Inside Cotton Seedlings.
Yao Xing and Xu arrived inside the Kingdom of Cotton Seedlings through the shuttle hole that Anuo had dug.
As they crawled out of the ground, they saw a restless crowd, and only a few stalls remained in the market.
This felt different from that helplessness last time.
‘What’s going on?’
Confused, Yao Xing looked into the distance.
There, a royal army was walking toward the three of them.
“Are you the brave of Lin Qi?”
Yao Xing nodded.
The leading military officer immediately dismounted and gestured for them to board the carriage.
“Please get in. The king wishes to see you.”
‘This reclusive Mian Yang Wang is actually making a move this time?’
And so, the three boarded the carriage.
However, since only Yao Xing had memories of the previous life, she alone was highly alert.
….
The journey was so peaceful.
Clop—clop—clop—
The carriage stopped before the royal palace.
Under the officer’s guidance, Yao Xing and the others met the Mian Yang King.
The Mian Yang King appeared to be a perfectly normal old man.
At first glance, it was hard to associate him with the recluse from the previous life.
‘Was it only because I was a day late last time that the Mian Yang King changed his decision?’
As she puzzled over this, the Mian Yang King spoke first: “I am grateful for Lin Qi’s help. Sending a brave here especially makes me wonder how I can ever repay such a favor.”
Seeing that the three didn’t know how to respond, the Mian Yang King cut to the chase: “Actually, Cotton Seedlings has been targeted by the Demon King’s Army. The two brave of Cotton Seedlings are already holding the front line. If there’s any news, you’ll know immediately.”
‘Two brave of Cotton Seedlings…’
‘That means the Xin Yongzhe, who died before I arrived in my past life, is still alive?’
‘But I know the Xin Yongzhe will die tomorrow…’
‘In that case, I’ve clearly caught the perfect chance to save him!’
With that thought, she was about to speak.
But the fear of the demon general surged in her heart like a tide.
‘Whether that attack came from a demon general or not… just the ability to blast us all apart in an instant is nothing to underestimate…’
The Mian Yang King leveled his palms.
‘What do I do… Under the restrictions, I can’t tell them outright, and I don’t want them to suffer from an information gap either…’
‘Right! I now know about the demon general and the demonfied humans… but how do I tell them?’
The Mian Yang King’s palms tightened slightly.
‘I can’t say it directly, can’t be too certain, can’t trigger a system warning… Every word must be weighed—time is ticking away.’
And her audience was the Mian Yang King himself.
She had to be mindful not only of the information load but also of credibility and suspicion, while maintaining respect.
After thinking for a long time, Yao Xing finally spoke slowly.
“King Mian Yang, the Demon King’s Army this time is likely prepared. Please make sure to prepare for the worst. Watch your surroundings, watch the interior, especially the central council hall. If the demon general attacks, they’ll most likely target the council hall first.”
Clearly, though not explicitly stated, if the Mian Yang King heeded this, he could avoid the demonfied human disguised as a person and prepare in advance for the demon general’s surprise attack.
As soon as she said this, the Mian Yang King and the ministers around him fell into deep thought.
The Mian Yang King nodded slightly, but his fingers tapped the table, revealing uncontrollable anxiety.
The ministers exchanged glances, seemingly weighing the implications of Yao Xing’s words.
With a slight frown, the Mian Yang King was silent for a moment before speaking: “I understand… I will temporarily suspend council hall activities.”
‘Suspend council hall activities?!’
‘Although this decision can protect the ministers… the people will be exposed to risk. How do I weigh this? Even a small sacrifice… still a human life…’
‘Once the invading demonfied human loses the council hall as a target, the next target will likely be the palace or the people!’
With that thought, Yao Xing found herself in a dilemma.
Because no matter which choice she made, it seemed to lead to sacrifice on one side.
In a rush, she had to speak up: “Please allow me to take charge of receiving the brave of Luyuan.”
Hearing this, everyone looked at her in confusion.
Yao Xing took a breath and continued to lay out her plan.
“First, as the King of Cotton Seedlings, you hold a high position. If the demonfied human attacks, they will definitely target the palace. Therefore, the palace should be the primary protection point.”
“Second, in my opinion, time is of the essence, and the brave of Luyuan won’t arrive until tomorrow. So I volunteer to go to the front line and help the two brave fighting there.”
“Therefore, the best decision is for you to increase the palace’s defenses.”
After hearing these reasons, the Mian Yang King frowned a couple of times but, after weighing the risks and Yao Xing’s courage, slowly nodded: “Alright. I will follow your words.”
Seeing him agree so readily, Yao Xing finally felt relieved.
‘Next, I have to go to the front line and do my best to save the Xin Yongzhe.’
With that in mind, she looked up at Xu, who had been silent for a long time.
Xu was watching her eyes warily, as if capturing some tiny piece of information.
….
The front line of Cotton Seedlings.
A wave of monsters surged like a tide.
Jia Sha, whose entire body was covered in purple energy, held a large blade and killed one monster after another.
The blade, wrapped in purple energy, seemed enchanted like a dark flame; one swing easily sliced a monster’s body in half.
“Let me clean this up.”
Jia Sha smiled and stepped back, handing the battlefield focus over to his fellow brave, Xin Ge’er.
Jia Sha then extended his right hand, which looked like an incarnation of the void, and with a grand wave, swallowed all the fallen monsters into his hand.
This was Jia Sha’s wu.
《Devouring Upgrade System》
Each wu was a cheat system, which was why every brave formed the nation’s main combat force.
“Haven’t you had enough to eat yet?”
Xin Ge’er asked in a mocking tone, her long spear continuously slashing through the monsters’ flesh.
“Coming, coming.”
For the two brave, dealing with a horde of mindlessly charging monsters—completely without strategy—was simplest to handle by standing their ground.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
“Watch out! A big one’s coming!”
Xin Ge’er warned in advance, tightening her grip on the long spear.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!
Explosions of blood mist erupted one after another within the monster horde.
It was the sign of a high-rank monster breaking through.
Jia Sha stopped holding back as well, his entire body covered in armor formed from purple energy.
The battle was about to erupt.
….
The front line of the Kingdom of Cotton Seedlings was not a perilous mountain range, but a plain shattered and eroded by dark purple demonic energy.
On the charred black ground, the air stank of a mix of sulfur and rotting flesh.
When Yao Xing, Xu, and Anuo arrived, violent energy fluctuations were erupting on the distant horizon.
Purple blade light and silver spear shadows intertwined into an impenetrable domain of death, cutting off the surging tide of monsters.
“Those are… the brave of Cotton Seedlings?”
Anuo hid behind Xu, watching the scene that looked like a battle between gods and demons in the distance, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Yao Xing said nothing. Her gaze was locked onto the agile young woman holding a long spear—Xin Ge’er.
‘So she’s the Xin Yongzhe?’
In her memories of the previous life, this brave would die tomorrow, before they arrived, from an unknown cause.
But now, she was still swinging her spear with verve, completely unaware that death had already unwrapped the candy wrapper and was patiently waiting for the moment to feed.
‘No matter what—’
“Xu, Anuo, let’s go help!”
Yao Xing drew her sword, cold sweat moistening the hilt: “Protect those two brave!”
….
At the center of the battlefield.
Xin Ge’er did a backflip and landed steadily.
With a flick of her spear, she shattered three ghouls that pounced on her.
She wiped the bloodstains off her face and was about to catch her breath when the corner of her eye caught three strangely dressed figures rapidly approaching from behind.
“Hey! Jia Sha! Look over there—are they new monster variants?”
Xin Ge’er held her spear horizontally in front of her, alert.
Jia Sha pulled his right hand out of a giant demon ape’s chest cavity.
The purple energy devoured the last bits of flesh, and his level bar jumped again.
He squinted at the girl leading the group: “No, that’s… the crest of Lin Qi? Reinforcements?”
“Watch out on the left!!”
Yao Xing’s scream tore through the noise of the battlefield.
In the air that had been empty a moment before, a pitch-black rift suddenly tore open.
A hideous giant claw covered in hooked barbs silently emerged, aimed straight at Xin Ge’er’s back.
The angle was viciously precise—exactly at the blind spot where Xin Ge’er’s old force had just dissipated and new force had yet to gather.
‘Damn it!’
Yao Xing’s pupils constricted.
There was no way she could match that speed.
BANG—!!
At the critical moment, a black afterimage struck first and knocked Xin Ge’er away.
Xu’s arm, covered in dark red dragon scales, met the giant claw head-on.
Sparks flew as Xu was sent stumbling back more than ten paces, each step leaving deep footprints in the scorched earth.
“Tch, that’s some strength…”
Xu shook his numb arm, his gaze ominous.
Xin Ge’er sat on the ground, still shaken from the sudden turn of events.
Cold sweat poured down her back.
If Xu hadn’t saved her in time, she would have been a corpse by now.
Jia Sha shook his head helplessly: “Xin Ge’er, I always tell you not to get distracted during battle, but now you’ve made a fool of yourself too.”
Hearing that, Xin Ge’er pouted in annoyance.
“Shut your purple-spewing mouth!”