Chapter 341 – Deadbone Becomes Legend, The Mysterious Merchant Returns

Mu Yuan could certainly wait, but advancing his territory during this period would yield him the greatest benefits.

If he waited for the territory to naturally grow until it met the requirements, either Lu Liu and his other commanders would already have reached the Legendary Realm, making the baptism somewhat insignificant, or the Tianyuan Territory would have long been overgrown with weeds on its grave.

As long as commanders like Isloria and Lu Liu all stepped into the Legendary Realm, he would possess the power to sweep through Jackal Fang and even stand alone against the surrounding Monster Overlords.

Even in the worst-case scenario, if Lu Liu and the others didn’t have time to reach the Legendary Realm, their current peak Fourth Order strength would still allow them to barely hold their own against ordinary Legendary Realm opponents.

After all, Dolai was only one entity.

If he were in Jackal Fang’s position, he would definitely find a way to tie down Dolai and then crush the enemy from other fronts. The more commanders capable of shouldering the burden, the more confident his Tianyuan Territory would be.

Time passed slowly, yet swiftly.

A month had already gone by since the Battle of Wolfhead Mountain.

Mu Yuan flipped through the battle reports.

“Eleven days ago, the Third Exploration Team encountered a Gnoll Legend. Fortunately, Lu Liu was commanding the exploration team at the time. Lu Liu gathered over a hundred elites, resonating to form a fragmented army soul, and managed to hold out against the Legendary Realm opponent for a while. The Gnoll Legend withdrew on their own after realizing they couldn’t defeat the exploration team.”

“Nine days ago, the Fourth Exploration Team was ambushed by a large group of Jackal Fang monsters, including several massive Flesh aggregates. Thanks to Black Crow’s reconnaissance, the Fourth Exploration Team joined forces with experts like Uta and Xiliu to counter-ambush Jackal Fang’s minions.”

“Dolai was lying in wait nearby at the time, but unfortunately, the Gnoll Legend never showed up.”

“Six days ago, the Elf Legend Mirena encountered a Gnoll Legend. Mirena defeated the Gnoll Legend with her sword, but was ambushed during the pursuit and severely injured.”

“Three days ago, unusual movements were detected from Blood Serpent Embrace in the south. Patrol squads around Wolfhead Mountain and the territory encountered Snakemen experts multiple times.”

Blood Serpent Embrace’s actions were becoming increasingly evident.

This was something Mu Yuan had been worried about all along.

The Tianyuan Territory was located in the narrow strip between the two overlords, Jackal Fang and Blood Serpent Embrace, slightly closer to Jackal Fang. However, with the recent destruction of several large Tribes near Jackal Fang and the establishment of the Wolfhead Mountain Fortress, the Tianyuan Territory now had some strategic depth against Jackal Fang, reducing the likelihood of exposure.

But Blood Serpent Embrace was situated to the south of Tianyuan, with the nearest large Tribe only about two hundred kilometers away from the territory—practically neighbors.

Once Blood Serpent Embrace made a move, his Tianyuan Territory would be in a passive position.

“Still, this was accounted for in our contingency plans.”

It wasn’t entirely unexpected that Blood Serpent Embrace and Jackal Fang, both Monster Overlords following the path of Flesh immortality, would cooperate.

As living beings, they were bound to clash with the surrounding overlord forces sooner or later.

It was inevitable.

However, given that they were still relatively weak, and Jackal Fang had allowed Blood Serpent Embrace to enter their “territory” so early on, Mu Yuan was, to some extent, a little surprised.

“Activate Contingency Plan C-12.”

“Next, we will establish a mining Base at the Soul Sand Mine in the south and use this Base as a center to snipe Blood Serpent Embrace’s minions.”

This Soul Sand Mine was only about a hundred kilometers away from the territory.Mu Yuan had refrained from mining until now, even employing some methods to conceal the exposed parts of the vein.

But now, since Blood Serpent Embrace was beginning to bare its fangs, activating this mine would instead provide a plausible cover for the territory located further back, creating more strategic depth for their own side.

Plan accomplished.

Though, with the enemy probing like this, it was only a matter of time before the main territory was exposed.

Mu Yuan went to the Secret Realm and posted a request to purchase a ‘Watchtower Blueprint’.

“Finding a source for an Advanced Watchtower in a short time is difficult, but a regular Watchtower Blueprint is only Rare-grade. It shouldn’t be too hard to buy one.”

Naturally, Mu Yuan also posted a request to purchase a ‘Large Electromagnetic Coil Tower’.

He had posted this request earlier, offering Excellent Remnant Souls and high-grade Treasures as payment. His rewards were quite generous, and the variety of Excellent Remnant Souls could meet the exchange needs of most sellers. However, no stock meant no stock. Many Lords privately messaged him wanting to buy Excellent Remnant Souls.

Two days later.

“The Soul Sand Mine Base has been established, including: Watchtower ×2, Thundercoil Tower ×10, Sniper Turret ×10, and several Arrow Towers.”

Another two days later.

“Bone Four led the fully-formed Deadbone Corps to engage the attacking Gnoll Legend and Serpentfolk Legend outside the Soul Sand Mine. Relying on the power of the complete Army Soul, the Corps withstood the pressure of two Legends. The Gnoll Legend and Serpentfolk Legend only tested a few moves before disappearing into the vast Wilderness.”

“As expected, this human faction still has means to counter Legends, but that’s all.”

“If they had a Legendary Realm expert stationed here, they wouldn’t have sent a mortal army to face Legends.”

So said a certain Gnoll strategist.

The Elves and Giants also heard about this battle.

“It seems the humans really don’t have a second Legend.”

They weren’t surprised that Tianyuan Territory had ways to counter Legends; they had assumed Tianyuan Lord was a Legend. Now, it seemed that might not be the case.

They also hoped Tianyuan Territory had more Legends. Even if just ordinary, newly broken-through Legends, one more would ease a lot of the pressure.

At this moment, in Tianyuan Territory.

Inside the Excellent structure, the Iceheart Lotus Platform, Deadbone stood alone.

It was preparing to break through to the Legendary Realm.

At this time, not many of the territory’s strong experts had come to observe and learn. Most of the commanders were either stationed at Wolfhead Mountain or the Soul Sand Mine, or were engaging enemies in the wild.

As a result, they couldn’t attend such an important occasion.

They could only watch the scene recorded by the Shadow Recording Crystal when they returned to the territory after their shifts. Compared to witnessing it firsthand, the crystal’s recording ultimately lacked some of the essence.

“It’s about to begin.”

Tianyuan Territory’s experience in breaking through to the Legendary Realm was still insufficient, and their preparations were far less ample compared to other Lords.

But,

the one breaking through was General Deadbone.

Not only was Mu Yuan fully confident, but so were the other commanders present. Everyone was eagerly anticipating it.

“Compared to General Dolai, Dead Bone Boss’s breakthrough experience and process are surely more worth learning from.””Yes, Dolai’s energy is far too immense for us to imitate, and many of Dolai’s techniques are quite crude, not even worth our reference. But Big Brother is different—Big Brother strives for perfection in every aspect, which is precisely what we should diligently learn from.”

The Iceheart Lotus Platform operated at full power.

Ritual arrays and formations hummed to life.

Various preparations and setups were activated in sequence. After several hundred seconds…

“All preparations are complete.”

A ghostly light gleamed in Deadbone’s eyes.

Deadbone ignited his will, entering a state of ultimate sublimation.

Deadbone erupted with soaring radiance.

Deadbone achieved his Breakthrough.

Hum—

The soaring radiance gradually receded as Deadbone, lifted by the might of heaven and earth, hovered mid-air, beginning his process of transformation and sublimation.

His Breakthrough had already…

“Ended?”

“Uh, it seems, possibly, probably has ended.”

“Wait, I just blinked!”

“You dared to blink while observing Big Brother’s Breakthrough? I’ll remember this grudge on behalf of our Big Brother!”

“I didn’t blink at all, but just now, did anything even happen?”

Deadbone’s Breakthrough process was too fast and too uneventful.

It ended in the blink of an eye.

Everyone watched in a daze.

If Dolai’s Breakthrough was violent, then Deadbone’s Breakthrough emphasized ‘smoothness.’ The entire process was incredibly fluid and seamless, step by step, with each step concealing profound mysteries, leaving everyone feeling as if they had merely zoned out and nothing had happened at all.

Did Deadbone achieve perfection in every aspect during his Breakthrough?

Yes.

How much of Deadbone’s perfect Breakthrough process did his subordinates comprehend?

Less than 50%.

Zero is also less than 50%.

One day later, in the territory, Skull Graveyard area.

Deadbone’s Domain had expanded to a radius of twelve hundred meters. This scale was slightly smaller than Dolai’s initial entry but still far surpassed other newly advanced Legends.

Moreover…

Compared to Dolai’s crude utilization of the Domain, Deadbone focused on precision, aiming to utilize every facet of the Domain to its fullest.

Rumble—

The Undead Holy Mountain manifested.

Upon it, the second and third Wells of Death were opened according to Deadbone’s will.

Upon stepping into the Legendary Realm, the territorial scope of his Undead Holy Mountain also expanded drastically along with his Domain. Previously limited to constructing only one Well of Death, he could now build more.

He extended his hand, and strands of golden light emerged.

This was not the energy of heaven and earth but will—the tangible manifestation of a monarch’s majesty. He gave form and shape to the intangible power of deterrence.

After entering the Legendary Realm, relying solely on the innate talent ‘Monarch’s Awe,’ Deadbone could command the submission of the vast majority of elemental particles in the world.

In terms of commanding the power of heaven and earth, Deadbone even slightly surpassed Dolai.

Of course, Dolai had now developed the ‘Whale Swallow’ tactic and no longer employed such outdated methods of command.

Neither did Deadbone.

He stretched out his hand, and dark elemental particles from several kilometers around swarmed toward him. These particles were extremely proactive; Deadbone didn’t even need to expend much of his own energy to leverage the might of heaven and earth.

In the blink of an eye, he molded a hundred-meter-long black giant palm, embedded with stark white bones within the palm print.

With his supreme control, Deadbone maintained this giant hand.

He dispersed the power of the giant hand and, in an instant, gathered a Nether River far exceeding the previous scale.

These Moves appeared powerful, yet he was not satisfied.

“Too slow.””The speed of commanding and gathering the power of heaven and earth is too slow.”

With the blessing of a monarch’s might, his speed in manipulating the elements of heaven and earth far surpassed that of other Legends. Yet, accumulating the power of heaven and earth still required several breaths.

Moreover,

the Nether River he had previously gathered was already immense in scale, with sufficient volume. Under such circumstances, even if he expanded the Nether River tenfold, the lethality against a single target would not increase significantly.

At best, it merely consumed less energy.

But if a battle reached the point where he had to compete with the enemy in terms of energy consumption, that would be… far too dangerous!

This was absolutely unacceptable!

Deadbone had long had ideas, but before stepping into the Legendary Realm, they were merely ideas—impossible to verify.

He took out a copy of Advanced Legends provided by the Lord, reviewing the old to learn the new.

This book described some unconventional operations within the Legendary Realm.

Typically,

battles in the Legendary Realm involved Domain confrontations and long-range exchanges of massive, cumbersome power of heaven and earth.

Even if a strong individual excelled in close combat or melee before breaking through to the Legendary Realm, they would often transform into a “turret-like form” after the breakthrough. Legendary experts from warrior backgrounds might, at most, unleash sword beams hundreds of meters long to continue exchanging blows with the enemy.

“This is due to the existence of Domains, which makes close-quarters combat rare between two Legendary Realm experts. Under normal circumstances, a Legendary expert dares not step into another Legend’s Domain, as it would put them at a disadvantage or even in a dire situation. Therefore, battles between Legends often revolve around attrition warfare.”

“However, manipulating the power of heaven and earth for combat is not merely crude and straightforward; there are still many techniques involved…”

This textbook itself was a rare-grade item, exchanged by Mu Yuan for a considerable amount of Contribution Points.

Deadbone lightly tapped it, and images projected from its pages.

A Legendary expert in robes gently tapped his staff, and hundreds of red lights appeared in the surrounding area, streaking like meteors toward the target.

This was also a form of manipulating the power of heaven and earth.

It emphasized speed and concentration.

Of course, the foundation of this method lay in the expert’s mastery of similar skills and a profound Concept and control.

“This combat style advocates speed, precision, and ferocity, aiming to drag the enemy into one’s own rhythm, leaving them no opportunity to accumulate vast amounts of heaven and earth’s power. By firmly controlling the pace of battle, the enemy can be rendered unable to retaliate until defeat.”

This demonstration battle lasted a full two and a half hours.

The “opponent,” trapped in the mire, was suppressed from start to finish, finding no chance to turn the tide.

Deadbone acknowledged that this combat style had a certain… artistry.

Afterward, Deadbone browsed several other sophisticated combat systems. He studied them humbly, nodding from time to time.

But he would not choose any of these systems.

For no other reason.

They were too slow.

Even if he could overwhelm with force, most of the time, he would need to first shatter the enemy’s Domain before slaying the opposing Legend.

Deadbone flipped to the end.

“There is another non-mainstream Legendary combat method, similar to close-quarters combat at lower Ranks. A few Legendary experts who cannot adapt to manipulating the power of heaven and earth opt for this style.””Friends who have already stepped into the Legendary Realm know that once we enter an enemy’s Domain, we’ll be at an absolute disadvantage. But if we can tear apart the enemy’s Domain, there’s no need for close-quarters combat in the first place. So…”

“Before engaging in close combat, we need to utilize our own Domain, condensing it into a sharp needle to briefly carve open a path.”

In the scene,

a certain Legendary powerhouse condensed their Domain, transforming it into a Heaven-Earth Bridge that violently pierced into the enemy’s Domain.

Both Domains trembled violently.

The red Heaven-Earth Bridge shook increasingly fiercely, its edges scattering fragments of crimson light like an ancient bridge crumbling and shedding pieces.

But the master of the red Domain strode across the Heaven-Earth Bridge, charging before the enemy, their Sword aiming strike after strike at vital points.

This combat method, from the very start, was a life-or-death gamble.

“We can see that both Domains were originally similar in scale, but because the red-side Legendary forced their way into the enemy’s Domain, they need to expend several times more Domain power just to match their opponent.”

“In this situation, if the red-side Legendary can’t quickly gain an advantage and injure the enemy, they’ll soon fall into a disadvantageous position.”

“Moreover, since the red-side Legendary has already intruded into the enemy’s Domain while their own Domain is overconsumed, once they’re at a disadvantage, they likely won’t even have a chance to retreat and may fall right there.”

In normal Legendary clashes, those at a disadvantage still have many opportunities to escape.

Not so with close-quarters combat.

Either victory, or death.

Yet even victory isn’t easy – one would still suffer significant depletion. This is why most Legends avoid close combat, unless launching a surprise attack.

“If any friends insist on walking this path, then mastering the technique of transforming your Domain into a Heaven-Earth Bridge becomes crucial. Generally, Legendary friends can grasp this technique within a few months, but continued practice to higher Realms can make your Heaven-Earth Bridge more stable and longer-lasting. This is vital, concerning your very life.”

Deadbone deeply agreed.

He expanded his Domain.

The Death Domain surged like tidal waves, then began condensing into a black Heaven-Earth Bridge that resembled iron rock paving, stretching straight into the distance.

However, the ‘Heaven-Earth Bridge’ was far from the highest Realm.

This textbook also mentioned two higher Realms: ‘Domain-Ship Transformation’ and ‘Domain Integration’.

The second Realm, “Domain-Ship Transformation,” allows Legends to ride Domain-made ships through enemy Domains, not only moving faster with lower consumption but also retaining escape options if the battle turns unfavorable.

The third Realm, “Domain Integration,” enables Legends to fully condense and merge their Domain into their own bodies. At this stage, they can ignore enemy Domain influences while receiving massive amplification from their own Domain.

But as for how to reach these two Realms, the Legendary author in the textbook stated…

He didn’t know either.

Whether higher Realms exist is hard to say.

These three Realms represent paths explored by Taixuan predecessors. Domain Integration may not be the final destination. Nor may this be the only path.

…

“The path of close-quarters combat does indeed suit Deadbone well. Back at Peak Fourth Order, Deadbone managed to slay a Legendary relying on the power of his Desolate Kingbone.”

Mu Yuan also found it fitting.Of course, the Undead Emperor would not limit itself to close-quarters combat or long-range bombardment—it wanted both, and it sought to develop even more combat techniques. Only in this way could it handle all kinds of situations and remain sufficiently robust.

Mu Yuan had also observed that Deadbone was making rapid progress in shaping the Heaven-Earth Bridge.

“Last time, being able to swiftly eliminate several legends was only possible because the enemies trapped themselves inside the Space Urn. Otherwise, legends wouldn’t be so easy to kill.”

“Now that Jackal Fang is on guard, even Dolai finds it difficult to take down a legend with ease. As for Deadbone…”

With the Domain shaping the Heaven-Earth Bridge below,

And the Undead Holy Mountain assisting in suppression above,

Coupled with the withering power that brings instant death upon contact, Deadbone could annihilate the vast majority of legends in an instant. Even if the enemy was prepared, they might not be able to defend against it.

Such was the might of the Undead Emperor!

Mu Yuan felt his sense of security increasing by leaps and bounds.

Of course, over the past month, General Dolai had also made significant progress. Its new combat system, “Whale Devour Body Furnace,” was beginning to take shape.

“Now, our Tianyuan Territory possesses two super combatants—Deadbone and Dolai—along with the ordinary legendary strength of the Undead Legion. Our high-tier forces are already quite sufficient.”

“If Jackal Fang produces unexpectedly powerful experts, Deadbone can still command the Undead Legion to counter them.”

Mu Yuan pondered.

Of course, he still felt that his forces were insufficient.

He wished he had eight or ten super legends under his command.

Since becoming a Lord, he had always worked diligently and tread carefully, never enjoying the life of a Lord surrounded by maids.

But he imagined that once Tianyuan Territory entered an era of legendary proliferation, he could finally live a stable, joyful, and carefree life.

Ding!

Prompt: Special character ‘Mystery Merchant’ has entered the territory.

Mu Yuan was taken aback. “This… a double blessing.”

…

Mystery Merchant ‘Qi Ye’ walked along the road to Tianyuan Territory.

Only a little over two months had passed since his last visit to Tianyuan Territory.

The reason he could return so soon was that Qi Ye had utilized a certain authority he had recently acquired. Otherwise, according to the rules of the Eternal World, he would have had to wait a very long time before visiting Tianyuan Territory again.

He was too eager to advance!

Among his list of clients, he could find no one more generous or with greater spending power than Tianyuan Lord.

“However, Tianyuan Territory still seems to be a small territory. Such small territories have weak resistance to risks, though their potential is high.”

“I hope my choice is not wrong.”

Among the Lords Qi Ye had traded with, there were some wealthier than Tianyuan Lord, but they were extremely stingy, hesitating even when purchasing an excellent Treasure.

But whether Tianyuan could produce the same level of wealth as last time was uncertain.

He was gambling.

Gambling on a chance to advance.

Gambling that Tianyuan Territory still had wealth, and gambling on its future.

The path ahead gradually became clear.

As the mist dispersed, Qi Ye slowly descended from mid-air, his eyes widening in shock.

Before him, towering peaks rose, with a majestic fortress standing halfway up the mountain. Not far away, a canyon stretched straight toward the horizon, where thunder and fire intertwined, continuously erupting.

This place… Had he taken the wrong path?

Qi Ye checked his panel. The information indicated he had arrived near Tianyuan Territory. There was no mistake.

Whoosh—!An arrow pierced through the sound barrier, vanishing into the horizon.

Qi Ye opened his eyes and gazed into the distance, witnessing monsters being pierced by arrows and falling one by one several kilometers away. Among them were even Fourth Order monsters.

Is this really the Tianyuan Territory?

Qi Ye fell into deep thought.

5.8K…

(End of Chapter)