Chapter 506 – Final Phase Strategy, Lord Mu Leads Troops into Battle

The bone-piercing cold that enveloped heaven and earth had unknowingly vanished.

So too had the raging blizzard.

Without the obstruction of the ice storm, the tide-like undead surged forward with ferocious cries.

The speed of the tide’s spread was several times faster than the Wind King’s Wings at full speed in the Heaven-Earth Realm. Ordinary monster legends, even those at the Soul Realm, were quickly overtaken by this black wave.

Domains dried up, and the gray patches of death spread, leaving the land pockmarked.

Vast energies crashed down, barely stirring a few black droplets.

In the blink of an eye, these monster legends sank one after another.

Deep within the black tide, unseen by the monsters, the fallen legends—now reduced to broken skeletons—slowly transitioned from death to life.

Their bodies underwent subtle changes.

Some bones grew darker; others became as pale as jade; some sprouted grotesque extensions; while others gathered rotting flesh, reassembling their forms.

They gradually revived.

They emerged from the black tide.

Incomplete disaster beasts were submerged;

In the distance, another intact disaster beast saw its massive body slowly dissolve into the black wave.

The last disaster beast had recently been obliterated by the recharged Divine Might Cannon.

The monsters grew fearful.

“We can’t hold them off. It’s impossible.”

The black tide was endless, larger and more fearless than the monster tide they had gathered.

Even more terrifying, these undead were like demons—their killing blows couldn’t even disperse the shroud of black mist cloaking the undead.

They watched as the number of undead swelled.

Among them were figures whose appearances resembled old acquaintances.

The monsters trembled with dread.

What truly terrified them was this: the great Ice Burial Grand Duke seemed to have been swallowed by the black tide.

“How could Lord Ice Burial, so mighty, fall to an unknown undead?”

The logic seemed sound.

At this level, every being was a renowned powerhouse whose fearsome reputation shook the world.

Even lower-ranking Hunting Grand Dukes were famous worldwide, let alone upper-ranking ones.

It was nearly impossible for a powerhouse to emerge from obscurity.

But…

“The decree issued by Lord Ice Burial has vanished.”

“If the decree hadn’t disappeared, how could we retreat?”

“Yet the disappearance of the decree means…”

Lord Ice Burial had fallen.

Even if he could revive and return, his defeat and demise were already established facts.

Ice Burial had lost.

What was the point of fighting anymore?

The monster tide, war machines, and the less intelligent sentient monsters still charged forward recklessly.

The legends, however, had already fled.

Those legends closer to the black tide found no escape, but most could scatter and run.

Among them, the cleverer ones, after fleeing into the wilderness, did not return to their base but circled north toward the Land of Red Mist.

The monsters scattered in all directions.

After devouring the remaining monsters, the undead tide gradually converged and returned through the Gates of the Underworld.

The cries, tremors, and roars across the world slowly faded into silence.Yet the emotions of some individuals still surged like tidal waves, unable to calm for a long time.

……

The Death Knight gazed into the distance.

He had been watching for a very, very long time.

The scene of the Ice Burial Grand Duke sinking into the tide of death replayed endlessly in his mind.

“Undead capable of infinite resurrection.”

“Endless barrages of energy bombardment.”

“And within these bombardments lies the conceptual power of death.”

The physical bodies of Law Realm experts aren’t much stronger than those in the Heaven-Earth Realm or Soul Realm.

Even with a powerful physique like the Frost Dragon Overlord’s, the Ice Burial Grand Duke couldn’t ignore the combined attacks from the undead forces gathering their allies’ power.

Moreover, these lethal strikes contained conceptual power.

The Ice Burial Grand Duke had to expend even more energy to resist and defend against them.

Unable to break through the black tide, he was ultimately exhausted to death within it.

The Death Knight was astonished by both the method and the outcome.

After all…

that black-cloaked undead was no ordinary Law Realm expert as outsiders might imagine.

Not only had he slain the Ice Burial Grand Duke against all odds, but he did so with overwhelming, crushing dominance.

“Is this the Young King?”

“No, could True Kings possess such exaggerated power even in their youth?”

Throughout undead history, several True Kings had emerged.

The Death Knight’s understanding of True Kings was limited, knowing only that they stood above Overlords, truly pinnacle existences among the undead and the world.

They probably were indeed this powerful.

Afterwards, the Death Knight reported the battle’s details to his leader, the Silent Overlord.

Deep within a certain silent great domain.

A wisp of consciousness stirred within the Silent Overlord as he emerged from slumber.

He pondered deeply, “Do young kings truly display such exaggerated prowess?”

……

The moment it was confirmed that the Ice Burial Grand Duke had fallen and the monster legends had fled.

Within the War Fortress of the Shattered Isle Warzone, deathly silence fell first, followed by successive sharp intakes of breath.

The temperature inside the entire fortress seemed to rise several degrees in an instant.

“The Ice Burial Grand Duke defeated? Has our warzone’s crisis been resolved?”

It felt unreal, like a dream.

Not just ordinary soldiers and common professionals, but even Legendary Realm experts or warzone commanders like Green Mountain and Yuchen were stunned and bewildered.

None had expected such a great catastrophe to dissipate so suddenly.

Had they won?

And who was this mysterious undead powerhouse?

Countless questions swirled in their minds.

They had steeled themselves for a desperate final stand, only to find themselves suddenly adrift in confusion.

“Attack.”

Suddenly, they heard Field Marshal Tianyuan speak.

“Strike now while we have the chance. Eradicate Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s main base in the Shattered Isle Region and completely purify that Filth Nexus.”

Thus spoke Mu Yuan.

But how could they possibly attack at such a time?

This was what most people thought.

“That mysterious undead powerhouse has already disappeared, and our combined strength still falls short of Dragon’s Slumber Valley’s. Fighting away from our home territory…”

Such concerns were reasonable.

However,

at this moment, the Rain Dust Lord glanced at Tianyuan, “While we’re still marveling at the mysterious undead powerhouse and the fall of the Ice Burial Grand Duke, our commander has already calmly devised the next step of the plan.”

No, you overestimate me.

I merely pre-calculated several dozen scenarios where Deadbone might win, lose, or achieve a stalemate.

The current situation simply happens to be one of them.The Rain Dust Lord continued, “Tianyuan is right. Now is indeed the time when the enemy’s main base is at its most empty and vulnerable. This is the best opportunity to destroy the Filth Nexus, and it may be the only chance.”

“Furthermore, destroying the Filth Nexus will increase the world’s blessings by one or two levels. I’m sure all of you wish for a bountiful harvest and a significant boost to your strength.”

Her words resonated with everyone.

During the desperate battle, no one had the luxury to think too much, focusing only on holding the line.

But now, with victory in sight, expanding their gains and maximizing their rewards was the shared desire of all soldiers.

For the public good, this was the best chance to destroy the enemy’s stronghold.

For personal gain, this was a perfect opportunity for great harvests and major advancements.

Of course, launching an offensive came with risks—massive risks. In the process of attacking the enemy’s base, many comrades might fall.

Their legions and elites could suffer significant losses.

However,

the disaster had already emerged. Perhaps in a short time, there might not be a single safe place left in the entire Taixuan.

Only strength could provide protection.

And destroying the Filth Nexus, boosting the already generous world’s blessings by one or two levels, would bring that strength.

“Let’s go!”

“Fight!”

“I’m fired up!”

“Me too!”

…

“The final phase of the strategy has begun,” Isloria said with a smile. “So far, it hasn’t deviated from our battle plan.”

“Mm,” Mu Yuan nodded. “We must make sure to finish this beautifully.”

He hadn’t ordered the full-scale assault on a whim.

Nor was he relying solely on Deadbone, the ‘mysterious undead powerhouse.’

In reality, after Deadbone harnessed the Tide of Death to defeat and engulf the Ice Burial Grand Duke, it had successively swallowed two calamity beasts and countless legendary and ordinary monsters.

It hadn’t suffered much damage, and the undead forces had barely suffered any losses—in fact, they had transformed many powerful new undead.

But the consumption had been immense.

This consumption included the vast reserve energy of the Undead Holy Mountain and the Corpsebone Mountains.

The energy it could mobilize externally had already been depleted by more than half.

This had crossed the high-risk threshold.

After all, Deadbone had exhausted the Ice Burial Grand Duke to death.

When Asun and Sario, both at the Fourth Order limit, unleashed their epic third skills with a trace of conceptual power, they were drained in no time.

As for Deadbone,

it controlled the massive Tide of Death, commanded billions of undead, and simultaneously unleashed countless strikes imbued with conceptual power.

The energy expenditure was ten thousand, a million, a hundred million times greater than that of a Fourth Order limit.

Relying solely on absorbing energy from the surrounding world, even with its perfect Domain, it couldn’t sustain the vast tide.

It wasn’t enough for the tide to expand.

It wasn’t enough for the tide to recover.

Thus, it had to draw upon the immense energy reserves from the Corpsebone Mountains, which it had prepared earlier and which enveloped this Island Domain.

Only with the supply from the Corpsebone Mountains and the contributions of countless undead could Deadbone maintain the enormous, nearly all-encompassing black tide.

After this, it would still need a significant amount of time to digest the gains from this battle.

Such as the remains of the Ice Burial Grand Duke, which had been swallowed by the tide.

In Mu Yuan’s plans, Deadbone wasn’t factored in.

Of course, Deadbone’s presence served as a backup guarantee. Without this assurance, he might not have been so aggressive.

Lord Mu switched to the Black Crow’s perspective.He had already seen numerous monster legends retreating northward.

While the enemy’s main base was to the south.

This was one of their advantages.

As for other advantages…

…

Half an hour later.

The various powerhouses and legions, having made simple preparations, gathered at the front of the fortress.

For this assault, the main combat force consisted of Legendary Realm experts. Only a dozen or two dozen Military Soul Legions with relatively strong combat power and relatively intact forces would accompany the attack.

The remaining legions, along with severely or moderately injured legends, remained stationed within the fortress.

They were practically the ‘old, weak, sick, and disabled.’

However, all warzone garrison forces had already withdrawn into the War Fortress. Defending from the fortress, even if large numbers of monster legends launched surprise attacks, they could maintain safety for quite some time.

Mu Yuan walked at the forefront of the formation.

Beside him were Isloria, Lu Liu, and Dolai who had recovered ninety-eight percent of its power.

That’s right, Lord Mu had also stepped out of the warzone.

Tianyuan City’s second homebody Isloria was also fighting in person.

“Me, Lord, take me with you!”

Uta, his body wrapped in bandages with only his eyes visible, lay sprawled at the city gate, trembling as he reached out his hand.

He wanted to fight too.

How could he miss the battle!

In the distance, Laney who had heard the commotion snapped her fingers, “Drag him back.”

“Understood.”

A nun wielding a large hammer grabbed Uta by one leg and cast a golden protective barrier around him.

“Off you go.”

With a powerful swing from the hammer-wielding nun, Uta wrapped in golden light soared high into the air and disappeared from everyone’s sight in the blink of an eye.

Mu Yuan withdrew his gaze, “Since that’s settled, let’s depart.”

Azure Mountain Lord said, “I have an ark that can carry people.”

After speaking, he tossed out a small boat that swelled with the wind into a massive vessel.

Rain Dust Lord followed, “I have a treasure that can control the clouds and mists of heaven and earth, quite effective for transporting troops.”

After she spoke, she gathered clouds and mist to form a large cloud that lifted masses of soldiers.

Crushed Rock Lord looked left and right.

Why was he the only one without any decent foundational treasures?

Tianyuan Lord was so young, probably he also…

Mu Yuan also produced an item, “This treasure is called Eternal Gold Guarding Earth, containing a realm within, capable of carrying large numbers of soldiers for marching.”

Crushed Rock Lord: “…”

…

Several hours later.

The Shattered Isle Warzone army had arrived near the enemy’s main base.

In the distance stood a ten-thousand-zhang high black mountain, its peak completely hidden in the clouds and mist.

The sky here was dark and gloomy, without a single ray of heavenly light.

The mist drifting between heaven and earth was also turbid gray-black fog.

Thick, viscous, ominous Crimson Mist was everywhere, and the ground was dried dark red.

Strange tall mountains and menacing ancient trees stood in the distance.

Everywhere was permeated with heart-palpitating, fear-inducing atmosphere.

“This place is almost comparable to the real Land of Red Mist.”

“This is our first time setting foot in this area.”

When it came to actual assault, they faced numerous problems.

How should they attack?

In which direction should they attack?

Rain Dust, Azure Mountain and other lords realized this was more difficult than imagined.

Fighting in the Red Mist Region, they didn’t have abundant time.

Their strength wasn’t sufficient to support sweeping operations everywhere.

At the very least, they needed to locate the Filth Nexus.

What should they do?

They couldn’t help but turn their gaze toward Tianyuan.Unknowingly, they had grown accustomed to following Tianyuan’s commands and believed that Commander Tianyuan had long been prepared.

Mu Yuan was indeed prepared.

His vision shifted.

One Nether Crow glided slowly along the mountain path, their gaze sweeping over the monsters guarding the mountain and the legendary figures seated atop the peak.

Another Nether Crow perched high upon a withered giant tree, watching the distant forest of towering, massive, and grotesque aberration spires.

Yet another Nether Crow…

Lord Mu’s vision followed the Nether Crows as they ventured deeper.

Finally, it shifted to Sophia.

(End of Chapter)