Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun and Yuta rescued several injured members of the Grey Wolf tribe and also learned some movements of the Sacred Judgment Legion from them.

The situation was worse than expected.

The legion had been there for a month or two already, and they were making rapid progress in relic development.

Moreover, it seemed they had obtained some special intelligence regarding the relics and could always employ targeted measures to break through many difficult cursed spaces. For this purpose, they had hired a large number of slave hunters, capturing almost every small and large tribe of the Dalu in the north of the Silent Forest, taking tens of thousands of people. It was all to refine an evil alchemical item to break the biggest cursed space.

Upon hearing this, Su Lun instantly felt that something was amiss.

Well-prepared as they were, they might indeed damage the seal of the Tree Realm.

He also guessed that the item they were refining for sacrifice was probably the "Sealed Object" he knew about from searching the soul of the man he had killed.

....

Su Lun and his companion didn't delay any longer and, after bidding farewell to the Grey Wolf tribesmen, quickly bypassed the giant tree to reach the north.

As evening approached, the sky had already darkened.

After covering some kilometers, they found a high vantage point and looked down at the brightly lit war camp in the distance.

The soldiers of the Sacred Judgment Legion had already constructed a temporary war fortress at the foot of the giant tree, complete with high walls and heavy mechanical artillery, and above the camp floated three steam-powered airships. Lights were searching in all directions, with elite guards in battle armor patrolling the camp's perimeter.

Visible sentries, hidden guards, and flying griffins in the sky—the camp's defenses were extremely tight, giving no chance for any outsider to get close.

As Su Lun observed the intensely active soldiers within the camp, his gaze grew slightly more solemn.

Just by the ranks, one could tell there were many experts.

Not to mention his being a third-tier, even if he were a seventh or eighth-tier professional, a direct attack might not necessarily be advantageous.

The reconnaissance squad he had killed before had the lowest members at a second-tier profession, with at least silver grade for their implants and employment materials. They were also proficient in military combined strike formations, making the legion's combat strength very high. This was not any enemy he had encountered before.

However, what caught the attention of Su Lun and Yuta even more was a giant blood pool within the camp.

Next to the blood pool stood a fluttering griffin-patterned war flag.

A flash of light passed through Su Lun's left eye as he identified the information of the flag, which turns out to be that Sealed Object.

[Nelgale's Death War Flag]

Quality: Legendary

Description: Blood-sacrificed flag, unrivalled in battle

Cursed Trait: Sacrifice the blood souls of living beings, granting the contracted soldiers of this war flag a group aura enhancement, encouraging group morale, granting immunity or reduction from fear, intimidation, wailing, plague, chaos, curses, whispers... and similar negative states; effects are limited by the number of living beings sacrificed, current sacrifice count 23354;

Explanation: A war flag made by an ancient civilization for war, obtaining minor permanent enhancement and major temporary benefits after blood refinement.

As Su Lun looked at the flag, his brows knitted tightly.

No wonder he hadn't seen any "slaves" alive; they had all been killed for the flag sacrifice.

Next to the blood pool, there were several Eight-faced Corpse Towers piled up with heads. Heads stained with blood were stacked over ten meters high, surrounded by obelisks carved with alchemical formations, through which the blood energy continuously gathered atop the war flag.

The population of the Dalu tribe was not large to begin with. By current estimates, there were only a few hundred thousand in the Silent Forest, yet tens of thousands had been killed here...

A complex look flashed through Su Lun's eyes.

Yuta, standing beside him, looked even worse, her face a stark mask of suppressed fury and murderous intent, her lips, clenched on her silver teeth, nearly bleeding.

Su Lun could somewhat understand why she had insisted on coming on this dangerous relic adventure—without a continued heritage, the Dalu tribe really might become extinct.

The two surveyed the camp's layout further but found no opportunity to take advantage of.

These Royal elites were battle-experienced and were not to be compared with the rabble of Pirates they had encountered before.

He felt that perhaps only Mr. Jing's arrival could possibly stop those guys.

While watching, Yuta suddenly sniffed and frowned, "It seems like we've been discovered. There's a scent of blood approaching!"

They already knew that every soldier in the camp wore blood-stained bandages, and Yuta, being from the Snow Wolf tribe, could smell the blood from a long distance away.

Upon hearing this, Su Lun immediately guessed they had been spotted by a scout and without hesitation said, "Go!"

The two of them didn't hesitate, retreating and vanishing into the dense vines.

Before long, several scouts dressed as assassins appeared where Su Lun and his companion had been.

The hunting dogs they brought sniffed around and then barked furiously in one direction.

The leader seemed to understand the meaning of the dogs' barking and muttered, "Eh, they discovered us in advance... It seems their scouting skills are not weak."

They did not pursue deeper but reported the situation back to the camp.

....

Meanwhile, in the commanding tent of the military encampment.

The commander of the Sacred Judgment Legion, "Ferocious Beast" Alek Barrett, was sitting on the main seat, his face turned fearsomely cold at some message he received.

Two deputies in golden griffin armor next to him also looked displeased.

Opposite the three men, a middle-aged man in a khaki trench coat, clearly not military personnel, was saying something.

The atmosphere of negotiation was not good. After only a few words, an argument broke out.

Captain Barrett, hearing the order, angrily interrupted, "Damn it! Yeager, do you know what you're saying? You people from Military intelligence come with orders without considering the actual situation? Looking at the current situation, this ancient ruin might be involved with something very dangerous. I even suspect that rashly breaking into the ruins might trigger a disaster. The more it seems this way, shouldn't we be even more cautious? And yet you notify us that we have to break the curse space within three days?"

The man in the trench coat shrugged his shoulders, his tone helpless, "Sorry, Captain Barrett, I know this task is not easy. But as you know, I'm just following orders."

Barrett snorted coldly, "Is Military intelligence's think tank raised on shit, not knowing how stupid these orders are?!"

"Not..."

The man in the trench coat shook his head, sighed slightly, and corrected, "It's not an order from Military intelligence headquarters. This is a secret order directly from Her Majesty the Queen."

"Her Majesty the Queen?"

Hearing that it was the Queen's order, Barrett's eyes flashed with complexity, and he swallowed his words.

After pondering for a long time, he finally voiced the difficulties, "The legion's battle flag has not been refined to the expected level. To have some assurance in that cursed space, we need at least two more tens of thousands of slaves to sacrifice to the flag! For that damn progress you demanded before, my Sacred Judgment Legion has already lost a deputy commander and three hundred elite soldiers!"

After a pause, he almost gnashed his teeth, "Three days... Forget three days, even three more months might not be enough to complete the exploration! Also, Silent Forest is so remote, why the rush to excavate the ruins?"

The man in the trench coat spread his hands with a blank expression, "I'm not clear on the specific situation either. But this came from a top-secret report from the capital's intelligence office. As for why it's three days, perhaps it's divination, or maybe another reason... that's not something a minor member of the Spades group like me can inquire about."

With that, the trench coat man's tone suddenly turned very indifferent, "The exact words of the command from above were: At all costs, the seal in these ruins must be broken within three days."

"..."

Barrett's gaze narrowed.

Before long, the man in the trench coat left the tent.

The two deputies of the Sacred Judgment Legion, seeing their commander's grim face, knew the order was extremely difficult.

The atmosphere was heavy, and one could hear a pin drop in the tent.

Finally, one deputy asked, "Commander, what should we do?"

Barrett's eyes were overcast with shadow, but his tone was resolute, "Carry out the orders! At dawn tomorrow, the whole army will attack."

Upon hearing this, the deputy's face showed difficulty, "But... we don't know the situation in that cursed space, recklessly going in might... Commander, shall I take some men to scout it out first?"

Barrett shook his head, "No, it's pointless. To investigate thoroughly within three days, we can only take the risk."

He finished speaking and then muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, filled with helplessness and confusion, "Why is Her Majesty so eager about this ruin..."

...

Su Lun and Yuta avoided the patrolling scouts, not daring to rashly climb up the trunk again. The higher they went, the denser the aura of the undead became. In the thick canopy above, countless terrifying monsters were hidden.

Fortunately, most of the monsters near the base of the north side had already been cleared out by the people from the Sacred Judgment army, and they didn't encounter much danger.

The sky had now completely darkened, and the two of them found a tree hollow to rest in.

They had previously checked the condition of the Royal Army camp. The captives from the Dalu tribe had all been killed, so there was nothing left to rescue.

The camp was tightly guarded, offering no chance for infiltration.

He had originally planned to rest and accumulate energy, planning to check out that "cursed space" tomorrow.

Then, three days later, once Mr. Jing arrived, they'd have much more room to maneuver.

But unexpectedly, just as dawn was breaking and the morning sunlight began to filter through the gaps in the leaves, they heard the noise of a large troop on the move.

The sound of gunfire and battle moved away towards the upper part of the giant tree; it was extremely intense.

Su Lun and Yuta didn't dare delay and immediately left the tree hollow to check the situation.

Then, from a distance, they spotted that Sacred Judgment army heading toward the upper part of the trunk, fully mobilized.

...

Hidden in a dense thicket, Su Lun and Yuta observed the army several kilometers away through a telescope.

Those soldiers clad in armor, equipped with heavy machinery, and riding on griffins swept upwards.

The noise of the army's movement was unmistakable and naturally attracted the aberrant monsters hiding in the giant tree's canopy.

These monsters, having grown in a high concentration of undead aura for a long time, were very aggressive. The presence of humans was like cold water dropped into boiling oil, instantly causing an explosion.

Ghouls with blue flames emanating from their bodies, mutant snakes with three heads, centipedes covered in eyes, and spectral frost banshees...

Monsters of the third, fourth, and even the fifth order of strangeness appeared in endless succession.

Su Lun and the other were horrified by the sight.

They were also relieved that they hadn't recklessly gone up into the canopy the night before.

On the other hand, they also witnessed the strength of this Royal Army of LuYing!

The weak must always tread carefully.

The strong can bulldoze everything in their path.

No matter what the monster or how many there were, in the face of this elite army's charge, hardly any could withstand a single blow.

Groups of ten soldiers and bands of a hundred tore through squads of monsters like a sharp knife through soft mud, instantly blasting them apart.

The monsters could scarcely breach their armor.

Even when facing troublesome high-order oddities, the high-ranking professionals within the army stepped forward to slay them.

Just by observing, Su Lun even saw a fifth-order silver oddity ambush from the tree canopy. Before it could do any harm, it was blasted to death by the giant-transformed army captain with a single punch.

...

With such strength from the opposing side, Su Lun and the other naturally didn't dare poke their heads out.

But they were also puzzled: what exactly were these people up to?

The two of them followed the army as it continued upwards, climbing like scaling a mountain, until they reached the waist of the giant tree.

Here, the branches were dense with leaves, and little light could penetrate through, casting the place in a cavern-like gloom.

Su Lun looked at the route of the group and naturally guessed that they might be heading for the largest cursed space.

But he was also very aware of the situation.

He knew that among the Soul Shards harvested, the Sacred Judgment army had no certainty of breaking through that space, so why would they suddenly launch an all-out strike? Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

Then, Su Lun saw that cursed space as well.

It was a gigantic vortex, black hole-like, resembling a bird's nest.

[Druid's Gate to God Burial Ground]

Explanation: A super large compound cursed space, where the sealing Formation of a collapsing plane that buried superior beings' corpses was torn apart due to the great battle five hundred years ago, high-level undead's aura leaked, and the space was filled with chaotic timelines, collapsing spatial fissures, rampant rules, powerful undead beings, and mutated monsters; it's a cursed space formed by various chaotic energies without a main consciousness; only undead beings can move freely, and the living will forever lose themselves; if you're willing to eat that kind of rotten flesh, enveloped by the stench of corpses, it's highly likely that the monsters won't notice you; the spirits of Dalu ancestors will protect those of Dalu bloodline, or humans who follow oaths, but there are even more powerful evil beings within the space; breaking open the cursed space, you will see the seal's true form;

Looking at the information he had identified, Su Lun's expression became very solemn.

This was different from what he had thought.

Normally, cursed spaces would have a "main consciousness."

Like the [Central Prison] he encountered in Dawn City, where he met his teacher Sereya.

When top professionals fall, their strong consciousness remains, and some memories of their lives become the "plot" of the cursed space.

They are not necessarily monsters but possess their own consciousness and reason.

They can communicate, and hence, the space is highly controllable.

Su Lun originally thought that since many Dalu ancestors had fallen here, even if there was a cursed space, it would likely be one formed after the death of Dalu's ancestors.

He had thought that if he was lucky to meet a great Druid, he could even inquire about the issue of spiritual distortion.

Perhaps he could also find the opportunity to solve the current predicament of the Dalu tribe.

That was also the reason Yuta followed him here.

But unexpectedly, this cursed space had no main consciousness!

Moreover, looking at the descriptive words like chaotic rules and spatial fissures... the dangers inside the space would be immense.

.....

Watching those soldiers walk in with the [Nelgale's Death Battle Flag], Su Lun's expression grew even more peculiar.

"Both the Captain and the Vice-Captain have gone in. Could it be that they have mastered a way to break open this cursed space?"

He realized the situation was getting troublesome.

Although Su Lun thought that the "extremely dangerous" label wouldn't be so easily deciphered, seeing that group rush in without hesitation, his thoughts immediately started racing.

Previously, Mr. Jing, upon seeing the real thing, had just speculated that this was the "God Burial Ground".

Now, having identified words like 'pieces of the collapsing plane that buried superior beings' corpses', Su Lun was certain this was likely it.

Therefore, it became even more imperative not to let those army troops from Luying break through.

"It's strange... what could make the Captain of the sixth-order royal army take such a risk? Could someone from the higher echelons of the Luying royal family know about this relic?"

A thought flashed through Su Lun's mind.

But knowing that, would they still dare to tamper with it?

As Su Lun was still speculating some causal relationships in his mind, those people had already walked in.

At this moment, Yuta beside him also spoke up, "Mr. Su Lun, what should we do now?"

Hearing this, Su Lun pondered for a moment before speaking lightly, "I want to follow them in and have a look."