Chapter 293 – New Version Map Goes Live

Mu Yuan took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

Remain calm? How could he possibly remain calm!

The area around Tianyuan Territory had long been explored and cleared by his scouting teams, leaving no secrets. So where did this towering mountain piercing the clouds come from?

He was certain this was a real mountain, not some illusion or projection.

“Could this situation mean…”

Mu Yuan thought of something and began surveying his surroundings.

Outside the city walls were still the farmlands under cultivation, numerous Arrow Towers and watchtowers, and some tree stumps left behind after logging.

Nothing had changed significantly from before.

However, these areas were still within Tianyuan Territory’s domain, so it made sense they remained unchanged.

He looked further into the distance – lush trees, rolling mountain ranges – but without particularly distinctive landmarks, he could only see vague outlines from afar, unable to discern any details.

With this in mind, Mu Yuan flew down from the Intermediate Mage Tower and arrived at the teleportation array several hundred meters from the City Lord’s Mansion.

Shrouded in hazy azure light, he soon disappeared within.

Inside the Scepter of Heavenly Authority building, it remained mostly empty, with only about a dozen veteran elites who had achieved Awakening of self-awareness transporting various items back and forth, arranging them inside.

Mu Yuan went straight to the Heavenly Authority Nexus and used the Heavenly Eye to survey the surroundings.

Within a 60-kilometer radius centered on Tianyuan Territory, the Eye of Tianquan could see everything clearly.

「Activate ‘Heavenly Eye’, observation target: 25 kilometers southwest of the territory.」

Hum—

The white mist on the observation mirror slowly dissipated, revealing lush, verdant forests below.

「Activate ‘Heavenly Eye’, observation target: 45 kilometers southwest of the territory.」

Mu Yuan continued pushing the observation point further southwest.

What appeared in the mirror was still dense, lush forest, though the trees in this area had orange-red leaves, resembling red maple trees.

Regardless of whether they were red maples, blue maples, or anything else, Lord Mu clearly remembered that southwest of his territory was the distinctly characteristic Serpentfolk Swamp!

Although this swamp no longer contained any Snakemen, its environment still differed significantly from other areas – it definitely wasn’t some red-leaf forest.

He then directed the Heavenly Eye westward, to the maximum distance of sixty kilometers.

Sure enough, the former Gloomy Forest was also gone, replaced by the same red-leaf forest as the southwestern area. However, the red leaves here were an even more bizarre shade of crimson, like flowing blood.

To the north was the most conspicuous Black Colossus Mountain, shrouded in clouds and mist. He couldn’t see it clearly, nor could he determine the mountain’s distance from his territory.

To the west, originally hilly terrain, now seemed to feature rolling mountains, but…

A roaring great river now flowed through the mountain ranges, its turbulent waters crashing against steep cliffs as it wound through the landscape. Mu Yuan could almost hear the thunderous roar of the river currents.

“Splash—”

An enormous creature with two tentacles each over twenty meters long suddenly burst from the river, leaping hundreds of meters into the air. The massive spray of water it created spread across the river like a giant lotus flower.At the center of the giant lotus, the massive monster opened its maw, revealing rows of ferocious, spiked teeth. The gaping mouth surged with a visible vortex, creating a powerful suction force that trapped a startled black dragon eagle not far away. Despite its frantic wing-flapping, the creature couldn’t break free.

Crunch—

The colossal jaws snapped shut, and the enormous aquatic monster plunged into the great river.

Crimson spread across the river’s surface but was swiftly washed away by the churning, rapid currents.

Finally, Mu Yuan surveyed the southern region.

The territory to the south had also become utterly unfamiliar—unrecognizable mountains and land, unfamiliar monster settlements.

Mu Yuan fell into silence.

After a long pause, the Eye of Tianquan, no longer fueled by energy, slowly closed.

“The worst-case scenario has come to pass. It’s not that the Black Colossus Mountain was displaced by spatial distortions to the outskirts of the Taixuan Alliance, but rather…”

“Rather, my Tianyuan Territory has encountered an unforeseen circumstance, undergoing a massive spatial shift… we’re lost!”

“How could this happen?”

According to official fusion predictions, most Blue Star cities were expected to land smoothly within the inner regions of the Taixuan Alliance.

A minority of cities might fragment during fusion, scattering across various locations and appearing at the alliance’s outer borders. This was an unfortunate outcome, where survivors’ chances of rescue depended on their cooperation and the timeliness of regional rescue teams.

Compared to Blue Star’s descent and the plight of ordinary people and adventurers, lords across the realms were the least affected group during this fusion.

The reason was simple: lords already had established foundations in the Eternal World. No matter how the worlds shifted during fusion, lords possessing Miracle Territories remained unshakable.

“Predictions indicated that terrain and environmental changes might occur during fusion—plains expanding, mountain ranges widening, or distances between territories stretching by over ten kilometers.”

“If such situations arise, there’s no need for concern; they’re considered normal, though the probability remains low. But in my case…”

Mu Yuan felt his Tianyuan Territory hadn’t merely been pushed farther away—it had been lifted and hurled deep into the wilderness.

The deepest, most desolate lands!

“Now, investigating why this extreme anomaly occurred is meaningless. What matters isn’t the ‘why’ but the ‘what to do next.'”

“First, we must assess our situation.”

Tianyuan Territory entered a state of emergency alert.

Deadbone had already led a group of elite soul-type units skilled in ‘Stealth’ to scout the surroundings.

Mu Yuan deployed the Reconnaissance Skyeye dozens of times and used the long-range Heavenly Eye twice, quickly confirming…

“This is truly uncharted territory!”

The term ‘truly’ emphasized that the outer regions of the Taixuan Alliance where he’d previously been were not genuinely unexplored.

During his novice days, he’d believed he was at the alliance’s farthest edge, exploring perilous wilderness and uncovering mysterious, unknown lands. But in reality… how could truly uncharted regions be so scarce in third-tier monsters?

Reflecting further, Tianyuan Territory had been merely a few hundred kilometers from the frontline stronghold of Stone Ridge Town.A distance of several hundred kilometers is nothing to Third and Fourth-Order Experts. Clearly, veteran players had long used Stone Ridge Town as a supply point to venture deep into the Wilderness in search of Treasures and to slay monsters.

Back when Mu Yuan was exploring the underground space, he had come across a diary left behind by a player who had been kidnapped by dark elves.

Naturally, such players weren’t just one or two.

However, compared to the vast and boundless Wilderness, the number of high-Rank players was still scarce. Moreover, monsters kept sprouting up in waves, seemingly endless, and the majority of explorers lacked the ability to harvest them, which made the Wilderness appear teeming with monsters.

In reality, as long as Tianyuan Territory didn’t scour its surroundings day and night, within half a month or a month, the monsters in the surrounding areas would once again proliferate.

Even earlier than ordinary exploring players, the experts of the Pioneer Group had ventured deep into the Wilderness.

“The powerful Lords or Advanced players of the Pioneer Group had long delved into the Wilderness, striking at some powerful monster factions. That’s why, during our explorations, Tianyuan Territory has only encountered weak monster Tribes, with Third-Order monsters being a rare sight within them… though we occasionally run into some wandering bosses of Third or even Fourth Order.”

Eliminating high-Order monsters is the duty of the Pioneer Group’s experts.

Of course, given their limited numbers and time, the Pioneer Group experts couldn’t possibly root out all the monsters hiding in the remote mountains and wild lands. The main force responsible for clearing monsters and reducing regional danger remains the Lords of various territories.

Similarly, the Pioneer Group experts, after eliminating high-Order monsters, also took away some of the more conspicuous Treasures—such as high-level recruitment points with dazzling auroras, or exposed rich mineral deposits—as some powerful Lords had methods to relocate entire mineral deposits or veins to their own territories.

Alternatively, some pioneers sold information about mineral veins and Treasure Lands to other powerful Lords in the region.

The fact that Mu Someone still hadn’t found a single mineral deposit to this day wasn’t due to his bad luck; rather, to find truly rich deposits, one had to venture deep into the Wilderness. Not just him, but even some Lords of the same period had only managed to find micro or small mineral veins, merely possessing a black iron mine or a crystal mine—would he really envy them?

(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻!

This was also one of the reasons why Mu Someone wanted to join the Pioneer Group.

The most powerful Lords of the Taixuan Alliance were almost all pioneering.

Of course, pioneering meant facing truly powerful monsters, monster factions with histories, fallen god servants roaming the land, and more!

The Serpentfolk Tribe they encountered earlier in the Land Between Worlds probably wasn’t a dominant force in truly uncharted areas. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to flee to Blue Star to establish their influence there.

“Now it seems I’m forced to pioneer the region.”

“But during exploration, I must be more cautious than ever. Fortunately, the territory has the Scepter of Heavenly Authority, an epic building, giving me at least one trump card in hand.”

Mu Yuan had more than just this one trump card, but when it came to aces and trump cards, the more the better—he could never have too many.

“To be safe, the territory not only needs large-scale offensive and defensive spells but also a large-scale concealment spell.”

He had already given this some thought: he could use Sophia’s talents and skills as the foundation, through Fusion and upgrading, to develop a suitable large-scale spell.However, Sophia is not here at the moment.

Before the world fusion, Sophia led a group of elites stationed in Baijiang City. It would have been simple for her to return to Tianyuan Territory, but with the crisis at hand, Mu Yuan naturally couldn’t recall her and the elites.

Once the world fusion is complete, Sophia will need to lead the elites to assist the association in holding their position for a while, only leaving after Baijiang City has safely landed.

At that time, it won’t be difficult for Sophia to take an armored train to Stone Ridge Town and then return to the territory.

Given Baijiang City’s geographical location, its landing spot is estimated to be somewhere around Boulder City.

But now, Mu Yuan can no longer sense Sophia’s exact location or direction; he can only confirm her safety through the panel information.

This means the distance between him and Sophia is extremely vast. It’s important to note that the individuals he evolved with his own hands share an exceptionally close bond with him, their Lord, far surpassing the relationship between other ‘Lords and their troops.’

Seventeen, who is in Stone Ridge Town, is also unreachable.

Mu Yuan isn’t worried about them. Compared to them, the Tianyuan Territory, currently situated in the wild region, is more likely to face danger at any moment.

He stepped out from the Scepter of Heavenly Authority and arrived before the Lord Altar.

Here, the three Secret Realm portals still emitted a faint glow. However, the two portals on the left and right, symbolizing the ‘Land of Trials’ and the ‘Elven Courtyard,’ were both tightly shut, impossible to open or enter.

「Prompt: Due to interference from unknown spatial forces, the second and third Secret Realms are inaccessible. Recovery time is unknown.」

He frowned.

In this new era without the Blue Star platform, the Elven Courtyard Realm was his only window to purchase valuable items across regions.

Now, that too is gone.

Considering he himself is an unknown distance from Stone Ridge Town, surrounded by dangers on all sides, one more piece of bad news doesn’t seem so hard to accept. What else can he do? Sigh in despair?

He is the Lord. In this unexpected situation, he must remain calm. If even he panics, how can the entire territory have a future?

Oh, right, his territory still has over a dozen Generals. Well, that seems fine then.

…

At the same time,

In the Capital City of the Taixuan Alliance, inside the magnificent Nine-Colored Tower, in a certain conference room.

Hum~ Hum~ Hum~!

One brilliant light after another lit up as the consciousnesses of top-tier experts traversed thousands of regions to gather here.

Among them were the Pioneering General of the Pioneer Group, the Cold Moon City Lord, the Arrow Sword Master, the Heartfelt City Lord, and others.

There were also pillars of the Taixuan Liangyi, such as the Mount Luofu Master and the Xixiang City Lord.

Additionally, some regional administrators were present, like the West Ridge City Lord and the Boulder City Lord.

All these powerful figures assembled within the Nine-Colored Tower.

At the head of the room were two figures. One was a woman dressed in fiery red attire, who appeared quite young, but her eyes held a depth of vicissitude, as if she had seen through the ways of the world.

Her body faintly glowed with radiance, having also arrived via consciousness across space.

The other was an old man habitually holding a smoking pipe in his mouth. He scanned the room and began, “The fusion with Blue Star is complete, largely successful. All cities have landed safely, but… some minor incidents have occurred.”

“On the periphery of our Alliance’s territory, the positions of some territories have shifted. A few of these territories have moved hundreds to thousands of kilometers deeper into the Wilderness.”

Of course, a mere few hundred or thousand kilometers isn’t a big issue.

That’s what all the powerful figures present thought.Not to mention a thousand kilometers, which of these people hadn’t ventured thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers deep into the wilderness?

As the Pillar of State had said, it was indeed somewhat unexpected, but not a major problem.

Pioneer General Qingxin, the City Lord, stated, “The location of Dragon’s Slumber Valley that I’ve been monitoring seems to have shifted somewhat. I’m currently tracking it, though my pioneering fortress remains unchanged, still firmly anchored there.”

Other pioneering generals and foundational figures from Liangyi Town spoke in turn.

The City Lord of Boulder City added, “I’ve received reports that both Stone Ridge Town and Snowdrift City within my jurisdiction have experienced positional shifts. Stone Ridge Town reported that its surroundings appear unfamiliar, and we’re currently conducting comparisons and positional anchoring.”

After a long pause, the old man slowly nodded.

“The fusion of the two realms has caused the outer territories of our Taixuan Alliance to become more dispersed. We’ll need to put more effort into our defensive arrangements going forward. However, for now, rescuing and relocating residents from various cities remains our top priority.”

“Meeting adjourned.”

One powerful figure after another departed.

The old man clenched his smoking pipe between his teeth, gazing into the distant sky as he exhaled smoke rings. Clouds and mist swirled around him, lingering for a long time without dispersing.

…

In the Elven Courtyard Realm, Jiang Luoxing cursed irritably.

“Damn! My territory has shifted a full two hundred kilometers north! What kind of misfortune is this? I’m practically the African Chieftain!”

“What? Your territories haven’t changed at all? Hearing that just makes me even more miserable.”

“Speaking of which, where’s Tianyuan Bro? Didn’t we agree to meet up after the fusion? Maybe he’s busy. Perhaps this is the difference between a big shot and the rest of us.”

Returning to his territory, Jiang Luoxing thought for a moment before taking out the rare directional communicator to contact Tianyuan Bro.

Zzt~ Zzt~

The device flickered with a halo of light, bright then dim.

After fiddling with it for a long while, he finally managed to send the signal.

“Hey, Bro?”

“Jiang… ah… oh… I’m currently…”

Zzt~!

The device’s glow dimmed, fading to ash-gray.

Holy shit, is Tianyuan Bro about to kick the bucket!

He returned to the secret realm and told Liu Miumiu about it. Liu Miumiu then went to find her elder sister.

Cold Moon City Lord frowned, her willow-leaf brows knitting together. “Tianyuan has indeed been displaced to a distant location. This shouldn’t be happening. I’ll attempt to locate Tianyuan Territory, but the Alliance is very busy right now, needing to relocate over a billion people. I’m afraid we can’t spare much manpower.”

She had no good solutions for this situation.

They could only search and locate slowly.

Given Tianyuan’s capabilities and the strength of his subordinates, as long as they didn’t encounter Legendary Realm existences, they should be fine. And even in the deep wilderness, there aren’t that many Legendary existences… right.

…

Tianyuan Territory.

Receiving Jiang Luoxing’s message, Mu Yuan was quite touched, though it cost him one communication device.

He did manage to contact Cold Moon City Lord, who stated she would send the Moon Sword Immortal ‘Hua Yue’ north from Tianyuan Territory’s previous location and would also ask friends from the Star Gazing Association for help.

“This is what it means to have connections higher up.”

Thanks, rich lady boss.

However,

“Hope and safety cannot be entrusted to others; we must rely on ourselves.”

“It’s time to eliminate the unstable factors around the territory, one by one.”Lord Mu’s Incarnation, attack!”

He arrived at the southern city gate.

Outside the city walls, some farmland and arrow towers showed signs of damage. Around them lay the corpses of some ferocious-looking monsters—they had passed away peacefully.

4.8K…

(End of Chapter)