The message from the anonymous user immediately set the Great Desolation Channel ablaze.
While Su Fu was still pondering who this person could be, the channel had already descended into chaos.
Those who believed the news the most were undoubtedly the test takers within the Zhou army and the Chan Sect.
They had no choice; they had just been used as cannon fodder to charge through so many arrays, witnessing a large number of their peers die with their own eyes.
It was a shocking and gruesome sight.
The situation was almost identical to what the mysterious person had described.
[I knew it! The Chan Sect is clearly sending us to our deaths! Those Golden Immortals could clearly break the arrays with ease, yet they insist on making us go in first!]
[I’m so stupid, really… I only knew that joining the Chan Sect meant having a powerful backer, but I didn’t realize that backer intended to step over our corpses to move forward.]
[Stop holding out hope. To them, we are just pawns to be sacrificed to protect the rooks!]
[The lives of the Twelve Golden Immortals are lives, but ours aren’t? And what’s all this talk about “following the mandate of Heaven”… such grand, hypocritical words!]
[They don’t need us at all. They’re just treating us as cannon fodder and playing us for fools!]
[While I was celebrating getting in, they were probably celebrating too, because there was one more person to die for them!]
[This mysterious person must have discovered some key information and came specifically to warn us!]
[What should we do? Can we still quit?]
[What are you thinking? Deserting will definitely get us killed!]
[But if we don’t run, we’ll eventually die as fodder anyway.]
[No matter what we choose, it leads to death!]
Panic spread rapidly among the crowd.
However, the test takers in the Shang army held a completely different view: [You guys actually believe this? It’s a message with no context and sent anonymously. There’s clearly something fishy going on.]
[Exactly. You believe an anonymous message? Then should I send one saying Yuanshi Tianzun is inviting you all to dinner tonight?]
[Besides, the Sect of Interception we chose doesn’t treat people as cannon fodder. It’s clearly your Chan Sect that’s dark-hearted. Don’t drag us into it!]
[I think the Sect of Interception is fine. They don’t discriminate against anyone’s background; anyone can join. Grandmaster Tongtian teaches everyone without discrimination. Just look at how many outsiders he has accepted who were looked down upon by others.]
[I can’t fault them on that! During my time in the Sect of Interception, the senior brothers and sisters have treated me like family. It’s nothing like your Chan Sect, where “shallow roots” and “insufficient blessings” are constantly thrown in your face!]
[To be fair, your Chan Sect is indeed terrible. Every newcomer who joined was pitted as cannon fodder.]
[There’s something I’ve wanted to say for a while. Your Chan Sect side keeps talking about the mandate of Heaven. Isn’t that just a massive scam?]
[Isn’t it just like those cults? It’s actually just a way to deceive people.]
The two sides argued fiercely.
However, Su Fu, who knew the ending, thought to herself: ‘The pot is calling the kettle black. In the later stages, when Grandmaster Tongtian of the Sect of Interception opens the Ten Thousand Immortal Array and gathers all his disciples on the battlefield, they will all die anyway.’
The entire battlefield would become a river of blood with mountains of corpses.
Meanwhile, Jieyin and Zhunti of the Western Sect would take the opportunity to descend, using the “Universe Bag” to forcibly take away 3,000 disciples of the Sect of Interception to convert them into followers of the Western Sect.
In short, it didn’t matter which camp they were in; they were all doomed.
Oh, except for the saints of the Western Sect who were fishing in troubled waters.
Right then, a group of people quickly seized the opportunity to send out invitations: [Anyone want to switch to the Shang camp? Contact me! I provide channels for smuggling into the Shang camp! Discounted prices!]
[The Sect of Interception is recruiting. We guarantee no cannon fodder. Private message if interested! Only one magical treasure is required as collateral!]
[…]
Su Fu mused, ‘The power of the masses is truly great. They thought of a way to make money so quickly.’
However, someone soon countered: [Everyone, don’t believe the nonsense from those people above. The timing is too convenient. The Twelve Golden Immortals just won a great victory, and the Zhou army is about to win, yet they want us to doubt the Zhou army? This is clearly an attempt to sow discord!]
[I suspect this is some underhanded work by you people from the Sect of Interception.]
[Exactly. Everyone, stay rational. With the Twelve Golden Immortals overseeing things, we are set for an easy win!]
[If someone really is foolish enough to defect to the Sect of Interception, they might end up being used as a tribute to help someone else join the Chan Sect!]
[At this point, don’t let others snatch the victory that’s about to ripen!]
[Besides, how can there be a war without casualties? As long as we survive, victory is certain!]
[Everyone has seen the strength and artifacts of the Twelve Golden Immortals. They are simply invincible. Xiqi will definitely win! Don’t let your emotions get the better of you!]
The two factions were locked in an inseparable argument, with both sides making valid points.
[Who should I believe… how should I choose…]
[I’m numb. I’m truly numb!]
***
Huangfu Yun, Chiya, and Zero gathered together, looking at each other in bewilderment.
“This anonymous person is not simple,” Huangfu Yun said with a frown, “Specifically naming Su Fu as the only savior suggests they are further ahead than us and have certainly found something.”
Chiya agreed, “In any case, it’s confirmed. It’s not just us; others have noticed something is wrong too.”
“There must be a huge secret behind this Great Investiture War.”
Zero raised her hand and said, “Then this person says neither camp can be trusted, but we are already bound to the Chan Sect. What do we do?”
The group fell silent.
This was trouble.
Their expressions became solemn.
If the camps of the two Great Sages couldn’t be trusted, where else could they go?
“What’s really going on behind all this?”
“Could it be… that the final boss isn’t just a Sage?”
“!!!”
The three saw the fear in each other’s eyes.
‘Could there be… an existence even more terrifying than a Sage?!’
This was definitely wrong.
The difficulty level had surely exceeded the limit.
What exactly was going on with this Chinese Instance!
***
By now, the discussion in the Great Desolation Channel had completely veered off track, even beginning to delve into various conspiracy theories:
[Has no one considered that this might be self-directed and self-acted by Su Fu?]
[…That actually makes sense. The biggest beneficiary right now is Su Fu.]
[Wait, would anyone actually go to her after seeing this message?]
[I hope there aren’t such fools. If you don’t believe these two camps, can you really trust Su Fu? Wouldn’t she use us as cannon fodder too?]
[She would. Guaranteed.]
[+10086, guaranteed.]
[Whoever was once packaged and sent to the Eighteen Levels of Hell by her, gather here quickly!]
Seeing this, Su Fu thought: ‘I was careless. Why didn’t I think of that? I could have recruited followers like this.’
[What are you all thinking? There’s only one question: does anyone know where Su Fu is?]
[…No.]
[Good grief, even if someone wanted to cling to her, they couldn’t even find her!]
[…]
The Great Desolation Channel was buzzing with discussion, with messages flashing by rapidly.
Su Fu stopped looking, but Chesia was incredibly curious, “Who is this person? Can you guess?”
Su Fu ran through the possibilities in her mind, looking thoughtful she said, “Two possibilities.”
“First, someone from that group with an extremely sharp perception of fate—what people usually call prophets.”
“Second, it’s very likely some people were assigned to certain locations and either by accident or design, saw some key secrets.”
Chesia flicked her tail irritably and asked, “Then what should we do? Isn’t this person deliberately making trouble for you?”
“You were about to disappear from everyone’s sight, but this statement has pushed you back into the spotlight.”
“What if those test takers conduct a carpet search to find you and drag you out?”
Su Fu wasn’t worried about that.
“That person’s words were vague and lacked context. Not many people will believe them.”
“Besides, most people have already been brainwashed by their respective camps. They won’t easily change their stance.”
Who would be willing to admit they were wrong, especially after investing so much?
More than ten years… and now they were being told to start over?
What a joke.
“Wait, don’t disturb me for now.” Su Fu looked toward the battlefield, her eyes sparkling, “The array-breaking has paused for now. I need to hurry and rescue the wounded!”
When was the best time to scavenge on a battlefield?
Right now, of course.
She rushed onto the field and began rescuing the wounded, skillfully bandaging wounds and feeding them pills.
At the same time, using the Illusion Technique for cover, her Myriad Manifestation Umbrella silently collected items without stopping.
“Th-thank you, Physician Su…” a blood-stained test taker said with tears of gratitude, “If it weren’t for you, I definitely wouldn’t have survived…”
Su Fu smiled and replied, “No need for thanks. Just rest well.”
Wherever Su Fu went, the sounds of wailing gradually subsided.
Simultaneously, many high-level artifacts left behind by deceased test takers quietly disappeared.
She brought the wounded to the rest area within the Xiqi camp and settled them in.
More people also began clearing the battlefield and counting the casualties.
“Huh?” A soldier suddenly stopped, scratching his head and muttering, “Strange. I clearly saw a sword over by the Earth-Cracking Array just now…”
He turned to his companion and asked, “Did you take it?”
“No, I’ve been over here clearing bodies…”
Once the battlefield was cleared, the statistical reports were all sent to Jiang Ziya.
He looked at the post-battle summary, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
“What’s happening?”
“Why do those magical treasures disappear after every battle? Could it be…”
“Report—!”
A messenger rushed in frantically, interrupting his thoughts.
“Prime Minister! This is bad!”
The post-battle cleanup was only a small part; Jiang Ziya’s attention was quickly drawn to more urgent matters.
Su Fu withdrew her sparrow’s-eye view.
She was safe.
She brushed her sleeves, hiding her success and fame.
She had worked so hard for Xiqi, treating people and curing illnesses.
It wasn’t too much to collect a little “medical fee,” was it?
Besides, instead of letting those anomalies benefit from these artifacts, it was better if they went to her.
In her hands, it was equivalent to making a huge contribution to the human camp.
A great feat!
‘Please call me the “Number One Oriole of the Investiture”!’
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
She was the Scavenging King of the Great Desolation.
Chesia remarked, “Your ‘medical fee’ is even darker than what the Chan and Interception Sects charge.”
Su Fu didn’t mind and replied, “By the way, Chesia, a heavyweight character is about to arrive next.”
“I need to go to Mount Wuyi in advance to set things up. I’ll leave things here to you.”
Chesia remembered and said excitedly, “Is it Zhao Gongming?!”
“Does that mean you’ll finally be able to get the Coin of Falling Treasures and those twenty-four Sea-Fixing Beads?”
Su Fu nodded, the corners of her mouth curling up, “That’s right.”
“Now that the Twelve Golden Immortals have personally intervened, Wen Zhong knows he’s no match for them and will definitely go call for help.”
“The person he brings will be Zhao Gongming.”
And Zhao Gongming would not disappoint. With the twenty-four Sea-Fixing Beads in hand, he would send the Xiqi side scurrying in fear.
It was also during that time that Randeng Daoren would set his sights on that treasure, which led to Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao being unfortunately dragged into the mess.
“So, I’m going to wrap things up.”
“You’ll definitely be fine here, right?”
How could Chesia say no?
“Don’t worry! I’ve got this!”
“You must bring them back!”
“Guaranteed.”
Su Fu turned and left, transforming into a flying insect with a wave of her hand.
She quickly left the Zhou camp and flew toward Mount Wuyi.
***
Mount Wuyi was shrouded in mist and clouds.
It was as beautiful as ever, with undulating peaks, lush vegetation, and dense spiritual energy.
She arrived at the spiritual fields she had planted earlier and saw the spiritual herbs growing lushly, their fragrance filling the air.
In the distance, the stream gurgled, and birds chirped melodiously.
The quiet mountain breeze carried the scent of greenery.
This was truly a rare holy land for peaceful cultivation, at least far better than the battlefield littered with corpses.