a tycoon would do that."
Xie Molin didn't sense Jiang Chen's cultivation. He only saw the money. "He is relying on external items," Xie Molin concluded. "He is a 'Wallet Warrior.' Without his money, he is nothing."
Xie Molin stood up. "Let them rot in that turtle shell. The Heart of the World is about to appear. We focus on the objective."
"But Commander," Ying asked. "What if they follow us?"
"If they leave that shell," Xie Molin smiled cruelly. "I will kill Jiang Chen personally. I want to see how many coins bleed out of his corpse."
Little did he know... Jiang Chen was waiting for exactly that.