Chapter 353 – Working Dragon and Tianyuan’s Fastest

Tianyuan Calendar, Year 1, Day 336.

This was also the sixth day since Tianyuan Territory advanced to Level 5.

Over these days, Mu Yuan had been contacting Sophia two to three times daily on average. With the clue of the ‘Fury Barrier Zone,’ Sophia and her companions now had a more direct target during their exploration and search.

They focused on perilous and forbidden lands where energy was extremely chaotic, often experiencing violent surges.

Previously, these areas hadn’t been Sophia’s primary search targets. She had been fixated on the clue of the ‘Black Colossus Mountain.’

Dangerous and forbidden lands with rampant energy and continuous disasters inherently lacked the conditions for a territory to survive peacefully. Tianyuan Territory couldn’t possibly exist within such places.

However,

what if these perilous and forbidden lands weren’t just as they appeared on the surface? What if they concealed mysteries within, hiding passageways?

Mu Yuan had taken general knowledge geography classes about the Eternal World—via online courses—and he roughly understood that the distance between one Great Domain and another in the Eternal World was vast, separated by spatial chasms. Often, only through specific ‘tunnels’ or ‘bridges’ could lords reach another Great Domain.

Therefore, without using public Secret Realms as transit points, it was quite difficult for a lord to transport large quantities of goods to another domain.

But that’s a digression.

When Rakshasa attempted to traverse the violent area, he could clearly observe changes in space.

He, including the giant legend Asoro, had an intuition that passing through the raging zone would lead to a brand new region. So, did the Rage Zone contain ‘passageways’? Were some of the perilous and forbidden lands in the Twilight Great Domain actually the lands of fury that Rakshasa had witnessed?

Mu Yuan didn’t base this speculation entirely on guesswork. He had always believed that no matter how unlucky he was, his territory couldn’t have moved half a Great Domain or even more than one Great Domain away.

There was only one truth.

Over the past few days, Sophia actually made a discovery quite quickly. They found an area very similar to the energy frenzy zone he had described. They were currently cautiously probing deeper into it.

Mu Yuan didn’t hold overly high expectations.

What Sophia found might not necessarily be the violent zone. Even if it was, there might not necessarily be a so-called passageway within this area.

Take it slow, wait patiently.

Months had passed, and Mu Yuan was no longer as anxious as he had been initially.

He occasionally read newspapers published by Taixuan to stay informed about external market conditions.

During these days, he also gradually upgraded important buildings like the Scepter of Heavenly Authority, Intermediate Mage Tower, Thundercoil Tower, and Necromancer Tower to Level 5.

Upgrading Miracle Buildings didn’t take much time, nor did it require additional rare Materials; it only consumed a sum of Soul Crystals.

But…

the amount of Soul Crystals consumed was not small.

For example, upgrading an Arrow Tower from Level 4 to Level 5 required 2000g of Soul Sand, which equates to two Soul Crystal Coins. It might not seem like much, but Tianyuan Territory had a full thousand Arrow Towers. These thousand Arrow Towers were dispersed along the territory’s City Walls and various areas, yet they didn’t seem excessive.

Of course, Mu Yuan didn’t intend to max out the level of every single Arrow Tower and Watchtower.For structures like arrow towers built outside the city walls, which serve as early warning and defense against scattered monsters, he typically only upgrades them to LV2. After all, both wall-mounted arrow towers and ordinary farmlands face the constant risk of damage.

Yet even after excluding some non-essential miracle buildings from full upgrades, upgrading the remaining ones would still require thousands of soul crystals.

Mu Yuan found it expensive.

Even as someone with resource mines, he couldn’t fully upgrade all miracle buildings in a short time.

He also needed to reserve at least a thousand soul crystals as wartime reserves and purchase large stockpiles of potions, crossbow bolts, ammunition, equipment, and other war supplies.

Master Li’s factory was already operating three shifts nonstop, but the vast majority of Mu Yuan’s war supplies still had to be sourced externally.

His procurement volume was so large that often a single supplier couldn’t fulfill the entire order.

“Bro, big bro, just how many war supplies have you bought? This is enough to fight a large-scale war involving millions!”

Jiang Luoxing was stunned.

Before him were the supplies Mu Yuan had commissioned an experienced lord to purchase.

The quantity was so vast that even using Universal Type III spatial storage boxes, it took a full 16 containers to hold everything.

Some lords couldn’t help but edge away, fearing the high-explosives inside might suddenly detonate.

“Not that much, really. Some of it I’m buying as a middleman for others.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Jiang Luoxing understood.

He had also heard that Boss Tianyuan had encountered several intelligent factions in the new territory. Acting as a middleman to purchase supplies for other factions made perfect sense.

His own territory had also shifted locations, but why hadn’t he run into any elf sisters?

He’d love to act as a purchasing agent for elf sisters too—he’d even accept a 10.5% commission.

Mu Yuan wasn’t making excuses.

Among the several batches of war supplies he procured, a portion was indeed purchased on behalf of the elves and giants. With war approaching, to increase their chances of victory and secure more space for survival and development, both races were going all out.

About 40% of the war supplies were funded by them.

Mu Yuan, as the middleman, didn’t markup any prices.

He would have liked to earn a commission, but the financial situations of the elves and giants were only slightly better than that of the winged people—still far from wealthy. Vast as the Nature’s Garden and Boulder Mountain Ridge factions were, their conventional wealth might not surpass that of many great lords in Taixuan.

With both races being so poor, what could he do? He could only act as their purchasing agent without charging a single yuan in markup.

In fact, the elves and giants spending heavily on war supplies was the foundation for preparing for battle. If they were unwilling to invest even in war supplies, Mu Yuan would have doubted their determination to resist the monster overlords.

He himself procured even more.

During wartime, various recovery potions, arrows, and ammunition must be stocked sufficiently. If a shortage of supplies led to a decline in legion combat effectiveness, resulting in heavy casualties, it would be too late for regrets.

In defensive battles, ranged units could play a greater role. Even powerful units like the Polar Star Arrows needed high-rank arrows for replication to mass-produce advanced arrows.

This time, Mu Yuan purchased a batch of rare-grade “Armor-Piercing Arrows,” “World-Breaking Arrows,” “Rage-Flame Arrows,” and “Intangible Arrows” for the Polar Star Arrows to use.

If it were siege warfare, items like World-Breaking Stones would be indispensable.The armor, sabers, swords, halberds, and shields for the melee troops needed at least three backup sets prepared. This was because over half of the elite forces had not yet been equipped with rare-grade gear. Mu Yuan could only provide them with common-grade equipment enhanced to +3, making do for the time being.

Moreover, rare-grade equipment wasn’t necessarily very durable and could still be damaged or destroyed. After a single battle, the amount of gear that ended up scrapped was often substantial.

At times like this, Mu Yuan felt that skeleton-type units were truly the undisputed “cost-effective” troops. Little Skeleton saved both money and effort, while the Bone Undertakers could even pull out their own bones to use as weapons. Nowadays, most of them forged bone swords by refining their own skeletal structures with some added minerals, making them the ultimate masters of frugality.

…

While Mu Yuan was busy with procurement, others in Tianyuan Territory were not idle either.

Wolfhead Mountain had become the operational center for the three major factions. To facilitate communication and coordinate tactical arrangements, high-ranking officials from both Nature’s Garden and Boulder Mountain Ridge were stationed here permanently.

The representative from Nature’s Garden was a Fourth Order elite with legendary potential and Moon Elf bloodline—the Moon Elf Sharpshooter, Linn.

The representative from Boulder Mountain Ridge was also a young Fourth Order prodigy, the Frost Giant Banetta.

Both were super-powered experts who possessed overwhelming strength compared to ordinary Fourth Order commanders. They were powerful and proud, yet on Wolfhead Mountain, they couldn’t afford to be the least bit arrogant.

The Moon Elf Sharpshooter Linn had witnessed the extraordinary prowess of Tianyuan Territory’s experts back at the Hall of Knowledge. It had taken him several days to recover from the blow to his confidence. How could he dare act arrogantly here?

Although the Giant Banetta hadn’t seen Tianyuan Expert’s dazzling achievements with his own eyes, he had heard countless accounts. Perhaps one or two people might exaggerate or boast, but when everyone said the same, he couldn’t possibly remain skeptical.

Besides…

With a glance into the distance, Giant Banetta could see a slender, elegant blue dragon slowly descending upon Wolfhead Mountain. Even from afar, he could faintly sense the draconic aura emanating from the blue dragon.

This was a genuine Dragon!

Giant Banetta had the conviction to climb to the peak. He believed his future might not be inferior to that of a pure-blooded Dragon, and surpassing one wasn’t impossible. But at present, he was at the Fourth Order Peak, and the blue dragon was also at the Fourth Order Peak. No matter how proud he was, he couldn’t claim he could defeat a Dragon head-on.

“Is this batch of goods all accounted for? If there are no issues, I’ll be on my way.”

Standing before the Water Mirror Dragon Tiff was Niu Si, commander of the Garrison Legion stationed at Wolfhead Mountain.

Niu Si nodded, “The quantity checks out, but are you leaving so soon? I thought the task of transporting spoils back to the territory was scheduled for the afternoon?”

He didn’t seem to remember incorrectly.

Currently, Tianyuan Territory’s Third Transport Team was responsible for delivering batches of war supplies to Wolfhead Mountain and also packing and sending back materials, remnant souls, spoils, and other items from the front lines.

They made two trips a day.

Water Mirror Dragon Tiff’s mission was to use her abilities to conceal the transport squad, minimizing the risk of detection by any potentially lurking Jackalwere scouts.

After delivering a shipment, the transport squad would rest and regroup on Wolfhead Mountain.

“I’ll be here on time this afternoon.”As it spoke, Tiff’s figure gradually faded into the white mist, and it flew away.

During the flight, it lifted its claw and glanced at the ‘personal bracelet’ tied to it, which displayed its accumulated Contribution Points and a list of work assignments.

“At 12 noon, assist Young Miss Isloria with the maintenance and upgrade of the city defense ritual.”

“At 6 p.m., cover a squad as they head to the target area to trade with the elves.”

“At 10 p.m….”

“At 11 p.m….”

Tiff counted on its claws briefly, “Seems like there’s still some free time. I’ll take on two more tasks. This one for watering the sixth planting zone looks good—a full 250 Contribution Points… I need to hurry back to the territory to grab the assignment; securing it means pure profit!”

“And this task…”

“At this rate, I’ll probably have enough Contribution Points to apply for the evolution baptism in about two and a half days. This is just too exciting for a dragon.”

Flapping its wings, it discreetly returned to Tianyuan Territory to begin the next task.

On Wolfhead Mountain, generals from the three factions—Tianyuan Territory, the elves, and the giants—were engaged in a heated discussion.

On the vast map before them, one conspicuous red circle after another had been drawn.

Some of these red circles were marked with a large “X.”

They were in the process of locating the Gnoll Fang Lair!

The clashes between Tianyuan Territory and Gnoll Fang were not just about competing for strategic space but also about following the clues to uncover Gnoll Fang’s hidden strongholds and their core lair.

To truly defeat Gnoll Fang, they had to find their lair.

Thanks to intelligence from the elves and giants, they had initially narrowed down the scope and were now continuously refining it.

“But as the scope shrinks, the danger increases significantly. In recent days, three high-level scouts from Nature’s Garden have already sacrificed their lives.”

The elf Linn’s expression was grave.

Training high-level scouts was no easy task, and some of them were even acquaintances, like Tilly, the top scout of Nature’s Garden. Yet, even experts like Tilly, who had reached the Fourth Order limit and excelled in stealth and reconnaissance, faced extreme peril when venturing into these areas.

In these regions, scouts could encounter Legendary Realm beings at any moment.

Under the coverage of a Legendary Domain, the stealth abilities of even the best scouts became almost meaningless.

But if they sent Legendary Realm beings instead…

Their faction had few Legendary Realm beings to begin with. If one were exposed, surrounded, and killed, the cost would be unbearable.

“Tianyuan Territory has already dispatched a general skilled in flight with extreme speed to investigate.”

Lu Liu, the rotating representative of Tianyuan Territory, spoke up.

The elves and giants knew which general it was; they had seen it in recent days.

General Asun.

The general hailed as the fastest in Tianyuan. This General Asun possessed an even more legendary aura than they did.

However, no matter how fast General Asun was, it was still only a Peak Fourth Order expert. This reconnaissance mission carried immense risks, and it was likely undertaking it with the conviction of sacrifice.

Thinking of this, the elves and giants felt a deep respect.

…

“You scared the hell out of your bird lord, but your bird lord is someone you’ll never catch. Come on, try to catch me!”

Asun soared through the sky, facing a Legendary Realm Jackalwere who had already unleashed its Domain. Unflinching, it displayed a spirit of great… fearlessness.Three days east of the river, three days west—Asun was no longer the falcon of three days ago.

It was now Falcon Lord, capable of dancing recklessly before Legendary Realm experts and surviving unscathed.

Epic Two-Star Lifeform · Wind King’s Wings · Falcon.

「Soaring Nine Heavens」

「Description: Asun can harness the power of celestial winds to soar above the Nine Heavens. When cultivated to its peak, a master can ride the wind across ninety thousand miles in an instant.」

Of course, Asun was far from capable of traversing ninety thousand miles with the wind.

At its current Realm, it was also impossible for it to cultivate this Epic Skill to Great Perfection.

However,

Asun, who borrowed the wind, controlled the wind, and became one with the wind, had completely manifested the bearing of the Wind King.

Its combat prowess was not strong, and its stealth abilities were lackluster—it possessed only one specialty: speed.

Speed pushed to the extreme.

Through Asun’s “life-risking” reconnaissance, the scope of their search for the Gnoll Fang Lair was further narrowed.

Two days later, Mu Yuan received another piece of good news.

From Sophia.

Sophia had confirmed that the region she discovered was indeed a chaotic zone. She witnessed the sky and earth nearly converging, with space distorted and folded.

However, she faced the same problem as Rakshasa.

They could proceed no further.

(End of Chapter)