Chapter 2782

Xiji·Yanlou Mountain Range·Heirong City.

This great city has been located here for many years, its black city walls eroded by time into an uneven surface.

Unlike the recently established great cities, Heirong City has no underground drainage channels, and the semi-solidified black snow within the city makes the environment extremely damp; bedding left un aired for a few days will feel damp to the touch.

These are not yet the biggest problems; the most deadly is the volcanic ash flying everywhere, and during the most active season of volcanic eruptions, the sky cannot be seen within Heirong City.

But all of this has become the past, as the Chaos Legion has made a large-scale migration, residing in the northern border region near the central area, with some having gone to the southern border territories.

Even so, Heirong City cannot be demolished; this ancient great city that has existed for a thousand years has undergone a total of twenty-three renovations, bearing witness to the rise and fall history of the Chaos Legion.

At this moment within Heirong City, the Flame Demon army is stationed here, with the Wolf Cavalry Legion guarding the surrounding city walls.

Kaqiaoqiao...

A huge and crude wooden wheel is located at the center of Heirong City, with a diameter of several hundred meters; its connection points are filled with metal rivets, and on the great tower below, snake people craftsmen swing great hammers, striking with sweat pouring down.

At the edge of the wooden wheel are attached roots of wood nearly two meters thick and tens of meters long; the shape of this wooden wheel resembles that of an ultra-giant ship's rudder.

Hundreds of the Ancient Tree Tribe stand on the great tower beneath the wooden wheel, pushing it in one direction to set the wooden wheel in motion.

A metal pipe several meters thick, covered in black rust traces, draws scorching magma from underground through the power of the wooden wheel, channeling it into a nearby great pool.

Flame Demons carrying large metal tanks transport magma from the magma pool to a giant stone pillar one li outside.

Pa~

The whip wrapped in steel wire cracks as it strikes; wolf cavalrymen holding long whips are stationed at a high place supervising the Flame Demons, lest they walk and then stand motionless in place, for a certain task requires storing large amounts of magma.

Yaoguai fly in the upper air, monitoring the wind and grass movements around; from a higher vantage point, one would see a magnificent sight: the entire Heirong City resembles a huge and crude machine operating at full speed.

Within the Black Ring Fortress inside Heirong City, Su Xiao sits before the fireplace, the flames rising within, a yaoguai maid respectfully floating in midair, while Bubu, Am, and Bahah are all snoring loudly, having been exhausted these past few days.

Dong, dong, dong.

The door was knocked upon, and after being pushed open, the noisy clamor from within the city entered the room.

"The person over there has arrived."

A hoarse voice came from outside the door, then the breath dissipated—this is a snake person tribe member very skilled in assassination.

"Tan Yatan, go bring the 'guest' inside."

"Yes, my lord."

The yaoguai maid Tan Yatan floated toward the outside of the room; shortly after, heavy footsteps came from outside, and the door was pushed open with a bang.

"Bai Ye my lord, the person has been brought."

The orc hero Wolbol seemed to be sulking, his large hand pushing and shoving the diplomat Difuton into the room.

Diplomat Difuton staggered a few steps before standing firm, with obvious bruises around his eyes; Su Xiao glanced at Wolbol, and Wolbol wilted.

"Go get the whip yourself."

"En."

Wolbol strode out of the room; this fellow gets whipped every few days, belonging to the type with extremely good attitude in admitting fault, yet never improving.

"Sit."

As Su Xiao's words fell, the yaoguai maid Tan Yatan poured red tea into the teacup opposite the table.

"Bai Ye great lord, how have you been lately?"

Diplomat Difuton's expression remained normal; it must be said, daring to come to Heirong City at this time truly demonstrates his courage.

"What words did the Duke of Duo Yin send you with?"

Su Xiao clearly understands the current situation; the decisive battle with Duo Yin's side is already inevitable, but before that, both sides will have a calm before the great battle, like the tranquility before a storm.

Diplomat Difuton smiled without speaking, took out a gem, and placed this gem covered in magical patterns on the table.

Bo~

Like a ripple of water spreading out, Diplomat Difuton rose, yielded the seat, and knelt on one knee to the side.

A phantom appeared; this phantom was very old, covered with a blanket, those old eyes seemed already clouded, yet making eye contact with him would bring an inexplicable sense of oppression—this is the Duke of Duo Yin.

"We meet again; the last time we met was still over a decade ago."

The Duke of Duo Yin spoke in a calm voice, and this sentence contains a great deal of information.

"We will open hostilities in two days."

"Or perhaps three days; two days is too rushed, some matters, even for me, cannot be accomplished in two days."

The meaning behind the Duke of Duo Yin's words is manifold.

"..."

"Thanks to you seizing the crown of Extreme Ice, I now have the opportunity to eliminate him."

As the Duke of Duo Yin spoke, he picked up from beside him a metal helmet exuding a chilling aura; clearly, the Lord of Extreme Ice has been killed by the Duke of Duo Yin.

The Duke of Duo Yin's meaning is simple: in three days, he will be able to destroy the northern border, allowing those in power there to proclaim themselves kings, so that the northern border will not be able to reunify as a whole for over a decade, or even longer—thus one can see how dangerous this old man is.

Without the Lord of Extreme Ice pressing down, the second-tier power holders of the northern border cannot wage war against the outside; given enough time, the 'Wall of Atade' will eventually recover, and there is still the Ice Wind Belt behind.

With these two natural barriers in place, the northern border can continue to maintain the mysterious color of winter; moreover, they are about to fall into internal chaos, unable to attend to themselves, let alone have the thought of waging war against the outside.

What the Duke of Duo Yin must do is, within a short three days, cause the second-tier power holders of the northern border to turn against each other.

The first step the Duke of Duo Yin must take is to help the northern border repair the 'Wall of Atade' in a short time.

Only then will those second-tier power holders of the northern border dare to begin seizing power from each other; given the situation in the northern border, without producing a second Lord of Extreme Ice, the conflict will not subside.

This way, no matter how the Duke of Duo Yin and the Chaos Legion fight, they will not be taken advantage of by the northern border.

The elf race has been crippled; the dwarf, barbarian, and reptile tribes are located in the Eastern Marsh, where resources are insufficient for these three to rise.

At this moment, the Duke of Duo Yin and the Chaos Legion are the two hegemons dominating the Azure Dragon Continent; even if the two hegemons fight each other to mutual severe injury, no other faction has the qualification to take advantage.

"Three days?"

"Yes, three days is enough; recently take care of yourself, my servants have dispatched many assassins to find you—be careful."

The Duke of Duo Yin smiled as he spoke, that tone... actually seemed somewhat sincere?

"It's getting late, these old bones of mine need to rest early."

As soon as Duo Yin Wang finished speaking, the gemstone on the table cracked with a click, forming a spike made of shattered gemstones that shot straight at Su Xiao.

Pa.

The spike halted before Su Xiao, who easily flicked it to pieces with his index finger.

The diplomat Diforton slumped to the floor beside him, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to explain something, finally letting out a sigh.

"Lord Bai Ye, I have a request—please send my corpse back to Duo Yin."

"You want to die that badly? Did I say I was going to kill you?"

Su Xiao looked at Diforton in confusion. The earlier ambush was far too weak; Duo Yin Wang wouldn't do something so beneath himself, and Diforton wouldn't either unless he were an idiot. Clearly, someone wanted to use him to get rid of Diforton.

Su Xiao certainly wouldn't involve himself in Duo Yin's schemes, let alone be used by certain people.

Su Xiao grabbed the gemstone fragments floating in midair and tossed them to the ground in front of Diforton.

Seeing the gemstone fragments, Diforton gritted his teeth in hatred, took out a handkerchief, and picked up every shard. Once back in Duo Yin, he would use any means necessary to kill whoever set up this ambush.

"Thank you—I will definitely eliminate that despicable person!"

Soon, the diplomat Diforton left. Not long after, the she-wolf cavalrywoman Yua entered the room, cradling a large iron box in her arms.

These are the materials for crafting ordinary Apollos; crafting an ordinary Apollo only requires solar remnants + fire gold + soul crystals (small).

Su Xiao still has 221 kilograms of fire gold and 113 small soul crystals; the only thing missing is solar remnants.

As for crafting the 【Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo】, that requires 'Flame Flow Crystal Chunks'. So far, Su Xiao can only obtain them by exchanging Hunter Privileges and Soul Currency within the Reincarnation Paradise; he has no other means of acquisition.

After each world's progress ends, Flame Flow Crystal Chunks can only be exchanged for 30 grams, and crafting one 【Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo】 requires 26 grams.

Although he cannot craft the 【Blazing Sun's Wrath·Apollo】, Su Xiao can currently craft many ordinary Apollos.

If one won't kill Agamemnon, then two; if two won't, then ten; if ten won't, then twenty. Given that Agamemnon cannot be placed in a clear-cut situation, Su Xiao will not let the opponent escape.