145: Chapter 145 Visiting the Neighbors

Lin Yan, Lin Yin, and Lin Yan led seventy thousand main force troops, marching toward the southwest with a soaring murderous aura and the sharp momentum of their recent grand victory, leaving clouds of rolling dust in their wake.

Two thousand Void Ranger scattered into the southern jungles and plains like ghosts, vanishing without a trace.

Commander Lin Yu began directing the remaining troops to reinforce the city defenses and soothe the populace.

By the time the several armies had departed and the city had returned to relative calm, Lin Tian finally returned to the pile of Black Dragon remains.

It was time to take stock of the greatest harvest before setting out himself.

He rolled up his sleeves and personally got to work.

Dismantling the corpses of Legendary-grade behemoths.

After more than ten minutes of busy work, all the Black Dragon corpses had been harvested.

Before Lin Tian, the bountiful yields of this "Dragon Slaying" were laid out in categories:

[Black Dragon Blood]: Thick, dark red blood emitting a scorching heat and a faint dragon pressure. A full twelve thousand standard units!

[Black Dragon Wings]: Thin but incredibly tough wing membranes containing wind and darkness attributes. One hundred and twenty pairs.

[Black Dragon Essence Blood]: The most refined dragon blood extracted from the heart, containing the Black Dragon's most primordial power. Dark red, nearly black, like molten gems. A total of one thousand two hundred drops!

[Black Dragon Scales]: Palm-sized scales with sharp edges and a hardness exceeding refined steel, naturally imbued with faint magic resistance. They were piled into several small hills, totaling one hundred and twenty thousand units!

"One hundred and twenty Black Dragons... their entire bodies are treasures..."

Lin Tian let out a long breath and nodded with satisfaction at the dazzling array of materials before him.

Although one Lord had escaped, these tangible resources were the hard truth behind a territory's development.

With these, whether it was strengthening existing troops or conducting new Fusion experiments, his trump cards would become even more substantial.

After processing the Black Dragon materials and storing them by category in the deepest part of the warehouse, Lin Tian did not delay any longer in the city.

He led the two thousand Golden Armored Spearmans and two thousand Earth Spirit Guards he had just ordered.

These four thousand men were now the sharpest "spears" and thickest "shields" among his melee infantry. All were of Epic quality, having been tempered through blood and fire, their murderous intent restrained within.

Without any grand fanfare, this elite of elites quietly left the city, marching toward the east as scouted yesterday.

The journey was smooth; forget about swarms of monsters, even sporadic Rotting Hounds were rare, as if this land had just been thoroughly plowed through.

Lin Tian knew this was the result of the army's clearing operation yesterday, and he couldn't help but feel a few degrees more satisfied with the execution of Lin Feng and the others.

In less than two hours, the outline of a territory built by the water, looking rather crude, appeared in his field of vision.

The city walls were low, probably only four or five meters high, made of rough mixed stone and wooden stakes, with sparse defense towers.

The scale of the territory was indeed not large, with a radius estimated at about five hundred meters. It was right next to a fairly wide river, taking some advantage of the water resources.

They did not intentionally hide their tracks. When they approached within two or three miles, several strange creatures patrolling the outskirts—looking like a mix of lions and rhinoceroses with a single curved horn on their heads—noticed them.

The Horned Lions discovered them and let out low, warning growls.

Lin Tian waved his hand, signaling the troops to stop and form a simple defensive formation, without attacking or stopping those Horned Lions.

One particularly robust Horned Lion gave this suddenly appearing, terrifyingly powerful army a deep look.

With a few low growls, it led its companions to turn around and quickly dash back into the territory.

Lin Tian waited composedly.

He knew the owner would be out soon.

Sure enough, before long—perhaps only a few minutes later—

The crude city gate was pushed open with a creak.

A man who looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a somewhat nervous expression and wearing a set of mediocre leather armor, walked out quickly, surrounded by a large group of Horned Lions.

Behind him, roughly two hundred Horned Lions followed in a dense crowd; this was his entire net worth.

The two sides stood still on a relatively flat clearing outside the territory, separated by a distance of a hundred meters. Lin Tian's gaze swept over, and his Detection Spell activated silently.

[Unit]: Horned Lion

[Quality]: Low-Grade Excellence

[Level]: Silver 7-Star

[Lord]: Yang Xu (Level: Silver 7-Star)

The information basically matched what Lin Feng had brought back yesterday.

Two hundred Excellence-grade Horned Lions and the Lord himself at Silver 7-Star meant he had barely gained a foothold in this area, but that was about it.

While Lin Tian was sizing up the other party, the Horned Lion Lord, Yang Xu, was feeling an incomparable shock in his heart!

He had just received a warning from his Horned Lions that a small but "extremely terrifying-feeling" human army was approaching, and his heart skipped a beat.

Coming out to see, it was far more than just "terrifying."

The opposing army numbered about four thousand, but that aura...

He had never felt it from any army before!

They stood there silently, like a forest cast in steel. The ones in front were as heavy as mountains, as if connected to the earth;

The soldiers behind them wore armor flowing with dark gold, their sharpness pressing.

There was not a single stray noise, no redundant movements—only a condensed killing intent and absolute confidence that could only be tempered through countless bloody battles, making one's skin sting.

He subconsciously activated his Detection Spell, his gaze first falling on the composed young Lord surrounded in the middle.

Gold 7-Star!

Yang Xu's heart jumped. This level already far exceeded his own!

He hurriedly swept his Detection Spell toward the soldiers behind the man...

Then, he was struck as if by lightning, freezing in place. His pupils dilated, his mouth hung slightly open, and his mind went completely blank.

Epic! Epic! Epic! They're all Epic!!

Those two thousand soldiers in dark gold armor were High-Grade Epic Golden Armored Spearmans!

Those two thousand soldiers, heavy as mountains with energy cores in their chests, were High-Grade Epic Earth Spirit Guards!

A full four thousand people, and not a single one was below Epic quality!

And even the lowest level was similar to his!

What a terrifying force this was!

"Where... where did this god-like figure come from?"

Yang Xu screamed inwardly, his legs feeling a bit weak.

His two hundred Excellence Horned Lions were like stray dogs meeting a pride of lions—no, a flight of dragons—before the opponent!

After the shock came immense panic and a desire to survive.

He forcibly suppressed the stormy waves in his heart and squeezed out a smile that was as respectful, even slightly fawning, as possible.

Stepping forward a few paces, he cupped his hands toward Lin Tian from a distance, his voice dry with tension:

"Th-this... big boss, h-how should I address you? I am Yang Xu, the owner of this small, broken place."

He kept his posture extremely low, his tone cautious. "I don't know... if there's anything this little brother has done wrong, or if I've accidentally offended you? Just say the word, and I'll definitely change it! Immediately!"

Lin Tian was momentarily stunned by this reaction, then found it a bit funny and felt a slight sense of secret satisfaction.

It seemed his "honor guard" was exceptionally effective; it had directly scared his neighbor into a quivering quail.