Chapter 298 – Stockpiling Bones and Wilderness Buildings

Dangerous. This is far too dangerous.

Whether Deadbone himself could withstand the damage from the Desolate Qi, Mu Yuan wasn’t certain, but he definitely didn’t dare let that power touch him.

Even now, with the overflowing Desolate Qi completely exhausted, the massive forty-meter-wide crater still emanated a terrifying, heart-palpitating aura.

No one dared approach!

Dolai remained hiding far away.

Oh, wait—someone was cautiously inching forward, step by tentative step. It was Isloria. Whenever this girl encountered something novel, she threw caution to the wind.

Mu Yuan could at least confirm that the Desolate Qi had been fully depleted and there was no danger within the crater. The Desolate Kingbone also wouldn’t cause any pollution or lingering effects on the surrounding environment.

Probably.

“That single slash just now consumed about 0.33% of the Desolate Qi—not much. But if I were to use Desolate Qi against truly powerful opponents, the consumption would inevitably increase severalfold, even dozens of times. So, this amount of Desolate Qi can’t really be considered ample.”

“Moreover, the recovery rate of Desolate Qi is indeed as slow as described.”

Lord Mu dismissed the ‘Deadbone Template’ and reloaded it. As expected, the reserves of Desolate Kingbone he possessed had still decreased by 0.33%.

He waited.

After a full two hours, the Desolate Qi finally returned to its previous level.

Which meant…

“If the Desolate Qi were completely depleted, it would take about 25 days to fully recover.” This was indeed as slow as a turtle crawling. Although in the eyes of some powerful beings, having a trump card with a cooldown of less than a month was incredibly short.

Mu Yuan wasn’t satisfied.

He suspected Deadbone wasn’t satisfied either. It would depend on whether the Undead General himself could find a way to improve the recovery rate of Desolate Qi.

The tier of Desolate Qi was extremely high, far beyond what a minor Fourth Order commander like him was qualified to master.

But conversely, dealing with Fourth Order commanders didn’t require the use of Desolate Qi at all. Once Deadbone employed the power of Desolation, what they might face would be…

Half a day later,

Crack, crack, crack—

On the massive Bone Nest, the thick, towering bones that rose from the ground and intertwined began to slowly retract, withdrawing into the pair of pale Bone Wings spread behind Deadbone, who sat upon the Evolution Altar.

Soon after, the Bone Wings also retracted into his body, and the black-armored figure seated high on the altar opened his eyes, his soulfire igniting. Deep within the faint, eerie blue glow of his pupils, a trace of noble, majestic golden light flickered faintly.

Then, all signs of divine majesty vanished without a trace, as if sitting here was merely an unremarkable, ordinary, insignificant black-armored warrior.

Ordinary Warrior Deadbone, reporting for duty.

Mu Yuan inquired in detail about the gains from Deadbone’s evolution.

As expected, his understanding and application of Desolate Qi had reached a considerable depth.

But the Undead General still let out a dissatisfied sigh. He had originally hoped to use the stimulation from the Desolate Kingbone’s Awakening to tap into his potential and significantly increase his basic three attributes, thereby reaching the ‘Limit State’ more quickly.

However,

while his basic three attributes had greatly increased and he had unlocked a substantial amount of potential, his potential ceiling had also risen by a large margin.Two negatives make a positive.

Overall, Deadbone’s path to the ‘Limit Realm’ remained distant.

It hesitated slightly, wondering whether to abandon this potential and directly break through to the Legendary Realm. The territory desperately needed a Legendary Realm powerhouse now—who would shoulder this responsibility? It felt duty-bound.

But Mu Yuan rejected this idea.

“There’s no need. We’re not at that point yet. Our Tianyuan Territory isn’t without means to deal with Legendary Realm experts.”

The Divine General Rune Stone and the Scepter of Heavenly Authority were both trump cards he held in reserve.

With proper application of other methods, it wasn’t impossible to contend against weaker Legendary Realm experts.

Most importantly, they hadn’t reached that critical juncture.

Breaking through now would mean damaging one’s foundation and limiting future potential—essentially trading future security for temporary safety.

Moreover, merely meeting the requirements for ‘Self Ultimate Sublimation’ didn’t guarantee a safe breakthrough.

Beings with higher potential required several times, dozens of times, or even hundreds of times more ‘fuel’ to burn during breakthrough compared to others at the same realm.

Currently, Tianyuan Territory lacked complete Legendary Realm breakthrough facilities.

Mu Yuan had originally planned to take Dolai and Deadbone to Boulder City to rent fully-equipped, luxurious breakthrough altars once they reached the Limit Realm.

But such plans had now become impossible.

He felt grateful that before Blue Star’s fusion, he had prioritized caution and purchased some auxiliary treasures for Legendary Realm breakthroughs using either Soul Crystals or Contribution Points.

The core package consisted of 12 complementary treasures that could increase breakthrough probability, slow the ‘fuel’ burning rate, and ensure survival upon breakthrough failure.

Mu Yuan had prepared two sets of such core packages.

Even so, failed breakthrough attempts would still result in severe injuries, requiring extensive recovery time and nourishment before another attempt.

Polishing one’s body to its limit and perfection at the Fourth Order Peak could effectively increase breakthrough probability—a fact long confirmed by research papers.

Compared to some small nations, the Taixuan Alliance’s path to the Legendary Realm was relatively mature, despite the Alliance having been established for only over sixty years.

Hearing this, Deadbone abandoned the thought of forced breakthrough.

Trading future security for temporary stability was indeed inadvisable.

However, not breaking through didn’t mean progress had to stop. Polishing one’s body to its limit was a gradual process requiring considerable time, and minor improvements in three attributes didn’t significantly reflect in combat power.

Deadbone turned its attention to its core skills.

The Undead Holy Mountain could continue expanding—while Domains had expansion limits due to rule restrictions, the Holy Mountain did not. Watching the mountain slowly spread and rise, seeing more undead creatures emerge from bone piles and corpse mounds on its peaks, filled it with satisfaction.

But this alone wasn’t enough.

It needed to stockpile more, just a little more—no, a billion times more.

Every undead creature, great or small, could provide it with power. Each additional undead born from the Holy Mountain increased its sense of security by a fraction.

Currently, on the Holy Mountain, slightly above the Bone Dragon’s nest, stood a well merely meters in diameter but bottomless, as if leading to the mountain’s depths and the underworld beyond.The above-ground portions of the wells rose like tombstones, encircling the area.

Peering down into the wells revealed no liquid, only wisps of black smoke drifting upward, slowly emerging from the openings.

“Too little, far too little.”

“The Well of Death hasn’t even accumulated a thin layer at its bottom.”

Before the Well of Death was established, Deadbone had already created energy storage crystals on the sacred mountain. These inanimate objects served as his hidden reserves, while undead creatures and other ‘living’ entities also acted as his concealed backup energy sources.

The energy he had stored was already substantial.

Moreover, Deadbone’s reserve energy storages had always been primarily for depositing energy, with withdrawals being rare. On the occasional instances when he used some of his reserves, he felt compelled to replenish it twofold, threefold, or even tenfold.

Only then could he feel a sense of fullness and security.

But now, faced with the empty Well of Death, his sense of security felt like a dried-up well, drained along with the vanishing water.

“This is far too insecure.”

“What if there comes a day when I need to draw energy from the Well of Death, and it happens to be empty? That would be a life-or-death crisis!”

“Rounding it up, failing to charge the Well of Death is equivalent to inviting a major catastrophe.”

With this thought, Deadbone could no longer remain idle. After informing his Lord, he hurriedly set out beyond the territory.

Praise the Lord for his foresight, praise the Stealth Orb.

Without this treasure, he would have to hesitate when searching for materials to recharge the well. The Lord truly is steady and reliable.

His own Tianyuan Will and steadfast spirit still had room for improvement.

…

“Deadbone is preparing to charge the Well of Death, explore methods to replenish the power of desolation, and simultaneously probe the surrounding large tribes more deeply.”

As for Mu Yuan himself, he continued working with Isloria to develop fusion spells, aiming to create more perfect hidden defensive techniques for the city.

Currently, very few squads from Tianyuan Territory ventured out for exploration. This was to avoid leaving traces of ‘living beings,’ as there was only one Stealth Orb, and the supply of Stealth Potions was quite limited.

On the other hand, with the Eye of Tianquan now in their possession, they could survey the surrounding sixty-kilometer area with complete clarity.

Even without War Falcons scouting or exploration squads mapping the terrain, he still had unobstructed vision and no fear of ambushes by intelligent monsters.

After all, even Deadbone had initially failed to evade the scan of the Eye of Tianquan. It was only after Deadbone upgraded his concealment abilities that the Eye could no longer detect him.

Similarly, even a powerful individual wielding a Stealth Orb could not escape the gaze of the Eye of Tianquan, as its scans of outsiders were not limited to detecting aura alone.

To the south, a small Soul Sand Mine located just over a hundred kilometers from Tianyuan Territory was something Mu Yuan had no immediate plans to exploit. He had even camouflaged the exposed sections of the vein, making the entire Soul Sand Mine even more inconspicuous.

“I’m not short on Soul Crystals for now. There’s no current channel to purchase Remnant Souls, and I still have a large stockpile saved up from before, enough to cover expenses for the foreseeable future.”

“Besides, our recent income has been substantial. The attacking monsters keep bringing us nature’s gifts time and again.”

Thus, he had no intention of mining for now.

If they were to start mining, they would first need to eliminate the surrounding large monster tribes to create a safe environment for such operations.

Mu Yuan tapped his fingers on the desk, lost in thought.”On the other hand, exploring southward to find clues about the Alliance remains equally important.”

Originally, a certain someone (Dolai) wanted to volunteer to head south.

It flies fast, after all.

Previously, flying from Tianyuan Territory to Boulder City didn’t take much time. If Dolai were to fly south continuously, it might find traces of Taixuan within a few days under favorable conditions.

But this depends on everything going smoothly.

Although General Dolai travels quickly, it isn’t skilled at concealing its tracks or hiding its aura. Letting it travel day and night without rest, Mu Yuan truly couldn’t feel at ease.

Another important reason is that Dolai is currently pushing toward the Legendary Realm and serves as the territory’s main combat force… making it even less suitable for southern exploration.

After pondering for a long time, Lord Mu assigned this arduous task to a subordinate who excels in both offense and defense, possesses considerable survival skills, and ranks among the top five in movement speed within Tianyuan Territory.

—Rakshasa.

To ensure smooth communication, Mu Yuan gave the remaining Hero’s Token to Rakshasa for use. This veteran’s promotion to Hero was well-deserved.

Soon, Hero Rakshasa made his debut, carrying several Stealth Potions, two Space Teleportation Scrolls, and various tools for positioning, reconnaissance, recording, and communication, heading straight south.

Now, they just needed to wait for Rakshasa’s news.

The restless Dolai, though not entrusted with this important task, also received an assignment—after all, it couldn’t train its body 24/7, as there’s a daily limit to how much potential it can tap into.

Thus, Dolai took the Guiding Compass and began its favorite treasure-hunting phase.

Miracle Buildings might not be edible, but they’re still treasures. Roughly speaking, Mu Yuan thought letting Dolai search for them might yield some unexpected results, so he allowed it.

General Dolai is reliable most of the time.

“I purchased two Guiding Compasses from the Mystery merchant, giving a total of six uses. I hope we can find some high-value Miracle Buildings.”

“But we shouldn’t set our expectations too high. The price of this item is only slightly higher than rare treasures. Let’s keep a normal mindset—if we don’t find anything, it’s not a loss; if we do, it’s a gain.”

He thought.

Dolai’s motivation is always maxed out when it comes to things it’s interested in. It activated the Guiding Compass and chased the pointer at full speed, quickly arriving at the first destination.

The target was quite conspicuous.

On a rugged barren mountain stood a magnificent ancient arena, covering a large area and exuding an ancient, weathered charm, as if it had endured thousands of years of erosion.

Even so, the entire arena was still enveloped in a faint, glorious light, mysterious and extraordinary.

This wasn’t the first time Dolai had seen such an arena.

“It’s the Hero Arena, gurgle~”

“Probably useful, right?”

Seeing the Hero Arena, Dolai recalled the gatekeepers who had beaten it up back in the day.

It was time to take revenge on those gatekeepers.

Hmm… revenge can wait for later. Finding buildings is more important now.

Dolai marked this location and activated the Guiding Compass again.

Beep~ beep~ beep~!

The pointer spun rapidly, gradually slowing down after a few seconds and firmly pointing in a certain direction. A faint golden light covered the pointer, indicating the approximate distance between the holder and the guided target.

General Dolai, onward to the next mission~It crossed over mountains and traversed rivers. Transforming into inconspicuous birds and beasts, it drank the Stealth Potion and rustled through the treetops.

“Hmm, there’s a Mountain Rock Giant here. Mark it, mark it.”

“Found a Dark Knight. This guy seems to be the local tyrant of this area. Well, mark it down too.”

“Eh? There’s an Evil-Eyed Wyvern here? Dolai really wants to take action. If we hunt this wyvern and bring it back, Lord and Xiliu would like it, right?”

However, it was burdened with the important task of finding structures and couldn’t waste a single moment of the Stealth Potion’s duration.

Dolai merely cast a longing glance at the Evil-Eyed Wyvern before turning away without looking back.

…

In its white dove form, Dolai occasionally glanced at the compass hanging around its neck.

The golden light emanating from the needle grew increasingly bright and began to flicker slightly, indicating that it was getting closer to the target.

“About six or seven kilometers left.”

Dolai thought it was quite experienced in this regard.

But it suddenly came to an abrupt stop, its small white wings clinging to a tree trunk as it peered into the distance.

“There are monsters! Intelligent monsters!”

Through the treetops, it could vaguely make out a dusty yet eerie shrine faintly visible in the distant woods.

This shrine was undoubtedly the target the compass was pointing to.

However, a camp had been built outside the shrine, and behind the wooden fences, figures of patrolling Gnolls could be seen. Among them, several Gnolls were exceptionally robust, wearing ornately patterned Treasure Armor, seemingly discussing something. They were undoubtedly intelligent Gnolls.

“What to do, rustle?”

Although Dolai was confident that a single super-sized Fireball could eliminate 99% of the Gnolls inside, it also understood that it couldn’t act recklessly.

The time wasn’t right yet; it could only note down this grievance for now.

What grievance? The grievance of treasure theft.

This shrine being occupied was just like before, when the Snakefolk Tribe took over and used up a large amount of energy from the blessed Shrine. The Snakemen using up their Shrine’s energy was already a great grievance. The same applied to the Gnolls.

After hearing Dolai’s message, Mu Yuan pondered.

He took out a map, estimated Dolai’s approximate location, and circled an area on it.

“Judging from the location, this small camp is likely a subordinate force of Gnoll Tribe One. The camp scale is small, but its contained strength isn’t weak. The camp’s position is also quite concealed—we didn’t discover it during previous explorations. It was only through the compass’s guidance that we found this heavily camouflaged place.”

Dolai made discreet markings in the nearby area before quietly leaving, embarking on its third journey to search for Miracle Buildings.

The result…

Was disappointing.

The third location pointed to by the compass was within Gnoll Tribe Two. This time, Dolai didn’t even catch a glimpse of the Miracle Building.

“This grievance is doubled.”

The fourth location was also within a monster tribe. The force occupying this Wilderness Structure was the Snakefolk Tribe located south of Tianyuan.

Dolai similarly didn’t see any trace of the structure.

“This grievance is super doubled.”

Lord Mu also marked them one by one on the map.

“Indeed, the more intelligent monsters are, the better they understand and utilize these Wilderness Structures. Or perhaps, it’s that a group of monsters occupied the Wilderness Structures and rapidly grew stronger by leveraging these unique advantages?”No matter what, intelligent monsters will seek out and occupy Miracle Buildings, but they cannot fundamentally take over Wilderness Structures. Therefore, these structures remain ‘unclaimed’ and will be indicated by the pointer.

As for the Hero Arena, intelligent monsters simply cannot use it, so they don’t care whether it’s occupied or not.

At the same time.

Seeing the golden pointer on the compass begin to flicker, Dolai grew tense and couldn’t help but look around searching.

(End of Chapter)