Yuan’s Ascension

All war bases had similar layouts and structures, so Wu Yuan moved through the exit passage with practiced ease.

Two large teams were leaving with Wu Yuan, one of them a sizable force of around a hundred people. The other team consisted of slightly more than sixty people.

Most within these groups were below the seventh-stage Amethyst Cradle phase, with no more than three-tenths at the seventh-stage and above.

Whoosh! Whoosh! After flying thousands of li along the passage, the throng of hundreds of cultivators arrived at the exit, patiently awaiting the opening of the gate.

The passage gate opened at regular intervals.

"Fellow Daoist, are you alone?" The voice came from a bald, broad-shouldered man leading one of the teams. He was clad in loose robes and carried a large saber on his back. His tone was casual as he addressed Wu Yuan.

"Yes," Wu Yuan nodded slightly.

"Fellow Daoist, I sense that your cultivation is at the ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle phase. Are you planning to head out to the mainland alone?" A purple-robed cultivator from the other team spoke up, seemingly holding a high position in his team.

Instantly, many in the two teams turned to look at Wu Yuan, their expressions a mix of curiosity and doubt. A ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle cultivator, going solo?

"What's wrong with being a ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle cultivator?" Wu Yuan smiled faintly.

"Fellow Daoist, you must have just arrived from an outer space war base, right?" The bald man asked. "The mainland is different from the outer space war zones. Outer space is vast and sparsely populated, and battles aren't intense, only erupting every few days on average. But on the mainland, you might encounter several battles in a single day."

"Oh?" Wu Yuan's smile deepened slightly. Intense battles? Perfect.

"So it's not advisable to operate alone on the mainland," the bald man continued, his expression earnest. "I'm Yan Quan, leading a group of brothers on an expedition. Fellow Daoist, if you don't mind, would you like to join my group?"

Join their group?

"Thank you for the offer, Fellow Daoist," Wu Yuan replied with a polite nod. "But I'm used to traveling alone. I’m not fond of joining groups."

Wu Yuan didn't find it surprising that these people hadn't recognized him.

Possessing a voidrealm jade allowed one to sense the aura of one’s allies within a ten-thousand-li range, as well as their names. But it didn't display cultivation information.

At any given war base, ninth-rank fighters were rare, but across the entire battlefield, they were not uncommon. The constant flow of combatant batches meant that most people only paid attention to the high-ranking experts at their own base.

Unless someone was a legendary-rank or king-rank fighter, few would pay attention to a single combatant.

Moreover, Wu Yuan had just arrived at Mainland War Base 93 and hadn't killed any enemies yet, so he wasn't included in this war base's ranking.

"Very well, I hope to meet you again at the war base," Yan Quan said, offering a courteous smile.

“Big Brother, why bother persuading a dead ghost? He's made his choice," muttered the tall, thin youth standing beside Yan Quan.

"Shut up," Yan Quan snapped, his frown deepening. Then, he turned back to Wu Yuan with an apologetic smile. "Fellow Daoist, please excuse my subordinate's lack of manners."

"It's fine," Wu Yuan responded calmly, though his gaze lingered briefly on the thin youth.

The youth's defiant glare didn't escape his notice. He was a third-stage Amethyst Cradle cultivator

"Daoist Yan Quan," Wu Yuan remained completely unperturbed, calmly asking, "do you know how often this exit gate opens?"

"Generally, it opens once a thousand people are gathered," Yan Quan explained, his smile returning. "Aside from the new batches of fighters arriving here each day, there usually aren't enough people to reach that number, so under normal circumstances, it opens once every two hours."

Wu Yuan nodded thoughtfully. It was a different system from the outer space war bases he was used to.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Suddenly, two streams of black light shot over from afar at an astonishing speed.

"What's going on?"

"It hasn’t been two hours yet." Yan Quan, the thin youth, and the hundreds of gathered cultivators were puzzled.

Normally, unless the time interval or number of waiting combatants was met, the soldiers wouldn't open the exit gate.

"Daoist Ming Jian."

"Haha, Daoist Ming Jian, why didn’t you tell us you were coming? The general only learned of your arrival from the message from the eldritch voidrealm," the two Void Refiner black-armored soldiers smiled, striding towards Wu Yuan and cupping their hands in greeting.

This scene left the others gaping in astonishment. Void Refiner soldiers greeting an Amethyst Cradle cultivator with such respect? In their experience, the Void Refiner soldiers at war bases were arrogant and rarely showed them any courtesy.

And what was that they heard? General? They knew that a general was at least an Earth Immortal. Who was this ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle phase cultivator that even a General specially took note of?

"Thank you for the trouble," Wu Yuan smiled calmly, unfazed by the attention.

"No problem," one of the Void Refiner black-armored soldiers smiled. Then, he turned to address the others, his expression turning cold. "Listen up, all of you. The exit gate will open soon. Line up properly, don't rush."

The hundreds of Amethyst Cradle cultivators stood in shocked silence, none daring to make a sound.

Soon, the previously sealed exit gate flickered with countless cryptic patterns, rapidly transforming into a nearly transparent light screen.

"Daoist Ming Jian, please go ahead," the taller Void Refiner soldier said, stepping aside to allow Wu Yuan to pass.

"Thank you," Wu Yuan's form flashed and he shot through the light screen in a stream of light, swiftly leaving the war base.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Afterward, over two hundred Amethyst Cradle cultivators poured through the light screen one after another. This included the two large teams, followed by three smaller teams who had hurried over just in time.

Yan Quan led his hundred-odd team into the sky, the boundless expanse of land stretching out below them. But there was no trace of Wu Yuan. He had vanished as swiftly as he had appeared.

"Big brother, did I cause trouble?" The thin youth asked apprehensively, his earlier bravado gone. "That Ming Jian earlier seemed rather influential."

"Don't worry, he didn't seem petty," Yan Quan replied, though his brow remained furrowed with concern.

"Big brother, I've checked," said the white-robed woman beside them, her voice laced with shock. "On the overall battlefield ranking, there's someone named Ming Jian among the top one thousand fighters. He's a ninth-rank fighter!!"

A profound silence fell over the group.

"Ninth-rank?" Yan Quan muttered, astonished. "He's likely a peerless genius from the Origin Eldritch Field. No wonder he dares to act alone."

"The privileges of a ninth-rank fighter, of course.”

…

It's so vast. Wu Yuan stood in the air. The light around him distorted, concealing his form as he blended perfectly into heaven and earth.

This only prevented distant observers from seeing him, though in close proximity, Amethyst Cradle/Shambhala cultivators had methods to pierce such illusions.

Wu Yuan looked down at the boundless expanse of land stretching endlessly beyond sight. The entire continent is nearly a hundred billion li wide?

This immense landmass was dotted with war bases—around four thousand in total.

It could be said that the two camps deployed millions or even billions of Amethyst Cradle cultivators into bloody battles each day. Through tempering in the fires of life-and-death battles, powerhouses were forged.

The battlefield was rugged and uneven, with towering mountain ranges spanning thousands of li, their jagged peaks slicing through the sky. These natural barriers could easily block a powerhouse's line of sight, creating countless opportunities for ambush and guerilla warfare. Perfect for battle.

Now this is a battlefield suited for me. Wu Yuan grinned, a thrill of excitement coursing through him. It seems I'll be able to reach the saturation point of blood mist very soon.

Whoosh! With a mental command, Wu Yuan's appearance changed. No longer the white-robed youth, he now took on the form of a middle-aged man in crimson robes, his features entirely different.

My allies can see my name through the voidrealm jade's aura, but my enemies cannot. Wu Yuan mused inwardly. The Voltari Temple investigated my identity through the voidrealm's battle recordings.

If forced to go all-out, unleashing all his abilities and skills like the nine lifebound flying swords, his identity would naturally be exposed. There might be only two or three other Amethyst Cradle cultivators with such strength across the entire battlefield.

But as long as his enemies weren't too powerful, some third-grade spirit flying swords would suffice. He could avoid revealing an overwhelmingly monstrous level of power, keeping his true identity secret. The Voltari Temple wouldn’t be able to identify him with such few clues.

Let's begin. Wu Yuan chose a path at random, his eyes flickering as he activated the Spirit Eye arcane art. Instantly, the terrain hundreds of millions of li away came into focus.

At the same time, his Soul Will spread out in a radius of nearly a hundred thousand li, sweeping the area for any signs of life.

Wu Yuan traveled leisurely through the skies at a speed of five hundred li per second, scouting for enemies along the way.

He did not summon his spirion battleship as it was far too conspicuous, making it inconvenient to conceal his form.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, he sensed something.

Hm? Twelve Amethyst Cradle cultivators? Even tiny mosquitoes are meat. Wu Yuan's Soul Will locked onto them instantly.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan immediately accelerated, charging over.

…

Within the vast mountain range, a team of twelve seventh-stage Amethyst Cradle cultivators cautiously probed their surroundings as they traveled on foot, each suppressing their aura as much as possible.

As late-stage Amethyst Cradle cultivators, they were confident enough to form a small team of just slightly more than ten people. But with the mainland teeming with immortal cultivators, they dared not let down their guards for even a moment.

"Be careful, everyone." The leader, a massive man standing nearly six meters tall, his body covered in black scales, spoke quietly. His voice was shrill, a strange contrast to his imposing physique. His sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, missing nothing.

The black-robed woman following behind him spoke up, "Big Brother, we've been walking through this mountain range for two days now. Nothing abnormal has happened so far. Moreover, our battle puppets are always scouting ahead, so the probability of encountering an enemy attack should be..."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Out of nowhere, six terrifying earthy-yellow rays of light appeared, tearing through the sky.

When they first appeared, they were still thousands of li away, but in the next instant, they had already reached the group.

"No!" The burly leader’s eyes widened in shock and fury, a battle saber materializing before his chest

Squelch! Squelch! A symphony of grisly sounds erupted as blades tore through flesh and sinew. Bodies ruptured in a macabre display, sending sprays of crimson mist and viscera into the air.

The six rays of light swept through the air in an instant, then returned to Wu Yuan. Following them were a large number of artifacts, either intact or shattered.

Twelve Amethyst Cradle cultivators were dead!

Continue! In the skies, Wu Yuan put away the artifacts and continued probing for enemies, following his original direction.