Chapter 253 – Purification

Within the Foul Lands, the monstrous tide continued to surge relentlessly, endlessly pouring forth and crashing against the expeditionary force’s military formation.

The sounds of explosions and collisions echoed incessantly.

Yet these noises seemed to be stripped away, leaving only deathly silence.

The veteran Lords of the expeditionary force mechanically continued attacking the surrounding monsters, and it took several seconds before someone snapped back to reality.

Staring at the figure not far away, his throat moved for a long moment before all the words he wanted to say condensed into two characters:

“…Holy shit!”

Slaughtering Fourth Order BOSSes like butchering chickens and dogs!

Where did this supreme expert come from!

Even those top-ranked experts on the Dragon Gate List, who were just half a step away from becoming legends, couldn’t be much more impressive than this, right?

The tool-Lords protected at the center of the military formation had been trembling with fear just moments ago, but now they noticed the relaxed expressions on the senior experts’ faces, though these were mixed with indescribable shock.

“What happened?”

But no one answered.

Azurewave City Lord looked toward Mad Blade City Lord and said, “Brother Saber, that crimson warrior just now probably killed twelve or thirteen Fourth Order BOSSes, right?”

“More than that,” Mad Blade counted carefully. “It must have been fourteen or fifteen.”

He couldn’t see clearly and could only make a rough estimate.

That black-armored warrior seemed to be the leader. His kill count wasn’t as exaggerated as the crimson warrior’s, but upon careful recollection, this expert had also severely wounded two or three BOSSes.

Moreover, he alone had wiped out countless monsters; with his own strength, he had defeated the Mountain Giant in direct combat.

Such achievements were equally astonishing.

In fact, this was something ordinary experts simply couldn’t accomplish. He must have killed at least a thousand monsters, and he seemed to still have energy to spare.

As the representative of the Lords and temporary commander, Mad Blade immediately coordinated to tear open the monstrous tide and bring these reinforcements into their formation.

“Thank you for your assistance, Your Excellency.”

“All according to our Lord’s instructions.”

Mad Blade very much wanted to ask who this warrior’s Lord was and to establish connections, but now wasn’t the time for conversation. Even as they spoke, neither stopped swinging their saber and shield.

There was no environment for sitting down to chat.

Monsters continued pouring out endlessly, with even new Fourth Order monsters appearing. They had to seize the current opportunity.

“Advance the formation six hundred meters forward! Let’s purify the Root of Filth on the Mountain Giant first!”

With another swing of his saber that shattered several monsters, he arrived beside Lu Liu.

“Your Excellency, has your Lord dispatched any other reinforcements?

“There are probably still two or three segments of the Root of Filth remaining. Judging by the current situation, there must be at least twenty or thirty Fourth Order BOSSes at the main nest. Everyone’s consumption is significant, and the situation looks somewhat unfavorable…”

As Mad Blade explained the situation, he harbored some hope in his heart.

Since the black-armored warrior Lu Liu wasn’t a Lord, perhaps this unseen Lord was leading another team to purify the Roots of Filth.

There might even be more than one Lord.

The warrior Lu Liu, the crimson warrior, and the nun priestess likely belonged to three different Lords, just temporarily cooperating like their expeditionary force.

However, he hadn’t heard about any other reinforcements, and even Demonflame King Rider had indicated he didn’t know.

“Yes,”

Lu Liu replied thus.There really is! Mad Blade City Lord’s spirits lifted. He was desperately hoping for a strong reinforcement and had already given up much hope for the purification reward from the Foul Nest. After all, without powerful aid, they might not be able to purify the Foul Nest at all, and even if they could, the losses would be immeasurable.

Just moments ago, members of the expedition team had already fallen in battle.

Compared to the gifts of heaven and earth, the lives of his own subordinates were more important.

Even though the Association provided compensation for the fallen, they didn’t want to trade their subordinates’ lives for it. On the contrary, as long as they could purify the Foul Nest, they would receive Contribution Points rewards from the Association, which could then be exchanged for numerous Treasures.

“How many reinforcements are there, and how do you need us to cooperate?”

He asked.

Lu Liu said, “We have five more people. I believe my comrades will definitely purify the Foul Nest. We just need to eliminate as many monsters as possible.”

Lu Liu emphasized sincerity without falsehood.

However, Mad Blade City Lord’s smile gradually faded.

Only five people?

Do you think all five of them are Dragon Gate List powerhouses? Even if they were all Dragon Gate List powerhouses, it still wouldn’t be possible!

He suddenly felt that the path ahead had become perilous again.

In any case, they should first purify the Root of Filth on the mountain giant, and then take one step at a time.

…

In another area within the Foul Nest region.

Three palms pressed against a several-meter-tall Root of Filth.

The Hero’s mark appeared on their foreheads, and pure white light emanated from their palms, enveloping the Root of Filth.

This section of root covered in brown-red patterns shed its skin rustlingly, and then the entire root vanished into nothingness within the light.

Outside the trio, Red Robe manifested the ‘Netherworld Market,’ using this trapping skill in reverse to block the endless stream of monsters lunging from outside.

Rakshasa manifested his Three Heads Six Arms form.

Both were unleashing their power, buying time for Isloria and the others.

This was also the difficulty of purifying the Foul Nest.

Normally, purifying a Land of Filth involved first wiping out all the monster hordes in the area, then steadily purifying the Roots of Filth. However, within the Foul Nest region, the number of monsters was extremely high, and they continuously spawned, making it impossible to eliminate them completely.

They could only race against time.

The expedition team used this method. They had enough Lords there, and when the Lords’ purification powers were activated together, it would only take a few breaths to purify the roots.

Thus, they didn’t have to worry about being interrupted.

But Isloria and the other two’s purification speed wasn’t slow either. The three of them shared the same origin of mark power, and through resonance, it seemed to produce an effect far greater than 1+1+1.

In just a few dozen seconds, this section of the Root of Filth was completely eradicated.

The glorious light of heaven and earth descended, within which floated several green light spheres.

Dolai waved its hand grandly, collecting them all into its dimensional space without a second glance. It still understood the bigger picture.

Isloria gazed in a certain direction, the orb beside her spinning with beeping sounds.

“By my estimate, the last section of the Root of Filth should be almost purified by now.”

“Let’s go, straight to the Foul Nest.”

“Yay, let’s go!”

Dolai patted the Slime it was riding on, and the Slime immediately bounced to the forefront.

Red Robe put away the Netherworld Market.

Rakshasa also returned to his normal form to reduce consumption.

At this moment, Dolai spread open its black-and-white intertwined Domain. Under the Domain’s coverage, the surrounding monster hordes seemed to part on their own to both sides.They passed effortlessly through the tide of monsters, heading straight for the core of the Land of Filth.

Soon, the Foul Nest came into view.

It was a larger segment of root, resembling a small hill formed by countless tangled and coiled roots.

Standing over twenty meters tall.

At the base of the root hill, a massive opening gaped like a dark, bottomless pit. Monsters surged out one after another, merging into the surrounding horde and forming an extremely dense defensive line around the Foul Nest.

Isloria’s expression grew serious.

She manipulated six rotating orbs, swiftly conducting reconnaissance.

She had been consciously developing her abilities toward scouting and support, as the territory had many combatants but few who could assist.

Of course, she remained a powerhouse in the realm of spells, with a heart eager to dominate the battlefield.

But at this moment, that heart sank slightly.

“At least… at least thirty-seven Fourth Order BOSSes!”

Individually, she wouldn’t have batted an eye—she could suppress and eliminate any one of them with ease.

But with so many Fourth Order enemies and tens of thousands of monsters surrounding them, Isloria calculated that she might only manage to kill a few before her energy was depleted.

Activating her Domain would be a struggle.

Domains weren’t omnipotent—the more targets they affected, the greater the energy drain.

Using a Domain to clear a path was manageable, but forcibly resisting and suppressing the surrounding monsters would multiply the energy consumption tenfold or more.

Even Dolai couldn’t withstand that.

Dolai’s energy reserves were only… about ten times hers, right?

“We need to race against time and purify the Foul Nest!”

Thanks to the advantage of their Domain, they wouldn’t be bogged down like the expeditionary force, struggling to advance.

They broke through directly, arriving before the Foul Nest.

Placing a hand on it.

A radiant, pure light immediately cascaded down, enveloping the enormous, filthy main nest. The massive brownish-red roots sizzled and hissed.

The purification speed… wasn’t fast.

“It’ll take at least six minutes,” Isloria estimated.

But at that moment, the surrounding monsters went berserk, lunging at them relentlessly.

She and Xiliu were focused on purifying the roots, unable to spare much attention or evade the monsters’ lethal attacks—they could only endure.

A crimson saber beam dozens of meters long slashed from afar;

A colossal Earth Rock Dragon uprooted the ground, sending surging earth crashing down like a tidal wave.

Dozens of Goblin Elders chanted in unison, summoning fiery dragons tinged with blood that roared through the sky, shaking the very heavens.

The outermost layer, the Netherworld Market, was already pockmarked and battered.

Countless imps met gruesome deaths.

Red Robe’s eyes welled with tears. “It’s too tragic, too tragic! I must file for work-related injuries with the Lord.”

Rakshasa darted left and right, his explosive power allowing him to instantly slay several Fourth Order BOSSes, but he too was left battered and scarred.

“But don’t worry, leave it to this Dolai.”

Dolai withdrew its hand, stepping to the forefront with a look of utmost seriousness on its small face.

“I have General Dolai, who can slay all enemies.”

It still remembered the Lord saying that.

Dolai would not disgrace the title of General.

Beneath Dolai, the Slime’s eyes widened, and an intangible black-and-white Domain instantly spread out.

The Domain generated spatial repulsion, pushing back the lunging monsters, saber beams, and fiery dragons.

Energy drained away like flowing water.

But it wasn’t a big problem.On the Slime’s back, the Shapeshifting Badge transformed into the shape of a staff, held in Dolai’s hands.

Isloria instantly understood.

Maintaining her posture, she manifested a vast River of Stars. The River of Stars resembled a City Wall, encircling the group.

From it, she projected beams of starlight, enveloping Dolai.

‘Rapid Chant’!

‘Energy Circulation’!

One enhancement after another descended.

Two seconds later, a Blazing Sun slowly rose, peacefully annihilating everything in front of it.

Even though the Blazing Sun’s expansion wasn’t fast enough, allowing many Fourth Order BOSSes to instinctively retreat; even though the Blazing Sun’s single-target damage wasn’t strong enough, leaving the distant Earth Rock Dragon still alive…

The monster tide was also cleared out in a large swath.

With one strike, at least thousands of monsters were destroyed, and several Fourth Order monsters were blasted to death.

The battle achievements were magnificent.

However, this was after all a Foul Nest, with endless monsters surrounding them. In just over ten seconds, countless monsters came surging again.

Dolai unleashed a second Blazing Sun.

This time, due to the sparser monster tide, only over a thousand were eliminated.

But if not eliminated, these thousand-plus high-Rank monsters could still put immense pressure on the Domain.

Therefore, they needed to choose the optimal elimination timing to balance energy consumption and Domain pressure.

Isloria’s eyes seemed to flash with flowing light as she quickly calculated the results.

If Dolai could unleash six bursts, then the interval should be forty-nine seconds;

If Dolai could unleash ten bursts, then the interval should be thirty-seven seconds;

If…

“Dolai, how many more times can you burst?”

Isloria asked.

Dolai hesitated for a moment, extending ten fingers, “Probably… um… about twenty, thirty, forty times?”

It was hard for it to explain clearly.

It raised its staff high. While energy surged from within its body, fire element particles from the world also converged towards this place.

Even several roaring fire dragons not far away immediately disintegrated, transforming into fire element nutrients that merged into the rapidly expanding giant Fireball before Dolai.

This was the effect brought by fire element control + top-tier Devour.

Influence over the power of heaven and earth!

This was an authority only those in the Legendary Realm possessed, though some Epics could slightly influence heaven and earth through special abilities.

Dolai was currently like this – its capability was far inferior to Legendary Realm, yet it still greatly reduced its own consumption and devoured all surrounding flames to strengthen itself.

The Blazing Sun erupted once more.

…

The Blazing Sun erupted again.

…

The Blazing Sun erupted for the seventh time.

…

Dolai had already lost count of how many monsters it had eliminated.

Beneath it, the large Slime opened its mouth and inhaled, causing countless flames, lightning, and world element particles to swarm in.

These Impurities energy, after being Devoured and transformed, refilled its recently depleted energy pool by a segment.

Exactly how many Blazing Suns it could unleash, Dolai couldn’t say for sure either.

However,

Although it had eliminated many monsters, the later Blazing Suns failed to kill any Fourth Order BOSSes. These guys were too cautious – whenever the Blazing Sun erupted, they either fled far away or gathered energy for defense.

This made Dolai stomp its feet in frustration.

Meanwhile, Rakshasa had forcefully killed seven or eight, with Red Robe’s Illusion assistance.

And it, General Dolai, had only managed to instantly kill three Fourth Order monsters through the ‘Space Devour’ skill.

The cost-effectiveness was somewhat low.

Three kills consumed one of its Epic ultimate moves.Though Dolai was fixated on the headcount, it prioritized the bigger picture and refrained from using the highly draining Space Devour. Instead, it commanded the Slime beneath it to extend a tentacle and press it against the Foul Nest. Every ten to twenty seconds, Dolai itself erupted with a Blazing Sun, slaughtering and repelling the surrounding monsters.

Time ticked by.

Deafening roars and tremors reverberated across the land again and again.

The outer shell of the Foul Nest crumbled away.

The blazing orange sun illuminated the Foul Lands repeatedly, shattering and sinking the ground for hundreds of meters, forming an enormous crater.

Within the giant pit, brownish-red roots spread like spiderwebs beneath the Foul Nest.

The underground portion was far more massive than the part above ground.

An eerie red glow continuously converged from the tips of the brownish-red roots toward the main nest.

These fine roots remained completely unscathed under the repeated assaults of the scorching Blazing Sun.

Neither flames, lightning, nor even Space Devour could damage them in the slightest.

They were protected by the Dao.

Only a Lord or a Hero Mark, borrowing the power of the world, could purify them.

Several minutes later, a brilliant white radiance burst forth.

The entire main Foul Nest, like a collapsing building, cracked with countless fissures. Fragments continuously fell, turning to ash and dissipating within the white light.

The countless fine roots beneath the main root shattered and vanished like breaking crystal rods, crunching and fading away.

The Hero Mark receded.

And the radiant gift of heaven and earth descended.

Dazzling, breathtaking, and heartwarming.

(End of Chapter)