Chapter 168 – The Outside World

After traveling a hundred miles southward toward civilized regions, the environment gradually grew perilous despite their direction.

With the reconnaissance and alerts from the War Falcon, Lu Liu managed to circumvent several monster encampments.

While conspicuous monster camps could be avoided, hordes lurking in mountain forests and wandering monsters proved nearly impossible to evade.

“Roar—!”

A massive serpent, its body seemingly forged from steel and stretching over twenty meters long, burst from the woodland, crushing countless trees in its path. It reared up, casting a vast shadow, its steely scales gleaming under the sunlight.

“Let this Dolai roast it!”

Dolai rubbed its hands eagerly, but before it could finish, it felt Lu Liu’s death glare upon it.

“The Lord specifically instructed that General Dolai should not intervene.”

“Eh… fine.”

Dolai scratched its head, recalling that such an order had indeed been given.

What had the Lord said back then? It was something like… the merchant convoy must be capable of reaching Stone Ridge Town unscathed and with ease using standard configurations to qualify for future trade operations.

However,

“This big snake seems a bit troublesome, caw?”

Sophia observed intently.

Having skimmed through the ‘Monster Guide’ yesterday, she now recalled an entry that matched their foe.

“It’s a Giant Rock Steel Snake, a rare two-star grade monster. Judging by its aura, it has undoubtedly reached the Elite level.”

Wild monsters seldom concealed their presence, and from this Giant Rock Steel Snake emanated a rolling pressure.

Sophia nudged Daisy with her elbow. “Well, should we step in?”

“Probably not. General Lu said he’d handle the journey to Stone Ridge Town himself. Unless we encounter a major threat, we should conserve our energy for affairs after arrival. Besides, big sis mentioned that General Lu is quite powerful.”

Daisy pondered briefly.

As for her taking on this giant snake—emmmm, she felt a bit fearful too.

The Giant Rock Steel Snake seemed to possess some intelligence as it stared fixedly at Lu Liu. Yet, after two or three seconds, perhaps unable to restrain its instincts, it roared and dove down in a swift pounce.

Like a thick pillar, it came crashing down heavily.

But it halted mid-descent.

Clad in black armor, Lu Liu radiated faint golden light around him. With one hand raised, he steadily supported the plummeting serpent’s head. Even as the ground beneath his feet cracked, spreading a web of fissures, his stance remained unshaken.

“In the name of fearlessness.”

Lu Liu murmured softly, his left hand gripping the Earthen Shield as if it were a lightweight panel, then swinging it forcefully against the snake’s head.

With a resounding “Bang!”, the Giant Rock Steel Snake’s entire body recoiled high into the air. In that instant, Lu Liu appeared before its head, his heavy black spear thrusting deep into its massive eye with immense force.

Thump—

Over ten seconds later, the Giant Rock Steel Snake ceased all struggle, beginning to yield Soul Sand and a Remnant Soul.

Without another word, Lu Liu wiped his cherished weapon and ordered the march to continue.

Sophia and Daisy trailed behind in a daze. Passing the giant serpent, they couldn’t resist crouching down to poke at it. Its steel-like body was exceptionally hard; even with effort, they could only leave faint white scratches.

“Is it over just like that, caw?”

“It’s over, da.”Dolai stepped forward and found the only task it could handle—collecting all the Soul Sand, Remnant Souls, and the massive serpent carcass—before settling back into the tedious journey.

The process was so monotonous and uneventful that even General Dolai began pondering its skills and Concepts.

It recalled how it had nearly lost to Isloria last time. If Lord were to give Isloria another power-up, wouldn’t it be doomed for sure?

No, absolutely not.

General Dolai must uphold the dignity of a seasoned Senior.

Dolai floated along with the team, its chubby face turning serious as it began simulating and analyzing in its mind.

High above, the Camera Falcon edited and transmitted the situations encountered along the way to Mu Yuan’s view. Of course, the falcon occasionally faced ambushes too, screeching in alarm as it swiftly dove down to seek rescue.

“Traveling through the wilderness is truly challenging, especially for a caravan of this size—bulky and cumbersome,” Mu Yuan mused inwardly.

Take his family’s Slime transporters, for example. When danger struck, they could dart away nimbly, covering great distances with a few consecutive Leap Strikes. But common Rockbeast transporters moved sluggishly, unable to escape even if they tried.

Of course, encountering powerful roaming monsters like the Giant Rock Steel Snake was a rare occurrence.

Yet, caravans prepared precisely for such unlikely encounters. They might journey ten or twenty times and face a formidable foe only once, but if they couldn’t withstand that one encounter, all the profits earned previously would be lost.

No wonder newly appointed Lords often had no choice but to sell their local specialties at low prices to passing caravans.

…

As the Guangyuan caravan continued its journey, it didn’t face another major threat like the Giant Steel Snake, but it did encounter several strong monster groups along the way.

The most troublesome incident was when they were targeted by a Camp-level goblin band.

These goblins pursued them relentlessly, harassing without engaging directly—annoying like cockroaches. It was only after Lu Liu devised a plan and led several Elites to crush the goblin main force that they finally shook off the monsters.

Mu Yuan stroked his chin. “This highlights another issue: the guard team is left leaderless when Lu Liu is absent… Dolai and Sophia can indeed command, but the guard team still needs a deputy commander.”

It wasn’t a major problem, though.

Nowadays, more and more territory Elites were Awakening self-awareness. With Deadbone and Lu Liu putting in effort to nurture them, selecting a few with leadership potential wouldn’t be difficult.

Mu Yuan didn’t intervene throughout the journey, nor was he constantly spying.

He had his own matters to attend to—no time to keep watching all the time.

After the caravan left the territory, the initial stretch was peaceful, the middle segment fraught with peril, and after seven or eight hours of travel, the frequency of monster attacks noticeably decreased.

The caravan maintained roughly the same formation.

Imperial Guards and Halberdiers were scattered along the periphery, while archers scanned their surroundings with sharp eyes. At the very center were Sophia, the bouncing Slimes, and Dolai.

“Roughly a hundred kilometers left to go.”

Here, they occasionally encountered player teams venturing out. Lu Liu even spotted two player squads clashing in the distance, seemingly competing over some Treasures.

Players could sometimes be more dangerous than monsters.

Lu Liu avoided them whenever possible, deeply understanding the Dao of Deadbone.As they drew closer to Stone Ridge Town, the mountain forests gradually thinned, revealing a narrow path worn by frequent travelers winding through the woods.

At intervals, signposts marked “Stone Ridge Town” came into view.

“15 kilometers to Stone Ridge Town.”

…

“5 kilometers to Stone Ridge Town.”

By this point, the journey had become much easier.

Soon, the silhouette of Stone Ridge Town appeared in the distance.

Sophia halted, her mouth slightly agape. “This… this is Stone Ridge Town? Lord mentioned it was prosperous, but this is utterly staggering~!”

The first thing that caught the eye was the town’s city walls.

Brown walls over ten meters tall stood firm on the land, resembling a colossal dragon lying across the terrain. Along these majestic walls stood countless arrow towers, and at intervals of roughly a hundred meters, massive, menacing black cannons were mounted.

Their dark, gaping muzzles faced outward, with calibers so large they could easily swallow Sophia whole.

Her jaw dropped. “What kind of weapons are these!”

Though born into nobility and well-traveled, she had never seen such fearsome and domineering defensive weaponry in the Eagle Kingdom. She felt that with these cannons in place, Stone Ridge Town’s defensive capabilities might even surpass those of the Eagle Kingdom’s former capital.

“This is normal.”

The calm voice of the Lord echoed in her mind, soothing her unsettled emotions.

Right, she now represented the Tianyuan Territory—she couldn’t afford to be easily startled.

But Lord Mu was actually quite astonished.

Though named a “town,” Stone Ridge was exceptionally grand. Through the War Falcon’s distant gaze, he saw far more clearly than Sophia and the others.

Inside the town, buildings stood in dense clusters, roads extended in all directions, and crowds of people bustled about.

Initial estimates suggested at least tens of thousands of residents lived in Stone Ridge Town—not all players, but also many natives.

There were local territories within Stone Ridge Town, as well as visiting native merchant caravans, mercenary groups, and even tourists!

In reality, the distinction between “players” and “natives” existed only in regions like the Taixuan Alliance and the Divine Radiance Empire. In places such as the Eternal Star Empire and the Divine Wood Dynasty—nations founded by the Chosen—they had long since integrated into the Eternal World, with no more talk of “Descenders,” only the divide between nobles and commoners.

Even in the Taixuan Alliance, many veteran players had settled down, marrying and raising families here.

As for the natives, who could say whether their ancestors were once foreign Descenders?

Just like Master Li.

“As for the weapons and defenses, this is, after all, the front line of the Taixuan Alliance’s defenses—a fortress historically used to resist monster tides. Such configurations are entirely normal. In fact, there are likely many hidden trump cards within the town that you cannot see.”

Mu Yuan explained to Sophia and the others.

Though he understood the reasoning, he couldn’t help but feel envious.

Only a territory like this offered a true sense of security. When would the Tianyuan Territory ever develop to this level?

Sophia was no longer surprised, nor envious.

No matter how prosperous Stone Ridge Town was, it belonged to others. The Tianyuan Territory was their true home.

As long as they worked hard enough, she believed the Lord would one day build all this.

Time to work!

“Let’s go.”A fierce fighting spirit blazed in Sophia’s eyes. “Now that we’re here, it’s all up to us. We mustn’t disappoint the Lord.”

Her originally hip-length black hair was tied up in a bun, secured with a hairpin. She wore a cyan-blue mage robe that exuded an extraordinary aura in every aspect—except for being somewhat flat-chested.

Born into a noble family, she had been trained in all manner of etiquette.

Daisy’s attire was comparatively ordinary, with a loose cloak worn over her clothes to conceal the fluffy white tail growing from her tailbone.

Upon arriving here, command of the merchant caravan shifted to Sophia.

Steadying herself, she strode toward the bustling northern gate of Stone Ridge Town in the distance.

(Slight writer’s block caused some issues QAQ, ah)

(End of Chapter)