Chapter 273 – Aggregate Monsters and Boundary Treasures

Baijiang City Second High School had been submerged in the Eternal World for over half a day.

The good news was that the newly transmigrated area was protected by world energy. The vast white mist that blotted out the sky and the drifting threads of Crimson Mist couldn’t seep into the school grounds. Even the large hordes of monsters attracted to the area were mostly blocked by displaced space.

The bad news was that the small number of low-Rank monsters that had managed to enter the school still posed significant pressure on people, causing numerous casualties.

The good news was that in less than half a day, their transmigrated school had been discovered by a player Lord from the nearby area, giving everyone a strong morale boost.

But the bad news was, according to this Lord, they were already outside the Taixuan Alliance Territory. Affected by the recent Crimson Mist disaster month, countless monsters still roamed the Wilderness. The vast majority of these monsters had been drawn to the school and were now crowding in the thick white mist outside the campus.

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold out until reinforcements arrive!”

On the school building’s rooftop, Tan Moumou spoke with grave determination. Gazing into the distant expanse of white mist, his slender back appeared tragically heroic, majestic, and strikingly handsome in everyone’s eyes.

He was just a young man in his twenties, a relatively new Lord who had only recently shed his novice status. Yet here, he was the strongest.

Besides Tan Moumou, the only Elite-level player in the entire school was Teacher Zhang, who taught the Monster Bestiary course.

Elite players were already considered strong among players.

During the first hour after entering the school, Tan Moumou eliminated a group of monsters with confidence and flair.

By the second hour, he had resisted and gradually wiped out three more groups of monsters. His sword-hand trembled slightly, but he forced himself to remain calm. “Don’t panic, reinforcements will be here soon.”

At the 2.5-hour mark, Tan Moumou turned his back to the crowd and swallowed hard. “Hey, hey, hey, reinforcements aren’t really going to be too late, are they? If no backup comes soon, I’m going to collapse!”

He wasn’t as composed and fearless as people believed.

He understood that even with their location confirmed, it would still take considerable time for powerful individuals to reach them from Xingrong Town.

The distance was at least several hundred kilometers.

As for beyond Xingrong Town? There were hardly any strong players there.

Not to boast, but the other Lords from his batch in the nearby areas were quite limited in capability. With insufficient strength, even if these Lords organized troops to come, their assistance would be negligible.

Perhaps Tan Moumou’s prayers were answered. Just before he reached his limit, a powerful figure descended from the sky as if riding colorful auspicious clouds, bathed in holy radiance.

“Instructor Liu!”

Tan Moumou recognized the newcomer – it was Liu Jing, a famous Advanced player from their Baijiang City, who held important positions including Vice President of the White River Association and Head Instructor of Baijiang Special Training courses.

With Instructor Liu’s arrival, hope was restored, and safety was assured.

“I happened to be nearby so I came ahead of schedule. Other rescue teams might arrive a bit later.”

Liu Jing was a man in his thirties with neat cropped hair that made him appear very capable. Dressed in brown armor, he slowly descended onto the school playground riding a brown-red Soaring Dragon.The brown Soaring Dragon opened its massive maw, spewing blazing orange flames that instantly incinerated the howling monsters charging forward into ash.

Not a single monster could breach this wall of fire.

“Holy shit, a dragon!”

Instructor Liu reached out again, summoning thirty elite soldiers and three commanders from the Lord’s Mark that they carried with them.

The elite soldiers swiftly deployed to various strongholds across the campus, while the commanders patrolled, systematically eliminating every monster on campus. In the blink of an eye, they restored peace to the area.

“Instructor Liu is incredible!”

“You’re not bad either. When I was at your stage, I hardly had any Professional Tier troops, let alone Elite level ones.”

The campus was still protected by the white mist. Seeing the invading monsters being effortlessly slain, Tan Moumou relaxed.

Suddenly,

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A sound like massive objects slamming against the gate erupted abruptly. The next moment, the white mist was torn apart as if by blade-like Crimson Mist, and hordes of monsters poured in through the rift.

Among them, one monster stood out for its enormity—a colossal sphere seemingly formed from countless monsters crammed together. This giant flesh ball stood three to four stories tall, reeking of decay and emanating wisps of ominous Crimson Mist.

Crushing guardrails and walls, the flesh ball rolled into the campus. It didn’t advance further but instead began to writhe, then numerous chilling eyes opened all over its massive form.

Dozens, even hundreds of eyes fixed their gaze simultaneously on the teaching building.

“Ah—”

Someone at the window screamed, blood tears streaming from their eyes.

“Don’t look! Don’t look! Don’t look!”

“What is that?”

Tan Moumou was shocked; he had never seen or heard of such a monster.

“It’s an amalgamation monster!”

Chief Instructor Liu’s expression turned grave. “But why would it appear in a place like this?”

Tan Moumou looked closely and could indeed make out traces of goblins and Jackalweres in the giant flesh ball.

But how could such a disgusting, terrifying monster exist?

Not only was the flesh ball repulsive in appearance, but its power was also terrifying. In their first encounter, it sent Chief Instructor Liu’s mount, the Soaring Dragon, flying.

The Soaring Dragon wailed in agony, fear evident in its eyes.

Several other powerful commanders were trying to lure the monster away, but within moments, they found themselves in perilous situations.

“Instructor Liu, we… we can’t hold it off.”

“Hmm.” Liu Jing drew his combat saber. “I received word that strong reinforcements are nearby and will arrive soon. We just need to hold out a little longer.”

He comforted Tan Moumou with these words.

But in his heart, he knew there were no reinforcements nearby.

In the Xingrong Town area, there were only a handful stronger than him, and most were in the town itself, unlike him who had been in the vicinity. It would take at least three to four hours for anyone to arrive from Xingrong Town.

Could they really hold on that long?

Boom—!!

As if misfortunes never come singly, the white mist drifting outside the campus grew thin, and the monsters that had been waiting rushed in eagerly.

The entire school resembled an isolated boat in a storm, about to be swallowed by massive waves.

Despair loomed from all directions.

Tan Moumou murmured, lamenting his untimely demise.

Instructor Liu slashed at the monsters with his saber, powerless to turn the tide.

Survivors huddled in corners indoors, gritting their teeth and covering their mouths, their entire bodies trembling.

“Roar—!!”

Like a thunderclap from the heavens, a deafening roar echoed from high above, drowning out the cries of countless monsters from all directions.With a single roar’s might, it suppressed all cries of creation.

Heaven and earth seemed to fall into utter silence at this moment, not a single monster’s howl could be heard. No, it wasn’t just seeming—the monsters had collectively fallen silent.

The surging tide appeared to be blocked by an invisible wall, as one monster after another tumbled to the ground, writhing and trembling, yet daring not to advance further.

The injured brown Soaring Dragon also shivered uncontrollably.

Its perception was the clearest.

“It’s a Dragon!”

Instructor Liu abruptly looked up.

In the sky, white clouds drifted, then suddenly the clouds seemed to ignite, turning a scorching red. A ferocious dragon’s head wreathed in flames tore through the mist, casting its gaze down from the heavens.

The dragon’s eyes blazed with fury.

Heavenly fire poured down.

Billowing celestial flames scorched the earth, incinerating hordes of monsters outside the school. The great Dragon radiated a Divine Might akin to the Sky Abyss, transforming the entire school into a Forbidden Land, deterring any monster from taking a step forward.

The majestic crimson Dragon beat its wings as it slowly descended, hovering above the rooftop of the teaching building.

Those who had yet to recover from their shock could faintly make out… a figure riding atop the Dragon, overlooking the land.

“Holy shit, a Dragon!”

Tan Moumou looked at Instructor Liu: “We have such an incredible big shot in our Xingrong Town area?”

Instructor Liu returned a glance: “I have no idea.”

Wait.

Both of them froze simultaneously. The figure on the Dragon’s back looked somewhat… familiar. Very familiar.

Yuan?!

…

Mu Yuan had previously hidden his identity for fear of being targeted by the Divine Radiance Empire. But now that the coordinates of his territory had been discovered by the Eye of Divine Radiance, concealment no longer mattered.

Of course, he remained a low-key and unassuming person.

He had Xiliu hover high above the school center in her Dragon form, continuously radiating her Dragon’s Might.

As expected, this effectively curbed the monsters’ charging momentum.

The monsters cowered.

After all, this wasn’t the Crimson Mist disaster month; the monsters weren’t that frenzied yet. They retained some rationality, but their instincts made them too fearful to advance.

The number and Rank of these monsters were far inferior to the waves that had previously assaulted his territory.

The vast majority were Elite-level, with only a handful of Warlord-level and Commander-level BOSSes.

“Fortunately, the Dragon’s Might is remarkably effective. Otherwise, with just the few dozen elite soldiers I carry within my Lord’s Mark, it would be difficult to block all the monsters.”

He could kill them.

But he might not be able to block them entirely; some would inevitably slip through.

Of course, if Xiliu’s Dragon’s Might were unleashed at full power, it could annihilate all low-level monsters within hundreds of meters. However, that would also affect the survivors inside the teaching and dormitory buildings.

Mu Yuan could only have Xiliu maintain her Dragon’s Might at a moderate level.

He leaped down from mid-air and swiftly summoned twenty Imperial Guard-type ‘Fearless Knights,’ along with thirty Star Shooters and Bone Buriers.

The archers and skeletons took positions on the rooftop, using arrows or Bone Spears to eliminate any monsters that resisted the Dragon’s Might and continued to advance.

The Fearless Knights leaped down from the rooftop one by one, quickly heading to several key areas to guard the gates.

“M-M-M-Mu Yuan?”

Tan Moumou stammered incoherently.

He had always believed that Brother Mu was no ordinary Mortal, absolutely one of the top among their cohort of Lords, with a promising future. That’s why he had actively sought to build and maintain their relationship. But he never imagined he had still vastly underestimated him!

What was he seeing? A Dragon!

A Dragon Rider!

Wait…Tan Moumou suddenly recalled their chance encounter a month ago in Boulder City, when Brother Mu had been accompanied by several of his generals to observe a legendary ceremony.

Could it be that while his own generals were merely joining the crowd for excitement, Brother Mu’s generals had genuinely gone with the intention of learning from the experience?

But Brother Mu Yuan… no, Lord Mu was a relatively new Lord from the same cohort as them. How could a Lord from the same period possess such formidable power? Unless…

Tan Moumou guessed the truth—could the expert be right beside him?

Instructor Liu had also figured it out.

He had no time to dwell on it further, as the crisis remained unresolved, and a terrifying monster still loomed in the distance.

“What kind of monster is that?”

Staring at the giant flesh sphere, Mu Yuan also grew puzzled.

Instructor Liu explained, “That’s an amalgamation monster, also known as a Filth monster. They typically only appear in deeply entrenched Foul Nest areas or the deepest parts of the Wilderness, within Crimson Mist-shrouded crimson zones. Yet now, one has emerged so close to the Alliance!”

This was an ominous sign.

They had to report this discovery.

Of course, that was a matter for later. Right now, the more pressing issue was…

“We must lure this amalgamation monster away.”

He could see that Mu Yuan was relying on the Red Dragon’s draconic might to disperse the monsters as much as possible.

The Red Dragon couldn’t spare its attention.

Moreover, amalgamation monsters were not only immensely powerful, with energy levels dozens of times greater than others of the same tier, but they also lacked fatal weaknesses. As long as even a fragment of their body remained, they could continue to fight.

“I see.”

Mu Yuan indicated his understanding and gently waved his hand.

“Understood, awooo~!”

A white figure leaped down from the back of the Red Dragon soaring in mid-air, darting like an arrow toward the distant, rampaging giant flesh sphere.

The giant sphere had just sent Instructor Liu’s General flying and turned around, its dozens to hundreds of eyes fixed in unison on Sickle Moon, who had landed on the ground, standing on all fours, her fluffy tail held high, and her bundled long hair flowing in the wind.

The giant sphere rolled!

Its rolling speed was astonishingly fast, closing the distance in an instant, and its strength was so terrifying that no one could stop it.

“Lure it away, lead it outside the school grounds.”

Instructor Liu was about to shout these words but froze on the spot.

In the far reaches of his vision, the rolling, charging giant sphere suddenly came to a halt.

Before the sphere, the figure that had once been small and insignificant transformed in the blink of an eye into a majestic and noble giant wolf enveloped in divine radiance.

The giant wolf raised its paw and pressed it against the enormous flesh sphere.

“Blocked? It’s blocked!”

The wolf’s paw trembled slightly, revealing that she was not having an easy time.

But the next moment, a bright moon appeared in the sky, as if daylight had instantly turned to night.

Moonlight cascaded down.

Within the mouth of the Moon Coronet Giant Wolf, the purest and most pristine holy white lunar essence gathered. The radiance of the moonlight pierced straight through the massive flesh sphere!

The sphere shattered into pieces.

Yet it still did not die, showing no signs of pain or sluggishness. The scattered flesh corpses transformed into smaller spheres and giant tentacles, crashing and slamming down toward Sickle Moon.

Sickle Moon was indeed caught off guard.

Her mind didn’t know what to do, but her body had already sprung into action. She became the wind, she became the light.

The giant wolf, racing at high speed, flashed past the fleshy tentacles, dismembering the entire appendage.

She flashed past the smaller flesh spheres, causing each one to split apart.With a speed even Fourth-Order Experts would struggle to track, she flickered back and forth dozens of times across the large playground and surrounding area, leaving dozens of crisscrossing silver light trails in her wake.

Before her, the giant flesh ball had been reduced to nothing but a few palm-sized remnants of a corpse.

The remains still squirmed, but moonlight lingered upon them, sizzling as it turned the remnants to ash, completely vanishing within the moonlight.

“Is… is it over just like that?”

…

Sickle Moon had eliminated the amalgamated monster, but Mu Yuan did not relax.

He hadn’t brought many people on this trip, far from enough to escort the school’s survivors to a safe area. They still had to wait for the main force of reinforcements to arrive.

Moreover, after transforming, Sickle Moon would need to absorb a great deal of moonlight energy to transform again.

Mu Yuan sent Dolai, the fastest among them, rushing over here.

Fortunately, no further incidents occurred. A few hours later, two veteran Lords arrived first, accompanied by two fully-formed legions.

“Well then, we’ll leave this place to you.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Many players kept glancing his way.

Lord Mu quickly retreated from the spotlight, departing gracefully. Of course, as the hero who saved the survivors this time, according to the rules of the Taixuan Covenant, he would receive the largest share of Contribution Points for the rescue mission.

Saving the survivors and earning a large contribution—that was double the joy.

After leaving the school, Mu Yuan did not immediately return. He ventured deeper into the Wilderness for a while, clearing out some more troublesome Advanced monsters.

He scanned the surroundings.

“I haven’t seen a second amalgamated monster. Is this a special case? But the appearance of a special case likely also indicates…”

He prepared to return and ask his two sources of information, Liu Miumiu and Jiang Luoxing.

Deep in the Wilderness, he rendezvoused with Dolai and Sophia, who had just arrived.

He was about to check on the situation at the school area one more time before heading back.

Suddenly,

General Dolai looked in a certain direction. “My intuition tells this Dolai that there seems to be something good over there!”

It flew forward a short distance.

Then, with sharp eyes, it spotted a patch of space in the distance that was shattered like broken glass, yet showed no signs of natural healing.

Amidst the fractured space, an object gleamed with light.

“It looks like a treasure!”

Mu Yuan pondered gravely. “I’ve indeed heard before that in Border Zones, areas where two worlds intersect, a special kind of ‘treasure of two realms’ can form.”

But he never expected to see one here.

(End of Chapter)