Chapter 254 – Harvest and Aftermath

White light cascaded down, bathing Isloria and the others in a warm, soothing glow.

To their astonishment, they discovered their internal energy was gradually recovering, with even their Rank experience showing slight improvement.

Isloria directly reached the Peak Great Perfection of Third Order, ready for her Fourth Order Breakthrough upon returning.

Dolai made a small advancement to the mid-stage of Fourth Order.

Rakshasa, Red Robe, and Xiliu each gained one or two levels.

Could purifying a Foul Nest really bring such benefits?

Before them,

Within the pillar of pure white radiance, magnificent orbs of light gradually materialized one after another.

Four blue and two green—a total of six luminous spheres.

Though this Foul Nest had just been born, far from reaching its complete form, it remained a nest-level Filth, resulting in an extravagant loot drop.

As the Foul Nest was purified, the Crimson Mist enveloping this area rapidly dissipated.

The withered land began to sprout faint patches of new green.

Though only sparingly.

The surrounding monsters—some continued their frenzied assault, while others scattered in all directions.

“The battle isn’t over yet,”

Isloria declared, “Now it’s our turn to act. We can’t let the surrounding monsters escape, especially the Fourth Order BOSSes. Otherwise, in a few days when they assault our territory with the tide, they’ll cause significant trouble again.”

As she spoke, the River of Stars swiftly flew out, transforming in the blink of an eye into a vast stellar river hundreds of meters long.

The starry river spread like a net, filtering out the vast majority of ordinary monsters while suppressing numerous Fourth Order BOSSes within its currents.

Isloria had directly ensnared over ten Fourth Order entities.

She didn’t pursue kills—she lacked any supernormal killing techniques. By combining multiple arts through her Star-Embracing Art, she could manage to annihilate a Fourth Order enemy in one strike.

But it was cumbersome, strenuous, and consumed too much energy.

Isloria wasn’t fixated on kill counts anyway; it was better to dedicate all her power to powerful crowd control.

She pressed her hand downward, causing the starry river to surge and tremble, temporarily sealing each Fourth Order entity.

At this moment, Rakshasa and Xiliu sprang into action.

Xiliu activated her Dragonkin Mode, spewing Dragon Flame from her mouth while sharp claws sprouted from her hands.

Rakshasa manifested his Three Heads Six Arms form, entering an unstoppable harvesting mode. With proper coordination, Rakshasa’s elimination efficiency even surpassed Uta’s when he ‘released his shackles.’

He was inherently a high-attack, high-speed warrior.

Red Robe… contributed somewhat minimally, given the severe losses her Ghost Market had suffered.

Dolai soared directly into the air, hovering at high altitude while laughing uproariously and hurling down clusters of crimson flames. The Slime beneath it opened its mouth wide, stretching to its absolute limit.

Crack—

The Earthrock Dragon, War Golem, Fear Demon… several Fourth Order BOSSes that had surrounded Dolai froze in place at that moment. Fractured spatial folds continuously spread from both sides toward the center.

Finally, the entire region collapsed and sank, as if bitten to pieces and swallowed whole by a colossal maw.

General Dolai once again claimed the highest elimination count… Gurgle?

Dolai’s elimination count: 7→12

Rakshasa’s elimination count: 8→15

Dolai: “?”

…

Simultaneously, in a different region.

The expedition force was still struggling to advance through the tidal waves.

Suddenly,

“Is the Crimson Mist thinning out, or is it just my imagination?”

Azurewave City Lord gazed around, murmuring to themself.

Mad Blade City Lord gulped down an Advanced potion with several loud swallows, scanning their surroundings. “It really seems… the Crimson Mist is dissipating!”In just a few dozen seconds, the Crimson Mist shifted from thick to thin. Although there were still many red mist threads drifting between heaven and earth compared to the outside world, visibility had greatly improved.

The eerie and ominous feeling shrouding their hearts was gradually fading away.

The land remained parched and desolate, but the strange dark red patterns on it were dissipating… The Mad Blade City Lord even discovered a freshly sprouted green seedling in a crevice between rocks.

All these changes unmistakably indicated…

“The Foul Nest has been purified!”

“The nest has been eliminated!!”

He looked at Lu Liu.

Could it really be that just a few people alone purified the main nest?

It would be more plausible if several powerful Lords joined forces.

As the Filth receded, the pressure on the expedition team also dropped significantly. After all, this team only had a little over a hundred people, not very conspicuous in the eyes of the monsters—at least not enough to attract tens of thousands of monsters to continuously assault them.

Previously, it was the presence of the Land of Filth that drew the monsters over.

But now, the monsters began to scatter, heading toward areas more attractive to them.

“The Foul Nest has been destroyed, everyone. Now it’s time for us to counterattack.”

“Wipe out all these monsters! We can’t let them escape!”

“Kill them!”

“Charge, roar roar roar!”

After a moment of daze, the various Lords became invigorated.

No matter how the nest was purified, at the very least, their mission was accomplished, the crisis in Stone Ridge Town was resolved, and they no longer had to agonize over whether to desert.

They were Heroes!

And now, they only needed to do a little mopping up—exterminate this group of high-tier monsters to prevent them from wreaking havoc on the surrounding territories.

Otherwise, if these monsters scattered, just a few third-tier monsters leading a group could endanger numerous newly established territories.

As powerful individuals, they naturally had to save their juniors when within their capabilities.

Exterminating high-tier monsters would also yield a batch of rare Remnant Souls and rare Materials—definitely not a loss.

Following the order, squads of the Military Soul Legion charged in, like giant blades slicing into the vast tide of monsters, tearing them apart mercilessly.

…

In the Stone Ridge Town Region.

Many newly established territories had already fallen.

During the previous Crimson Mist disaster phase, waves of monsters assaulted them one after another, and many new territories were already under immense pressure. The appearance of the Foul Nest was merely the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Some territories were breached by the monster tides.

More Lords, sensing the dire situation, evacuated. But where could they retreat to at this time? Stone Ridge Town couldn’t save them either. The Lords had no choice but to abandon their foundations and withdraw to Blue Star.

In an unnamed territory.

Earthen walls had collapsed, watchtowers and Arrow Towers were half-shattered. Thousands of monsters swarmed in, devouring everything inside.

In the sky, several Azure and Grand Azure Grey Birds circled, unleashing green cyclones to repel the attacking monsters, their eyes scanning the ground inch by inch.

“There are no survivors left in this territory.”

Mu Yuan sighed and switched his perspective to another territory.

At the same time, a forest was moving across the vast Wilderness. Within the forest, sturdy tree trunks were adorned with greenish cocoons—survivors wrapped in vines. Most were unconscious but still breathing.

Carrying these people, the moving forest hurried without rest toward another location.

…At a mountain foot dozens of kilometers away from the Foul Nest territory.

Dolai and the others, having slaughtered most of the Fourth Order monsters, were taking a brief rest while waiting for Lu Liu and his group to rendezvous.

“Now, can we proceed with the delightful unboxing session?”

Dolai rubbed its hands together as it retrieved the previous loot one by one.

The harvest was immense.

Just the deaths of high-ranking monsters alone would yield Rare Remnant Souls and Rare Materials.

Dolai had collected quite a few, and even packed away high-grade ingredients like the Earth Rock Dragon. Its incredibly spacious ‘Dimensional Space’, which expanded continuously as its own Rank increased, proved extremely useful at this moment.

After all, even high-quality storage equipment might not be able to fit the head of an Earth Rock Dragon.

Yet Dolai had already stuffed in dozens of high-grade ingredients, getting so excited that tears streamed from its mouth.

“It seems these ingredients are quite heavily contaminated, so others can’t eat them. In that case, I’ll gratefully accept them.”

However, what frustrated Dolai was that numerous scattered Soul Sands were littered everywhere, and it simply couldn’t collect them all.

Rounding it up, General Dolai suffered massive losses.

It could only mend its wounded heart by devouring Earth Rock Dragons one by one.

“There are thirty-six Rare Materials, over twenty Rare Remnant Souls, and countless ordinary Remnant Souls.”

“The most precious Remnant Soul is the Rare Three-Star Venomous Spider Queen. So ugly, this Remnant Soul.”

Next, Dolai took out all the treasure chest light orbs.

Besides four blue glowing orbs, there were also seven green orbs and four white orbs.

Dolai swiftly opened the white and green orbs.

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Soul Crystal × 3’.」

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Staff of Combustion (Rare)’.」

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Miracle Blueprint · Spring of Vitality (Rare)’.」

Among the miscellaneous items, the Spring of Vitality blueprint was the rarest, as it could construct Miracle Buildings, and the Vitality Spring Water was currently the main production material for the Tianyuan Territory’s primary potions.

After opening these white and green orbs, Dolai’s expression turned much more serious. It first slaughtered the nearby emerging monsters to calm its nerves, then summoned water to wash its hands and face. Afterward, it recalled Laney’s usual demeanor and assumed a praying posture.

— This is how the Lord always does it when unboxing, gurgle~!

“The time has come!”

“Witness the power of yours truly!”

Open!

Tap, tap, tap, tap—Dolai directly performed four consecutive draws.

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Hero’s Token (Special)’.」

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Manufacturing Blueprint · Thunderflame Cannon (Excellent)’.」

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Miracle Blueprint · Gladiator Arena (Excellent)’.」

「Prompt: Obtained ‘Building Upgrade Stone (Excellent)’.」

Dolai: “Gurgle gurgle~!”

It looked at Isloria, “So, are these treasures truly precious or not?”

Isloria: “…” So you actually don’t know.

Dolai: Actually, I do know a little bit. For example, Miracle Blueprints are definitely not bad.

…

While Dolai was opening the treasure chest light orbs as a Hero, far away in the Tianyuan Territory, Mu Yuan received the information almost instantly.

Prompt messages popped up one after another on the panel, and the notification sounds chimed incessantly in his ears.

He saw these treasures.

Opening each one to examine them carefully, a smile spread across his face.”The value of the Hero’s Token is beyond doubt—even the most elite lords can never have too many.”

On the Taixuan Covenant Platform, Hero’s Tokens are available for exchange, but the required Contribution Points are exorbitantly high.

When Mu Yuan browsed earlier, he couldn’t bring himself to make the exchange.

Now that he had obtained one himself, he certainly wouldn’t consider selling it.

Within Tianyuan Territory, there are many subordinates suitable for promotion to Hero. Any one of them could pass the trial with a “Perfect” evaluation with 99% certainty.

After all, times have changed.

Back when Deadbone and Dolai underwent their trials, their strength was too weak. Even though the trial space balanced the rules, they still started at a significant disadvantage.

Now, however, the top dozen or so subordinates of Tianyuan can enter with a substantial advantage.

As long as they aren’t foolish, achieving a perfect clearance is naturally not difficult.

Mu Yuan pondered over the candidates for the trial.

“Lu Liu is quite suitable.”

In terms of seniority, contributions, strength, and position, Lu Liu is among the top choices among the subordinates.

With the status of a Hero, Lu Liu could also play a greater role in the defense of the city.

As for the other treasures…

「Blueprint: Thunderflame Cannon (Excellent)」

「Description ①: The Thunderflame Cannon is a standardized city defense weapon of the ancient Holy Radiance Empire. By fusing the power of thunder and fire, its projectiles explode, unleashing considerable area-of-effect damage. Additionally, after generations of improvements, the Thunderflame Cannon has a relatively simple manufacturing process and lower production costs.」

「Description ②: This manufacturing blueprint contains the complete production process for the city defense weapon ‘Thunderflame Cannon (Rare).’ Moreover, integrating this blueprint into a forging-type Miracle Building can significantly shorten the manufacturing time of this weapon through miraculous forging… The reduction rate depends on the forger and the forging building.」

Mu Yuan stroked his chin.

City defense weapons and defensive structures are somewhat similar.

The difference is that the Thunderflame Cannon is not a Miracle Building. It cannot be constructed rapidly, repaired instantly, or controlled macroscopically, nor can its destructive power be enhanced by increasing its Rank.

However, the Thunderflame Cannon can be mass-produced. With the core blueprint, the manufacturing time is likely not very long.

This weapon is precisely what Tianyuan Territory needs at the moment.

“After all, Tianyuan Territory still has too few combat-ready troops. Defending such a vast stretch of City Walls is quite a struggle. If enough Thunderflame Cannons are deployed, this predicament could be resolved.”

This is an anti-group weapon, unlike Arrow Towers, which can only target single units.

If tens of thousands of monsters swarm in, Arrow Towers would be of limited use. Even if the monsters stood in rows waiting to be shot, it would take an eternity for the towers to eliminate them.

The destructive power of the Thunderflame Cannon is also likely far superior to the current Level 3 Arrow Towers.

“In that case, let’s use the ‘Building Upgrade Stone’ we just obtained on the Blacksmith.”

Upgrading the Blacksmith doesn’t mean it will immediately be able to forge Excellent-grade equipment.

The main benefits of upgrading are increased forging speed and expanded scale. However, the primary constraint on the Blacksmith’s output is the scarcity of qualified blacksmiths.

There is only Master Li.

Master Li is highly skilled among blacksmiths. Given the right Materials, he even has a chance to forge Excellent-grade equipment. But everyone else is still an apprentice, with most having less than two and a half months of training. Currently, they can only produce a few simpler standardized pieces of equipment.But now, with the manufacturing blueprint available, even apprentices could participate in the production of the Thunderflame Cannon. At this point, upgrading the Blacksmith was quite worthwhile.

The subsequent ‘Gladiator Arena’ was an advanced structure of the Training Ground.

However, it was not limited to just training and combat functions.

The Gladiator Arena possessed three main capabilities:

「It contained a vast internal space.」

「It provided buffs such as ‘Advanced Focus,’ ‘Reduced Consumption,’ and ‘Courage.’」

「Within the Gladiator Arena, combatants could retain their last trace of life force regardless of how fatal the attack they suffered. This locking effect could be generated up to three times at once, with a maximum accumulation of thirty.」

An Arena of such an exceptional Rank was more than enough for the generals within the territory to unleash their full potential without holding back.

It would also be an excellent location to conduct evolution ceremonies.

Mu Yuan pondered.

A short while later, Dolai, Isloria, Lu Liu, and the others returned joyfully with their spoils of war.

The Tianyuan Territory had also eliminated a large number of invading monsters and was in the process of tallying the gains. The entire territory was enjoying a rare moment of peace.

Dolai was already preparing for a feast, ready to start the banquet.

The ingredients, of course, came from the recently harvested batch, from which a fair amount of healthy items could be picked out.

At the same time,

Deep in the Wilderness, far to the north of the territory, the Undead General was traveling alone, blending into the ubiquitous monster hordes, completely inconspicuous.

(End of Chapter)