Chapter 399 – Expedition to the Stars and Sea

The power of evolutionary miracles halted midway.

Lord Mu fell into deep contemplation.

“Two evolutionary paths?”

In reality, the advanced form of the Blazing Gun Ranger is the Holy Gun Ranger – they belong to the same evolutionary lineage of military units.

Mu Yuan’s original plan was to eventually form a Holy Gun battalion that could provide firepower coverage during defensive battles and sweep through monster tides.

While Holy Gun Rangers have shorter range compared to Polar Star Arrows, they excel at unleashing their firepower advantages in both defensive battles and wilderness encounters.

However, when human forces face monster hordes, they’re mostly on the defensive. Defensive battles occur far more frequently than offensive ones.

Though Master Gunsmiths lack the survivability and mobility of Holy Gun Rangers, they possess longer range and can perform saturation bombardment.

Mu Yuan had once watched footage of a Legendary Realm Master Gunsmith single-handedly holding back and annihilating an entire monster tide. Hundreds of artillery shells whistled across the sky, brilliant laser beams tore through the earth, and dense curtains of projectiles intertwined to form a symphony of battle.

The Master Gunsmith indeed better suited his needs, but why had this evolutionary option appeared?

Was this particular Blazing Gun Ranger special?

Mu Yuan didn’t think so.

This Blazing Gun Ranger wasn’t bad – it had been born just one step away from awakening self-awareness. However, such ‘talent’ could only be considered ordinary and unremarkable in Tianyuan City.

Then it must be…

“Has the evolution power itself evolved?”

“Hmm, perhaps this change was included when the evolution power last upgraded, I just hadn’t noticed it before.”

With this thought, Mu Yuan immediately switched to his lord’s perspective.

He looked down upon the distant Skull Graveyard, focusing on an ordinary Skeleton Soldier and conducting a simple experiment on it.

「Evolution: Skeleton Warrior」

「Evolution: Skeleton Archer」

It actually worked.

However, no Skeleton Mage option appeared.

He then turned his gaze to a Bone General that was absorbing dark mist to cultivate.

「Evolution: Undead Lord」

But no second option appeared.

Mu Yuan stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before arriving at two possible explanations.

“First is compatibility – cross-path evolution requires suitability as a prerequisite. Clearly, the differences between Holy Gun Rangers and Master Gunsmiths aren’t that significant. At least they’re both human, both use firearms, and their skills have considerable overlap.”

“Second, it might be related to my own understanding.”

He was quite familiar with the Master Gunsmith epic class.

After all, military units like Holy Gunners, Master Gunsmiths, Polar Star Arrows, and Fearless Warchiefs were relatively common epics – within human factions.

Because he had some understanding of Master Gunsmiths, the second possibility had emerged.

「Proceed with evolution along the ‘Master Gunsmith’ path?」

「This evolution requires 6000 units of Evolution Points.」

Slightly more expensive.

But reasonable enough.

Evolve.

The radiance of miracles descended.

Within the white light, the newly-born Blazing Gun rapidly transformed, its self-awareness awakening. While still in a state of confusion, or rather when its memories remained completely blank, it quickly imprinted with the characteristics of a Master Gunsmith.

Like a pure white sponge, it rapidly absorbed profound knowledge.

「Ding!」

「Notification: Your military unit ‘Gunpowder’ has bathed in miraculous radiance and evolved into an epic one-star lifeform ‘Master Gunsmith’.」”Notification: ‘Gunpowder’ has gained some insight during evolution, awakening the innate talent ‘Firearm Case (contains space capable of storing guns and cannons)’. The innate talent ‘Firearm Proficiency’ has been enhanced.”

“Notification: ‘Gunpowder’ has gained some insight during evolution, awakening the skills ‘Multi-Shot’, ‘Overload Shot’, ‘Laser Cannon’, ……”

“Notification: ‘Gunpowder’ has awakened the Epic Skill ‘Unlimited Firepower’ during this evolution.”

“It’s actually this skill.”

Mu Yuan had watched many videos and read materials about Master Gunsmiths, but he couldn’t be certain exactly which Epic Skill a Master Gunsmith possessed.

The name and information of Epic Skills were already strategic-level intelligence.

He couldn’t obtain this through public channels, not even by paying for it.

To learn about these, one would need to know a Lord’s household that had this type of troop unit.

Of course, the Epic Skill that a Master Gunsmith might possess wasn’t necessarily limited to just this one. But undoubtedly, the Unlimited Firepower skill was the most compatible with Master Gunsmiths.

“No wonder Master Gunsmiths could single-handedly match an entire army, hailed as the ultimate troop type for eliminating monster tides.”

「Unlimited Firepower」

「Description: During the skill’s duration, all firearms and cannons used by the Master Gunsmith experience significantly increased firing rate, while maintaining constant weapon condition. Additionally, during this period, the firearms and cannons used by the Master Gunsmith have unlimited ammunition.」

「Note: This skill has a short duration.」

This was the terror of Unlimited Firepower!

A Master Gunsmith at the Legendary Realm, when using Unlimited Firepower, could likely achieve artillery coverage comparable to Dolai’s.

They could turn vast areas into scorched, cracked earth in a short time.

Of course, Dolai had already embarked on the path of space, with saturation strikes mainly used for cutting through enemies like vegetables.

Later, Mu Yuan used the ‘Master Gunsmith’ template to personally experience it, gaining true deep understanding of this epic troop type.

“This is a technical troop type, not as simple as it appears on the surface with just spraying bullets and firing cannons.”

Master Gunsmiths come with innate Firearm Proficiency, enabling skilled use of various firearms and weapons, along with proficient shooting techniques.

Just like archers having innate archery skills, or sentries possessing certain spear techniques.

This is where troop types have advantages over ordinary job changes.

However, to fully utilize a Master Gunsmith’s true capabilities, mere familiarity with firearms and shooting skills isn’t enough. Master Gunsmiths also need to understand firearm and cannon repair, assembly, and modification.

“A powerful Master Gunsmith must use firearms and cannons crafted by their own hands.”

“And Gunpowder, as a novice Master Gunsmith, doesn’t quite possess these skills yet.”

Mu Yuan stroked his chin.

“It seems that in the future, not all of the烈枪 series troop types should evolve into Master Gunsmiths.” This profession runs too deep; not everyone can master it.”

“Even Gunpowder might not be able to perfectly demonstrate a Master Gunsmith’s capabilities.”

Of course, it’s too early to discuss this now.

Gunpowder is still just a small novice at the Apprentice Tier.

Even as a Master Gunsmith, he needs to reach the Third-Order Warlord Tier to truly play a significant role on the battlefield. Otherwise, even as an epic unit, he would just be an insignificant soldier.

At least that’s how it is in Tianyuan City.

It will take at least half a year to form a proper Master Gunsmith battalion.”For now, we’re just dealing with the monster forces on this island domain. We don’t need a Master Gunsmith yet. By the time we head to the Pioneer Group and frontline fortresses, the gunpowder brigade should have taken initial shape, right?”

“However, a Master Gunsmith needs to learn techniques, and my Tianyuan City simply doesn’t possess such technical knowledge. How should we solve this problem?”

Send Gunpowder to Tianze Academy for further studies? That might be a path.

But Tianze City may not necessarily have Master Gunsmith instructors either.

Who would use an epic-tier military unit as a trainer anyway?

I’ll consider it slowly.

…

To the east of the Ten Directions Island Region, beyond the turbulent ocean currents, lies a Great Domain named by the established major power-level faction ‘Star Luo Holy Temple.’

The Shenluo Great Domain.

This Great Domain has been developed for a relatively long time, with towns and cities standing one after another.

From the central part of the Great Domain southward, it’s almost entirely human territory.

In the southern half of the Shenluo Great Domain, no monster tribes can be seen. Occasionally, some monster camps may emerge, but they are quickly eradicated.

The entire region is quite safe.

Some towns don’t even build city walls anymore.

However, contrasting with the safe regional situation is the fact that the resources available for extraction in the Shenluo Great Domain are becoming increasingly scarce. Tensions have arisen between some territories and vassal states subordinate to the Star Luo Holy Temple.

Some lords have set their sights on other territories.

Other lords, however, have turned their gaze toward the distant stars and seas.

They must pioneer.

Only through pioneering can there be a future.

“How are the survey results for the Whirlpool Sea? Can we find a passage to the second region?”

They had previously pioneered a passage leading to an island domain yet untouched by living beings.

The good news was that this island domain was also undiscovered by monster forces, with only some native, barely civilized wild camps and wild tribes.

The bad news, however, was that the entire domain’s area was small, even among island domains, and its resources were relatively barren, which left him somewhat disappointed.

Even so, having exclusive control over the entire island domain still allowed him and his entire territory to profit immensely.

What if they could discover a rich, untouched golden land?

The Whirlpool Sea is such a miraculous place.

Dangerous, but also concealing great Opportunities.

If an ordinary lord obtains a great Opportunity and seizes it, they might leap to become internationally renowned figures.

Opportunity! Opportunity!

What lords continuously pioneer for is precisely the Opportunity!

“We’ve found a new clue in the Whirlpool Sea, but whether it leads to an unexplored island domain remains uncertain for now,” the deputy said.

The two were discussing the exploration of the Whirlpool Sea when, before long, a trusted officer hurried over. “Lord, big news, big news! A group of wandering independents has arrived at Ironstone Mountain. Their leader is said to be a Hero—a recruitable wild Hero!”

The Lord nodded slightly.

Wild Heroes are sought-after everywhere, but this kind of leadership-type Hero capable of gathering a group isn’t so easily recruited.

The predecessors of some small factions are precisely such wild groups.

The officer added, “Not only that… I’ve gathered information that this wild Hero’s profession is likely that of a Master Gunsmith, an epic-tier lifeform!”

“Epic?!”

The Lord exclaimed, “What are you still standing around for? Let’s set off immediately. We can’t let others get there first.”An epic hero is enough to make him invest great effort and a high price to recruit.

Even if the process might be extremely difficult.

This is what opportunity means.

…

Twilight Great Domain.

Compared to Shenluo Great Domain, the development level of Twilight Great Domain is not high.

The entire Taixuan has only three central cities in Twilight Great Domain, and Taixuan Territory occupies just a corner of Twilight Great Domain.

The relay outposts and rest camps built by the Pioneer Group in the wilderness are like drops of water falling into the ocean, disappearing instantly.

Naturally, in such a Great Domain, there exist many dangerous places, perilous lands, and unknown territories.

There are also likely a considerable number of monster forces that can be considered overlord-level.

Just like the once-dominant Goblin Kingdom in the Gloomy Forest. They were quite formidable even among overlord-level forces.

“The force we are going to subjugate this time is an underground city force.”

“The Spider Kingdom!”

“You guessed right—this Spider Kingdom is an overlord-level force. According to the intelligence we have gathered, the Spider Kingdom possesses at least seven or eight Legendary Realm beings and many bizarre, dangerous war weapons.”

“The Spider Kingdom has repeatedly harassed our Taixuan Territory. Recently, they even ambushed two transport teams from our Pioneer Logistics Department, causing heavy losses—two Legendary Realm beings fell, over a hundred elite soldiers sacrificed, and the value of lost supplies reached tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand Soul Crystals.”

“However, precisely because of this, we have tracked the Spider Kingdom’s movements. Today, we will eradicate this Monster Overlord in one fell swoop!”

A Four-Star Pioneer Lord from the Pioneer Group stood before the crowd, speaking passionately.

To completely annihilate a Monster Overlord is, of course, no easy task.

To avoid losses, their paper strength must far surpass that of this Spider Kingdom.

For this purpose, the Four-Star Pioneer Lord ‘Raging Waves’ recruited several other Pioneer Lords.

Limitless Lord and Tyrant Dragon Lord were among them.

Of course, both were well aware they were just small fry, merely following the big shots to gain experience and block any escaping enemies.

The opportunity to participate in the subjugation of a Monster Overlord is once in a lifetime!

The reason they got such an opportunity was related to their fierce battles and killing enemies at the Pioneer Fortress some time ago. There, they met the big shot Raging Waves.

The big shot likely saw their potential and offered them a favor.

However, the two did not underestimate themselves.

Although they had not yet stepped into the Legendary Realm, by commanding a complete Military Soul Legion, they possessed the power to fight against Legendary Realm beings and even kill ordinary Legends.

In the Monster Overlord subjugation battle, they could also play a role.

Their pride would not allow them to just cheer from the sidelines.

For now, they would follow the big shot, gaining experience. In three or four years, they would surely be like Lord Raging Waves, leading campaigns to subjugate Monster Overlords.

Just thinking about it is truly exciting.

“This is the Pioneer Group.”

“The world of the Pioneer Group and the world of ordinary lords are as different as heaven and earth.”

“Who would have thought that in just over half a year, our strength has undergone earth-shaking changes? We now have more than a handful of Peak Fourth Order subordinates under our command. Suddenly, we even have the qualification to participate in Monster Overlord subjugation battles.””Youshan, Kongming, Shen Mao… and Tianyuan, I wonder how they are doing now.”

…

After the Jackal Fang eradication campaign concluded, Lord Mu found himself with more free time, no longer needing to cover shifts for Isloria.

Yet compared to before,

both his responsibilities and those of his companions had multiplied.

Deadbone returned to the Northern Frontier, continuing to investigate the Raging Lands and search for potential Outer Realm passages.

Mu Yuan also resumed exploration of the Raging Lands to the East and South.

The Southern region connected to the Twilight Great Domain, where his goal was to locate safer, more traversable routes.

As for the Eastern front…

Tianyuan City’s location actually placed it quite close to the eastern extremity of the Ten Directions Island Region.

With Jackal Fang eliminated and mining areas secure for the time being, Mu Yuan appointed Rakshasa as the exploration lead for both Eastern and Southern regions.

Rakshasa had relevant experience in this field, and his current strength far surpassed his previous capabilities.

Of course, Rakshasa’s primary mission remained cultivation.

Mu Yuan would dispatch groups of Undead Lords and Fearless Warchiefs for preliminary exploration, only sending Rakshasa when clues emerged.

This arrangement ensured that everyone from T1 commanders to T3/T4 officers had suitable assignments.

“Then there’s the matter of deploying personnel to the development warzone and logistics department.”

Mu Yuan pondered.

He had promised the Cold Moon City Lord that he would send people to the Great Warzone under her jurisdiction.

Although unexpected circumstances had arisen and she hadn’t pressed the matter, he intended to honor his commitment.

In another two months, when Rakshasa, Red Robe, Sario, Seventeen, Sophia and others successively break through to the Legendary Realm,

he could dispatch one or two Legendary experts to lead the team. This wouldn’t compromise Tianyuan City’s security while ensuring capability to execute advanced missions and earn merits in the Great Warzone.

This would be an ideal arrangement.

Otherwise,

sending mere Fourth-Order Experts to the warzone—having them garrison fortresses and defend against waves alongside regular troops for basic contributions and routine pay—was not his objective.

His ambition reached far beyond, toward conquering the stars and oceans.

(End of Chapter)