Chapter 376: This Is the Power of Face

Learning that the Dragon-Blooded's clan was facing a crisis of invasion by an external race, Ji Chen's joy from successfully containing the node instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

The expectation of meeting again still flowed in his heart, only to be replaced by anxiety in the blink of an eye.

He had imagined countless scenes of meeting the Dragon-Blooded again.

He imagined the Dragon-Blooded's shocked expression upon seeing him, followed by his own casual teasing, and the subsequent show-off plot.

Even just thinking about it made him feel ecstatic.

The rules his big brother had longed for, he now had a whole bunch.

But now, the happiness of "showing off in front of old friends" in his imagination might end in the tragedy of "losing my friend forever."

Nothing in life is more tragic than learning a bunch of good skills abroad, only to hear bad news about an old friend before even meeting them when preparing to return and show off.

The result was hearing the bad news about the old friend before even seeing them.

He decisively asked the Guide for the specific situation.

The answer received dealt another critical blow to Ji Chen.

The clan where the Dragon-Blooded resided was in an absolutely inferior position in this invasion war.

While giving the answer, the Guide waved a hand, and instantly a comparison chart of the two sides' combat power popped up before Ji Chen.

Besides the data, it also included introductions to both sides' combat power systems.

On the left side of the light screen was the Dragon-Wing Clan, where the Dragon-Blooded resided; on the right was the Devouring Destruction Clan, which had invaded the Dragon-Wing Clan's territory this time.

According to the information displayed on the light screen, the average hunting level of individual members of the Dragon-Wing Clan was level 103; the strongest was the retired former Great Dragon Lord: Long Xiaoshao (full name: 129 characters simplified), with a hunting level of 239.

The average combat power of individual members of the Devouring Destruction Clan was level 59; the clan's leader was named the Devouring Destruction King, with a hunting level of 274.

Both sides followed completely different combat power growth systems.

The Dragon-Wing Clan was a typical elite cultivation system.

The clan's total population was only over a million; every member underwent rigorous combat training from the moment of hatching, followed by round after round of survival trials upon adulthood; only members who passed the trials could survive and receive resource allocation within the clan.

The clan's small base had both advantages and disadvantages; once core combat power suffered losses, it was difficult to quickly fill the vacancies.

Meanwhile, the Devouring Destruction Clan followed a troop-spawning growth system better suited to the Monster World.

They used the life energy of devouring other races as nourishment to boost individual growth, having no fear at all of the sacrifices brought by war.

Looking at the real-time war map, the Dragon-Wing Clan was like a sharp yet fragile sword; every strike could tear open a gap in the Devouring Destruction Clan's battle line, but they could not withstand the enemy's relentless assaults.

On the other side, the Devouring Destruction Clan was like a net covering the sky and earth; although individual nodes were weak, the whole could win through sheer numbers.

Currently, the Dragon-Wing Clan's defensive line was rapidly contracting and retreating; following this trend, they could hold out for at most five days before the core altar where the rules resided would be exposed to the Devouring Destruction Clan's assault.

After reviewing the combat power comparison between the two sides, Ji Chen took a deep breath and suppressed the surging anxiety back into his heart.

He knew now was not the time for panic; excessive emotional internal friction was a waste of time.

Now he must strive for every second to find a way to solve the problem.

He was currently facing two difficulties.

First, how to go and provide support.

He wasn't even at the entry level regarding knowledge related to spatial studies.

Even if he decomposed all other Painful Painful Minghun in the Star Pulse Slot and used all the obtained evolution points to upgrade Brain Overclock, these five days would not be enough for him to master the construction of spatial teleportation arrays.

It seemed there were still five days, but the Dragon-Blooded, as a warrior of the Dragon-Wing Clan, could die in battle at any moment.

Every minute and second was in extreme danger.

Therefore, cramming at the last minute and learning in a rush was inevitably unfeasible.

As thoughts surged, he suddenly had an inspiration.

Could he find an existing teleportation array?

The Monster World was already filled with countless channels crossing space; these teleportation arrays might be the key to breaking the deadlock.

As for the origin of the teleportation arrays, they might be interplanar bridges left by extinct races waging war on the outside, which, after ten thousand years of wind and rain, had exhausted energy but retained their framework and could be activated by filling them with energy crystals; or they might be convenient channels built by powerful clans to plunder resources, still in continuous operation... These teleportation arrays did not rely on his yet-unmastered spatial studies knowledge; he only needed to find them, then ask the Guide to unlock the activation method, saving the long process of building a teleportation array from scratch.

This idea was like a lightning bolt splitting the mist.

He didn't need to stubbornly struggle with complex dimensional formulas; ready-made channels might already exist.

Feeling suddenly excited, he immediately asked the Guide whether there was a teleportation array near the player's current spatial node that led directly to the "Ashen Earth Canyon" region of the Black Domain Continent.

【300,000 Shou Shou Jili, cost for deep exploration.】

"I'll pay."

Obviously, this question touched upon foggy regions the player had not yet explored, requiring the consumption of Shou Shou Jili for deep investigation.

But he felt no pain over this expenditure of Shou Shou Jili.

If he could find the answer to reaching the Black Domain Continent through this method, even more would be worth it.

After Ji Chen gave an affirmative answer, the Shou Shou Jili was deducted.

The Guide blinked its eyes.

Instantly, the combat power comparison chart on the light screen switched to a pale continent map glowing with blue light, where two winding trajectories were marked with red dashed lines.

【Near the player's current node on the Pale Continent, there exist two teleportation arrays that lead directly to the Black Domain Continent.】

【The first teleportation array is located three levels underground in the "Wailing Ruined Capital" region east of the Broken Sand Halberd area; current energy reserves are only 7%, which is more than enough for single-person teleportation; the teleportation destination is the Bone Sand Wasteland region of the Black Domain Continent.】

【The second is in the central area of the "Atrocious Swamp"; it was a temporary military array channel built by the Iron Blood Clan when waging war on the Black Domain Continent; due to spatial barrier oscillation causing spatial barrier misalignment, there is a risk of being swept into a spatial counterflow during teleportation; the arrival location is the edge of the "Bloodwood Forest" on the Black Domain Continent.】

Ji Chen could clearly see that the destinations of the two teleportation arrays on the map were connected by red lines to the "Ashen Earth Canyon" region, with dense gray fog areas in between.

These were all foggy regions unexplored by players.

The Guide's voice sounded again at this moment:

【After calculation, flying at the maximum speed of your current vehicle, it takes 67 days to arrive starting from the Bone Sand Wasteland, and 113 days starting from the Bloodwood Forest; the Bloodwood Forest teleportation channel also carries a high probability of teleportation death risk; if choosing between the two, it is recommended to choose the Bone Sand Wasteland region as the starting point.】

The fastest would still be 67 days.

Ji Chen's heart sank.

This number was like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing the excitement from moments ago.

The Dragon Wing Clan's defense line can last at most five days; even if he finds a teleportation array right now, by the time he reaches the Ashen Earth Canyon, he fears not even the Dragon Descendant's bones will remain.

They have likely long since turned into nourishment for the Devouring Clan.

"Is there no closer teleportation array?" Ji Chen asked persistently, unwilling to accept it.

To this question, the Guide offered no answer, slowly closing its eyes.

The answer was obviously self-evident, for the Guide would not respond to any meaningless emotional questions from players.

The Guide's attitude made Ji Chen's mood become exceptionally heavy.

Teleportation was only one of the difficulties.

Even if the teleportation problem was solved, there was a second difficulty: how to quickly build up a war force sufficient to counter the Devouring Clan.

Relying solely on himself and the guild members would be like trying to stop a flood with a cup of water when joining the battlefield.

The Devouring Clan numbered in the millions; their low-tier warriors, fearless of attrition, surged forward like a ferocious tide. Even if the guild members could resurrect infinitely, they could not withstand the attrition; the key point was that the Devouring Clan could rapidly replenish the consumed troops.

The guild he led joining the war situation could not even achieve slowing the rate of the defense line's contraction.

His telekinesis was taught by the Dragon Descendant; on the battlefield, it combined offense and defense and could also serve as an area-of-effect damage capability.

But what of that? In an instant, he would be drowned by a million Devouring warriors.

Not to mention the combat power of the Devouring Dharma King at level 274.

His current main Painful Painful Minghun, the Eagle-Headed Bai Yao, had just surpassed level 113.

Even adding battle formations, the Bao Jun Fa, and other trump cards, before a powerhouse of this level, they could not withstand a single strike.

Such combat power, placed before the war force of the Devouring Clan, was meaningless.

If it were merely to deliver a "reunion" to the Dragon Descendant, going alone would be sufficient.

But what he wanted was to reverse the war situation, to save the Dragon Wing Clan, and to let the Dragon Descendant continue to live.

He knew the Dragon Descendant very well.

This fellow would absolutely not abandon his own clan to retreat; even if he forced it, the price would be a complete turn into bitter enemies.

In the Dragon Descendant's bones flowed a warrior will that was nearly paranoid.

Just as the Dragon Descendant had once said to him:

"Beasts tied up will accept their fate, but warriors will think about when they can bite off the enemy's throat."

The Dragon Descendant never yielded to predicaments, even if this path would lead him to a dead end.

His pride did not come from power, but from that sense of responsibility: "Though thousands oppose me, I will go."

When the Bai Yao Legion's hundred thousand troops pressed against the border back then, this madman had once dragged his broken body to block the canyon pass alone for a day and a night.

He knew the Dragon Descendant's character too well.

He would absolutely not abandon his companions for self-preservation; facing his entire clan, it was even more so.

If he forcibly dragged the Dragon Descendant out of the battlefield, as long as the Dragon Descendant had strength left, he would inevitably turn and rush back alone.

Even with only one breath left, he would die beside his clan members.

The warrior belief he followed had once made Ji Chen feel very confused, but later became the thing that made him admire him the most.

In the blood and fire of the other world, it was precisely this stubbornness that twisted a group of scattered soldiers into a force capable of overturning the Bai Yao Dynasty.

And now, this stubbornness had also become a shackle that gave him a headache.

To ensure the Dragon Descendant lived, he must protect the continuation of his clan; there was no second path.

So what he needed was a war force sufficient to counter the Devouring Clan.

He needed to face head-on the ferocious torrent of the Devouring Clan's troop-spawning mode, and he also needed peer-level powerhouses capable of pinning down the Devouring Dharma King.

These were obviously not things the "Re-Return" Guild could currently produce.

These two problems could only be solved simultaneously to save his old friend's life.

After pondering for a long time, Ji Chen's eyes turned red.

He knew clearly that he simply could not do it.

Just then, a flash of inspiration passed through his mind.

He suddenly thought, why not seek the help of the Gold Coin Merchant Association.

Although the "Spatial Technology Team" forged by the Gold Coin Merchant Association could not help him build a special teleportation array.

But the strength of the Gold Coin Merchant Association was not limited to within the team; it also had an external network of relationships.

All factions in the entire Cang Star Sea were cooperation partners of the Gold Coin Merchant Association.

As long as the Gold Coin Merchant Association made a request and provided remuneration, they would be willing to provide various services for the Gold Coin Merchant Association.

For example, the construction projects of various facilities on the island by the Gold Coin Merchant Association were all undertaken by the "Sky Rudder Clan," a faction on the southeastern islands of the Cang Star Sea.

It could be said that as long as the Gold Coin Merchant Association wanted, any faction in the Cang Star Sea could be mobilized.

Among them was also the powerful Mingwu Clan, which certainly possessed cross-space technology.

As long as the Mingwu Clan lent a hand, the predicament of the Dragon Wing Clan could be easily solved.

The Mingwu Emperor of the Mingwu Clan, and the Mingwu Great General "General Ye Ming," were both Ban Shen Jing powerhouses.

Dealing with the Devouring Clan would be without pressure.

Only a cross-border war was needed to solve the problem.

The problem lay in whether the Gold Coin Merchant Association was willing to lend assistance.

Recently, the Mingwu Clan simultaneously declared war on the Ascension Clan and Shu Yan; multiple legions crossed the Hai Yu Jiao Jie line and continuously advanced into the hinterland of the Ascension Sea.

The essence of this war was that the Mingwu Clan urgently needed more resources for development.

To strengthen themselves through plunder.

The current situation was that the Mingwu Clan's main legions were deeply entrenched in the battlefield, and General Ye Ming was personally stationed at the front line.

Under these circumstances, to get the Mist Clan to split their forces or send their main army to aid the Dragon-Winged Clan, who had no interest connection, the Gold Coin Guild must present a bargaining chip that could stir the heart of either the Mist Clan Emperor or General Ye Ming.

This bargaining chip must also account for the consumption of maintaining war expenditures in the early stages.

After all, letting go of the ongoing front line and handing over the already occupied resource regions means the Gold Coin Guild, which made the request, must bear the loss of acquired benefits.

This would be a huge expenditure.

The Gold Coin Guild indeed has the ability to make the Mist Clan save face, provided they can offer compensation for abandoning existing interests.

He definitely had no power to pay this sum.

Even the Gold Coin Guild would not pay such huge resources just to give him this face.

He was aware of this.

His face, in the face of a price heavy enough to shake the foundation of the Gold Coin Guild, probably did not even have the qualification to be weighed.

Thinking of this, Ji Chen's mood grew even heavier.

The Gold Coin Guild was already the external force he could think of that was most likely to bring hope of "breaking the deadlock."

After pondering for a long time, he still decided to try contacting the Gold Coin Guild.

Summoning the contact list, he clicked on the avatar of "Receive Shou Shou Jili" and clicked to private chat.

Without asking if he was there, he sent his Ji De Xiang Fa all at once, and explained the specific reasons in detail.

Regarding the relationship between the Dragonkin and himself, he also did not hide it from Ah Lan of the Gold Coin Guild.

According to the description on the Star Network, Ah Lan's identity was a Regent of the Moon Eclipsed Clan; every Regent clearly knew the truth of the Monster World.

Secondly, his identity as a transmigrator could be hidden from the common people, but could not be hidden from the information-sharing Moon Eclipsed Clan.

Every second after sending the message, time seemed to be stretched.

Three minutes passed, and the private chat window remained silent.