Long River Eternity

"Shen Qing! All you do here is talk nonsense. If you have the guts, come on!" The thin man stood up suddenly, his eyes widened, and he pointed his finger straight at Shen Qing, his face full of dissatisfaction.

Shen Qing looked calm and expressionless as he responded, "Look, this is typical incompetent rage. I admit that I can't cook, and it's not something to be ashamed of."

"You, you, you..." The thin man was so angry that his fingers kept shaking and his face turned red, but he was speechless for a moment and couldn't find the right words to refute.

The middle-aged man stepped in to smooth things over. "Alright, Jinzhong, stop messing around. It's a big city like this, so there's bound to be some restaurants open. Let's look for them."

If all else fails, we can go back to our old place. The restaurant there is definitely open, but it's a bit far from here. We're not good at cooking, so we can just eat something casually when we're out in the wild, but we shouldn't bother in the city."

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the thin man reluctantly compromised, slowly lowered his still trembling fingers, and said fiercely with a determined face: "Humph, you underestimated me today. I, Zhao Jinzhong, swear that I must learn the cooking skills from the team leader. When I learn it, I see that you will beg me to cook for you."

Everyone was speechless after hearing Zhao Jinzhong's declaration. After all, this wasn't the first time he had made such a vow.

But he has no talent for cooking at all. No matter how good the ingredients are, once they fall into his hands, they will eventually turn into a ball of charcoal. Even the team leader gave up teaching him how to cook.

So everyone didn't take his words seriously at all, and just smiled perfunctorily to show that they believed him.

At this time, the slightly fat man put his arm around Zhao Jinzhong's shoulders and urged him, "Let's go, let's talk about the future later. Let's finish this meal first. I'm starving."

As he spoke, he half-carried Zhao Jinzhong forward. Zhao Jinzhong moved his feet reluctantly, complaining non-stop, "The city lord is such a jerk! Every time it's time for dinner, he drags the team leader and deputy team leader to a meeting. It's just defending the city, why so many meetings?"

The middle-aged man spoke leisurely, "Beizhou City originally had a permanent population of five to six million, and now with the influx of refugees, the population is approaching ten million. It's all up to the two of us and the City Lord's Mansion's existing forces to defend it. How can the City Lord not be nervous? If it were you, I can't believe you wouldn't even be able to sleep well."

As soon as the middle-aged man said this, everyone's mood suddenly dropped. They naturally understood the urgency of the current situation.

This mission was a hundred times more dangerous than any previous missions to reclaim land in the four outer states. Beizhou City was now like a giant target. If the monsters didn't invade, it would be fine. But if they did, it would be a massive, brutal fight. No one could say for sure how many would survive.

The middle-aged man sensed the sudden tense atmosphere around him and realized he had said something wrong. He hurried to comfort everyone, "Alas, Beizhou City isn't a strategic location. It's crowded, but it doesn't have many cultivation resources. A monster invasion here would be a thankless task. They're very smart and won't come. Maybe we'll just end up spending some time in Beizhou City for a vacation."

However, when the middle-aged man finished speaking, no one responded. The atmosphere was still as cold as the air around him. The middle-aged man scratched his head awkwardly, trying to find another topic to ease the atmosphere.

At this time, the woman asked softly, "Brother Luo, what do you think will happen in the end of this battle between humans and demons? Can humans defeat the demons?"

"That's right, Brother Luo." Before the middle-aged man could speak, the slightly plump man who was hugging Zhao Jinzhong spoke eagerly, his tone full of worry, "Over the years, we have fought bloody battles outside, constantly killing the monsters and expanding our territory, but the results have been less than satisfactory. Those monsters seem to be endless and can never be killed.

Once we encounter a powerful demon, humans often have to pay a heavy price to kill it. If the demon beasts of Kyushu unite to launch a war against humans, with the current number of powerful military personnel, it would be difficult to resist.

Upon hearing this, Luo Ge fell silent and did not answer immediately.

Although he looks only middle-aged, in this era where human life expectancy is generally longer, Luo Ge is actually over 70 years old.

He is now a strong man in the early stage of Tianji Realm. The years have left in him not only strength, but also deep memories of countless battles with monsters.

His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the glorious years after he joined the military department.

From the initial law enforcement team, he fought his way through to the land development team, and finally to the frontier development team. Every battle with monsters was like a tragic picture scroll, constantly emerging in his mind.

Just as the slightly plump man said, most of the battles with monsters in the past were difficult tests in which he was in danger of death.

The monsters of the same realm are far more powerful than humans. They are extremely strong, as fast as lightning, and have bodies as hard as rocks, and they crush humans in all aspects.

To kill a demon beast, at least three or four humans of the same level are needed, and the battle process is extremely difficult.

This is just the situation when facing one monster. If the number of monsters reaches two or more, and they know how to cooperate with each other and fight together, the situation will be more critical and the situation of mankind will become more difficult.

Although Luo Ge knew that this war would be the greatest disaster humanity had ever encountered, he still tried to calm his teammates. He took a deep breath and said casually, "What are you afraid of? Although there are many powerful monsters, the number of strong people on our side is also increasing. Not only are there several pioneering teams that are stronger than ours, but there are also so many large families with deep roots.

And you should have heard that Minister Zhan and Pavilion Master Nian simultaneously broke through to the Tianxuan Realm. This is unprecedented, whether for humans or demon beasts. And I heard from the team leader that Pavilion Master Nian broke through directly to the peak of the Tianxuan Realm this time. With them here, we will definitely be able to resolve this crisis. We just need to do what we should do.

"Peak of Tianxuan Realm?!" The woman's lazy expression instantly vanished, replaced by excitement. Her voice unconsciously rose a few notches. "Could it be that the team leader deliberately made this up to appease us? In all these years, a peak Tianxuan Realm expert has never appeared. If we take one more step forward, wouldn't that mean we've entered the legendary Tianshu Realm?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jinzhong abruptly shook off the slightly chubby man's arm from his shoulders and said anxiously, "It's absolutely true! The letter I received from home the day before yesterday clearly stated that Pavilion Master Nian has now broken through to the peak of the Tianxuan Realm!"

As he spoke, Zhao Jinzhong's face showed a mixture of yearning and admiration. He raised his head slightly, his eyes full of longing, and continued, "That's the peak of the Tianxuan Realm. I don't know what kind of extraordinary realm it is. If I can break through to the Tianxuan Realm, I will have no regrets in my life."

"You are a foodie whose mind is only thinking about food. Stop daydreaming. What about the Tianxuan Realm? Look for yourself, how long have you been stuck at the peak of the Tianquan Realm?" Zhao Jinzhong's yearning did not last long, and Shen Qing poured a basin of cold water on him mercilessly.

Zhao Jinzhong snorted with disdain, stiffening his neck and retorting, "You and I reached the peak of the Heavenly Power Realm together. You were just lucky, having a breakthrough during the last battle. After that mission, we were assigned to defend Beizhou City. How could I have the time to cultivate peacefully?"

"Tsk, if you can't do it, blame the uneven road. If you can't poop, blame the toilet." Shen Qing raised the corners of his mouth and sneered sarcastically.

"Shen Qing! Say that again?! Don't think that I won't beat you just because you are one level higher than me!" Zhao Jinzhong's eyes were wide open with anger, and he was about to pounce on Shen Qing.

Just as he took a step, he suddenly paused, then turned around and looked at the slightly fat man behind him with a strange expression on his face.

The slightly plump man was confused by Zhao Jinzhong's gaze and looked puzzled: "?"

The others were also full of questions, not understanding the purpose of Zhao Jinzhong's sudden action.

Zhao Zhong had no choice but to look at the slightly fat man's arm first, and then wink at him.

The slightly plump man was now completely confused and did not understand what Zhao Jinzhong meant.

Finally, Zhao Jinzhong had no choice but to pull up the slightly fat man's arm and put it on his own arm. Then he shouted at Shen Qing again: "Shen Qing, don't think that I won't beat you up just because you are one level higher than me. Zhan Wuyou, don't hold me back! I must beat him up today."

Zhan Wuyou reacted quickly and immediately let go of his hand that was forced on Zhao Jinzhong's arm, with an expression of "it's none of my business" on his face.

Zhao Jinzhong was stunned at first, then said to Shen Qing with a little embarrassment: "Today, for Wuyou's sake, I will spare you this time, but next time I will definitely beat you down."

When others saw Zhao Jinzhong directing and acting in the show, they all raised their hands to their foreheads helplessly, with a look of being at a loss whether to laugh or cry on their faces.

The woman even muttered softly, "What a conspicuous bag."

Just then, a figure walked out of a store not far ahead.

The man saw a few people playing on the street and shouted, "I was wondering who it was. How could you have so much energy in such a cold day? It turns out it's you. Aren't you cold outside? Come into the store and warm up."

What was surprising was that the person who came out of the store was none other than Nian Zhongsheng, the head of Tianshu Pavilion whom Zhao Jinzhong and others had been talking about all the way.