Cultivator from the Modern World

However, it wasn't long until they finished gathering the resources. The captain of the unit counted up the resources collected, while others anxiously waited as their excitement completely vanished.

Trying his best to contain his emotions, his eyebrows still locked in as his confidence wavered. The situation was looking bleak as the extra grain could only last them for a few more days, maximum a week.

"First of all, thank you for everyone's participation, so that this operation was carried out extremely quickly. Thank you Mr. Shen for your suggestion, so could everyone please give a round of applause to anyone here?" Applause broke out, but the atmosphere quickly returned to its solemn state. Seeing the group's reaction, the official gave a bitter smile, as he failed to lift the mood up.

"We have obtained an extra 750 units of grain which would allow us to survive for a week. Isn't that good news!? I'm sure that the food crisis would be solved by then. The government would definitely somehow get in contact with us, and must have some emergency stocks of food. With this much food in our hands, surviving for two-three weeks definitely wouldn't be a problem!" The captain finished his announcement as he observed people's reaction to his news.

As expected, people were silent, their eyes showing signs of hopelessness. Some stared at the boundless sky, clenching their fists - mouth continuously twitching. Some were cursing inwardly as they couldn't understand why they were suddenly placed in situations like this.

Just a few hours ago, they were living normally as everything was completely fine. All at a sudden, the robotic army suddenly appeared and slayed millions of people, declaring war on humans. It all happened way too quick, and it was difficult to accept the chain of events. It was almost like a dream, though unfortunately it wasn't.

Many questioned their respective religion as they doubted the existence of Gods. How could God allow this inhuman massacre to happen if God really exists!? Hence, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent image of god instantly crumpled. Rather than believing in God to rescue them, the chance of a cultivator breaking through amongst the survivors are even higher.

Shen Long's parents had no means to contact Shen Long either. As a mortal, communicating through spiritual sense was impossible; there also wasn't any communication talisman at their disposal to use. They could only pray that Shen Long would return, and feel that something was amiss. They knew the chance of it happening was minimal, but it still left them with a small trace of hope.

Fighting the robotic army would be incredibly difficult, especially since the society had long been used to fighting with technological weapons. Even if the army still existed, their combat ability would be greatly reduced. Against those metal-armoured robots with laser beams were a bit unrealistic.

However, the majority of the survivors weren't afraid of dying, but they couldn't bear to watch the robots invading their homeland. Just like the ancient soldiers and the warriors from myths, they couldn't bear the humiliation. If one fought with their lives and then died, they would at least die like a hero, as they sacrificed their lives to achieve a goal. If one just died without even resisting, where goes their dignity? Die like a warrior is always better than suiciding like a wimp.

--- In the Cultivator World ---

Shen Long had already resumed the Hundred Beast Trials, in which he was steadily making progress. For some reason, after that unusual stage that required mathematics, everything seemed to be quite simple again. In fact, the trials seemed to be completely different. Before, he would be sent to a separate dimension which contained ten beasts, and he had to come up with ways to escape.

However, the format of the trials had completely changed after that stage. He was instead sent into a mysterious, cube-shaped room where he would directly encounter a beast. The unusual thing was that the monsters weren't even getting progressively difficult. Besides that each of them had distinct features, the overall difficulty did not change as he progressed. In just a few hours, he had killed 24 beasts, meaning that he should have already finished 44% of the trial. (He killed a total of twenty beasts in the "stage" before the trials changed drastically.)

Of course, Shen Long wouldn't complain about the new format since it was much easier for him now. Now, it was more like an endurance and combat training, and it did not require any thinking at all. His swordsmanship continued to be polished, as he faced different enemies with differing combat styles. He was relaxed, and smiles could occasionally be seen on his face as he improved his sword art.

"Master isn't wrong. Only through battling could I improve and tamper myself. My comprehension towards the second stance of the [Melodies of the Nine Sole Swords] is slowly improving as well. It's a shame, however, that the monsters are a bit weak. I can beat these beasts with just my sword art alone. It won't be very beneficial to my Qi, but I guess I can't be this picky. When it's too hard, I complain; when it's too easy, I complain too. I really am a problem child! Hahaha!" Shen Long chuckled as the beasts continued to spawn.

Fiftieth beasts... Seventy-sixth beasts...

"This should be the last beast! I thought this trials is meant to be difficult, hahahahaha! Seems like my talent for cultivation really is too heaven-defying. Top-ranked trial? Tsk, it really is too simple. At most, the first stage is a bit difficult, but it really isn't hard at all. Well, at least for me! Hahaha!" Shen Long said as he struck the beast, causing it to vanish.

However, another beast just reappeared, and Shen Long's pupils enlarged upon seeing the sight.

"Wait a minute... did I miscount? Hmmm..." Shen Long killed it quickly, and to his surprise, another one just spawned again. Shen Long's jaw dropped, and he soon realised that something was off.

One Hundred Beasts... Five-hundred beasts... The number was nearing one thousand, and this trials seemed to be endless. Instead of thinking about the reason behind this, he decided to throw down his knife as he complained loudly.

"Oi, dungeon controller guy... Are you that bad at counting? F**k you. I've killed like one thousand beasts and you still dare to call this trials the Hundred Beasts Trial? Are you trying to scam me or are you really that dense???" Shen Long shouted as he verbally reprimanded the dungeon.

After speaking for thirty minutes or so, Shen Long got even more angry at the dungeon.