Chapter 397 – New Troop Buildings Have Appeared

Boom—!

The earth trembled as the massive Blood Pool dissipated within the white light. The surrounding flesh structures, now reduced to ruins, shattered into faint crimson particles that drifted away and vanished into the air.

Amidst the continuous rumbling and collapsing sounds, a series of crisp, bell-like notifications chimed by his ears.

The melodious tunes were enchanting, captivating the senses.

Soon, the celestial white light gradually condensed, transforming into several basketball-sized orbs radiating magnificent treasure-like brilliance, floating before Mu Yuan.

It was time for the delightful moment of harvest.

The eradication and purification of ordinary monster tribes could hardly bring him surprises anymore. However, the stronghold of a Monster Overlord was different—the colossal Blood Pool was clearly more advanced than those in subordinate tribes, not to mention…

“Could it be that the first time eliminating a Monster Overlord elevates the celestial reward by one tier? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

He shook his head, promptly washed his hands, and lit three incense sticks as an offering to the heavens. Only then did he rub his hands together and begin opening the treasure orbs.

Ding!

Notification: Obtained Remnant Soul ‘Blazing Gun Ranger (Outstanding Three-Star)’.

Notification: Obtained Miracle Blueprint ‘Energy Well (Outstanding)’.

Notification: Obtained Special Reward ‘Celestial Baptism Light (Special)’.

——

Celestial Baptism Light

Description: You possess one opportunity to invoke the baptismal radiance of the heavens, allowing units within your territory to level up. The effectiveness of the Celestial Baptism Light depends on the current territory level.

Note: This opportunity can be retained for a maximum of seven days.

……

Mu Yuan stroked his chin, “Similar to the baptism light during territory upgrades? Not bad at all.”

This baptism light had limited effect on Deadbone and Dolai, who had already stepped into the Legendary Realm, as well as the T1 commanders who had reached the peak of the Fourth Order. However, for the majority of elites still at the Second, Third, or Fourth Order, the growth would be significant.

Within the various units of Tianyuan Territory, the Rank disparity among elites was quite noticeable.

Some elites recruited and trained later were even only at the Second Order.

Mu Yuan had already opened three orbs.

In his hands, two orbs remained.

These two orbs glowed with even more splendid and mysterious brilliance.

He snapped open the first one, and a purple radiance shot into the sky, only to be swiftly concealed by the Black Sky curtain summoned by Sophia standing nearby.

Notification: You have obtained the treasure ‘Sovereign Crown (Epic)’.

——

Sovereign Crown

Description: A crown symbolizing the sovereignty of the heavens, significantly enhancing the wearer’s ability to command the world and expanding their control over elemental forces.

Similar to the Space Urn and Pure White Feather, this was an Epic-tier treasure.

The ability of this Epic treasure was more direct and potent.

Mu Yuan tested it—his current Incarnation synchronized with his consciousness only reached the Fourth Order limit, but he himself was a true Legendary Realm expert, possessing multiple talents that greatly enhanced his affinity with the world.

Even at the Fourth Order limit, he could command the power of the heavens within a small range.

This range was approximately six hundred meters.

However, commanding it was not as effortless as in the Legendary Realm; it required some effort.

Yet, when he donned the Sovereign Crown, those elusive, unruly, and rebellious elemental particles immediately became docile and compliant.The world in Mu Yuan’s eyes had transformed dramatically, becoming incredibly clear. It felt as if he had leaped from the Fourth Order limit into the Legendary Realm… no, the change was even more exaggerated than that.

His Domain remained a 500-meter radius.

Yet his control over the heaven and earth continued to expand.

1,000 meters, 2,000 meters, 3,000 meters…

The radius of control extended all the way to 4,999 meters before stopping.

He raised his palm, and with a single thought, elemental particles from the world swarmed toward him, converging in his palm to forge a massive light sword hundreds of meters long.

With another thought, this greatsword composed of violent energy dispersed with a crash, stirring up a storm of energy in the surrounding area.

“This treasure is quite impressive.”

“It’s nearly a tenfold increase in control range.”

A tenfold increase in range meant his combat power had grown far more than tenfold.

Of course, such an exaggerated growth was likely due to his own “low base.” A normal Legendary Realm cultivator would probably only see a few times increase at most.

Even so…

“With this treasure in hand, an ordinary Legendary Realm cultivator could contend against… at the very least, hold their own against a Peak Heaven-Earth Realm expert.”

“A single treasure enabling an ordinary Legendary to cross multiple combat tiers—truly formidable.”

“Of course…”

Mu Yuan also recognized this not-quite-a-flaw of the Epic Treasure.

It was most suitable for Legendary Heaven-Earth Realm holders.

For those in the Legendary God Soul Realm or Legendary Law Realm, the amplification wouldn’t be as dramatic.

“Not bad.”

“Next up is the final light sphere.”

“Will this be the main event?”

Mu Yuan stared intently.

The radiance of this light sphere was as magnificent as the previous one, but that didn’t guarantee another Epic.

It was hard to say.

Before opening a blind box, one could never know what’s inside.

Perhaps it would be an Epic.

Or perhaps just an ordinary treasure.

Ding!

Mu Yuan opened it.

The brilliance that bloomed before his eyes wasn’t purple.

He felt somewhat disappointed, but suddenly noticed that this light of indistinguishable color was even larger and more dazzling than the previous purple pillar.

The radiant light shot skyward, and an incredibly profound architectural model, containing the great truths of heaven and earth, manifested and descended into his palm.

「Prompt: You have obtained the Fourth Order Unit Building ‘Royal Marksman Association’.」

——

「Royal Marksman Association」

「Effect 1: At regular intervals, recruit a certain number of ‘Royal Musketeers (Rare ★★★)’, with a small chance of recruiting ‘Dual-Gun Rangers (Excellent ★)’, and a very small chance of recruiting ‘Blazing Gun Rangers (Excellent ★★★)’.」

「Effect 2: Within the Royal Marksman Association’s area of influence, musketeer-type units slowly increase in Rank. Additionally, at regular intervals, musketeers in the area receive a certain amount of ammunition resupply.」

「Effect 3: Within the Royal Marksman Association’s area of influence, Human Race units gain increased cultivation speed and slightly improved Breakthrough probability.」

「Effect 4: The Royal Marksman Association comes with nine types of blueprints including ‘Royal Musket (Rare)’, ‘Burst Shot’, ‘Armor-Piercing Shot’, ‘Fiendsbane Shot’, and includes a complete musket and ammunition production line.」

「Effect 5: The Royal Marksman Association is equipped with a ‘Firing Range Building (Rare)’ that improves training efficiency for shooting-related professions.」

A Fourth Order Unit Building!

Any Lord who possessed this would have the qualifications to compete among Taixuan’s frontline Lords.After all, fourth-order unit buildings are already capable of recruiting Outstanding Three-Star units. Lords who possess unit buildings of this level will see their territories grow increasingly formidable over time.

As for going even higher, to fifth-order unit buildings? These are already foundational structures for major nations like Taixuan.

Throughout the entire Taixuan region, there are only a few publicly known, all of which are public buildings.

Lords who openly possess fifth-order unit buildings? Lord Mu hasn’t heard of a single one. Of course, most lords are old schemers; some have been incredibly powerful for decades, so it’s unlikely none of them have a fifth-order unit building, right?

And as for smaller nations?

Forget fifth-order buildings—even fourth-order ones are beyond the reach of most small nations publicly.

For Lord Mu, the value of a fourth-order unit building is extremely high.

He doesn’t care much about what units it can recruit, but…

The rank enhancement and training efficiency boosts provided by unit buildings are incredibly precious.

The Royal Marksman Association is precisely the ‘Human Race building’ he needs most.

The effects and capabilities of a fourth-order marksman association appear to be more numerous than those of third-order structures like the Icy Spirit Cold Pool or Treant Forest.

It’s probably a building that occupies a fairly large area.

He’ll construct it immediately upon returning.

“The musketeer unit… isn’t bad either.”

“Our Tianyuan Territory already has the archer series as ranged units, but since we’ve obtained a musketeer series unit building, we might as well raise a gunner corps. You can never have too many ranged units.”

The musketeer unit is also quite common in Taixuan… or rather, in human nations.

Slightly rarer than the sentinel or archer series, this is because the musketeer series starts at the ‘Common Three-Star’ level.

Musketeer, Elite Musketeer, Royal Musketeer.

The musketeer series is also the unit type most capable of fighting above its weight class during the low to mid tiers.

After all, equipped with powerful specialized ammunition, musketeers can deliver devastating damage.

It’s entirely possible for a first-order musketeer to eliminate a second-order elite-tier monster.

Musketeers are more dependent on ammunition than archers.

Musketeers also have drawbacks: their reloading process is cumbersome, requiring them to reload after every shot.

At this stage, musketeers’ rate of fire can’t match that of archers, especially those with skills like Triple Shot or Multi-Shot.

However,

“Upon reaching the Outstanding tier, musketeers’ weapons are upgraded, allowing for continuous firing and area suppression.”

At this stage, musketeers’ rate of fire far surpasses that of archers.

Mu Yuan stroked his chin.

After thorough analysis, he concluded that the roles of the musketeer and archer series don’t completely overlap.

Archers… like the Polar Star Arrow, specialize in sniping, with advantages in ‘precision’ and ‘extreme range.’

Musketeers… like the Blazing Gun Ranger, are versatile fighters with strong mobility, possessing better survivability than the Star Commander, and capable of sustained area suppression.

Moreover, since the Blazing Gun Ranger’s output partly relies on ammunition, as long as ammunition reserves are sufficient, their stamina and energy consumption during major battles will be significantly lower than that of archers.

They have longer operational endurance.

They’re also more expensive to maintain.

If not for the Royal Musketeer Association’s built-in production line, Lord Mu reckoned even he couldn’t afford this playstyle.

He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the Blazing Gun Ranger’s rate of fire, though.

Not fast enough, not fierce enough.

After all, the gun’s caliber is only so large.But if the Blazing Gun Ranger’s further evolution is the unit type he envisioned, then this series would be highly worth cultivating and could be paired with the Polar Star Arrow.

Plan confirmed.

I’ll test it out in a few days.

“A Fourth Order Unit Building, one Epic Treasure, and multiple rare items—this harvest isn’t bad at all.”

“If we dig three feet deep into the Gnoll Fang Lair, we might still uncover some gains.”

“However, it’s been almost an hour since the war against the gnolls began. Our remaining time may be running short.”

If his predictions were correct, powerful forces from other Monster Overlords were rushing over.

He wasn’t afraid to fight another battle if necessary.

Yet, he had limited intelligence on the Black Crow Clan and the Great Serpent Clan, and he wasn’t confident about trapping the enemies here.

Fighting another battle offered little benefit but carried the risk of losses.

Inside the Gnoll Fang Lair, thousands of lives still awaited rescue and relocation.

If they could avoid a fight, they should.

…

At the same time.

In the Wilderness, within the former territory of Gnoll Fang.

Over a dozen Legendary Realm experts from the Black Crow Clan were swiftly traversing under the cover of pitch-black night.

They were enveloped in thick, dark clouds.

The clouds lifted them, allowing them to fly at remarkable speed while remaining completely silent, avoiding detection by any monsters along the way.

They leaked almost no aura. Neither visual observation nor energy detection could capture their traces.

They could quietly reach the entrance of Gnoll Fang’s main base.

Simply and directly surround all the human experts.

By then, not only could they effortlessly devour all the humans, but they might also level Gnoll Fang’s lair in the process.

As followers of the great Black Crow God, how could they coexist with filthy flesh monsters?

Blame it on Gnoll Fang for failing to conceal their lair and exposing it.

Caw caw caw~

“At our current speed, we’ll reach the outskirts of Gnoll Fang’s main base in about an hour and a half,” said a Black Crow Legendary Realm expert controlling the dark clouds.

The High Priest wearing a black crow mask spoke:

“No need to rush, no need to rush.”

“When we reach the target area, we’ll slow down. Let Gnoll Fang and the humans wear each other out a bit more, and wait for our allies, the Great Serpent Clan.”

“Even if something unexpected happens, like Gnoll Fang collapsing within just a few hours, we’ll still have time to intervene promptly and trap the humans inside Gnoll Fang’s lair.”

The Black Crow High Priest stood at the forefront of the dark cloud.

His voice was aged, yet it couldn’t conceal his authority and ambition.

The Black Crow Clan would rise under his leadership.

Heh heh heh heh heh—

Suddenly,

“Flap flap~”

A large, sharp-beaked black bird flew from the distance and hovered, perching on the High Priest’s arm.

A stream of information transmitted.

The Black Crow High Priest fell silent, his expression beneath the mask shifting repeatedly.

After a long pause, he spoke, “Gnoll Fang has already been breached, an hour ago.”

The other Black Crow Legends’ expressions changed.

“Gnoll Fang is so weak? They couldn’t even hold out for a little while?”

“Your Excellency High Priest, should we speed up? Otherwise, the humans might have already wiped out Gnoll Fang and left unhurriedly.”

“Exactly! Gnoll Fang is utterly useless, completely disrupting our plans. What happened to the pincer attack we discussed?”

The Black Crow Legendary Realm experts murmured among themselves.

The Black Crow High Priest raised his hand, and silence fell.”No.”

He said, “Though Jackal Fang’s capabilities are indeed limited, and they only managed to dominate the most fertile region by relying on Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s influence… Jackal Fang is ultimately a dominant force on the same level as us. Even with their previous losses, and even if the humans might have some lethal techniques, logically speaking, they shouldn’t have been unable to hold out even for a short while.”

He paused, “There is only one truth: the humans have reinforcements, powerful backers at the mountain-level. It’s highly likely that the Taixuan Alliance from the neighboring Twilight Great Domain has sent top-tier experts.”

“At this moment, the entire Gnoll Fang Lair is a trap, one set specifically for us!”

“Retreat, retreat, retreat! We must not set foot in that territory!”

“Everyone need not worry; this isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with forces of the Taixuan Alliance’s caliber. The top experts of the Taixuan Alliance can only remain in this domain for a few days at most. We’ll temporarily avoid their brilliance and employ a ‘delaying’ strategy against the humans.”

After all, backers are just backers.

The Black Crow Clan also has their own backers.

Once the storm passes, they can deal with the humans slowly—it’s just that they won’t be able to eradicate them in a short time.

The High Priest thought to himself.

At the same time, the Legendary Realm expert of the Great Serpent Clan received the news and called for a retreat.

As for Blood Serpent Embrace?

From beginning to end, the Blood Serpent Legend never once stepped out of his own lair.

Jackalwere? Not familiar.

The regional dominant force, Jackal Fang, which had been disturbing Tianyuan Territory for months, was declared annihilated. From this point on, Tianyuan City truly occupied the core region of the Ten Directions Island Region.

(End of Chapter)