Chapter 261: Predicament!

"Let's go… we'll go inside."

After speaking, the Tie Chui Airen led the way into the opened portal, and the other dwarves followed closely.

Su Sheng and Lin Huan and the others exchanged a glance and followed inside.

This mission, after many twists and turns, has finally reached the ultimate destination.

Once inside, Su Sheng found that all the Tie Chui Airen were standing still.

Hm?

Su Sheng was slightly surprised, and when he looked around he saw a sea of pitch black.

No wonder those dwarves didn't move.

"Explorer, it's up to you now; time is limited. After startling these Demon Spawn, you must be quick!" the Tie Chui Airen said gravely, looking at Su Sheng.

This is a flat plaza, very spacious, the floor patterned in red and black, clearly the interior of Chi Yan City's furnace, and ahead a dense crowd of demon soldiers stood!

Su Sheng recognized them as the low-level demon soldiers, with some taller figures mixed in, ordinary demon soldiers bearing throwing spears.

The numbers, many…

At the moment they crossed that portal, a new System Notification arrived.

The suppression of Demon Energy in the environment rose from 8% of all attributes to 10%.

In this space, Demon Energy is even more concentrated.

Especially in the center, a massive pitch‑black pillar of unknown material continuously emitted black Demon Energy.

Seeming to notice Su Sheng's gaze, the Tie Chui Airen looked at the black pillar in the middle and said, "That is the mouth of the Central Furnace; normally we forge weapons there."

"My guess is correct; those Demon Spawn, to corrupt Chi Yan City's Central Furnace, built a Demon Energy courtyard right at the core furnace mouth, spreading Demon Energy and accelerating the contamination of the Central Furnace."

Hearing that, Su Sheng curiously examined the black pillar, which radiated an ominous aura, with black energy billowing outward in all directions.

"If we clear these demon soldiers, can we start forging?" Su Sheng asked, looking at the mass of demon soldiers.

"Yes!" the Tie Chui Airen nodded. "We forge the Demon God Tree Heart material on that Demon Race courtyard; it's perfect—other materials might be strong, but they still fall short of the Demon God Tree Heart."

"As long as you Explorers clear the Demon Spawn here, I can control Chi Yan City's Central Furnace and temporarily seal it, preventing outside Demon Race from entering for a short time."

"Then I can forge weapons peacefully," the Tie Chui Airen continued.

Su Sheng nodded, turned to the other four in the party and said, "Prepare to spawn monsters."

"No problem!"

The others replied.

Then the dwarves immediately fell back, and Su Sheng's group formed their battle formation.

Su Sheng raised his shield and advanced, while Lin Huan drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

Spawn monsters!

Whoosh~

Arrow Shot.

It precisely hit a peripheral low-level demon soldier.

Almost simultaneously, a System Notification came through.

Dungeon Notice: The player's startling of the Central Furnace demon soldiers has caused the Demon Race to mobilize powerful external Demon Race reinforcements.

Demon Race reinforcement time: 120 minutes.

That means Su Sheng's party must eliminate these Demon Race soldiers within two hours.

The low-level demon soldiers on the field, mixed with some ordinary demon soldiers, are quite numerous.

Moreover, at this moment Lin Huan displayed the attributes of those low-level demon soldiers.

These low-level demon soldiers have a higher level than those that attacked Wutong Town before.

Low-level demon soldier (Demon Energy increased)

Level: 45

Attack: 2222

Defense: 2222

HP: 22222

Skills: Slash, Demon Energy Blade...

Description: Being near the Demon Energy courtyard, affected by increased Demon Energy.

These stats… Su Sheng silently gave a thumbs‑up.

Four low-level demon soldiers and one ordinary demon soldier rushed toward Su Sheng; the demon troops here are organized in squads of five—four low-level plus one ordinary.

Middle finger!

Taunt!!

Hate Value locked!

Refresh~

A black spear shot through the air, heading straight for Su Sheng.

Ordinary demon soldier's throwing spear!

Shield Raise! Defensive Stance!

Fireworks Blessing!

Now!

The thrown spear was Blocked!

-3171

The damage reduction from Defensive Stance deducted over three thousand HP.

Of course, this also means Su Sheng's stats are suppressed by ten percent, and Huang Mingxin's empowerment is roughly this high.

At this moment Su Sheng's attack and defense are just over 1800.

Fortunately, there is also the Mythic Lion Xiao Jia Huo's shield, exceeding ten thousand!

Ordinary demon soldiers are at level 48, using the Elite Monster template, and beyond five levels their exact stats are hidden.

"Prioritize Focus Fire, kill that ordinary demon soldier!" Su Sheng reminded.

All five monsters can breach Su Sheng's defense.

For the first time, Su Sheng feels his attributes are still not "perverse" enough.

Actually this is normal: even though Su Sheng's Hidden Class is "perverse", his entire gear is purple and his accessories are basically complete, the environment still suppresses him by ten percent, on top of the Demon Race units' exaggerated stats, plus they are as high as level 45 and 48, and there is also a Demon Energy atrium boost.

With this addition and subtraction, the data gap between the sides widens.

One defense against five, still can fight!

But it's very exhausting!

Mainly Su Sheng's defense is relatively strained, and Lin Huan's and Li Wenwan's damage output must also be paced, or they'll go OT at any moment.

Huang Mingxin also feels the pressure the first time she teams up with Su Sheng.

Especially during the 30‑second gap when Xiao Jia Huo's Fireworks Blessing skill is inactive, it feels especially tough.

It takes roughly ten minutes for the party to clear those five demon soldiers, averaging two minutes per one.

This won't work.

Su Sheng furrows his brow.

One every two minutes, so in 120 minutes the maximum is 60.

But the number of demon soldiers here is nearly 200+.

At this rate, in two hours the demon soldiers' count wouldn't even be halved.

However, the experience points from these demon monsters are quite high; after all, this is a full‑question‑mark Dungeon, and low experience would betray its tier.

But even high experience is useless.

According to the Dwarves, this is the central point of Chi Yan City's Demon‑occupied Zone, and the Demon Race doesn't believe anyone can breach their outer lines and reach this central area.

Thus they only symbolically sent a few units here.

Moreover, if a truly strong foe were to break through the outer defense and arrive here, no amount of force deployed here would matter.

Thus, the genuinely powerful Demon Race units of Chi Yan City's Demon‑occupied Zone are all positioned on the outskirts.

These 120 minutes are their limit; if the demons aren't cleared and the furnace "sealed" within 120 minutes, those powerful demons will return, causing the Dungeon and mission to fail outright.

Moreover, the Demon Race will follow the mine tunnel to locate Zhuque City!