Chapter 467 – Tianyuan City Also Enters War Readiness

After the Red Mountain City incident, Mu Yuan hurried to the nearest official town and arrived at Boulder City via the steel train.

And here…

Mu Yuan directly returned to the long-separated Tianyuan Territory through the Star Gate.

“Although our territory isn’t particularly prosperous, it’s still thousands of times better than the big cities outside.”

Even though he had been away for a month or two, he remained completely clear about the situation in his own territory.

During this period, the Ten Directions Island Region could be described as calm.

No, perhaps that’s not entirely accurate.

「A month and a half ago, the medium-sized Soul Sand mine in the far north was attacked by a large monster wave, instigated by remnants of the Black Crow Clan.」

…

「A month ago, a wandering Legendary Realm monster appeared in the Ten Directions Island Region—a lava giant standing over sixty meters tall.」

Shortly after the lava giant appeared, it encountered the exploring Tianyuan Squad.

Subsequently, the Tianyuan Squad called for reinforcements and directly subjugated this Legendary monster.

…

「Sixteen days ago, a Foul Nest was born in the northern border of the Ten Directions Island Region, spewing out hundreds, even thousands of high-level monsters as a roaring wave surged forth.」

「The Foul Nest existed for less than two days before being eradicated.」

…

「Ten days ago, an assassin from the outside world, likely coming through the Shenluo Great Domain passage, attempted to infiltrate the core area of Tianyuan City but was captured on the spot by a patrol squad.」

「This assassin possessed Fourth Order Peak combat power, was hired by a middleman, and the true mastermind remains unclear.」

……

For ordinary territories, many of these incidents would already be considered major disasters.

A wandering Legendary Realm monster could easily destroy a territory, even a city-level territory.

A newly born Foul Nest, if not promptly eliminated, could turn vast areas into dead lands.

For Tianyuan Territory a year ago, each of these disasters would have posed a risk of collapse, but now…

They were merely gentle breezes.

“This is the meaning of strengthening oneself.”

“No matter how terrifying the waves and storms, I will shatter them all.”

Amid such calm, Mu Yuan found his mood considerably more pleasant as he handled trivial matters.

He stamped dozens of seals in quick succession, approving the documents that had gradually piled up over the past few days.

Suddenly,

His assistant Moli entered his office and reported, “Lord, the situation at the border passage at the western edge has changed. The observation team reports that a large number of wild monsters have emerged from there.”

…

At the western extreme of the Ten Directions Island Region.

The Tianyuan City ‘Border Passage Special Exploration Team’ had previously discovered a passage leading to the Outer Realm here.

Afterward, Sophia personally crossed the border passage to investigate the other side, confirming it to be an island domain with sparse monsters but equally scarce resources, where the land appeared fragmented.

—Most likely a worthless island domain.

With vast areas of the Ten Directions Island Region still waiting for Tianyuan City to explore and develop, Mu Yuan naturally had no intention of expanding into this seemingly barren island domain at the time. He merely organized several elite exploration teams to conduct simple surveys of the island domain and established an observation outpost in a concealed location outside the border passage.

He had also established outposts outside the border passages at the northern, southern, and eastern ends.The difference is that some outposts are built in plain sight, while others are set up covertly.

Outposts cannot detect everything either. When the Faceless One infiltrated earlier, the observation post in the north failed to notice him. This, however, is hardly their fault.

At this moment, the observation post at the western extremity has detected a highly conspicuous situation.

“Hurry, hurry! Report the information immediately!”

The commander of the observation post is a minor general of Tianyuan City, Bone Seven, a Lord of the Dead by origin. It has given itself a human name, ‘Bone Zero Seven.’

Bone Zero Seven stood on the hillside, gazing into the distance. Black mist enveloped the entire slope, making it feel as though this place had been peeled away from the world. The tide of monsters surging out from the passageway did not detect the ‘scent of living beings’ here and spread directly into the distance.

Beside it, Bone Three Three said, “Stop shouting, we’re already reporting it~!”

In just a short while, an intuition arose in the hearts of the warriors connected to the mental network.

He has arrived.

Bone Zero Seven knelt on one knee. “We respectfully welcome the Lord.”

Bone Three Three said, “Welcome, Lord, for your inspection.”

As Mu Yuan connected to this channel via the Mental Link, his gaze was also projected through the ‘Rare-Grade Watchtower’ constructed here.

He saw over a dozen self-built grave mounds, a massive bird’s nest, and some Arrow Towers and Multi-Arrow Turrets erected in the area.

However, his vision was confined here. Even though he was looking down from a high vantage point, he could not see the distant scenery—beyond the territory covered by the watchtower, his field of view was reduced to a vast expanse of whiteness.

The area covered by the Rare-Grade Watchtower was merely a few hundred meters.

“Let me handle this. Now is the time to utilize my power.”

A cyan figure abruptly soared into the sky.

It ascended only a few dozen meters, not leaving the range enveloped by the black mist.

A pale cyan wind swirled around it, and its eyes became as magnificent as sapphire gems.

The divine skill from years past, ‘Vision Sharing,’ was transmitted through the Mental Link talent to Mu Yuan’s eyes, thousands of kilometers away in Tianyuan Territory.

Mu Yuan now had three fields of vision before him:

His own vision; the perspective from the watchtower; and the observational view from the Wind King’s Wings at the outpost.

Through the sharp eyes of the Wind King’s Wings, Mu Yuan’s gaze pierced the black mist, revealing batches of monsters rumbling forward outside.

Further away lay barren, lifeless land, beaten smooth and empty by the constant lashing of the energy tides.

Monstrous figures emerged from the edge of his vision.

Violent elemental energies gathered, transforming into visible waves that crashed onto the ground.

Boom—

Countless monsters were pulverized into mincemeat by the energy tides, swept away by the massive waves, leaving only scattered, fragmented corpses dotting the land, swaying in the aftermath of the surges.

Yet, many monsters charged out from the tides, howling and roaring, rushing toward this land that attracted them, teeming with vitality.

Mu Yuan frowned. “The energy tides are weakening and still declining.”Is it because the monsters are continuously charging and assaulting, using their vast numbers to diminish the violent energy between heaven and earth?””

This was not impossible.

The principle of energy conservation does not apply in the Xuanhuan world, but in specific situations, energy must still adhere to some degree of conservation. Just like Dolai, when it expends too much energy, it must gorge itself.If the energy tides merely crashed down, the dissipated elemental energy would return to the world and gather once more to form new waves, continuing endlessly.

But if monsters continuously consumed the energy tides, it seemed reasonable for them to weaken.

The question was whether this weakening was temporary or permanent.

Mu Yuan guessed it was the former, as the Land of Fury involved certain laws of the world.

However…

He also noticed that as the monsters surged, the crimson mist drifting in the sky above this Raging Land seemed denser than before.

Uncertain, he sought the opinions of Bone Zero Seven, Bone Three Three, and Wind King’s Wings.

Bone Zero Seven rested its chin on its hand, deep in thought. “It does seem a bit denser, doesn’t it?”

“At critical moments, you still have to rely on me.”

Bone Three Three removed her helmet and took out a Shadow Recording Crystal from her eye socket.

“I’ve been recording the situation at the realm passage all along.”

“This one is from today, this one from three days ago, and this one recorded the scene a week ago.”

Comparing the Shadow Recording Crystals confirmed it—the crimson mist drifting in this area had indeed grown significantly denser.

Mu Yuan was impressed.

His elite troops were truly reliable.

But…

“The drifting crimson mist and the surging monster hordes—this scene seems…”

Somewhat familiar!

A vague sense of foreboding stirred within him.

Sophia joined the channel. “Let me investigate what’s happening in the island domain on the other side.”

Mu Yuan: “Alright, I’ll leave it to you. Be careful in all things.”

…

Sophia soon returned with bad news.

Compared to previous entries, the environment of the Shattered Isle Region beyond the passage had drastically changed.

Monsters were everywhere, baring their teeth and howling.

The air was thick with crimson mist, the sky devoid of any light, with only a faint red moon visible hanging above.

Roots of Filth had sprouted, continuously devouring the land.

In the distance, mountain ranges twisted menacingly, as if transformed into terrifying monsters under the crimson mist’s erosion.

Sophia even spotted several crimson Dragons among them.

“As expected!”

Mu Yuan thought to himself.

West of Red Mountain City, beyond the collapsed entrance to the underground cavern, lay exactly such an environment.

A Filth device had taken root, beginning to corrode the land, nearly transforming the entire island domain into a Land of Red Mist.

Mu Yuan frowned.

He couldn’t help but suspect that this Shattered Isle Region was the very island domain opposite the Red Mountain City passage.

The target of Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s military advance.

“Whether it’s the island domain opposite Red Mountain City or not, Tianyuan City must once again face Dragon’s Slumber Valley directly. This time, we’ll have to confront even more of Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s forces.”

“Based on Taixuan’s longstanding experience, resisting the crimson mist’s erosion—through building defenses, eliminating waves, and slaying legends—can curb its spread, but it only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause.”

“The spread of the crimson mist erosion seems to follow certain unique rules.”

To the north, the crimson mist had not encroached.

But here, as monsters poured in, the number of crimson mist threads was increasing—an ominous sign.

Outside Red Mountain City, the scene was much the same.

It had to be stopped.

Tianyuan City’s alarm bells rang once more, plunging the entire city into a state of combat readiness.

Mu Yuan didn’t entertain thoughts like “I’m unlucky again.”

His consistent philosophy was: When calamity strikes, crush it.

This time was no different.Tianyuan City faced a major disaster every one to two, or two to three months. Not just him, but all the generals, elite troops, and even the citizens of Tianyuan City had grown accustomed to it.

Many of the elite troops were sharpening their weapons, brimming with excitement.

Sario: “War! This will be the stage for this dragon to prove itself. The previous enemies were too few—completely insufficient for a real fight!”

Asun: “In the earlier battles, Falcon Lord hadn’t stepped into the legendary realm and could only watch helplessly. This time is different. Tianyuan’s fastest will officially take the stage.”

Xiliu: “We’re fighting Dragon’s Slumber Valley again? This is… wonderful! The dragons of Dragon’s Slumber Valley are incredibly delicious!”

Dolai: “Ah, fight fight fight!”

The above were representatives of Tianyuan City’s thoughtless bunch. As for logistical directors like Isloria and defense commanders like Lu Liu, they had far more to consider.

After all, Dragon’s Slumber Valley…

…

“Dragon’s Slumber Valley won’t be easy to deal with.”

Tianze City, Pioneer Group meeting.

Several Pioneering Generals, pioneering commanders, and a few non-Pioneer Group leaders gathered here via projections.

“However, Dragon’s Slumber Valley has numerous enemies. It’s an island domain that hasn’t fully transformed into the Land of Red Mist, so it’s unlikely to have many powerful figures from Dragon’s Slumber Valley stationed there.”

“That may be true, but our Taixuan experts each have their own defense zones. Now that we’re opening a new warzone, our forces will be stretched even thinner.”

“But the new warzone must be established. We can issue a recruitment order—a newly built warzone should attract many ambitious Pioneer Lords. At the very least, this new warzone needs to prevent the Land of Red Mist from spreading… We can’t let the opposing island domain completely fall to the Red Mist, or we’ll be too passive.”

“So, who will command this new warzone?”

The speaking Pioneering General scanned the room.

The position of warzone commander was crucial.

While a warzone’s ability to withstand enemy attacks depends on collective effort rather than any single individual or territory, the warzone commander can exercise authority, gather collective strength, and play a critical role at key moments.

An excellent warzone commander can also serve as a role model, boost morale, or excel at command, maximizing the use of warzone authority.

In short, even though warzones mostly operate with each lord responsible for their own defense zone, managing their own affairs, the selection of a commander must still be approached with extreme caution.

Moreover, this new warzone would directly face Dragon’s Slumber Valley, far from being one of those insignificant minor warzones.

It was at least a medium-scale warzone.

Depending on the situation, the warzone’s level might even be elevated.

The Pioneering General in the main seat looked toward a young man sitting on his right.

“Green Mountain, how about you take on this commander position?”

“Ah? Me?”

The young man was stunned: Me, fighting Dragon’s Slumber Valley?

“I’ll lead troops to the warzone to block the enemy, but to have me responsible for the entire battlefield… I’m afraid I don’t have sufficient capability.”

The Pioneering General sighed softly.

Azure Mountain Lord was a relatively young but already quite powerful lord. With numerous military achievements, he had reached five-star Pioneer Lord status, commanding many fierce generals and gathering elite troops.

In the Pioneering General’s view, in terms of strength, experience, and merit, Azure Mountain Lord was qualified to serve as commander of this warzone.

He was the most suitable candidate.

The other potential candidates either had slightly insufficient experience or were unable to free up their hands.But this Azure Mountain Lord, despite being quite powerful, simply lacked self-confidence, always feeling inadequate in his abilities.

Since Green Mountain lacked confidence, the Pioneering General couldn’t directly appoint him to lead.

A commander needs to be steady, but must not lack self-confidence.

“First, we’ll report our discussion results to headquarters and issue a summons. Our immediate priority is to stop the spread of the Crimson Mist and guard against surprise attacks from Dragon’s Slumber Valley. After that, we can consider stabilizing the battlefront and whether counterattacks are feasible.”

(End of Chapter)