Chapter 443 – Assessment Concludes, Tianyuan Defense Zone

Compared to Rakshasa’s assessment task, Uta’s mission was far less convoluted.

His assignment was to conduct reconnaissance in a designated area, gathering detailed intelligence and determining whether a Monster Overlord truly existed there.

Such a task might seem straightforward, but it carried significantly higher risks.

Venturing deep into the wilderness surrounded by monster forces, no one could predict what dangers might arise.

Uta set out with a squad of soldiers.

Ten hours later.

“Rumble—”

A tide of monsters surged from the distance, charging directly toward Uta’s unit.

Uta gazed into the distance, pondered for three seconds but failed to reach any conclusion, then charged headlong into the monster horde. Like a massive whale crashing into a small wave, he shattered the monster tide into fragments.

Twelve hours later.

Uta encountered a second wave of monster attacks, with flying creatures closing in from all directions.

Once again, he repelled the assault, but his accompanying troops suffered considerable casualties.

Fourteen hours later.

“Where was I supposed to find clues about the Monster Overlord?”

Uta scratched his head. The mission briefing mentioned that there might be an overlord faction related to Frost Goblins in this area, requiring him to bring back relevant evidence and materials to confirm the reconnaissance findings.

What was he supposed to do again?

Uta allocated 10% of his focus to throwing punches and 90% to thinking.

He couldn’t figure out the answer, but the monster tide before him was nearly vanquished.

At that moment,

Uta snapped out of his contemplation and realized his legs were immobilized. A chilling cold surged from deep within the earth, with solid ice rapidly creeping up his calves. A visible aura of frost spread outward—the blood oozing from monster corpses, the surrounding wind, even the faintly dancing elemental particles in the air—all seemed to freeze solid.

However, the cold didn’t bother him much, so he hadn’t noticed it immediately.

Just as Uta prepared to break free, a hunched, ice-blue figure darted out from the monster horde, two frost sabers gleaming with a sinister chill.

Several hours earlier.

“It’s a human scout.”

“This scout seems to be alone with just one squad.”

“I’ve verified it—there are no human ambushes in the surrounding area.”

“Then let’s strike. I’ve never seen a human so brazenly reckless before.”

…

The two frost sabers descended.

“Crack—”

The sabers shattered.

Striking the dark War Intent Armament, the ice blades proved as fragile as sabers carved from mere ice, cracking and splintering upon impact.

The Goblin Legend wielding the sabers froze in instinctive shock.

Uta abandoned his attempt to break the ice shackles. Instead, threads of blazing Qi and blood erupted around him, and he couldn’t resist throwing a punch at the Goblin now within arm’s reach.

Dragon Strength · Battle Intent · Serious Punch!

A violent fist force tore through the air with a shriek that seemed capable of rending heaven and earth. The burly human’s body suddenly radiated an even more terrifying pressure.

The Goblin Legend felt as if he were facing a colossal Dragon, its golden eyes gazing down at him with majestic indifference.

I’m going to die.

I’m going to die!

The Goblin crossed the broken blades in front of him, contracting his extreme cold Domain in an attempt to form a shield that would weaken his enemy’s power.However, this formless and shapeless extreme cold Domain, which theoretically could only collide with another Domain, seemed like a water blob being squeezed and denting inward when Uta threw a straight punch.

The endless chill contracted inward, visibly condensing into crystalline ice blocks that shattered completely the next instant.

Amid the shattered ice fragments, the black-clad fist continued unabated, first shattering the broken blade before crashing into the body of the monster legend Goblin Blue.

His upper torso caved in, bursting through his back as his entire body exploded outward from the center.

Only then did a dull “thud” slowly echo, while greenish-red blood splattered everywhere, crackling as it froze the ground into icicles.

Uta retracted his fist and stood firm.

He felt immensely satisfied with this thoroughly exhilarating punch.

The monster legend’s positioning had been too perfect—it would’ve been a shame not to strike such an ideal target.

His satisfaction lasted but a moment before he inwardly cursed, “Damn.”

Before him, not even a fragment remained of the frost goblin—he had struck too completely.

Regret washed over him.

The next instant, Uta’s expression brightened.

A Domain descended from the sky, manifesting as a crystalline world that loomed like a colossal mountain.

The attacking monster legend’s eyes flashed with shock, but it didn’t hesitate, striking with even greater ferocity and determination.

One assailant from above.

Another from below.

There were three monster legends in total, none of them weak.

The crystalline Domain from the sky spanned nearly four kilometers in radius.

Yet the frost legend had perished far too quickly.

This unknown human, absent from their records, was a top-tier Heaven-Earth Realm expert!

He must not be allowed to escape!

Seize this opportunity!

“Boom—”

The celestial ice collapsed.

The earth transformed into a frozen lake.

From the billowing dust, Uta emerged slowly in his black combat gear.

His body…

bore no scratches.

“My turn.”

Stomp!

Sonic waves erupted as a golden dragon’s silhouette pierced the heavens.

The monster legend from the sky was sent flying and crashing down.

Stomp~!

Steam rising from his body, Uta returned to his original position. After a slight breath, he unleashed a relentless barrage of punches.

Ora ora ora ora—!

“Boom boom boom boom!!”

The earth splintered, fragmented terrain and soaring ice crystals barely reaching mid-air before disintegrating into dust under the violent shockwaves.

The ground shattered in concentric waves.

After a moment, Uta ceased his assault.

Leaving only a colossal crater over three kilometers wide. Within its depths, the elongated remains of some legendary creature were barely recognizable.

Uta collected the fragments, retrieving another fallen corpse.

Wiping cold sweat from his brow, he muttered, “Too close, almost failed the mission.”

…

Dozens of kilometers away.

A trainee from a certain camp was also undertaking an Assessment Task.

It was the Scorching Flame Lord.

“In this small area alone, I’ve detected traces of multiple legends. The Deep Wilderness is truly perilous—I must proceed with utmost caution and never reveal my whereabouts.”

She could imagine that once discovered and targeted, she would inevitably face pursuit by Monster Overlords and interception from at least several monstrous brutes.

Clutching the Stealth Orb, Blazing Flame traversed the mountain forests using only her Physical Body’s strength.

Suddenly,

“Boom—”

A tremendous roar echoed from afar.The sound reached her ears clearly despite the great distance.

The Blazing Flame Lord jolted.

“A battle?”

She climbed to a high point nearby and looked into the distance, faintly making out a chaotic storm and the fleeting golden silhouette of a dragon.

She swallowed hard.

“Which big shot in the warzone is carrying out an extermination mission? So fierce, unlike a small fry like me who can only hide and dodge.”

She had no intention of investigating further.

To survive in the Great Warzone, one must first restrain their curiosity, or they would inevitably die because of it.

Unless she saw a distress signal, she would never approach any combat zone.

“This area is too unstable. I’d better go back and turn in the mission. These clues are sufficient enough.”

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

Blazing Flame took one last distant glance before her figure vanished into the mountain forest.

…

Around the same time, at the Core Fortress in the Cold Valley Mountain Warzone.

Compared to the three major logistics bases, the Core Fortress appeared far less grand from a distance, only slightly larger than his own Wolfhead Mountain Fortress.

But Mu Yuan had heard that the entire fortress was an integrated whole, a treasure in itself.

Even though it wasn’t wartime, the area outside the Core Fortress was constantly bombarded, with almost no moment of respite.

Standing inside the fortress and gazing into the distance, Mu Yuan could still see mountains as imposing as natural chasms, and beyond them, the drifting, surging Crimson Mist, like clouds or tides.

“The Crimson Mist is the key.”

The Cold Moon City Lord said, “The reason our Taixuan, along with other major nations, have been able to hold the line against the Foul Forces with our defensive barriers is that the truly powerful Filth creatures do not stray far from the Crimson Mist.”

“These apex monsters only appear within the mist surges when the Crimson Mist tides flow southward.”

“Yet even so, we have reason to suspect that we are only facing the monstrous forces from the outskirts of the Land of Red Mist. None of us know what lies deep within the Land of Red Mist, or what the Filth has bred and evolved into.”

“After all, even I have only ventured a few million li into the Land of Red Mist.”

Mu Yuan had initially thought the Cold Moon City Lord would spout some “kill, kill, kill” rhetoric—after all, she had risen through relentless slaughter—but unexpectedly, her attitude seemed rather “pessimistic”?

Han Yue glanced at him, as if guessing his thoughts. “It’s because you have the potential to eventually reach the same heights as us that I’m telling you this harsh reality in advance. Don’t get too complacent, kid.”

“Of course, for now, resisting and holding back powerful enemies still falls to us ‘old-timers.'”

“Don’t worry, restoring humanity’s glory is a duty our Tianyuan Territory cannot shirk,”

Mu Yuan said.

Dolai chimed in, “That’s right~!”

“By the way…”

Mu Yuan took out an item from his Storage Ring. “This is the Divine General Talisman Stone you gave me back then, saying it had to be returned if unused. Today, I’m returning it to its rightful owner.”

The epic-grade item ‘Divine General · Talisman Stone’ had been applied for on his behalf by the Cold Moon City Lord years ago.

Using the talisman stone could summon a Divine General at the Peak of the Heaven-Earth Realm, who would obey his commands for up to three hours.

It was undoubtedly a divine-grade lifesaving artifact.

Even if ambushed by several monster legends, the emergence of a Peak Divine General would be enough to turn the tide.

But for the current Mu Yuan, this talisman stone was no longer of any use.Tianyuan Territory already had many commanders possessing combat strength comparable to the peak Heaven-Earth Realm.

He certainly wouldn’t stoop to pocketing this item.

This runestone couldn’t be called useless either. At the very least, back in the day, holding the Divine General runestone had given Lord Mu a great sense of security. Many of the contingency plans he had devised also involved the use of this runestone.

“Runestone?”

Cold Moon City Lord was taken aback.

She remembered this item.

Epic-grade items weren’t particularly rare for the vast Taixuan Alliance, but those suitable for ordinary lords to use while possessing the power to turn the tide were extremely rare, almost nonexistent.

Given that Tianyuan Territory had suffered a great calamity, she had long assumed Tianyuan had already used the runestone.

To think he survived the most difficult initial period right under the Monster Overlord’s nose without using the runestone?

Good heavens!

This young man is terrifying!

He’s completely not beneath me, and might even possibly… surpass me by a tiny bit?

But times are different, so direct comparison isn’t appropriate.

So she thought.

Mu Yuan didn’t stay long in the core fortress, soon embarking on his return journey.

He was still concerned about Rakshasa and Uta’s situations.

Fortress.

General’s Manor.

After bathing, Cold Moon City Lord directly put on her full set of battle armor, never parting from her armor and sword.

She summoned her trusted commander, a Moon Sword Immortal who had followed her in fighting across the Great Warzone.

“By the way, the various training camp programs should be nearly complete. How is the quality of this year’s new officers? Has the rear sent more reliable reinforcements to our Cold Valley Mountain? And how have the two people Tianyuan brought performed?”

Moon Sword Immortal replied, “The first batch of officers has completed training and assessment. Among them, Tianyuan Lord’s subordinates Uta and Rakshasa both showed outstanding performances. General Ice Fist and several Legendary Realm experts involved in mission processes have given them high evaluations.”

“Among them, One-Punch Martial Maniac Uta carried out a reconnaissance mission. He… um.”

Moon Sword Immortal glanced at the report in hand, pausing briefly before saying, “His reconnaissance result was bringing back two Monster Legend remains, thereby proving the presence of active Monster Legends in that area.”

Forcibly killing two Legendary Realm beings within monster-infested territory and returning unscathed was indeed an extremely impressive form of reconnaissance.

Moon Sword Immortal continued, “Legend Rakshasa performed even more remarkably. In less than a day, he identified and eliminated the Thousand-Faced One monster that had been troubling patrol corps everywhere.”

Cold Moon City Lord nodded slightly.

After all, they were generals carefully selected by Tianyuan, so finding the Thousand-Faced One wasn’t too outrageous.

Moon Sword Immortal added, “During this process, Lord Rakshasa also uncovered one Divine Radiance high-level spy, one Eternal Star high-level spy, two corruption criminals, and…”

Cold Moon City Lord: “…”

This seemed slightly outrageous.

She clearly knew Tianyuan had more famous generals beyond these two.

Dolai and Lord of Netherworld Red Robe whom she had met earlier, plus several Dragon Gate List powerhouses.

Where exactly did Tianyuan find these outrageous generals! She was feeling envious just looking at them!

…

One day later, after training camp evaluations and input from various departments, Cold Valley Mountain Warzone was about to announce appointments for this batch of new officers.

Only awaiting Cold Moon City Lord’s official seal.

She glanced over the document.In the Tianyuan Territory, Rakshasa and Uta were responsible for the outer perimeter of the Second Logistics Base and the A-grade Garrison Camp. Both held the position of Regional Commander, with Rakshasa as the chief commander and Uta as the deputy commander. Simultaneously, this defense zone was designated as the “Tianyuan Defense Zone.”

Similarly, there were several defense zones named after various territories within the Great Warzone, each backed by a powerful territory.

The A-grade Garrison Camp of the Second Base was one of the more significant camps and defense zones among the many.

The Cold Moon City Lord pondered for a moment, “It’s still not enough.”

She picked up her brush and added her opinion, “Grant Rakshasa and Uta the authority to form a special patrol corps, responsible for…”

(End of Chapter)