Chapter 285: Opening and Occupation

Boom—!

A terrifying shockwave instantly swept in all directions, shattering the already fissured Mist Island into countless continental fragments.

Fortunately, the most precious Illusion Fruit Trees on Mist Island had been protected in advance by Zifeng Zunzhe, so they suffered no damage whatsoever.

Lu Qingshan and his companions had joined forces to defend themselves, and with Venerable Yao Guang and other cosmic overlords leading the charge, they completely withstood the power unleashed by the Orange Heaven Venerable's self-destruction.

Indeed, the damage each of them sustained was minimal; the greatest loss incurred was less than one percent of their divine bodies.

In the boundless starry sky, the shattered fragments of Mist Island flew off in all directions.

With a mere thought from Zifeng Zunzhe, the many treasures left behind after the Orange Heaven Venerable's demise were swiftly drawn into his hand under the control of his supreme treasure of the domain type.

The treasures on the Orange Heaven Venerable were simple: only an orange supreme treasure armor and a pale green supreme treasure divine sword; as for the other items, they were negligible.

"Hahaha!"

Venerable Yao Guang nearby soon laughed and said, "I never expected a cosmic overlord like the Orange Heaven Venerable to perish right at our hands!"

"Fortunately, this was a joint operation by our four supreme races, deploying overwhelming force! Had it been a one-on-one confrontation, we could at most suppress the Orange Heaven Venerable, and he could have called for help from the Black Pepper Race or even other powerful figures of the Liu Lan Alliance!"

After all, any cosmic overlord is qualified to lead their race in claiming a territory within the Primitive Universe to thrive and multiply, just like Xiluo Du and others who lead the Jinjiao Race...

Every cosmic overlord possesses astonishing capabilities, so they do not easily perish when venturing through the universe.

First, a cosmic overlord can flee when the situation turns dire;

even if they cannot escape for various reasons, they can find ways to hold out for a while before calling for help from clansmen, friends, or allies!

Just as in this battle, if only one or two cosmic overlords had attacked the Orange Heaven Venerable, he would certainly have held out for a long time, by which point other powerful figures might have arrived to rescue him!

However, since opening this external battlefield was a joint operation among the four supreme races, it was nearly impossible for any other powerful figures to dare come to the Orange Heaven Venerable's rescue.

Moreover, Lu Qingshan and his companions killed the Orange Heaven Venerable so quickly that even if someone had dared to come to his aid, they would have been far too slow to arrive in time.

"Indeed!"

Beiyue Zunzhe, a disciple of You Hou Zhi Zhu, soon laughed and said, "I have cultivated until now without ever killing a single cosmic overlord; I never expected such an opportunity to arise today!"

Hearing Beiyue Zunzhe's words, the other cosmic venerables around him each sighed deeply in their hearts.

After all, the strength of the Orange Heaven Venerable surpassed that of the vast majority among them!

Among the many human race cosmic venerables present, only five cosmic overlords, including Venerable Yao Guang and Zifeng Zunzhe, possessed strength slightly greater than or comparable to the Orange Heaven Venerable.

As for the others, encountering the Orange Heaven Venerable alone, escaping from his grasp smoothly would not be an easy task.

Yet now, the immensely powerful Orange Heaven Venerable had perished under their combined assault.

This was the gap between supreme races and other powerful races or ordinary races.

For instance, the Black Pepper Race has only one You Hou Zhi Zhu; once that figure perishes, the Black Pepper Race's status would naturally plummet;

whereas for a supreme race like the human race, the You Hou Zhi Zhu have the universe's strongest beings as backing, so their probability of perishing in ordinary times is certainly lower than that of You Hou Zhi Zhu without such backgrounds; indeed, even if the human race truly lost one or two You Hou Zhi Zhu, it would not have a devastating, extinction-level impact on the entire human race!

"Everyone!"

Zifeng Zunzhe, who had just collected all the treasures left behind after the self-destruction of the Orange Heaven Venerable and the other Black Pepper Race cosmic venerables, soon said, "According to the rules of our human race, all gains from this joint operation must be turned over to the public, and then the race will bestow corresponding Heavy Treasure Points upon us according to our respective contributions!"

"Therefore, I will take custody of these treasures for now; later, they will be contributed to the race's treasure vault along with the Illusion Fruit Tree!"

"No problem!"

"It is only right!"

After hearing Zifeng Zunzhe's words, the many cosmic venerables around him spoke up one after another.

Lu Qingshan also silently nodded in his heart.

The human race had previously joined the other three supreme races to open numerous external battlefields, so the procedures in this regard were naturally very perfect.

As for the spoils of war obtained during joint operations, turning them over to the public uniformly was also a very normal matter.

After all, this entire operation involved the whole human race; a single team alone contained five cosmic overlords and fifty cosmic venerables.

Furthermore, since everyone's strength and contributions differed, if these cosmic venerables were to distribute the spoils themselves, it might well lead to some conflicts;

so it was better to turn over all gains from this operation to the public uniformly, and then have the Virtual Universe System distribute the spoils according to each person's contribution.

"Very well!"

Venerable Yao Guang, clad in silver battle armor, soon said, "The Orange Heaven Venerable has perished, and the Illusion Fruit Tree is in our possession; our team's main mission this time is considered accomplished!"

"Next, we shall split into five teams, first setting up war bases at the coordinates provided by the race, and then begin sweeping the starry sky surrounding the war bases!"

Since the four supreme races intended to open this Black Pepper Secret Realm as the eleventh external battlefield, they naturally needed to establish military camp bases within this external battlefield.

According to the rules of the human race, every external battlefield would have one hundred AAA-level war bases established, serving as the main headquarters for the human race in that external battlefield.

Each AAA-level war base possessed overall defensive capabilities comparable to an ordinary flying palace-type heavy treasure; moreover, besides its astonishing defense, the war base also boasted numerous offensive methods, and in terms of value alone, it surpassed most ordinary flying palace-type heavy treasures.

Even if a cosmic overlord exerted their full strength, they would be utterly unable to destroy an AAA-level war base within a short period.

And during that time, it would be sufficient for the powerful figures stationed by the human race in the external battlefield, or even the human race's You Hou Zhi Zhu, to arrive.

In the tasks assigned previously by the human race, the team Lu Qingshan belonged to, besides annihilating the Orange Heaven Venerable and the many Black Pepper Race cosmic venerables around him, also needed to deploy five military camp bases in designated areas, while simultaneously sweeping the surroundings of the military camp bases to clear out regions sufficient for starships to perform cosmic teleportation.

After all, within a Cosmic Secret Realm, unlike normal starry skies, there were far too many various dust particles and debris, so it was necessary to specially clear out patches of area, leaving them completely unobstructed, thereby allowing starships to accelerate and perform cosmic teleportation.

Thus...

After killing the Orange Heaven Venerable, the team Lu Qingshan belonged to quickly split into five smaller teams, each containing one cosmic overlord and ten cosmic venerables.

Lu Qingshan naturally joined the team led by his senior brother Venerable Yao Guang, and Liufeng Zunzhe, who had a good relationship with him, also joined this same team.

Under the leadership of Venerable Yao Guang, Lu Qingshan and his companions quickly teleported to a designated area for setting up a war base assigned by the human race.

"Out!"

With a mere thought from Venerable Yao Guang, an immensely vast military camp base instantly appeared before Lu Qingshan and his companions.

This was a war base more vast than an ordinary star, with a diameter reaching several million kilometers, looking utterly fearsome!

The moment it appeared before Lu Qingshan and his companions, the surface of this vast war base was instantly covered by a layer of colorful energy shield.

And upon this fearsome military camp base were countless mysterious and powerful solidified law secret patterns, mechanical cannon mouths each hundreds of kilometers in diameter, densely packed channel points, countless energy points, and so on...

This was truly a perfect work that elevated the violent war machine to the level of art.

Even the combined entire fortunes of many ordinary Universe Venerables would likely not equal the value of such a war base.

The numerous Universe Venerables of the Human Race present had all naturally roamed the Outer Battlefield before, yet even so, many were still extremely shocked upon seeing this barracks base.

After all, the barracks bases they had seen on the Outer Battlefield were originally there, whereas this barracks base before their eyes had just been set up here by them.

"An AAA-grade Divine Base!"

Venerable Yao Guang looked at the barracks base ahead, then couldn't help but sigh, "Even for me, destroying this barracks base would be very troublesome!"

"With this barracks base serving as our Human Race's main camp on the Outer Battlefield, I believe those little ones coming to roam this Outer Battlefield will be able to be even safer!" "Indeed!"

Venerable Liu Feng, standing beside Lu Qingshan, quickly said with a smile, "This is our Human Race's main camp on this Outer Battlefield, so naturally it must be meticulously crafted!"

"Very well!"

After placing the barracks base at the designated coordinates, Venerable Yao Guang quickly looked at Lu Qingshan and the others, instructing, "Everyone, you may now set out to sweep those coordinate points. I have already sent the specific coordinates to you via the Virtual Universe!"

"Although our Human Race has already designated all Universe Venerables within our assigned area as high-priority targets, there will inevitably be some fish that slip through the net, so everyone must be extra careful while sweeping the cosmic starry sky. If you encounter danger, request help immediately; I will arrive to support you at the first moment!"

"Lu Qingshan, junior brother, and Venerable Liu Feng, you two stay behind and act as support forces with me!"

"No problem!"

"Rest assured, Venerable Yao Guang!"

The Universe Venerables one by one around nodded in agreement, then immediately left via teleportation.

And those remaining in the original place, aside from the just-set-up barracks base, were only Venerable Yao Guang, Lu Qingshan, and Venerable Liu Feng, the three of them.

"Lu Qingshan, Liu Feng!"

Venerable Yao Guang looked at Lu Qingshan and the other, then said with a smile, "Let us enter together!"

Hearing these words, Lu Qingshan and Venerable Liu Feng quickly followed Venerable Yao Guang into a vast hall within the barracks base.

Inside this luxurious hall, Venerable Yao Guang quickly waved his hand, releasing eight streams of light.

The eight streams of light fell upon different positions within the hall. Lu Qingshan looked closely and discovered they were actually eight black pedestals carved with extremely complex secret patterns.

After these eight pedestals were placed, misty light quickly lit up above them, precisely the scene of activating a Divine Kingdom teleportation channel.

However, unlike the temporary Divine Kingdom teleportation channels opened by ordinary powerful beings under normal circumstances, these eight pedestals were entirely used to solidify Divine Kingdom teleportation channels.

"These are the teleportation channels between our Human Race's eight major logistics bases and this barracks base!"

Venerable Yao Guang quickly introduced with a smile, "Inside these eight pedestals respectively reside divine power tokens of eight Immortal Divine Beings. They only need to use these as targets to activate Divine Kingdom teleportation, and the Divine Kingdom teleportation channels will quickly be solidified!"

"From now on, the powerful ones within our Human Race's territory will be able to come directly from the logistics bases to this barracks base via these fixed teleportation channels!"

"So that is how it is!"

Lu Qingshan suddenly understood, then thought silently in his heart, "It seems the decision by the Race's high command to wait half a year before starting this operation to open the Outer Battlefield was not only to allow us Universe Venerables to prepare more thoroughly; these barracks bases, Divine Kingdom teleportation channels, and the like also required preparation!"

Perhaps special resources like barracks bases had already been crafted long ago, but the allocation of numerous resources also required a certain amount of time.

Fortunately, the Human Race possessed such a heaven-defying means as the Virtual Universe; resource allocation would certainly be more convenient and rapid.

Before long, the fixed Divine Kingdom teleportation channels were completed.

Afterwards...

Eight figures clad in white long robes walked out from eight spatial channels respectively.

"Greetings, Venerable!"

Upon seeing Lu Qingshan and the other two, the eight figures quickly bowed respectfully.

"Mm!"

Venerable Yao Guang nodded slightly, then asked, "Were there any anomalies when you passed through the spatial channels?"

"Replying to the Venerable, there were no anomalies!" the eight white-robed figures immediately spoke.

"Good!"

Venerable Yao Guang then waved his hand and said, "Since there are no anomalies, you may return to the logistics bases! Later, simply open the teleportation channels to come here according to the Race's orders!"

"Yes!"

The eight white-robed figures immediately bowed respectfully to Lu Qingshan and the other two once more, then turned back and walked into their respective spatial channels from which they had come.

"Senior brother!"

After those eight white-robed figures departed, Lu Qingshan quickly said with a smile, "Is this eleventh Outer Battlefield to be activated so soon?"

"Of course!"

Venerable Yao Guang quickly said with a smile, "Lu Qingshan, you must know that when opening an Outer Battlefield, there is not much for us Universe Venerables to do!"

"The most important tasks are to exterminate the Universe Venerable-level existences within this Secret Realm and to sweep out numerous cosmic teleportation points!"

"Beyond that, things such as those native inhabitants, or some treasures that are very difficult to discover, and so on, we have absolutely no need to interfere. Once the powerful ones from the hundred million races of the universe enter this Outer Battlefield to roam, they will naturally resolve these problems gradually!"

"So that is how it is!"

Hearing Venerable Yao Guang's explanation, Lu Qingshan immediately understood in his heart.

Just like the native inhabitants of the Flame Sacrifice Continent that appeared in the original work, the Universe Venerable-level existences of the Four Great Peak Races had never paid them any mind.

The pursuit targets of the Universe Venerables were merely the Universe Venerable-level existences among these alien races; as for those Hei Fengwang Immortals, they were merely attacked on the fly.

In the original work, after the Founder of the Great Axe fell, the Human Race quickly began preparing escape routes, such as sending numerous Universe Venerables and Immortal Divine Beings to the Initial Universe, and so on...

I believe the Black Pepper Race also made some preparations after the Lord of Black Pepper fell; however, even with all their preparations, even if a Universe Master were to appear in the future, it would pose no great threat to the Four Great Peak Races.

The fate of the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives was rather like that of the ordinary races within this Black Pepper Secret Realm.

Many ordinary races within this Black Pepper Secret Realm led by Universe Venerables probably still do not know the news that the Lord of Black Pepper has fallen, yet the powerful ones of the Four Great Peak Races have already arrived.

"Lu Qingshan!"

Venerable Yao Guang quickly looked at Lu Qingshan again, then spoke, "This time I accepted the mission from the Race to guard this eleventh Outer Battlefield. Next, I still need to find five Universe Venerables to cooperate with me. Since you possess a clone, you might as well let one clone guard this place with me. Every ten million eras, the Race will grant one layer of Treasure Points; that is considered quite good!"

"And Venerable Liu Feng, if you are willing, you can also guard this place with me!"

Hearing Venerable Yao Guang's words, before Lu Qingshan could answer, Venerable Liu Feng beside him had already excitedly replied, "I am willing. Thank you for the invitation, Venerable Yao Guang!"

To know that the mission to guard an Outer Battlefield is absolutely a fine assignment for the numerous Universe Venerables of the Human Race; not only is the work minimal, but the contributions gained are also quite considerable.

One layer of Treasure Points is obtained every ten million epochs; it may not seem like much at first, but as time passes and they accumulate, the total becomes quite considerable!

However, to accept such a mission of guarding a border battlefield, one must at least possess the strength of a High-Realm Universe Venerable.

The standard deployment for the Human Race to guard a border battlefield is generally two Universe Dominators, each accompanied by five High-Realm Universe Venerables.

Venerable Yao Guang's invitation to Lu Qingshan was naturally due to the close relationship between him and Lu Qingshan;

as for inviting Venerable Liu Feng, it was because Venerable Liu Feng had just exchanged for a supreme treasure weapon, making his strength relatively powerful among the High-Realm Universe Venerables.

Lu Qingshan pondered carefully and realized that he would indeed not be very busy in the near future, and guarding a border battlefield would not hinder his cultivation, so he quickly agreed.

(End of this chapter)