Faced with various comments targeting the War God Squad, Yang Jun and others simply ignored them.
Good intentions could not save a damned ghost.
Those who had absorbed the corresponding demon shadows would eventually suffer greatly if they remained unrepentant.
The truth would eventually surface.
By then, it would be too late to make amends.
They could not possibly help everyone, so they could only do their best to assist those who believed in them.
And so it went.
The endless stream of people tired out the squad members within the base.
Fortunately, it wasn't without its rewards.
Through the continuous elimination of demon shadows within these individuals, the combat power monitor's analysis of demon shadows deepened.
They believed that if they encountered a true demon shadow powerhouse in the future, their chances of victory would greatly increase.
Furthermore, the energy required to eliminate demon shadows was provided by these individuals themselves.
Typically, to express their gratitude, players who came provided higher amounts of Immortal Crystals or corresponding treasures.
Although the combat power monitor operated 24 hours a day, its energy limit increased rather than decreased.
Some people even continuously brought captured demon shadows to the base.
As a reward, the squad also acquired a considerable number of demon shadows.
Even if they couldn't use them immediately, they could be stored for later.
They could then slowly eliminate them and enhance their own strength.
Meanwhile, the Demon Shadow Squad's members were also rapidly expanding.
Although the War God Squad's statement had been very clear, and many who had gone to the base for slow elimination had come forward to testify that demon shadows indeed harbored hidden dangers, most people simply didn't care.
Were there any good things that came without any cost?
The hidden dangers of demon shadows actually put many people at ease.
Some even claimed that even if demon shadows did possess consciousness, wouldn't it be a struggle against their own consciousness?
Could it be that the proud people of Shui Lan Star could not eliminate the consciousness of demon shadows and turn it into a part of their own strength?
Such thoughts were also accepted by many.
Yang Jun then gave up on the idea of helping these people further.
Within days of the two squads issuing their statements, Shui Lan Star underwent a drastic change.
Originally, there was only a hidden presence of demon shadows in a single cave, known as the Demon Shadow Cave.
But as if overnight, demon shadows collectively moved to Shui Lan Star.
On Shui Lan Star, countless more such gathering points appeared.
Innumerable Demon Shadow Caves emerged across the land of Shui Lan Star.
Although the demon shadows that initially appeared, possessing low strength, did not have very powerful offensive capabilities, they quickly became nourishment for Shui Lan Star players to enhance themselves.
However, the sheer number of these demon shadows was immense.
Endless and continuous, people still fell victim to the onslaught of mass demon shadows, transforming into unconscious beings.
Players began to band together.
Previous small groups gradually merged.
Scattered settlements were also gradually unified.
In less than a month, Shui Lan Star saw the emergence of hundreds of large urban clusters.
While the area of these cities did not expand significantly compared to before, after demolishing countless useless buildings and structures, their functions became more concentrated.
And among these, two distinct factions clearly emerged.
One side was the faction that ignored the hidden dangers of demon shadows, attacking and absorbing them whenever they saw them, led by the Demon Shadow Squad.
When players' consciousness was wiped out and their bodies completely taken over by demon shadows, they surprisingly showed affection and recognition towards those who had absorbed demon shadows.
Despite having unfamiliar consciousness, they remained part of the faction.
This change frightened some, who feared that the loss of their consciousness would mean the end of their unique existence.
The other part rejoiced.
This meant a new life.
Most importantly, after their original consciousness was completely obliterated by the demon shadows, their physical strength would experience a significant increase.
Through observation and statistics over a period of time, the weakest saw their strength double, while the most exaggerated even experienced a tenfold increase in combat power!
Such a change drew countless people like moths to a flame.
These transformed humans were also known as demonized humans.
They held a transcendent status within the Demon Shadow Squad's faction.
Because of their strong power and simple minds, coupled with an innate respect and recognition for the strong, they would unconditionally accept any command issued by the higher echelons.
They were the darlings of everyone within this faction.
And because of this ultimate form, to distinguish themselves from the demon shadow entities, this faction was also called Demonized Humans.
The other faction, naturally, consisted of pure humans led by the War God Squad.
Although this faction occupied fewer cities, numbering close to nine large bases in China, and had significantly fewer members, they had a huge advantage in combat awareness and tactics because they absorbed demon shadows by slowly eliminating them, converting them into purified energy, and then absorbing them, preserving their complete consciousness.
Against the demon shadow side, they showed an overwhelming performance.
Therefore, although the War God faction had fewer numbers than the opponent, they were superior in terms of high-end combat power like squad members and overall team performance.
Due to their completely different attitudes towards the existence of demon shadows, the two sides possessed irreconcilable contradictions.
They essentially became opposing forces.
The original invaders from other realms were in a rather awkward position.
They had come to invade happily, expecting an easy victory.
However, they did not anticipate the appearance of Lin Feng and the War God Squad, and the extraordinary improvement of Shui Lan Star players, which repelled their attacks time and again.
They had managed to maintain a stalemate, but with the emergence of the demon shadow side, they became outsiders.
Should they retreat unwillingly or seek another opportunity?
A turning point in events appeared during an accidental small-scale battle.
This was an extremely rare four-party encounter involving the War God, Demonized Humans, Otherworlders, and Demon Shadows.
Each of the four parties consisted of individuals with ordinary strength.
The strongest side was only a Golden Immortal with over a hundred million combat power.
However, when all four parties were wary of each other, there were no major casualties.
The leaders of each side, by sheer coincidence, unified in their thinking, captured one or two individuals from the other factions, and retreated.
The subsequent research on these captured individuals shocked all four parties.
The effect of demon shadows on humans was self-evident.
The Demonized faction, after studying them and finding they could not be purified with treasures like the War God Squad, simply killed and absorbed them.
The War God faction, upon handing over the captured demon shadow members to the base, also received a treasured item of their liking.
The Otherworlders and Demon Shadows were mutually stunned.
After an Otherworlder Heavenly Dao Saint, skilled in deduction, intervened, they discovered that immortal power had a great destructive effect on demon shadows.
Moreover, facing a Golden Immortal level demon shadow, mere chaotic immortal power in its energy state could completely obliterate its original consciousness.
Not only could they obtain purified energy bodies, but the cost was also much lower than that for Shui Lan Star humans.
Demon shadows were naturally the nourishment for the gods and immortals of other realms!
This discovery caused the Otherworlders, who were about to retreat, to halt their departure.
Since Shui Lan Star could not be conquered in a short time, using demon shadows to rapidly enhance their strength was a good option.
Furthermore, the demon shadows on Shui Lan Star were virtually inexhaustible, so there was no need to worry about insufficient supply.
As for the demon shadow side, despite being captured and killed by the other three factions, they had inflicted some degree of heavy damage on all three parties through sheer numbers.
When they captured members of the other three factions and brought them back to their tribal territories through special means, powerful experts acted directly to obliterate the consciousness of the three Golden Immortal level members from each of the three factions.
A Saint peak level expert was shocked to discover that the consciousness and souls of these mere Golden Immortal level weaklings had slightly enhanced his own consciousness.
And their bodies became perfect soul-carrying materials, capable of accommodating the existence of demon shadows.
After nearly a hundred Golden Immortal level demon shadows poured in, merging and improving, a being with the soul strength of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal and the body of a human or immortal of Golden Immortal level was born.
Its displayed strength also barely reached the combat power of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
This deeply shocked the higher echelons of the demon shadow side.
Their appearance on Shui Lan Star was initially just an accidental exploration.
They never expected that the bodies found here would be so compatible with demon shadow souls.
And the souls of these humans and immortals were so sweet and delicious.
This world is ours!
This consciousness, emanating from the deepest parts of the demon shadow world, was quickly disseminated.
Not only that, the bodies of Otherworlder gods and immortals could provide an endless supply of immortal power recovery for Shui Lan Star humans.
Human bodies could also provide materials for Otherworlder gods and immortals to refine puppets.
Among the four parties, there was a strong desire for the existence of the other three.
And when the Heavenly Dao consciousness of the three worlds joined in, this confrontation reached its climax.