Chapter 51 – Assembling the Troops

The Goblin Camp was built against the mountain, situated on relatively high ground, with watchtowers positioned far apart. Mu Yuan could only vaguely make out large wooden and stone structures within through the drifting white mist.

The entire camp covered a considerable area, its scale at least two or three times larger than the one he had previously conquered.

Mu Yuan observed through the War Falcon’s eyes.

After two evolutions and a significant boost in his Mental Energy, Mu Yuan could now faintly sense the contractual bond between him and the Hurricane Falcon.

This connection was further enhanced when the Vision Sharing skill was activated.

Commanding the War Falcon felt increasingly natural, as if it were an extension of his own body. With a mere thought, the Hurricane Falcon slightly folded its wings and shot forward like an arrow from a bow.

Fast! Faster! Extremely fast!

The goblins on the ground let out strange, chattering cries. One by one, the spear throwers exerted force, and in the blink of an eye, Wooden Spears rained down like droplets.

They were far too enthusiastic.

Even the Hurricane Falcon found it hard to handle.

“Wind Speed.”

The Wooden Spears were densely packed, almost sealing off all space. No matter how fast the Hurricane Falcon was, it would typically have no choice but to turn back to evade.

But,

A faint green whirlwind suddenly rose, swirling around the falcon’s wings, and in the next moment, it erupted into a fierce gale.

The gale howled! It blew the Wooden Spears off course, and the Hurricane Falcon seized the opportunity to dart through. It swooped downward as the white mist thinned in its vision, and the entire Goblin Camp gradually came into clear view.

Watchtowers, tents, massive stones, an Altar.

He spotted a Goblin Shaman, which instantly hurled a massive Fireball. However, the Fireball moved slowly, and the Hurricane Falcon flapped its wings to evade it from a distance.

Scared the bird half to death!

The next moment, countless Wooden Spears shot forth again, this time interspersed with large wooden planks.

A sturdy green figure tore a wall panel off with both hands and hurled it like a Hidden Weapon at the falcon.

This was a Goblin Warrior, a rare one-star monster!

And there were three of them.

However, it seemed none had reached the Professional Tier.

If any had, he would have had to worry about whether Asun could make it back.

Even so, Mu Yuan began ordering the Hurricane Falcon to retreat… but this guy seemed a bit too reckless, circling around once more before leaving.

It was because of this extra loop that Mu Yuan caught a distant glimpse of a burly figure behind the large camp.

And…

a towering, ancient gate, about ten meters high, enveloped in a vortex of time and space.

“That is…”

…

“The Secret Realm Gate!”

After the Hurricane Falcon returned, Mu Yuan unusually skipped ordering takeout and instead went to a restaurant located within his residential complex for a meal.

After all, he needed to treat himself once in a while.

The residents and tenants in this complex seemed to all be players. Mu Yuan rarely saw many people around, but as soon as he sat down to order, he overheard diners at a distant table chatting—about player topics, no less.

Their voices weren’t particularly loud, but with Mu Yuan’s heightened hearing, he could clearly make out their conversation from afar.

It’s not like I meant to eavesdrop.

Mu Yuan tilted his head slightly and pricked up his ears.

“Did you see the forums? That Young Master from the City Lord of Liuyun City’s family claims to have found the entrance to the Challenge Realm and will soon conquer it and enter.””I’m so envious. We’re outstanding newbie Lords too, but how come we haven’t been able to find the entrance to this Secret Realm?”

“Wake up, although we’re second-generation gamers, we can’t compare to top-tier second-generation heirs like those Lord heirs. How far is our current exploration range? It’s normal that we can’t find it.”

“Even if we could discover the Secret Realm entrance, we’d most likely be unable to defeat the gatekeeping monsters outside. It wouldn’t be worth losing our main forces over this.”

“Let’s just focus on preparing for the trials. As long as we can become Lords, we’ll be able to enjoy immortal-like lives in the future.”

Two players in the distance seemed to be among the sixteen newbies undergoing assessment at the same time as him.

However, Mu Yuan was socially anxious and had no desire to approach them for conversation. He just wanted to quietly grind the game.

So, he took out his phone and logged into the forum.

Posts about the Newbie Challenge Realm in the newbie section were currently trending.

“Young Master Luo Xing of Flowing Cloud City has discovered the Challenge Realm entrance and is preparing to conquer it.”

“Lord Feathered Serpent has entered the Newbie Challenge Realm. Reports indicate he has cleared several stages already and obtained substantial rewards.”

“So it seems Luo Xing is clearly inferior to Feathered Serpent. Feathered Serpent eliminated the gatekeeping monsters in front of the Secret Realm Gate two days ago.”

“Don’t say that. The gatekeeping monsters Feathered Serpent faced were just a pack of Gnolls – even if there were level 9 Gnolls among them, they’re still just Gnolls. The gatekeeping monsters Your Excellency Luo Xing faced were different – several rare-tier Gargoyles. Although the Gargoyles haven’t reached Professional Tier yet, they’re still ten times better than those Gnolls next door.”

These two seemed to be either celebrities themselves or descendants of big shots.

Many new and old players on the forum were arguing about which of the two was stronger.

As the debate continued, they began mentioning other ‘strongest newbies.’

Of course, it was mainly veteran players making nominations, while newbies spectated and occasionally chimed in with exclamations of agreement, which further energized the explaining veterans.

Names mentioned included: the younger sister of Cold Moon City’s City Lord; the current heir of the Thunderbolt Family; the direct daughter of the Heavenly Fox Clan; the son of the Northern Court Wang Clan;

And so on.

As everyone knows, the ‘strongest newbie’ category typically includes over ten candidates.

Of course, not all these top-tier second-generation heirs were from southern Xuan Nation, and their entry times into the Eternal World varied.

However, the previously mentioned Luo Xing and Feathered Serpent were both in the Twilight Plains region, same as him.

The Newbie Challenge Realms they entered would also be in the same space.

From Luo Xing’s show-off post, Mu Yuan could easily deduce…

“The Secret Realm entrance will remain for seven more days, so there’s no need to rush, but…”

How could he keep his enthusiastic Goblins waiting?

He definitely wouldn’t miss the Challenge Realm. As senior Jiang Cheng said, when opportunities arise, you must compete for them, overwhelming all rivals to reach the pinnacle.

(Jiang Cheng: I didn’t say that last part!)

…

The next morning, Mu Yuan was mustering his troops.

Rows of Little Skeletons and Skeleton Soldiers stood at attention, spiritedly awaiting his inspection.

Not far away were the Slime formation, Sentry squad, Archer squad, and the War Falcon formation soaring in the sky.

This comprised all the forces of his territory.

Both in quantity and quality, they had significantly improved compared to several days before.

“The numbers of Sentries and Archers remain unchanged, but half have already completed their transformation through evolutionary power.””The number of Slimes has significantly increased, reaching thirty, with fifteen of them being Large Slimes. Besides Dolai, five other Slimes have evolved to the rare tier.”

However, their evolutionary forms differ from Dolai’s and are called ‘Silver Slimes.’ They have learned the skill Amplification, which allows their already massive bodies to expand by one to two times.

This pairs exceptionally well with the Leap Strike skill.

Naturally, as the ‘king’ among Slimes, Dolai has consumed 25 Evolution Points to evolve to the rare three-star tier. Although its class name remains unchanged, its Devour ability has significantly improved.

“The true main combat force of the territory, the Skeleton series, has grown to seventy units, including forty Skeleton Soldiers, ten Skeleton Warriors, and three Skeleton Generals.”

The Lord’s trump card and future Emperor, Deadbone, though its tier hasn’t advanced further, has cultivated its Rank from LV6 to LV8. Through days of exploration and conquest, it has absorbed vast amounts of essence using its Death Siphon talent, possessing an energy reserve likely no less than that of a Professional Tier unit.

Mainly because Mu Yuan isn’t clear about how much energy a Professional Tier unit has—he’s never seen one before.

Dolai’s energy reserve is equally exaggerated; it eats a lot, so it naturally gains a lot. At the same time, Dolai’s Rank has surpassed Deadbone’s, reaching zero-tier level 9, though it will still take a few more days to accumulate enough experience to max out.

Mu Yuan doesn’t know what forces other top-tier second-generation heirs possess, but he supposes that in terms of elite strength, he shouldn’t be weaker than them, and might even be stronger?

Primarily, he hasn’t witnessed the true power of other top-tier second-generation heirs. Perhaps he’ll have a chance to see them in the Challenge Realm?

Mu Yuan began mustering his troops.

For this expedition, Lord Mu himself would lead the team. Naturally, General Deadbone and General Dolai would accompany the army. Well, aside from leaving three Skeleton Warriors and two Sharpshooters to defend the base with the Arrow Towers, he took all other advanced combat units with him.

Five rare three-star units, twenty-one rare one-star units, along with several Skeleton Soldiers, Large Slimes, and War Falcons.

This was his power!

…

“Move out.”

The procession marched grandly northward, neither concealing nor able to conceal their movement.

Along the way, any minor creatures attracted by the commotion were slain one by one, with no monster able to stand in their path.

They would reach their destination soon.

Whoosh—

Just like that day, from the lush jungle, several thick, long Wooden Spears suddenly shot out. They tore through the air with sharp whistling sounds, striking fiercely…

“Clang~!”

A gigantic palm, three to four meters long and gleaming with an alloy-like luster, abruptly appeared mid-air, deflecting all the incoming spears.

In the next moment, Dolai’s figure vanished.

A deafening roar echoed from the distance, stirring up billowing dust and smoke.

Within the dust and smoke, the vegetation had vanished, leaving behind massive palm prints several meters long imprinted in the muddy ground. Inside those prints were several elite spear throwers, now unrecognizable in form.

Two updates totaling five thousand words. A new week begins, seeking continuous reads, monthly tickets, and all sorts of data~! Originally planned for three updates but after deletions and revisions, couldn’t manage to write it out (:з」∠)

(End of chapter)