Volume 1, Chapter 424 – Dragonblood Army

99.8%…

That probability was tantamount to certain death.

That thought had only just flashed through the man’s mind when a streak of halberd-light came howling in, swept across his neck, and cut off his head.

As his vision spun, it was flooded with golden light. A golden dharma form, towering high enough to prop up heaven and earth, filled his field of view.

These people all used different methods. Some cultivated the body alone, some possessed extraordinarily powerful souls, and some went even further, using their entire essence, qi, and spirit to nourish a demon ghost, making them extremely sinister.

Boom!

The cavern shook violently. In the span of a few finger-snaps, the remaining people behind the man, together with the demon ghost that had just emerged, were all trampled to death one by one by the golden body of the Nascent Soul.

Shi Lan’s strength had already far surpassed theirs to begin with, and with her launching a sudden attack, this entire group had no time to react at all.

Only a few breaths had passed since she burst into action, and the dozen or so people had already become corpses.

After putting away the halberd, Shi Lan could not help but feel somewhat puzzled. These people had very clearly come here for this place specifically, so they must have had some objective.

Most likely, they had come for this Extreme Dao Rune Seal. After all, there were no other rare treasures here besides it.

After glancing at the corpses, Shi Lan did not step forward to search them. Instead, she reduced them all to ashes with a mass of true flame.

There might well be something unusual about these people’s bodies. If so, it might leave traces behind.

After scanning herself with divine sense and confirming that no abnormal aura remained, Shi Lan walked straight out of the cavern.

…

In the cosmos of the myriad heavens, a magnificent hall stood in the void, linked to countless extradimensional spaces.

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Within that hall, innumerable worlds had been opened up. Standing in the cosmic void and looking from afar, one could see peerless heroes whose blood qi surged like azure dragons, ancient gods standing atop divine altars, the phantom of a holy Buddha seated upon a golden lotus, and even a stellar alliance filled with warships and mechs…

Countless lineages and traditions spread out in dazzling profusion, too many to take in at a glance.

Within one such world, heaven and earth were dyed entirely in blood-red hues. Battle intent surged, and the land was packed with countless figures.

At a glance, there were tens of millions at the very least, formed into one military formation after another. All wore armor and rode giant beasts clad in scales and resembling wild oxen, their auras terrifying.

Before the formations stood a command tent. Behind the marshal’s desk sat a middle-aged man in light golden armor patterned with dragon designs, a faint dragon-shaped mark flickering between his brows.

Not far to one side of him stood a young man in a long robe, his whole bearing steeped in scholarly grace.

“What guidance does Mr. Dongfang have regarding this mission?”

The middle-aged man looked at the scholar and spoke slowly, his tone carrying a note of consultation.

“I would never dare claim to offer guidance. Emperor Yuan’s Dragonblood Army ranks in the top ten of the entire Reincarnation Hall in terms of legion warfare alone. Its valor is unmatched. Naturally, wherever it attacks, it cannot be stopped.”

The scholar shook his head and cupped his hands.

“But the Qiongluo Realm is, after all, a great world. It once gave rise to a Rank Nine Supreme. Even if Emperor Yuan could win with his forces alone, I fear the price would be no small one…”

“So Mr. Dongfang came here to persuade this Emperor not to keep the spoils for himself?”

“I would not dare.”

Dongfang shook his head.

“This is a win-win.”

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“Since this Emperor has already accepted the mission to attack the Qiongluo Realm, I naturally will not give it up so easily.”

Emperor Yuan shook his head slightly. His expression was calm, yet there was a pride in his eyes that regarded all else as beneath notice.

“Besides, the Qiongluo Realm merely once gave birth to a Supreme. A great world that no longer has a Supreme in existence is hardly worthy of being called this Emperor’s opponent.”

To secure the right to execute this mission independently, he had practically staked his entire fortune on it. The arrow was already on the string; it had to be fired.

The scholar seemed about to speak, then stopped himself. After a long while, he let out a sigh and bowed.

“Then I wish Emperor Yuan glorious martial fortune on this campaign.”

…

Qiongluo Realm, vicious beast nest.

Shi Lan made her way out of the cavern. Not long after leaving the mountain pass, she encountered Molen and his group, who had come looking for her.

Only after seeing that Shi Lan was unharmed did the few of them finally let out a breath of relief.

When they learned that the vicious beasts had been completely wiped out, Molen was overjoyed and immeasurably grateful to Shi Lan.

“Many thanks, my lady. Please stay in the city for a few days, and allow this old man to gather some more rune stones.”

“No need. I’ll be setting out again within the next couple of days.”

Shi Lan shook her head and directly opened a void passage back to the city. Now that she knew the destination, there was naturally no need to travel back slowly.

After collecting those rune stones, she still had to continue searching for more, so that she could use the power of the rune stones to feed the Extreme Dao Rune Seal and bring it to full maturity as quickly as possible.

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When Molen saw Shi Lan open a void passage with her bare hands, his heart filled with even greater awe. In the entire Qiongluo Realm, not many people could command such power.

In less than half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Shi Lan and the others had already returned to the city.

Molen quickly finished tallying up the rune stones. There were now exactly twice as many as before. Clearly, his earlier “full effort” had been watered down.

Shi Lan did not mind. She found a secret chamber, entered seclusion, absorbed the rune stones directly, and fed them into her Nascent Soul.

The speed at which the Extreme Dao Rune Seal assimilated runes was astonishing, far beyond Shi Lan’s expectations. More than two thousand rune stones failed to last even half a day before they were completely absorbed.

Thread by thread, the runes were drawn out, while the remaining crystal turned into extremely pure energy and poured directly into Shi Lan’s golden body of the Nascent Soul.

In just a few breaths, the golden body of the Nascent Soul suddenly grew by nearly two more zhang.

This rate of improvement far exceeded Shi Lan’s expectations.

“What a pity.”

Shi Lan let out a quiet sigh. Those ice-aspected rune stones she had pried from the bottom of the icy pool had originally been derived from the Extreme Dao Rune Seal itself, so they could not be fed back into it as nourishment.

Without the Extreme Dao Rune Seal stripping out the rune power for her, her rate of refining rune stones would have been ten times slower. It would have been far too laborious.

…

After a day spent regulating her breathing and adapting to the power that had just increased, Shi Lan left the secret chamber and went to bid farewell to Molen.

“My lady, won’t you stay a few more days?”

Though his words were those of someone asking her to remain, the joy seeping from him was impossible to hide.

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Shi Lan gave a slight shake of the head and prepared to leave. As she stepped forward, she suddenly thought of something, turned back, and added a reminder:

“There may be major events happening nearby in the near future. Be extra careful.”

Those reincarnators definitely had companions. If they traced the matter here, there might well be more trouble.

“Thank you for the warning, my lady.”

Molen nodded solemnly, engraving it firmly in his heart.

…

After leaving the city, Shi Lan made a point of entering every desolate mountain and every dangerous river she came across, searching for powerful vicious beasts, striking them down, skinning them, and stripping their bones apart.

The runes contained within the bones of those vicious beasts were almost the best possible nourishment for the Extreme Dao Rune Seal and would be of great benefit to its growth.

…

A few days after Shi Lan’s departure, another group arrived at the vicious beast nest.

This group consisted of only four people, three men and one woman, and their clothing was likewise very different from anything seen in the Qiongluo Realm.

“This is where they died.”

The woman examined the area around the icy pool, her expression turning grave.

“They all died in an instant. They didn’t even have time to leave a recording. The one who attacked was very strong. Eighty percent chance it’s the target from that report.”

“A strength assessment of early Tier Seven shouldn’t be this terrifying. Either it was a misjudgment, or… they let their guard down.”