Chapter 567: Chapter 563: Gathering Cannon Fodder, A Single Blow to Kill

Luo Zhancheng took the Star God Shield into his hand, flipped it over to look, and quickly lost interest, tossing it casually into his storage magical treasure.

This divine artifact was of the defensive type and differed from the immortal artifacts of the Cultivation World.

The Cultivation World’s immortal artifacts had multiple functions, even those primarily for defense possessed other features. However, divines in this world tended to favor a single function in crafting divine artifacts. Even though a single area might exhibit exceptional performance, for a cultivator who did not favor such methods, these artifacts were relatively undervalued.

As the Inner Sect Grand Elder of the White Tiger Lineage, Luo Zhancheng’s cultivation of the “White Tiger Divine Technique” centered on killing and battle, which was completely at odds with such purely defensive divine artifacts. Moreover, he was accustomed to manipulating immortal treasures and was somewhat uncomfortable using these divine artifacts, so naturally, he didn’t value the Star God Shield as much.

Nonetheless, it was after all a divine artifact. Sending it back to the Sect for someone to modify in the future would make it a rare and valuable treasure.

With the departure of the Star God Shield, the strength of the seal weakened considerably, like rootless duckweed losing its foundation, its power could no longer be replenished.

Mouthing spells, Tena didn’t take long before the light flickering on and off on the seal suddenly went out completely, and the passage that connected the underground world to the surface was opened once more.

If the evil creatures of the underground world knew about this, they might get excited. However, due to the long-standing seal, no underground creatures were gathering there. Since they couldn’t break the seal and with enough time passing, they naturally gave up hope.

Hoo…

Behind them, a priest murmured spells, and soon, large orbs of light rose in the passageway, lighting up the pitch-black passage bright as day.

For a powerful being like Luo Zhancheng, darkness was of little concern, but the beastmen trailing behind him still instinctively preferred some light, and so did the priests. They certainly couldn’t maintain a spell to peer into the darkness all the time!

“Let’s go.”

As Luo Zhancheng’s words were spoken, a dozen or so powerful beings following him immediately stepped forward to scout, acting as the vanguard. They would clear out any monsters or other evil life forms they encountered along the way.

Qin Feng and Li Miaozhen were mixed in with a large group of variously colored beastmen, yet they felt not the slightest discomfort.

Because the beastmen surrounding them were mostly cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect disguised as beastmen, many were Inner Sect Elders who took great care of them, and from time to time, communicated telepathically to inquire about the recent developments in the Sect and curiously asked how they had acquired merit during their trials to become the Chosen Sons.

These cultivators had left the Sect for decades, experiencing wars in two worlds. Whether in the Red Flame Demon Realm or this continent, they had been involved in numerous battles. Although the Space Gate made the transfer of information much more convenient, they were not in the Sect and thus did not have a full picture of events.

Just like Qin Feng and Li Miaozhen becoming Masters of Qi Luck, they only knew that these two had participated in a trial during the Five Domains Alliance and received an opportunity that earned them the favor of the Heavenly Dao. Beyond that, they knew nothing.

As they talked and laughed along the way, they gradually passed through the passage and entered the underground world.

At first glance, the scenery of the underground world looked somewhat similar to that of the Red Flame Demon Realm, with volcanoes erupting and lava flowing in the distance, plus occasional tremors from being close to the Earth Core, resulting in minor earthquakes.

However, the cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect had come from the Red Flame Demon Realm and quickly distinguished the differences from the Red Flame Demon Realm.

Not to mention that two or three hundred zhang above their heads was the uneven crust, making the space far less vast than the Red Flame Demon Realm appeared to be. Furthermore, all light in the underground world came exclusively from the lava and luminous plants, without the blood-colored sun and moon of the Red Flame Demon Realm, and without the omnipresent Demonic Qi!

“Roar…”

Near the passageway, a demon beast feasting on the flesh of its prey suddenly saw figures emerge from the passageway and instinctively roared to declare its sovereignty and warn these intruders to leave its territory.

But before it could finish its roar, it sensed the formidable auras emanating from the beastmen experts and forcefully swallowed the remainder of its roar. Seeing more and more beastmen exit the passageway, it dared not act tough. Even abandoning its meal on the ground, it turned tail and fled.

“Hmph!”

The brawny Minotaur glanced contemptuously at the fleeing demon beast and no longer paid it any mind.

It was merely an ordinary high-level demon beast, hardly worth his attention.

Even after they left, the other end of the passageway was guarded by many beastman experts, so there was no worry of beasts from the underground world breaking through.

Scattered underground experts and demon beasts wouldn’t pose much of a threat to the Beastman Kingdom. It was the Spider Evil God and the four Great Lords that really made surface races wary.

But leaving aside the fact that a large-scale mobilization by them would not be an easy task, they wouldn’t even think to make a move, because the reason Luo Zhancheng and his companions had come to the underground world was to conquer it. They wouldn’t wait for those Lords to act; they would take the initiative to strike at them, looking to obtain another resource-rich territory for the Sect.

Luo Zhancheng strode forward, looking around after emerging from the passageway. Once the entire team composed of powerful beings was out of the passageway, he waved his hand decisively, “Let’s go. The Dark Wolf General will lead the way. First, head to the nearest underground Lord. If they can be subdued, we’ll subdue them; if not, we will kill them directly.

However, it would be best to retain some of their forces. We have come here with only the strong, and the underground world is ultimately not a place for ordinary warriors to travel. Therefore, we didn’t bring a large army. We’ll have the forces under those Lords pave the way for us and probe the Spider Evil God’s strength.”

“Your Majesty is correct!”

Several beastman experts beside him nodded one after another.

This place, albeit not as treacherous as the legendary Demon Purgatory, was still not suitable for ordinary beings to traverse. To bring an army of beastmen from the surface, not to mention the journey’s casualties, just the supply logistics alone would cause significant trouble for the Beastman Kingdom.

The main problem was that the Beastman Kingdom now controlled an excessively vast territory. They needed to maintain order throughout their lands to prevent uprisings, while also defending rigorously to thwart any counter-attacks from the formidable races of the Southern Continent. The places that required troops to be stationed were simply too many.

Even though Luo Zhancheng’s call to arms and the abundant food captured from various Human Clan nations had led to a two to threefold increase in children born within the Beastman Kingdom, with a large number of young beastmen enlisting in the army each year, greatly replenishing the years of war consumption–even exceeding the strength of the past–

these young beastmen also needed time to grow. Furthermore, with such expansive territories, their forces had become far too scattered, making it virtually impossible to dedicate a significant number of soldiers to enter the Underground World. Besides, deploying too few would be ineffectual.

Thus, these powerful figures simply decided to forego bringing their own subordinates. They directly conscripted the forces of the lords they had defeated underground, using them as cannon fodder–after all, they were not of their own race, and their deaths would not be lamented.

A slender figure mounted on a dark wolf led the way.

This wolfman, known as the Dark Wolf General, was actually a cultivator of the Beast Taming Sect. Skilled in reconnaissance, he roamed constantly.

In his earlier years, he gathered intelligence on the disparate forces within the Beastman Kingdom for Luo Zhancheng. Later, he traveled through the central and southern parts of the continent. Once Luo Zhancheng and the others decided to conquer the Underground World, this man infiltrated it and had already roughly assessed the various powers.

Under the guidance of Dark Wolf, a group of ferocious beastman experts advanced towards the front, striding forward aggressively without swerving to avoid any potential threats, utterly indifferent to whose formidable territories they passed through.

In fact, many fearsome demon beasts, upon sensing their approach, had already steered clear, not daring to confront them.

The Underground World, aside from the Spider Evil God and the four Great Lords, was home to some formidable figures who gathered small factions to rule over their own domains due to their refusal to submit to authority, as well as powerful demon beasts that had established their own tribes, each dominating a territory.

But if these fellows were caught unawares and surrounded by the beastman experts, they faced a fate of either annihilation or surrender; they certainly had no third option.

Thus, in just a short period of five or six days, there emerged a disorderly troop several thousand strong following them.

This assembly was extremely chaotic, not only composed of various odd races, but also included many unique creatures of the Underground World as well as beings from other worlds that had stumbled in through spatial rifts.

While these individuals were powerful, some even comparable to Sword Saints, they originated from different factions and were unyielding to each other. Coupled with the beastman experts’ lack of interest in managing them, the entire troop was in total disarray, frequently engaging in quarrels and fights over trivial matters.

Fortunately, they dared not cause too much trouble, nor did they dare to flee along the way.

For those who attempted such actions were all executed on the spot by the beastman experts, who used heavy-handed methods to intimidate the captives.

Qin Feng returned to the Underground World, feeling somewhat nostalgic for the old grounds.

Back then, in search of suitable spatial nodes, he had rushed through without much delay. Now, with time to spare and re-examining the Underground World, he found that aside from the oppressive spatial atmosphere, there were indeed some quite unique aspects.

In particular, the plants exclusive to the Underground World that could emanate light captured his interest. On a whim, he picked many luminous trees, flowers, mushrooms, and mosses, planning to bring these light-emitting plants back to gift his second elder brother.

Although he was unaware whether these plants had any other value besides illuminating, he was sure that Hao Shicheng would be very interested in these Otherworldly unique plants.

…

With a loud bang, a robust Minotaur was hurled away by a powerful swipe and crashed heavily onto a hillock, shattering it and sending dust flying.

“Roar…”

Opposite him, a frightful-looking demon beast suddenly stood on its hind legs, and with a fierce smack of its huge paws to the ground, an array of Earth Spikes spread rapidly from its feet in all directions, promptly jolting the Minotaur that had just been flung to the mound.

Fortunately, the Minotaur, with its formidable strength, was also fortified by a Defensive Magic bestowed by a Beastman Priest, so it wasn’t impaled.

“Hahaha… Barbarian Bull, are you up to the task? If not, step aside and let us take over!”

From behind, a gang of beastmen watched the spectacle, chuckling heartily. They were not bothered by the sight of the Minotaur being flung away by the monster but instead teased him. This provoked the Minotaur warrior so much that steam seemed to pour from his nostrils!

“Mu… all of you shut up!”

He got back on his feet with a swift motion, the Fighting Energy on his hooves flaring brightly, crushing the sharp Earth Spikes underfoot with sheer strength. His hands then raised the Totem Pole high and slammed it down forcefully onto the ground.

With a resounding boom, the ground trembled thrice, the Minotaur expert using his overwhelming power to scatter the emerging Earth Spikes. Just as he was about to press forward in a powerful surge to defeat the demon beast, a flash of saber light caught his eye.

Then, he noticed that the once-dominant beast that had smacked him away was now bisected, blood splattering everywhere, covering the ground.

The Minotaur was momentarily stunned, as were the beastman experts behind him, their raucous laughter abruptly cut off. They gaped, dumbfounded, at the tall figure standing before the demon beast’s corpse.

“Hmph, wasting so much time on a mere early ninth-level demon beast?”

Li Miaozhen looked disdainfully at the Minotaur, flicking the blood off her White Tiger Saber before sheathing it. With a swift step, she walked over the corpse of the beast and continued forward.