Chapter 206 – Pre-Battle Preparations, Treant Corps on the Horizon

Ten days later, inside the Secret Realm ‘Elven Courtyard’.

Mu Yuan, Liu Miumiu, Jiang Luoxing, and other Lords were gathering here to exchange information and discuss major world events.

“What’s going on with this year’s Dragon Court Competition? How could they throw us rookie Lords into the preliminaries!”

Jiang Luoxing scratched his head, looking troubled.

His humblebrag drew angry glares from those around him.

Every Lord who could obtain a key to this Secret Realm and enter this small circle was an outstanding talent among their peers, each having made the prestigious rankings back in the day.

Yet even Yu Siyu, the Misty Rain Lord who ranked 36th on the original leaderboard, hadn’t qualified for the Dragon Court Competition preliminaries.

If even she didn’t make it, other newly promoted Lords with lower rankings had even less hope.

This was an immense honor!

Recognition from the big shots!

With an outstanding performance, one might even gain favor and investment from certain powerful figures. What a rare opportunity this was.

And yet, this jerk Jiang Luoxing dared to complain? He’s putting on quite the act!

Jiang Luoxing gave an awkward laugh.

He was indeed humblebragging a little, but his distress was genuine.

“Have any of you considered whether we rookie Lords will actually have a chance to shine there? We’ll probably just get beaten left and right by everyone, making complete fools of ourselves.”

He could refuse, and he had considered doing so.

But he ultimately decided against it.

A real man must face challenges head-on – and this definitely had nothing to do with the fact that his father would break his legs if he refused.

Jiang Luoxing said, “I heard that this time, about a dozen rookie Lords from our batch will participate, along with a few exceptionally selected promising newcomers from previous batches. And me? I’m the weakest among all these exceptionally selected Lords.”

He understood the reasoning behind these arrangements – one purpose was to train them rookies, showing the big shots’ regard for them; the other was to use them to stimulate this batch of veteran Lords.

But regardless of the reasoning, competition between new and veteran Lords was absolutely unavoidable.

To avoid losing face in the eyes of the big shots, the veteran Lords would definitely go all out to mercilessly eliminate weak, pitiful newcomers like them.

Miserable, absolutely miserable.

He looked at Boss Tianyuan, Liu Miumiu, and the Feathered Serpent. Among those present, only these four had the qualifications to compete for spots.

“Boss Tianyuan…”

Jiang Luoxing wanted to ask something, “Never mind, I won’t subject myself to more discouragement.”

He turned to Liu Miumiu.

If not for Boss Tianyuan’s presence, normally someone of Liu Miumiu’s background, natural talent and ability would be the leading figure in this circle.

Lords like Wang Ba and Shen Lei, who were equally famous as Liu Miumiu, each had their own groups of followers.

But here…

He had organized this entire gathering, even though he, Jiang Luoxing, was just a rookie.

“Boss Liu, what’s your take?”

“What else can I do? Just fight casually.”

Unlike Jiang Luoxing who was under tremendous pressure, Liu Miumiu appeared completely relaxed.

It wasn’t that she was particularly strong – she was at most one or two times stronger than the likes of Jiang Luoxing and the Feathered Serpent – she just had a relaxed mindset.

Outsiders often called her ‘Cold Moon City Lord’s younger sister’, but she actually felt no pressure about this and wasn’t dissatisfied with such a title either.”The thought of ‘removing such labels and proving myself in the name of Liu Miumiu’ was something she only occasionally entertained.

Since it was impossible to reach the heights of her elder sister, and since she had an invincible elder sister, why not just…

Slack off.

Not completely, of course—she couldn’t tarnish her sister’s reputation too much—but being a bit of a slacker was definitely acceptable.

Liu Miumiu had no grand ambitions; she just wanted to manage her territory, then idle away and wait for death.

‘The Dragon Court Competition selections? We’ll give it our best shot early on, just enough to meet the standard. After that, we can drop out and take it easy. Sounds pretty good to me.’

Liu Miumiu laid out her plan, feeling it was perfect.

She seemed unafraid of being utterly defeated, and outsiders couldn’t say much about it.

‘You’re right. No matter how anxious we get, the outcome of us being crushed is unavoidable.’

Jiang Luoxing sighed, also ready to give up. ‘Among us newcomers, probably only the big shot Tianyuan can lose with dignity.’

He glanced at Tianyuan.

Mu Yuan smiled. ‘Just do your best.’

He, too, appeared optimistic.

Could it be that maintaining an optimistic mindset is a prerequisite for becoming a top expert?

Jiang Luoxing fell into deep thought.

As they chatted, the conversation shifted from the competition to national affairs. Unlike online keyboard warriors, they truly had the potential to bring glory to their country in the future.

‘I heard the Divine Radiance Empire has been harassing our Taixuan borders again recently. It’s disgusting.’

‘What’s even worse is that the Divine Radiance Empire has countless lackeys. Most of the time, when their schemes are exposed, they can pin the blame on terrorists because those players aren’t actually from the Starshine Federation.’

One Lord remarked, ‘The Divine Radiance Empire has so many followers because they’ve built three ark cities, guaranteeing absolute safety for their residents during the Fusion of the two worlds.

‘That’s how they’ve won over so many countries. Of course, those players harassing our Taixuan borders are just insignificant pawns, deceived by Divine Radiance and the higher-ups of various nations, and utterly foolish themselves.’

‘What about our country? Haven’t we built any ark cities?’

Another asked.

This one came from a relatively ordinary background.

Information about ark cities was known only to mid- to high-level officials in each country, but here, some Lords were relatives of those in power.

‘We haven’t built any, because ark cities can’t protect many people, and what our Xuan Nation wants to protect…’

Jiang Luoxing spoke, his tone solemn.

‘…is the entire nation.’

…

Blue Star was on the brink of collapse, and the future was uncertain.

How could Taixuan protect the entire nation, or at least do its utmost to safeguard the people of Xuan Nation? Mu Yuan had no idea.

Such secrets were unknown even to Liu Miumiu.

All a rookie like him could do was contribute a modest effort, striving to earn a bit more resources for Taixuan.

Revitalizing Taixuan and crushing Divine Radiance—this was a duty our generation could not shirk.

East of Tianyuan Territory, the Treant Forest.

Dense foliage blocked out the sunlight, with only scattered rays filtering through, casting dappled shadows.

Here, the view was dominated by towering trees, twenty to thirty meters tall. The trees grew with rugged vigor, making this the best place in Tianyuan Territory for relaxation and recuperation.

As soon as Mu Yuan stepped into this place, the air turned fresh, and the chirping of birds and insects echoed throughout the forest.

Flower Fairies and Flower Sprites flitted about joyfully, their clear, tinkling laughter spreading through the air.”Among the three unit buildings, the environmental transformation brought by the Treant Forest is still the most refreshing.”

Currently, Tianyuan Territory possesses three main legions.

The Undead Legion, the Garrison Legion, and the Treant Legion. There is also one being established—the Snow Maiden Artillery Corps.

Compared to the first two, the Treant Legion lacks presence. This is because treants prefer tranquility and often root themselves in the soil, appearing no different from ordinary trees whether viewed from afar or up close.

In the past, the power of the treant lineage was also too weak. Even Tree Spirit Grandma, who held the rank of a commander, could not contribute much in top-tier battlefields.

However, after more than three months of dedicated development, the Treant Legion is no longer what it used to be.

There are a total of 60 treants.

Among them, besides Tree Spirit Grandma, there are three War Treants at Outstanding Three-Star rank. Moreover, all other treants aside from the War Treants are Ancient Treants at Outstanding One-Star tier.

In the Evolution Miracle, his War Treants are guaranteed to awaken the innate talent ‘Root Spirit Draw’—a special ability that promotes growth during peacetime and can absorb the essence of vegetation and earth energy to burst with power during combat.

This talent isn’t particularly strong; in Mu Yuan’s view, a single talent like this isn’t as impressive as the neighboring Dark Heart, Resentment Body, or Fearless Combat Form.

However,

Outstanding One-Star Ancient Treants are guaranteed to awaken the Advanced Skill ‘All Trees Grow’.

When dozens of Ancient Treants cast this skill, even though it isn’t a terrain skill, it can create a vast forest of towering trees that far surpasses any single terrain effect, rivaling large-scale spells.

In such an environment, when War Treants use their innate talent to burst with power, the strength they can unleash becomes extraordinarily terrifying.

Even Mu Yuan doesn’t know its upper limit.

This is the formidable aspect of a fully developed legion system!

This is also the characteristic of treants.

They may lack mobility, but they can utilize the terrain to firmly maintain battlefield advantage. In terms of combination and coordination, the Treant Legion even surpasses the neighboring Undead Legion.

“With the enhancement advantages from the unit building, all members of the Treant Legion have stepped into the Professional Tier. Among them, the three War Treants have barely reached the Elite level, while Tree Spirit Grandma…”

Her rank isn’t much higher, but her attributes are impressive.

Besides her initial skills and those awakened and comprehended during evolution, she has also mastered some basic yet practical skills through self-exploration and studying learning materials.

Skills like Lash, Falling Leaf Blades, Sleep Powder, Parasitic Spores, Absorb, and more.

Especially the latter few, when combined with the Forest of Ten Thousand Trees, can produce remarkable effects.

Of course, Tree Spirit Grandma isn’t strong enough yet and needs a little help.

Mu Yuan stood over a hundred meters away, pointing from a distance.

The radiance of Miracle descended.

Buzz—

The earth trembled.

The entire forest seemed to come alive along with it.

The already majestic and towering War Treants began to grow once again.

「Ding!」

「Prompt: Your unit ‘Tree Spirit Grandma’ has bathed in the radiance of Miracle and evolved into the epic lifeform ‘Treant Lord’, awakening the Epic Skill ‘I Am the Forest’.」

「Prompt:…」

「Prompt:…」

Prompt messages sounded one after another.

Amid the wild dancing branches of the surrounding treants in encouragement, Tree Spirit Grandma impressively comprehended new Advanced Skills and also stepped into the Concept level.

Not only that,”I Am the Forest: Transforms all vegetation within range into one’s own territory, interconnecting them as a unified whole, granting them exceptional growth and recovery capabilities. The more vegetation within the territory, the greater its power. Additional abilities require self-development.”

“Simultaneously, I am the forest, and the forest is me. Since treants possess mobility, so too does the forest.”

Mu Yuan stroked his chin.

What kind of power would erupt when I Am the Forest is combined with the Forest of Ten Thousand Giants?

He looked forward to it.

Second update…

(End of chapter)