Villain Cultivator

"Miao\'er. Stay."

Unfortunately, Mao Shan stopped him.

"Yes, father?"

"I cannot let you join this fight."

"… Okay? Then, what should I do?"

Miaomiao didn\'t bother questioning Mao Shan\'s reason. After all, he was not ready to fight a horde of protagonist-like monsters with the power of the sage\'s laws.

Mao Shan tossed an identity token at Miaomiao. It was the jade token, which represented the status of an official inner disciple.

"From now on, you will be the leader of the rearguard. You will gather outer disciples, initiates, and Tang Ting. Leave this sect city and migrate north toward Huiji City."

"So, you want me to leave you?"

"I\'m doing exactly what you told me earlier. We\'ll be using fewer combatants in the next fight, and we will use otherworlders as cannon fodders. I can\'t let you and the others fight here."

"…"

"Now, go. Bring everyone to safety."

"You must retreat if the plan fails, father."

"I know. I already told Mao Cheng and our clansmen to migrate north after the preparation. You don\'t have to worry about us."

"Okay. Godspeed, father."

"You, too."

Although this entire conversation was a death flag, Miaomiao chose to leave as he couldn\'t interfere with the local\'s fate.

Mao Shan gazed at his son. He let out a long sigh.

"The future is in your hands."

"Cringe and cliché as hell. Sect Master, you sound like you\'re going to die for sure."

In the hall, Sun Wukong was still there. He had heard everything, and he didn\'t like how things went.

Mao Shan snickered, "I see that you\'re still healthy, your highness?"

"Healthy my ass. I almost died out there. I still have a hole in my stomach and my chest. I don\'t think I can contribute anything in the next fight."

"Yes, you can. How about you return to your palace and report to your father what had happened here. You might be able to convince Your Majesty Sun Jian about the situation. Also, please convey to them our tactics so that they won\'t get entangled in the arrays."

"Tsk. Fine. You stay alive as well. I don\'t want to see that brat cry."

Despite being heavily injured, Sun Wukong strode like he was in perfect shape. He also left the hall.

Everybody left. Now, Mao Shan was alone in the large grand hall.

"… I will definitely survive, Miao\'er."

.

In front of the hall, Sima Yi had been leaning against the wall, eavesdropping on all conversations.

Sun Wukong noticed the guest elder. He snorted and left Sima Yi alone.

Sima Yi smirked and shook his head, looking at the departing immortal in disdain.

\'Everybody is panicking for no reason. This entire war is so easy to handle, yet only Miaomiao can see the solutions. Since this entire world is a game to entertain the otherworlders, the invasion is nothing but a stage for a play. Otherworlders are set to be the main characters of this stage while we will be the supporting characters. If we try to become the main characters, we will die in vain.\'

Sima Yi and Nobunaga gained enlightenment from the event. They came up with schemes to survive in this turbulent time.

\'Sima Yi. Let\'s draft a long quest line for players. We will dictate the flow of the future events by using the otherworlders.\'

\'That was what I thought. I have already drafted a scenario in the case that all three countries lost to invaders from another mainland. We will establish a new country and entice righteous otherworlders to join our cause. Then, we will reclaim the land with their help.\'

\'But we will need a figurehead to rule the new nation, and I don\'t think you want to be the new king.\'

\'You\'re right. Being a king is tiring. I\'d rather be a retainer that pulls the strings from behind the scenes.\'

\'Then, who will you pick? Cao Cao?\'

\'Cao Cao is the reincarnation of Devil, and all former war droids are on her side. She might be ideal, but we won\'t be able to manipulate her to do anything.\'

\'Then, Mao Miaomiao?\'

Sima Yi and Nobunaga inwardly laughed as they understood each other. Despite living in the same body, they always communicated and exchanged their thoughts whenever they had free time.

After coming up with a new scheme, Sima Yi flew away from sect city. He headed northwest toward the country that didn\'t participate in this battle.

\'Let\'s incite them against incoming invaders first!\'

.

Miaomiao and Tang Ting proceeded to evacuate the people. Outer disciples and initiates cooperated well. However, some of them were under other inner disciples, and they had already received another order. They went out to recruit players instead of leaving the city.

Miaomiao couldn\'t save them. He could only guide the refugees to the north.

Migrating cultivators was easy as they could fly. They also had spatial rings, and they could move large furniture and belongings with ease.

However, outer disciples and initiates had families. Some of them couldn\'t fly. As a result, they left the sect city by using their flying treasures or flying swords.

Unfortunately, a few families weren\'t rich. They resorted to traveling on foot as they didn\'t have such luxury.

Miaomiao and top rank outer disciples were in charge of protecting the caravan of commoners and families of other disciples. They formed platoons of rear-guards, warding off rogue cultivators and bandits.

Some kind of cultivators helped some commoners by carrying them and flying toward the safe area. The Tang Clan donated a flying ferry boat to help with the transportation, but a 20-meter-long yacht vessel couldn\'t possibly carry all 300,000 commoners and injured cultivators.

In the end, the ship and outer disciples took turns carrying commoners out while the rest traveled on foot.

As they traveled, they attracted the attention of players. They came to question why they were migrating, and they discovered that the sect people were evacuating weak cultivators away from the upcoming major battle.

The players got excited that there would be a war event. They contacted their friends as usual.

Miaomiao added fuel to the flame. He told the players that they could participate in the battle at Pirate Hunter City.

The rumor worked. Players spread words and gathered at Pirate Hunter City, hoping to join the war.

Chase, who was supposed to leave along with the refugees, suddenly changed his mind. He slipped away from the crowd and went to Pirate Hunter City.

.

Miaomiao and others protected the caravan for three days. When the sun rose on the fourth day, a large battleship of the Wu Dynasty Empire approached them and landed nearby.

A middle-aged general and his bodyguards approached Miaomiao. They humbly saluted him and stated their business.

"We heard that you are in charge of the refugees, Young Master Mao. My name is Huang Zu, and this is our kingdom\'s transport ship. We\'re here to help. Please guide the citizens to the ship!"

\'Huang Zu?\'

Miaomiao was surprised. He didn\'t expect to see a former enemy here.

Since Huang Zu didn\'t carry over his memory from his previous life, Miaomiao had no reason to antagonize him. He accepted Huang Zu\'s offer.

But again, one ferry ship couldn\'t possibly take all 300,000 people. The transport vessel managed to fit 5,000 refugees before it departed north. It might take 60 round trips to move all these people to the safe area.

Six hours later, the ship completed only five trips and migrated 25,000 people. Old people, children, and pregnant women were the cause of the delay.

RUMBLE

At a distance, the main army of Kishin Douji showed up in the sky. This time, the entire horizon was dark as countless monster beasts, orcs, goblins, Onis, Asuras, lizardmen, and chimera beasts replaced the clouds. Moreover, all of them emitted the aura of 9th-stage cultivators.

Miaomiao estimated the distance. They were roughly 1,000 kilometers away. If they traveled at the usual speed of sound, they would reach the mainland within an hour.

Facing millions of 9th-stage protagonist-like monsters alone was risky. Miaomiao was not stupid enough to challenge the group even though he was once a great dao sage.

Despite the urgency, Miaomiao never told the people about the looming threat. He pretended that nothing had happened and continued urging the rear guards to continue carrying elders, children, and women out of here first.

DING

<Greetings, cultivators. A reminder, the invasion event is about to start soon.>

<If you don\'t want to miss the event, you can enter the teleportation gate at your local town, and you will be sent to Pirate Hunter City of Wu Dynasty Empire.>

<Remember, killing a monster will net you Contribution EXP and rare drops! Do not miss it!>

The game announcement annoyed Miaomiao. The local people\'s lives were on the line, yet these players and the moderators treated this as entertainment.

He vowed to himself. One day, he would find the world of these players and razed it to the ground to teach them the horrifying experience of war.

One hour later, what Miaomiao had predicted occurred. The main army of Kishin Douji reached the shore.

Forming ranks on the shore was the army of players. Soldiers of the Wu Empire were also with them to activate the Seal Arrays.

The monster army had no tactics or strategies. They charged at the players and the armies before them.

As Miaomiao had advised them, the soldiers activated the Seal Arrays, covering everything in force field chains. Blue domes linked together into a long wall, blockading all monsters from crossing the shoreline to the mainland.

All 9th-stage monsters fell from the sky. Their strength was suppressed to the first stage or level 100 for the players.

Meanwhile, the average level of all players was 80. Some of them had bought P2W items from the cash shop, such as an instant healing elixir, which could instantly replenish their HP, MP, and stamina to the fullest. Many rich players even purchased life-saving talismans, which could negate the death penalties, allowing them to come back to the battlefield without being logged out of the game after death.

They weren\'t afraid of level 100 monsters as they had nothing to lose.

As soon as the monsters fell to the ground and suffered the fall damage, the players charged forward while the soldiers of Wu Empire reloaded another set of Seal Arrays.

Miaomiao gazed at the players in envy. He pointed his finger toward the monster army\'s direction and fired a sword Qi beam for a laugh.

However, the sword beam contained Miaomiao\'s Death Essence.

ZAP

The sword Qi pierced through 17 9th-stage Onis. All of them paused and stared at the holes in their stomachs before they fell to the sea, dead.

"Huh?"

Miaomiao was surprised. He thought that the 9th-stage monsters could have recovered from the Qi beam just now. He didn\'t expect them to be weak.

Curious, Miaomiao tried again. He floated in the sky and pointed ten fingers toward the massive crowd of monsters. From the tips of the fingers, ten sword beams came out.

The beams were like unstoppable rays of death. Everything that got in their way were punctured. Among the victims, one of the immortals got hit by chance.

The immortal Asura sneered at Miaomiao as his soul core was still intact. He circulated his blood essence, attempting to heal his wound.

Suddenly, the wound rotted and slowly turned the immortal Asura into ash.

"HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

The immortal turned into dust and dropped all his treasures, soul core, and spatial rings.

Miaomiao raised his brows and stared at his fingers.

"It worked?"