At Chen Xu's words, the necrotic archdukes all turned their heads toward the center of the gathering, looking at the towering skeleton giant and undead elder, Disaster Bone.
Disaster Bone was massive, significantly larger even than Bone Guard One under Chen Xu's command.
While Bone Guard One was only about a hundred meters tall, Disaster Bone stood at least a thousand meters high.
Crackle! Crackle!
The sound of grinding bones echoed as Disaster Bone stood up from the ground. His enormous frame inevitably kicked up clouds of dust with every movement.
To prevent the dust from reaching Chen Xu, another elder sitting beside Disaster Bone—the Three-Headed Bone Dragon Chimera—exhaled a breath, blowing the dust toward the other necrotic archdukes.
The archdukes in that direction didn't object; in fact, they didn't dare to.
The Three-Headed Bone Dragon Chimera hadn't always been known by that name. Of its three large and distinct heads, only one was natural.
The other two had been "borrowed" by this elder from two other eternal-tier bone dragons. It was just that the borrowing had been done in a bit of a hurry, and no return date had ever been mentioned.
In the long history of the Land of the Undead, beings at the level of a necrotic archduke rarely died.
This was because the Land of the Undead did not engage in outward expansion like Hell, so there were no frequent wars.
The few necrotic archdukes who had fallen had mostly left the Land of the Undead and died while wandering on their own.
A few others had fallen due to internal conflicts between archdukes, but such instances were extremely rare.
Among the elders, Chimera held the most terrifying reputation because he had claimed the most undead lives.
Everyone feared that this elder might one day have a sudden whim, decide that three heads weren't enough, and go looking for his next lucky donor.
In short, among the great elders, Alix the Primordial Black Knight was the most mysterious, Disaster Bone the skeleton giant was the most ancient, and Chimera the Three-Headed Bone Dragon had the most dazzling combat record.
Disaster Bone lowered his head slightly, bowing to Chen Xu in acknowledgment.
The Land of the Undead didn't care for excessive etiquette; a simple nod was sufficient when a necrotic archduke met the Lord of the Undead.
“Great Lord of the Undead, since you ascended the Supreme Throne, you have yet to inspect the Land of the Undead and demonstrate your authority to all its inhabitants. Those undead long to gaze upon your majestic figure. I wonder, when will you begin your Overlord's Pilgrimage?”
The Overlord's Pilgrimage was a customary event performed by every generation of the Lord of the Undead.
After ascending to the supreme position, they would tour the Land of the Undead, allowing the undead to gaze upon their ruler and share in the glory.
However, Chen Xu had no interest in such things. What was the point of showing off to a bunch of undead?
He was just an outsider, not a native born and raised in the Land of the Undead. Chen Xu wasn't particularly fond of the idea of a pilgrimage, so he hadn't performed one.
Chen Xu waved his hand dismissively and pointed toward the sky, speaking casually. “The Sun and Moon Star Lords have received my divine gift. Their patrol of the Land of the Undead is as if I were there in person.”
Radiant Sun and Taiyin also burst forth with their own brilliant light, echoing Chen Xu's words.
Disaster Bone tilted his head back slightly, looking at the eighteen stars in the sky, and fell silent for a moment.
These eighteen stars rotated ceaselessly, day and night, illuminating every corner of the Land of the Undead without exception.
Those undead who lacked clear consciousness had even begun to gather together, following the moon and developing a form of faith.
Under the guidance of several giant beasts radiating lunar essence, they had even established a Moon-Worshiping Cult.
And the sun, with its even more dazzling light, needed no explanation. At the height of its brilliance, even an elder necrotic archduke like himself would feel a slight stinging sensation in his bones when exposed to the sunlight.
Disaster Bone did not dwell on the matter. Instead, he moved to the next topic—the one he and the other necrotic archdukes cared about most.
“Great Lord of the Undead, Hell has already extended its claws into this pure land belonging to the dead. I wonder... what are your plans?”
Disaster Bone reached out with a skeletal claw. A fissure cracked open in the ground below, and several beating hearts, along with other organs, floated out and landed in his hand.
These organs were just like the strange heart found inside Old Cyclops, manifestations of the flesh power Hell had injected into the Land of the Undead.
Ever since that heart was discovered in Old Cyclops and Medusa informed Alix, the necrotic archdukes had united to begin a massive purge.
Dozens of mutated undead lords contaminated by flesh power had been dragged out and directly eliminated by the archdukes.
Disaster Bone had placed seals on these special organs to isolate the spread of corruption and buried them within his own territory to prevent any further leaks.
It wasn't just the Martial Artists who resented Hell's interference in their territory; the necrotic archdukes felt the same way.
These ancient shut-ins had an incredibly strong sense of territory and were deeply disgusted by Hell's overstepping.
As soon as the corrupted organs appeared, the expressions of the necrotic archdukes changed in unison, their disgust and resentment unconcealed.
Seeing this, Chen Xu sat up straight. If the necrotic archdukes could share a common enemy and stand united against Hell, he was more than happy to see it.
“Hell has silently placed these disgusting things into the Land of the Undead. It is both rude and a sign of contempt for us undead.
“Therefore, I have decided to declare war on Hell.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of exclamations erupted among the necrotic archdukes.
“Declare war?!”
“Isn't this too sudden?”
“Declare war? That's Hell we're talking about.”
Before the archdukes could continue their debate, the Three-Headed Bone Dragon Chimera spread his wings and unleashed his aura. His massive presence bore down on the archdukes in the back.
“Hmph, a bunch of spineless trash,” the dragon head on the left grumbled.
“Hell, demons... I've heard those Hell archdukes are quite impressive. I'd really like to mount the head of one,” the middle head said, smacking its jaws with eyes full of longing.
“Watch your status! The elders haven't spoken yet, so keep your mouths shut!”
The head on the far right was somewhat damaged, with a crack extending from its left eye socket down to the corner of its mouth. It looked particularly gruesome and spoke with the sternest tone.
With Chimera's intervention, the scene returned to silence.
Disaster Bone looked at Chen Xu. He was bewildered. In the eyes of this new Lord of the Undead, there wasn't a single trace of fear or hesitation, as if the words he had just spoken were not a joke.
That was Hell. Others might not know the full extent of it, but how could an elder like himself not know?
Heaven and Hell were eternal, but the masters of the undead had been constantly replaced since then.
Disaster Bone remained silent for a while before turning his head to look at Alix, hoping to get some advice from the Primordial Black Knight.
But Alix looked completely indifferent, leaving Disaster Bone unable to gauge his thoughts.
Helpless, Disaster Bone decided to try and offer some persuasion first.
“Great Lord of the Undead, Hell is no ordinary existence. The Mother of Hell has existed for a long time and has devoured countless worlds and living beings. Her strength has long since reached an unknowable level.
“Aside from the Lord of Heaven, who has the confidence to contend with her, our Land of the Undead perhaps...”
Disaster Bone couldn't finish his sentence. Chen Xu raised his hand and threw something out from the Undead Dao Court, cutting off the rest of what Disaster Bone was about to say.
It was a massive body belonging to Karl, the Demon King of Destruction.
Though the soul was gone, the power of the physical body could not be ignored. Karl's corpse still radiated a powerful aura at all times, a pressure sufficient to stun ordinary transcendents who drew too close.
Seeing this, Disaster Bone realized that anything else he said would be useless. Their boss had already killed the opposition's star performer. When a trade war reached this level, whether or not a formal declaration was made didn't matter much anymore.
“In that case, Disaster Bone is willing to follow in the footsteps of the Overlord.”
Beside him, Chimera's three heads let out a synchronized dragon roar, clearly excited.
“Hahaha! The Overlord is truly powerful and aggressive. I like it very much!”
Then, the three heads lowered in unison, speaking in a submissive tone.
“Chimera shall obey your will.”
The other elders did not speak, but they all used their actions to express their agreement.
A unanimous vote!
With the elders in agreement, the remaining necrotic archdukes had no choice but to speak up in unison, declaring their willingness to obey Chen Xu and declare war on Hell.
The body of a Hell Demon King was right in front of them, still fresh. This Lord of the Undead didn't play by the rules. He skipped the pilgrimage and went straight to declaring war on Hell.
Chen Xu didn't realize that in the eyes of these necrotic archdukes, he had already become a war-crazed tyrant. They were terrified that if they were even slightly careless, he would use them as a sacrifice to the war flags before the battle.
This was a transcendent world where special rituals existed. Killing high-tier beasts or high-tier transcendents before a battle to obtain group buffs was a known practice.
Chen Xu sensed the change in the necrotic archdukes through his soul perception. Although he didn't quite understand where the sudden fear came from, he didn't care to look into it.
Since the necrotic archdukes had agreed to his idea, Thor's suggested solution—using a ritual to defeat a ritual—became even more likely to succeed.
“Since you are all willing to resist Hell with me, I will give you several sets of coordinates.
“Those coordinates lead to battlefields where Hell is currently invading. You may form your own teams and head there.”
Hearing this, the necrotic archdukes looked at each other. It was confirmed—he was definitely a war-crazed tyrant.
...
The assembly ended abruptly. After receiving the coordinates, the necrotic archdukes returned to their territories to pass the pressure down to their subordinate undead lords, ensuring the pressure reached the grassroots level.
Undead were mobilized one by one, gathering into armies.
Disaster Bone, however, asked Chen Xu to stay behind, seemingly having something to say in private.
Once they were alone, Disaster Bone spoke.
“Overlord, I wonder if you know the origin of the Land of the Undead?”
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