Chapter 54: Fourth-Stage Demon
"Tomorrow, how about we endure for half an hour and then withdraw?"
Qun Yushu's first words after coming out of the Mansu Woodland were said with a bitter smile: "I'm just a mere Second-Stage, really can't hold out as long as you guys."
"You're clearly the most energetic one, even had energy left to go out and slay a few demons." Jie Zilong laughed, "Your soul strength... is about Third-Stage, isn't it?"
"Far from it, far from it." Qun Yushu looked around upon exiting, then turned back to glance at the individual score rankings: "They're still not out, as expected."
"Yuanshao and the others could already endure an hour yesterday; today they'll last even longer." Jie Zilong said calmly, "What they accumulated yesterday becomes the foundation for today."
Qun Yushu and Chen Linchuan exchanged glances. They still had no idea what the internal mechanics of Mansu Woodland were like. The Jie and Shang families were tight-lipped, and they could only guess based on Jie Zilong’s occasional hints.
"They should be facing the third demon wave right now." Jie Zilong didn’t mind revealing secrets, casually letting slip a key piece of intel about Mansu Woodland: "You can vaguely hear the roars of the demons."
"You really can." Qun Yushu leaned toward the entrance of Mansu Woodland and perked up his ears: "And it's quite clear. Probably because they’re the only ones left inside, without interference from other demons."
"We endured for half an hour. Although there were breaks in between, it was always the same group of demons surrounding us." Chen Linchuan suddenly said, "How on earth did they deal with these undying demons?"
Jie Zilong smiled without answering. After a while, he suddenly said: "Listen, the sound is fading. They've made it through the third demon wave."
"They should be coming out soon, right?" Qun Yushu guessed, "Let’s wait for them."
That wait turned into another half hour. After that, they again heard the monsters roaring, but this time, all of them changed expressions.
"I think I hear the roars of five Demon Lords." Qun Yushu dropped his usual carefree tone and closed his eyes to listen.
"Savage Bull Demon, Stone-Hard Beast, Peach-Blossom Demon Ape, Quagmire Crab, and the lightning-fast Dragonfly!" Chen Linchuan’s hearing was sharper. He sucked in a cold breath: "They're actually up against five Third-Stage Demon Lords at once?"
Jie Zilong quietly stared at the Mansu Woodland, not saying a word.
After about fifteen minutes, the demonic roars gradually died down and disappeared. Only then did Jie Zilong slowly exhale: "Looks like they’re confident."
"Quick, go prepare a banquet!" Qun Yushu summoned a servant: "The warriors are coming back—we must welcome them with a grand feast!"
Everyone looked toward the entrance of Mansu Woodland, waiting for the four of them to return. But a quarter passed, then another. The banquet was ready, but the entrance remained silent.
"They... still haven’t come back?" Chen Linchuan couldn’t believe it: "Even after the fourth demon wave brought five Demon Lords, they still dare to face the next wave?"
"Yeah, even five Demon Lords already showed up." Qun Yushu exchanged a glance with them: "So what kind of demons could appear in the next wave to be stronger than that? Seven Demon Lords? That wouldn’t be so bad. But if fewer appear, they might be in danger."
That sounded strange. Why would fewer Demon Lords mean more danger? But everyone present understood, and Jie Zilong, in particular, could no longer remain calm. His expression turned grim as he stared tightly at Mansu Woodland.
No one knew how much time had passed. Suddenly, everyone trembled slightly, goosebumps rising all over. Though it was a sunny day, dark clouds gathered above Mansu Woodland, and a thunderstorm abruptly broke out.
"Roar—"
A thunderous roar from the depths of Mansu Woodland erupted like fire meeting lightning, crashing down like a storm upon the camp. Nearly everyone collapsed to the ground, their legs trembling in fear. Only Jie Zilong and the other two could barely stay standing, but their faces were pale as paper, using every ounce of willpower not to turn and flee.
"Fourth-Stage Demon, Thunderstorm Lion!" Chen Linchuan’s voice trembled, uncertain if it was from excitement or fear: "Thunderclouds follow it, and its roar crashes like a storm. That’s definitely the Thunderstorm Lion!"
"Mansu Woodland actually birthed a Fourth-Stage Demon!"
"And they actually dared to challenge a Fourth-Stage Demon!"
…
…
"Fourth-Stage Demon, Thunderstorm Lion."
Jie Yuanshao stared at the fanged beast roaring in the Dense Fog. Even from a hundred meters away, she still gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, goosebumps rising on her arms.
"Its record originates from the secret realm records of the Ancient Tree Forest."
"It was not classified as a Demon Lord, but rather an ordinary demon commonly seen within the secret realm."
"Usually, one male lion and multiple lionesses hunt together."
"Among the Fourth-Stage Secret Realms, Ancient Tree Forest is considered the easiest one."
"The Thunderstorm Lion is also one of the weaker kinds of Fourth-Stage demons, so there are relatively many records about it."
"It does not have any associated token."
"It relies entirely on claws and fangs for attack."
"Its only peculiarity is its innate lightning entanglement—any attack it makes will paralyze its target."
"However, it is still a Fourth-Stage demon, a foundational creature far superior to Third-Stage beings!"
Crash—
The Thunderstorm Lion stepped out of the Dense Fog.
Its mane sparkled with lightning, and its size was not as large as other Demon Lords, more like that of a normal lion, standing around two meters tall.
It seemed to be drooling from its mouth—or perhaps it was swallowing thunder.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, it suddenly darted out like lightning.
In the blink of an eye, it covered a distance of over ten meters.
In less than three breaths, it had already reached the outer wall.
Then it pushed off with its hind legs and gracefully leapt.
Its four feet lightly tapped the outer wall like a dragonfly skimming the water.
This motion reminded Yan Qing of cats he had seen before, fond of bouncing off walls.
Yet this outer wall, which could resist the demon wave for quite some time, shattered into pieces with just one stomp from the Thunderstorm Lion—like tofu smashed by a fist.
Such speed, such power, such ease!
"Moves like thunder."
Shang Xinlei's voice trembled slightly, as if from both fear and excitement: "This is the power of a Fourth-Stage... and it’s just the weakest kind!"
At that moment, six statues were unsealed.
Blade Warrior, Chaos Warrior, Dragon-Breaking Warrior, Narcissus Mermaid, Funeral Mermaid, Eagle Archer.
Under the overwhelming presence of the Thunderstorm Lion, these Demon Lords who once struck fear into the secret realms now appeared so feeble.
Two arrow towers on the castle had already opened fire.
But the Thunderstorm Lion didn’t care at all about these basic arrow towers without upgrades.
Like a cat shooing away flies, it casually swept its tail and knocked away the steel arrows shot by the beast-hunting bows.
It looked at the six approaching Demon Lords, snorting twin streams of electricity from its nostrils, its disdain evident.
In fact, Yan Qing had built eight statues.
But two had been severely damaged in the fourth wave assault and would shatter on contact if deployed now.
So Yan Qing reserved them as a backup force.
If the six statues failed to win… he’d send those two to cover everyone's retreat from Mansu Woodland.
Meanwhile, twelve Silver Warriors climbed the walls with bows drawn.
They also carried longswords at their waists, ready to draw blades if monsters breached the wall.
In the first and second waves, they alone could have cleared the beast hordes before the Demon Lords.
Now, Yan Qing only hoped they could slightly interfere with the Thunderstorm Lion’s actions.
Actually, Yan Qing knew how to guarantee survival through the fifth wave: upgrade the statues.
Each statue had an upgrade option.
Currently, they were at Third-Stage power.
If upgraded, they would at least be Fourth-Stage—fighting the Thunderstorm Lion would be like disciplining a child.
But the resources required to upgrade were enormous.
The Narcissus Mermaid needed 60 gems and 50 crystals.
Blade Warrior required 60 crystals and 60 sulfur.
The other statues had similar costs.
The only slightly lenient one, Eagle Archer, needed 300 wood and 50 mercury—if Yan Qing spent an hour chopping wood, he might collect 300 wood.
With such high resource demands, Yan Qing couldn’t afford to upgrade even a single statue.
But he was not unprepared.
After discovering the “Pearl Tear Alliance” synergy between Narcissus Mermaid and Funeral Mermaid, Yan Qing finally realized that this instance blended survival-building and auto-chess gameplay.
And the core mechanic of auto-chess is the synergy system—gathering characters from the same faction boosts overall strength.
Synergy was undoubtedly the fastest way to increase statue power.
But Yan Qing knew nothing about the factions of these statues.
The construction list didn’t provide this information.
Clearly, the developers wanted players to delve into the bosses’ backstories and speculate on which could form synergies.
But that was fine—lack of knowledge could be compensated by numbers.
"Hall of Heroes: Each turn, the number of random statues available for construction increases to three, and resources can be spent to reroll and refresh three new random statues."
"The more rerolls, the higher the resource cost."
"Once a statue is built, rerolling becomes unavailable."
The Hall of Heroes also required considerable resources.
Its only additional function was allowing statue options to be rerolled each turn.
And this reroll process also consumed resources.
Though cheap materials like wood and stone could be used, frequent rerolls would burn through them fast.
This was no different from gambling.
If Yan Qing failed to draw the statue he needed, it would be like pouring resources down the drain.
And since he didn’t know which statues could form synergies, he could only filter by names.
If names alone couldn’t reveal their base faction, Yan Qing was certain that every year around this time, countless players would be cursing the devs’ entire bloodline.
Thankfully, he won the gamble.
"Comrade Alliance: When the number of Comrade Alliance members ≥ 2, for every member nearby, gain +100 Vital Energy and +100 Dexterity."
"Members will support each other."
"(Blade Warrior, Chaos Warrior, Dragon-Breaking Warrior)"