Only I Am A Reader
chapter-263

The Heavenly Strength Society! Just when the sky seemed to darken in fear, the ones that the entirety of Murim had accused of being demons had emerged to bring down the True Demons that descended upon the world with disasters!

Confusion was a strong poison that the Society had a great immunity to. However, once the clouds of suspicions were blown away by their example, Murim underwent another great change…

"The Great Five Mountains had declared 'Drawn Swords' at the unknown threat!"

"The Ten Great Sect have dispatched people all-over Shanxi!"

The Righteous Faction and the Murim Alliance were the ones who carried the banner of justice to begin with. Even with all of the damage they suffered during the first hit, all forces couldn't afford to stay still while the Heavenly Strength Society stole all of the limelight!

Unfortunately, dealing with a new threat was never easy. Without a set pattern or behavior that they could refer to at the very start of the phenomenon, the losses were enough for the various Heads to feel the bleed deep in their heart. The monsters were being pushed back, but the number of deaths on the other side wasn't something to scoff at either…

However, while the same couldn't be said about every single one of them, a good part of the Righteous Faction truly fought for the sake of humanity's survival. Even though the cost was unbearable, taking a step back was the same as giving up, and giving up was no different than slow suicide!

"The Noble Sword House has purged the monsters out of Naang City just the other day!"

"Really? The Wudang Sect had also started stationing their Martial Artists in preparation for any potential crack opening."

Thankfully, the strongest innate trait of humans had soon come to shine. After suffering countless losses and defeats for months… Patterns, Strategies, Crack Theories, the dormant scholars exploded with potential as Murim became familiar with their enemy day after day. Hope was not all lost!

If not for the humans' adaptability, would they have even survived to this moment? Just like they picked up tools and dug up farms to fight their hunger, the Martial Artists of Murim had found all kinds of creative methods to eliminate the number one threat!

"We can do it!"

Cracks only opened up next to places with large populations… Their frequency is related to the monsters that had already crossed over… Numbers don't matter as long as they are exterminated quickly before they can consume the protectors' intelligence…

Even the smart monsters couldn't deny the effectiveness of the Murim-ins' work. The initiative that they had grasped with their claws at the start was on its path to being lost!

In no time, the situation reached a stalemate as humanity's momentum soared. Just as a lot of human settlements occupied by monsters were taken back, a few more would get devoured. Making up for latency wasn't easy, but pushing beyond the middle point was much harder.

Most importantly, while the Murim Alliance was busy trying to stand up from between the rubble, the entire territory belonging to the Evil Faction directly fell into the monsters' hands. Whatever was left of their forces quickly scurried to the Righteous Faction to take them in.

Given that they were the ones who hid the invaders' existence at the early stages, not to mention being the original number one enemy, nobody really cared about the wellbeing of the Evil Faction. However, with a solid base to house them in, the end target of eliminating all monsters only strayed further!

The ultimate question still was… Could the Murim Alliance accept the current status quo?

"From today on, The Monster Hunter Association will come into being! The day it shall be disbanded, the entirety of Murim will be celebrating the complete extermination of the invading pests!"

The answer was no!

Zhuge Gun, the grandson of the noble Zhuge clan's head and the Murim Alliance's head, announced the establishment of an organization that had no goal other than slaughtering monsters under the witness of all the rising figures of Murim!

Although extermination seemed like an overboard response in war, things were different when survival was at stake. The more monsters managed to safely cross to the other side, the higher the number of cracks that would open! Since such a fact was confirmed, every last monster had to be destroyed to prevent such a critically threatening element!

"We shall all equally contribute to the success of this venture!"

Following up on the Alliance Head's announcement, the Ten Great Sects and the Nine Grand Families stepped forward to prop up the pillars of the new Association! Each sect and family had deep pockets filled with inherited resources that they could never finish with their force's scope… Rather than leaving it to fill the void in their treasuries, they decided to splurge it for the united cause.

In reality, no one actually wanted to go along with distributing their worth like some sort of charity. However, under the pressure imposed by both the monsters and the Alliance Head, they could only surrender and push all hope to the great dream of unlimited nurturing!

More and more Martial Artists were dying by the day, but what if this equation was somehow flipped the other way around?

"As much as we appreciate the valiant heroes' effort, your sacrifice will no longer go unrewarded!"

The eyes of all Martial Artists joined for the Murim Summit glowed as Zhuge Gun revealed the gigantic reserve of gold, pills and Elixirs hidden behind him. As long as a Martial Artist of the 2nd rate or above joined, they would automatically receive enough resources to propel them to the next level. Moreover, as long as they returned with proof of having exterminated monsters, relevant rewards would be similarly handed out!

'It's developing in the same route up to this point.'

Seated in the middle of the large audience, Leo silently eyed the vast rewards that had suddenly made an appearance. As to be expected, just when the chosen one required a flight of stairs to the top, a pair of jet propellers suddenly appeared…