S-level threat, on the eve of action. (5200)

Harati replied, "There are about seven to eight thousand of them, including some Tier 6 undead, as well as an undead knighthood."

"We did not conflict with these undead. They seemed to fear my strength as well, and let us leave."

"However, they warned me not to step into this ruin another step, or else they would attack us."

Cao Xing didn't react much; instead, a smile appeared on his face.

"There are actually over eight thousand undead? This is quite a good force!"

"I was just fretting over where to find more undead to convert and expand the strength of the undead legion!"

"Tomorrow I will have a word with Duke Baradin and let him lead the legion to the territory to find you."

"As for what to do next, I think you should know."

Harati's expression flickered slightly, understanding Cao Xing's meaning, and then she respectfully said, "Yes, we will carry out your will."

After saying this, the Centaur saint quickly left the place.

As for Cao Xing, he quickly pressed the communication device by his ear and dialed Duke Baradin's communication channel.

Indeed, after the last battle, this group of undead was now using technology as well.

Upon hearing Cao Xing's request, Duke Baradin readily agreed on the other end.

For him, with the powerful Blood Legion as an enemy ahead, he had to rack his brains to improve his strength.

And converting other undead was the fastest means.

After finishing these, Cao Xing came to Elisa's room again.

At a glance, he saw Herlie squatting by the bed, paying attention to Elisa's expression.

Seeing the figure at the door, an excited expression appeared on the beast-eared girl's face.

"Lord, you're here!"

Cao Xing smiled and then asked, "Has she still not woken up?"

"Mhm——Elisa has been in a coma." Herlie's tone was somewhat dejected, "But it looks like there shouldn't be any danger, only that her consciousness has suffered trauma and needs a certain amount of time to recover."

Cao Xing nodded slightly, "We have an operation coming up and will be leaving for a while. The defense work around the territory is left to you."

"As for Elisa, I'll call a few staff members to take care of her."

Upon hearing the task assigned to her by Cao Xing, the beast-eared girl immediately turned serious, and then patted her flat chest.

"Alright, Lord, leave it to this Shadow with confidence!"

"With me around, I won't let anyone else approach our territory!"

Cao Xing continued to observe Elisa for a while, and then left the room.

He was deep in thought.

Although he had long known that there were secrets on the little girl Elisa, he didn't expect that it would actually attract that kind of mysterious creature in the fog.

But up until now, Cao Xing still didn't know what the secret on her was.

He sighed, "It seems we can only wait until she wakes up to ask."

Time quickly arrived at night.

This was also the first night after the heavy haze fog disaster ended.

Survivors said excitedly in the chat channel.

"Haha! After this fog disaster, there are really so many resources outside! I just wandered around a few times and found a group of wild boars. They looked on the verge of starvation and were all wiped out by me without much resistance!"

"What is that supposed to be? I saw a large bear frozen to death in the woods outside the territory, and it seemed to be a Level 50 boss creature, yielding a full one to two thousand kilograms of bear meat. This wave is truly a huge profit!"

"Damn! The brother upstairs is really having dog shit luck, share some bear meat with me too."

They happily shared their day's harvest in the chat channel.

Meanwhile.

Outside the kingdom's border, in that mysterious grand hall.

Fourteen stone chairs of various shapes floated in mid-air.

On two of the stone chairs, powerful presences sat facing each other.

This was precisely inside the Watchers organization.

And these two people were Legendary powerhouses among the Watchers!

Just as the two Legendaries were discussing some matters, right in front of these thirteen stone chairs, a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air on the main seat.

He leaned lazily against the seat, his body shrouded by a mysterious aura, making his specific features unclear.

Even the two Watcher Legendaries did not notice his arrival.

Until a moment later, this person suddenly spoke.

"Elder Dark Crow, Elder Cold Sword."

Hearing the voice, these two Legendary powerhouses looked over one after another.

Then they looked at the figure on the main seat with pleasant surprise.

"Great Leader!"

"You have returned!"

The figure nodded slightly, "I heard, you have matters to report to me?"

Among them, Elder Cold Sword respectfully said, "Yes! Great Leader, it concerns an Otherworld Lord."

"This person caused us great hindrance in the last operation."

"And precisely because of him, we failed to rescue Taside."

"Let's hear it," the Watchers Leader said faintly.

Then, they quickly reported Cao Xing's intelligence once over.

On the main seat, the Watchers Leader was silent for a moment.

"An Otherworld Lord—capable of killing Tier 9 heroes, and having a group of powerhouses above Tier 7 under his command?"

"He indeed has some strength; this person is estimated to be one of the most prominent existences among all Otherworld Lords."

Elder Cold Sword struck while the iron was hot, "Not only that, this person has also been constantly opposing the Church of Light, repeatedly disrupting their plans, causing the descent of the God of Light to be continuously postponed."

"I feel that this Otherworld Lord is extremely hazardous and cannot be allowed to develop further!"

"Perhaps in the future, he will even impact our plans!"

The Watchers Leader was silent for a moment, and then gently tapped the armrest of the chair.

"I know. Raise the threat level of this Otherworld Lord to S-grade, on par with those few Otherworld Lords in the center of the Human Empire."

Hearing this, the two Legendaries looked at each other, a trace of joy appearing on their faces.

At this moment, the other Elder Dark Crow asked in a low voice, "Leader, since this person's threat level has already reached S-grade."

"Shouldn't we make a move as soon as possible, and then dispatch a Legendary to directly—"

On the main seat, the Watchers Leader glanced at him faintly.

"Do you think the Old King would let you do this?"

Hearing this, the two Legendaries also snapped back to their senses.

That's right. To deal with this Otherworld Lord, one must first eliminate the Old King.

Wielding a demigod artifact, coupled with that Legendary-level combat power, one or two Legendaries were simply no match for him.

The Old King could also see the potential of this Otherworld Lord, so he certainly wouldn't let them deal with Cao Xing.

The Watchers Leader continued, "Let's wait a bit longer. Next, our priority is still to deal with the Ice Crystal Kingdom."

"Once we resolve the Old King, the threat of this Otherworld Lord will naturally be lifted as well."

"Then, it will be the moment when blood descends…"

The two Watcher Legendaries said solemnly, "Yes!"

A night's time passed quickly.

The system prompt appeared.

[Survivors, please take note! You have reached the twenty-sixth day of the development period.]

[Today's Weather: Sunny, minimum temperature -54°C ~ -61°C, suitable for going out and developing the territory.]

Cao Xing opened his eyes once more.

"Today is the twenty-sixth day of the development period. There are still nineteen days left until the next monster siege."

"This period of time is indeed enough for me to boost my strength once more and accomplish some things that need to be done."

There were many things Cao Xing needed to do next.

First, he had to find a way to coax all the elves of that elf tribe back.

Then there was the [Lloyd's Tomb] recorded on the [Tyrant's Skull].

Besides this, there was also exploring the inheritance of the Legendary mage.

Afterwards, further goals included the ancient ruins mentioned by the Lake Doron City lord, and the God Burial Ground mentioned by the Sword Saint phantom.

As well as the first ring of the SS-grade quest: heading to Vortex Mountain to wipe out the Extreme Cold Demonic Insect.

Of course, the premise was that this operation against the Church of Light went relatively smoothly.

Thus, Cao Xing got up and said, "Muxue, there isn't much to do in the territory right now, so we'll get ready to head to the Eternal Frost Main City today."

"Alright, A-Xing."

The beauty nodded solemnly.

The two quickly got up, donned their battle armor, and pushed open the heavy doors of the Lords Castle together.

Work in the territory proceeded as usual.

The staff were building city walls and upgrading the energy towers and the Lords Castle.

The Arctic People Da Zhuang was leading over a hundred goblins to mine in a mine cave dozens of kilometers away,

and then transport batches of resources back.

With the protection of the Centaurs Kandaer and Kantor, no accidents would happen.

As for the remaining staff in the territory, Cao Xing did not let them go out to look for Ice Nests.

For no other reason than to guard against the counterattack of the Church of Light or the Watchers.

Before he wiped out the Church of Light, defense work had to be done well.

As for those enhanced Ice Nests, although they gave quite a lot of gold points every day.

But it can't be helped now, earning a little fewer gold points will just have to do.

Then, he pressed the communication device and said, "Next, those who are going to participate in the operation, gather round."

Upon hearing the voice, figures quickly walked out.

Francesca, Sarah, Victoria, Renice, and others walked over to rendezvous.

At the same time, a huge shadow descended from overhead.

It was Dragon Speaker and her dragon.

Then, he looked at Assam beside him, "Go get General Kro for me."

"Alright, my Lord."

Assam quickly headed to the room where Kro was staying.

And this general seemed to have already prepared, walking back with Assam shortly after.

As he walked up to Cao Xing and looked at those terrifying existences one by one, a look of disbelief appeared in his eyes.

Because he could sense that most of these people were at Tier 7 strength, and some people's potential was even inferior to his own.

However, judging by the aura emanating from them, he came to a conclusion.

That is, he, damn it, couldn't beat a single one of them—

At this moment, Kro even began to doubt his own strength.

Was his Overlord-level potential really this trashy?

Until Cao Xing's voice pulled his thoughts back.

"General Kro, let's set off and go to Eternal Frost Main City right now."

Kro's expression turned serious, and then he said, "Alright, let's go right now."

With that, he directly stepped into the large teleportation array.

Cao Xing also brought everyone, along with the massive dragon Seraphis, into the teleportation array together.

[Do you wish to activate the teleportation array and head to Eternal Frost Main City?]

"Yes."

Then, a dazzling light appeared, enveloping everyone.

"Hum!"

The next moment, everyone lost their vision, as if entering a special space.

The surrounding scenery was completely distorted.

A few seconds later, vision returned to normal.

When everyone opened their eyes, a cluster of white buildings appeared before them.

The frost-white city walls exuded a cold light, cold-resistant plants were planted along both sides of the streets, and magnificent mansions surrounded the area.

And there was also the restored statue in the center of the royal palace.

During the last battle at the royal palace, this king's statue was slashed apart by Dragon Speaker with a single sword strike.

Now it has been restored to its original appearance.

[You have arrived at Eternal Frost Main City—]

Cao Xing chuckled and said, "This is really quite convenient; Eternal Frost Main City has truly become the territory's back garden."

Although a large teleportation array can only transport a little over a hundred people at a time and has a 6-hour cooldown, it is still much more convenient than having to travel for two or three days to arrive like before.

Kro looked at the familiar scenery around him and quickly said, "Lord Cao Xing, please follow me, I will take you to His Majesty the King right now."

Just as Cao Xing was about to reply, an aged voice suddenly sounded in everyone's ears.

"There is no need, I am already here."

As soon as those words fell, a figure with white hair and beard and an aged aura quickly appeared.

In an instant, the witch Francesca, Renice, and others raised their guard!

This was their first time seeing the Old King. The deep and vast aura emanating from him made them feel a sense of oppression from the depths of their souls!

This is a terrifying enemy!

The Old King's gaze swept over Cao Xing's group of twelve people plus one dragon, as if assessing their strength.

A moment later, a look of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

"Lord Cao Xing, the Grandmaster-level powerhouses on your side are truly extraordinary!"

"I'm afraid that not even ordinary Hero-level powerhouses would be your match, right?"

Cao Xing smiled and said, "Your Majesty flatters me too much. Compared to the Ice Crystal Kingdom, my meager military force is really nothing at all."

"As a Legendary powerhouse holding a demigod artifact, none of us would be enough to fight you."

The Old King chuckled and said, "Alright, it's not like I'm going to do anything to you."

"Don't forget, we are allies now."

Clearly, the Old King was telling Cao Xing to set his mind at ease.

Cao Xing also laughed, "Your Majesty is right, we are allies now."

Including Francesca, Renice, and others, they also gradually relaxed their vigilance at this moment.

The Old King continued, "Kro has already told me about the specific operations. Besides attacking the Church of Light headquarters, your side also has to deal with ten outposts, is that right?"

"Yes," Cao Xing replied. "My people are currently on their way to the outposts."

"It's estimated that they will all arrive the day after tomorrow."

A thoughtful look appeared in the Old King's eyes. "Then it seems I must also speed up my actions on my end."

"For these two days, you can stay in the royal palace first."

"Alright." Cao Xing had no objections.

The Old King had always been swift and decisive in his actions. After concluding his discussion with Cao Xing, he said directly:

"Kro, arrange a place for Lord Cao Xing and the others to stay. I have some things to do."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Kro replied respectfully.

The next moment, the Old King's figure flashed and disappeared on the spot.

Truly coming without a shadow and going without a trace, they simply couldn't tell how the Old King moved.

"Lord Cao Xing, please follow me."

Soon, Kro led Cao Xing and the others into a spacious mansion.

Cao Xing took a look; the interior decoration was nice, and the temperature was very comfortable.

There were also many rooms, enough for all of them to rest inside.

Kro continued, "Lord Cao Xing, you can rest here for this period of time."

"If you have any orders, just summon the guards outside."

"I also need to go make some preparations."

"Alright, go ahead and get busy, General Kro."

Cao Xing replied casually,

and this general quickly left the place.

Cao Xing looked at his subjects and said, "Alright, go find a room to rest in yourselves."

"I will call you on the day of the operation."

"Yes."

Everyone dispersed one after another.

Shortly after the Old King left,

many hidden powerhouses within the royal palace received a secret order.

After receiving the order, they quietly left Eternal Frost Main City from the direction of the East City Gate.

Outside the city, a large number of elite soldiers were still waiting.

Led by these powerhouses, they advanced toward the same place.

Their target was precisely the border region.

As for the kingdom's army at the border, a portion of them quietly left this place, and no one knew where they went.

In the blink of an eye, another two days passed.

During these two days, Cao Xing also heard the report from Harati's side.

Not long after they left, Duke Baradin led the undead army to his territory.

Then, uniting with the Centaur legion, they headed to the Vala Ruins to negotiate with that group of undead.

But clearly, that group of undead refused to submit.

Therefore, Harati joined forces with the duke and used reason to persuade them.

Currently, all eight thousand undead in the entire ruins had obediently converted into Ascalon undead.

That resource point had also been occupied by Harati.

Then, Da Zhuang dispatched a portion of goblins to head to this resource point.

Currently, both high-level resource points had begun to enter the mining state.

Then came the report from Cao Yi's side.

Not long after Cao Xing and the others left, on the second day, the tavern's recruitment function took effect, and another batch of civilians—numbering around fifty or sixty—arrived near the territory.

Currently, they have all been accepted in.

Now the staff in the territory were becoming more and more numerous.

As Cao Xing listened to the reports from these people in the territory, time passed quickly.

At the same time, in an area about two thousand kilometers away from Eternal Frost Main City:

Ahead lay a dilapidated town, featuring many buildings that had been blown apart by war.

Under the extreme cold weather outside, this dilapidated town had turned into ruins shrouded in snow. However, this abandoned small city was merely a smokescreen.

Its true secret was underground.

Beneath the ground, there was a vast space. Inside, besides a large number of Church of Light members,

there were also many blacksmiths sweating profusely and forging diligently.

At this moment, on a small hill about seven kilometers away from this ruin,

a red figure, followed by an endless Blood Spider army, stood at the peak of the mountain, gazing afar at the ruins,

and then pressed the communication device on her ear.

On the other side:

The airship of Commander Bo Jie, Ilena, and others was still advancing at full speed in mid-air.

They crossed a huge glacier along the way.

Inside the airship, an Ascalon Warrior reported:

"Lady Ilena, there are about three hundred kilometers left, we will be able to reach the destination this afternoon."

Holding the Siren's Song trident, this snake-person priestess flicked her scarlet fork-tongue and said, "Alright, I know."

"Continue forward, I will report our progress to the Lord."