How come the main peak of Shu Mountain is still a solo daily quest? Zhang Yuanqing's first thought was surprise—Shu Mountain is a sword immortal sect, and its affiliated southern garden is a troop-based quest for White Tiger soldiers. So one would expect the main peak, "Shu Mountain," to belong to scouts. But then he realized: it makes perfect sense that Shu Mountain is a solo nightly quest, since the eerie atmosphere enveloping the mountain clearly points to a Night Wanderer quest boss. His second thought was: what a coincidence! The coincidence of an S-tier quest is already remarkable—Shu Mountain's coincidence is even more striking. He found himself questioning whether the spiritual expansion team had orchestrated this, though the Sovereign of the Dark Moon doesn't have that authority. So it must simply be a coincidence. He looked at Diana, who was sitting at her desk editing an email, and said, "No need to contact the elders—my solo quest has just activated." Foreigners generally don't prefer sending messages; they favor emails for official matters, which often results in lower efficiency. Diana paused, surprised, "Really? So coincidental! What quest is it?" "An S-tier quest—Shu Mountain!" "Zhang Yuanqing finished speaking and waved his hand, leaving no further instructions. In his view, with his fully equipped prop deity, successfully completing an eight-level S-tier raid was far from difficult. The next moment, he vanished from the office. There are also three scholar demi-gods capable of suppressing all manner of equipment. Thus, in the second round of competition, the lawful forces still secure the three array sites, while the chaotic forces take two. This time, neither side insisted on a deadlock, and they finally agreed to rest and recover. The wind carried swirling sand, and Old Mac from the Wine God's Club stared at the King of Fear with an unwelcoming expression: "I don't care about your grievances with the White Tiger Marshal. In team battles, the most important thing is to follow commands, coordinate efforts, rather than remain immersed in one's own world and ignore tactics or teammates' arrangements." During the previous engagement, the King of Fear had consistently refused both directives and tactical suggestions, behaving wildly whenever he saw Fu Qingxuan—so much so that the crucial battles ended in failure. The King of Fear touched his earring, smiled gently, and said, "I can choose whom to fight—this is my freedom. If you find it displeasing, you're welcome to take action against me. After all, as freelancers, we're all about doing things on our own terms." McGee glanced at the Roar who was single-handedly defeating three Law-aligned half-gods, his face clearly saying: "Are you just standing there, watching your subordinates drag their feet?" The King of Fear shrugged: "You don't need to watch the Roar—he's even more indifferent than I am." The Spirit-Tactician, with a black crescent moon etched on his forehead, withdrew his gaze toward the distant horizon, his voice shadowed and low: "With two half-gods from the Xie and Zhu families still alive, even if a Law-aligned half-god perishes, they can be revived. It's nearly impossible to reduce the number of their half-gods in a short span. As for the King of Fear, it doesn't matter how he fights—his Five Elements haven't fully unified, his Void hasn't consumed any artifacts, and so far, it's all just warm-up." The Southern-style Phantom God emitted a sound reminiscent of a blended audio mix: "Indeed, I haven't seen any signs of life-or-death battles in this instance." "Why haven't the Five Elements been unified? Are you all just fishing in the muddy waters?" the Chief of the Chrysanthemum "The Five Elements merging is extremely draining of spiritual energy—right now isn't the time to expand." The immaterial half-divine gently patted Jiang's shoulder, "Just don't be hasty. Impulse is the devil." Jiang frowned, "Then when should we act? Unless we eliminate all the rulers of the evil faction, we'll never be able to seize the core." The head of the Taiyuan Sect, draped in a robe shimmering with starlight, spoke calmly, "No matter how fiercely we fight, as long as we don't eliminate all the half-divines of the evil faction, we won't be able to command the five array cores. But if we have to wipe out every single half-divine of the evil faction, then what's the point of the mechanism to seize the array cores?" Jiang paused, deeply considering, and found the argument convincing. If all the evil half-divines are eliminated, the Sun's essence naturally falls into the hands of the lawful faction—then what purpose does the mechanism of seizing the array cores serve? What purpose does the revised realm quest serve? Simply do nothing and let the two factions' half-divines battle each other. When one side is entirely wiped out, the Sun's sovereign will naturally Fu Qingxuan summarized: "The core acquisition battle is just one segment of the relay race; within this segment, no clear winner emerges, and the副本 will automatically initiate the next segment." As soon as she finished speaking, the spiritual realm prompted: 【Ping! New side quest activated: Life-and-Death Arena!】 【One member from each faction will compete, determining both superiority and fate. The first match will be decided by the faction with the lower current score.】 【Note 1: The faction that secures more core elements in the core acquisition battle earns one point.】 【Note 2: Points can be used to surrender, avoiding participation in the life-and-death battle; each exemption consumes one point.】 【Note 3: Points can only be used with the agreement of at least six members.】 【Note 4: The Order faction earns two points; the Chaotic faction earns zero.】 【Note 5: For each victory, the winning faction's array duration is maintained for one day, while the losing faction loses one day of duration.】 A tremendous roar echoes from afar, and amid the boundless yellow sands, a massive arena rises—spanning several kilometers in both length and width, resembling a small island. [叮! The arena battle will begin thirty minutes from now. Please arrive at the arena before the battle starts and select your first-round participants.] The eyes beneath the silver mask of the celestial being in the void gleam with sharp intensity. "There it is," he says, "the mechanism to break the deadlock has finally arrived!" ... Kangyang District Public Security Bureau. After resolving a street altercation, Chen Yuanjun purchased two hot coffees at the café across from the bureau and headed toward his office. "Captain Chen, you've got a small scrape on your face!" the new female officer warmly offered a bandage. Chen Yuanjun touched his face—only a slight wound, easily cleaned with alcohol or iodine—but he accepted the bandage nonetheless. It's an opportunity to show appreciation to his subordinates. Being rigid and unyielding only drives them farther away. Of course, one must avoid accepting bribes. Chen Yuanjun, in front of the young female officer, tore off the adhesive bandage and applied it directly to the wound, smiling and teasing, "It seems the cults have been thriving lately, bringing about a negative trend. In the past, men in Songhai were very civilized—when they disagreed, they'd argue, but never resort to physical confrontation. Now, they fight the moment things get tense." With a smile, he stepped into the deeper parts of the police station and knocked on the office door. "The Director frowned immediately: 'What case?'" Yet the Public Security Bureau and the Special Departments are not a single system. If we can obtain inter-provincial case documents directly from our own leadership, why go through the extra trouble of involving the Special Departments? The Director stared at him and asked, "Related to the special groups?" Chen Yuanjun nodded: "There's some connection, but no real risk. I'm simply going to go through the old archives at the Public Security Bureau." The Director paused for a few seconds, then agreed, "Alright!" ... The image gradually sharpened, and Zhang Yuanqing returned to the Shu Mountain copy, now immersed in tangible negative energy. Stretching out, he saw dense black smoke everywhere—so thick that he could hardly see a hand's reach. Had he directly broken through the barrier and arrived at the main peak? I thought entering the main peak would require some effort. Zhang Yuanqing heightened his awareness, only to find the black smoke enveloping everything, swallowing all movement and sound. He was hesitating—whether to directly unleash the Rising Sun Break, complete with its hidden effects of Yin Qi, or first use the Tortoise Back Map to analyze and predict—when suddenly a sharp pain struck his chest. He looked down and saw his clothing torn by a sharp blade, though his skin was only slightly stung, with no serious injury. He had been attacked! The attacker was not strong, perhaps no more than a Saint Realm cultivator, and even failed to breach his defenses. Yet the enemy concealed within the dark, smoky Yin Qi, constantly protected by the Taiyin, making it impossible for him to sense their presence. "Right now, I feel like a living target—everyone in the dungeon can see me, but I can't see them. This time it's a Saint Realm opponent; next time, it might be a Sovereign..." With this thought, Zhang Yuanqing immediately activated the divine power of the Sun, condensing a miniature sun behind his head. At the same time, he engaged his skill of the Fiery Sun War God, causing a solar emblem to appear on his forehead, his skin to shift to a deep golden hue, and his eyes to transform into golden pupils. At once, a magnificent, intense, and pure golden light burst through the centuries-old black smoke enveloping the main hall of Shu Mountain, the阴气 rushing like water poured into hot oil, hissing and evaporating. The enemies hidden within the阴气 were revealed without a trace. The once-damaged Shu Mountain immortal gate now came clearly into view before Zhang Yuanqing's eyes.