Qianye slowly landed and planted his sword in the ground for support, gasping for breath.
Caroline charged out from the depths of the forest. Seeing the immobile six-armed creature, she said in surprise, “You’ve killed it already?”
Qianye kept his eyes closed and said feebly, “It went a bit better than expected.”
“Our plan was to force him to retreat, wasn’t it?”
Qianye had no strength left to speak, so he merely nodded.
“You rest first, I’ll examine that fellow.” Caroline put away her whip and axe before walking toward the corpse.
The six-armed creature’s body was huge. Caroline removed some small trinkets from the body and put them away after taking a look at them. She then returned to Qianye with one of the creature’s swords.
Qianye had finally caught his breath after some rest. He took the six-armed creature’s blade to study it—the sword was three meters long and probably several tons in weight. Qianye could only say that the special material was made up of stone and metal which had been blended perfectly into one.
The blade’s serrated edge wasn’t especially sharp, but its weight, material, and the strength of that six-armed creature made it an invincible weapon. Perhaps only Qianye’s current East Peak could go toe-to-toe with it. If East Peak hadn’t been upgraded in the Great Maelstrom, it would probably have been damaged beyond recognition by now.
Qianye said after some thought, “Let’s bring this back.”
“Okay, I’ll carry it.” As a divine champion, carrying a few tons wasn’t a problem for her.
“How’s that tree doing?”
“I chopped out quite a few defects, but I didn’t focus on a single point, lest I really kill it.”
“Let’s go and take a look.”
Caroline pulled Qianye up and flew him to the giant tree. There were numerous axe marks on the trunk, some of which were fairly deep and pouring tree sap into the pond below.
For some reason, the tree was giving off a feeling of listlessness, almost like a wounded animal. A terrified emotion erupted from the tree when Caroline appeared and the trunk actually leaned away from her, hoping to escape.
Caroline said, “I didn’t chop very hard at first, but I later discovered that it wasn’t enough to draw that bastard in. So, I gave it some fierce blows until it was howling.”
Qianye said in surprise, “It can talk?”
“No,” Caroline said after some thought, “it’s a voice from the consciousness.”
Qianye glanced at the giant tree before filling a bottle with its tree sap. “It’s about time, let’s go back first.”
“Okay.”
The two explored the area for a bit more before heading back to the door.
The framework of a camp had begun to form on the hill near the door. Numerous werewolves and humans were busy with the construction work. Equipped with prior experience, they managed to construct the camp with almost no blind spots. The ground defenses were equally strong in all directions, and the cannon turret at the center was meant for aerial enemies.
In the face of a very real threat to their lives, neither the werewolves nor the humans feared tiredness. Everyone was working with all their might. Under Xu Jingxuan’s management, the weaker soldiers and those who couldn’t adapt to the environment were transferred to the other side of the door. A new batch was then transferred in.
Everyone knew that stronger defenses would give them better chances of survival against the beast horde.
Once the framework was completed, resources were shipped in continuously and stored in the warehouse. A battlefield hospital was also set up to treat potential injuries and people who could not adapt to the surroundings.
By the time Qianye returned, the scouts they had sent out were also coming back one after the other. However, some routes had gone missing.
Qianye returned to the Jade Sea at first and ordered the men to urgently ship the six-armed creature’s sword, trinkets, and some of the tree sap to the Qin Continent. They were to hand everything to Zhao Jundu.
He then arranged for some werewolf slaves and death row prisoners to test different doses of the tree sap. Then, they were shipped off into the new world half a day later. Most of those who had drunk the sap were able to move freely inside the new world. Only some of them showed signs of discomfort and were sent back out.
This proved that those who had taken the tree sap could adapt to the new world much better than those who had ingested beast blood.
The world behind the door remained cold and quiet, with no signs of beast activity. Thus, the beast blood-glands became a bottleneck for the armies entering the new world. They would undoubtedly fall into a passive position if they had to wait for the beast army to appear.
Now, with this tree sap, this problem could be easily solved. However, they would have to grasp the dosage carefully in order to prevent damage to the big tree. That pond of tree sap near the tree was already enough for tens of thousands of soldiers.
This was an unexpected reward, but Qianye wasn’t given any time to feel happy. Xu Jingxuan arrived hurriedly and said, “Sire, four routes did not return.”
Qianye raised his brows. “Which direction?”
Xu Jingxuan passed him a map. “This is the map we drew after collecting all the information. Taking the noon sun as the south, these four routes were all headed in the southeast.”
The map contained different geographical features—there were rising hills, a dried-up river, and some ruins. The most eye-catching landmarks were the stone pillars and forest Qianye and Caroline had discovered. From the map, the other scouting parties didn’t get too far. They generally turned back after several dozen kilometers.
After studying the map for a while, Qianye looked up at the sky. There was a giant, dark-red ball of flame floating up there, one so big that it was several dozen times the size of the sun in the Evernight World. This was the sun of the new world. It wasn’t exactly dazzling, and those with a decent level of power could look straight at it.
Qianye narrowed his eyes and stared fixedly at this sun. The clock they had brought from the Evernight World was showing that one day and one night had passed, but this giant sun in the new world was only halfway through the sky and showing no signs of setting. Perhaps there was no night in this new world.
Just as he was thinking about this, the sky suddenly darkened, almost as though a thin veil had been drawn over it. The entire new world was shrouded in the dusky color of twilight. Startled, Qianye studied the phenomenon carefully and found that there was no change in the sun’s position in the sky. Yet, the brightness had fallen sharply for some unknown reason. This was completely different from the laws of the Evernight World.
Qianye turned around and pointed in the direction of the missing soldiers. “Are you sure it’s this direction?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Very well, I’ll go and take a look. Be on high alert here, do not be careless.”
Xu Jingxuan said, “Rest assured, Sire! Actually, the werewolves are quite sharp with their senses. With them around, there’s almost no chance of the beasts launching a surprise attack on us. And they’re actually hoping for the beasts to come! I really wonder how we managed to fight such enemies for over a decade.”
Qianye patted Xu Jingxuan with a smile. “Our human race is not bad, either. Otherwise, how could we have contended with them for so many years and still keep expanding?”
Xu Jingxuan whispered, “You’re the son of darkness, Sire. You can’t be counted as a pure human.” He was shocked after accidentally speaking his mind.
Qianye noticed that Xu Jingxuan’s attitude was more envy than mockery. He laughed out loud, saying, “Actually, the bloodline doesn’t matter as much. It depends on where the heart is. My heart is with the human race, hence I am human.”
Xu Jingxuan said cautiously, “Your subjects are mostly werewolves. Your words might not be very suitable.”
“Oh? What do you say I do then?”
Xu Jingxuan said, “It is now a fact that we humans and these werewolves are tied together. They are also extremely loyal to you. Their reason, although a bit weird, isn’t unjustifiable. Only someone of powerful darkness origin power like you can obtain their loyalty.
“As I see it, the werewolves of the Jade Sea and great corridor might be primitive in their ways, but that’s only because their civilization as a whole wasn’t developed. Their ignorance made them unable to provide for their kin, which caused them to exhaust their potential and shorten their maturation period. It’s a destructive feedback loop. The Whitebone Duke never cared about these things, he might have even felt that it was better. That way, no one would threaten his position.
“Now that you can provide sufficient supplies and bring in Imperial technology, these werewolves might recover their potential. Twenty million long-lived werewolves is a massive force no matter where you put them. You will be undefeatable on the Fort Continent with them at your beck and call.
“This so-called coexistence between werewolves and humans isn’t just fighting together, it’s living together as well. There’s only one path ahead, and that is to abolish all racial discrimination. All citizens must be equal in their loyalty toward you. Your every word shall be the supreme mandate.”
Xu Jingxuan had been thinking about this for a long time. Hence, he managed to speak his thoughts without the slightest intermittence.
After listening to the recommendation, Qianye laughed. “You don’t want me to just proclaim myself king, but a god!”
“Considering your strength, what’s stopping you from becoming a god once you step into the heavenly monarch realm?”
Qianye shook his head. “The heavenly monarch realm is too far away, let’s deal with the new world first.”
“Even if you don’t proclaim yourself a god, you should proclaim yourself king sooner. As I see it, you must explore this path to the end. Only then will everyone follow you without reservation and be willing to die for you!”
Qianye said calmly, “No rush. This so-called king is just a title, something that makes no difference. Who would dare to challenge me in the Jade Sea even if I don’t proclaim myself king?”
“Of course, no one would be that stupid.”
“Doesn’t that settle it then? I’m setting out now.” With that, Qianye’s figure flickered away and vanished over the horizon.
Xu Jingxuan could only sigh while gazing at his receding figure.
