Chapter 287: Guardian of the Outer War Zones

Far from the human territories, in a remote corner of the universe, lies the domain of the ordinary race known as the Jinjiao Race!

Although a powerful neighboring race borders the Jinjiao domain, the Jinjiao Race is one of the Eight Peak Races of the Primordial Universe and a member of the Hong Alliance, led by humanity; furthermore, their leader, Xiluoduo, possesses the power of a Cosmic Overlord, so the Jinjiao Race has not suffered excessive oppression from that powerful neighbor.

At the heart of the Jinjiao domain stands a massive landmass over ten trillion kilometers in diameter—this is the sacred ground of the entire Jinjiao Race.

At this moment, within a grand palace at the core of this vast landmass, nineteen figures were gathered in discussion.

These nineteen figures were all the Jinjiao Race's Cosmic Venerables, each a pillar of their race; at their head was naturally Xiluoduo, the Jinjiao Race's sole Cosmic Overlord.

"Elders!"

Xiluoduo looked around, then spoke: "I assume you've all heard—the leader of the Heijiao Race, Heijiao Zhuzhu, has perished; the Four Peak Races have now transformed the Heijiao Secret Realm into the Eleventh Outer War Zone!"

As he spoke, Xiluoduo felt deep emotion within.

He recalled that when he first sought to align the Jinjiao Race with a faction, he had two choices.

One was to join a superpower like the Hong Alliance; the other was to join a top-tier alliance like the Nine Realms Alliance.

The Hong Alliance, as one of the Eight Superpowers of the Primordial Universe, contained countless powerful beings—including many Cosmic Lords and even more Cosmic Overlords; Xiluoduo and the Jinjiao Race were utterly insignificant within it.

If they joined such a superpower, he and the Jinjiao Race would struggle to gain high status, and might even be used as expendable pawns at any moment.

But a top-tier power like the Nine Realms Alliance was different!

First, such top-tier powers were founded by several or a dozen powerful races, making it difficult for any single race to dominate; though the Jinjiao Race was merely an ordinary race, joining would still grant them a certain standing.

Second, the two powerful races bordering the Jinjiao domain were both members of the Nine Realms Alliance; if Xiluoduo led the Jinjiao Race to join it, territorial disputes with neighboring powers would greatly ease.

Yet after careful deliberation, Xiluoduo ultimately chose to lead the Jinjiao Race into the stronger Hong Alliance!

After all, only peak powers possessed the universe's strongest beings—only the Cosmic Lords could resurrect a Cosmic Overlord like himself.

This was not selfishness or self-centeredness; the Jinjiao Race depended entirely on him alone.

If he truly perished, the Jinjiao Race's standing in the universe would plummet—perhaps even worse than the fate now befalling the Heijiao Race.

And now, it seemed his earlier choice had been wise!

Just as the once-mighty Heijiao Race had been annihilated by the Four Peak Races!

Had the Heijiao Race joined another superpower, even if Heijiao Zhuzhu had perished by accident, the Heijiao Race would have received some protection—perhaps even a chance to evacuate from the Heijiao Secret Realm.

But the Heijiao Race had joined the top-tier alliance, Lord Liu Lan Alliance; though Lord Liu Lan Alliance was respectable, the Four Peak Races cared nothing for it, and once they opened an Outer War Zone, even Lord Liu Lan Alliance's strongest could not stop them!

"Who would have thought the mighty Heijiao Race would be wiped out so easily!"

One Jinjiao Cosmic Venerable could not help but sigh: "Not long ago, I encountered a Heijiao Cosmic Venerable in the Cosmic Secret Realm—he was extremely arrogant, yet now he's been directly slain by the Cosmic Venerables of the Four Peak Races!"

"Indeed!"

Another Cosmic Venerable echoed: "The Heijiao Race was far stronger than the Qingguang Race near our domain; they alone had over a hundred Cosmic Venerables—and now they're gone!"

"What's the Qingguang Race? I heard that when humanity opened the Heijiao Secret Realm, even a single squad was led by five Cosmic Overlords, accompanied by fifty Cosmic Venerables!"

"I've heard the same from my human friends! They're simply too powerful—even a single squad could easily wipe out our Jinjiao Race!"

"Thank heaven our Jinjiao Race joined the Hong Alliance long ago!"

Suddenly, the Jinjiao Cosmic Venerables all began sighing in unison.

The Qingguang Race was also a powerful race, but their leader, Qingguang Zhuzhu, had only recently ascended; the Qingguang Race currently had only thirty-odd Cosmic Venerables.

"Enough!"

Xiluoduo waved his hand, silencing them, then continued: "I called you all here today because of this newly opened Eleventh Outer War Zone!"

"This Eleventh Outer War Zone has just been opened and surely holds countless opportunities—we absolutely cannot miss it!"

"That's true!"

Another Jinjiao Cosmic Venerable quickly spoke: "When the Four Peak Races open Outer War Zones, they mainly focus on exterminating the original inhabitants who are Cosmic Venerables; they pay little attention to the Immortal Gods."

"Precisely because of this, those Immortal Gods have become the hope and seed of their races, holding vast resources granted by the original Cosmic Venerables."

"The Cosmic Venerables of the Four Peak Races may not care, but for our own Fengwang Immortal Gods—even for us Cosmic Venerables—it's a rare opportunity!"

"Exactly!"

No sooner had the Venerable finished than Xiluoduo spoke again: "The Outer War Zones are the places in the Primordial Universe that have produced the most Cosmic Venerables! Over countless eons, countless Cosmic Venerables have emerged from these zones—Kelimansis himself broke through there!"

"Now that this Eleventh Outer War Zone has just opened, warriors from countless races across the universe will flock there to train—and this is precisely the opportunity for our Jinjiao Immortal Gods!"

"If any of our Fengwang Immortal Gods can break through to the Venerable Realm through this chance, our future burdens will be lighter!"

"Therefore, I propose: all our Fengwang Immortal Gods currently operating in Outer War Zones must now proceed to this newly opened Eleventh Outer War Zone for training; furthermore, any Jinjiao Immortal God in the clan who wishes to hone themselves may go to the Eleventh Outer War Zone!"

"Leader, isn't this too impulsive?"

Upon hearing Xiluoduo's words, Kelimansis quickly spoke: "The Heijiao Secret Realm has only just been opened; many original inhabitants likely haven't been cleared yet. If we rashly send large numbers of Immortal Gods inside, we may suffer heavy losses!"

"No concern!"

Xiluoduo waved dismissively: "For the Jinjiao Race to rise in this vast universe, we must first cultivate good relations with humanity; second, we need true strength—more Cosmic Venerables, even the birth of a Cosmic Lord!"

"If any of our Immortal Gods break through to the Venerable Realm, even heavy losses would be worth it!"

"Moreover, after crafting the Sacred Stele, I still have some resources left—if any talented clan members perish in the Outer War Zone, we can ask humanity's Cosmic Lords to resurrect them!"

Hearing this, the surrounding Jinjiao Elders had no further objections and all voiced their approval of Xiluoduo's plan.

"I agree!"

"I agree too!"

"I still have some contribution points in the Hong Alliance—I can use them to resurrect clan members!"

…

Watching the Elders accept his plan, Xiluoduo felt deeply satisfied.

As a Cosmic Overlord, without the burden of a race, he could have lived far more freely and carefree.

Yet he had led the Jinjiao Race upward, never once regretting it.

For this was his homeland, his root—here lived his people!

Together, united as these Elders are, they will surely lead the Jinjiao Race to grow ever stronger in this vast universe.

Moments later... Xiluoduo waved his hand, signaling the elders to fall silent, then continued: "This time, in addition to sending numerous Immortal Gods to the Outer Battlefield, we must also respond to the human race's call and dispatch some cosmic armies into the Outer Battlefield!"

"I propose that our Jinjiao Clan send ten thousand ordinary Immortals, five hundred thousand World Lords, five million Domain Lords, and five hundred million Cosmic-Level beings into the Outer Battlefield!"

"As for personnel allocation, organize by tribes: tribes that send more troops will be prioritized for clan resource distribution in the coming period!"

"Yes, Chief!"

"Rest assured, Chief!"

"We'll handle all these matters well!"

The Jinjiao Clan elders all nodded in agreement.

For these Jinjiao Clan elders, what they valued most were still the clan's Immortal Gods.

After all, Immortal Gods all possess eternal lifespans, and only they can be considered the foundation of a clan.

As for ordinary clan members with short lifespans, if they cannot become strong, they are of no use whatsoever to the survival of the entire Jinjiao Clan.

This may sound cruel, but the Jinjiao Clan is not as powerful as the human race, and naturally cannot provide ordinary members with a safe and stable life like the human race does.

In fact, even without going to the Outer Battlefield, ordinary Jinjiao clan members must leave their tribes and venture out once they reach Cosmic-Level.

These Cosmic-Level Jinjiao clan members must either wander outside for a thousand years, or reach Domain Lord level, before they may return to their tribes.

…

Outer Battlefield Eleven (formerly Hei Jiao Secret Realm), Camp 003.

Inside the core control room of this camp, Lu Qingshan watched as armies from the major cosmic nations of the human race, cosmic armies from other clans within Hong Alliance City, and even elite squads departed from the camp, heading toward various combat zones within Camp 003's operational range.

In fact, the four peak clans had opened the Hei Jiao Secret Realm at an astonishing speed.

Within barely a single day, the four peak clans had exterminated every single Cosmic Venerable-level native within the Hei Jiao Secret Realm.

The Hei Jiao Clan did have a few Cosmic Venerable-level survivors, the strongest among them being the Dark Wind Zifeng Zunzhe, who possessed Cosmic Overlord strength; there were also several other Cosmic Venerables.

But Dark Wind Zifeng Zunzhe's original territory was under the purview of the Insect Clan's cleansing operations, and had little to do with the human race.

Of course, turning the Hei Jiao Secret Realm into a new Outer Battlefield was a joint decision of the four peak clans, so the surviving Hei Jiao members naturally also hated the human race.

Yet none of the four peak clans cared.

After all, the four peak clans, in their rise to dominance, had secured the most central regions of the cosmos through endless slaughter and bloodshed.

Aside from themselves, even other peak clans like the Yu Clan and the Crystal Clan they looked down upon, let alone other powerful or weak clans.

To the four peak clans, even being targeted by a few Cosmic Masters was merely a minor irritation—how much less so a mere Cosmic Overlord like Dark Wind Zifeng Zunzhe?

Moreover, Dark Wind Zifeng Zunzhe likely possessed vast wealth from the Hei Jiao Clan; if the Hei Jiao Clan fails to produce a new Cosmic Master, it's questionable whether he dares to show himself in the cosmos at all!

After exterminating the Cosmic Venerable-level natives of the Hei Jiao Secret Realm, the four peak clans quickly established numerous camp bases across the Outer Battlefield.

The camp bases established by the four peak clans naturally differed in appearance and certain functions!

Among them, the Meng Yao Zu's camp bases were the largest, the Machine Clan's the most precise, and so on…

Although these camp bases differed, their defensive power was nearly identical—all could withstand attacks from Cosmic Overlord-level forces within a short time.

After establishing the camp bases, the four peak clans' Cosmic Venerables spent over a month clearing out transit points within the Hei Jiao Secret Realm where cosmic ships could enter the Dark Cosmos.

Of course, some Cosmic Venerables also casually exterminated native Sealed-King Immortals carrying large amounts of resources during this period, but the gains were not substantial.

Immediately afterward, the four peak clans began dispatching numerous cosmic armies into the Eleventh Outer Battlefield, while many elite squads also arrived.

After all, any Outer Battlefield is filled with endless danger and slaughter, but since the Hei Jiao Secret Realm had just been opened, the opportunities it contained might be even greater—naturally drawing countless powerful Sealed-King Immortals to rush in.

By this point, the Eleventh Outer Battlefield, aside from having more surviving natives, was no different from other Outer Battlefields.

Venerable Yao Guang, responsible for guarding this Eleventh Outer Battlefield, soon submitted a request to the human race to keep Lu Qingshan and Liu Feng Zifeng Zunzhe behind to guard this battlefield.

However, Cosmic Venerables assigned to guard Outer Battlefields usually had little to do; their most important task was to promptly stop—or even eliminate—any Cosmic Venerable-level powerhouses who entered the battlefield.

In addition, once a Sealed-King Immortal from the same alliance broke through to Cosmic Venerable level, they must be swiftly guided away!

"Opening an Outer Battlefield is indeed a major event for ordinary Cosmic Venerables!"

Lu Qingshan thought to himself: "But to the entire human race, it's hardly anything significant."

After the previous Outer Battlefield opening operation ended, Lu Qingshan alone received thirty Heavy Treasures Points from the clan's allocation.

Don't think thirty Heavy Treasures Points are few!

Many high-level Cosmic Venerables require an extremely long time to accumulate even thirty Heavy Treasures Points.

If possible, every Cosmic Venerable in the human race would want to open Outer Battlefields frequently—or even expand the clan's territory.

But such things are impractical!

Although the four peak clans are immensely powerful, if they truly joined forces to continuously expand their territory, they would inevitably force the myriad other cosmic clans to unite.

Although individually, no clan could stand against any of the four peak clans.

But if those scattered clans truly united completely, even the four peak clans would have to retreat.

Moreover, the four peak clans themselves harbor deep enmities; temporarily uniting to open an Outer Battlefield like this is one thing, but uniting to expand territory would surely lead to disputes over land distribution—and possibly even a massive war.

Next, Lu Qingshan's main body would remain with his senior brother, Venerable Yao Guang, guarding this Eleventh Outer Battlefield.

Although his main body, due to its low life-gene level and lack of Heavy Treasures for protection, could never unleash the power of a high-level Cosmic Venerable,

combat rarely occurred during Outer Battlefield guard duty.

Moreover, with Venerable Yao Guang and Liu Feng Zifeng Zunzhe present, Lu Qingshan had no reason to fear encountering any trouble.

Meanwhile, Lu Qingshan's main combat avatar remained on the Zushen Sect's Zi Jing Island, diligently cultivating the Beast God Dao.

After all, he had already acquired a large number of Glory Points through his own planning, removing major obstacles to receiving the Beast God's inheritance.

The only issue was the speed at which he could accumulate points in the chat group.

Without the help of the Enlightenment Boost function, his efficiency in receiving the Beast God Dao's inheritance would be extremely low.

Then not only would his gains be small, but he would also waste precious Glory Points.

Thus, time continued to pass.

(End of Chapter)