Chapter 449 – Epic Treasures, Generals Take Action

The Great Dark Sky Curtain enveloped heaven and earth, stretching beyond sight no matter how far one gazed.

It seemed as if the entire Wilderness had been peeled away, leaving the powerful trapped here lost and disoriented.

From Dolai’s head, the Shapeshifting Badge that resembled a hairclip flew out, transforming into a staff with a large red ruby embedded at its tip and a pair of small wings on either side.

It gripped the staff and pointed into the distant darkness, declaring, “Let me tear it apart~!”

“No, I’ll handle it.”

Sophia stepped forward.

She certainly believed that with Dolai’s abilities, it could pierce and tear apart this Great Dark Sky Curtain, perhaps without much effort. But…

She had discerned some intricacies.

“This Great Dark Sky Curtain has peeled away heaven and earth, forming an independent space. If we tear this curtain apart by force, the enemy might directly detonate the entire curtain space. The superposition of the two forces would then cause large-scale spatial collapse, triggering spatial turbulence.”

If she were the enemy, and the goal was to stall the targets at hand, she would definitely do this.

Shatter the treasure, create an opportunity.

In that case, even if they had the ability to survive the spatial turbulence, there was a chance they could be swept away to distant places by the chaotic currents.

This was unacceptable.

Sophia touched her own arm, smooth and pale, without any trace of crow feathers. “The bloodline power of the Nether Crow flows within my body. I am somewhat familiar with this Great Dark Sky Curtain. Leave it to me.”

——

Eyes opened, the girl stared blankly at her arm, where a crow’s feather was deeply imprinted. This profound black stood out starkly against her otherwise fair skin.

“Black Feather, the Young Miss has grown many black feathers, like the feathers of a crow!”

“She is a Witch, her body flows with the filthy blood of demons!”

“Monster! Monster!”

“Feathers growing on the skin, the appearance of a Black Crow—how ominous!”

“A stain! Truly a stain on our Cassatt Family!”

“Pfft—”

The girl’s hand tightly clutched the mottled black feather. Her hand trembled slightly, shaking for a few seconds before she mustered her resolve and, with a forceful tug, ripped the entire feather out.

In the dim, Warehouse-like room, the girl curled up in the corner, her hand clutching the black feather now stained crimson.

She trembled, convulsed, blood flowing down her arm, dripping and pooling into a small puddle.

She had pulled out the black feather.

Yet, more black feathers grew.

She was the omen, born ominous.

…

On the Wilderness, lay the corpses of several ferocious beasts.

A mottled black crow landed, her gaze fixed on the mangled bodies and blood, her eyes dazed.

After a long while, she murmured to a gaunt, thin deer nearby, “Tell me, why do we suffer from the Witch’s illness? What is the meaning of our existence in this world?”

The deer was emaciated, its fur dull and gray, yet it still moved with elegant steps.

“Perhaps for the next life.”

“Will there be a next life?”

“There will be,” the deer said gently. “We must believe in it. That is the meaning of our struggle to survive.”

——

Their efforts to survive had already found their meaning.Once regarded as venomous scorpions, something she feared and loathed, Sophia now found herself grateful to possess the Nether Crow bloodline.

Everything had meaning.

Her eyes shone brightly, like two luminous pearls in the darkness.

She stretched out her arms as if embracing the heavens and the earth.

The next moment, her slender body levitated slightly, her short black hair extending with each breath. Dense, flowing strands woven like a giant net, a forest, a celestial curtain. Crimson gazes opened within the hair-veil, countless and dense, numbering in the tens and hundreds.

Hundreds of gleaming black Nether Crows flew out, thousands, tens of thousands, countless black feathers swirling.

A black storm erupted instantly, rapidly spreading into the distance.

A hundred meters, a thousand meters, ten thousand meters…

The black crows kept swirling. Each crow silhouette in the dark sky seemed to transform into the shape of Sophia’s Nether Crows.

Black trees sprouted branches, swaying continuously, resonating with the storm’s rhythm.

Though they stood beneath the dark canopy, Dolai and Xiliu could clearly see another night curtain rapidly expanding beneath it.

It was Sophia’s crows.

Outside.

The black withered tree rustled as it swayed, and the Black Crow Elder’s expression shifted slightly.

The next moment,

“Flutter flutter—”

Black feathers surged forth like a bursting dam, pouring out from the withered tree with such force that the entire tree shook violently.

Within the storm of black feathers, a murder of crows materialized, forming a protective circle.

Guarding Sophia as she emerged from their midst.

“Now, it’s my turn.”

…

“Whew, it’s over.”

After freeing herself, Sophia immediately used the Night Crow Canopy to counter the remaining Black Crow Clan remnants.

Within seconds, Dolai and the other two rushed to the scene.

General Dolai struck with fury.

The surrounding space shattered repeatedly until only the mangled remains of the Black Crow Clan remnants were left, along with…

a withered tree no longer swaying, firmly rooted in the earth.

Dolai stared at the withered tree. “As expected, it’s a treasure. You should take it.”

Sophia picked up the treasure.

Her Hero status immediately granted her basic information about the artifact.

「Great Dark Sky Curtain」

「Grade: Epic」

「Description: A treasure that requires crow-type abilities to function. Can trap and separate realms, while also concealing allies within its curtain barrier. Once deployed, the Great Dark Sky Curtain becomes difficult to move. If deactivated, it cannot be reused for some time.」

“It’s an Epic treasure.”

Sophia wasn’t surprised.

Had it not been for the Epic treasure and the Black Crow Clan’s unique Secret Method, the four of them wouldn’t have been trapped for so long.

“Nothing can stop us now. Let’s continue forward.”

…

“You found the Filth device?”

Somewhere in the Wilderness, Battle Armor General was taken aback when he received the message from Tianyuan City.

How could it be so soon?

He had considered that Tianyuan City might locate it.

Since yesterday, the advancement of Tianyuan City’s various legions had repeatedly caught his attention.

But he never expected Tianyuan Lord to be this fast.

Had it only been a day and a bit?

Battle Armor General checked the approximate coordinates and fell silent once more.

The coordinate direction was indeed along his general route of advance.

Yet he was still en route, having covered just over half the distance.

Once again, Battle Armor General couldn’t help but marvel at Tianyuan City’s incredible speed.”As a seasoned veteran of the Pioneer Group, my efficiency in exploration and tracking has actually been surpassed. But next comes frontal combat—that’s my domain!”

The Battle Armor General left his elite squad behind and soared into the sky alone.

After all, locating the Filth device was merely the first step.

They still needed to purify it.

Monstrous legends were inevitably lurking around the Filth device, and these were Legendary Realm beings from Dragon’s Slumber Valley.

…

Two hours after Sophia’s group discovered the Filth device.

Rumble—

A skeletal legion marched forth on black mist, with the imposing, ferocious, and majestic Lord Sario soaring at the forefront.

Lu Liu led a contingent of elite soldiers close behind.

The previously scattered squads had now gathered together, their auras resonating faintly, with shadows of military souls vaguely visible.

At the forefront, rows of Fearless Warchiefs stood side by side, their great shields positioned forward.

Upon arrival, Lu Liu swiftly arranged a defensive formation.

“Following the Lord’s instructions, we’ll first set up several Watchtowers.”

With that, Lu Liu retrieved a Miracle Blueprint shimmering with a faint green glow and tossed it out.

The blueprint fluttered mid-air before dissipating into specks of light, replaced by the phantom of a dozen-meter-tall tower, barely noticeable in the vast wilderness.

The Watchtower was quickly established.

Dolai asked, “Can we start fighting now? I want to take on the strongest one.”

Its gaze swept forward.

The shadows of giant trees flew past on either side, while the continuous mountain ranges and rippling lakes swiftly passed by its line of sight.

The view curved along steep canyons on both sides, revealing a valley shrouded in pale yellow mist.

Deeper within this swampy mist-land, Crimson Mist drifted, vegetation had withered, and the swamp had transformed into cracked earth veined with countless red crystals.

A brown pillar, resembling the Root of Filth but more structured and colossal, stood erect here.

Crimson patterns crept slowly upward along its surface, eerie and ominous.

Beside the red Foul Pillar, massive beings opened their eyes.

“Humans… have come.”

A crimson dragon’s voice boomed like a great bell.

“The humans found this place after all.”

“The Black Crow Clan members are utterly useless. Could they have fled?”

“Those who worship so-called deities are indeed unreliable.”

“Regardless, this human force cannot be underestimated. There might be powerful individuals from the Taixuan Alliance headquarters among them.”

“No matter. This place is far from Taixuan after all, with only a small Miracle Territory here.”

The massive beings spoke one after another.

They were few in number—only seven—but each stood seventy to eighty meters tall, far larger than adult dragons.

Crimson dragons from Dragon’s Slumber Valley!

They stirred like slumbering behemoths awakening, their terrifying auras beginning to surge as Domains spread out, causing heaven and earth to tremble and hum.

At the center, a dragon with a comparatively smaller build, silent as a crimson statue, suddenly lit up its draconic pupils.

Gold tinged with crimson.

As if a supreme powerhouse had cast immense power across the Great Domain.

He was no divine servant, yet this was a form of descent.

Borrowing a vessel, deceiving heaven and earth, he had severed half his Divine Soul to cross domains.A divine might surpassing the Heaven-Earth Realm pierced through dozens of kilometers in the blink of an eye, arriving before the generals of Tianyuan City.

Instantly,

Commanders like Laney and Bone Four felt as if a pair of golden pupils large enough to blot out the sky had manifested before them, casting a terrifying gaze so oppressive it made them tremble uncontrollably.

“An existence beyond the Heaven-Earth Realm.”

Xie Yi murmured.

He was the most experienced among them, deeply aware of the terror of the Soul Realm.

Even if it was merely a manifested Divine Soul.

Dolai faced this pressure with increasingly bright eyes. It took out its staff and stepped forward, “I said earlier, leave the strongest one to me.”

Confronting these boundless golden pupils, Dolai glared back fiercely.

It met the gaze without yielding an inch.

Simultaneously, a Domain swirling with black and white energy rapidly spread outward from its center.

Three thousand meters!

Six thousand meters!

Nine thousand meters!

Even after surpassing the limits of the Peak Heaven-Earth Realm and exceeding ten thousand meters, Dolai’s Domain continued expanding and spreading at an incredible speed, as if without end.

「Advancing to Legendary is like the initial breakthrough into Epic—there exists a period of rapid growth. You, Deadbone, are merely a juvenile Legendary lifeform. How far you can go, to what level you can expand your Domain—there is no reference data for these. You will become the Beacon for those who follow.」

Being a benchmark was something Dolai loved most.

It would expand its Domain at the fastest speed possible until reaching its limit.

And today, Do·Thirteen-Thousand-Meter Radius·Lai would guard the entire battlefield.

It soared into the air.

In the distance, within the drifting Crimson Mist, the Soul Realm Dragon also let out a surprised “Oh?”.

Heaven and earth elements enveloped his body.

Transforming into a meteor, he chased directly after Dolai.

After Dolai and the soul-chilling Divine Soul pressure gradually faded into the distance, Xiliu—now returned to human form—sharpened her claws, “Next is our battle. I smell many Dragons. The enemy doesn’t seem willing to come out. Shall we charge in directly?”

At this moment, Xie Yi spoke up, “Let me go first. I can disrupt the enemy’s formation.”

The Gunpowder Legion hadn’t yet reached the standard for group combat. In this battle, only Xie Yi from the artillery system was present.

As a new general of Tianyuan City, he also needed a battle to prove his worth.

Moreover…

Shortly before the battle began, the Lord had bestowed upon him the baptism of evolution with great power.

Not only had he advanced further with clearer thinking, awakening more artillery techniques, but the accumulated hidden injuries and damaged Foundation within his body had also been completely restored.

He had never felt such mental clarity.

His artillery was also eager for action.

「Quantum Satellite Cannon (Epic Skill)」

「Description: Anchor a coordinate, accumulate power, and deliver a devastating strike to the enemy.」

This was a simple, direct, and brutal Epic ability.

Xie Yi loved it.

Big meant strong, and destruction was the ultimate truth of justice.

He glanced to the side, “Lady Seventeen, could you deliver this Beacon to the enemy’s side for me?”

The Beacon was only the size of a fingernail, resembling an informational polymer.

It fluctuated between solid and blurred states.

Seventeen nodded.

Placing the Beacon on an arrow, she drew her bowstring to full draw. The arrow shot through dense forests, lakes, and canyons like a meteor, landing beside a Dragon on the brown earth with a swift “whoosh”.The Dragon was momentarily stunned. “Shooting an arrow from dozens of kilometers away—what is this human thinking?”

The Beacon glowed faintly.

High in the sky, particles converged, coalescing in the blink of an eye into a silver-gray mechanical entity floating in place.

The machine’s six wings slowly unfurled, drawing in elemental particles of all kinds from the surrounding world.

Elements surged forth like a river.

Crimson specks rapidly expanded.

A dozen seconds later,

“Beep~!”

The Dragon abruptly raised its head, the red light in its eyes intensifying.

BOOM——!!!

An indescribably massive crimson pillar of light shot down from the heavens, obliterating the russet earth with overwhelming force and utterly annihilating thousands upon thousands of ordinary monsters beneath the Crimson Mist, leaving not even a trace of residue.

A colossal wave of dust and debris billowed into the sky as the crimson light pillar contracted into a thin line, sizzling before vanishing from the world.

(End of Chapter)