It is often said that the power of a single individual can rarely change the tide of war, but when that individual possesses the strength of a giant, the rules change.
The appearance of Bone Guard One instantly shattered the stalemate.
A skeleton giant standing over fifty meters tall could wipe out vast swathes of cold ghosts with every single movement.
Furthermore, Bone Guard One was the First Great General of the Skeletons. As soon as he took the field, the skeleton soldiers received an additional empowerment, significantly boosting their strength.
Bone Guard One gripped his massive shield and slammed it violently into the ground, crushing the cold ghosts surrounding him.
The impact generated such a powerful shockwave that even the Daxia support units in the rear stumbled from the tremors.
After a few more strikes, Bone Guard One had cleared a vacuum zone around himself.
Behind him, the skeleton soldiers who had been maintaining the shield wall stowed their shields and drew their bone blades, launching a fierce charge toward the cold ghosts.
The necrotic knights followed closely behind the skeleton soldiers.
This rare opening allowed the knights to build up speed, finally unleashing the true devastating power of heavy cavalry.
After the initial charge, Bone Guard One leaped high into the air and crashed into the thick of the cold ghosts, swinging his shield in a wild frenzy once more to clear another open space for the following troops.
Under Bone Guard One's leadership, the undead army repeatedly executed this combination of maneuvers, pushing the front line forward by a full three kilometers.
...
As they ventured deeper into the permafrost of Hanyuan, a piercing wind howled past, carrying a bone-chilling cold that made many shiver uncontrollably.
Nearly half of the Daxia support units were unable to keep up.
This zone of extreme cold severely hampered both thought and movement. Without the proper skills or equipment, stepping further into this territory was a dangerous decision.
Chen Xu, however, remained unaffected.
His expression was calm. Between his mythic-tier constitution and his authority as the Lord of the Undead, he actually felt a strange sense of homecoming.
The freezing wind felt like the gentle touch of a mother's hand caressing his face.
"Resonant attraction? Interesting."
Chen Xu did not allow himself to get lost in the familiar sensation. He knew perfectly well that Hanyuan could not possibly share any blood relation with him.
Beyond blood, the only thing that could resonate with his soul like this was power from the same source.
Was Hanyuan the domain of some powerful undead being? Yet, the nine-ring layout and the architecture of the inner city felt completely out of place with the Land of the Undead and the typical aesthetic of undead creatures.
Alternatively, perhaps the source of the cold ghosts' power originated from a powerful undead entity.
Simply standing around and theorizing would not reveal the truth. Chen Xu decided to push to the front to see what would happen after the five Daxia teams destroyed their targets.
Chen Xu pulled the reins, turning Invincible around to face the rear.
"Everyone, I have made a discovery. I need to take the main army deeper into Hanyuan to reach the five teams. I may not be able to look after you."
"I will leave behind a portion of skeleton soldiers, skeleton archers, and skeleton mages to help you hold Hanyuan Base."
After speaking, Chen Xu rode Invincible and led the majority of his forces forward, following in Bone Guard One's wake as they delved deeper into Hanyuan.
"Mythic Chen has given the order. What do we do? Retreat?"
"Are you stupid? Can you actually fight these cold ghosts? Mythic Chen left the skeleton army here specifically to cover our withdrawal."
The members of the Daxia legions, the Heavenly Crafts Academy, and the other schools immediately turned around to retreat the moment they heard Chen Xu's message. Only the independent warbands hesitated for a moment.
"Stop talking and move. Commander Xia's orders were to follow Mythic Chen's instructions. Since Mythic Chen wants us to pull back, we follow the order."
Several legion captains noticed that some warbands hadn't moved and went over to remind them. In large-scale military operations, obedience was everything.
...
With Bone Guard One clearing the path, Chen Xu moved at an incredible speed and soon reached one of the teams.
This was Target Location 1, the site closest to Daxia territory. The team members were all strangers to Chen Xu.
At the target site, an array had already been activated. It was an earth-rank fire array, with five epic-tier powerhouses acting as the array cores while five others stood guard, watching for any sudden danger.
As the fire array operated, a thick aura of blazing flames radiated outward, constantly eroding the permafrost. There was no reconciliation between ice and fire.
Strangely, whether it was out of hatred or fear of the fiery aura, the cold ghosts no longer approached once the array started. Instead, they began to retreat.
This anomaly caught Chen Xu's attention, as well as the attention of the team at the site.
In nature, the sudden departure of creatures from a location was never a good sign.
However, they had a mission to fulfill and their homes were right behind them, so they could not retreat. They could only sharpen their focus and stay alert.
After a long time, the fire-attribute crystals within the array were exhausted, and Target Location 1 had been transformed from permafrost into parched, cracked red earth.
"Does this count as completing the mission?" one of them asked. He was the primary combatant of the group and knew little about the intricacies of arrays.
"Yes. The permafrost has thawed and cracked, the polarities have been inverted, and the node here is broken. Cold ghosts should no longer be able to spawn here," an old man said slowly, checking his calculations with a compass.
Hearing this, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Xu also heard the old man's words. Since the node was taken care of, he headed toward the next location.
He couldn't see the full picture from a single node, though the way the cold ghosts had retreated was certainly peculiar.
"The direction Mythic Chen is heading... it looks like Target Location 3. Do you think he discovered something?"
"It is possible. A mythic-tier powerhouse has undergone both physical and spiritual ascension. He might be able to see things we cannot."
"Hehe, there is always a reason behind the actions of a mythic powerhouse. As for us, we should probably retreat before chatting. The undead army followed Mythic Chen. The cold ghosts retreated while the array was active, but now that it is off, things might change."
The others agreed and quickly formed up into a defensive formation to leave the area.
...
Before long, Chen Xu arrived at Target Location 3. There were five target sites in total. Target Location 1 was in the south near Daxia, while Target Location 2 and Target Location 3 were on the east and west sides of Hanyuan.
Target Location 4 and Target Location 5 were on the northern side, closer to the border of other nations.
When Chen Xu looked at Target Location 3, he found that the array there was already operational.
However, the attacks from the cold ghosts had become increasingly violent as he traveled north. Logically, the array at Target Location 3 shouldn't have been set up so quickly.
Furthermore, the cold ghosts around Target Location 3 had retreated even further. If one didn't look closely, they couldn't even see the silhouettes of the monsters anymore.
The members of the third team were also strangers. Chen Xu developed a suspicion and didn't wait for the array to finish. He immediately led his undead army further north toward Target Location 4 and Target Location 5.
The five team members guarding the third site watched Chen Xu's departing back. Noticing that the undead army that had been protecting them did not leave with him, they turned their attention back to their task.
Chen Xu raced forward and reached Target Location 5, only to find that the array here was also already running.
"Brother Chen, what are you doing here?"
Team five consisted of Ye Bufan, Xiang Longwu, and the others. Ye Bufan had spotted Chen Xu long ago and spoke up as he approached.
"Brother Ye, how did your team get the array running so fast? Were you not intercepted by cold ghosts along the way?"
"We were at first. The attacks were incredibly frenzied. But later on, the pressure lightened significantly. The further north we went, the more peaceful the cold ghosts became. Aside from those directly blocking the path, we hardly encountered any proactive attacks."
"Why? Is there a problem? We assumed the arrays from the earlier teams were working and weakening the cold ghosts."
"The arrays are working, but they might not be destroying the source of the cold ghosts. They might be breaking a seal."
"A seal?"
Hearing Chen Xu's explanation, Ye Bufan recalled the recent anomalies and realized something was indeed wrong.
"Should we tell them to stop the array?"
"No need. To conquer Hanyuan, we have to deal with the outer cold ghosts eventually. We just need to be prepared for a fight. Brother Ye, Brother Xiang, stay alert here. I am going to warn the team at Location 4."
Chen Xu finished speaking and signaled Invincible to turn west toward the fourth site.
Just as Chen Xu was about to depart, a familiar soul message reached him.
"No need to come over. I am aware of the situation and have already notified the others in team four to stay on high alert."
"Professor Zhang?"
"Yes, it is me."
"But I remember not seeing you at the gates of Hanyuan City?"
"I didn't come in person. I am using a puppet to anchor my spirit. Stay sharp, the array here is about to finish."
Chen Xu turned his head toward the fifth site and saw that their array was also nearing completion.
After a moment, the array finished its cycle. Every cold ghost outside the target location instantly turned into water and melted into the permafrost. This wasn't happening in just one spot; the cold ghosts across the entire Hanyuan permafrost zone were liquefying.
Seeing this, Chen Xu summoned Bone Guard Two, ordering him to lock onto any potential enemies that might appear.
However, a long time passed with no movement.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently. The earth at all five target locations collapsed simultaneously, and massive clouds of white mist erupted from the pits, swirling together in the sky.
"Finally, I can taste the flavor of freedom again! Hahahaha! I, the Evil Spirit of Ice, have returned!"
Rate on N.U.
