Chapter 925: Unified Plateau

Lei En descended from the sky.

Anxiwodasi promptly removed dozens of massive fireballs about to explode, looked at him with puzzlement, and asked, "Lei En, why aren't you acting?"

He and Ouroin were affected by Time Stop, their attacks slowed a bit.

But Lei En was completely unaffected; within six seconds he could display his full power together with Ouroin to break Zhanqing's divine shield. Even if he were a hair short, it wouldn't let Zhanqing escape so easily, yet Lei En watched from the sky as Zhanqing fled, showing no intention to strike.

Reslin cast no spells during Time Stop, stayed invisible and folded his arms, which was no better than doing nothing.

Without Time Stop, he and Ouroin could have kept Zhanqing.

Ouroin ended his berserk transformation, sheathed his cross longsword and white wood staff, and, sharing the same doubt, shook his head, "An enemy as powerful as Zhanqing, once a mortal enmity is formed, should be killed outright; letting it escape brings endless trouble. Lei En, you should understand this."

"I understand, Master." Lei En nodded.

Ouroin furrowed a brow, "Then why did you let it go?" He was already suspecting Lei En of deliberately holding back; that Time Stop was practically counterproductive.

Lei En did not answer at once, seeming to hesitate whether to speak.

"It was I who asked the Consul to do so." a detached voice echoed from the void.

Immediately the space before them rippled, and a gaunt figure materialized. He wore a black magical robe, held a smooth, rounded gray staff, his skin was pallid, his face young and ordinary, but his pupils were pale gold, and deep within his eyes lay an hourglass‑shaped rune.

Black Robe Duke Tu Zilei!

Anxiwodasi's face first lit with realization, then grew even more perplexed.

All members of the Supreme Council know that, since more than a hundred years ago, the Black Robe Duke unexpectedly chose the Death Forest Sea as his duchy, aiming to control an ancient wizard tower hidden within the Death Forest Sea; thus he clashed with Zhanqing countless times.

Zhanqing, already a demigod, held absolute superiority; that Tu Zilei could endure this long without ever seeking aid from the Supreme Council is truly a miracle.

Today there was a chance to slay Zhanqing—a once‑in‑a‑millennium opportunity—yet Tu Zilei let Lei En let it escape, which is utterly baffling.

"I have met both Masters."

Tu Zilei greeted the two, then in a very calm tone explained, "Zhanqing cannot die yet; it holds an item that is very important to me, but it is bound to its soul. If Zhanqing is killed, that item will randomly vanish somewhere in the Prime Material Plane, and I will find it with great difficulty."

"Is it related to Weilis Tower?" Anxiwodasi asked softly.

"Yes."

The Black Robe Duke nodded slightly, then added, "Zhanqing controls the Dragon Worship Sect; it obeys the Mother of Evil Dragons, Ti Yaxisi, who is also one of its spouses. The Dragon Mother's regard for it even exceeds that of the entire Dragon Worship Sect; should it die, unpredictable consequences may arise."

Both Holy Soul Wizards felt a chill in their hearts at the words.

Ti Yaxisi was once one of the most powerful deities; the Second Era was the peak of His divine power, comparable to today's God of Magic. Although after the Twin Giants Era ended His power waned greatly, far below former levels, He still makes countless mortals turn pale at the mention.

"So you mean you must control Zhanqing to obtain the thing you want?" Ouroin suddenly asked.

Tu Zilei said nothing, effectively conceding.

This made both Holy Soul Wizards find it hard to believe; Zhanqing is an ancient dragon and also a demigod!

Yet Tu Zilei, a Holy Soul Ascension Wizard barely over a hundred years old, possesses top‑world talent and is very young; however, he is three ranks below Zhanqing. To have held out against Zhanqing for so many years is already impressive, let alone daring to think he could control a demigod!

Capturing a strong enemy is more than ten times harder than killing one; even if half the Supreme Council mobilized, it would still be impossible.

The entire Supreme Council deploying is possible, though.

But on what grounds?

Ouroin shook his head regretfully, "What a pity, missing today's chance; the next time we try to catch Zhanqing alone won't be easy."

The green dragon's strongest talent is Mind Enchantment, which controls a massive number of slaves.

The stronger the green dragon, the more slaves it commands.

As the Green Dragon King, Zhanqing's slave army rivals a kingdom, hidden in a concealed location within the Death Forest Sea that links to other planes, encompassing humans, elves, dwarves, barbarians and other sentient races, as well as powerful monsters, aberrations, and an entire legion composed solely of dragons, including its draconic offspring and other colored evil dragons.

Moreover, among the many human nations, there are members of the Dragon Worship Sect, ranging from ordinary believers to legendary transcendants, countless in number; the Mataqi Tribe is one such group.

Under Zhanqing, Saint Rank elites and ancient dragons together may number a few dozen.

The Green Dragon King never fights alone; today was merely an accident.

Anxiwodasi sighed, glanced at the still‑unflinching Black Robe Duke, evidently somewhat displeased, but since Tu Zilei is of the Naiser faction and their ties are distant, he said little and could only sigh, "Lei En, your decision was too rash."

In other words, Lei En should not have trusted the words of someone from an opposing faction.

Lei En felt a bitter pain he could not voice.

Others do not know Tu Zilei's background, but he knows the details: this fellow is an avatar of Augulevi Master, who demanded Zhanqing be released, and he could only obey.

Even though he is now a Holy Soul Wizard and possesses a Star Destroyer, facing Augulevi Master still makes his heart tremble, with extremely low odds of success.

Moreover, Augulevi Master is not an enemy; he has been of great help to him.

Both sides are temporarily allies, no need to provoke the other's displeasure.

From the teacher's and Ouroin Master's perspectives, the Black Robe Duke's desire to control the Green Dragon King is fanciful, but if Augulevi Master were involved, it might not be difficult. Do not forget, Augulevi Master's avatars are not limited to a single Black Robe Duke; during that foray into the Shadow Realm, four Saint Rank avatars were seen, all spellcasters!

These inside details Lei En cannot reveal at all.

He could only admit, "Yes, teacher."

Then he added, "This time Zhanqing was gravely wounded; its body was nearly completely destroyed. Even if it retreats, it must expend a great amount of divine essence to rebuild itself. Divine essence does not accumulate easily and does not recover automatically; Zhanqing's power will inevitably drop sharply, possibly even regressing a rank, so in the short term it will not dare to trouble us."

"Hope so,"

Anxiwodasi slowly nodded, no longer clinging to the matter.

He looked toward Bakhahalu; the city's barbarians were still reeling from the massive shock of Zhanqing's near‑death defeat, their faith shattered, almost entirely losing the will to resist.

The Mataqi Tribe is already in their grasp.

"Do what you must; I'm returning to Mo Du." Anxiwodasi raised the Akus Holy Staff, opened a flame corridor, and stepped through.

Ouroin did not linger either, and the two left together.

"Take Bakhahalu!"

Lei En's voice rang out in the Star Destroyer.

He remotely piloted the warship; the Iola Core's energy continuously powered a teleportation array, sending the dwarf and barbarian troops from the hangar onto the ground, forming attack formations that surged through the collapsed city walls into Bakhahalu.

The gates of the other two hangars also opened.

Over two hundred fire dragons burst out, each bearing an Extreme Warrior on its back, and two thousand Holy Lance Knights rode bronze steeds, flying out of the hangar.

Ma Li Wu Si led the first and second companies, a total of 120 Extreme Warriors clad in powered armor, scattering and hovering over Ba Ke Ha Lu, their terrifying aura suppressing the whole city, shouting loudly: "Mataji, lay down your weapons! Surrender to the Duke, or die!"

Dream on!

The Mataji have dragon blood in their veins; they'd rather die than surrender to the weak.

We fought them to the end…

Barbarian roars rose throughout the city, rallying their clans to resist. They were all devout followers of Ti Ya Xi Si, some even fanatics, unshaken before the strong enemy; though few in number, their bravery stirred the fighting spirit of many Mataji.

Ma Li Wu Si sensed this trend and decisively ordered an attack.

The battle erupted at once; the fire dragon swooped down, spewing streams of flame, the Extreme Warriors pulled the triggers of their Bolt Guns, and the Holy Lance Knights raised their soul spears to fire.

Boom— Boom— Boom—

In an instant, the sounds of gunfire and explosions rang across Ba Ke Ha Lu.

Four thousand dwarves and the barbarian legion also began a sweeping assault, all equipped with submachine guns and grenades, trained into a hot‑opening unit, having fought many times to subjugate plateau tribes, now fully adapted to the new mode of combat.

Wherever the legion passed, any enemy daring to show its head was instantly riddled into a sieve.

Lay down your weapons and surrender, and you can survive.

Even though Ba Ke Ha Lu housed over two hundred thousand barbarians, including legendary warriors, their numerical advantage was useless against the absolute disparity in strength.

Ma Li Wu Si pinpointed and eliminated the stubborn elements, and also blew up Ti Ya Xi Si's temple and altar.

Soon, the Mataji resistance collapsed.

Lei En did not act, leaving everything to Ma Li Wu Si's command; the commander of the Extreme Warrior Corps already had ample experience in this, so he need not worry himself.

He summoned half a battalion of Holy Lance Knights to collect the blood and flesh of Zhanqing outside the city.

The Green Dragon King is a demigod; its blood and flesh contain divinity, the finest alchemical material in the world—dragon scales, dragon blood, dragon hide, dragon bone—each fragment holds great value and can be forged into precious elixirs or magical items.

A few Thundercast Celestial Soldiers also joined, supervising the Holy Lance Knights to prevent greed and the secret hoarding of Zhanqing's flesh.

Divinity is a deadly temptation for the transcendent.

But the divine information that comes with divinity, if a mortal who has not undergone eight Soul Transformations absorbs it rashly, will ultimately become a slave of the gods.

Hearing the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers' warning, the vast majority of Holy Lance Knights dared not act rashly; even the one or two who were selfish could not escape the soldiers' eyes.

The fighting in Ba Ke Ha Lu continued.

Lei En withdrew his gaze, glanced at the Holy Soul Wizard before him, and saw that Black Robe Duke Tu Zi Lei had not yet left, still watching the Star Destroyer in the sky with interest.

"Is this the floating warship you built?" Tu Zi Lei's face rarely showed a hint of approval.

Lei En replied respectfully, "Yes, Master, I named it Star Destroyer."

"I am Tu Zi Lei now; don't call me wrong."

The Black Robe Duke interjected briefly, then returned to the previous topic: "The Spirit-absorbing Monster's central brain knowledge base contains a type of 'Spiral Shell Ship', a creation of their race at its peak, comparable in importance to the Empire's Fu Kong Cheng, capable of plane‑shifting with great offensive and defensive power, having conquered countless realms and races; but with the destruction of the Spirit-absorbing Monster Empire, they can no longer produce Spiral Shell Ships."

"That's a pity," Lei En agreed.

"Um…" Tu Zi Lei examined the Star Destroyer, thought for a moment, then said, "Your design for the Star Destroyer is somewhat similar to the Spiral Shell Ship, but far more powerful—still not quite matching the Fu Kong Cheng—but it has a serious flaw; I wonder if you've considered it?"

A hint of amusement lifted the corner of his mouth.

"Please speak, Duke," Lei En earnestly asked, though he already knew.

Tu Zi Lei whispered a word: "source crystal."

Lei En thought to himself, "Indeed."

Augulevi Master, truly the strongest wizard in history, not only knew about source crystal but at a glance recognized the Star Destroyer's dependence on it.

Titan Giants were the first to develop source crystal technology; during the Second Era, the giants mined source crystal everywhere, feeding it into Titan Furnaces, sustaining the massive Giant Empire.

However, source crystal ore is finite, and its regeneration cycle is extremely long.

After millennia of unrestrained mining, the Prime Material Plane's source crystal was nearly exhausted, and source crystal ores in other planes were also largely depleted; the Giant civilization thus declined, and centuries later, unable to resist the Abyss invasion, it finally perished.

Even today, Elder Suo Li Mu still searches everywhere for source crystal, forced to trade large amounts of precious treasures and knowledge, barely maintaining half a Storm Temple, letting his people eke out a living.

The Star Destroyer consumes a great amount of source crystal.

Today's several teleportations, Electric Light Cannon and main gun firings used up a quarter of the source crystal stockpile accumulated over the years. Moreover, the Extreme Warriors' powered armor consumes source crystal daily, and as the armor numbers increase, the burned source crystal keeps rising.

The Black Robe Duke said calmly, "Without source crystal, how much combat power can your Star Destroyer still deliver? Have you thought of a solution to this problem?"

Lei En nodded, but said nothing more.

"Hehe…"

Tu Zi Lei smiled, "Since you understand it clearly, that's fine. However, your Star Destroyer gave me some insight; I might study the Spiral Shell Ship, perhaps there will be a gain."

"Letting Zhanqing go today counts as me owing you another favor."

"Leave."

As the words fell, the Black Robe Duke's figure faded swiftly and vanished in an instant.

Lei En watched him depart, and only after confirming he was far away did he exhale relief. Every time he faced the strongest wizard in history, his heart was in his throat; the psychological pressure was no less than confronting a deity, perhaps even more dangerous.

Moments later, the Holy Lance Knights gathered the scattered divine blood‑flesh fragments and delivered them to the Star Destroyer.

Lei En waited on the bridge for over an hour.

As more than a hundred thousand Mataji laid down their weapons and surrendered, watching the largest Ti Ya Xi Si temple in Ba Ke Ha Lu being destroyed by Extreme Warriors, yet no one dared to rise in resistance, it declared that the last tribe on the plateau, the Mataji tribe, had been conquered.

This means the Seien Plateau was unified for the first time in the New Era, and Lei En became the true ruler of the plateau!

Happy New Year, everyone!

2021 passed in the blink of an eye; may everyone enjoy good health and smooth fortunes in 2022!

(End of Chapter)