They were traveling through the Higher Realm, and the four ruling powers were the only major organizations. Despite that, there were still so many people moving over. Lu Yin could only imagine how many cultivators from the Middle Realm must have been drafted to the battlefield.
The entire Perennial World had been mobilized.
After several days of traveling at top speed, the two of them finally reached the southernmost region of the Mother Tree. The legendary Tree Realm.
The Tree Realm was a place that had been set up by the four ruling powers, and it separated the battlefield from the Higher, Middle, Lower Realms. This region prevented people outside the battlefield from seeing it in all its cruel and grisly glory.
Although the battlefield was far away, cultivators were able to have a far stronger impact the higher their cultivation base was. Especially the five bases of the sourcebox array which were able to be utilized at any location no matter the distance.
The Tree Realm not only worked to block the sight of the battlefield, but it also prevented people from stepping onto the battlefield without permission.
Lu Yin stepped forward, still led by Qing Chen, and they entered the Tree Realm to reach the battlefield behind the Mother Tree. What met Lu Yin’s eyes was something that far surpassed what he should have seen after taking a single step.
This one step was no different than the difference between heaven and earth.
Lu Yin saw a massive array base that stretched far out of sight, rotating like a planet. It was surrounded by sulfur, as well as chaotic star energy and other mixed energies. The whole place reeked of death and blood.
The heavy metallic scent flooded his senses in all directions, but there was no fighting in sight. Lu Yin could not even see the battlefield.
“We are now behind the Mother Tree. This is the most brutal battlefield in the entire Perennial World. We are standing on the second array base, and the actual battlefield is beneath it. There’s a landmass between the Middle and Lower Realms, and it’s home to countless monsters. They constantly appear on that landmass and climb up the array base, but only monsters that have a strength that surpasses an Envoy’s are able to tear through the void and directly attack the array base,” Qing Chen explained.
“Do you see those planets off in the distance? Each one of them contains countless monsters, and there are always cultivators fighting against those monsters. Every so often, a planet will explode, which is another means of destroying the monsters.”
Lu Yin stared off into the distance. Was he really standing on the second array base? Pat the base, he saw many planets floating in space, and when he looked down, he saw countless monsters climbing up.
Lu Yin could practically feel the monsters’ killing intent.
Suddenly, he felt a vibration in the soles of his feet and a terrifying sensation on his back. Lu Yin felt as though a giant beast had awoken, and he felt an irresistible force activate as a deafening noise swept through him.
“The second array base has been activated, and the battle down below is not in our favor. Whenever the array bases are activated, it consumes a tremendous amount of resources.” Qing Chen looked solemn at this moment.
There were many other cultivators nearby, and they emerged from the Tree Realm and stared out at the battlefield. Most cultivators would go their entire lives without ever seeing this place, and all those who stepped onto the battlefield were elites.
Despite that, there were some people who panicked the moment they saw the array base begin killing the monsters. It was enough to leave anyone panicked.
“Long Qi, go report to the general of the second array base on your own. There’s a teleportation device up ahead, and it can send you straight there. I need to go elsewhere to offer my support.” Qing Chen left as soon as he gave Lu Yin his orders.
Closeby, a middle-aged man said, “Brothers, it’s time for us to accomplish great things. We are already on the battlefield! Report!”
There was a group of people behind the man, and they let out loud shouts. Their eyes were all filled with bloodlust as they charged towards the battlefront.
Most of the people in the group were only Limiteers, and even their leader was only a Cruiser. And yet, in this place, no one would laugh at them. Limiteers, Cruisers, Hunters, and Enlighters, all of them stood together on this battlefield, and all of them were nothing more than ants. Luck would determine their survival.
Lu Yin moved quickly and made his way towards the teleportation device.
He looked very young, and his age attracted a great deal of attention. A short man approached Lu Yin and whispered, “Bro, for you to be so young, you’ve got to be from a big family, right?”
Lu Yin glanced at the man. He was only an Explorer. “No.”
The short man smiled. “Regardless if you are or not, and no matter what your strength is, once you step foot onto this battlefield, you have to join a group for protection, and that’s especially true for people with no backgrounds like us. If we all help each other, we stand a greater chance of surviving.”
Lu Yin grew curious. “How can we help each other?”
The short man’s eyes lit up, and he carefully explained, “The five array bases form the five great battlefields. On these battlefields, even the strongest powerhouses will die within days without luck. There are people who form spontaneous teams to help and support each other in order to survive.”
“Aren’t there groups formed upon deployment orders? Why would you say that people are spontaneously forming teams?” Lu Yin felt rather surprised, as this was a new concept to him.
The short man answered quietly, “Obeying the deployment orders is the only path to survival. However, more and more cultivators arrive here every day. How can we follow our orders so simply and blindly? This is why there’s a bit of flexibility within the orders, and that allows teams to be spontaneously formed. For example, people from the four ruling powers, like the Celestial Frost Sect, will form a team with their fellow disciples, as will those from Shenwu’s Sky. But what about those of us with no background? I’m a part of the Red Alliance. If you want to join us, brother, then our leader will apply to our commanding officer to get you transferred to our squadron, and we’ll work together to fight back against the enemy.”
Lu Yin had not thought that such an option would exist, but he realized that it was perfectly normal after thinking about it. Normally, in order to prevent factions from forming and internally competing, it was important for a military organization to break apart people from the same organization, but there was no need for such caution on this battlefield. In this place, it was better to allow for cultivators to form teams and unite on their own. Cooperation allowed the defenders to more easily kill the monsters and survive. As for the formation of factions, that was entirely dependent on whether or not a team could survive. Also, the four ruling powers would always stand at the top of the Perennial World, so the alliances that formed on the battlefield were irrelevant.
“How ‘bout it, Brother? Join the Red Alliance. Our leader has a power level that’s approaching an Envoy’s, and he’s one of the strongest under Colonel Chun’s command. With our leader’s protection, you’ll be able to stay safe since you’re an Enlighter,” the short man spoke enticingly.
Lu Yin felt curious. “Chun Ling?”
The man explained, “The array bases each have a general and a node, both of whom are Semi-Progenitors. Beneath the general, there are six colonels who answer directly to their general, and they are each assigned to the array base. As for us, we are under the command of Chun Ling, who’s an expert who’s survived four stellular tribulations.”
As the man spoke, a bit of red energy spurted out from the ground. Lu Yin frowned, as this energy contained a powerful and bloody aura.
The shot man looked over at the eruption, and terror filled his eyes. He even unconsciously began to tremble.
Lu Yin patted the man’s shoulder with a hand, which startled the man. “Thank you, brother, but I can’t join your Red Alliance. I’ve been sent here to deal with the terror ants.”
The man shrugged his shoulders, and he sympathetically said, “Brother, if you’re here to deal with the terror ants, then you need to be careful. The battlefield above the array bases is relatively safe, but you might need to deal with monsters that climb up the Mother Tree to get to the terror ants. That’s very dangerous, so I wish you a safe return.”
Lu Yin smiled and continued on towards the teleportation device.
What he found was a teleportation device that could transfer hundreds of people straight to headquarters at a time.
Lu Yin had previously wondered why there were no teleportation devices in this Perennial World, so he had not expected to see one on the battlefield behind the Mother Tree.
Things changed rapidly on a battlefield, so it was somewhat normal to have a teleportation device there.
The void twisted, and Lu Yin felt as though his body was being torn apart. Once he was able to see his surroundings once again, he was far away from the Tree Realm. A planet exploded above his head, and a terrible pressure wave swept out that caused many of the people who had just been teleported to dodge aside.
Lu Yin had not expected to immediately be greeted by such a crazy situation upon arriving. The cultivators around him had already become numb to such things, and they did not even look at the new arrivals.
“Step up and report in!” There was a loud shout as a nearby cultivator who was infinitely close to the Envoy realm stared at the new arrivals and pointed to his right side where they were to report in.
Lu Yin had been assigned to erradicate terror ants, but his true task was to eliminate traitors. His status was special, so he had no need to report in with the rank and fold. Rather, he was to report directly to the general of the second array base: Xia Yan.
Meteorites fell down from overhead, which were fragments of the shattered planet. Each meteorite was quite large, and Limiteers had to be careful to avoid them.
Lu Yin was wondering how he could contact Xia Yan when a terrifyingly strong wind swept by his head. He did not even have time to react before the gust shattered all of the meteorites to dust.
“Get me out!” There was a loud shout as the void was torn open, and the tear revealed a large group of monsters led by a corpse king with scarlet eyes and vertical pupils.
A piercing alarm sounded, and the powerhouses of the base emerged one after another, all of them attacking the tear in the void.
Inside the tear, the corpse king that was the vanguard looked up, and its scarlet eyes began to change. They immediately turned red, and an indescribably powerful aura swept through the area, shattering the void even further. The spatial cracks reached all the way to the general.
The general was standing high in the sky. He was a middle-aged man who stood tall and had a dignified face. “Red eyes transformation. It’s no wonder why they dared to attack my base. Still, they’re just courting death.”
The red-eyed corpse king at the forefront of the monsters grinned. “Revolt against my Aeternus! Kill!”
As the creature’s voice fell, the two figures collided within the void. All that Lu Yin felt was a sharp pain in his brain, and he almost started bleeding from his seven orifices. Since Lu Yin had been reduced to such a state, many of the people around him had already fainted.
The battle between the red-eyed corpse king and the middle-aged man shattered the void, and the pressure from their clash was truly horrifying. This was a battle between two beings whose power levels surpassed a million.
Lu Yin looked up to see a large number of corpse kings pouring out of the void. These creatures were humanity’s greatest enemy.
Lu Yin often pondered a question: it was very difficult for a corpse king to be born, and yet there were so many corpse kings in this world. Why? Why were there so many corpse kings that they were able to assault the Perennial World and the Mother Tree? The only possible answer was that there was an even larger Aeternus Kingdom than the one that Lu Yin had visited outside of the Perennial World that specialized in rearing corpse kings.
The powerhouses accompanying the general charged forward one after another, and several of them were powerhouses who surpassed Envoys while the rest were Enlighters at the very least.
Within the group of corpse kings, there were several who were capable of transforming, and all of the rest had the strength of an Enlighter.
There was a loud bang as the red-eyed corpse king and the middle-aged man broke through the void and into the true universe.
“What are you doing? Kill!” Close to Lu Yin, an old man shouted fiercely as he charged into the sky, only to be instantly smashed back to the ground by a corpse king. Given their combat strength and the fact that they felt no fear of death, corpse kings naturally had the upper hand more often than not when fighting against humans.
Lu Yin’s gaze grew sharp, and an astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet. He moved.
The old man stared at a corpse king with gray eyes. It smashed its clawed hand down, and the old man lamented his death. Suddenly, his vision changed, and he appeared in a different place. He looked around, and he saw a young man standing beneath the gray-eyed corpse king. “Watch out!”
Lu Yin had a single hand stretched out that he was using to hold the corpse king.
