21: Chapter 21: A chaotic battle across land, sea, and air; goblins rampage through the entire arena.

Lin Yuan paid 50,000 faith points, and a card shimmering with golden temporal laws appeared in his palm.

He did not linger, and his consciousness returned to the Divine Realm space.

Above the Wasteland, ash was still drifting down.

Lin Yuan floated in the sky, overlooking the fortress that had begun to take shape below.

In the center of the basin was a dark red blood pool, with the hideous Abyssal Carrion Tree standing beside it, and the Black Blood Drill Ground exuding an aura of iron and blood on the right.

The perimeter was defined by the rushing Styx, Demonized Vultures circled in the sky, and blood-sucking venomous bats hid deep within the caves.

The embryonic form of the ecosystem was complete; now, it needed the catalyst of time.

Lin Yuan opened his fingers and crushed the [Mid-Tier Time Hourglass Card] in his hand.

Hum— Laws descended.

Golden quicksand appeared out of thin air in the ash-filled sky, transforming into a massive, illusory hourglass.

One year, five years, ten years.

In the first ten years, the Divine Realm ushered in an unprecedented explosion.

The Abyssal Carrion Tree fully revealed the terrifying efficacy of its Silver-tier trait, [Endless Flesh].

Its massive root system plunged deep into the Wasteland, devouring the remains of dead mutant cockroaches, fallen goblins, and not even sparing the droppings of vultures falling from the sky.

Vast nutrients were transported up the trunk, and the meat cocoons hanging from the branches matured, fell, and burst open at an astonishing speed.

The rich, high-energy flesh became an inexhaustible food source for the goblins.

With sufficient food and drastically reduced survival pressure, the reproductive instinct engraved in the genes of the goblin race was activated.

They began to mate frantically.

In the first year, the goblin population exceeded 3,000.

By the fifth year, it exceeded 10,000.

By the eighth year, the entire basin was almost packed with Obsidian Goblins, and their number broke through the 30,000 mark.

It was not just an explosion in quantity; quality was also undergoing a qualitative change.

The Black Blood Drill Ground served the dual purpose of a meat grinder and an incubator.

Every day, thousands of goblins flooded into the drill ground, the bronze formation patterns on the ground lit up, and a layer of heavy bone armor covered their bodies.

They fought endless battles inside.

The victors stripped the defeated of their vitality, thereby breaking through the Black Iron barrier and stepping into the Bronze tier.

The [Combat Skill Resonance] trait of the drill ground was also activated.

Some gifted goblins grasped basic combat skills like "Heavy Strike," "Tear," and "Block" during the fighting.

However, when time advanced to the 20th year of the Divine Realm calendar, the balance was broken.

The area of the basin was limited, and although the yield of the Abyssal Carrion Tree was large, the closer the meat cocoons were to the trunk, the higher the energy concentration.

The area of the blood pool was also only so large.

Among the thirty thousand-plus goblins, hundreds of Bronze-tier chieftains were born.

They were no longer satisfied with following behind the Tyrant and eating leftovers.

Desire birthed ambition, and ambition sparked war.

The goblin tribe split, and led by those Bronze-tier chieftains, they divided into over a dozen clans of varying sizes.

In order to fight for the core throne beneath the Abyssal Carrion Tree, and to monopolize the right to be baptized in the blood pool, war broke out.

The Divine Realm log called it the "Ash Blood War."

The slaughter spread from the center of the basin to the outer rift valley.

Over thirty thousand Obsidian Goblins, each over two meters tall and clad in bone armor condensed by the drill ground.

Wielding bone spears and flails, they engaged in a horrific internecine struggle on this scorched earth.

Every day, hundreds, if not thousands, of goblins died.

The sound of obsidian shattering and the crisp snap of breaking bones became the only melody on the Wasteland.

This war inevitably dragged in the other creatures within the Divine Realm.

In the sky, the Demonized Vulture population had multiplied to tens of thousands over the decades.

Originally, they only dared to circle high above to scavenge for carrion, but the corpses covering the ground drove them into a frenzy.

The smell of blood stimulated their nerves.

Hundreds of Demonized Vultures dove down, attempting to snatch goblin corpses in the center of the battlefield.

But these aerial predators severely underestimated the ferocity of the goblins.

"Roar!" A Bronze-tier clan chieftain roared, grabbed the corpse of a companion from the ground, and hurled it fiercely toward the sky as a projectile.

The immense force smashed several Demonized Vultures into a pulp instantly.

More goblins tilted their heads back, and the venomous stones and sharp bone spears in their hands were like a meteor shower flying in reverse, riddling the sky with holes.

The Demonized Vultures let out shrill screams and plummeted one after another.

Their feathers were corroded by acid, and their bodies were pierced by spears.

Before they could even breathe their last, the goblins swarmed them, tearing them apart and devouring them alive.

When night fell and the daylight anti-aircraft fire subsided, swarms of blood-sucking venomous bats would pour out from the depths of the darkness.

They were more cunning than the Demonized Vultures, specifically targeting severely wounded goblins that had strayed from their groups.

Goblins that couldn't withstand the virus would die in convulsions, turning into rotting meat.

Those that survived the toxin erosion would develop hidden blood-colored anti-toxin patterns on their Obsidian Goblin skin scales.

These venomous bats lurking in the night became a natural litmus test for Lin Yuan to screen the goblins' immune systems.

At the bottom of the Styx, the acidic water was stained dark black by blood.

Countless severed limbs were tossed into the river, and the 50,000 tons of waste liquid became a massive morgue.

The Piranhas welcomed their carnival feast.

They darted through the water, their sharp teeth tearing through the goblins' skin and gnawing the flesh off the corpses until they were clean.

Some Demonized Vultures, in order to avoid the goblins' anti-aircraft fire, flew close to the river surface, attempting to grab meat fragments from the water.

But the Styx was no safe haven.

The highly toxic algae floating on the water surface entangled the Demonized Vultures' claws, dragging them into the water.

The Abyssal Mud Crabs lurking at the bottom of the silt brandished their basin-sized giant pincers, severing the Demonized Vultures' wings.

Swarms of Piranhas swarmed forward, staining the water surface with clusters of crimson blood.

The ecosystems of land, sea, and air were all churned together.

Demonized Vultures preyed on Piranhas, bats poisoned the remnant goblin troops, and Piranhas gnawed on goblin corpses.

And the goblins killed every living thing in their field of vision.

This was a perfect Gu-pot slaughter.

But in this chaotic battle, the goblins displayed overwhelming dominance.

Their individual combat strength was too strong; their acidic bodily fluids and Boiling Blood frenzy made them the overlords of this battlefield.

Any peripheral creature that dared to approach the land would be met with a devastating strike.

...

The goblin population was plummeting rapidly.

It fell from 30,000 to 20,000, and then to 15,000.

Even seeing the Bronze-tier units he had spent a fortune to cultivate being torn to pieces by their own kind, there wasn't the slightest ripple in Lin Yuan's eyes.

He did not descend an oracle to stop the infighting.

Because he knew very well that this was the necessary path for species advancement.

The Wasteland did not need flowers in a greenhouse, nor did it need sheep that lined up in an orderly fashion to receive rations.

What he wanted were mad dogs capable of withstanding high-tier monsters on the Abyssal front line and tearing a path to survival in desperate situations.

Fight! Kill! Eat!

Only those who survive are the essence; the dead are only fit to be fertilizer.

30th year of the Divine Realm calendar. The ten-year-long Ash Blood War finally reached a turning point.

The Tyrant made its move.

Over the past ten years, it had been entrenched in the deepest part of the blood pool, devouring the top-tier resources and watching the clans consume each other with cold eyes.

When the dozen or so clans had fought until they were both battered and exhausted, selecting the three strongest Bronze-tier high-level chieftains.

The Tyrant stood up from the blood pool.

Its size had swollen to five meters, and the Obsidian Goblin scales on its back faintly shimmered with dark golden patterns.

With every step it took, the scorched earth trembled.

The Tyrant charged directly into the center of the battlefield, relying on its monstrous physical strength to withstand the piercing of hundreds of bone spears, and punched the first chieftain's head into a pulp.

Then, it grabbed the second chieftain's arms and, amidst the opponent's desperate screams, ripped it alive into two halves, covering itself in a spray of black blood.

The last chieftain was scared out of its wits, threw down its weapon, and knelt to beg for mercy.

The Tyrant stepped down, crushing its spine.

"Roar—!!!" The Tyrant grabbed the two chieftains' heads and roared to the sky, a sound that pierced the clouds.

The clamor of the battlefield came to an abrupt end.

All the goblins still fighting stopped their actions, dropped their weapons, and knelt before the invincible demonic shadow in the center of the basin.

The bloodline suppression of the Domination trait erupted fully.

The civil war ended.

The Wasteland was unified once again.

In the following twenty-five years, the Divine Realm entered a period of stable development.

Having experienced the baptism of the blood war, the goblin population base stabilized.

The mechanism of survival of the fittest was ingrained in their bones.

The population was firmly stuck at the figure of 50,000.

Given the resource carrying capacity of this Divine Realm, plus the attrition from their mutual elimination, 50,000 was the limit for maintaining peak combat strength.

The Demonized Vultures in the sky, the venomous bats in the mines, and the Piranhas in the water were also beaten into submission.

They formed a new tacit understanding: the peripheral creatures would only eat the scraps left by the goblins and would never take the initiative to provoke them.

The 55th year. The time hourglass in the sky collapsed, transforming into a rain of light that dissipated.

The time flow returned to normal.

Lin Yuan let out a long breath and pulled up the detailed panel of the Divine Realm terminal.

The light screen unfolded before his eyes, and the dense data made his heart race.

[Follower Race]: Abyssal Blood Obsidian Goblin (Variant/Hero Domination)

[Quantity]: 50,000

[Average Tier]: Bronze 7-Star — Bronze 9-Star

[Race Traits]: 1. Abyssal Resistance: Immune to intermediate toxins and rabies virus, ignores conventional high temperatures and extreme cold environments.

2. Black Blood Bone Armor: The body surface is covered in heavy armor fused with Obsidian Goblins and the drill ground's bone material, physical defense increased by 500%, possesses weak magic resistance.

3. Boiling Blood Berserk (Advanced): Increases physical strength by 800% for a short time, loses sense of pain, until killed in battle or exhausted.

4. Acid Self-Destruct: At the moment of death, internal organs undergo a violent reaction, erupting with a large-area corrosive acid liquid.

5. Combat Skill Mastery: Proficiently masters basic combat skills such as Heavy Strike, Piercing, and Coordinated Shield Formation.

A full 50,000-strong army, all Bronze high-tier!

Even more terrifying is [Acid Self-Destruct].

This means this is not just a heavy infantry unit, but a group of human bombs.

Once they form a large-scale charge on the battlefield, even Silver-tier legions would have to retreat three times.

Lin Yuan shifted his gaze to the hero unit above.

[Name]: Tyrant

[Race]: Abyssal Blood Troll Goblin (Deeply Mutated)

[Tier]: Silver 3-Star

[Exclusive Traits]: 1. Absolute Domination: Area-of-effect forced increase in ally morale, immune to most mental spell controls.

2. Undying Body: As long as the heart and head are not destroyed simultaneously, severed limbs can regenerate within one minute.

3. Stomp Power: Each attack carries a shock effect, ignoring 30% of the target's armor.

Silver-tier! At a stage where most high school seniors are still worrying about their believers breaking through to Bronze.

Lin Yuan already holds a Silver-tier war god and a 50,000-strong Bronze high-tier army in his hands.

Looking at the vassal races in the ecosystem chain.

[Vassal Race]: Netherfire Corrosive Vulture

[Quantity]: 30,000

[Tier]: Black Iron 8-Star

[Traits]: Feathers carry weak Netherfire, claw attacks carry paralytic toxin.

[Vassal Race]: Scarlet Blood-Thirsty Bat

[Quantity]: 15,000

[Tier]: Black Iron 7-Star

[Traits]: Ultrasonic interference, carries violent paralytic toxin and mad blood virus.

[Vassal Race]: Iron-Armored Nether-Water Crab / Bone-Rotting Serrated Piranha

[Quantity]: 80,000

[Tier]: Black Iron 5-Star

[Traits]: Carapace hardening, bite force significantly increased, can adapt to high-intensity acidic waters.

Sea, land, and air are fully formed.