Chen Xu's two armies swept northward, slaying gods and Buddhas alike in their path, advancing with an irresistible force.
In just one month, they successfully captured five Necrotic Lord candidates, expanding Chen Xu's territory to ten times its original size.
The extraordinary performance of Chen Xu's army was naturally noticed by others and began to spread.
Not all Necrotic Lord candidates possessed the desperate spirit of Old Insight; most chose to prioritize their survival by voluntarily forfeiting their candidacy and fleeing their territories.
This was true for Majick before, and it was the same for the five candidates this time.
For these undead who had no concerns about lifespan, the supreme Undead Throne of the Necrotic Lord was a prize worth having, but if they couldn't get it, they could still live quite well, so there was no need to fight to the death.
The information about Chen Xu, this dark horse competitor, was spread by these very candidates.
In their descriptions, Chen Xu was an anomaly, a top favorite to win the struggle.
The nine Black Knights with low-level divine power were naturally legendary, and every undead knew of their power.
However, the descriptions of his other forces were the real key.
There were stories of the Nether Skeleton Legion led by a skeleton general of terrifying proportions, capable of summoning eerie flowers that plundered the souls of the undead, with even ghosts unable to escape them.
Then there was the sky-covering swarm of Undead Bone Dragons, led by a bone dragon that had achieved godhood, turning the sky into its personal forbidden zone where no other creature was allowed to intrude.
Two massive, all-devouring maws would randomly appear on the battlefield, along with the Evil Spirit of Ice wielding the power of ultimate cold, and even the duo of Bone Guard Two and Hades had risen to prominence, known as the Evil Soul-Profaning Hunters.
Of course, if one were to ask which of the mythic-tier beings under Chen Xu was the most feared by the undead, it would undoubtedly be Zhenyuan.
The effect of Wild Beastification on plants was far too exaggerated; Zhenyuan was like a battle maniac, its branches wrapped around Yin Stones as it vented its fury across the battlefield.
While other undead creatures fought under Chen Xu's orders to defeat enemy armies and help him occupy territory, Zhenyuan fought for the pure enjoyment of it.
It crushed every enemy it saw with absolute equality, from ordinary skeletons to mythic-tier Necrotic Lords; it spared no one.
Furthermore, after its Wild Beastification, Zhenyuan's root system could extract the flesh, bones, and souls of the undead, and this terrifying absorption ability allowed it to maintain a high-energy state at all times.
With such horrific combat power, Zhenyuan was a one-tree army, carving its own path where not a single blade of grass remained, the very ground sucked dry of necrotic aura, and even the concentration of necrotic energy in the air grew thin in its wake.
As for Guixu, the floating city hidden in the rear had not yet had a chance to act, remaining one of Chen Xu's hidden trump cards.
Seeing his undead army so fierce and triumphant, and with Gandalf having just returned with a large group of mages, Chen Xu had Gandalf lead them to begin installing new magic technology.
Guixu possessed absolute control over the floating city, so Chen Xu was not worried about these mages leaving any hidden traps while installing the technology, thus he did not recall the Black Knights and let the mages of the Eternal Heart civilization get to work.
Time flowed by, and another month passed, the South Realm having been turned upside down by this outsider, Chen Xu.
Chen Xu, like a dragon crossing the river, had pressed the fast-forward button on the entire competition process in the South Realm.
During this month, Chen Xu defeated another six competitors, and his territory reached twenty times its initial size, making him the most powerful candidate in the South Realm.
However, precisely because Chen Xu was too powerful, the remaining Necrotic Lord candidates in the South Realm actually began to form alliances, working together to target Chen Xu's army.
Under this combined resistance, the momentum of Chen Xu's offensive slowed significantly, but it happened just as the second wave of the necrotic tide was about to erupt, with the concentration of necrotic aura in the air already starting to rise slowly.
Chen Xu simply decided to pause his offensive, intending to wait for this wave of the necrotic tide to finish before replenishing his undead army and then cleaning up these scattered remnants.
A single eruption of the necrotic tide would last for half a month, so he withdrew his troops for those two weeks to reorganize.
Taking this opportunity, Chen Xu found Big Boss.
"Brother Big Boss, has your merchant caravan for acquiring space fragments not returned yet?"
Chen Xu's Undead Kingdom already had twenty four special areas; adding six more would allow it to advance to the eternal-tier.
Rapidly increasing his rank by merging space fragments was Chen Xu's advantage.
If he wanted to occupy the entire South Realm before the next wave of the necrotic tide, he would need to rely on rank suppression.
"Lord Chen Xu, soon, they will be back in three days. They have already finished traveling through the worlds on the regular trade routes and are now on their way back, but they encountered a newly opened battlefield between Heaven and Hell. We were purchasing supplies from the side of Heaven, which is why it was delayed for a few days."
"Heaven and Hell are fighting again?"
"Yes."
Big Boss nodded and pulled a magic tome from his robes; this was a book he specifically used to record major events in the myriad worlds.
As a Merchant of Myriad Worlds, he knew the importance of intelligence, recording every event, large or small, that occurred across the worlds.
After all, behind every event lay infinite business opportunities. Especially a war between great powers like Heaven and Hell; besides being a purgatory for life and a meat grinder, it was an infinite bottomless pit that consumed resources.
Big Boss had made his fortune from a war and was practically an expert on the profits involved; no one understood it better than him.
However, what Chen Xu was concerned about was the movements of Hell.
Since Hell was already interfering in the Land of the Undead and still dared to actively provoke Heaven to open a new battlefield, fighting on multiple fronts, it seemed that after years of plundering, Hell's strength had reached such a level.
"Very well, notify me as soon as the caravan returns."
"Understood, Lord Chen Xu."
He needed to obtain the supreme Undead Throne of the Necrotic Lord as quickly as possible. After so many years, Hell was showing its claws again, and without the combat power of a unique-tier or Dao Lord level, things still didn't feel quite right.
Chen Xu turned to look at Bone Guard Ten, who was still devouring energy; this perfect creation's physical aptitude had reached the limit, and once combined with his own unique-tier soul, he should also possess combat power at the Dao Lord level.
Since he had to wait three days for Big Boss, Chen Xu returned to Blue Star first. Two months in the Land of the Undead meant a full year had passed on Blue Star.
In one year, Daxia, along with other nations, must have cleared many dungeons and produced countless space fragments, among which there should be some suitable for him.
Upon returning to Daxia, Chen Xu first took a deep breath.
"The concentration has increased significantly again. If there are enough dungeons and this continues to rise, perhaps spirit qi can upgrade into celestial qi, and Daxia can become a celestial realm."
After his reflection, Chen Xu teleported to the military academy base.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
"Teacher Xia, I need an emergency favor. Do you have any spare space fragments? Give me some."
Without waiting for Xia Qiming's reply, Chen Xu walked straight in.
"Oh, you have a guest? And this is?"
In the office, besides Xia Qiming, there was a woman dressed in an ancient style, and to Chen Xu's surprise, he couldn't even detect her with his senses.
The woman turned around and glanced at Chen Xu.
Chen Xu also saw her face clearly. With sword-like brows and starry eyes, she possessed an androgynous beauty—a feminine face with a masculine spirit. It was truly a fine appearance, yet Chen Xu felt as though her face was somewhat familiar.
"So you are the rising star that Bufan mentioned?"
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