Chapter 295 – The Mysterious Merchant

The morning light, faint and gradual, slowly tore through the dark night sky.

Orange-tinted rays filtered through the treetops, illuminating the earth, while specks of dust drifted and danced within the light.

Mu Yuan stood beneath the shadows of trees in the courtyard of the City Lord’s Mansion, his gaze fixed on the sky, his mind wandering across the vast, boundless land.

Far to the south of the territory, at an immeasurable distance.

Buzz—

Incarnation Mu Yuan, Deadbone, Dolai, and Xiliu, the four of them, pressed their hands against a segment of a deep crimson, intensely red giant tree root. It took them a full six or seven minutes to purify this Root of Filth.

「Prompt: You have obtained ‘Pure Crystal’ (Excellent).」

「Prompt: You have obtained ‘Miracle Blueprint: Guiding Beacon’ (Rare).」

「Prompt: …」

“As expected of an old, aged root—it even dropped Excellent-grade Materials.”

This was merely an ordinary Land of Filth, with only one segment of the Root of Filth within the area.

Yet purifying this Root of Filth took as much time as purifying a Foul Nest. It was deeply red, completely fused with the earth.

Of course, conquering this Land of Filth was far less troublesome than dealing with a Foul Nest. They had only encountered two non-sentient Fourth Order BOSSes… that’s all!

“Easy peasy, roar!”

Sario originally wanted to howl at the sky but suddenly remembered the boss’s instruction to remain quiet, so he let out a symbolic, low growl instead.

He flew through the area where the Crimson Mist had not yet fully dissipated, patrolling in all directions, pouncing on any monsters he occasionally encountered, displaying an invincible demeanor.

As long as it wasn’t an “internal ranking battle” with the territory’s generals, Lord Sario was invincible.

Xiliu, relying on her Hunter’s Instinct, hunted down the stragglers that Sario missed during his patrol.

She noticed it was just a spider-like monster, wrinkled her nose in disgust, and tossed it aside.

Then she picked up a second prey.

“No good, this one isn’t edible either. Forget it, the monsters in this place are heavily contaminated anyway. Even if there were suitable varieties, they wouldn’t be fit for cooking. Finding high-grade ingredients here would just make it more heartbreaking. Better not to find any at all.”

If there were a Wyvern here, but its meat was tainted with Filth and inedible… just thinking about it was painful.

With that thought, she stopped rummaging.

But she couldn’t help smacking her lips.

Not far away, Sario, who was patrolling at low altitude, shuddered for no apparent reason. He glanced at Xiliu, thought for a moment, and decided to fly a bit farther away.

‘How strange. Even though I, Lord Sario, am not afraid to fight this Red Dragon, why do I feel an inexplicable sense of dread?’

While the elites were patrolling, Mu Yuan stored the Treasures obtained from purifying the Root of Filth and continued gazing at the sky.

Along their journey, even though they avoided monsters whenever possible, their gains were still substantial.

Halfway through, Dolai, with its sharp eyes, even discovered a Soul Sand Mine.

After a preliminary survey, Mu Yuan was almost entirely certain—about nine-tenths sure—that this was a small Soul Sand Mine. One shouldn’t underestimate the term “small.” So far, all the news he had heard about mines discovered by fellow Lords of the same period was limited to micro mines.

“A single micro Soul Sand Mine, when fully excavated, can yield a total of several thousand Soul Crystals.””And the total reserves of a small Soul Sand Mine are said to be between ten thousand and one hundred thousand, though extracting the entire crystal deposit is no easy task—laborious and time-consuming.”

It could take as little as a year or as long as several years, even over a decade.

Regardless, discovering a small Soul Sand Mine near his territory could be considered a stroke of luck, a turn from rags to riches—even in uncharted lands, mineral deposits are far from commonplace.

For one to coincidentally lie in the vicinity of his territory is even rarer.

As the Tianyuan Lord, he could shake off his impoverished status overnight and become a nouveau riche with a mine to his name.

This was cause for celebration, yet Mu Yuan couldn’t bring himself to rejoice too much. Compared to the mine, the location of his territory was what he urgently needed to clarify.

He had journeyed southward all this way in hopes of finding clues.

They could be landmark terrain or ancient ruins—he had mentioned the colossal black mountain, but in the vast Eternal World, towering peaks piercing the clouds were not particularly unique.

What Mu Yuan most wanted to find, and was most likely to find, were certain special traces.

—Remnants left behind by Taixuan pioneers who had camped deep in the Wilderness.

If he could find such traces, there was hope for pinpointing his location.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t found so much as a hair.

“I need to shift my strategy, focusing on defending and concealing the territory.”

He thought.

His gaze returned to the Tianyuan Territory.

Sunlight spilled over the land, making the Tianyuan settlement, standing amidst lush forests, rather conspicuous.

Mu Yuan stepped into the Scepter of Heavenly Authority.

“How is it?”

He looked at Isloria.

Isloria had clearly stayed up all night, but for her, this was just routine. How could a young Epic life like her waste precious time on sleep?

She said seriously, “Almost there.”

In the Nine-Cycle Furnace area, a large-scale spell was being upgraded.

The progress bar had reached 99.8%.

Soon,

Ding!

Prompt: Large-scale spell ‘Night Concealment Veil’ has been upgraded to ‘Night Concealment Illusion’. Details available for review.

This was the spell Mu Yuan had hastily fused last night using Sophia’s power.

It nearly drained him completely.

And it nearly made Isloria pull her hair out.

After all, the Lord’s demands were quite high: the spell needed to “envelop the entire territory, last for a long duration, erase signs of life, conceal the territory,” and so on.

And he wanted the plan delivered before midnight.

This was putting Isloria in a tough spot! She was no Archmage.

But it was the Lord’s task—what could she do? She had to push through.

By midnight, the plan Isloria presented couldn’t be called entirely feasible. Mu Yuan understood he was asking for the impossible.

No matter how hard she tried, Isloria couldn’t complete in a few hours what would normally take one or two weeks.

What Mu Yuan had hoped for was merely a semi-finished plan from Isloria, leaving the rest to the Scepter of Heavenly Authority.

Afterward,

Lord Mu channeled power, switching between Sophia and Dolai repeatedly. He drank barrel after barrel of recovery potions, draining himself over and over, before finally managing to fuse this large-scale spell within just half an hour.

By the time he stepped out of the Scepter of Heavenly Authority, his hands were trembling.

With a mix of anticipation and nervousness, Mu Yuan examined the large-scale spell.

Large-scale Spell · Night Concealment Illusion (Occupies 20 spell slots)”Description: Creates a massive curtain that covers the target area, providing visual concealment. Simultaneously, this large-scale spell can partially mask the aura within the shrouded region.”

“Note ①: This spell cannot perform at full capacity during daytime but gains enhancement at night.”

“Note ②: The spell can be maintained for up to two hours.”

Mu Yuan nodded.

He was satisfied, but not entirely.

The Night Concealment Illusion’s abilities to conceal auras and hide territories were precisely what was most urgently needed at the moment.

The Tianyuan Territory stood prominently in the vast mountain forests, making it too conspicuous. If there were any powerful monster factions nearby, they could easily be discovered and exposed to the eyes of intelligent monsters.

Without certainty about the surrounding situation, everything had to prioritize stability.

Masking auras was equally important.

It must be noted that the longer a territory exists in the Eternal World, the more likely it is to attract the attention of nearby monsters. Thus, even if new players’ territories haven’t developed much or expanded their forces, they will inevitably encounter increasing numbers of monsters over time.

And his Tianyuan Territory had been directly pulled into the depths of the wilderness. Here, monsters were densely packed—throwing a brick could hit several Elite monsters. The appearance of the Tianyuan Territory was like tossing a cake into a swarm of flies.

Within a few days, monsters would swarm in, forming waves.

Even now, monsters were emerging from all directions, with some having already reached the City Walls.

Mu Yuan enjoyed harvesting monster waves, but he didn’t want to be harvested by them.

“Unfortunately, the Night Concealment Illusion can only partially mask auras, and its concealment effect on the territory is rather ordinary. It won’t deceive observant monsters, and at closer ranges, it can be completely ignored.”

“Secondly, this large-scale spell can only be maintained for two hours…”

This essentially meant he would need to continuously expend crystals or drain himself dry.

Hum—

The Night Concealment Illusion spread silently over the Tianyuan Territory.

The sky darkened slightly, as if shrouded by clouds—an unavoidable side effect of the Night Concealment Illusion.

After observing for a while and noticing a decrease in invading monsters, Mu Yuan nodded slightly.

But the task wasn’t over yet.

“Next, we still need to reorganize and fuse a more suitable concealment-type spell. This will rely on both of us grinding hard.”

He would contribute effort.

Isloria would contribute intellect.

Together, they would crush it, probably.

…

Over the next few days, the exploration team changed their strategy. Instead of heading straight south, they explored all directions—east, south, west, and north—to thoroughly understand the surrounding areas.

“To the south, we’ve currently discovered one Snakefolk Tribe and one Goblin—only two so far.”

Deadbone had ventured at least several hundred kilometers deep but still found only two tribes.

Mu Yuan didn’t rule out the possibility of undiscovered tribes, but this number was still low. Was this area safe? No, the south was teeming with monsters, but there were no monster camps established, and only two tribes had been formed.

From Deadbone’s rough observations from a distance, these two monster tribes were far stronger than the Spider-Woman Tribe of the underground city.

The tribes occupied large areas, with multiple totem pillars erected inside, vaguely depicting figures with black wings, crow-like beaks, and human bodies.

In the northern mountains, Deadbone discovered three tribes: Jackalwere, Jackalwere, and Kobold.The totem poles worshipped by these three tribes were different from those of the Snakefolk and Goblin tribes to the south.

Perhaps they belonged to different factions?

Mu Yuan wasn’t sure whether the large tribes separated by hundreds of kilometers in the northern and southern regions were aware of each other’s existence. He hadn’t been here long enough and could only gather basic information so far.

Interestingly, there was a Gnoll tribe and a Kobold tribe located relatively close to each other in the north, yet they seemed to coexist peacefully.

“The most likely explanation is that there exists a more powerful monster faction above these tribes,” he pondered.

In the previous Shiling Town region, first there was the Snakefolk Chieftain unifying three camps to establish a monster tribe; later, the Spider-Woman leader swept through all directions, subjugating several dungeon tribes.

This demonstrated that intelligent monsters would wage war against and annex each other.

However, both the Snakefolk Tribe and Spider-Woman Tribe hadn’t existed for long. It wasn’t surprising that older monster factions in the Deep Wilderness would gradually grow stronger and develop into major powers.

Most monster tribes here had powerful backers!

The absence of monster camps here likely meant they had all been annexed.

“Therefore, before the situation becomes clear, I cannot directly attack these monster tribes. Moreover, they’re not weak – I have no idea what trump cards they might possess. I must not judge them by old standards.”

In earlier years, some Advanced players from Pioneer Groups thought conquering mere monster tribes would be as easy as breathing. Now, grass grows tall over their graves.

He couldn’t repeat the mistakes made by veteran players.

Better to stabilize first, accumulate strength, then strike with thunderous force.

To the east, just a few dozen kilometers away lay the great river. Its waters ran swift and deep, concealing numerous terrifying creatures.

Currently, Tianyuan Territory lacked means to navigate waters, so eastern exploration had to be temporarily postponed.

The Red Leaf Forest to the west seemed to have fewer monsters, yet its blood-crimson leaves appeared to portend various omens of misfortune.

Mu Yuan kept himself constantly busy – thinking, exploring, researching large-scale spells, never staying still.

Until one moment…

“Ding!”

“Prompt: A special unit has arrived.”

…

The sky above Tianyuan Territory appeared somewhat gloomy, as if covered by dark clouds.

Suddenly, white mist spread as a figure leading a goat-like pack animal slowly emerged from the fog.

The newcomer wore a black wide-sleeved coat, a felt hat, and a silk scarf covering the face, completely wrapped up except for a pair of inquisitive eyes scanning the surroundings.

Immediately, he frowned.

“This appears to be merely a town-level territory?”

They, the mysterious merchants, traveled through various worlds, journeyed across eternal lands, selling rare goods to numerous lords, and had witnessed all kinds of territories.

Some territories had pyramids standing on the earth, with sand soldiers patrolling to protect golden kingdoms;

Some territories hovered high in the sky, overlooking the mortal world for millennia;

Some territories possessed vast domains, ruling over millions of subjects;

Well, even without mentioning these top-tier territories standing above the clouds, generally speaking, territories that could obtain the ‘Beacon of Commerce’ should at least be powerful territories, right?

They, the mysterious merchants, only did business with powerful lords.

As for other lords, never mind possessing beacons or other qualification tokens – most hadn’t even heard of their Mysterious Merchant Alliance.

“Mee~”The massive, goat-like beast of burden with a pair of horns let out a soft bleat.

“You mean we shouldn’t judge a territory by its appearance—it might just be newly established.”

“Right, right, you’re absolutely correct… or not.”

The merchant curled his lip and pointed around them. Monsters could be seen emerging from the distant jungle. The clashing of weapons and the roars of monsters continuously echoed in their ears.

“And right now isn’t even the season of the crimson moon.”

It wasn’t that he was prejudiced, but how could a territory that couldn’t even drive away monsters and ensure the safety of its surrounding areas obtain coordinates?

This defied all logic.

“Meeeh~?” The goat tilted its head.

“Although this small territory probably has nothing to offer, making my annual performance targets even harder to meet, I’ve already arrived here through the coordinates. Wouldn’t returning now mean wasting this entry opportunity?”

Since I’m already here!

Any contribution to my performance is better than none.

What else can I do? Territories capable of summoning us Mystery Merchants are few and far between.

Though he spoke disdainfully, in reality, having something was still better than having nothing at all.

Thinking this, the merchant took a large step forward, as if passing through an invisible water curtain, officially arriving at this place.

Though I wanted to write a bit more, I’ve failed again (leopard head crying)!

(End of Chapter)