Chapter 487 – After the War, Visitors from the Undead Clan

The Azure Mountain Lord had finally found someone capable of taking charge among Tianyuan Lord’s subordinates.

A mysterious woman who called herself ‘Dark Crow’ and claimed to be her lord’s shadow.

This Tianyuan General was not entirely unfamiliar to Green Mountain either.

When they first entered the Shattered Isle Region, it was this mysterious woman who had guided them.

She was clearly a legendary powerhouse, and not merely skilled in combat.

“Tianyuan truly has no shortage of talented individuals under his command.”

He had lost count of how many times he had made the same sigh, and the more he thought about it, the more envious he became.

After the war, there were still many matters requiring attention.

The tallying of wounded soldiers, the assessment of losses in the warzone.

Additionally, there was the collection, organization, and distribution of spoils of war.

Apart from the heavens’ rewards, the Soul Sand and rare materials extracted from monster corpses, when accumulated in large quantities, represented substantial wealth.

This was also one of the gains from the war.

Various pioneering territories and teams would distribute these spoils according to their respective contributions.

In this battle, the merits awarded to each territory and team were also based on their proportional contributions during the campaign. However, on top of this, teams that had lost elite soldiers, generals, or members would receive additional compensation.

For fallen professionals within pioneering teams, the warzone needed to verify whether the deceased warriors had family members. If so, the compensation would be sent directly to their families.

These post-war arrangements involved an enormous amount of work, and it would take at least several days to handle everything thoroughly.

After all, it involved over a hundred pioneering territories and teams.

Throughout this process, it was essential to have representatives from Tianyuan Territory present. If one of the three deputy commanders was absent, the work could still proceed, but if the main commander was missing, everything would come to a halt.

Yet everyone was waiting for their share of rewards and celebrations – they couldn’t just wait around like this.

Fortunately…

Tianyuan had the mysterious woman ‘Dark Crow’ under his command, and Dark Crow summoned two other Tianyuan Generals, Xie Yi and Red Robe.

These three managed and coordinated these non-combat affairs with remarkable efficiency, if not complete familiarity, at least with perfect organization.

They didn’t seem like ‘new generals’ who had only been recruited and trained for just over a year.

Tianyuan’s right-hand woman Isloria could even handle the affairs of an entire city single-handedly, allowing Tianyuan to focus all his energy on major strategic decisions.

Indeed, Tianyuan Lord possessed a special charm that attracted wandering heroes to join him.

This was his true talent.

Otherwise, with just the ability to nurture evolution, he could never have gathered so many capable commanders excelling in both civil and military affairs.

Epic-tier troops were rarely so versatile.

“Tianyuan, you brat, you have too many competent subordinates. I’m envi… I don’t even want to say I’m envious anymore.”

Mu Yuan had just stepped out of his cultivation chamber when he saw the Azure Mountain Lord looking as if he had eaten a lemon.

But besides the sour expression, he also noticed the prominent dark circles under the Azure Mountain Lord’s eyes.

How could someone in the Soul Realm have dark circles? What had he been staying up for?

Wait a moment,

“What happened?” he asked, looking around. “Doesn’t the warzone seem to have any major issues?”

If there were major issues, he would have been jolted from his immersive comprehension state and wouldn’t have slept so soundly.

“There are no major issues, but it’s been three days since we repelled the Dragon’s Slumber Valley army – three whole days!”

“Do you have any idea how we’ve been managing these past three days!”It was as if black resentment was constantly emanating from above his head.

For the past three days, they had been running up and down, busy with tasks, continuously handling the aftermath.

The Shattered Isle Warzone was newly established, and the leadership team was also new—he, Yuchen, and Rock Crusher were all serving as deputy commanders for the first time—the entire leadership team lacked experience, so it was inevitable that things would be bumpy.

There were no major blunders, but minor mistakes kept cropping up.

There were only a few truly reliable and trustworthy generals in his Green Mountain City. Didn’t the Azure Mountain Lord himself have to personally approve documents, communicate with various parties, maintain the situation, inspect the warzone, and so on? He hadn’t rested for days and nights, busy with tasks he didn’t even like. How could he not be utterly exhausted?

Seeing Tianyuan looking refreshed as if he had just woken up, his resentment seemed on the verge of materializing.

However,

after a brief recollection, the Azure Mountain Lord realized that even though he was as busy as a dog, his Green Mountain City ranked last in efficiency among the four cities.

And what about Tianyuan City?

Even if the lord didn’t show up, even if the city’s top experts and chief ministers didn’t appear, its efficiency remained among the best.

He was the one dragging everyone down.

He had no right to complain! Orz!

Even the fact that the Tianyuan Lord hadn’t shown up after the battle was met with understanding by the soldiers.

—Erecting the Heavenly Barrier and repelling the terrifying enemy forces, it was only natural that the Tianyuan Lord and General Lu were exhausted and needed rest.

As for the trivial matters in the warzone, weren’t there deputy commanders like the Azure Mountain Lord to handle them?

The Azure Mountain Lord’s expression shifted more than a dozen times in just a few seconds. Mu Yuan couldn’t figure out what was going on, so he simply patted Green Mountain’s shoulder and said, “Young man, don’t overwork yourself. Go to bed early.”

…

The losses in the Shattered Isle Warzone this time were not significant.

After this round of battles, the will of the Eternal World grew stronger in the Shattered Isle Region, while the Filth began to recede. The experts of Dragon’s Slumber Valley also suffered heavy losses, which meant that the Shattered Isle Warzone had truly withstood the onslaught of powerful enemies.

For a period of time in the future, there would be no major battles.

The Pioneer Lords and professionals all felt much more relaxed.

Mu Yuan took this opportunity to return to his own territory, where he placed the permanent blueprint and constructed the epic building.

The massive Ice Valley and Fire Valley now stood tall within Tianyuan City, like landmark structures.

At the same time.

Shattered Isle Warzone · Sub-warzone · Red Mountain City.

This area still fell under the jurisdiction of the Shattered Isle Warzone and was similarly guarded by powerful legions.

After the warzone’s frontlines cut off the spread of the Filth, it became much more difficult for Dragon’s Slumber Valley to stir up the Crimson Mist and directly enter the Twilight Great Domain.

The garrison stationed here had not faced any significant attacks during this period.

But vigilance could not be relaxed.

Red Mountain City, as the link between the Pioneer Warzone and the ordinary world outside, was even livelier than before.

Lords from nearby regions often came here to inquire about the war situation from the sidelines.

After all, the establishment of the Shattered Isle Warzone did not mean it would exist forever. The warzone would face the full force of Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s military might, and engaging the enemy in the Shattered Isle Region was actually more disadvantageous than fighting in the Twilight Great Domain. However, if battles were fought in the Twilight Great Domain, the towns here and their populations of hundreds of millions would be constantly threatened by monster legends.

The lords were also worried that if the main battlefield couldn’t hold, this place would once again become a frontline warzone.

That would be disastrous.

After all, their industries were all located here.”Industry, industry, all you care about is your damn industry! If you have the skills, go fight on the front lines!”

“I… I don’t have that ability.”

Aside from some ordinary Lords, teams delivering aid supplies, and merchants conducting business, Red Mountain City was also flooded with numerous newspaper reporters.

The Shattered Isle Warzone was the warzone closest to ordinary people, and many were concerned about the battles here.

Reporters had flocked to the scene upon hearing the news.

By now, three days had passed since the major battle ended.

The higher-ups of the Pioneer Group, the frontline of the warzone, and some powerful Lords had already received the news, but clearly, the information hadn’t reached here yet.

Until…

The Shattered Isle Warzone officially released the battle report to the public.

A simplified battle report.

…

“Newspapers! Get your newspapers here! Latest news from the Shattered Isle Warzone, with commentary from five-star critic Maise Ake!”

“Selling newspapers! Selling newspapers!…”

Ordinary people and common professionals bought newspapers from the newsboys.

The information from the official announcement recorded in them was scarce, with only a few brief sentences. The rest consisted mostly of speculative commentary and gossip.

One unverified rumor from an unknown source claimed:

『Shocking! Rumor has it that there’s a General in Tianyuan Territory who eats three Dragons per meal—this is the secret to her immense power.』

Passersby skipped over it directly. “What kind of crappy newspaper is this, stuffing it full of unreliable content to fill space? If this keeps up, we won’t buy from this publisher anymore.”

“But the news that Tianyuan Lord commanded the Shattered Isle Warzone and repelled the monster army seems to be true. This comes from the official source.”

However, ordinary people knew very little about monster armies, warzones, and the Pioneer Group.

Apart from understanding that Tianyuan Lord was incredibly impressive and that Tianyuan Lord was dominating the headlines again, their thoughts at most were:

“Is this another Cold Moon City Lord?”

But for seasoned Lords and Pioneer Lords, even the scant official information was enough to make their pupils tremble in shock.

“Tianyuan Lord led his troops and defeated Dragon’s Slumber Valley?”

“Tianyuan Lord is already a Four-Star Pioneer Lord. After this battle, he’ll probably be promoted to five stars, right? This promotion speed is even faster than Cold Moon City Lord’s back in the day.”

“Cold Moon City Lord entered the Land of Red Mist years ago, wounded the Fallen God’s Attendant ‘Great Serpent,’ and made a name for herself in one battle. But this time, the Shattered Isle Warzone eliminated more than a handful of Soul Realm enemies, including a Hunting Grand Duke.”

The weight of a Hunting Grand Duke is no less than that of a Fallen God’s Attendant.

Although this wasn’t solely Tianyuan’s achievement…

“But I heard from a friend in the warzone that in this battle, Tianyuan Lord was the undisputed MVP. The Generals under his command were too fierce, too capable of going on a rampage. Who knows where Tianyuan Lord recruited these Generals from.”

“Hey, weren’t they cultivated by Tianyuan Lord himself? It’s said that Tianyuan Lord’s unique talent can evolve troops to the Epic tier. Epic! I’d be over the moon if I had just one Epic unit!”

A Lord sighed.

But a knowledgeable, experienced old Lord shook his head. “Everything comes with a price. Evolving to Epic, even if possible, isn’t as easy as you think. Besides, Epics also have their own tiers of quality. And these Generals under Tianyuan—they clearly are mature commanders. Could they have been slowly cultivated?”

The young Lord suddenly understood.

…

Cold Valley Mountain Warzone.The Cold Moon City Lord had just received the news. “Tianyuan, this kid, is so fierce that he repelled the Dragon’s Slumber Valley? Although it was just a vanguard force.”

But as a veteran of the warzone who had spent most of her lordly career battling monster overlords, Han Yue clearly understood the significance of the Dragon’s Slumber Valley vanguard.

And what forces did the Shattered Isle Warzone possess?

Essentially none.

Under such circumstances, Tianyuan could achieve a major victory rather than a pyrrhic one—this spoke volumes.

She didn’t know the specifics of the battle, only that the casualty ratio was excellent and a Hunting Grand Duke had been slain. But with this alone, she could deduce much.

“This kid is even fiercer than I imagined. He truly has even more powerful generals under his command.”

“No, his rate of advancement has broken the record I set!”

The Cold Moon City Lord had initially regarded Tianyuan as a junior, but now she felt a faint sense of crisis.

Though Tianyuan was a few years younger than her, if he won a few more major battles and received heaven and earth’s blessings, given his and his generals’ capabilities, it wouldn’t be long before he stepped into the Law Realm.

Just like her in the past.

She had broken through to the Legendary Realm in one year and three months.

She immersed herself in the Heaven-Earth Realm for two years.

During that time, she slaughtered countless legendary monsters in the warzone, repeatedly receiving gifts from heaven and earth.

The further she progressed, the faster her improvement became.

Her two years in the Heaven-Earth Realm were solely to solidify her foundation. Afterward, she spent less than a year in the Soul Realm before stepping into the Law Realm, soaring ever since.

She had to admit that Tianyuan’s speed was even faster than hers.

And with Tianyuan’s current combat strength and battle achievements, a major realm breakthrough would undoubtedly take very little time.

“Having someone to chase makes it interesting.”

“I must grow stronger, and at an even faster pace. This is good, very good.”

She lifted her sword and once again strode out of the fortress.

…

At the same time, in the Shattered Isle Warzone, a desolate place where wisps of red mist drifted.

“Clop~ clop~ clop~”

The sound of warhorses trampling the earth drifted faintly from afar.

In the gloom, it seemed as though a gate had opened.

A knight clad in black armor emerged from a gate woven of black mist.

He rode a tall warhorse.

The warhorse was also clad in thick armor, but its hooves did not touch the ground—they trod upon the air.

Wherever they passed, clusters of cold, ghostly flames bloomed, leaving a trail of long marks that slowly faded.

The black mist gate vanished.

The knight gazed into the distance.

“According to my master’s prophecy, the great Undead King is within this island domain, this tiny island domain.”

“A young king, yet one worthy of bearing the crown.”

“My mission is to find this king, at any cost.”

The black knight murmured.

The prophecy only pointed here, with no further clues.

But this clue was enough.

The scope of an island domain was already small.

Next came the search. He was undead; he had ample time and patience.

The knight rode his warhorse, treading through the air.

Suddenly,

A fierce wind howled, and a pair of massive crimson-gold vertical pupils appeared within the dark clouds, like two crimson moons, cold and eerie.

Behind the crimson moons, a huge, ferocious dragon head and a massive, winged dragon body gradually became clear.

A rather large crimson dragon.

“A living—”

A foul wind swept over.

But before the dragon could finish its words, a pitch-black sword light sliced across the sky.

The enormous dragon’s body froze instantly.The crimson body slowly turned into a deathly gray-black.

A gust of wind blew.

The decaying gray-black dragon’s body, like countless stacked sheets of paper, rustled and scattered in the wind until nothing remained.

The knight did not spare it another glance, merely continuing forward.

In his eye sockets, the soulfire was as sharp and focused as a Sword, pointing toward his sole mission.

(End of Chapter)