Empty Valley
Yu Fengqiu pushed open the door of the conference room, hurried to the second meeting, and leaned over to report.
After many days of contact, the presidents of all the major guilds have recognized the leader of Dragon Breath Group 2, and the discussion stopped.
Erhui frowned and nodded.
Yu Fengqiu stood up straight, looked around the conference room, and repeated the content of the report.
"Ten minutes ago, the joint team discovered something unusual happening at Yong'an Farm. A statue of a deity appeared on the farm."
He picked up the holographic remote control and pressed it twice.
A slowly rotating 3D image of the farm appeared on the holographic screen. The moment he saw the screen, even he was stunned.
Not only the statues appeared on the farm, but other places were also changing.
A light cough came to Yu Fengqiu's senses.
Before Yu Fengqiu could even open his mouth, President Gar slammed the table and demanded, "You guys have a replica of Yong'an Farm? Why are you only bringing it out now?"
Erhui glanced at him. "Do you think it's that easy to replicate the game offline? Or do you think a person's memory is so detailed that they can recall the entire farm in just a few minutes?"
The senior person spoke very rudely.
Yu Fengqiu hurriedly explained, "As all guild leaders know, we've captured a player on the farm. He's been in a coma since the Spirit Realm incident and only woke up last night. The internal structure of Yong'an Farm has just been finalized, and the technicians have just finished recreating it."
"Why are you explaining so much?" Er Hui was unhappy. "Let's get down to business."
"Yes, President."
Yu Fengqiu turned on the laser on the remote control and pointed it at the eye-catching golden statue in the center of the farm.
"To ensure the accuracy of the replica farm, the Longyan members of the joint team have been in constant contact with the logistics team. This statue suddenly appeared ten minutes ago.
"As you can see, it's not just the statues that are changing, but also the farm buildings. The exterior walls, which used to be made of blue bricks or tiles, are now gradually turning gold and white.
"What we see is the technicians reproducing the scene in real time. In other words, the players on the farm are using the remodeling skills to change the appearance of the farm."
President Ouli: "What do they want to do?"
"The intention is clear." President Yatan stroked his short beard. "The farm has been heading west since leaving the Spirit Realm. Two days ago, they stopped fifty kilometers away from the Empty Valley. Their target is the Empty Valley."
President Feili nodded and said, "Yes, I have been to Konggu. This statue is exactly the same as the main deity of Konggu Duozhu."
He looked at Yu Fengqiu in confusion: "Is the scale of the reproduction wrong? This statue on the farm is too tall."
Yu Fengqiu shook his head. "The proportions are correct. The joint team reported that the statue is at least 100 meters tall."
"100 meters!" President Feili exclaimed, "It's taller than the statue of the Lord of the Valley! What on earth is Yongan trying to do?!"
-
The soft and smooth white paint wraps around the outer walls of the courtyard like surging waves.
He ran and jumped up, smeared gold paint on the top, middle and bottom of the wall respectively, and then clicked on the light screen.
Three dots of gold paint began to extend, forming parallel lines that quickly circled the wall.
An Rou nodded: "Don't mention it, white matches gold, Konggu's aesthetic is quite online."
"In history, countries where politics and religion are integrated have always achieved the pinnacle of artistic attainments." Paopaodao.
An Rou suddenly realized that this seemed to be the case.
"What kind of religion is Konggu?"
"The guide says it's Duozhu religion, and they worship Duozhu as their main god. I haven't researched the details, but—"
Paopao looked puzzled. "There's no Duozhu religion in real history. I suspect it was established by the Duozhu Guild after it entered the game."
Duozhu Guild, Duozhu Religion, Duozhu God, judging from the names, it is indeed possible.
An Rou thought for a while and suddenly laughed.
"It's a good thing you came back, otherwise I would have thought the valley was full of Buddha statues, and I had no idea there was a Duozhu God."
She turned her head and looked at the towering statue in the pond. Given the depth of the pond, the water only barely covered the statue's instep.
The farm had spent 100 million gold to rebuild the statue. An Rou didn't have that much cash, so she had to use the trading tablet to sell items from the warehouse, and now half of the warehouse was empty.
It's not that they have too much money to burn, but they are worried that the statue is not realistic enough, so they raise the height of the statue so that no one can see its face clearly.
Many things look one way when they are small, and another way when they are larger. This is a kind of visual deception.
"How similar is this thing to the real Duozhu Lord God?"
This wasn't the first time An Rou had asked this question; she was still a little worried. It wouldn't matter if Paopao wasn't around, but she had to pretend anyway. Since Paopao was around, she had to minimize any flaws.
Paopao pursed his lips and pretended to look at the remodeled exterior wall: "I specifically looked at the illustrations in the guide, and it looks about 70% correct."
An Rou nodded, her eyes falling on the water: "After all, it's made of mud, it won't melt in the water, right?"
"Don't worry, boss. I changed the material and soil moisture before enlarging it. It's just a little water, it won't damage it."
Paopao resisted the urge and didn't open the light screen to look at the item bar.
The statue of the deity sculpted by Heng Bobao lay quietly in the prop compartment. After secretly replacing it, he softened his heart and did not destroy the body.
The boss can see the light screen, so it’s better to find a chance to throw it away.
Paopao changed the subject: "Boss, what happened to Brother Baofu? I haven't seen him come out yet."
An Rou withdrew her gaze and called out "Bao Bao".
The rich man's big face appeared at his feet, his pupils swept over Paopao, moved half a circle along his eye sockets, and stopped on An Rou.
It seems the same as before, but it always makes people feel a little dull.
An Rou squatted down and gently stroked Bao Fu's forehead: "Bao Bao's soul fell into dormancy. Before it fell into dormancy, it left a will in its body, just like... a robot that can receive commands."
She caught a glimpse of Paopao's surprised expression out of the corner of her eye.
"What's so strange about that? When he was dormant in Zhongsu, he also instilled his will into Wang Da. It's just that his physical body didn't disappear this time."
Paopao pondered, "So Lao Wang is more human-like than other ghouls... Then can the rich old man still perform ghost magic?"
Entering the Empty Valley openly, the farm faces no less danger than other camps.
"Sure." An Rou used her consciousness to make Bao Fu open a crack in the ground, then turned around and smiled, "False Hiding, Swallowing Elephant, Night Travel, and the Source Flame that awakened in the Spirit Realm can all be used."
But there is no Phoenix Flame.
From this, it can be inferred that the Phoenix Flame Sword is most likely hidden in the soul and becomes dormant as the soul goes dormant.
"Brother Baofu is really reliable." Paopao raised his thumbs up, "With four kinds of ghost magic, as long as it's not that pervert, we are not afraid of anyone."
An Rou swallowed back the words she hadn't finished saying.
Ghost magic can be used, but as I mentioned before, the energy stored in the body is limited. Once it is used up, the farm can only stay there.
By then, the joint group will no longer be afraid of getting rich quickly, and An Rou and all the residents on the farm will become sitting ducks.
-
The United Army is slowly approaching.
Chi Xin walked in front, hesitant about whether to take action. Yong An's intention was obvious: to disguise himself as a floating island in the void and sneak into the void.
The Konggu camp is incredibly xenophobic. If the farm succeeds, the joint group will no longer be able to control what happens on the farm.
However, there was no order from above, and it was obvious that they were hesitant just like him.
A black line shot from the direction of the farm and stopped a hundred meters away.
Chi Xin quickly raised his hand, and the entire army stopped instantly.
The person who makes everyone hesitate and timid has arrived - Mo Zhi.
It was late at night, and the Youqi Sword was hovering in front of Chu Mo, with a faint flash of lightning.
The United Legion let out a suppressed cry of fear.
Behind Chu Mo, the magnificent farm rose from the ground and flew into the sky.
"Why didn't it fly before?"
"Yeah, if you can fly, why would you walk across a lifeless land? Thousands of kilometers."
"Perhaps he was waiting to disguise himself? The farm stayed here for two days, and the one called 'Paopao' probably went to the Empty Valley to see what it looked like."
"What should I do? Should I chase him or not?"
…
Chixin heard the discussion behind him and gritted his teeth.
Few members of the Legion possessed flying abilities, but the players from Ghost Island had brought a number of thermal ships, so they could pursue them. However, this place was too close to the Hollow Valley, and if they weren't careful, they would easily invade its territory.
The logistics department said that the higher-ups had sent people to negotiate with Konggu a long time ago, but Konggu had not sent anyone to join the joint corps, which meant that these frogs in the well did not want to get involved in the Yong'an mission.
"You're on the verge of death and don't even realize it!" Chi Xin cursed softly and raised his arms again. "Retreat! 50-kilometer radius, surround the empty valley!"
Seeing the legion disperse, Chu Mo turned around, put on his Thunder Eyes, and looked at the magnificent castle in the night sky.
The farm took off very quickly, and it was difficult to see clearly even with the Thunder Eye. I guess the players in the Valley Camp would not be alert.
That's good.
However, what was her purpose in going to Konggu?
Just as Chu Mo was thinking, Jie Xin appeared beside him silently.
The Ghost King raised his head and looked at the retrograde meteor with him, with a gloating smile on his face.
"Have you ever thought that she and that little thing will eventually take away all your luck?"
Chu Mo's eyes were as cold as ice, disappearing straight into the night sky.
Xie Xinyin's smile faded, and he snorted coldly, "Then it will be him, not you, who will be guarding her. You have brought this upon yourself."
-
Zhang Da flew to the roof of Huamanlou.
An Rou glanced at him and asked, "Have you checked everything?"
Zhang Da nodded: "Everyone is in their respective rooms, reciting the words given by the boss."
An Rou nodded: "Go ahead."
Zhang Da didn't leave: "Meng Ziyou will take my place, I will stay here to protect the boss."
An Rou was startled and asked with a smile, "Did Bao Bao tell you?"
Zhang Da was silent.
An Rou didn't chase him away and glanced at the circular flower field.
As soon as the sun sets, the rootless flower blooms and matures by 11pm. The same goes for the other three potion ingredients.
In order to avoid interference from the ghouls, An Rou deliberately arranged the departure time to be after eleven o'clock. She waited for the ghouls to breed and disappear, and then waited for the residents to harvest the raw materials for the medicine before letting the fortune take off.
After this period of exploration, she understood the tricks of getting rich quickly better than before.
Take night travel for example, flying and the independent space created by the black fog are two levels, and one of them can be performed alone.
The energy left over from the sudden wealth was limited, so every bit saved counted. An Rou ordered it to only fly and not release the ghost magic space.
Anyway, the farm is clearly heading to the Empty Valley, so it doesn't matter whether it is discovered by the United Legion or not.
As for the Konggu camp.
An Rou had made special observations over the past two days and found that the floating island she could see through Bao Fu's vision was always empty, with no one in sight.
The location of the farm was not far from Konggu. If Konggu had discovered the existence of the farm, he should have sent people out long ago. But An Rou did not wait.
So she guessed that the empty valley, like the ghost island and the spirit realm, was wrapped in a barrier that blocked the view from inside and outside.
This barrier is invisible, unlike the Ghost Island Light Shield and the Spirit Realm Star Array that can be seen at a glance.
However, the barrier did not cover the entire valley.
"Boss, we'll be there soon!" Paopao reminded.
An Rou raised her head.
Baofu's wide-open eyes appeared at his feet.
With her newly acquired night vision ability, An Rou could clearly see the silent dark clouds above her head.
——Yes, there is a vast cloud covering this place, and it is also the only place covered by clouds in the entire Soul Society.
The hollow valley was a towering tower, with clouds centered on it, spreading out in all directions for hundreds of miles. The spot where the farm had stalled was right at the edge of the clouds.
The tower is divided into two areas by clouds.
The area beneath the clouds is called the Lower City of the Hollow Valley, while the area above is the Upper City. There's also a floating city atop the tower, said to be the domain of the Hollow Valley's NPC management.
The Soul-Guiding Song has been launched three times in total.
The first time, the Spirit Realm dungeon was released when the game was officially launched, and it was also the only dungeon at that time.
The second time, two years later, the Ghost Island copy and the Empty Valley copy developed by foreign countries were launched at the same time.
The third time was in the third year of the Soul Guiding Song’s launch, and the super dungeon Cold Soldier City developed by China was launched.
Not only did the Hollow Valley and Ghost Island launch at the same time, their structures were also very similar, except that Ghost Island's main structure was buried underwater, with hundreds of islands floating on the surface. Meanwhile, the entire tower in the Hollow Valley stood on a land devoid of life.
One hundred meters above the ground, huge supports extend from the tower. The ends of the supports have tremendous suction force, firmly adhering to the islands floating in the air - hence the name "Floating Island".
Not only are the structures similar, the number of floating islands is the same as that of Onigashima - 678.
The clouds just divide all the floating islands into two parts. The 339 islands below belong to the lower city, and the 339 islands above belong to the upper city. Each one is numbered.
It is said that the two major guilds in Konggu use the clouds as the boundary, and each controls the upper and lower cities.
An Rou's eyes quickly swept over the exploding "cauliflower" below, and she said to Bao Fu, "Bao Bao, cast Night Space."
That invisible anti-peeping barrier is only limited to the lower city below the clouds.
The reason for this speculation was that when she and Paopao were searching for information about the Valley on the forum, they saw a player describe the Upper City like this:
The Upper City of the Valley is the most beautiful place in the entire Soul-Guiding Song. Not only does the Upper City itself float in the clouds, resembling a fairyland from a fairy tale, but from the Upper City, you can gaze out over the silent and desolate Lengbing City to the north, the hushed and chaotic Spirit Realm Mountains to the west, and the cold yet turbulent Black Archipelago to the northwest.
From the upper city of Konggu, you can see the three major camps thousands of miles away, and there is no defense against prying eyes!
Thick black fog appeared around the farm, blending with the heavy dark clouds.
An Rou suddenly opened her eyes wide.
Paopao noticed it and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong with the boss?"
He saw the answer without An Rou answering.
The farm breaks through the clouds and enters a world full of stars!
Everywhere, near and far, was pure white light. Between the streaks of light, strings of snow-white bubbles were growing. It seemed as if a wind was blowing from the sky, carrying all the bubbles in the same direction.
Paopao looked up along the white track.
Thousands of streams of light converge at the top of the empty valley.
The scene is like a huge firework that has just exploded, and then someone pressed the reverse button, with each burst of fireworks moving backwards and converging to the source of the explosion.
So beautiful, so shocking.
It's too scary.
Paopao's voice was trembling: "Are they... all ghouls?"
An Rou nodded silently. The moment she entered the clouds, she heard the soul-calling song.
The singing is countless times stronger than the mature rootless flowers in Fengyu Temple and the mature red flame cotton in Huowu Temple.
It was as if a choir composed of countless people were singing in unison deep in the night sky.
"Zhang Da, call three of your brothers and go comfort the residents."
The NPCs on the farm should have heard the singing. This time the singing was too loud, and An Rou was afraid it would cause chaos.
Fortunately, she had Baofu open up a night travel space in advance to keep all the ghouls out.
An Rou connected with Meng Ziyou's consciousness: "Meng Ziyou, take the three ghouls you trained, start the thermal boats, and prepare to deal with the ghouls."
[Zhang Si is going too? What about my parasite?]
[Don't worry, we will definitely land in Upper City within an hour.]
[Don't take an hour, try half an hour. Leave some time for the rest of the day, just in case you're late...]
Meng Ziyu went on chattering, and soon, the four thermal boats in front of the staff dormitory floated into the air.
After making the arrangements, An Rou breathed a sigh of relief and asked Paopao, "There are so many ghouls in the hollow valley, but the guide didn't mention that?"
Paopao Nana: "No... Oh, yes, there is a sunset curfew in the Valley, and outsiders are not allowed to stay overnight in the Upper City."
That explains it.
However, the Konggu camp has the ability to shut up all local players, which is indeed outrageously "closed".
With the space opened up by "Night Walk", no matter how many ghouls there are, they cannot threaten the farm, and An Rou has time to observe carefully.
The tall tower in the empty valley is like the handle of an umbrella, and the dense and surging ghouls are the open umbrella, their target is the tip of the umbrella.
So there is a dark and quiet space between the umbrella handle and the umbrella cover.
"Boss, shall we go in there?" Paopao suggested.
An Rou shook her head: "Take a closer look at the tower."
After leaving the ground, Baofu rose straight into the air, maintaining a horizontal distance of about 50 kilometers from the tower. With Paopao's night vision, he could only vaguely see the tower covered with flowing light.
"There are a large number of players on every floating island in the upper city, and they are eliminating the ghouls." An Rou explained.
Through the perspective of getting rich quickly, An Rou can see many details that Paopao missed.
For example, the tower is not just the "tower" that you see with your naked eyes. It is composed of a real tower support and floating islands surrounding it.
The floating island was filled with players, and outside and in the sky above the island, flickering lights of skills could be seen.
Those players were destroying the ghouls that were swarming towards the top of the tower. The light of their skills spread out in all directions and then gathered diagonally upwards, like the ribs extending from the handle of an umbrella to support the umbrella.
The attack range of players' skills is limited, so they choose to concentrate their strength and attack the ghouls closest to the top of the tower.
Paopao imagined Anrou's description and suddenly realized, "It seems that the xenophobia in the Valley isn't just due to religious beliefs. With so many ghouls to deal with every night, no one has the energy to leave the camp and go on missions elsewhere."
"That's right, ghouls are the seeds of ghosts, and there is no shortage of tasks in Konggu." An Rou said.
With so many ghouls, there are always some that slip through the net and scatter onto the floating islands, and then somehow parasitize living people and become ghouls.
"Boss, while their attention is on the ghoul, we can sneak over and replace a floating island?"
Just like it was disguised as Black Market Island No. 7.
An Rou smiled: "If we were to do something sneaky, why would we go to so much trouble to build the statue?"
It just so happened that the ghoul had built a big enough stage and attracted enough attention, so the farm naturally had to make a grand debut and become the focus of everyone's attention.
"Baobao, fly over among the ghouls."
-
From the point of view of floating in the air, the floating island is somewhat similar to the mountains in the spiritual realm, but their shapes are completely different.
The biggest difference is that the floating islands are stationary. They are very close to each other, and there are many stairs between each layer of islands, as well as between the upper and lower layers, for people to travel between the islands.
Each floating island has a white fence surrounding the entire island.
Players in the hollow valley leaned against the railings, attacking the ghouls with their weapons. Those with longer range would eliminate the distant ghouls. The ghouls were light and some were often swept under the umbrella by the aftermath of their attacks, handing them over to players with shorter range.
Every ten minutes, the players at the fence will step down and be replaced by a group of players who have just replenished their energy.
Everything is in order.
Eliminating the ghouls that breed every night is the most collaborative task for the two major guilds in Konggu, and it is also the only chance for the chief players of Duozhu Guild and Xiangyang Guild to be alone.
At the top of the tower in the empty valley, the brilliant rainbow of the day has gone out, and the colorful light seems to be wrapped in a thick eggshell, appearing and disappearing from time to time.
At Rainbow Bay, the goddess of the Duozhu Guild stood with a bow in her hand and shot an arrow at the white ghouls rushing towards her.
Once ranked fourth on the Destiny List, now ranked third, the super god Mia.
The long arrow penetrated the ghoul, and the elemental power brewing in the arrow body suddenly erupted. Thousands of wind blades were like invisible thin blades, crushing all the ghouls within a radius of hundreds of meters.
The rainbow in the empty valley is not like an ordinary rainbow, which is convex at the top and concave at the bottom. It is more like an upright crescent moon.
There was another figure above Rainbow Bay.
He was a man. Unlike Mia's pious and otherworldly goddess attire, he was dressed very modernly, like a soldier who had strayed into a game, except that he was a little thin.
The chief player of Xiangyang Guild, Baige.
The white dove stretched out its arms, the light in its palms turning from milky white to pitch black. Not far away, a flock of scattered pigeons transformed into crows as the light shone, their beaks breathing fire, incinerating all nearby ghouls.
The light in the white dove's palm changed again.
The crows transformed into pigeons and split into three waves. The middle wave stayed in its original direction, while the other two flew to the sides and circled in front of Mia.
A pigeon approached Mia and made a human sound.
"I'll keep an eye on you for a while while you replenish your energy."
Mia reached out and flicked the dove, which shattered into a ball of light. The light then gathered again and flew towards her with unwavering determination.
Mia was silent for a moment, put away her longbow, and took out a bottle of energy potion from the item bar.
She paused as she pulled out the cork.
Up ahead, a flock of crows driven by white doves had just destroyed a group of ghouls, burning a hole in the umbrella through which one could see into the pitch-black night.
The hole was not filled by other ghouls that rushed in like before, but instead grew bigger and bigger.
Something is coming.
But what else could there be besides ghouls?
Mia quickly drew her bow and arrow, pinching an element card between her fingers as she held the arrow feathers.
The element card turned into a bright blue lightning and poured into the arrow.
The long arrow flew free, shooting towards the black hole. Before he could see if it had hit the target, the elemental power contained in the arrow was instantly released.
Thunderbolts and lightning enveloped the invisible target.
The target was so huge that the lightning arrows, which were enough to destroy an A-level ghoul, were stretched to become as thin as a spider web.
However, the attack was not without effect, as it successfully broke the target's invisibility.
An extremely majestic golden statue was reflected in Mia's amber eyes.
She opened her lips slightly: "Duozhu...Lord God..."
"Mia, be careful!"
The crows, emitting tongues of fire, flew straight towards the statue. Compared to the statue, they were far too small. Before they could even touch the statue, they were crushed to pieces by the huge silhouette that suddenly appeared below.
"What is that?!"
At this moment, everyone stopped attacking and looked up at the sky in shock.
A magnificent temple appeared above the floating city.
"Is it the Lord God? The Lord God has arrived, the Lord God has arrived!"
Many Duozhu players knelt down and burst into tears.
"The Ghoul is coming!" The Xiangyang Guild players were shocked, but they didn't forget their duty. "You have to kneel and kowtow three times and nine times until dawn. Kill the Ghoul!"
Xiangyang Player's warning fell on deaf ears.
Many players dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground, and pressed their left fists against their foreheads.
"Great Lord God, your people have been waiting for you for a long time."
They crawled down and touched their foreheads to the ground.
The Xiangyang Guild panicked: "Kill the ghouls quickly!"
"Too many ghouls will erupt tomorrow. Can you make up for the losses?!"
"Substitution team, hurry up and fill in the defensive line!"
In the night sky, countless ghouls surged like an avalanche, ready to devour all the players in the Valley. Their offensive abilities suddenly vanished, and many ghouls pierced through the defenses, charging straight for the tower.
Instead of helping, the Duozhu players began to blame and pull the Xiangyang players.
"The Lord God will not tolerate any evil!"
"But the Lord God will punish those who disrespect Him!"
"Kneel down quickly, everyone kneel down! Offer your most pious hearts to the Lord God!"
…
The Xiangyang player struggled while barely attacking the ghouls, cursing, "Your Lord God is really useful! Let him destroy the ghouls!"
Before he finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the night sky.
The wind came with such force that it startled the densely packed ghouls.
The players noticed something was wrong and looked up at the same time.
A black hole had suddenly opened up in the chest of the massive statue, so tall that its face couldn't be seen. From this black hole, an immense suction force surged, pulling countless ghouls towards it and vanishing into the black hole.
A storm like a typhoon appeared on the top of the valley. The statue was the eye of the storm, and the pure white ghoul was the wind itself.
But the storm did not spread outward from the statue, but instead contracted inward with it as its center.
The ghouls that required the combined efforts of 100,000 players to kill were all sunk into the black hole of the statue under the gaze of 100,000 players.
No one could understand this scene.
But this scene is enough to shock people.
The Xiangyang players looked at each other, then at the Duozhu players beside them. After a brief moment of silence, Duozhu players collapsed on the ground in tears.
"Welcome the Lord!"
"Welcome the Lord!"
The sound waves came from somewhere, one after another, spreading throughout the upper city.
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