A total of 6,006 vehicles came from Daxia this time, including 310 Tier 5 war vehicles. Among the leader vehicles, 19 possessed Tier 6 offensive capabilities, or had upgraded to a Tier 6 Arrow Tower, or a Tier 6 protective shield. Half of the materials for these war vehicles came from Wei Huan.
This was like a form of reciprocation. When Wei Huan was driving a low-tier vehicle, Commander Mu would prioritize sending him any materials he had, which allowed Wei Huan to quickly upgrade to a Tier 5 vehicle in a short time. Especially when Commander Hong had just encountered trouble and Commander Chai was still marginalizing Mu Dehao, even when Mu Dehao was in a difficult situation himself, he never made Wei Huan worry about upgrade materials.
Now, Wei Huan has grown up, and the initial "investment" has been repaid a thousandfold, with more to come in the future. The Daxia Challenger Legion is now so powerful that even Aosam must follow behind, relying on the Daxia Legion's protection to safely reach the Tier 5 world. Daxia has, without a doubt, assumed the absolute leading position.
***
After two hours, the Daxia Legion had assembled, and the ten thousand vehicles set off. Wei Huan's vehicle descended and drove at the very front of the convoy. Xu Qingqiang, Captain Xue, and others, who had also upgraded to Tier 5 vehicles, were given orders to drive at different points in the convoy to provide escort.
However, what the other nations envied most was the swarm of Ghost Crows that flew across the sky like a continuous black cloud, and the massive, 300-meter-tall Burrow Mother Beast skeleton. Its movement was like a silent, magical movie, something that had only existed in human imagination, now finally a reality. It was simply like a Demon God descending!
The Daxia Legion slowly departed, gradually accelerating and disappearing from sight. People noticed a long "tail" following behind them. Most of these vehicles were from Daxia's private factions or lone wolf Challengers, and there were also some newcomers from other countries who wanted to follow along to reach the city before making further plans. After all, this was the Tier 5 world. Even if they completed the assessment by following the official forces, facing the monsters of the Tier 5 world was still a bit much. Encountering a suddenly appearing King-level monster meant almost certain death. But once inside the city, they could slowly find their footing, purchase materials from official sources through trade to arm themselves, and gradually gain the ability to operate in this world. A good number of people also wanted to see if they could get in touch with Wei Huan. But clearly, this idea was unrealistic; Wei Huan was always at the very front of the convoy, and the line of people who wanted to see him could stretch from here to France.
***
For now, Wei Huan was doing nothing within his own war vehicle. After completing the handover with the overall leader of the Challenger Legion, he only had the escort mission left. Socializing and networking were not on his task list.
Mu Zhong took over the subsequent socializing, which was his duty and his specialty. First, he received all the vehicle leaders in the conference room. Wei Huan made an appearance, sitting in the main seat, but mostly kept silent. Next, special and outstanding vehicle commanders were invited by Mu Zhong onto the war vehicle for a dinner party.
The chef on Wei Huan's war vehicle was renowned; everyone knew that eating on Wei Huan's vehicle could increase one's attributes. Therefore, once aboard, the observant commanders began to eat furiously, watching their attribute points genuinely increase, completely oblivious to their subtly accelerated cultivation speed due to being immersed in the power of nature. There were simply too many good things on Wei Huan's war vehicle. Any one item taken out individually would cause a scramble among the world's population. Now, all these things were gathered together, and as long as one became a member of Wei Huan's crew, they could enjoy them freely. This sense of superiority, shared with their jealous former colleagues or comrades during the banquet, thrilled the crew members.
However, there were also people who had already been confirmed to board Wei Huan's war vehicle before coming to the Tier 5 world. They were also invited, but unlike the others who were filled with jealousy, they were all so excited their breathing trembled, their minds filled with thoughts like "Mine," "My future," and "I can do this." Especially upon seeing the globally famous elites moving about the banquet hall, their tall and imposing figures inspired an awe that was hard to express, like devotees standing before gods. They could only secretly vow in their hearts that they would definitely achieve something significant in this war vehicle.
***
The banquet concluded three days later. Wei Huan arrived at Vermilion Bird City. Vermilion Bird City is located northwest of the assessment highway's final teleportation gate, relatively close to Five-Star Island, only a day's journey away. It is also the last city for Daxia Challengers traveling from this direction before reaching the under-construction Azure Dragon City. Challengers planning to go to Azure Dragon City needed to resupply here.
Many private factions chose to stay, as the journey ahead was too far, and Azure Dragon City was not yet completed. Vermilion Bird City, however, was fully established and had humanity's first Guardian Knight, Captain Fang William, stationed there. The bloated and massive convoy successfully "slimmed down" here. Those remaining to follow Wei Huan were essentially either members of the Azure Dragon Pioneering Army or individuals slated to board Wei Huan's vehicle.
Coincidentally, the new batch of arrivals needed two or three days to take over the research of the World Tree and complete the handover with the previous research personnel. Wei Huan decided to stay in Vermilion Bird City, using the time to verify the roster of people boarding his vehicle and complete the final round of "vetting." Of course, Mu Zhong was responsible for this, leaving Wei Huan worry-free. He maintained a normal daily routine, meeting with necessary people, but dedicating the rest of his time to cultivation. With the "Enlightenment" effect applied and the World Tree sapling accelerating his cultivation, it made sense to immerse himself in practice and enjoy the sense of rapid progress.
Sometimes Wei Huan would not be seen for an entire day, being completely absorbed in cultivation. He felt completely at ease with Mu Zhong handling the daily operations and trivial matters. However, occasionally, when Wei Huan woke up from cultivation, left his room, and walked around the war vehicle, he genuinely noticed that there were indeed more and more people inside.
Previously, when the vehicle only had 100 people, it was rare to see people casually chatting in the plaza; they were only seen during physical training. Most other times, everyone was either in their own rooms or in the training room. Now, a glance over the plaza showed it was full of people. The coffee shop and cinema that Mu Zhong had insisted on keeping now had customers visiting. Although the atmosphere inside the war vehicle was still military, focused on training and combat, it had gained a little sense of life. The addition of more female Challengers also brought more vibrancy to the war vehicle.
***
Wei Huan stayed in Vermilion Bird City for five days, but the handover work was not yet finished.
When it was time for his cultivation that day, Wei Huan went to the Class Temple. The endless lines of Undead on the Great Tomb that stretched as far as the eye could see had all been recruited by him. The unrecruited units remaining above the Great Tomb were those Wei Huan had initially abandoned, such as the Stealth Cat Skeleton and the Ferocious Bear Skeleton. Even the Nether Flame on the Great Tomb had been captured one by one and fully replenished, all becoming Tier 5 Nether Flame Bombs. It is fair to say that for the past 40-plus days, Wei Huan had essentially been doing the same thing: building up a strategic reserve of Tier 5 Nether Flame Bombs. However, he used some up half a month ago when he went to develop the Platinum Treasure Dungeon, and now the last one has been replenished.
Furthermore, the Dire Bear, Big Bear, which had already advanced to a Legendary Hero, was now stronger and had a thicker hide. Standing at the forefront of the Undead, it looked like a BOSS-level monster. There was also Moji, who had been Wei Huan's focus and target for cultivation over the past two months. Although it shrank a bit after leveling up to Tier 5, it reached the standard of an Epic Hero. In terms of individual combat power, it was stronger than Martial Kings of Sequence Five like Captain Xue, Captain Wang, and Liu Xiaotian, and it was fearless of death.
Wei Huan cultivated these two "leaders" for two reasons: one, Big Bear was already close to advancing, so he merely gave it a push. The other, Moji, was cultivated because Wei Huan felt he could not be careless when entering the Tier 6 world and facing the "Deceptive Remnant Clan" that had emerged from its seal. Wei Huan had decided to keep Moji firmly by his side.
***
Today, Wei Huan entered the Great Tomb once again. Looking at the vast array of Undead before him, all connected to his will, like extensions of his own arms, he knew he had reached his limit. There were truly no more units left to recruit above the tomb, and he was unwilling to waste Nether Power on worthless Undead.
So, this was finally the moment, wasn't it?
Wei Huan looked into the depths of the Great Tomb, simultaneously feeling his full reserve of Nether Power. Today, he was ready to recruit the Two-Headed Shadow Demon. He did not know how much Nether Power one would cost, as it was a noble Dark Beast existing within the Great Tomb, so the consumption would inevitably be huge, likely returning him to a situation of barely having enough resources. As for moving to other Great Tombs, Wei Huan had even fewer clues.
Adjusting his mood and allowing his spirit to slowly calm down, Wei Huan refocused his eyes into the Great Tomb. The scene before him was pitch-black, but he could sense a new, vast space, like descending from the surface into an underground city.
***
Before Sequence Five, Wei Huan was unable to perceive the appearance of this underground space. Even upon just reaching Sequence Five, he had difficulty seeing underground; all he saw was pitch blackness. The Gatekeeper of the Underworld, a Sequence Five class, granted him the qualification to enter this underground world, but the entirety of Sequence Five cultivation was a process from "initial entry" to complete familiarity. After two months of cultivation, he could now generally see up to three hundred meters in this underground world. Beyond that, everything was shrouded in a dense fog and unclear.
He had explored this Great Tomb before out of curiosity, but the visibility was too low. He had only searched a few times with no findings and had to leave. This time, Wei Huan had nowhere else to advance his cultivation, so he was determined to search deeper. He was sure he would find something.
***
Wei Huan's Divine Sense descended into this world. After completing the cultivation of "Sequence Four Telepath," his Divine Sense felt increasingly real in the Great Tomb, as if his physical body had truly arrived, lacking the previous ethereal feeling.
Wei Huan had Dot Mom summon Doggo and swiftly mounted its carapace. After Dot Mom advanced to a Hero unit, Doggo, an Elite unit, advanced alongside Dot Mom to become a Mother Burrow Beast. Although its large body lacked the flexibility it had as a Facehugger, its personality was still like a dog, completely devoid of the long-legged, jade-footed, jellyfish-like elegance of a Mother Burrow Beast. The eight legs on its body made it look like a walking stool from a cartoon Wei Huan watched as a child. It hopped and jumped like a wild horse, and when overly excited, it could tangle its eight legs into a ball. If it couldn't fly, it would trip over itself.
Upon being summoned by name by Wei Huan and arriving inside the Great Tomb, Doggo was overjoyed, hopping and squealing incessantly. Wei Huan let it have its fun for a while before patting the part of its carapace closer to its head, signaling to set off. Doggo's eight legs pushed off the ground, and it floated lightly into the air. Its long legs then churned like propellers, propelling it forward in a low-altitude flight.
***
Traveling in the Underworld, where visibility was less than 300 meters and where external mental power was restricted, Wei Huan unconsciously kept his nerves taut. Even though he knew only Undead existed here and that his own lack of strength would not put him in any danger, the environment was unsettling.
He didn't know how long he had traveled. The flow of time in the Class Temple was different from the outside world, and it seemed the flow inside the Great Tomb was also different from outside it. Wei Huan estimated he had been moving in one direction for over half an hour when he suddenly heard a commotion ahead.
"Buzz! Buzz!"
Wei Huan cautiously ordered Doggo to slow down and head towards the source of the sound. At the same time, both Doggo and Wei Huan began to summon the Undead Legion. Within a few short minutes, the area around Wei Huan, within his line of sight, was crowded with Undead, all of them Elite-grade. Unfortunately, the Undead summoned here could not exceed his visible range. The most intimidating, Dot Mom, with legs so long that a single step covered a kilometer, was the first one unable to be summoned down.
***
Wei Huan had Big Bear lead the charge, Gut-Bro handle the rear guard, Flying Monkey and Green Light circle overhead, and finally added the whispering eyeball rotating above his head, completing the basic formation of the Elite backbone. The remaining area was completely filled by the Elite Rampage Wolf Legion, which surrounded and protected Wei Huan under the command of Gut-Bro.
The Swift Wolf Legion had always been Wei Huan's favorite. If not for the limitations of the deep-sea world, their combat power would be formidable. However, even if they were not suitable for the Challenger World, they would be perfect for the grand battlefield. The grand battlefield is a meat grinder, with only endless plains where opposing armies collide with roars, and slaughter overflows.
After quickly forming the formation, Wei Huan set off towards the source of the sound. The "buzzing" sound grew louder, turning into a "rumbling" sound—a dull, heavy impact like heavy objects violently colliding. Getting closer, he could even feel gusts of foul, cold Underworld energy mixed in with the air blowing from the front, like sharp blades.
***
Just as Wei Huan was carefully discerning the source, a black shadow suddenly broke through the black mist and hurtled towards him.
"Roar!"
"Kacha!"
"Screech~~"
"Ow! Ow! Ow!!"
Before Wei Huan could react, his Undead army preemptively attacked, surging forward to try and block the black shadow. They were unafraid of being shattered, their only goal being to shield Wei Huan from any harm. The Elite-grade Tier 5 Undead were very strong. Moreover, the one standing in front of Wei Huan was Big Bear, who had already reached the level of a Legendary Hero. With over fifty thousand HP, plus the boost from Flying Monkey, it would take a Sequence Five Challenger an hour or two just to kill it if it stood still.
The incoming black shadow was successively intercepted by the leaping Elite Rampage Wolves. When it finally reached Wei Huan, before it could get close—! Big Bear roared, stood up like a wall, and fiercely swung its huge bear paw forward!
"Thump!"
The black shadow rebounded violently as if hitting an iron plate and crashed heavily onto the ground. After displaying its power, Big Bear obediently crouched down again, and as if worried about blocking Wei Huan's view, it wiggled its huge, plump backside and moved slightly to one side.
***
Wei Huan shifted his gaze from Big Bear's now-restored, sleek fur to the ground, where he saw a shriveled, damaged Two-Headed Shadow Demon with black liquid oozing from its body.
The Two-Headed Shadow Demon, as its name suggests, has two heads: one a dragon's head and the other a serpent's tail. Its overall body shape resembles a Western demon dragon, but its tail is very long, three times the length of its body, slender at the end, and often invisible. It uses this serpent tail to launch sneak attacks during combat with humans, making it unpredictable. The Dark Beast race is generally multi-limbed, so this Two-Headed Shadow Demon also had four legs and four arms. Behind it were a pair of huge, demon-dragon-like wings with sharp bone spurs that could be used for direct attack while flying.
In its normal state, the Two-Headed Shadow Demon is physically strong, like a bodybuilder, with massive, powerful muscles and a robust physique. As one of the nobles of the Dark Beast race, they are obviously a different species: they are not only strong but also very intelligent, with a glimmer of wisdom in their eyes. They use tactics against humans, and sneak attacks are common.
This was Wei Huan's impression of the Two-Headed Shadow Demon, but it did not match the creature before him. Of course, he could still recognize it as a Two-Headed Shadow Demon, but it looked like a starved one, with its ribs poking out of its shriveled chest and its wings broken, leaving only a skeletal frame. Furthermore, the black liquid flowing from its body—he wasn't sure if it was corrosive fluid or water—made it one of those disgusting and repulsive Corpse-type Undead that Wei Huan rarely saw anymore since his level increased and his Undead became more complete and powerful. After all, he had recruited all the Corpse-type Undead from above the Great Tomb. He had taken good care of every one of them. If not for their immortal characteristic and their eyes burning with green flame, an outsider might believe they were living Dark Beasts.
Looking at the Two-Headed Shadow Demon before him, its eyes were pitch black, and the eyeballs were shriveled like those of a blind person, with liquid dripping from them. The serpent head on the tail seemed absent-minded or non-existent, dried up and dangling on the ground.
***
After watching for a few seconds, Wei Huan felt that the Shadow Demon was also staring at him. The exchange of glances gave Wei Huan the impression that the creature was still alive and knew who he was. But this was not entirely unexpected; after all, it was a noble of the Dark Beast race, an intelligent species that would naturally retain its survival instinct and self-awareness.
Wei Huan did not hesitate. He had only one purpose for entering the Great Tomb. He mobilized his Divine Sense, which pierced the Shadow Demon's spirit deep inside like a sharp spike. His Divine Sense then transformed into an unstoppable, raised hand that grasped the creature's fragile spirit. The Shadow Demon's spirit was as weak as a firefly before Wei Huan. Wei Huan realized he could extinguish it with just a tiny bit of force. A completely wiped-out Shadow Demon would likely become like the most common Undead around him: knowing only to obey orders, fearless, and lacking self-awareness.
But Wei Huan did not do that. Instead, he injected his Nether Power into this small "firefly." Though it was only a trickle, the firefly instantly flared up as if it had found a source of energy or been doused with a barrel of crude oil.
"Boom," it roared with light.
The Shadow Demon's spirit became instantly powerful. Simultaneously, Wei Huan's Nether Flame branded an eternal mark onto its spirit, subjugating it to Wei Huan forever. Should Wei Huan die one day, it would also fall into an eternal slumber, never to wake again. This form of domination was one-sided, absolutely unbreakable, eternal, and absolute.
In the Shadow Demon's nascent intelligence, it subconsciously struggled for a moment, but it was completely overwhelmed by the invading power and thoroughly controlled. Wei Huan ignited its Flame of Death.
The Two-Headed Shadow Demon flipped over and got back up from the ground, green flames now burning in its eyes, concealing its shriveled eyeballs. Furthermore, the serpent head on its tail—its seemingly non-existent eyes—also lit up with two small pairs of green flames. This head slowly floated up and emerged from behind the Shadow Demon, hovering over its shoulder, looking up at Wei Huan with the dragon head in awe.
Wei Huan stood atop the Mother Burrow Beast's carapace, looking down at it from a height of ten meters.
After successfully gaining control of the Shadow Demon, Wei Huan did not rush to give commands but rather checked the changes in his own body. His Nether Power was instantly reduced by a thousand points? His total Nether Power was now less than 11,000, meaning he could only summon ten units at a time. Just as he had anticipated, the consumption for this unit was too high. It would be impossible to quickly form a legion like his other low-tier units.
Another detail that pleasantly surprised Wei Huan was that after successfully controlling this Shadow Demon, his visible range seemed to have expanded by three to five meters. It was as if he was being recognized by this world, quickly integrating into it by controlling the Shadow Demon.
So, what was there to wait for?
Wei Huan looked ahead. Although he couldn't see the specific figure behind the black fog, he could feel a gaze fixed on him with predatory intent. He could confirm it was another Two-Headed Shadow Demon. Wei Huan was worried that the other one would escape. Given the intelligence of the Two-Headed Shadow Demon, which had developed sentience on its skeletal remains, fleeing danger should be an instinct.
He immediately urged Doggo to leap forward. The view quickly changed, and indeed, another Two-Headed Shadow Demon appeared before him, standing motionless, looking at his arrival with a bit of sluggishness. This Shadow Demon's body was slightly more intact than the previous one, but overall it still looked malnourished, dirty, and smelly.
Without time for a closer look, Wei Huan's Divine Sense plunged violently into the depths of this Shadow Demon's soul. The next second, its eyes were also lit with green flame.
With this, Wei Huan now had two Two-Headed Shadow Demons, and his visible radius had expanded by ten meters. Ten meters is not much, but every bit adds up. His current Nether Power allowed him to summon ten Two-Headed Shadow Demons, which would grant him a hundred meters of visibility. Being able to see further and capture more meant he would be able to summon Two-Headed Shadow Demons faster in the future.