Chapter 310 – 【Realm of Illusory Karma】

As Su Ming sighed inwardly, Chi Qian and her group also furrowed their brows.

Among the girls, aside from Tong Xinyao, the other three were all Upper-Rank Professionals, who originally wouldn’t have feared lower-tier Phantom Demons.

Even if those lower-tier Phantom Demons possessed strength comparable to Three-Star Professionals, they would remain undaunted.

The gap between Upper-Rank and lower-rank Professionals was simply too vast—it was a difference in Realm, not merely a matter of star ratings.

If ten One-Star Professionals joined forces, defeating a Two-Star Professional wouldn’t be difficult.

Similarly, if ten Two-Star Professionals united, overcoming a Three-Star Professional would also be achievable.

Even if ten Four-Star Professionals collaborated to defeat a Five-Star Professional, or ten Five-Star Professionals teamed up against a Six-Star Professional, it could be done.

Unless the latter possessed special abilities or powerful means, such as Su Ming’s 【Silver Arm】, under equal conditions, numerical advantage remained a benefit everywhere.

Even if ten Six-Star Professionals united to challenge a Seven-Star Professional, it wasn’t impossible—some Professionals with unique abilities could even surpass their own rank in combat.

Thus, while disparities existed between star ratings, they weren’t insurmountable through numbers.

Of course, this equation held true only under equal conditions, where neither side had special abilities or unique methods.

Additionally, the impact of strength disparities between star ratings had to be excluded.

After all, how much stronger was a Peak Five-Star Professional like Chi Qian compared to an average Five-Star Professional?

While ten ordinary Four-Star Professionals might defeat one Five-Star Professional, to overcome a Peak Five-Star Professional, those ten Four-Star Professionals would need to reach peak level themselves.

In summary, under equal conditions, if only a one-star gap existed, compensating with tenfold combat power was theoretically feasible.

However, the gap between Realms was another matter entirely.

Under equal conditions, ten Two-Star Professionals could defeat one Three-Star Professional, and ten Four-Star Professionals could overcome one Five-Star Professional, but ten Three-Star Professionals could never defeat one Four-Star Professional.

Not even ten—not even a hundred would suffice.

This was the so-called Realm gap.

Whether Hunter or Sorcerer, from the lowest One-Star to the highest Seven-Star, there was only this major Realm to cross—the rest were merely differences between star ratings.

Different star ratings represented minor gaps.

Different Realms represented major gaps.

The elevated status of Upper-Rank Professionals wasn’t without reason.

Once crossing from lower to upper rank, not only would base combat power leap from the Mortal Realm to superhuman levels, but they would also Awaken Vision Marks or Demonization abilities, drastically enhancing combat capability.

At minimum, this meant several-fold power increases. How could those without such abilities contend against those who possessed them?

Therefore, before the vast gap between Realms, even a hundred Peak Three-Star Professionals couldn’t hope to defeat a newly advanced Four-Star Professional.But what if a hundred won’t do? What about a thousand?

Or ten thousand?

Professionals are ultimately still human. Even with the gap in Realms, once the number of enemies reaches a certain point, it becomes quite troublesome.

Enough ants can kill an elephant, enough bees can sting a person to death, and enough insects can devour not just a single leaf but an entire forest.

Facing an army of ten thousand lower-rank Phantom Demons, each comparable to a Three-Star Professional—with mutants among them—even an Upper-Rank Professional would have no choice but to kneel.

The fact that Chi Qian and the others only frowned was already quite good.

They weren’t ordinary Upper-Rank Professionals. Chi Qian had even reached the Peak of the Five-Star level. Faced with such an army of lower-rank Phantom Demons, they weren’t about to cower in fear.

The problem was, this time they had to break through the army’s blockade, charge into its central area, and engage in battle with the Hazardous Species lurking there. This was truly a high-pressure mission.

“What’s wrong? Lacking confidence?”

Seeing their expressions, Su Ming smiled faintly.

Chi Qian and the others didn’t refute him.

“Ten thousand lower-rank Phantom Demons… If they were just small fry, it’d be one thing. But if they’re all powerful beings comparable to Three-Star Professionals, with many mutants among them, even with Sister Qianqian and Sister Yanyan here, I don’t think we can handle it,” Feng Qing’er said with a bitter expression.

“If those Phantom Demons are only comparable to Three-Star Professionals, even in large numbers, dealing with them shouldn’t be dangerous. What I fear is that there might be some particularly troublesome types among them, like the Toxic Slime Demons,” Mu Yan remarked calmly.

Back during the Huaming Campaign, Jiang Wanyu had once been poisoned by a Toxic Slime Demon and nearly faced a life-or-death crisis.

Phantom Demons like the Toxic Slime Demon, which have low combat power but carry extremely potent toxins—each individual carrying a different poison, making it difficult to find an antidote—are among the most dangerous enemies among all lower-rank Phantom Demons.

If one carelessly falls victim to their poison, even an Upper-Rank Professional will succumb if they don’t find an antidote in time.

Mu Yan and the others weren’t afraid of the more powerful lower-rank Phantom Demons, but they had to fear those with special dangers like the Toxic Slime Demon.

If such hazardous Phantom Demons existed within the army of ten thousand lower-rank Phantom Demons, the mere thought of it was enough to give anyone a headache.

Chi Qian also expressed her thoughts.

“If I, Yanyan, and Qing’er could all use Demonization, charging in to fight our way through and directly reaching the center shouldn’t be difficult,” Chi Qian said. “But if we do that, by the time we face that Hazardous Species, we might not have any strength left to fight.”

Demonization, as a powerful ability that can increase an Upper-Rank Hunter’s strength by several times at least, has only one drawback: it consumes a large amount of Phantom Demon Power from one’s Bloodline—what is commonly referred to as magical power.

Once magical power is exhausted, the power brought by the Bloodline withers, and even the strongest Hunter will become weak and unable to continue fighting.

It’s not just exhaustion—even consuming most of it in a short time will affect one’s condition.

This was the case for Su Ming. Every time he used the power of his [Silver Arm], even while restraining the consumption of magical power and using only one percent of its full might, he would still feel fatigued and weak after using it a few times in a short period.Mana is a power that exists within the bloodline, the fundamental element that grants Hunters and Phantom Demons their extraordinary abilities. Even if not completely depleted, merely reducing it would affect one’s physical condition and combat prowess.

If Chi Qian and the others immediately resorted to Demonization, by the time they fought their way through and reached their mission target, they might not even have the strength left to lift their weapons.

In that case, they would simply be delivering themselves as prey to that Hazardous Species.

Considering these layered concerns, the mission had stumped Chi Qian and the others.

“Is… this the difficulty of an A-rank mission?” Tong Xinyao murmured.

This little Genius, famous in Tianfeng City, rarely had the opportunity to undertake high-difficulty missions. As one of the city’s most promising talents, people were too busy protecting her to push her into dangerous, high-difficulty missions.

This was Tong Xinyao’s first time attempting an A-rank mission. Apart from the S-rank mission a year ago that required the entire Crimson unit’s deployment, she had never taken on any mission above B-rank. Now, witnessing the difficulty of an A-rank mission, she couldn’t help but feel contemplative.

The group of young women all wore deep frowns, their expressions troubled.

Seeing this, Su Ming decided to stop keeping them in suspense.

“I’ll find a way to deal with that Phantom Demon Legion,” Su Ming suddenly declared. “You just need to focus your attention on the Hazardous Species behind them.”

His words immediately lifted the spirits of the women.

“Can you handle it, Commander?” Feng Qing’er asked in surprise, looking at Su Ming.

Su Ming offered no explanation, only giving a faint smile.

“It seems you still don’t understand what nuclear-level deterrence means,” Su Ming said with a wry smile.

“Well then, let me show you today.”

He would let them witness another gain he had acquired recently.

Su Ming believed this would be a big surprise.

……

According to the map, the mission target was located at the border of the Chaotic Region.

There lay a stretch of ruins.

Not the kind left behind by abandoned man-made structures, but rather the remains of collapsed mountains, a natural ruin left by environmental factors.

Su Ming’s group drove through the Chaotic Region in their off-road vehicle, following the map to circumvent several territories occupied by high-level Phantom Demons and numerous areas infested with lower-level ones. After eliminating countless groups of Phantom Demons that foolishly came seeking prey, they arrived at the ruins without major incident.

Of course, they didn’t drive their vehicle directly into the ruins, stopping about a kilometer outside instead.

They couldn’t proceed further by vehicle.

Because ahead lay enemy territory.

“Roar!”

“Roar!”

Accompanied by clearly audible beastly roars, Su Ming’s group saw a colony.

It was a massive gathering of Phantom Demons clustered together, their figures visible everywhere throughout the area.

Thousands of Phantom Demons either paced back and forth, restlessly biting each other, circled in the sky, or moved in and out of the ruins, creating a scene straight out of Hell.

Demonic energy pulsed through the ruins.

Savage brutality permeated the air.The sight of thousands of Phantom Demons gathered together was truly awe-inspiring. At a glance, it appeared as if countless hellish creatures were swarming across the land, sending shivers down one’s spine.

Fortunately, those facing this Phantom Demon Legion were no ordinary individuals, or they would have likely been screaming and fleeing in terror by now.

“The numbers are indeed overwhelming…”

Chi Qian and Mu Yan exchanged glances, their brows furrowing once more.

“Are we charging into that?”

Feng Qing’er pondered for a moment before deciding it was better to decline.

“Wuwu…”

Tong Xinyao, witnessing such a spectacle for the first time, was utterly terrified, her mind nearly paralyzed with fear.

Only Su Ming remained as composed as ever.

Seeing him like this, Chi Qian felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation.

“Is the Commander going to act alongside Little Hai’er?”

That was what Chi Qian thought.

In her view, if Su Ming and Little Hai’er joined forces, breaking through the Phantom Demon Legion before them was not impossible.

For one, if Su Ming used the power of his right hand—the one he always concealed with a fingerless glove, unnoticed by others—just as he had when repelling the Poisonous Insect Queen, its nuclear-like destructive force could instantly vaporize thousands of Phantom Demons, leaving no trace behind.

As for Little Hai’er, there was no need to even question it. As a suspected Nightmare Species capable of manipulating water and ice, she could summon a blizzard that would annihilate nearly half of the Phantom Demon Legion, if not wipe them out entirely.

Once that happened, dealing with the remnants would become much easier.

This was something Chi Qian and the others couldn’t accomplish.

As Hunters without special abilities, whether it was Chi Qian, Mu Yan, or even Feng Qing’er, their individual combat prowess might be strong, but they lacked any large-scale area-of-effect attacks.

Facing enemies, they could only slash through them one by one, unlike mages in stories who could wipe out entire swathes with a single AoE skill.

This was the disadvantage of being a Hunter.

Only a Hunter like Su Ming, with his unique mutated abilities, could display such power.

Chi Qian believed that Su Ming intended to use the power of his right hand or have Little Hai’er take action to eliminate the enemy’s main force.

But what happened next would shatter her assumptions.

Chi Qian had forgotten.

While there might be no mages in this world, there were Sorcerers.

There were Upper-Rank Sorcerers capable of wielding Advanced Spirit Arts, unleashing cataclysmic power comparable to nuclear weapons.

“Bzzz—”

As the air hummed, surging Spirit Power erupted from Su Ming’s body, transforming into shockwaves that blasted outward.

“Wh-what…!?”

Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao were all startled, forced back several steps by the sudden burst of spiritual energy, creating distance between themselves and Su Ming.

Then, something breathtaking appeared before their eyes.

“Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!”…

This was the sound of circular arrays unfolding one after another from the ground beneath Su Ming’s feet, rising into the air.

One after another, the circular arrays spun like magic circles, expanding from under Su Ming’s feet before levitating and aligning neatly into a pillar of light formed by the arrays.

There were nine circular arrays in total.Su Ming was surrounded by these nine magic circle-like ring arrays, his Spirit Power surging violently as he slowly raised one hand.

“Roar!”

“Roar!”

In the ruins ahead, the Phantom Demon army erupted into chaos.

The appearance of overwhelmingly terrifying Spirit Power had thrown these demonic beings, who were perfectly countered by Spirit Arts, into a state of panic and unease.

Unfortunately, Su Ming felt no pity for them because of this.

Once prepared, Su Ming did not hesitate to unleash the Advanced Spirit Art he had mastered—the second highest in sequence ranking, surpassed only by the 【Eighty-Eighth Form: Fate Heaven Earth Shift】.

“【Eighty-First Form: Vast Karma Brahma Scene】.”

Thus, the calamity descended.

(End of Chapter)