358: Dry Bone Dao Lord

The one-armed Centurion knelt on one knee, his voice choked with emotion yet resonant: "This subordinate is incompetent! I have suffered heavy losses and nearly lost the outpost! Please punish me, my Lord!"

Behind him, all the Dao Soldiers knelt in unison, their armor clanking: "Please punish us, my Lord!"

Lin Yuan's gaze fell upon their blood-stained armor and their weary yet still upright bodies; in his eyes, as cold as the starry Universe, a trace of warmth finally flickered.

"You all... fought through blood and fire, holding your ground without retreating. What crime have you committed?"

He raised his hand in a gesture of support, and a gentle yet irresistible force lifted everyone up.

"This battle was not your fault; it was because I returned a little late. The Souls of the fallen shall be cast in eternity! Their names shall be carved upon the grandmist dao stele to enjoy incense for ten thousand generations! The wounded, return to the city immediately, enter the Hongmeng Dao Soldier Camp's blood pool and the myriad dao enlightenment platform. I shall personally treat your wounds and enhance your strength!"

"Understood! Thank you, my Lord!"

All the Dao Soldiers roared in unison, their voices filled with boundless excitement and loyalty.

Their Lord not only did not punish them but wanted to personally treat their wounds! This made their blood boil more than any reward.

Lin Yuan's Divine Thought stirred, communicating with the grandmist dao stele far away in Chaos Origin City.

A more stable and wider-reaching star dome wall instantly enveloped the dilapidated outpost, beginning to automatically repair the damaged buildings.

At the same time, a large myriad worlds star gate opened in the outpost square.

"Centurion, stay and report. The rest of you, take the remains of your fallen comrades and immediately withdraw to Chaos Origin City to rest. I will personally guard this place."

"As you command!"

The Star Scar Guards and Origin Guards moved quickly and orderly, helping the wounded, collecting the remains of their comrades, and marching into the star gate.

Everyone's eyes were reignited with the flames of war; with their Lord here, the outpost was as solid as a fortress!

Soon, only the one-armed Centurion and Lin Yuan remained in the square.

"My Lord, after you entered the Secret Realm..." The Centurion endured his pain and quickly reported how the allied Dao Sovereign forces had gathered, how they had launched fierce attacks, the tragic process of the battle over the past month, and the current size of the Chaos Origin City army.

"...Thanks to the massive amount of slaughter value and resources you left behind, as well as the efficiency of the chaos creation platform, during your time in the Secret Realm, the Star Scar Guards in Chaos Origin City have expanded to thirty thousand!

The Hongmeng Dao Soldier Camp has also birthed three batches totaling six hundred Time-Space Inscribed Dao Soldiers, which, added to the initial one hundred and the three hundred recruited subsequently, brings the total to one thousand!

If not for this surprise attack by that group of damned Dao Sovereigns which prevented our army from receiving support... our losses would never have been this great!"

Lin Yuan listened quietly, his eyes deep.

A month had passed in the outside world, yet he had cultivated bitterly for ten years in the Secret Realm, devouring the entire great dao origin flow!

His subordinate army had not slacked off either, and their scale had expanded astonishingly.

Two thousand Hongmeng Dao Soldiers and thirty thousand Chaos Star Scar Guards—this was already a terrifying force capable of sweeping across vast worlds!

Had it not been for the joint surprise attack by one hundred and seventy powerful Dao Sovereigns, which made it impossible to provide timely support through the star gate, the Myriad Dao Outpost would never have paid such a price.

"I am aware," Lin Yuan nodded.

"It was led by the Withered Bone Dao Sovereign of the Withered Bone Star Fortress. Very well. I will personally collect this blood debt!"

He waved his hand, sending out a stream of incomparably pure energy containing the creation of life and the Chaos Origin, which submerged into the Centurion's severed arm.

"This energy will help you regrow your severed arm, and your Foundation will be even better than before.

You should also return, enter the enlightenment platform, and digest your insights from this battle along with this Origin energy. Leave this place to me."

The Centurion felt a tingling warmth from his severed arm as boundless vitality and profound dao rhyme surged into his body.

Not only did it dispel all the cursed black Qi, but it even made the Bottleneck he had been trapped in at the Hunyuan Realm faintly loosen!

Overcome with excitement, he bowed deeply: "Thank you, my Lord, for this gift of Rebirth! This subordinate takes his leave!"

Having said this, he turned and stepped into the star gate.

The star gate closed, leaving only Lin Yuan alone in the dilapidated outpost square.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking toward a region about ten Star Continent territories away (ten light-years), the location of the Withered Bone Star Fortress.

In his deep eyes, Chaos was born and destroyed, and the Myriad Dao rotated.

A murderous intent capable of making the galaxy tremble was slowly awakening, like a volcano that had been silent for eternity.

"Withered Bone Dao Sovereign? My slaughter value... happens to be lacking a little."

The halo of the Myriad Dao Outpost's star gate dissipated completely, leaving only Lin Yuan standing alone on the dilapidated square.

Where his gaze landed, in that distant region, a massive, hideous fortress resembled a dormant giant beast, its silhouette appearing and disappearing in the dim starlight—that was the Withered Bone Star Fortress, the base camp of the Myriad Dao Realm Martial Artists from the Withered Bone Plane in the 903 Divine Domain.

The fortress was cast entirely from some kind of ghastly white, porous giant bones, with countless twisted, wailing Souls imprisoned within the pores, forming a writhing Soul barrier that radiated dense deathly silence and resentment.

At the top of the fortress, a massive bone spike formed by countless spiraling vertebrae pierced straight into the Void Realm, its tip wreathed in viscous, ink-like dark purple Demonic Energy, like a spear of curses pointed at this world.

Lin Yuan took a step forward.

There were no spatial ripples, no energy fluctuations; it seemed like an ordinary stride, yet his figure had already disappeared from where he stood, appearing directly before the hideous gate of the Withered Bone Star Fortress formed by intersecting giant ribs!

The speed was so fast that it transcended the conventional logic of spatial displacement, bordering on a direct transformation at the level of "existence"!

"Enemy attack!!!" A shrill Soul screech instantly tore through the deathly silence of the Withered Bone Star Fortress!

The writhing Soul barrier on the surface of the fortress suddenly boiled, countless twisted faces let out silent howls, and they condensed into streaks of filthy Soul shockwaves, shooting over like a dense rain of black arrows, covering the sky and earth!

At the same time, from the pores all over the fortress, countless skeleton guards with ghostly green Soul fire burning in their eye sockets swarmed out like locusts, brandishing bone blades and rushing toward Lin Yuan with bloodthirsty madness!

Lin Yuan did not even lift his eyes to look at the Soul arrow rain and skeleton frenzy that were sufficient to tear apart the Divine Soul of most Hunyuan Realm experts.

Around his body, a layer of faint, ethereal Chaos mist flowed naturally.

Ssh—! Ssh—! Ssh—!

The Soul shock arrows, capable of piercing stars and defiling Divine Souls, the moment they touched the Chaos mist, were like shooting into a bottomless abyss of ruin; without even causing a ripple, they silently annihilated and dissipated!

This was not offset by defense, but forcibly erased from the level of existence by a rule of "End" originating from the great dao origin flow!

The skeleton guards that rushed close were even more miserable.

Before the bone blades in their hands could touch the hem of Lin Yuan's clothes, the undead power and the withered bones themselves that constituted their bodies were like wax figures thrown into strong acid; starting from the point of contact, they silently disintegrated and turned into fly ash!

The speed was so fast that their hideous expressions were still frozen on their faces while their massive bone bodies completely dissipated mid-charge!

[Passive · End of Myriad Dao triggered: Non-Chaos system great dao power, forced annihilation!]

Lin Yuan's footsteps did not pause in the slightest; as if taking a leisurely stroll, he walked toward the tightly closed, bone-cast gate flowing with filthy demonic patterns.

Wherever he passed, the Soul arrow rain vanished, the skeleton guards turned to ash, leaving behind a straight path of death composed of pure nothingness!

"Arrogant!" A roar containing boundless rage and terror exploded from the depths of the fortress, like the friction of billions of withered bones!

The massive vertebral bone spike at the top of the Withered Bone Star Fortress suddenly erupted with blinding dark purple demonic light!