Chapter 136 – The Main Force of Tianyuan Territory

Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!

Gazing at the domain spreading out with Deadbone at its center, Lord Mu remained speechless for a long time.

“This… this is the creation of a domain?”

To be fair, with Undead General possessing prerequisites like ‘Hero Aura’, ‘Major Achievement in Concept’, and ‘Terrain Skills’, it seemed reasonable for him to grasp the power of a domain through the opportunity of a breakthrough…

Reasonable my ass (Д)ノ!

This is a domain!

One of the three major barriers to the Legendary Realm!

And what exactly the Legendary Realm represents… Mu Yuan actually had no idea.

Even the three elements—’Domain’, ‘Willpower Light’, and ‘Transcendent Body’—he only knew the terms and nothing beyond that…

What exactly is a domain? What is Willpower Light? As a newbie, how could he, Mu Yuan, possibly understand?

Not to mention him, even his former newbie guide ‘Not a Daughter Con’ Yang Kong, an old-timer with probably two or three years of gaming experience, admitted he didn’t know how strong a Fourth-Order Commander Tier was, let alone the Legendary Realm above it.

Everyone has heard of the Legendary Realm, but how many have actually seen a legend?

“However, if Undead General can create a domain at the Elite Tier, there’s no reason why other powerful individuals or top-tier troops couldn’t do the same. It seems this world is even deeper than I imagined.”

…

To help Deadbone absorb more predecessors’ experience, Mu Yuan went to the forums to search for information on domains.

Fortunately, as a Lord now, his search privileges were higher. Combined with the internet era and Xuan Nation’s peaceful environment, he managed to pay for and download some domain-related materials after some effort.

“It’s not far from what I guessed. A domain seems like an extension of Hero Aura, Concept, and Terrain Skills. Among these, Terrain Skills are a hard prerequisite, but most who can create a domain have very high Realms.”

“A domain can strengthen oneself, strengthen allies, weaken enemies, control the environment, and so on.”

The specifics couldn’t be explained in a few words, but after witnessing Deadbone’s Skeletal Domain, Mu Yuan had gained some understanding.

It’s worth mentioning that when he used Deadbone’s template, he couldn’t borrow the power of the domain, which was already mentioned in the materials.

A Concept is a Realm.

A domain is Realm + Ability.

However, Mu Yuan vaguely grasped something, though it was as elusive as the moon reflected in water, he still managed to catch some ripples.

He had touched upon the method, even if only a tiny, tiny bit.

Someone who could nurture a future emperor like Deadbone must be a stunningly talented prodigy~

Ahem.

Gathering his thoughts, Mu Yuan pondered.

“From initial entry to Perfection, there’s still a long way to go for a domain, and Deadbone is only at the initial stage.”

“Moreover, domains themselves vary in quality.”

It’s like the difference between ordinary skills, Advanced skills, and top-tier skills—the gap is obvious.

The disparity between high-tier troops and ordinary troops is even more like clouds and mud.

Domains naturally have no inferior ones, but among the strong, there are even stronger domains. Higher-level domains are more profound and cover a wider area.

As for the Skeletal Domain…

Deadbone suddenly realized, “After creating the domain, Bone always felt something was lacking, but couldn’t figure it out despite deep thought. Now I finally understand.”

As expected of the Lord!

With just a few words, he had enlightened it—not to dwell on the creation of the domain but to keep looking forward.

Yes, how could a mere Skeletal Domain satisfy it? A true skeleton should bravely create an even stronger domain.

Mu Yuan: “???”

So what did you understand this time?

Undead Emperor, truly terrifying!

…

With Deadbone and Dolai advancing to the Elite Tier, Lord Mu’s confidence grew slightly. Additionally, since the attention from the underground had already turned to him, the crisis was imminent and urgent.

He had no choice left.

Mu Yuan resumed the exploration of the Netherworld.

“However, the underground city is quite far from the territory. Why did the monster tribes so quickly turn their attention here?”

He happened to glance at a pinned news post on the forums and realized his situation might not be unique.

…Probably.

「The latest survey from the Taixuan Exploration Group shows that monster tribe activity has increased by 13.6 percentage points compared to before. Some explorers claim this is also one of the subsequent effects of the Crimson Mist omen.」

「The Association also reminds all explorers to be cautious here.」

As a newly promoted Lord, Mu Yuan received a mass-sent special reminder message, also related to increased monster activity.

It reminded new Lords that in case of major crises, they could seek help from nearby areas.

The authorities had established a rescue strategy for group Lords and independent Lords. Lords seeking aid needed to pay a certain price, but when it came to life and death, any cost was worth it for a lifeline.

The official defense group’s prices were also reasonable.

However,

seeking help could only resolve immediate dangers. To truly survive safely, one could only rely on the strength in their own hands.

Only strength is the truth.

…

“The Shadow Assassin most likely came from the Netherworld, but which tribe exactly, and where are these tribes located? We must find out before starting a war.”

War wasn’t something he could start just because he wanted to.

Preliminary reconnaissance and preparation were essential.

Previously, Deadbone had only roughly guessed that there were several tribes existing.

That day, Lord Mu led the team—spiritually leading the team deep into the Netherworld—he had originally intended to go personally. If he loaded the Dolai or Deadbone template, he would at least be an Elite Tier, a genuine powerhouse.

But, Undead General felt it wasn’t safe enough.

The territory also needed someone to hold the fort.

Under Mu Yuan’s command, a group of Skeleton Generals, Skeleton Warriors, and Specters continuously swept the surroundings, even clearing out one monster camp.

This was just a superficial action to attract the enemy’s attention.

Secretly, the real scouts, Deadbone and Rakshasa, had gone deep underground, heading toward the underground city.

Dolai hid within the sweeping legion, ready to counter any strong enemies they might encounter.

And so,

one day,

two days,

three days,

While Mu Yuan continuously swept the area, improving the regional safety index, he naturally also multiplied the patrols around Tianyuan Territory. He multitasked, remotely controlling several Hurricane Falcons, scanning the land inch by inch with their sharp eyes. However, he found no traces of any underground tribes.

Even the sweeping legion encountered no strong enemies over the three days, only eliminating over a dozen Professional Tier monsters.

This number wasn’t high; it was low.

The hidden enemies seemed to have vanished entirely.

But after three days of deep reconnaissance, Deadbone and Rakshasa made a major discovery.

“The Spider-Woman Tribe has conquered and integrated other surrounding tribes? And is expanding outward?”

Mu Yuan pondered.

At first glance, it seemed normal—monster tribes often fight among themselves. But upon closer thought, everything felt wrong.

It was likely the Spider-Woman Tribe had obtained some ‘Opportunity’ and was developing rapidly.

This made them even more threatening.

Deadbone stated that this Spider-Woman Tribe was terrifying and must not be left alone.

Dolai conjured a Fireball, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry up~” It couldn’t wait to start the feast—no, it couldn’t wait to test its own strength.

General Dolai is very strong (hands on hips)~!

“Don’t rush, let’s prepare a bit more.”

Mu Yuan naturally had confidence in Deadbone and Dolai, but since this would be the largest-scale war since Tianyuan Territory’s official establishment, thorough preparation was necessary.

He silently recited Evolution Point.

Instantly, one glowing orb after another appeared in his vision, and starlight-like evolution radiance emerged and gathered on the troops, like a stream of stars.

「Undead Troops: Skeleton-type ×600, Specter-type ×150, Others ×3」

The number of undead troops hadn’t increased much, but over time, he had accumulated and evolved many rare three-star, and even outstanding one-star troops.

Among them, there were 120 Skeleton Generals and 30 Specters.

Additionally, 5 Bone Undertakers and 3 Wraiths.

Among the commanders, Red Robe had evolved to the outstanding three-star grade ‘Ghost General’, lacking a prefix compared to Rakshasa, with slightly different awakened talents. However, Red Robe had great talent in Illusions. Rakshasa… had almost discarded the ‘Sin Eye Prison’ skill—a rough, tough guy couldn’t handle delicate illusion operations.

This was the current main force of Tianyuan Territory!

Skeleton Warriors had long been ‘phased out’; now it was the era of all rare three-star troops.

Even though the Skeleton Generals and Wraiths weren’t high-level yet, with talent bonuses and Hero Aura enhancements, they possessed considerable combat power, capable of fighting above their tier Professional Tier monsters.

If they faced the Snakefolk Tribe again, just this main force… no, even if they removed all the Professional Tier experts from the legion, it would be enough to crush and overwhelm the Snakefolk Tribe.

In his view, evolving Skeleton Generals and Wraiths was highly cost-effective, and combined with Deadbone’s resurrection ability, it was like cheating.

Moreover, Skeleton Generals had far higher energy limits than peers. Leading such troops, Deadbone’s ‘Undead Domination’ talent could exert extraordinary effects.

Greatly raising Deadbone’s upper limit!

In contrast, further evolving Bone Undertakers seemed somewhat ordinary.

He still had some undead Evolution Points left, but Mu Yuan didn’t continue evolving.

Compared to the undead category, the human troops were much fewer in number and infinitely weaker.

Even so, with the support of one-star Militia, the Imperial Guard squad had expanded to 30, and the Sharpshooter squad to 40.

Both were all evolved to rare one-star grade.

Among them, 10 elites each had evolved to Royal Guards and Master Archers.

Several had already broken through to the Professional Tier.

Additionally, there were three weakling Nuns.

This was Tianyuan Territory’s secondary force, only responsible for territory defense. Even so, it was far stronger than the entire combat power of most new territories.

However, the archer commander ‘Seventeen’ would join the undead legion in the expedition, harvesting enemy lives from the shadows.

「Seventeen」

「Troop: Star Shooter (Outstanding One-Star)」

「Skills: Charged Arrow, Triple Shot, Meteor」

「Talent: Mind Arrow」

…

「Meteor: Burns one’s own energy, even Mind Power and Willpower, to shoot an arrow with far beyond normal range and lethality.」

「This arrow will pierce the stars.」

Wrote over two thousand words but wasn’t satisfied and deleted them. The next chapter will really be a little later QAQ, aiming for noon, maybe afternoon.

(End of Chapter)