Chapter 78: Another Ancient Castle

Game time: half an hour left on the countdown!

Grinding~

When the final quest marker jumped, the ten‑thousand Demon Energy Fox target was completed.

Su Sheng felt completely relieved.

"Thanks, brothers, that's enough."

Besides the initial seventy‑plus, the Assassin Alliance gradually gathered a hundred people, forming a hundred‑person squad.

In the end it took a few hours, and the ten‑thousand count was completed.

Thanks to the team, otherwise Su Sheng would have been grinding alone for over forty hours; he'd probably be spitting blood.

"Brother Sheng, no need to be modest; wherever we're leveling isn't really leveling, and we're even a bit faster than usual," Liu Mang said with a laugh.

"Yeah, we're happy to help Sheng brother," Dong Jiaojiao replied, also smiling.

Besides… and Wu Long, who's still nursing a baby and hasn't entered the game, the eight Ten Court Yanluo and Chen Guan all showed up.

"No need for formalities with us," Chen Guan patted Su Sheng's shoulder. "Brother Sheng, we're glad you're back."

"I hope you'll lead the Assassin Alliance on another raid, Sheng brother," Chu Sang, one of the Ten Court Yanluo, grinned at Su Sheng.

"Right, without you the Assassin Alliance feels incomplete," Wei Yang agreed.

Su Sheng felt a flood of emotions; he had thought that after seven years everyone would have gone their separate ways.

He didn't expect they'd been waiting for him all this time.

"There will be a chance," Su Sheng nodded.

Since he's back, he won't let his former brothers down.

Thinking back to seven years ago, he was single‑minded about revenge; although Qiancheng Muxue suffered heavy losses, the Assassin Alliance also had a hard time.

But he left a mess behind, joined the army, and vanished for seven years without a word.

He owes it to Chen Guan for keeping things together; otherwise the Assassin Alliance would likely have disappeared.

Su Sheng also patted Chen Guan's shoulder.

"Game time's almost up, I'll go submit the quest, you can keep grinding a bit longer," Su Sheng grinned.

"Goodbye, Sheng brother."

Then Su Sheng crafted a Return City Talisman.

He arrived at the Demon Suppression Office and turned in the quest.

"Haha, truly heroic; the Chivalrous Knight moves fast!"

The Chief of Demon Suppression Office laughed heartily at Su Sheng.

"A trivial effort, not worth mentioning," Su Sheng replied politely.

Since his mother nagged about a hidden Dungeon and his father about a hidden secondary class, Su Sheng's attitude toward these smart NPCs has changed.

Ding~

Quest notice: Congratulations, player, for completing Demon Suppression. Quest 1.

Reward: Experience +1,000,000; Demon Suppression reputation +50.

A ten‑thousand count of Demon Energy Foxes sounds exaggerated, but the rewards are generous.

Killing Demon Energy Foxes doesn't give much XP, yet the quest grants a million experience!

The huge XP pushed Su Sheng up a level, with surplus remaining.

The Demon Suppression reputation is different from ordinary reputation, likely specific to the Demon Suppression Office.

Level 21.

Two free attribute points, all allocated to Constitution.

Attack‑defense balance 506, HP reached 2,720.

"The next task may be dangerous; I wonder if the Chivalrous Knight has the courage," the Chief said solemnly to Su Sheng.

"We, who eradicate demons and guard the Dao, must not shirk our duty," Su Sheng declared firmly, though he internally mocked his own over‑the‑topness.

Apparently, that pleased the Chief NPC.

"Haha, what a sense of duty; since that's the case…"

"On the side of Wutong Town lies a Demon Energy Castle; I just had it suppressed, but it should revive soon."

"Please, Chivalrous Knight, go take a look."

Hearing that, Su Sheng was baffled.

Quest notice: Demon Suppression Quest. Part 2.

Demon Energy Castle.

Su Sheng checked the coordinates; indeed, it was there…

As for the recent suppression, it must refer to Li Wenwan's awakening quest, right?

That… is a bit too coincidental.

But the Demon Energy Castle's timer is still just over 60 hours; should I just wait?

And alone, he certainly couldn't clear the Demon Energy Castle.

The Demon Energy Core can speed the castle's revival; let's bring Huakai along.

Conveniently, no other players are at the castle's location.

Bringing Huakai to level up is also fine.

But that'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Today's game time is almost up.

Su Sheng tidied his inventory, restocked some consumables, browsed the forum, and logged off as the game time ended.

…

…

Huan Jie, do you Huakai have any other arrangements tomorrow?

At the breakfast table, Su Sheng looked at Lin Huan and asked.

"Leveling up, by the way, Mom and Dad plan to come together tomorrow." Lin Huan took a bite of food.

"Yeah, we old couple plan to find Huanhuan and them to leech some experience; once our level goes up, we can help out with anything." Huang Hui said with a smile.

Su Sheng heard that, thought for a moment, and said: "How about you guys come with me tomorrow to run the fort again? I happen to have a quest there."

"Is that the fort for the Wenwan quest?"

Su Sheng nodded.

At the same time, Su Sheng explained the situation of the fort.

Lin Huan exclaimed in surprise: "The fixed refresh point for the 35‑level elite Boss?"

"Yes!"

"I feel that, if we have the ability to take it down, we can focus our main effort there. I estimate that if we toss the Demon Energy Core in every day, we could refresh a round at most every 24 hours."

"The 30‑level little monsters are also enough for us to level up, although it's a bit of a strain, but that doesn't mean we can't take them down."

"While no other players have discovered it yet."

"That spot will definitely be monopolized later by the big guild of Wutong Town, and without a doubt the biggest guild in Wutong Town is Qiancheng Muxue."

Upon hearing Qiancheng Muxue, the old couple felt a bit uneasy; the first time they were PKed by a player was by someone from Qiancheng Muxue.

Although, if Su Sheng leads the Assassin Alliance, he has the confidence to clash with Qiancheng Muxue, but neither side would benefit, so it's not the time yet.

The Assassin Alliance's pure‑assassin nature also dooms it to being unable to hold that fort spot long‑term.

"Qiancheng Muxue, they really got a cheap deal." As for the Qiancheng Muxue that lost their parents, Lin Huan also doesn't have a good impression.

But if nothing unexpected happens, this is the inevitable development of Wutong Town.

"But it'll probably be a while before the fort is discovered."

"After all, the experience needed for leveling up gets huge later on. I feel we can gorge ourselves before Qiancheng Muxue discovers and seizes the fort." Su Sheng grinned.

"Sure!"

Lin Huan expressed his agreement.

Afterwards, the brother and sister discussed the details a bit more, then Su Sheng tidied up and went to work.

…

Nothing happened all day.

Among these college youths, the core of their chats is still the Zhu Lu Game.

Even because of the game, the few on night shift in the team got a bit petty, but thanks to the rotating schedule and reasonable arrangements, nobody had any complaints.

As for Su Sheng not having to take night shift, they naturally had nothing to complain about—who told him he's the "leader"?

Don't treat the Security Guard Captain as not being a leader—just kidding.