Chapter 119 – I Have General Dolai

Beside the treasure tree, approximately two hundred meters away.

The three parties formally met.

Each had only brought a few troops—had they brought their entire forces, it wouldn’t have been a negotiation for champion duels but an outright battle.

Flanking Mu Yuan were his two generals, Deadbone and Dolai.

In front stood Lu Liu, the saber-blocking envoy, while behind him, Seventeen scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes.

On his hand, he wore soul beads formed from Red Robe and Rakshasa.

Approaching from the left was what appeared to be a young female lord, clad in a moon-white robe that didn’t accentuate her figure, adorned with several accessories that might be special artifacts.

Beside the young female lord stood a griffon and three troops: two women and one man.

The male troop wore bright silver armor and wielded a crimson spear, likely a Halberdier.

One of the female troops had shoulder-length flaxen hair and habitually clasped her hands together… Mu Yuan guessed she was a nun.

Lastly, the one holding a staff and wearing a similar moon-white robe was probably a rare one-star mage.

These were all rough guesses, not certain.

A lord’s “appraisal at a glance” ability only worked on wild monsters and couldn’t be used to spy on others.

On the other hand, lords often equipped their general-level subordinates with advanced gear, which greatly enhanced their strength but made it difficult for outsiders to discern the troops’ true nature based on appearance alone.

—This only applied to troops with relatively ordinary physiques and appearances.

To the right was the young lord who had spoken first earlier.

In front of him stood three troops wielding large sabers and shields, while behind him were two gunners holding firearms.

At first glance, the young lord’s elite troops seemed inferior to the young female lord’s—both in terms of equipment extravagance and troop rarity.

However,

Appearances could be deceiving, but inner intuition couldn’t be fooled.

Seventeen, whose intuition had grown increasingly sharp due to her “Mind Arrow” talent, indicated that these people ahead were not weak and might even be quite strong.

There was a faint sense of pressure.

…

There were several conventional modes for champion duels.

For example, a best-of-three system;

Or dividing the treasures into two, three, or four portions, with each duel deciding the ownership of one portion.

But the first two were too cumbersome.

This was merely a relatively valuable Treasure Land within the Secret Realm.

Both Mu Yuan and the young female lord tacitly agreed to a winner-takes-all mode.

The draw concluded quickly.

First round: Young Female Lord vs. Young Lord.

Mu Yuan acted as a neutral witness.

“Hmm, the first rule is to stop at the point of contact.”

“Second, both sides please dispatch your generals simultaneously.”

From beside the young female lord, the female mage in moon-white robes stepped forward, staff in hand.

As for the young lord…

No general stepped forward from their side.

Instead, they themselves took several steps forward, raised their palm with the back of their hand facing outward, and the Lord’s Mark on it suddenly glowed, summoning a giant figure.

It appeared with a roar!

Casting a large shadow.

“A g-giant?!”

A rare two-star troop, the Giant!

Standing over eight meters tall, their entire body was encased in hard, thick armor, revealing only a pair of narrow, small eyes. They lightly clenched their fist and strode forward, coldly looking down from behind their visor at the human mage, who seemed as small as an insect.

An indescribable pressure washed over them.

The young female lord instinctively took half a step back, her pretty face frozen in astonishment.”How… how can this be?”

“Must be a new Lord.”

The young man glanced at the female Lord, then at Mu Yuan who was completely encased in iron armor with no visible expression. “Keeping a few tricks up your sleeve while traveling is basic practice. Let me, as your Senior, teach you newbies a lesson—with the treasure tree as tuition.”

The giant strode forward, gradually breaking into a run as it charged toward the female mage.

There was no doubt that a single slap from it could turn the mage into mage paste.

But the combat instincts of a Rare-tier mage weren’t poor either, and the Lord behind her quickly regained composure to command. She raised her staff high, a spot of orange-red flame appearing before rapidly swelling into a massive fireball over two meters in diameter, blazing hot as it shot toward the giant.

“It does seem to be a Rare one-star ‘Mage.’ This unit type usually awakens skills like ‘Fireball,’ ‘Ice Spike,’ and ‘Wind Blade.’ This mage’s Fireball technique clearly employs energy compression.”

The fireball’s diameter wasn’t as large as what Dolai used to produce with the Shaman Staff, but its energy was highly concentrated. When the giant swung its fist to block, it exploded mid-air.

A brilliant blaze erupted, spreading over ten meters like a curtain of fire that enveloped the surroundings.

Yet the next moment, protected by its thick armor, the giant burst through the blazing flames and slammed its fist down hard.

Boom—

The earth shook, cracking with countless fissures, a clearly visible fist imprint embedded within.

However, there was no sign of mage paste.

In that instant, a gust of cyan wind surged from the staff in her hands, wrapping around her body and propelling her twenty to thirty meters away.

No sooner had the female mage landed than she raised her staff again, orange-red flames quickly igniting into an unstable, massive fireball several meters in diameter.

Before she could launch it, a massive shadow burst from the dust with agility and speed belying its bulky form, leaping forward and stomping down heavily on the mage.

Boom—!

This time, it connected, the earth trembling violently from the impact.

The fireball burst like a popped balloon, flames scattering like splashing water.

A figure tumbled out from the smoke and fire, still not turned into paste, surrounded by a faint, eggshell-like elliptical light shield that shattered into countless glowing particles and vanished in the blink of an eye.

“It’s a Greater Amulet.”

She had at least two Rare-tier equipment items on her! Rich!

However, the female Lord immediately shouted surrender the next second.

“A wise choice.”

The Young Lord curled a smile at the corner of their mouth, then looked at Mu Yuan. “Your turn.”

The dust gradually cleared, revealing the giant’s massive form showing no signs of injury, save for slight scorch marks on the gauntlet that had blocked the blazing fireball.

It stood like an invincible giant, barring the way before the treasure tree.

“Or, will you choose to surrender directly? That’s acceptable too.”

Mu Yuan looked at the giant.

Its Rank was approximately at the Peak of Professional Tier, with a small chance it had already stepped into Elite Tier.

Clad in thick armor, likely equipped with Rare-tier gear, and commanded by a Lord, dealing with it would only be slightly easier than handling an Earth Rock Dragon.

Seventeen was no match for it in direct combat.

Lu Liu didn’t have high odds of winning against it either.

Red Robe, however, with her attacks targeting the spirit, was quite effective against such enemies.

This was the advantage of having a ‘broad roster of commanders.”Mages’ are actually at a disadvantage in duels, but the young Lord likely had no choice—it was the unit type she had invested the most resources in and had the highest Rank.

The combat prowess displayed by this ‘Mage’ was indeed not weak.

The young Lord was very likely a top-tier powerhouse.

“Gurgle~!”

At this moment, Dolai chose to enter the battle.

Mu Yuan pondered briefly, “That works too.”

For safety’s sake, it was better to send General Dolai to slay the giant.

Dolai, wearing a blue robe with hair flowing in the wind, stepped onto the field empty-handed.

The second round of the Treasure Tree Cup began silently!

As if blooming twice.

Dolai extended its pale palm, condensing a spark in its hand that instantly expanded into a scorching, blazing Fireball.

An—another Mage?

It had already been proven that Mages were far from a match for giants. This was undoubtedly a novice Lord who had never experienced the harsh realities of the world.

Perhaps a top-tier novice.

But no matter how talented, they were still a novice.

The giant swung its fist, shattering the Fireball violently, scattering brilliant flames across the sky. It charged forward with large strides, but had barely taken a step when another scorching, blazing Fireball shot straight toward its face.

It had no choice but to raise its hand and swat the Fireball aside.

Once again, scattered flames burst across the sky.

“But the giant remains completely unharmed. Its defense is terrifying.”

The young Lord murmured.

The next moment, however, she saw—

One, two, three, four…

The Blue-haired Girl extended her pale hands, conjuring one Fireball after another in front of her palms, firing them in rapid succession as if without the need for incantations and with no pause in energy output.

They continuously bombarded the giant’s raised arms.

Flames erupted, surging upward in a mist.

The giant was struck so hard that its body trembled, forced to retreat half a step, then another half step.

Crack~!

Bang~!

“It shattered!”

The giant’s wrist guards shattered, and its arms turned red under the scorching blaze of the flames.

Witnessing this scene, the young Lord grew excited as if she had gained the upper hand, clenching her fist fiercely.

Boom!

The giant roared, tearing off its gauntlets. In the next moment, energy surged violently from within its body, threads of energy spreading and coiling along its arms, forming a crystalline energy armor that repelled the scorching flames.

Energy Entanglement, energy shaping?

No!

A dozen-meter-long energy chain materialized inch by inch, woven and extended within the giant’s loosely clenched palm.

This was Energy Armament!

The hallmark of a unit advancing to the Elite Rank!

Not only could it shape energy into armor to protect itself, but it could also naturally manifest energy weapons suited to the individual.

It could also enhance existing equipment, significantly boosting destructive power and defense.

However, using ‘Energy Armament’ required skill and consumed a great deal of the unit’s own energy. Once energy was depleted, it could not be maintained.

And now, the giant was not only displaying Energy Armament—its speed and explosive power had also increased.

Or perhaps, when dealing with the female Mage earlier, it had been holding back.

What was revealed now was the giant’s true form.

An experienced Lord, a crafty old fox!

This was a lesson for you novices.

Their gazes met, then returned to the Battlefield.The giant charged forward with a speed that defied his bloated frame, his body erupting with blazing pale-orange Qi. Swinging his chains in wide arcs, he scattered flames across the sky, blasting apart one Fireball after another as they shot toward him.

The massive chains whirled like a meat grinder, kicking up clouds of dust with explosive force as they swept across the ground. Then, wielded by the giant, they shot toward the petite, fragile, and slow-moving mage girl like a massive serpent—seemingly poised to shatter and tear her apart in the next instant.

But they struck empty air.

Dust and debris erupted over ten meters high, as if from repeated detonations of high explosives, yet the blue-haired mage was nowhere to be seen.

Where was she? What skill had she used?

The young man abruptly looked up.

Dozens of meters in the air, the girl stood firm—yet no wings spread from her back, no whirlwinds encircled her.

She simply stood there, her sky-blue hair cascading naturally, as if rooted to solid ground.

But she was poised high in the heavens.

Casting a downward gaze.

Chapter 3K,

(End of Chapter)