Chapter 560: Encounter Battle

He suppressed the doubts in his heart.

The two continued on their way.

Regardless, they were about to reach the area near the Royal City, and then they would naturally see what kind of monster the blood corpse was.

As the route penetrated deeper, after Lin An captured several people who looked like officials, he chose to restrain his aura.

The reason was simple.

Along the way, the aura of the Ascetic Practitioners grew stronger in the cities and fortresses.

The formidable pressure emitted by many of them also made him feel wary.

Even when passing a fortress, he personally saw two Ascetic Practitioners flying through the air, expressionlessly carrying a gigantic human-faced statue.

The stone statue was thirty to forty meters tall, its carved face somewhat resembling that of a Buddha.

Unless examined closely, the statue's form was not the usual Buddha image seen in the real world.

Lin An even thought that this place practiced Buddhism, or perhaps hid some esoteric tradition.

Being able to fly while carrying such a heavy object truly surprised him.

If it were Lin An himself, he might barely be able to use telekinesis to move a statue of ordinary size, but he definitely could not fly while carrying it.

Just from this ability of the Ascetic Practitioners, they were no less than three Fourth Rank spiritual power Awakened Ones.

Therefore.

He simply used a mechanical compass to disguise himself and Xiong Hanzi as Ascetic Practitioners of this world.

He just didn't know whether relying solely on the disguise provided by the compass could fool the Ascetic Practitioners of this world.

And from the mouths of the captured officials, Lin An also learned some information about the Ascetic Practitioners.

In this world, humans seemed to have... an obsessive fascination bordering on madness for becoming Ascetic Practitioners.

Like those machine-like Ascetic Practitioners he had seen before, their cultivation methods were relatively common.

They would plan a route before setting out, and then prepare a corresponding ritual for themselves.

Once the route and ritual were set, they would never change anything, no matter what.

If they changed it, it would mean they could never become Ascetic Practitioners in this lifetime.

That is also why.

If they made an erroneous 'plan' and route when starting cultivation, that would mean death.

From the mouths of the officials under interrogation.

Lin An also learned of a certain saying.

For those in this world who want to become Ascetic Practitioners.

To die on the path of 'Eternity' is also to be eternal.

To give up halfway.

Then it is equivalent to eternal damnation.

"Really damn weird..."

Xiong Hanzi had a straw in his mouth and scratched his head.

Looking at the distant towering walls, he couldn't help but feel wary.

After this period of observation and questioning the captured humans, he and Lin An had learned quite a bit.

This place was already the war frontline, with large numbers of Ascetic Practitioners garrisoned in each fortress.

And the fortress before them was a prime example.

Beside the abandoned relay station, Lin An closed his eyes in contemplation, adjusting his state to optimal.

It was only an hour's distance from the Royal City.

Here, he could already see the massive walls towering over a hundred meters high, like a tower.

On the walls, heads swayed like ants.

The garrison soldiers would occasionally lower a simple pulley-operated lift, rotating with the ground troops in shifts.

That was the war fortress nearest to the Royal City.

Dry blood scabs covered the walls on all sides, dyeing the bluish-gray bricks a dark red.

Superb craftsmanship.

Such a transcendent construction was built entirely by human labor and the Ascetic Practitioners.

He had seen dozens of cities like this.

Such a workload, if carried out in the real world with large machinery, would be a long and arduous endeavor.

It seems.

The original plan needed to be changed.

In his plan to explore this world's secrets and complete the mission, Lin An intended to copy the method of the Amoeba Worm Instance.

Violently control the upper echelons, gather all human forces for intelligence, and complete the mission.

Simple and brutal, highly efficient.

But as things stand, they can only first think of a way to sneak in.

He hadn't yet clashed with the Ascetic Practitioners, but Lin An already held sufficient wariness toward this world's combat strength.

"Lin Dui, can't we just sneak in directly?"

"I see quite a few people entering the city."

After swallowing seven or eight rations, Xiong Hanzi smacked his lips with some regret and couldn't help but ask:

"Aren't we already dressed as Ascetic Practitioners?"

"Damn it, this outfit is like a beggar's..."

He glanced at himself; the full set of blue armor had originally been stripped from Lin An's 'corpse'.

By then, under the cover of the mechanical compass, he had changed into a hemp robe.

He felt some resentment.

After adjusting to his best condition, Lin An slowly opened his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed:

"It's possible, but we still need to capture a few caravans."

"You might not have noticed."

"When approaching these fortresses, entry conditions have become much stricter."

"Among the city guards responsible for inspection, there appear to be many ascetic practitioners."

"They will hold a booklet to verify the information."

"If you go straight in and can't answer the questions, it will likely invite unnecessary trouble."

Sensing the aura inside the nearby fortress, Lin An couldn't help but feel his heart sink.

Being discovered, or barging in.

The trouble would probably be great.

It's somewhat strange.

Clearly, the productivity here doesn't seem developed.

But from this detail, he saw the Great Xia Dynasty's ability to control everyone.

Under normal circumstances, ancient dynasties do not possess such conditions.

The king's authority not extending to the countryside is a true portrayal of ancient dynasties.

But here, the Great Xia Dynasty seems to know everyone's identity information as if it were the palm of its hand.

Where they come from, where they go, occupation, age.

The level of detail is not inferior to that of a modern society with technological management means.

Regarding this anomaly, Lin An could only assume it was due to the ascetic practitioners' abilities.

He had never formally come into contact with ascetic practitioners.

For a moment, Lin An preferred to be more cautious.

It's not that he didn't want to fight the ascetic practitioners beforehand to make preparations.

But along the way he had never seen any ascetic practitioners in the wilderness.

These special beings are almost always in cities, often gathering in groups of three or five.

Zhang Tie listened, scratched his head, and spat out the straw in his mouth:

"Well then, should we wait for a caravan and mix in with them to get in?"

"But Captain Lin, the closer we get to the fortress frontline they speak of, the fewer caravans there are."

"Wouldn't it work to disguise ourselves as ascetic practitioners and sneak in?"

"I think these fanatics wouldn't say a word more."

"If we just follow behind them and pose as fellow ascetic practitioners, I don't think they'd necessarily speak up to expose us..."

Lin An listened and shook his head.

Zhang Tie's approach is too risky.

It's obvious that this group of ascetic practitioners only act like robots, indifferent to worldly affairs, when they are on the path of cultivation.

But their target is these fortress royal cities.

Once they arrive, these people are very likely to break out of that state.

"Let's wait a bit."

"If it really doesn't work, we'll try mixing in like this."

"Although caravans are few, there still exist supply caravans."

As his words fell, a flash of silver suddenly appeared in Lin An's eyes.

Almost at the same moment, Xiong Hanzi also abruptly turned his head to look into the distance.

"Boom!!"

A sky‑rocketing flame explosion rose up.

Seeing that orange‑red small explosion cloud, Lin An froze on the spot.

A high‑speed shot fragment scattered and disintegrated in the air.

The fragments and ring‑shaped shockwave produced by the explosion clearly match the effect of a missile.

Artillery shell explosion?

In an instant, he suddenly recalled the system prompt when entering the secret realm.

【Deathmatch Mission, detected other players entering the secret realm.】

Is this explosion from a player who also entered the secret realm?

The opposing player, and the fortress army, have clashed!?

"Go!"

"Come take a look!!"

Without hesitation, Lin An's eyes hardened, and he directly led Xiong Hanzi toward the blast's source.

However.

In the next second.

A furious roar came from the army marching out of the fortress.

"Enemy attack!"

It's a blood corpse sneaking in!

Spread out, enemies!! Dodge the blood corpse attacks!