Chapter 427 – Unifying the Island Domain, Tianyuan City

The fog lifted and clouds dispersed, revealing another calm and peaceful day outside the city.

Some time had already passed since Deadbone repelled the Serpent Attendant and brought the war to an early conclusion.

“Following the demise of the Jackal Fang, the Great Serpent Clan has been eradicated. The core of their overlord, the ‘Attendant Idol,’ was purified by Deadbone after the battle.”

“However, aside from the Great Serpent Clan, both the Blood Serpent Embrace and the Black Crow Clan seized the opportunity to flee into the wilderness when they saw the situation turning against them.”

Deadbone headed towards the Black Crow Clan.

Dolai, accompanied by several commanders, flew towards the Blood Serpent Embrace.

When they blasted open the Secret Realm Gate and breached the layers of defenses within the overlord’s stronghold, they discovered…

There were no longer any Legendary Realm beings inside. Only a group of elite monsters remained stationed there. When Dolai launched its attack, these monsters were bewildered, wondering where their Legendary leaders had vanished.

“These monsters actually fled without a word! Fleeing is one thing, but they even destroyed the idols and blood pools inside. I will definitely remember this grudge!” — by Dolai.

Perhaps the enemies held onto a sliver of hope, or perhaps they preserved the Secret Realm to buy time, but the Legendary monsters did not completely self-destruct the entire realm.

Apart from the dismantled and destroyed Foul Core, the stronghold still contained some secondary blood pools and ordinary attendant statues.

Dolai and the others purified them one by one.

Afterward, the remaining monsters were eliminated as needed, and the spoils were plundered accordingly.

This post-battle looting was even more thorough than the plundering of the Jackal Fang. Everyone had ample time without worrying about other monster overlords encircling them.

Key areas like Tianyuan City, Wolfhead Mountain Fortress, and Mine No. 3 no longer had to fear that the escaped Legendary monsters might stage a diversionary attack or make a sudden comeback.

Lord Mu himself was holding the fort.

Isloria also patrolled back and forth in her Mage Tower. If the Legendary monsters dared to return, Mu Yuan would actually welcome it.

“About a dozen or so Legendary monsters have fled into the wilderness. If these Legendary beings are determined to carry out assassinations and ambushes, they could pose a nuisance to Tianyuan City’s various outdoor mining sites, exploration teams, and transport convoys.”

But it was only a minor nuisance at best.

Even if he didn’t eradicate the monster overlords, they would still launch surprise attacks repeatedly.

Now, however, the Great Serpent Clan and the Blood Serpent Embrace had lost their strongholds and their Foul Cores. They no longer qualified as regional overlords and were incapable of employing super-scale methods like summoning Calamity Beasts or Attendants.

There was no need to worry in the short term.

As for the long term?

Tianyuan City was still growing, with new Legendary Realm experts emerging at any moment. In due time, the remnants of these two major forces wouldn’t even be considered a nuisance.

“Exterminated the Jackal Fang, slew the Blood Tree King, wiped out the Great Serpent Clan, and routed the Black Crow Clan and the Blood Serpent Embrace.”

“After over a year in the Eternal World, our Tianyuan Territory has finally gained a somewhat stable foothold.”

“The overall situation… is settled.”

…

“The overall situation is settled.”

“After the Tianyuan Lord destroyed the Calamity Beast, the monster overlords were no longer able to mount any effective attacks.”

“Indeed, with the Calamity Beast perishing mid-summoning, how could the monster overlords dare to continue their assaults?”

The Battle Armor General sighed with emotion.

He had considered that the Tianyuan Lord might have a way to deal with the Calamity Beast.

The top-ranked new generation lord—how could that reputation be unearned?

In the past, there had been other new generation lords who gained great renown, but most of their fame was manufactured through hype by the conglomerates backing them.These lords are certainly quite outstanding, but not outstanding enough. Sometimes, encountering certain accidents or calamities would cause them to collapse and never recover, or even perish and vanish.

The name Tianyuan wasn’t built through hype or chosen by busybodies—it was earned through genuine bloodshed.

As a high-ranking general in the Pioneering Logistics Department and hailing from a top-tier territory, Battle Armor General was well aware of many Tianyuan achievements unknown to ordinary professionals and common lords.

Sweeping through the rising stars of six nations in the Dragon Court competition;

Obliterating the Foul Nests during the Crimson Mist disaster month;

Achieving remarkable results in border regions;

Maintaining stability and survival through the Fusion transformation.

Especially the Fusion transformation—the upheaval faced by Tianyuan Territory could be called a great calamity. If it were any other lord… not just among the new generation, but even among the outstanding lords of previous generations, few could have withstood it.

The slightest misstep would have meant the destruction of land and loss of lives.

After Blue Star merged with the Eternal World, lords no longer had the option to retreat to Blue Star when facing major disasters.

Yet Tianyuan Territory endured.

Not only did it survive under the scrutiny of overlord forces, but it also maintained its rapid development pace.

This sufficiently proves that the name Tianyuan is far from empty.

If Tianyuan Territory had publicly disclosed more of its achievements, its reputation in the ordinary world would be even greater.

“Although I considered that Tianyuan Lord might have the capability to deal with disaster beasts, I never imagined it would be so effortless, or rather, direct.”

“The massive, terrifying disaster beast didn’t even make it to Tianyuan City’s gates before collapsing midway.”

…

“Disaster beasts… Tianyuan City actually has the power to destroy disaster beasts?”

At the mountain peak.

Before Golden Grand Duke could even feel fear or tremble, he witnessed the disaster beast—the giant serpent—collapse thunderously amid the distant dust clouds.

As if it weren’t some disaster beast, but merely an ant that could be easily crushed.

Taixuan, Tianyuan City Lord!

Just what kind of person is he?!

“The overlord forces have been defeated. Tianyuan City has suppressed the monster forces in this region. From now on, we probably don’t need to worry about monster overlords from the Outer Realm invading our Shenluo West Coast, but…”

But Tianyuan City is too powerful.

Who would want an overwhelmingly powerful neighbor?

“Regardless, Tianyuan City still has to deal with the local overlords, so its impact on our Shenluo West Coast shouldn’t be too significant.”

The Grand Duke pondered secretly.

Now he didn’t dare to seek any benefits from Tianyuan City.

Even in normal trade, he would have to concede some profits.

After all, Tianyuan City is a powerful state.

“But such a powerful territory appears on the surface to only have a small city and a simple fortress… This Tianyuan Lord is truly adept at playing the pig to eat the tiger.”

“Could he be fishing? If not for the monster overlord’s attack coinciding, this Grand Duke might have truly taken the bait.”

Fortunately! Fortunately!

How cunning this Tianyuan Lord is!

…

The looting of the three overlord headquarters continued for three days and two nights.

Dolai flew to all three locations, relying on its seemingly infinite dimensional pocket within its belly to thoroughly plunder all spoils from inside the overlord secret realms. It even dug three feet deep, dismantling and taking away any building walls or floors that had the slightest grade.

Only this could slightly soothe its wounded heart from failing to purify the Foul Core.

While Dolai was happy, Isloria suffered through the pain of assessing the value.She spent a full two and a half hours before finally completing the inventory of this pile of loot containing a large amount of miscellaneous items.

“The total value is approximately over forty thousand Soul Crystals. However, only a little over three thousand of these are actual Soul Crystals, while the rest consist of Remnant Souls, Materials, tools, and equipment.”

“This value only accounts for ordinary items, including Advanced Materials, but does not include high-value items such as Advanced Remnant Souls and Blueprints.”

The most valuable loot came from the Remnant Souls dropped by elite monsters and the equipment stripped from their bodies.

A Monster Overlord’s main base provided roughly close to ten thousand Soul Crystals’ worth of rewards.

The monster wave contributed over ten thousand Soul Crystals’ worth of rewards.

Compared to previous major battles, the biggest difference in this one was… Tianyuan City suffered minimal losses.

These over forty thousand in conventional earnings were almost pure profit.

“However, this income of over forty thousand Soul Crystals is calculated based on market prices. In reality, turning all this loot into cash would require trade caravans to make countless trips, and the value would inevitably shrink to some extent.”

But the gains were far from limited to these.

Mu Yuan opened the panel and scrolled back through the earlier prompt records.

「Prompt: Your Hero ‘Dolai’ has purified a Filth Pool…」

「Prompt: Your Hero ‘Deadbone’ has purified a Filth Pool…」

「Prompt: …」

「Obtained: …」

Mu Yuan filtered through, skipping the purification rewards of rare grade, focusing only on the blue-glowing harvests.

There were eight in total.

「Remnant Soul ‘Snakemen Commander (Advanced One Star)’」

「Remnant Soul ‘Black Dragon Iron Guard (Advanced Three Stars)’」

「Treasure ‘Night Pearl’: Enhances the holder’s abilities in the dark.」

「Treasure ‘Petrifying Gaze’: When worn, allows the wearer’s eyes to emit a petrifying ray. Cooldown for the petrifying ray is 8 hours.」

「Miracle Blueprint ‘Energy Well’」

「Miracle Blueprint ‘Advanced Watchtower’」

「Treasure Tree ‘Icy Purity Fruit Tree’」

And…

「Treasure ‘Banner of Lost Souls (Epic)’」

「Description: A banner capable of gathering undead units and absorbing the breath of death from the world. When a powerful being wields the Banner of Lost Souls, the probability of possessing abilities related to undead revival and transformation is significantly increased.」

This Epic Treasure was the reward obtained by Deadbone purifying the foundation of the Great Serpent Clan’s idol.

It was also highly suitable for the Undead General to use.

Its first ability allows for the mass gathering of undead and enables undead units within it to self-recover. It functions like a Secret Realm-type treasure exclusively for undead use.

Deadbone himself can open the Nether Gate to summon his direct undead forces from the Undead Holy Mountain.

However, for undead not native to the Undead Holy Mountain, Deadbone cannot summon or dismiss them at will. This is a characteristic of the Undead Holy Mountain.

Before the Holy Mountain evolved, only native undead could reside within it for extended periods.

Those transformed by the undead calamity breath, however, could not.

The probability increase from the second ability was even more fitting for Deadbone.

To unleash a tide of undead and accumulate billions in numbers, relying solely on Deadbone himself is impossible; it requires a snowballing army of the dead.

This Epic item was naturally given to Deadbone to use.

It was quite difficult for Deadbone to find a suitable treasure.

“Dolai wears the Sovereign Crown, Deadbone holds the Banner of Lost Souls, and I carry the Pure White Feather. Everyone has an Epic Treasure.””But we still have a long way to go before every general can possess an Epic Treasure.”

Mu Yuan wasn’t anxious.

Back when his generals first reached the Third Order, Tianyuan Territory had lacked outstanding equipment.

Now, facing another shortage of Epic Treasures, he had grown accustomed to it.

Our territory is simply poor.

While Fourth Order generals might possess one or two pieces of outstanding equipment each, those in the Legendary Realm who could own Epic Treasures were exceedingly rare.

Not having them was the norm.

The Epic Treasures available for exchange on the Taixuan Covenant Platform were almost all priced at astronomical levels. They were objects of desire yet beyond reach.

After the battle, Mu Yuan personally visited Mine No. 3 to console the various races and factions that had suffered significant losses.

He had initially worried that smaller races like the cat-people might withdraw and give up, but to his surprise, the atmosphere at Mine No. 3 was not heavy.

“We defeated the monsters! Did you see that? Dad! Mom!”

“In this battle, we and Tianyuan City fought fiercely together. The monsters aren’t invincible!”

“We can survive on the Eternal Continent. Our descendants will lead increasingly better lives. Rest in peace, comrades.”

Sacrifice was nothing uncommon among the various races.

Small factions like the cat-people and multi-armed race couldn’t be self-sufficient and had to risk exploration periodically. Often, after an expedition, some familiar faces would never return.

Even the Winged-People Kingdom, which had isolated itself for decades, had many elders who had experienced the brutal wars from decades ago.

Back then, even at their peak, the Winged-People had been powerless against the Monster Overlords.

The gap in power was despairingly vast.

The older generation of Winged-People had been thoroughly intimidated.

But now, the elders suddenly realized that Monster Overlords weren’t invincible. In fact, compared to the more powerful human city of Tianyuan, the Overlord monsters seemed almost fragile.

“We will expand, turning wastelands into fertile soil, eradicating every last monster, and driving out the Filth!”

“I hope to pioneer a world free from the scourge of the Crimson Mist, without fear of sudden monster attacks, where we can live carefree lives!”

Mu Yuan declared with resolute conviction.

These words weren’t just for the Winged-People and cat-people, but for himself as well.

The Eternal Continent had never been peaceful.

Even major powers like the Taixuan Alliance suffered from the Crimson Mist calamity.

Every few decades or centuries, great catastrophes would occur, wiping out hundreds of thousands or millions of territories. Not even major nations could guarantee survival.

The Holy Radiance Empire, whose ancient domain spanned countless Great Domains with billions of powerful beings, had collapsed during a great catastrophe.

It was as if the Eternal Continent was destined to be plagued by disasters.

These were natural calamities.

Established rules.

But why couldn’t they be broken?

Ahem, this dream was rather distant. Currently, Tianyuan City was still just a small fry in the grand scheme of the Eternal Continent.

But looking across the Ten Directions Island Region before them, Tianyuan City was the undisputed Overlord, the sole Overlord.

They could be called the rulers of the Great Domain!

An island domain was still a domain.

“The great enemy has been defeated. Next, it’s time for us to expand our territory.”

After a brief period of calm, Tianyuan City’s armies marched out once more, surging toward the remaining monster tribes in the northern frontier.

After eliminating the monster tribes, the various legions transformed into exploration teams, meticulously exploring and surveying every inch of the Ten Directions Island Region’s land.The legend of monsters seemed to vanish without a trace. No matter how Mu Yuan searched or tried to lure them out, they remained unseen.

However, the exploration teams did discover some Miracle Buildings and special Treasure Lands.

In the Northern Lands,

atop a perpetually snow-capped mountain peak, ice-blue humanoid creatures frolicked, guarding a cold pool at its center.

This was the recruitment structure ‘Icy Spirit Cold Pool’—and it was permanent.

“You have occupied the wilderness Miracle Building ‘Icy Spirit Cold Pool’. Ice spirits can be recruited once per week…”

…

In the territory of the Great Serpent Clan,

a life-sized statue lay buried in dense grass, inconspicuous to the eye.

“Hint: You have discovered the special structure ‘Bountiful Idol’. This is a first-tier statue of the goddess who governs the earth and abundance. Occupying the territory with this idol grants the buff ‘Crop Growth Speed +100%’.”

…

Elsewhere, an ancient Shrine stood nestled among the mountains.

The exploration team defeated the monster tribe occupying the area and excavated the Shrine.

“Hint: You have discovered the special structure ‘Blessing Shrine (Experience)’.”

…

In another location, an old hall stood on the Wilderness, though its radiance had dimmed. When the exploration team arrived, a group of wild monsters was violently attacking the hall.

The team swiftly eliminated the surrounding monsters, leaving a squad to guard the site and notifying nearby commanders.

“Hint: You have discovered the special structure ‘Spell Hall (Damaged)’. You can spend Soul Crystals to slowly repair this building.”

…

Across the vast Bloodtree Forest, the crimson hue was gradually fading, and the eerie forest was returning to normal.

Yet within this forest, the exploration team found a peculiar Treasure Land.

The area was small, spanning roughly ten kilometers in radius.

Here, without any external interference, plants grew at a visible pace, completing the entire cycle of sprouting, growth, flowering, fruiting, and withering in just a few hours.

Among them were rare and exceptional medicinal herbs!

Dolai recognized them.

To avoid missing any wild Treasures, it had painstakingly memorized every detail of material and herb guides, no matter how headache-inducing.

“This is Dragon Soul Grass, this is Heavenly Fragrance Fruit, this is Bone-Corroding Flower…”

Its eyes widened as it hurriedly, though somewhat clumsily, transplanted a Dragon Soul Grass that had just reached Perfection using roughly correct procedures.

But the moment Dolai carried the herb out of the area, the precious plant rapidly withered, leaving not even a trace behind.

“Wait, no, how could this happen!”

Mu Yuan also arrived, observing from outside.

After a moment of thought, he said, “This might not be a complete Treasure. These herbs, or rather all the flora here, are part of this Treasure Land. They cannot survive outside it—not even if you pluck a single fruit.”

So what was the purpose of this Treasure Land?

It appeared so unique and profound, surely it had a reason for existing.

Mu Yuan gazed at the Treasure Land, gradually immersing himself in its essence.

The growth and withering of each plant within carried the profound principles of the Dao.

Suddenly,

“Ding!”

“Hint: Your unit ‘Tree Spirit Grandma’ has observed the Witherbloom Treasure Land and gained some insight. The power of Tree Spirit Grandma’s growth-type skills has increased.”

“Hint: … The power of Tree Spirit Grandma’s withering-type skills has increased, and she has Awakened the Advanced skill ‘Life Siphon’.””Notification: Tree Spirit Grandma observed the Witherbloom Treasure Land, and her Epic Skill ‘I Am the Forest’ has been enhanced. Within the forest’s range, all things that fade away will transform into the forest’s vitality, causing trees to grow. It is also possible to wither certain trees, transferring and concentrating their vitality.”

This is truly a Treasure Land.

Lord Mu has also Awakened several minor skills.

“The Witherbloom Treasure Land forms its own world, subtly aligning with the principles of natural evolution in heaven and earth. The specifications of this Treasure Land are very high.”

Generally speaking, one might need to reach the Legendary Law Realm to truly comprehend its mysteries.

The Legendary Realm? Even Tree Spirit Grandma only grasped the surface.

After unifying the Island Domain, the exploration team’s scope was still not broad enough. They had to remain vigilant against monster Legends, adopting a cautious exploration strategy.

Even so, they achieved substantial gains in just a few days.

The Eternal Continent is indeed filled with treasures everywhere.

While Tianyuan City feasts, the other factions can still enjoy a rich broth.

Everyone has an equally bright future.

“The Ten Directions Island Region no longer holds any major crises. Next, I should prepare to advance toward the Great Warzone.”

5.2K, it’s the beginning of the month, humbly requesting some monthly votes ﹏

(End of Chapter)