Inside the dormitory at Southland University.
"Group Nineteen?"
"What is Defense Duty? Why have I never heard of it before?" Andrew Han's eyes flashed with contemplation as he slowly sat on the edge of his bed.
Ding-dong.
He opened the message box on his communicator and examined it carefully.
Three whole minutes passed.
Suddenly, Andrew understood and shook his head. "So that's it! Border Duty is a warfare-type obligation to fight Demons and Specters."
"Defense Duty, on the other hand, is patching leaks."
After reviewing the information,
he finally understood the concept of Border Duty and grasped the meaning of Defense Duty.
Border Duty requires martial practitioners to rely on precision-engineered defensive belts, strictly deployed to form a quasi-military war structure, blocking the invasion of Demons and Specters. Those in the Martial Artist Realm must go forward; those in the Martial General Realm must garrison.
Defense Duty is entirely different.
Because of gaps in the defensive belt, errors by martial practitioners, or the sheer power of Demons and Specters, some may occasionally break through the border blockade... This leads to Demons and Specters entering the province, rampaging within, and causing social upheaval!
Most importantly,
Any creature that can break into a province is anything but ordinary!
Even the weakest Demon or Specter is at least General-class, so martial practitioners participating in Defense Duty must possess considerable combat strength.
"I understand now."
"The threshold for Defense Duty is high-tier Martial General Realm." Andrew Han nodded to himself. "Besides, the border defenses are so long that, in the face of Demons and Specters, it's hard for them to be truly impregnable."
Thinking of this, his mood grew heavy.
Demons and Specters are truly terrifying.
Especially after reaching General-class, their destructive power, lethality, and devastation are comparable to a mobile nuclear warhead. If left unchecked, they could wipe out an entire prefecture-level city!
This is a calamity as if the sky were falling and the earth collapsing!
Back then, the General-class white fox Demon annihilated a newly built township with a single cry... Even Andrew Han couldn't stop it. How could mere humans block the spread of a Demon’s sound wave?
"What a pity."
"I suppose the Defense Duty personnel didn’t detect that white fox. Otherwise, how could an ordinary General-class Demon be allowed to rampage?"
Andrew Han pondered silently, his thoughts growing clearer.
No wonder!
Recently, I’ve taken on many missions, but encounters with General-class Demons and Specters have been extremely rare. It’s precisely because of the existence of Defense Duty.
In short,
martial practitioners at high-tier Martial General Realm and above are responsible for intercepting and confronting Demons and Specters that breach the provincial border, preventing catastrophic consequences.
As for ordinary Demons and Specters, they are handled by other martial practitioners.
"Those missions are all minor details."
After all, those ordinary entities don’t have much impact, can’t cause catastrophic consequences, and since there are so many of them, they’re cleaned up by First Rankers, Martial Artists, and ordinary Martial Generals.
Thinking of this, Andrew Han couldn’t help but shake his head.
An ordinary Specter can kill hundreds; an ordinary Demon can kill thousands. But if it’s General-class or above, the death toll will reach tens of thousands.
That’s why Defense Duty exists.
Those with insufficient strength aren’t qualified to participate. Only those at high-tier Martial General Realm and above have the power to intercept and block such threats.
"However..."
Even if there are gaps in the border defenses, and even if Defense Duty personnel make mistakes, there are still city Guardians... With three layers of protection, no wonder society is so peaceful today!
Andrew Han sighed.
So it turns out, up until now, I have only just truly stepped into the Martial Arts World.
Sinovera’s strategy is to implement three layers of protection, assign numerous missions to clear out weaker Demons and Specters, and finally enact special social policies to ensure economic prosperity, a stable online world, and peaceful lives for ordinary citizens.
"Interesting."
"Southvale Provincial Defense Formation, Group Nineteen... Here I come."
Andrew Han decisively put on a deep-blue windbreaker and strode out of the dormitory to meet up with Carter Yan.
Because—
Carter Yan has likely already advanced to high-tier Martial General Realm and is joining Southvale Provincial Defense Formation, Group Nineteen alongside me.
——
Southvale Province’s Defense Formation consists of thirty-three groups.
The first ten groups are all Martial Lords; Groups Eleven through Thirty-Three are mainly high-tier Martial Generals, with a few mid-tier Martial Generals who can rival the high-tier.
But in any case,
Andrew Han is the most exceptional case.
With a peak Martial Artist Realm cultivation, being assigned to the Defense Formation is a rare occurrence even across all of Sinovera, and it’s truly astonishing.
Rustle, rustle.
A bearded middle-aged man, about thirty-six or thirty-seven, with thick, neat black eyebrows and deep-set eyes, was brewing tea.
"All right."
"Carter Yan, Andrew Han, I’m the captain of Group Nineteen in the Defense Formation. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." Warren Wang grinned, showing a set of slightly white teeth.
Warren Wang, peak Martial General, is affiliated with Southvale Provincial Defense Formation, Group Nineteen, and currently serves as its captain.
"Mm."
Andrew Han and Carter Yan, sitting opposite, exchanged a glance and nodded.