378: Thick earth thoroughfares and dark undercurrents

The self-destruction of Starfall Pavilion's "eroding" dead soldier Shi Jian, while not causing large-scale destruction, was like a poisonous thorn deeply embedded in the hearts of the high-level officials of Zhenbei City. The fact that the enemy could bury a pawn so deeply, with such devious methods and long-term planning, was chilling. An internal investigation was immediately launched at the highest level of secrecy, causing panic and making everyone suspicious of one another. However, this lead to Shi Jian had been completely severed, making it extremely difficult to track down the mastermind.

"Starfall Pavilion will not give up on destroying us. In the future, we must be even more cautious when recruiting newcomers." Lin Shanhe's expression was grave as he issued stricter directives to Sun Yan and the Internal Affairs Hall. At the same time, a covert loyalty re-verification was conducted on existing personnel, especially those with access to core technology; it was better to mistakenly investigate than to let someone slip through.

External pressure did not diminish due to the internal purge. In the southern wasteland, the Netherworld Path army was gathering in increasingly large numbers, with Devilish Qi covering the sky and sun, far exceeding the situation before the last Soul Transformation attack. Even more unsettling was the footage brought back by the front-line reconnaissance team at the cost of their lives—in the demon army camp, several huge white bone altars had been initially built. The altars were entwined with scarlet, eerie Talismans, constantly absorbing the battlefield's wandering souls and the wasteland's Devilish Qi, emitting heart-palpitating spatial fluctuations as if brewing some terrifying ritual.

"The Netherworld Path is planning something big this time!" Elder Xuanji was filled with worry. "Those altars are definitely not ordinary siege equipment; they might be capable of connecting to the Netherworld and summoning even more terrifying existences!"

The pressure was like a mountain, but Zhenbei City had no way to retreat; they could only face the difficulties head-on. Fortunately, the complete awakening of Houtu and the start of the houtu era injected unprecedented vitality and resilience into the city.

Technological dividends began to be converted into tangible wealth and strength on a large scale. Relying on stable, high-quality Materials and the mature "Resonance Forging Method," the Artifact Hall's Wei Rong began mass-producing standard "Zhenyue Armor" and "thick earth Crossbows." Although these pieces of equipment were not top-tier, they had solid defense, reliable power, and controllable costs. They were not only used to equip the city defense army but were also sold in large quantities through the houtu thoroughfare, becoming the first choice for the armed escort teams of many small and medium-sized forces, and the orders were endless. The guyuan pill and several special healing medicines improved by Su Wan from the Pill Hall also made a name for themselves in the market due to their excellent cost-performance ratio, and the "thick earth Pill Workshop" brand gradually gained weight.

The biggest change came from energy and transportation. With the assistance of Houtu, Elder Mo successfully extended the "Earth Vein Spirit Pivot Network" to a hundred miles outside the city, establishing several safe energy transfer stations and hidden communication nodes. Based on this, Sun Yan's Internal Affairs Hall vigorously expanded the houtu thoroughfare. They were no longer satisfied with scattered border trade but began to plan fixed trade routes, establishing supply points and warehouses controlled by Zhenbei City at key nodes, hiring reliable Loose Cultivators as guards, and forming relatively safe and efficient trade corridors.

These trade routes were like extended blood vessels, transporting Zhenbei City's products to farther places, while transporting unique minerals, Spiritual Plants, and even some rare Yao Beast Materials from afar back to the city. Although Starfall Pavilion still monopolized high-end resources, Zhenbei City, through this houtu thoroughfare, had carved out its own niche outside the mainstream market. The city's treasury was filling up at a visible speed, its financial situation had greatly improved, and it even had the ability to start buying back the bonds issued during the war, making the public sentiment increasingly stable.

Economic prosperity fed back into technological development. With more sufficient resources, the Artifact Hall and Pill Hall were able to carry out research projects that had been shelved due to a lack of funds. Wei Rong began to try to fuse "Star-patterned Iron" with several fire-attribute crystals to develop more powerful explosive Magical Artifacts; Su Wan began to study several strange poisonous plants exchanged from the Yao Race territory, trying to develop new types of antidotes and offensive medicinal powders. The seeds of technology grew vigorously in the soil of wealth.

However, the shadow of Starfall Pavilion was everywhere. Just when the houtu thoroughfare was conducting its first large-scale trade on a newly opened route connecting to a small Human Race country in the northwest, an accident occurred. When the caravan passed through a dangerous place called "Black Wind Gorge," it was ambushed by an unknown force! The opponent's methods were ruthless, well-coordinated, and highly targeted, specifically destroying the cargo boxes containing "Zhenyue Armor" and "thick earth Crossbows," while showing little interest in Spirit Stones and other goods. The escort team resisted desperately, and although they repelled the enemy, the cargo losses were heavy, and many skilled hands were injured or killed.

"It was instigated by Starfall Pavilion! They are warning us not to think about expanding our territory easily!" Sun Yan gritted his teeth as he looked at the casualty report. The opponent's move was intended to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, deterring other forces from cooperating deeply with Zhenbei City.

"The trade route cannot be broken! Strengthen the guard force, change the route and time, and increase camouflage measures! At the same time, offer a reward for the Black Wind Gorge bandits; I want them to pay the price!" Lin Shanhe ordered coldly. Compromise would not bring peace; only by showing greater strength and determination could they deter the petty people.

At the same time, the surveillance of the southern Netherworld Path army could not be relaxed in the slightest. The energy fluctuations of those white bone altars were getting stronger and stronger, and the monsters on the wasteland were becoming more manic. Small-scale friction occurred almost every day. The pressure on the southern defense line of Zhenbei City doubled, and resource consumption was huge.

Just as these internal and external troubles were intertwined, a turning point came from the wisdom of the earth. After Houtu stabilized its own spirit body, its perception of the earth's pulse reached a new height. Through Shi Lei, it transmitted a shocking "Earth Vein Perspective" scene to Elder Mo—under the cover of the Devilish Qi in the southern wasteland, the flow of the earth's veins was being forcibly twisted and polluted by the power of those white bone altars, and it was faintly pointing to the Foundation of Zhenbei City! Its purpose was actually to try to erode and disintegrate the city's defense Foundation from underground!

"Netherworld Path... what a poisonous plan! Openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang!" Elder Mo was horrified. If the opponent succeeded, the city-protecting formation would collapse without a fight!

The crisis was imminent! An emergency project called "Fixed Pulse" was launched overnight. Elder Mo led the elites of the Formation Hall and, based on the scene provided by Houtu, urgently deployed a series of "Earth Vein Stability Anchors" and "Purification Arrays" behind the southern defense line, doing their best to counteract the Netherworld Path's erosion of the earth's veins. This was an underground war without smoke, a contest of understanding and control over the Laws of the earth. Fortunately, with the guidance of Houtu, the "Lord of the Earth," Zhenbei City was barely able to keep up with the enemy's destruction rhythm and control the erosion within a certain range.

But this move was extremely costly and highly passive. The problem had to be solved fundamentally.

"We cannot sit and wait for death! We must destroy those altars!" Ling Yunzi's Sword Intent soared to the sky, and he volunteered.

"Do not act rashly!" Lin Shanhe rejected, "The enemy force is strong, and the altars must be heavily guarded. Rashly attacking is tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock. We need to find their weakness and strike accurately!"

Everyone's eyes turned to the direction of the Donghua Mining Area. The key to breaking the situation might still lie in Houtu, and the... jade marrow heart deeply bound to it.

Recently, in his resonance with Houtu, Shi Lei felt that Houtu's spirituality seemed to have a strong repulsion and... desire for purification towards the filthy aura of the Netherworld Path? The intention it transmitted contained a majestic power derived from the Origin of the earth, capable of cleansing filth.

"Houtu... perhaps has the power to restrain the evil arts of the Netherworld?" Elder Jiang mused.

A new research project was launched in secret: trying to guide the purification power of Houtu, combined with the ethereal Dao rhyme of the jade marrow heart, to create special "Demon-breaking" or "Purification" Magical Artifacts and Talismans, used to specifically destroy the operational core of the Netherworld Path altars.

The light of hope was rekindled in the darkest moment. However, time waits for no one. In the southern wasteland, the light of the white bone altars grew stronger day by day, and the horn of the Netherworld Path's total attack seemed to be about to sound at any moment.

Zhenbei City was advancing triumphantly on the houtu thoroughfare, with both wealth and technology growing, but beneath the land under its feet, the undercurrents of the Netherworld were surging. The road to entrepreneurship and wealth had never been so closely intertwined with the war for survival as it was now. In the next chapter, will it be a desperate counterattack, or... the arrival of the abyss?