The Seventh Base

"What happened?" The giant named Quiero looked up at his surroundings, as if the entire world had changed, turning into the Thunder Domain. The scene before him seemed unreal, and he felt like he was trapped within his opponent's domain.

Xu Mo's mecha remained in front of him, bathed in the terrifying Thunder Domain, with the Energy Battle Blade exuding the Light of Destruction.

"Boom."

As Xu Mo's mind moved, a sky full of thunder struck down simultaneously. Quiero let out a roar, his muscles bulging, releasing a metallic energy glow from within, as if his skin were copper and his bones iron, indestructible.

Countless bolts of lightning fell, hitting his body. Thunder clashed with flesh, sparking a light of thunder and fire. Quiero's muscles tensed, and he felt the sting and numbness as if the thunder wanted to pierce through his skin, causing electric light to dance on the surface of his body.

"Boom..." In the next moment, Quiero's spiritual power was also attacked. The terrifying spiritual power wanted to engulf and devour his own, and his Spiritual Sea seemed completely covered by Xu Mo. He felt as though he was standing in a cosmic starry sky within an endless Thunder Domain. Once tall and mighty, his body now felt small and insignificant.

This gave Quiero a bad feeling. He roared, his four-meter-tall body erupting with even more terrifying energy light. As he stepped forward, the ground roared and stones shattered. He knew Xu Mo was about to launch an attack.

At this moment, the mecha finally moved. A powerful energy erupted in an instant, the energy battle blade on the mecha's arm glowing with dazzling thunder light, surrounded by countless bolts of lightning. The blade's radiance was brilliant as it sliced down in an instant. Quiero's punch didn't make contact with the mecha, and the blade stood positioned at his chest.

A hissing sharp sound emerged as the Energy Battle Blade scraped against that terrifying defensive body, leaving a deep bloodstain. The Thunder Power surged into his skin, causing severe pain that even Quiero couldn't bear. He stepped back, missing his footing, and with a thud, he landed on the ground.

Xu Mo's mecha flashed away, appearing above Quiero's head, as the Thunder Domain vanished. Quiero looked down at his wound. In the wound, thunder light still flickered, sending a heart-piercing pain that made Quiero grit his teeth.

He looked up at Xu Mo, his giant eyes seemingly able to spew fire.

It really hurts.

"You won."

Quiero spoke, "My name is Quiero, from the Tyr Star Domain, and you?"

"Xu Mo, a cultivator from the Mystic God Temple," Xu Mo replied.

"A Mystic God Temple cultivator, impressive," Quiero said. This was his first time encountering a disciple from the O'Brian Republic's cultivation force, the Mystic God Temple, and he hadn't expected them to be so powerful.

"Can we go in and cultivate now?" Xu Mo asked.

"I lost, so I have no objection. But whether they agree or not, I can't speak for them," Quiero said. "However, with your combat power, if they disagree, you won't suffer any loss in a fight."

"Makes sense." Xu Mo nodded. In the end, it was necessary to speak with one's fists.

He descended, heading toward the stone cave with Zero and others. Nobody beside them interfered anymore, since even Quiero was defeated, there was no point in causing trouble.

Upon entering the cave, the transcendent from the Odyssey Star Domain who had asked a question before closed his eyes, pretending not to have seen anything.

The other two said nothing either. They had seen the battle just now and knew Xu Mo could hurt Quiero with one strike. His combat power was undeniable, and he could pose a threat to them.

Since that was the case, there was no point in causing unnecessary trouble, especially when there were no substantial conflicts of interest.

Xu Mo and his group came to the ink-colored stone cave. Hudson bent over, intending to move a stone to the side for cultivation. But when he exerted force, he was momentarily stunned.

"So heavy?" Hudson showed a peculiar expression. He knew this area had strong gravity, but it shouldn't be this heavy.

With effort, Hudson finally lifted the stone, finding it quite laborious to move it aside.

Seeing his actions, Xu Mo moved his thoughts, using telekinesis to control a massive stone and similarly felt an overwhelming heaviness. Besides gravity, these stones were composed of special elements, though they were just ordinary stones.

Finding this unusual, Xu Mo sat on a stone and began cultivating, absorbing the energy elements of this area.

The absorbed energy elements, like Source Power, could merge with the blood, flow through the body, and become part of it.

Xu Mo closed his eyes, peacefully cultivating. Several days later, Lowell spoke up, "Senior, I feel a slight increase in strength."

"There indeed is." Xu Mo nodded, he could feel it too.

Beside them, Augustus continued cultivating with his eyes closed. He seemed most suitable for cultivating here, as Augustus' abilities perfectly matched this area.

Initially, Xu Mo intended to try cultivating here to assess its effects. Now, it seemed worthwhile to cultivate for a period, as it could improve his strength. The mystical energy elements could enhance physique and power.

"Let's cultivate here for about half a year," Xu Mo suggested. The Empire Trial Field wasn't the only cultivation land, and there should be many opportunities. Although some power could be improved here, Xu Mo didn't want to waste too much time, setting a half-year period.

"Alright." Lowell and Hudson nodded. Xu Mo glanced at Augustus, thinking that if Augustus suited cultivating here, he could continue here since it matched him well.

In half a year's time, several groups came by.

Two people who had been cultivating in the stone cave left. Xu Mo stopped cultivating, feeling the Source Power in his body more abundant and full of powerful energy. The force he could now exert with a punch should be much stronger than half a year ago.

After nearly a year in the Empire Trial Field, both spiritual power and Source Power had improved, naturally enhancing combat power compared to when he first entered.

"Planning to leave?" Augustus asked Xu Mo and his group.

"Yes." Xu Mo nodded. "What about you?"

"I'll stay here, this place suits me perfectly," Augustus replied. In the past half year, his improvements were the greatest, this space perfectly complemented his abilities.

"Alright, but be careful." Xu Mo reminded, of course, there isn't much treasure here, so as long as you don't conflict with others, there shouldn't be any issues. Besides, Augustus himself isn't weak in combat, and he should have grown significantly stronger over the past half year.

"Understood." Augustus nodded.

Xu Mo and his group got up. Quiero was still there, looking at Xu Mo, "Leaving?"

"Yes." Xu Mo said, "Going elsewhere to try my luck, what about you?"

"This place is fine, I'll continue cultivating for some time," Quiero responded.

"Alright, until we meet again." Xu Mo bid farewell, leaving with Zero and the others, leaving Augustus behind to continue his cultivation.

Xu Mo and his group left this area, continuing to traverse this expansive region of ink-black boulders, which was vast and sprawling like a desert zone.

"There's movement ahead," Lowell said after hearing sounds from the front. The group moved forward, discovering a canyon below, where a group of giants was battling a huge, entirely black monster.

The monster's movements shook the earth, incredibly intimidating, but the giants surrounding it were equally formidable, quickly killing it and dragging its enormous body away.

"Where are they going?" Lowell whispered from the high ground.

Xu Mo and his group followed, releasing their sense. Xu Mo noticed many traces of monsters ahead, lurking around, which gave him an unusual feeling — the monsters were in ambush?

In an area of black stones, quite a number of transcendents from the Tyr Star Domain were cultivating; a figure sat cross-legged in the middle, surrounded by the corpses of many monsters placed upon massive stones.

Xu Mo and his group stood at a distance watching; they noticed that the lurking monsters were converging towards that area. At this moment, the figure sitting in the center suddenly opened his eyes, glancing sharply in Xu Mo's direction.

"Let's go."

Xu Mo glanced back at him, then turned to leave. Beside him, the Ancient Beast, nestled in Zero's arms, had completely retracted its head, trembling, as a strong sense of oppression emanated from that direction.

"Seems like they're people from the Heavenly God Race," Lowell said. The Heavenly God Race is considered the strongest race in the Tyr Star Domain.

"Possibly," Xu Mo responded. "These people are not only cultivating in this area but deliberately capturing monsters, attracting them for battle. It's a form of trial with the monsters. The high gravity of this area makes it an exceptional battlefield for trials, indeed a good effect."

"A bunch of madmen," Hudson commented. "This might lead to a massive monster siege, facing a swarm of monster attacks."

However, he also knew that this was precisely the trial effect the others wanted.

The Empire Trial Field is filled with many geniuses now, perhaps many madmen too.

Xu Mo's strategy, in the absence of any conflicts of interest, was to temporarily avoid clashing with the top forces of each star domain.

They've been cultivating here for just under a year, with two more years available for growth. They now try to control monsters and look for opportunities to enhance their strength.

Days later, they left this area.

A month later, Xu Mo and his group appeared in a mountainous region, where there were terrifying electromagnetic fields everywhere. The mountains and the ground were coursing with lightning power, along with many powerful monsters.

They battled and cultivated in this region, encountering other trial-goers, where Xu Mo tried to avoid conflicts with others.

Half a year later, over the seas of the Empire Trial Field, there were endless monsters.

Xu Mo and his group fought above the ocean, with the entire sea area shrouded in dark clouds, making it seem as if they had charged into a monster's lair, engaging continuously in slaughter and trials to improve themselves. The Ancient Beast had long retracted its head, not daring to look.

It always played tricks, when had it ever played like this before?

Several months later, they came to an extremely cold region to cultivate. Here the temperature was low enough to freeze a person to death, and the further inward they went, the colder it got. Xu Mo and his group cultivated there for a while longer.

Time passed unconsciously, now two and a half years into their time at the Empire Trial Field, Xu Mo had traversed many places.

The group was travel-worn, but their strength had greatly increased.

In these two and a half years, they never stopped cultivating, alternating between cultivation and battles with monsters.

By now, even Lowell seemed much more mature. He had only been cultivating in the Mystic God Temple for a year before coming to the Empire Trial Field, where he cultivated for two and a half years, advancing rapidly in strength.

Aside from them, other entrants into the Empire Trial Field also kept busy, cultivating in different places, resulting in numerous collisions and even the demise of many transcendents.