Chapter 124 – Whose General Is This?!

The giant had been defeated, and Liu Cheng, who had also become a spectator, inexplicably wondered if the Tianyuan Lord would produce an even more formidable general to shock everyone once again.

He shook his head self-mockingly. He must have been frightened by that mysterious, seemingly limitless girl from the Tianyuan Lord’s household to entertain such an absurd thought.

“He’s already as strong as if he’s cheating. How could there possibly be a commander stronger than the mysterious girl? It’s impossible.”

“And the Tianyuan Lord clearly has no intention of stepping forward to compete.”

Attempting to dispatch a general by ordering a troop to walk over on their own wouldn’t work.

Only when the Lord themselves stepped forward and touched the light pillar would they receive a prompt and send their own general into the arena.

Seeing that the Tianyuan Lord had already retreated to the periphery, the few Lords competing for the Hero’s Token breathed a slight sigh of relief. They hadn’t even realized that, unconsciously, they had begun to regard Tianyuan as an opponent of the same caliber.

They threw themselves into the intensely fierce competition.

Focusing their minds, preparing for battle.

Not daring to miss even the slightest detail.

Time passed slowly. The competitions for the other Treasures had all concluded, leaving only the final light pillar still radiating a faint, soaring brilliance.

“The eighth match has ended.”

In this battle, the Lord of Huashui Territory had sent out a deeply hidden super commander, yet they were still defeated on the spot.

Their opponent’s hidden strength ran even deeper.

He pounded the ground fiercely, somewhat unwilling to accept the outcome.

On the field, an Elite-level ogre stood proudly, baring its sharp teeth as it slightly raised its head to survey the surroundings, continuously thumping its own belly.

It was invincible!

It had taken the stage from the second battle and had fought all the way to now. Seven consecutive victories had made it nearly godlike.

This was the Wangtian Lord’s undefeated war god.

No one dared to challenge it anymore.

After battle after battle, this ogre had displayed an invincible presence. The veteran Lords couldn’t figure out how to win against it.

They sat down dejectedly.

But they had no choice but to accept reality.

“It seems the Hero’s Token will fall into Wang Wang’s hands.”

“Wang Wang… is about to soar.”

“That ogre of his already possesses considerable intelligence. Passing the Hero’s Trial shouldn’t be difficult for it.”

The Lords sighed in resignation.

Just as the Arena’s countdown timer was ticking away, it suddenly stopped.

Another challenger had stepped onto the field. Clad in gray armor, roughly the height of an average person, and wrapped up so tightly that nothing else could be discerned, it could only be guessed that this was a close-combat type troop.

But whose general was this?

Lord A cast a glance at Lord B: Could it be that you’re still unwilling to give up and secretly sent another general?

Lord B felt wronged, “How could I possibly have any more generals to send?” He then looked toward Lord C.

Lord C also said, “It really isn’t me.” He turned his gaze to Lord D, Liu Cheng.

Liu Cheng had always been rather unscrupulous.

But Liu wasn’t stationed near the Treasure light pillar; he didn’t even have the opportunity to attempt a sneak attack.

He was also very puzzled, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the back, where the Tianyuan Lord remained, as before, a mere spectator watching the drama unfold, staying far away from the vortex.

…

That’s right, Lord Mu indeed did not participate in the battle.

But Deadbone, as a Hero, touched the light pillar and ascended the Arena.For this reason, he changed his equipment and shrank himself to the physique of a robust young man—as a skeleton capable of bone manipulation, altering his height, build, and appearance was, of course, a basic skill. This was entirely reasonable.

Deadbone appeared with an unusually serious expression.

Before him stood a formidable enemy.

The ogre’s methods had long been deciphered, and it held nothing back, unleashing its ultimate move from the very start.

Its body rapidly expanded. Its height of over six meters surged to ten, twelve, sixteen, and finally twenty meters!

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a colossal entity more than twice the size of a giant.

This was the advanced skill ‘Gigantification’!

It was not a skill the ogre had naturally awakened but a divine technique it had acquired through a rare Opportunity.

It was precisely this skill that allowed the ogre to sweep aside all competitors and establish an invincible reputation.

Under Gigantification, any skill it unleashed would possess several times the destructive power, and no one could withstand a direct blow from it.

“This unidentified officer is no exception.”

“How many moves can he possibly endure?”

The twenty-meter-tall giant cast an enormous shadow.

But the next moment, a black mist even more vast than the shadow began to emanate from this mysterious officer.

The ground rumbled violently, heaving like rolling waves.

Deadbone’s body also levitated without wind, enveloped in a terrifying black storm. Most of the ‘Energy Crystals’ attached beneath his armor and on his bones had already shattered, transforming into incredibly pure energy that he could immediately absorb. This energy surged through his limbs and bones, flowing toward the silver-white skeleton spreading outward.

A pair of massive arms abruptly shot out from the black mist.

Followed by the torso and legs, forming in the blink of an eye.

This was the ‘Corpse Giant’ derived from the ‘Undead Behemoth,’ but if that were all, the Corpse Giant would merely be an oversized, hollow display.

It excelled at attacking cities and seizing territories, but it was absolutely no match for a gigantic, physically resilient, and incredibly agile ogre under Gigantification.

However, the ‘Undead Behemoth’ was an old technique from long ago. After all this time, how could the Undead General not have updated this skill, especially after evolving into the ‘Bone General’ and achieving a qualitative breakthrough in energy utilization?

Black!

Tens of thousands of black threads rapidly spread across the skeletal giant, intertwining and weaving as if filling the empty frame with Flesh and skin. Finally, at the outermost layer of the giant, they formed a set of seemingly ordinary ancient armor that exuded overwhelming pressure.

The black giant armor draped over the giant’s body.

The Undead General, now airborne, landed on the giant’s neck, and a head encased in a black helmet assembled in an instant.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The armored giant stomped heavily on the ground, stirring up hurricane-like winds and dust waves.

Before the enormous ogre, it cast a shadow far larger, more imposing, and terrifying.

“What… what is that?”

An old Lord had just finished declaring the ogre invincible when he saw the colossal black-armored giant rise from the black mist.

He became completely stupefied, muttering incessantly.

“Whose officer is this?!”

“What a terrifying ability this is!””This is definitely a veteran Elite, to actually utilize energy armaments to construct a giant body—what an outrageous idea and exaggerated maneuver.”

The ogre, already possessing intelligence, felt an inexplicable surge of fear.

Enraged by its own trepidation, it roared loudly, gripping a massive wooden club engulfed in blazing orange-red energy flames. With an unstoppable momentum to shatter everything, it swung down heavily with both hands.

It was caught by a black hand.

Unable to advance even half an inch.

On the Black Armor giant, taller than the ogre itself, a pair of crimson eyes slowly lit up, like lights in the night that overlooked and disregarded everything.

“You dare to dance before me?”

The ogre seemed to hear these words echoing in its ears.

It continued to roar, ready to fight with everything it had.

But the armor giant, faster than the ogre, extended its other hand, grabbed the ogre, and slammed it heavily into the ground.

Then,

with agility defying its massive size, the giant swung its fists repeatedly, each strike sending ripples of gray energy outward. The ground continuously cracked and collapsed. The ogre, trapped in the pit, was relentlessly pummeled.

Ten punches!

Twenty punches!

Thirty punches!

Fist radiance imbued with cursed power fell like rain. Initially, the enlarged ogre could offer some resistance, but it was soon beaten into a daze. Its strength waned, and its injuries grew increasingly severe.

It stared wide-eyed, disbelief written across its face.

You’re clearly so much stronger than me, how can you use such tactics…

Boom—

The weakened ogre was completely defeated, dissolving into particles of light and vanishing from the Arena. It then reappeared in its original form outside the arena.

Grieving like a two-thousand-pound child.

Dispelling the giant form, Deadbone returned to his unremarkable “original appearance,” his gaze calmly sweeping the surroundings.

He remained composed, silent.

To others, this exuded absolute confidence and pride.

Truly invincible.

“Who else dares to dance before me?”

No one.

Not a single one.

The old Lords stared blankly until the ten-minute mark ended and the arena closed. A figure in silver-gray armor appeared outside the pillar of light, holding a badge-like Hero’s Token.

He glanced around, then pushed through the crowd and walked away, vanishing in the blink of an eye into the Secret Realm.

Only then did the surrounding Lords finally breathe heavily.

The pressure from the mysterious figure was overwhelming!

…

Mu Yuan let out a long sigh of relief. “Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened.”

He had prepared for various scenarios where Deadbone might be ambushed after obtaining the Hero’s Token. It seemed that Deadbone, in his Skeleton Giant form, had indeed left a psychological scar on many Lords.

The all-out effort wasn’t in vain.

This was also one of the reasons he had Deadbone act alone under the guise of a mysterious figure.

After this battle, few were even discussing the Tianyuan Territory anymore, instead speculating about the identity of the silver-gray armored figure.

“He is a Lord.”

“There is an eighteenth Lord in this Secret Realm besides us.”

A Lord remarked. He had seen the Hero’s Token appear in the mysterious figure’s hand.

What a cunning old fox!

This Lord is overwhelmingly powerful yet excessively deceitful!

How infuriating!

With all the Treasures in the Secret Realm now plundered, the Lords had no reason to stay any longer. This was especially true for those who had managed to secure valuable Treasures.

Some Lords, wary of their surroundings, prepared to leave.

Lord Mu was no exception.

He silently recited, “Return.”In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the Secret Realm, though just before leaving, he faintly heard someone shouting, “Big shot, wait! Let’s add each other as friends!”

No adding.

The bright sunshine of Tianyuan Territory bathed the land.

“After being busy for several days, I can finally rest properly.”

“How about making something delicious, gurgle~”

“I haven’t patrolled for days. No, I need to check if there are any oversights.”

“The sunlight is too dazzling. I still miss my grave mound more.”

“Better to cultivate!”

Deadbone and the other generals went about their own business.

Mu Yuan felt like taking a nap, but before that, he first checked the materials needed for the Training Ground and Cultivation Chamber.

He placed orders to purchase them in the trading area.

And at this moment,

“Shocking news: the mysterious Lord made a move, forcefully obtaining the Hero’s Token in the form of an armored giant.”

“Tianyuan Lord appears in a Rank 1 Resource Secret Realm.”

“Great Sun Lord issued a challenge, Great Sun Lord got wrecked. This battle was witnessed by seventeen Lords.”

“I was there on the scene, I can testify. Great Sun Lord was so fast, he got wrecked in one second.”

Inside Great Sun Territory.

A certain Lord’s face turned green and red, “You guys understand nothing! You understand nothing!”

“But Tianyuan Lord’s power is truly too overwhelming. It seems he has another general who is no less formidable than Red Robe.”

“I… I can’t catch up!”

He felt somewhat dejected.

He had already recruited a Future General of Outstanding One-Star, and before today, he was full of confidence, ready to defeat Wang Ba and challenge Tianyuan, but…

Now he had not a single drop of confidence left.

By the time his Outstanding-tier general advanced to Professional Tier and Elite level, Tianyuan Lord’s generals would only have reached even higher positions.

Once he fell behind by one step, he would lag further with each subsequent step.

He would forever live under Tianyuan Lord’s shadow.

“No, I still have one chance!”

“At the Hero’s Ceremony!”

“Some heroes recruited during the ceremony already possess considerable ranks. This is my only chance to catch up to Tianyuan Lord.”

These heroes are either erudite, wise, or powerful.

They possess certain experiences and even come with their own Treasures or blueprints.

Competition at the Hero’s Ceremony doesn’t rely on martial prowess. Being strong is useless. What truly allows a Lord to stand out is whether they possess unique qualities that can attract heroes.

Two chapters, roughly seven thousand words. No more (:з」∠)

(End of chapter)