Chapter 1079 - 675: New Mission, San Tuo Mountain
Chapter 1079: Chapter 675: New Mission, San Tuo Mountain
In the next few days, Ice Extreme Pass did not launch any other major operations.
Whether it was the five generals who had just advanced to Tier Seven, or warriors of all levels who had made breakthroughs before the Pillar Monument, all of them were doing their best to adapt to the new power within their bodies.
And in this process, the Stele Demons undoubtedly became the best whetstones.
The warriors, moving out in Legions, took turns going out on extermination runs. In their bloody clashes with the Stele Demons, they slowly fused the improvements brought by the Pillar Stele Light—bloodline advancement, physique strengthening, Spiritual Energy refinement, awakening of comprehension—into their techniques and instincts bit by bit.
Every battle was a smelting.
In just a few short days, the warriors’ combat capability had grown noticeably once again, and that raw unfamiliarity that came with first gaining power gradually faded away.
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
Over these ten days, Ice Extreme Pass had long since swept clean all Stele Demons within its garrison range. On the rare occasion some fish slipped through the outer blockade by luck, they would be silently eliminated by members of The Shadow Division roaming around the camp’s perimeter, without even getting the chance to approach the camp.
During this period, Qin Tian had also been secretly observing the movements of the Luohou Clan.
In these ten days, the Luohou Clan gave no public response to the deaths of Saral and the others, nor did they enter the underground stone caverns beneath the Pillar Monument.
It seemed the Luohou Clan had yet to connect the disappearance of Saral and the others with Ice Extreme Pass, and no one within their ranks knew the exact location of the Pillar Monument.
Seizing this opportunity, Qin Tian immediately decided to lead the main force back to the Pillar Monument.
Over these ten days, the Power of the Martial Immortal had been continuously poured into the Array Breaking Cone, raising this Spiritual Artifact’s quality by a great margin. The spirituality within the cone had completely matured and awakened a fully-formed Artifact Spirit.
With the new Array Breaking Cone, plus the even more surging Spiritual Energy after his breakthrough by two Stars, Qin Tian once again broke open the Pillar Monument’s protective barrier.
The entire Ice Extreme Pass bathed in the Pillar Stele Light for a second time.
However, this time the light lasted shorter than the first.
After being forcibly broken twice, the Pillar Monument’s Defense Array had clearly enhanced its self-repair and defensive capabilities. The speed at which the Array Breaking Cone was squeezed out by the Array’s power also increased significantly.
But even so, that brief baptism of Golden Light was still a tremendous aid to everyone’s growth.
Almost all the warriors advanced by one to two Stars.
Another twenty-three people broke from Tier Four to Tier Five, and another eleven broke from Tier Five to Tier Six.
Those warriors who had just broken through during the first baptism and whose foundations were not yet stable managed to stabilize their realms in this second light; those who had been just one step away the first time finally crossed that threshold.
Li Qi, Xiong, Terreda, Old Ghost, Ran Tu and the others had only just finished digesting the surge of Energy in their bodies, yet under the push of the Pillar Stele Light, they successfully broke through another Star.
After Tier Seven, each Star was an extremely difficult leap, yet they had taken only ten days to break through again.
At the same time, Qin Tian smoothly advanced from Tier Seven, Seven Stars to Tier Seven, Eight Stars, now only a single step away from Tier Seven Peak.
By this point, the potential of the Array Breaking Cone had been fully exhausted.
After being broken three times, the Pillar Monument’s Defense Array had raised its defensive strength to a new level. With the Array Breaking Cone’s current quality, it was no longer enough to tear open another gap.
Unless Qin Tian could find another Pillar Monument, or find a more powerful Array Breaking Technique, the next full-scale advancement for everyone would have to wait until the final Celestial Stele baptism.
Overall, the two baptisms of Pillar Stele Light had given Ice Extreme Pass’s overall strength a tremendous leap; this pace of growth had already far surpassed Qin Tian’s original expectations.
He silently took stock of Ice Extreme Pass’s current foundation—among the soldiers who had entered the Secret Realm, there were now eight Tier Seven Powerhouses, and more than forty Tier Six Powerhouses.
Looking across the entire Secret Realm, aside from the core teams of the Nine Great Holy Blood Clans, almost no other force could firmly suppress Ice Extreme Pass in overall strength.
Next, Ice Extreme Pass could face the subsequent challenges with an even more high-spirited bearing.
While Ice Extreme Pass was taking this brief rest, Qin Tian received a transmission order from the Dongfang Family.
The Nine Great Holy Blood Clans had already completed the clearing of Stele Demons in the outer regions, and all teams were beginning to advance toward the center of the Secret Realm in unison.
This meant that the first phase of the mission was over, and the real contest was about to begin.
Qin Tian put away the Sound Transmission Shell, his gaze looking toward that faintly visible dark silhouette on the distant horizon.
An even more brutal battle was coming.
...
"This is the mission assigned to Ice Extreme Pass."
Inside the command tent, Dongfang Haoyue stood beside Qin Tian and reached out to tap a mountain-shaped mark on the map.
"San Tuo Mountain."
Qin Tian lowered his head to look at the map. The shape of this mountain was indeed as its name suggested—seen from afar, three towering peaks were lined up in sequence, with the central summit slightly sunken and the two flanking summits slightly raised, its outline resembling the humps on a camel’s back, hence the name San Tuo Mountain.
"San Tuo Mountain is a tough bone to gnaw."
Dongfang Haoyue’s tone grew serious. "The family once sent experts to scout it out, but of the five who went, only one came back, and he was badly injured. According to him, the Stele Demons within San Tuo Mountain are especially dense, and more than one Tier Eight Stele Demon sits in command. Ordinary teams simply don’t have the strength to take it; a forced assault would just be throwing lives away."
He paused, then continued, "After discussion, the Elders decided to hand this mission to you. First, in terms of Investigation Ability, there are few in the entire Secret Realm who can surpass you. Second, your Spatial Ability can ensure your safety; even if you encounter an opponent you cannot possibly resist, you can still retreat unscathed."