Chapter 352 – Situation and Passage

Inside the empty Secret Realm, Seventeen had just awakened from the lingering effects of her evolution, while Sophia’s figure had vanished, leaving only a pair of enormous, pitch-black, and profound eyes staring eerily ahead.

Sickle Moon happened to be within the line of sight of those dark, massive eyes. Her large wolf tail shot up abruptly, its fluffy fur bristling. Her pupils narrowed into slits, and she bared her teeth, feeling as though everything about her was being seen through and laid bare under the gaze of those dark eyes.

‘So terrifying, awoo!’

She muttered to herself.

Although the eyes belonged to Sophia, and being seen through wasn’t a big deal, her instincts were sharp, and the sensation of being stared at so intently by those dark eyes was somewhat uncomfortable.

Sickle Moon didn’t dare speak, afraid of disturbing the two. She tiptoed silently to the side, shifting her position again and again.

Finally, after moving out of the dark eyes’ field of vision, the feeling that made her fur stand on end disappeared. Sickle Moon let out a long sigh of relief.

‘But what exactly are these giant eyes, awoo?’

—

「Nightshade Eyes」

「Ability ①: Hidden in the Night. Sophia can completely conceal her form under the cover of night. When the talent is actively activated, Sophia can share this concealment ability with her creation, the Black Crow.」

「Ability ②: Formless in the Night. Under the night, Sophia’s insight ability is greatly enhanced. When this talent is actively activated, Sophia can manifest a pair of pitch-black, giant eyes with significantly improved insight and vision range. These eyes can also see through illusions and penetrate enemies. The Formless in the Night ability can also be shared with the creation Black Crow, though with diminished effects.」

「Ability ③: The possessor of the Nightshade Eyes talent perceives any environment, whether daytime or other seasons, as night.」

“This talent is quite interesting.”

In terms of its effects alone, the talent isn’t particularly strong. Both the concealment and insight abilities are merely decent and seem somewhat inferior compared to true epic abilities.

However, when combined with the creation Black Crow, the concealment and insight effects become exceptionally well-suited!

“Sophia has always been the strongest in reconnaissance among the generals of Tianyuan Territory.”

Her top reconnaissance status stems from her crows.

Sophia’s Black Crows can share their vision and are unafraid of death, allowing her to use them to continuously explore dangerous areas or directly infiltrate enemy formations to gather intelligence.

However, Sophia’s crows previously had several shortcomings.

Their concealment ability was only passable; in dark environments like night or dense forests, enemies might not easily detect them. But in broad daylight or open areas, Sophia’s Black Crows were extremely conspicuous. Compared to concealment, the crows’ insight ability was even weaker, practically nonexistent. The Black Crows relied solely on their vision for targeting enemies, yet their eyesight was far less sharp than Asun’s.

Now…

With the enhancement of this talent, the Black Crows’ concealment and insight abilities have become top-notch, and they no longer have the weakness of being ineffective during the day.

After all, under the talent’s effect, it is perceived as night.

Mu Yuan gave it a brief try.

He snapped his fingers, and several pitch-black crows, gleaming brightly, fluttered out from his sleeve.

Though the sunlight was intense, the crows, as if bathed in the night, gradually faded from sight.

Mu Yuan found Isloria but then shook his head, “Never mind, you’re too strong. I wouldn’t be able to test anything with you.”He called for Daisy, who was working in the City Lord’s Mansion.

The Fox Woman Daisy was now a Fourth Order Peak powerhouse. Though she hadn’t evolved into an Epic lifeform yet, her Outstanding Three-Star grade combined with Fourth Order Peak made her more representative of the majority of strong experts in this world.

“Take a look over here.”

Mu Yuan pointed at a nearby street lamp.

“Is this street lamp broken?”

Daisy wondered, but such a minor matter shouldn’t require the Boss’s personal attention.

Mu Yuan shook his finger.

Daisy thought for a moment and tentatively asked, “Who deserves to be hung from the street lamp?” She glanced at herself, then her eyes drifted toward the Lord.

Mu Yuan sighed.

Daisy stared intently at the street lamp, only noticing something amiss after several seconds of focused observation. She concentrated further, her fox ears perking up and her brows slightly furrowing.

After a while…

“There’s something there, it’s… a crow! Boss, your crow is really good at hiding.”

Mu Yuan: “…”

Despite being merely over ten meters away from the Black Crow, Daisy needed to focus her mind to detect it. This meant that Fourth Order Peak powerhouses of Daisy’s caliber had an extremely low probability of discovering the Black Crow.

Moreover, the Black Crow was just a consumable item. Even if discovered, it wouldn’t matter as long as not all of them were found out.

Daisy ran under the street lamp, tilting her head back to gaze upward while lost in thought.

Mu Yuan also fell into contemplation.

“Daisy… can she really represent Fourth Order Peak powerhouses?”

……

Though the Secret Realm environment was relatively simple, it was still safe enough for Sophia to remain immersed in the mysterious state for quite some time after the evolution glow faded before finally awakening.

After she woke up, Mu Yuan didn’t pause, immediately arranging evolution for the third person – Sickle Moon.

The crouching Sickle Moon also transformed into light.

「Ding!」

「Prompt: Your troop ‘Sickle Moon’ bathes in Miracle Light, evolves into Epic Two-Star lifeform, and awakens Epic talent ‘Devoted to Moonlight’.」

——

「Devoted to Moonlight」

「Description: Under this talent, all of Sickle Moon’s ‘Moon-type skills’ receive moderate enhancement. Simultaneously, Sickle Moon can absorb moonlight to draw upon Moon Power. Moon Power can greatly amplify the might of Moon-type skills, replenish the duration of special Moon-type skills, or reset their cooldown times.」

This talent brought comprehensive enhancement to Sickle Moon.

If Polar Star Arrow represented ‘Star’-type powerhouses and Sophia represented ‘Night’-type powerhouses, then Sickle Moon was a ‘Moon’-type powerhouse. Her main skills were all closely related to the moon.

Most importantly…

“After gathering Moon Power with this talent, it seems possible to reset the cooldown of the Epic Skill ‘Moon Coronet Giant Wolf’.”

Sickle Moon’s Moon Coronet Giant Wolf appeared no inferior to Uta’s ‘Flesh Shackles’ in terms of burst power and enhancement. The Moon Coronet Giant Wolf also had longer duration and no obvious side effects.

However, corresponding to this incredibly powerful transformation was the extremely long cooldown time of the Moon Coronet Giant Wolf skill.

「Moon Coronet Giant Wolf duration is fixed, unaffected by personal energy reserves. After the Moon Coronet transformation’s power is exhausted, it will naturally recover over time.」

Currently, Sickle Moon’s transformation had a cooldown of several days.

Once the transformation skill became unavailable, Sickle Moon was merely a decently strong expert.

Sickle Moon also understood her weakness and had unexpectedly developed an Advanced skill that allowed her to transform into a smaller version of a Moon Wolf through trial and error. However, this still couldn’t compensate for the Moon Coronet Giant Wolf’s shortcomings.

Now it could.”If Sickle Moon uses lunar power to activate her Moon Coronet Giant Wolf transformation, she can also choose to shorten the skill duration to reduce lunar power consumption. This way, her tactical value becomes even greater.”

“Moreover, Moon Coronet Giant Wolves are renowned for their speed. They gallop under the moonlight, treading on moon shadows to become flowing light, with speed few can match. What if Sickle Moon uses lunar power to enhance her moon-treading speed during the Moon Coronet transformation?”

With Sophia providing long-range enemy detection, the likelihood of them encountering danger has significantly decreased.

And if, by any chance, they face Legendary Realm powerful enemies, or even multiple Legendary Realm monsters, as long as Sophia and Seventeen ride Sickle Moon, they would still have the ability to escape under the full burst of lunar power.

Now, Mu Yuan feels more at ease.

…

After evolving Sophia and the other two, Mu Yuan proceeded to perform baptismal evolution on Bone Two, Bone Three, and Bone Four.

The epic talent they awakened was ‘Lord’s Might,’ a lower-tier version of ‘Monarch’s Might,’ yet still extraordinary.

Through this talent, Bone Three and Bone Four ignited their Willpower Light. Bone Two’s Willpower Light also showed significant improvement.

Naturally, they also utilized the lingering effects of the evolution miracle to truly master the Limit Cultivation Method. They can now use this Secret Method to rapidly temper their bodies and advance toward the Fourth Order limit.

Among the three, Bone Four now possesses both Willpower Light and Domain, making it a proper ‘Quasi-Legendary’ powerhouse. Not just a Legendary seed or having Legendary potential, but a Quasi-Legendary that will definitely achieve a breakthrough within two months.

Such Quasi-Legendaries in his Tianyuan Territory are too numerous to count on two hands.

Mu Yuan glanced at the remaining Evolution Points – still over forty thousand.

The Water Mirror Dragon Tiff is still short on Contribution Points, though recently her motivation has been maxed out.

As for Tianyuan Territory’s veteran general Asun, its Contribution Points have long been sufficient. Previously, the issue was the difficulty in gathering enough flying-type Evolution Points. Now, Mu Yuan naturally needs to arrange the baptism for Asun.

Asun is currently scouting outside and seems to be on its way back.

…

Boom—

Vast heavenly might suddenly erupted, transforming into dazzling fireworks.

Asun glanced at the light and flames behind it, its feathers standing on end. It manipulated the wind, becoming one with the wind, shooting out like a blue beam – covering thousands of meters, then tens of thousands of meters in the blink of an eye, leaving the momentarily stunned Gnoll Legend far behind.

“Almost scared this lord bird to death.”

“But as expected of me, easily escaping from a Legendary Realm being. Hmph, mere Gnoll Legend, if you want to catch your grandfather Asun, you’re ten thousand years too early!”

The Gnoll Legend watched the large blue bird that had covered tens of thousands of meters in an instant. He instinctively gave chase but stopped after a few steps.

“Never mind.”

He bore more important responsibilities – he needed to report the results of this contact with Blood Tree Ancestor to the Envoy. How could he spare time to hunt a mere Fourth Order large bird?

He snorted coldly and hurried toward the Gnoll Fang’s secret location.

Hidden Place · Gnoll Fang.

The esteemed Gnoll King sat in the side seat, bowing his head to show respect to the presence in the main seat.

The main seat had been replaced with a more massive throne. Upon it coiled a massive blood-red Dragon over a hundred meters long. On the Dragon’s body, writhing flesh buds were visible.

This was the Envoy.The envoy from Dragon’s Slumber Valley.

Dragon’s Slumber Valley was also a dominant power, but there existed a world of difference between dominant powers. Before Dragon’s Slumber Valley, their insignificant Gnolls dared not claim dominance.

Dragon’s Slumber Valley served as the backing for forces like their Jackal Fang and Blood Serpent Embrace.

Even within their Heavenly Aberration Eternal Life faction, Dragon’s Slumber Valley was an exceptionally powerful branch.

Of course, setting aside the identity as Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s envoy, the envoy’s own strength commanded his reverence.

He, the Jackal King, was a Peak Heaven-Earth Realm expert with a Domain radius exceeding 5,000 meters, already qualified to forge divine foundations, ignite the Divine Soul flame, and step into the legendary Soul Realm. He simply didn’t dare to ignite it.

The envoy was also at the peak of the legendary Heaven-Earth Realm, but the envoy’s Domain radius already surpassed 8,000 meters. Moreover, the envoy possessed a great Dragon’s body, wielding power far superior to his own.

If they were to fight, the Jackal King estimated he could only withstand ten moves against the envoy—perhaps five, or maybe just three.

Now that the envoy had arrived, the insignificant human forces, including elves and giants, could be wiped out with a snap of fingers.

Of course, if he, the Jackal King, were to take action, he wasn’t incapable of defeating the human forces either.

It wasn’t that he feared death, he just…

“After these days of probing, we’ve confirmed that the entrance to the humans’ hidden location lies within this area.”

“Once we pinpoint the location of the human nest, we can eradicate all these troublesome creatures. By then, mobilizing the full strength of our territory will surely allow us to find a passage to the Twilight Great Domain, bypassing the Taixuan frontline fortress.”

The attendant, Slumbering Dragon Ao, slightly opened his eyes and exhaled two breaths through his nostrils.

“Hmm.”

“Do not keep this venerable one waiting too long, otherwise…”

Suffocating pressure swept through the hall like a gale.

…

Deep within the Wilderness, in a certain Crimson Mist-permeated area.

Here stood a majestic fortress, firmly planted at the forefront of the Crimson Mist like a nail. Despite the erosion of surrounding Crimson Mist and the impact of its waves, the majestic fortress remained unyielding.

This was an official Pioneer Fortress.

It was also the true front line of the Taixuan Alliance’s resistance against the monster forces.

Within the fortress, fully armed and exquisitely equipped elite soldiers came and went. High-tier units like Black Knights and Blaze Mages, rarely seen elsewhere, were nearly commonplace here.

Numerous Pioneer Group experts and seasoned Lords also moved about, creating a bustling scene.

Tyrant Dragon Lord and Limitless Lord were both active in this warzone.

The two were no longer weak within the Pioneer Group, but having only begun participating in pioneering operations in the last two months, they were still newcomers compared to many veteran pioneers.

“The recent battles have grown increasingly intense,” Tyrant Dragon sighed.

Limitless nodded slightly, “Indeed. According to the older generation, over the past six months the Crimson Mist tides have been continuously moving southward. Areas around our fortress that previously only had scattered traces of Crimson Mist drifting are now permeated with it even outside disaster months.”

“It seems that as the Crimson Mist tides move south, more high-tier and legendary monsters from deeper Great Domains will emerge.”

This was precisely why the frontline Pioneer Group faced tremendous pressure.Like the joint forces of several Pioneer Fortresses, they could only maintain a defensive stance against the monster factions led by Dragon’s Slumber Valley, and even felt immense pressure.

The monsters were endless and unafraid of death.

Maintaining high-intensity combat over the long term, with losses on both sides, their disadvantages would gradually increase.

The big shots of the Pioneer Group had indeed ventured deep into the Land of Red Mist, attempting to break the deadlock. However, living beings faced many inconveniences when penetrating the viscous Crimson Mist regions. The operations where the big shots repeatedly struck at the tyrant leaders all ended in failure.

“There’s no point in us overthinking the big picture. The higher-ups will find a way.”

Limitless Lord paused, “It’s better to use the swords in our hands to slay a few more enemies and further enhance our own strength.”

Tyrant Dragon nodded, “That’s true. Although the combat pressure we face now is immense, the rewards are even more astonishing. Firstly, our progress in high-intensity battles is evident, and secondly, we can exchange merits for some rarely seen Treasures from the outside to improve ourselves.”

“I heard… Brother Wuji, you’ve already created a Domain?”

Wuji nodded slightly, unable to suppress a smile.

Tyrant Dragon expressed extreme envy.

Brother Wuji already possessed both Willpower Light and a Domain, and had long been at the Peak of the Fourth Order. He might break through to the Legendary Realm in just a few months.

Entering the Eternal World and reaching the Legendary Realm in three or four years—in the past decade, only Cold Moon City Lord and the Lost Sword Master had achieved this.

But now,

“It’s said that the Lord of Flesh Mountain from the Youshan family has also reached quasi-Legendary status. My Crimson Dragonkin has also ignited its Willpower Light, though it’s uncertain when it will create a Domain.”

The young Lords and young commanders qualified to step into the Legendary Realm weren’t limited to just them.

This was something almost unimaginable in the past.

This was the opportunity born from crisis.

At this moment, Tyrant Dragon thought of Tianyuan Lord.

Tianyuan was the strongest of their generation.

“I heard Tianyuan encountered some trouble. Otherwise, we might have gathered at the Pioneer Fortress by now.”

“But then again, when Tianyuan eventually joins the Pioneer Group, the two of us will be the battle-hardened Seniors with illustrious achievements.”

This was one way to surpass Tianyuan.

Just thinking about it was truly exciting.

(End of Chapter)