Chapter 448 – Tianyuan City's Formation

Tianyuan City has always been a weapon of war—or rather, every Miracle Territory situated on the frontlines is a weapon of war.

Eliminating external threats and resisting powerful enemies have been the inherent duties of Miracle Territories since their inception.

Bound by a covenant with the world, their responsibilities include combating monsters and purifying the Filth.

At this moment, Tianyuan City is merely revealing a fraction of its potential as a war territory.

Mu Yuan remained at the headquarters, listening to reports from various legions.

“The Vanguard of the Skeleton Legion has cleared three monster strongholds and is currently advancing. No enemy can withstand a single claw from this Dragon, roar!”

“The 13th Reconnaissance Squad has detected traces of what appears to be a Legendary Realm monster and is continuing the pursuit.”

“The 3rd Corps of the Specter Legion has discovered a hidden monster Tribe, eliminated it, and is awaiting subsequent purification.”

“Purifying the Root of Filth.”

“Purifying the Root of Filth.”

The efficiency of the large force’s march and clearance operations far surpassed the usual exploratory expansions.

This was because Tianyuan City did not engage in probing or evasive tactics—only relentless advancement.

They followed the general direction provided by the Battle Armor General.

…

“If Tianyuan City can maintain this efficiency in clearing operations, it might actually locate the Filth installation within just a few days.”

Somewhere in the Wilderness.

The Battle Armor General was also leading an elite squad, relying on his experience to search continuously.

His duty was to guard the observation Base and he could not leave lightly. However, the emergence of the Filth installation… meant that locating the Filth structure took priority over the safety of the observation Base.

He left his deputy in command and personally ventured deep into the Wilderness.

Yet, with limited personnel, even under the leadership of a Peak Legendary Realm expert like himself, the search efficiency remained low.

He could fight, but only if he found the enemy.

That was no easy task. Could Tianyuan City accomplish it?

…

It will be done!

Mu Yuan thought to himself.

He could indeed request reinforcements and had already asked the Battle Armor General to apply for them.

However, the Alliance, though powerful, was a cumbersome machine. Substantial reinforcements would not arrive in a short time.

Hope and safety—Mu Yuan wanted to grasp them entirely in his own hands.

Thus, Tianyuan City swiftly mobilized, showcasing the high efficiency of an independent territory. Yet, the Army Soul Legions advancing and clearing the Wilderness were merely the surface-level tactics of Tianyuan City.

Clearing operations might uncover something and disrupt the situation, serving as cover for the true objective.

A special squad was rapidly speeding toward the northwest, soon crossing the vast Bloodtree Forest and entering Wilderness regions with even lower exploration levels by Tianyuan City.

The squad consisted of four members:

Xiliu, in her Dragon Incarnation form but with a reduced size;

Sophia, head of the intelligence organization;

Dolai, the best enforcer;

And Laney, the key figure of the squad.

The mission of the special squad was to rely on Laney’s ‘Sacred Seal’ ability to determine the location of the Filth source.

This was no simple task.

Back in Tianyuan City, Laney had only noticed her Sacred Seal flickering after returning to the hospital.

If even the small Tianyuan City posed such challenges, expanding the scope to the entire Ten Directions Island Region was like searching for a needle in a haystack. After all, Laney was not yet at the Legendary Realm.

But now, the observation Base had provided a general direction, allowing Laney’s Sacred Seal ability to have a chance to shine.

They were not venturing into the investigation alone, either.In the Wilderness, the Bone Legion led by Sario, the elite squads led by Lu Liu, and the artillery support units commanded by Xie Yi were all advancing in this direction.

Each group traveled separately, yet maintained a posture ready to provide support at any moment.

In the sky, Wind King’s Wings and Grey Birds soared past, their sharp eyes scanning the surroundings, transmitting images far and wide.

…

“Beep beep beep~”

The Holy Seal flickered with an urgent light, alternating between bright and dim.

The three rode on Xiliu’s back, shrouded in Sophia’s darkness, flying swiftly at low altitude.

After passing through a dense forest of giant trees, the vegetation ahead began to wither, emitting an aura of decay and death. Visible red mist threads rapidly multiplied in the air, drifting like tendrils and spreading an ominous presence.

Beneath the Crimson Mist, the withered land teemed with countless grotesque monsters. They darted back and forth, roaring and fighting, their trickling blood converging toward the center—a root dozens of meters tall, covered in crimson crystalline patterns.

“It’s the Root of Filth!”

“Just the Root of Filth.”

Dolai muttered, its heart stirring with temptation as it gazed at the distant brownish-red root.

It was like a treasure chest placed right in front—who could resist opening it?

With great difficulty, it averted its eyes. “Damn it, let’s hurry and keep searching!”

The group did not linger, continuing to conceal their forms and auras as they sped into the distance.

Sophia glanced at the still-beeping Holy Seal and asked, “Can we still track it?”

Laney replied, “No problem. The Wilderness is full of chaotic Filth, but I’ve gradually figured out how to adjust the Holy Seal. As long as I raise the detection threshold for Filth, we can avoid many unnecessary alerts. I believe the Filth device capable of creating a Red Mist Region must have an exceptionally dense concentration of Filth.”

Sophia said, “Theoretically, yes. The Base’s detection capabilities were likely developed based on your unique epic abilities. Let’s keep searching. This is destined to be a task that cannot be easily completed.”

…

In contrast to Laney’s team’s low-profile and stealthy approach, the various vanguard armies sweeping through the Wilderness unleashed waves of ferocity capable of shaking the entire Ten Directions Island Region.

The vanguard armies’ mission was not to completely clear the Wilderness—they lacked the time for that.

Their task was to advance, advance, and advance further.

After stepping beyond the former Jackal Fang territory, the resistance faced by the vanguard armies intensified significantly. These depths of the Wilderness were areas Tianyuan City had yet to fully explore or develop, teeming with denser monster populations. Even remote mountain valleys could hide Fourth Order monster hordes or even wild Legendary Realm beings.

However…

“Roar! Roar! Awoo~!”

Sario led an elite skeleton battalion, advancing with unstoppable momentum without a moment’s pause.

It cleared the path with its massive frame and overwhelming Dragon might.

Behind it followed dozens of Bone Generators and Death Lords with flight capabilities, their Bone Wings already unfurled.

Hundreds of attacks rained down upon Sario, but they were like mere raindrops, unable to leave even a scratch.

With a single roar from Sario, distant monsters fell in waves. It swept low through the air, pinning a twenty-meter-tall Dark Giant to the ground and dragging it for hundreds of meters.”Who else? Who else!”

The Dragon’s roar shook the heavens and earth, its invincible figure imprinted in the eyes of the occasional glimpsing elves, giants, Battle Armor General, and others, evoking involuntary awe.

Tianyuan City still had such a fierce warrior!

…

Next to the Ten Directions Island Region lay the Great Domain of the Dead.

It had been several months since Deadbone established the Sacred Mountain here, exploring and expanding.

Yet his exploration of this domain remained limited to a small corner; undoubtedly, this was a vast Great Domain.

The area he first arrived in was filled with thick death energy, with almost no other elemental forces—not even the Crimson Mist—and monsters were quite sparse.

But after Deadbone headed north, he noticed the Crimson Mist drifting through the world gradually increased. After traveling a million miles north, the density of the Crimson Mist far surpassed that of the Ten Directions Island Region. In some areas, the mist swirled thickly, and the ground was tainted, as if patches of red sores had grown upon the earth.

And…

Deadbone examined the massive Dragon corpse before him.

In this Great Domain of the Dead, Dragon remains were not uncommon; he had collected and transformed a batch into Bone Dragons. But this Dragon corpse was different.

It had died, revived, died again, revived once more, and then died a final time.

It had ‘revived’ twice, but these two resurrections were not the same.

Observing the traces on the Dragon corpse, Deadbone grew increasingly certain: “The first ‘revival’ was the work of a powerful undead, transforming the Dragon remains into an undead Dragon. After this undead Dragon fell in battle and faded, leaving only wreckage, its remnants were then inhabited, turning into a special creature formed by countless Flesh piled and fused together.”

This type of special creature was not unfamiliar to Deadbone; he had encountered them before and had slain them with his own hands.

“It’s a Flesh Dragon.”

He had reason to suspect this was a Flesh-mutated Dragon from Dragon’s Slumber Valley, slain here.

Deadbone gazed into a certain direction, “Perhaps continuing forward from here will lead to the Land of Red Mist where Dragon’s Slumber Valley lies. The distance between them isn’t very far.”

Because…

Over these months, while continuously exploring and transforming undead creatures, Deadbone had also uncovered some Ancient Civilization Ruins.

There were quite a few.

It seemed a glorious kingdom of the dead had once stood here. In fragmented records, Deadbone even discovered the words ‘Dragon’s Slumber Valley’—that Dragon graveyard where countless Dragon remains were buried had been a breeding ground for the former kingdom of the dead.

Based on this, even if Dragon’s Slumber Valley wasn’t within this domain, it couldn’t be too far away.

“Dragon’s Slumber Valley is too dangerous!”

Back in their home in the Ten Directions Island Region, they were constantly threatened by Dragon’s Slumber Valley.

He wanted to eliminate this threat.

But Deadbone clearly understood the vast gap between his forces and Dragon’s Slumber Valley—a gap that couldn’t be bridged quickly.

“My rate of growth isn’t fast enough.”

He murmured, his intangible Domain spreading out around him.

Black mist billowed, and the dead wailed.

The area within a radius of over ten thousand meters centered on him transformed into a paradise for the dead.

Deadbone reached out, extracting strands of residual bone essence from the Dragon corpse before him, which was considered top-tier even among legendary Heaven-Earth Realm beings.

“That should be about enough.”

…

“The path of caution lies in Incarnations.”

“As long as we have enough Incarnations, not only can we remain safe and steady, but we can also strategize against enemies from tens of thousands of miles away while staying at home.”Long, long ago, when it asked the Lord about what it meant to be steadfast, the Lord gave one example among many.

From that moment, Deadbone conceived the idea of creating the Incarnation Great Method.

He certainly succeeded.

But…

As his Rank increased and his Order evolved, he realized that the incarnation ability he had developed quickly fell behind the times.

The incarnation had limitations and constraints, which left him deeply unsatisfied.

Even Isloria’s Starlight Avatar and Sophia’s Black Crow Avatar, in Deadbone’s eyes, still had notable flaws.

Of course, the functions of his companions’ avatars differed.

The incarnation he sought to create was one capable of withstanding intense combat, able to utilize the vast majority of his power, including Epic Skills and legendary might.

Moreover, it would have no upper limit.

…

“Go!”

Deadbone scattered the tens of thousands of high-grade Bone Essences he had collected, unleashing a tsunami-like wave of death energy that surged forth.

The great tide of Death soared into the heavens.

After a moment, a skeleton with bones as white as jade appeared before Deadbone. The two exchanged a glance and spoke in unison: “Capable of bearing 90% of my power, including Epic Skills. It’s barely passable and sufficient for now.”

The newly born skeletal incarnation still required refinement, with much data to be gathered.

But there were more pressing matters to attend to.

Deadbone raised his war banner, and a massive black tide surged forth from the distance.

Hundreds of Bone Dragons soared across the sky;

Thousands of Death Knights charged forward on the ground;

Frost Dragons roared, Shadow Dragons opened their eyes in the firmament, and Blood Fiends snickered in the shadows.

“I leave it to you, the other me.”

The incarnation nodded.

Leading the vast tide of the undead, it marched straight toward the deeper reaches where the Crimson Mist billowed.

…

In Tianyuan City, night gradually fell.

Mu Yuan extended his psychic web, resonating with the vanguard legions that had already ventured deep into the Wilderness.

The various armies and legions were dispersing, advancing rapidly in the form of squads and platoons.

Even with squads of fewer than ten members, these elites had the ability to calmly break through encirclements by hordes of monsters.

Such was the core strength of present-day Tianyuan City!

While the number of Legendary Realm experts in Tianyuan City might still be limited, the super Fourth Order combatants—those at the absolute peak between the Legendary Realm and mortal limits—were countless.

「Tianyuan Territory」

「Level: Level 5 Territory」

「Troop Types: -Click to Expand-」

——

「Epic One-Star:

「Master Gunsmith-10-; Wind King’s Wings-12-; Holy Light Sage-12-; Valiant Warchief-15-; Frost Lord-20-; Dragon Swordmaster-25-; Nature Spirit-30-; Fearless Warchief-30-; Polar Star Arrow-35-; Treant Lord-35-; Nether Ghost General-45-; Deathbone Lord-65-」

「Other Epic One-Star-20-」

Total: 354 Epic-tier beings.

And this was only counting the Epic One-Star elites, excluding the few minor commanders and battalion-level powerhouses.

Who would have thought that within these seemingly ordinary, at most moderately elite, legions, there were hundreds of Epic-tier lives!

Limited by their accumulated experience, the vast majority of these Epic elites were still far from the Legendary Realm. It would take at least another year or two of settling before they could hope to challenge the Legendary Realm.

However,

They possessed genuinely formidable combat strength, an almost invincible power capable of sweeping through opponents of the same tier.

This was the confidence that allowed Mu Yuan to advance into the Wilderness with such an undisguised momentum.

Time passed slowly.Mu Yuan remained stationed in Tianyuan City, his mental web never disconnecting for a moment.

As the vanguard delved deeper into the wilderness, they encountered increasing resistance from wild monsters, with enemies hiding among them, waiting for opportunities to strike.

“Boom—!”

In one location, an assault team composed of three Polar Star Arrows, three Fearless Warchiefs, and two Frost Lords had just torn through a wave of monsters and broken out when…

A crimson Domain abruptly descended without warning.

The Legendary Realm Blood Serpent Embrace revealed a sinister grin. “I’ve caught you.”

Several dozen seconds later.

The Blood Serpent Legend’s smile gradually froze.

“I-I’ll be back!”

Before him, three golden, shimmering light barriers stood like insurmountable walls.

The falling snowflakes from the sky and the fleeting, starlight-tinged arrows also caused him considerable trouble.

As a proud Blood Serpent Legend, he wasn’t incapable of defeating a few human experts, but… he couldn’t linger in one place for too long.

Why did he have such rotten luck, targeting such a tough nut to crack!

The Blood Serpent Legend hurriedly retreated, disappearing from the assault team’s sight.

…

“The enemies are growing restless, which also indicates we’re getting closer and closer to the target location.”

At this point, only a day and night had passed since Battle Armor General sent the message and Tianyuan City transformed into a weapon of war.

Deep within the wilderness.

In the relatively desolate and barren western region of the former Black Crow Territory.

Laney’s squad, serving as the vanguard, had already advanced to this area.

Laney knelt on the Red Dragon’s back, her hands clasped together. Before her floated a Purification Holy Seal that occasionally flickered with dark light.

Currently, the seal’s flickering wasn’t frequent, but when it dimmed, it often… darkened profoundly.

“This profound darkness first appeared an hour ago. Compared to before, the frequency of these deep dark flashes has been increasing.”

“This time, we might find a different kind of Filth, deeper and denser Filth—likely our target!”

Following the seal’s guidance, Xiliu adjusted her flight direction several times, her speed increasing steadily.

Everyone understood they were now racing against time.

According to that Battle Armor Legend, temporary Filth installations typically took several days to take root. But “typically” wasn’t “certainly,” and the territory’s survival couldn’t rely on mere luck.

“Time to charge~!” Xiliu growled.

Sophia suddenly spoke, “Wait, there’s…”

Before she could finish, the surrounding world grew increasingly dark—a darkness distinct from Sophia’s night shroud.

The Great Dark Sky Curtain spread out, enveloping the sky and earth with no end in sight.

Faintly visible, countless black trees grew and branched around them, and on these black branches, shadowy crow figures emerged, their red eyes opening.

“What is this?”

Xiliu exhaled a breath of scorching true flame, incinerating the black trees and shadow crows before her. Yet the pitch-black sky curtain remained, and in the distance, more black trees continued to grow, crow shadows flickering.

Sophia gazed intently. “This pitch-black sky curtain has the effect of trapping enemies and distorting space.” It’s a combination of an illusion array and a confinement array. The enemy seems to want to trap us here.”

Dolai extended a finger, a grain-sized red light point appearing at its tip.

The next moment,

“Boom—”

A blazing sun erupted from the earth’s horizon, yet it still couldn’t truly shatter the black sky curtain.”I seem to smell the scent of Treasures?” Dolai pondered.

Somewhere in the Wilderness.

A Treasure resembling a black withered tree stood planted in the barren soil.

Around it, a full ten Legendary Realm beings wearing Black Crow masks surrounded the strange tree, continuously channeling their power into it with outstretched hands.

“Creating a blazing sun with just a snap of their fingers? Human powerhouses are truly terrifying!”

“No wonder Jackal Fang’s multiple assassination attempts ended in failure, and even the Great Serpent Clan with the Serpent Attendant’s support fell to human hands.”

“Fortunately, we didn’t confront these humans directly. Now that they’re trapped in our Great Black Crow Forest, containing them here will be effortless.”

“This is the prudent strategy of our Black Crow Clan, hehehehehe—”

5K

(End of Chapter)