Chapter 199 – Red Giant Tower, I Shall Conquer

While the intelligence personnel of the Eye of Divine Radiance were agonizing over whether Victor was dead or not, the Tianyuan Territory was holding a feast… no, opening boxes… that’s not right either.

They were opening loot like blind boxes.

A powerhouse like Victor was already an absolute big shot in the eyes of ordinary players, and as a public official of the Divine Radiance Empire, he naturally possessed considerable wealth. Even though he might not have carried many of his assets with him.

The blind box opening location was within the Tianyuan private Secret Realm ‘Black Wasteland’.

The blind box opener was General Dolai.

And the blind boxes were naturally Victor’s… corpse, along with the equipment and Storage Ring on it.

His current corpse was not only cold, but the flesh also appeared decayed, completely unlike the Physical Body of a Third-Order powerhouse. The essence of his Physical Body seemed to have been taken by something.

His essence remained in the Netherworld Market, in the form of a soul.

Eternal and everlasting.

What a beautiful passing this was.

Dolai rummaged through the blind box Storage Ring, muttering, “Loot, give me big loot”

It pulled out a bag of Soul Sand, totaling 13,600g.

Then it pulled out 31 Remnant Souls, one of which was a rare one-star Shadow Assassin Remnant Soul.

Immediately after, it pulled out a pile of miscellaneous items.

Maps, confidential documents that needed deciphering.

The map only recorded the areas this intruder had passed through, marking not only the coordinates of eight newly established territories but also noting two monster Tribes and thirteen monster Camps.

“Not bad, these Camps and Tribes are all Treasure Troves.”

Mu Yuan also obtained information about this intruder from some miscellaneous items—’Phantom Victor’.

He indicated he didn’t recognize him.

Not recognizing him was normal.

Phantom Victor was extremely powerful, a Third-Order Warlord Tier powerhouse with the rare three-star ‘Phantom Swordsman’ class. His class wasn’t high, but he seemed to have learned many additional Legacy skills through various channels.

If Rakshasa hadn’t evolved to the epic tier, he probably would have been no match for this one.

But after Rakshasa evolved, any one of his Three-Phase Bodies was enough to suppress him.

Yet even someone as strong as Victor only marked the monster Camps and Tribes along the way without charging in to seize resources. This was the weakness of ranger players. Even if he could wipe out an entire monster Camp, slaughtering hundreds of monsters, it would cost him considerable time and energy, with potentially limited gains.

Unlike Lord players, who effortlessly handle everything from conquest and elimination to collecting loot, just by giving verbal commands. Lord Mu here doesn’t even need to command; his various generals can handle things independently and bring back resources.

The intruder Victor carried the most reserves in various types of items.

Dolai then utilized its math skills, now comparable to a sixth-grade elementary student, counting:

“Common-tier spell Scrolls, 135 in total.”Rare-tier spell Scrolls, 26 in total, with the most numerous being Concealment Aura Scrolls, which can erase all of one’s own aura.””

“Excellent-tier spell Scrolls, none, wait, he used a Space Teleportation Scroll! Damn it!”

This guy really had it coming!

Dolai stomped its feet.

It then pulled out other types of items, such as cannon fodder Puppets for scouting paths, compass needles for detecting energy, and so on.Among this batch of items, it finally unearthed a precious object.

「Life-Substitute Doll (Excellent)」

「Description: After binding with the holder, it can substitute for the holder to withstand all fatal damage during critical moments and restore the holder’s physical condition to its peak within three seconds. The Life-Substitute Doll will self-destruct after use.」

This was an extremely powerful life-saving item!

Mu Yuan had seen such treasures both on the Taixuan Covenant exchange platform and at the Elven Courtyard trading gatherings.

The price was exorbitant.

Moreover, it was difficult to purchase with Soul Crystals alone. One either had to exchange Contribution Points or trade treasures for treasures at high-level trading gatherings.

However,

Mu Yuan’s expression turned strange, “Clearly, this intruder died without ever activating this precious item.”

Was the ‘Life-Substitute Doll’ too weak? Not at all.

This was not only an Excellent-grade item, but many players who had used it also praised it highly.

It was a precious object that could grant an extra life!

But no matter how powerful the Life-Substitute Doll was, the Netherworld Market was even more formidable.

Perhaps this was the unreasonable nature of Epic Skills.

Whether it was the Netherworld Market, Three-Phase Body, River of Stars, or Undead Holy Mountain, they could all achieve effects that were incredible, unimaginable, and incomprehensible.

“But this also shows that the Life-Substitute Doll has its limits.”

“If the Netherworld Market can bypass life-substitution methods, naturally other abilities can do so too. The most reliable way to preserve one’s life is still to eliminate all enemies.”

He sighed softly.

Deadbone nodded in deep agreement.

After examining the Storage Ring, the next most valuable treasures on the intruder were his equipment.

The intruder truly lived up to being a high-level player at the third Rank, with considerable wealth and six pieces of equipment worn on his body.

The combat suit was the rare-grade ‘Night Shadow Battle Armor’; the combat boots were the rare-grade ‘Snow-Treading Flying Boots’; additionally, there were rare accessories ‘Breath-Concealing Pendant’ and ‘Omen-Warning Talisman’.

Each piece was a masterpiece among rare-grade items.

Of course, items like battle armor and boots had been worn and showed some wear, making them suitable for Master Li to reforge.

“And there are two Excellent-grade equipment pieces~!”

Dolai said.

One was a paired lightsaber set. When combined, they reached the initial Excellent grade, named ‘Phantom Light Dance Sword’. Not only did they possess Advanced Sharpness and Elementary Enhancement, but they also came with an Advanced Skill ‘Light Shadow Slash’, capable of unleashing dozens of slashes in an instant.

However, no one in the entire Tianyuan Territory was suitable to use these paired lightsabers. Moreover, Master Li would find it difficult to perfectly reforge Excellent-grade equipment.

Mu Yuan could either use them himself for fun or find an opportunity to exchange them for other treasures.

The other Excellent-grade equipment was much more valuable.

「Cloak of Shadows (Excellent)」

「Description: This equipment slightly enhances the wearer’s physique, spirit, and energy, and can conceal the wearer’s aura and energy fluctuations. Simultaneously, it can activate the active skill ‘My Body Merges with Shadows’. In this state, concealment ability is greatly enhanced, allowing the wearer to ignore most detection-type abilities and pass directly through lower-level barriers.」

「Note ①: In dark environments, the effects of this equipment are significantly enhanced.」

「Note ②: The Cloak of Shadows has no physical form and can be integrated into items such as cloaks, capes, or ribbons.」

The gains were substantial.

Recalling the past, the impoverished Tianyuan Territory didn’t have a single piece of Excellent-grade equipment, but now they had obtained two at once.

“Thanks to nature’s bounty.”Beyond the rewards, the defense of the territory must be taken extremely seriously.

The assassins this time weren’t strong enough, but what about next time?

Of course, spies and assassins lurking in the shadows could only be so powerful. For one, true top-tier experts had their status to consider and wouldn’t stoop to such petty acts of assassination and sabotage. Secondly, top-tier experts were widely known, and the Divine Radiance Empire only dared to engage in minor maneuvers to hinder Taixuan’s development—they wouldn’t dare to start an outright war.

After all, in the depths of the Wilderness, there were real enemies.

The Tide, the Fallen Gods, the Filth.

Human territories were continuously expanding, and their influence was growing stronger. However, decades ago, over a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, and even three hundred years ago, true calamities had erupted.

Although humanity emerged victorious, countless nations perished in those disasters.

The next calamity could strike at any moment.

The Tianyuan Territory currently had some ability to survive, but it was far from strong enough. The entire territory needed to be fortified like an unshakable rock.

Half a day later, Red Robe and Isloria worked together to decrypt the classified documents and extracted fragmented information from the intruder Victor’s mind.

They were somewhat disappointed.

“We ‘saw’ the enemy’s hidden base, but couldn’t find any location data. The other decrypted information is only somewhat useful.”

Mu Yuan, however, wasn’t disappointed.

It was expected.

Besides, what could he do even if he found the location? Could he launch an attack? That would be sheer recklessness.

He could also report the location information and seek official assistance, but who could guarantee that this forward base wasn’t a trap set by the Divine Radiance Empire?

For the Tianyuan Territory at this stage, buying more time to develop was the most crucial.

According to the decrypted information, the enemy still knew very little about his Tianyuan Territory. The death of an A-rank agent could be attributed to many scenarios, with the most likely being an assassination by Taixuan Liangyi.

No matter how the Eye of Divine Radiance investigated, it would take time.

And he needed time too.

“Now that Rakshasa and Red Robe have evolved, the Undead Legion has three Epic-tier units, significantly boosting our combat power.”

Even if the highest Rank in the entire legion was only mid-tier second Rank;

Even if the vast majority of soldiers in the Undead Legion were still first-Rank grunts;

Mu Yuan felt it was time to challenge the Land of Trials again. This time, he would go all out. If he could conquer the entire Crimson Giant Tower, the heavenly rewards he would receive would be immense.

…

Land of Trials, Crimson Giant Tower area.

Mu Yuan hadn’t been here for some time. Upon arriving, he found the place quite lively, with dozens of Lords present, including some he recognized.

Great Sun Lord.

Falling Star Lord.

The unfamiliar faces around were likely fellow newbie Lords from his batch.

It seemed that with the Dragon Court Competition selection approaching, they had also obtained Secret Realm keys. Naturally, they couldn’t resist testing their abilities by taking on challenges.

However…

“Damn! This Land of Trials is way too hard! I can’t even get past the first stage!”

“Not being able to pass is normal. You should be talking about how long you lasted in this stage. We’re all comparing endurance here. With only a few months of development under our belts, which of us newbies could possibly clear it?”

“But I heard that Wave Caller Lord Liu Miumiu cleared the first stage.”

“Gasp!”

Some people glanced toward Great Sun Lord.Back then, Liu Miumiu ranked third on the Golden List, while Great Sun ranked fifth. The two were considered roughly equal, but…

Judging by the Great Sun Lord’s somewhat ashen expression, it was clear he hadn’t managed to break through.

He was probably still far from it.

No wonder the Great Sun Lord’s ranking on the Rising Stars List kept dropping. He just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

“What about Tianyuan Territory? Does anyone know the achievements of the great Tianyuan?”

First update…

(End of chapter)