The Oracle War begins! (5600)

Chapter 428: Battle of the Oracle Begins! (5600)

[Dragon Shaman Recruitment Scroll (Tier 4 Boss-level): 100 gold point (Limited Exchange: 3)]

[Saintesss Personal Guard Dragon Blood Warrior Recruitment Scroll (Tier 4 Boss-level): 100 gold point (Limited Exchange: 3)]

[Snowfield Tyrant Recruitment Scroll (Tier 4 Commander-level): 500 gold point (Limited Exchange: 1)]

[Phantom Scroll of Jorde Ironfrost (Tier 4 Commander-level): 500 gold point (Limited Exchange: 1)]

[Isani the Whisperer Recruitment Scroll (Tier 4 Commander-level): 500 gold point (Limited Exchange: 1)]

[Female Priest Farnaz Recruitment Scroll (Tier 4 Commander-level): 1000 gold point (Limited Exchange: 1)]

[Bifer Blackheart Recruitment Scroll (Tier 5 Overlord-level): 3000 gold point (Limited Exchange: 1)]

…

"Hiss! This time there are not only Commander-level creature recruitment scrolls, but even Overlord-level ones!"

"It's a bit ridiculous…"

The things redeemable in this Gold Point Shop were truly extraordinary.

Of course, the price was also very high.

With Cao Xing's current gold points, he couldn't even exchange for a single Commander-level scroll.

This showed just how precious Commander-level creatures were.

Not to mention an Overlord, which only appeared once among a hundred Commanders.

Shaking his head, Cao Xing temporarily closed the gold shop.

Then, he continued to prepare for the upcoming Battle of the Oracle.

First, he led all the warriors to devour the batch of beast meat they had recently acquired.

[You consumed Saber-toothed Tiger Meat (Gold), Strength + 50, Physical Attack Power + 3%]

[You consumed Lizard Overlord Meat (Orange), Constitution + 200, Strength + 100, Armor + 5%]

[You consumed…]

…

Along with the system prompts one after another, Cao Xing's overall attributes increased significantly by a notch!

Of course, these beast meats were basically slanted towards warriors, so the improvement to him wasn't large.

And after finishing all the beast meat,

Cao Xing packed a large amount of food into his inventory.

Including the large amount of rabbit meat, chicken meat, horse meat, and so on roasted by Dahua and the others…

Anyway, the spatial inventory came with a thermal insulation function, so even after storing these foods for several days and taking them out, they were still steaming hot.

Then he went to the wine cellar and brought up several large barrels of rum.

Although they were going to battle, their living standards could not drop.

Amid Cao Xing's continuous preparations, time flew by…

…

…

Meanwhile,

in this late night,

a group of figures with terrifying auras walked amidst the vast snowfield!

Their figures were twisted, and the howling blizzard around them couldn't shake their forms at all.

Behind them followed a large group of creatures whose bodies were as black as ink and as thin and tall as telegraph poles!

It was precisely that group of demons and their demon slaves!

From afar, one could see towering fortresses ahead.

This was already evidently the border region of the Gale Snowfield.

At this moment, an old woman with a hunched figure and ragged cotton-padded clothes spoke:

"Are we sure the location we are looking for is around here?"

At the very front of the team, the existence resembling a young child turned its head.

"According to what that white-robed priest we captured a few days ago said, the location is at the kingdom's border."

"We tortured him for so many days before he revealed just this little bit of information."

"However… this little bit of information is already enough."

"The headquarters of the Church of Light! It is definitely around here!"

"When the time comes and we find it, I will definitely make these guys pay the price!"

A look of madness appeared in the young child's eyes.

Hearing this, the other 'people' present similarly grinned, revealing a ferocious smile.

…

…

On Cao Xing's side, after bringing enough food, he went to the Alchemy Workshop and brought along all the potions Francesca had produced during this period.

When everything was ready,

time… came to 23:55 at night…

There were only five minutes left before the teleportation would activate.

Cao Xing first had 20 Ascalon Warriors leave the territory's range so they wouldn't be brought along during the teleportation later.

Because the number of this troop type was already 1102, reducing it by 20 would still make up the thousand-person bond.

The Wild Boar Warriors who had always guarded the home previously would also participate in the battle this time.

Seeing that their lord finally brought them along, these warmongers were extremely excited one by one.

Grasping their dual blades tightly, they stood excitedly behind Cao Xing.

Soon,

more than a thousand combat personnel in the territory were all fully prepared.

Everyone held their weapons, fully equipped and ready to go.

Everyone remained silent, waiting for the arrival of midnight.

The same scene was being staged in millions of large and small territories all over the world.

Everyone was waiting nervously.

Even the chat channel had grown somewhat quiet.

Time slowly passed.

In the blink of an eye,

it reached 23:59:50…

At the same time, a system prompt appeared.

[All Survivors please note! Special scenario: Battle of the Oracle · Crystal Bloom is about to begin, please make corresponding preparations.]

[Countdown 10 seconds…]

[9…]

[8…]

The moment the countdown reached zero,

instantly!

an invisible defensive barrier rose from around the territories of tens of millions of Survivors!

When this shield appeared, it meant that other Survivors, beasts, or even gods could not attack your territory.

The same went for Cao Xing's side.

However, this time, it was not enveloped based on the city wall's range.

Instead, it was enveloped based on the furnace's maximum coverage range.

Cao Xing's defensive barrier diameter directly reached five kilometers!

Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"This is not bad."

"The workers don't have to stay in the territory all the time; they can usually go outside to look for resources."

"There happen to be a few small woods nearby, so we can chop trees with peace of mind during this period."

Meanwhile,

a white light appeared on the bodies of more than a thousand warriors present!

The white light rose up, enveloping everyone!

[Teleporting…]

When the light flashed, Cao Xing instantly lost all vision!

In an instant, everyone felt a dizzying spin.

It was as if they had entered some peculiar passage.

At the same time, a system broadcast appeared.

[All Survivors please note! Next, you will enter the special scenario: Battle of the Oracle · Crystal Bloom!]

[Scenario Introduction: Tens of thousands of years ago, six Ancient Dragons awakened simultaneously. Their powerful strength caused extreme destruction to the world. Under their powerful strength, there was simply no creature in the world that could contend with them.]

[Therefore, the Six True Gods personally took action and engaged in a protracted battle with the Ancient Dragons!]

[After a long war, the Ancient Dragons were defeated by the Six True Gods, and the world was also torn apart in this battle.]

[However, the Ancient Dragons were immortal and indestructible. Even if the Six True Gods could defeat them, they could not completely kill them. Therefore, the Six True Gods chose to seal the six Ancient Dragons in six different places.]

[After tens of thousands of years of the passage of time, the seals loosened again, and the Ancient Dragons gradually recovered their strength.]

[Among them — the Crystal and Fury Dragon, Krakatoa, in the plane where it was sealed, released a powerful Crystal Power, transforming all living beings of the entire plane into Branded Monsters, and accumulating strength, attempting to return to the Main Plane.]

[Your goal is to take advantage of Krakatoa being in a weakened state, eliminate the Branded Monsters, uproot Krakatoa's crystal stronghold, and seal it once again!]

The long system prompt directly left the Survivors stunned for a moment.

Especially when they heard that this time's mission was to deal with the Ancient Dragons, they were shocked beyond measure.

Cao Xing was also amazed.

"Damn… The enemy in this campaign is a bit terrifying!"

Crystal Dragon Krakatoa, that was a creature of the same level as the Frost Dragon Zhuoma and the Death Dragon Zhaitan!

Moving just a bit would cause a massive earthquake affecting the entire continent!

With all of them as Survivors rushing up together, they would probably all be blasted to death by a single breath from the opponent.

Fortunately, the system didn't seem to intend for them to deal with such a terrifying creature.

They only needed to eliminate the Branded Monsters and crystal strongholds in this world to weaken the Crystal Dragon's power and reseal it.

Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile,

the second system prompt appeared.

[For this Dragon subjugation campaign, you can choose to join the faction of the Six True Gods. Currently, they are divided into four major factions.]

[Join the faction of the Goddess of Order, Spirit, and Truth, and you will gain a 20% Strength bonus, and you can redeem Strength-system skill books, equipment, props, etc., in the faction shop.]

[Join the faction of the Goddess of Beauty, Freedom, and Wind, and you will gain a 20% Agility bonus, and you can redeem Agility-system skill books, equipment, props, etc., in the faction shop.]

[Join the faction of the Goddess of Air, Healing, and Life, and you will gain a 20% Spirit bonus. The faction shop is the same as above.]

[Join the faction of the Goddess of Growth, Flowing Water, and Nature, and you will gain a 20% Constitution bonus. The faction shop is the same as above.]

…

This system prompt once again threw the chat channel into a frenzy of cheers.

"Damn, factions are open! Will there be faction wars?"

"I am an Arctic Warrior; looks like I have to choose the faction of the Goddess of Truth!"

"There are more agility-type subjects in my territory, so I'll go to the Wind God's faction!"

"I choose the Goddess of Life!"

Soon, the Survivors had all chosen their respective factions.

In Cao Xing's eyes, a look of contemplation appeared.

"Choose a faction?"

"You can only choose one series of faction and gain attribute bonuses."

Clearly, Cao Xing's side had the most melee classes.

Choosing the faction of the God of Order would also yield the greatest benefits.

Just as he was about to make a choice, a system prompt appeared.

[Survivor Cao Xing, please note!]

[Because your cumulative score in the Zhuo Mas Claw challenge ranked first across the entire server, your strength has been recognized, and you have obtained a special quota: Fifth Faction]

[You can choose to join the Crystal Dragon: Krakatoa faction. After joining this faction, you will not receive any attribute bonuses.]

[However, correspondingly, you will unlock a unique exchange shop and acquire special abilities.]

[Do you wish to join?]

…

Seeing this prompt, Cao Xing was instantly stunned for a moment.

"Holy shit! Are you kidding me!?"

"You're actually making me join the Ancient Dragon faction?"

"Isn't this a bit too crazy?"

He knew very well what this meant.

Once he chose to join the Crystal Dragon faction, it would be equivalent to making an enemy of tens of millions of Survivors globally.

At the same time, he would have to deal with their legions, totaling the attacks of tens of billions of people!

At this moment, intense shock appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Too crazy… Too crazy!"

"I can't choose this; this Fifth Faction is simply too dangerous!"

However, precisely because of the danger, it also stimulated Cao Xing's adventurous spirit!

Although his mind kept admonishing himself not to join the dragon faction, not to join the dragon faction!

However, his finger involuntarily clicked 'Yes'!

The moment he clicked confirm, a system prompt appeared.

[Selection successful: You have joined the Crystal Dragon faction, new faction quests have been loaded!]

[Faction Quest: Within the next month, you will obtain command of the Branded Monsters near the crystals, leading your subordinate legions to guard the Dragon Crystals and ensure the main crystal is not destroyed by the four major factions.]

(Note: As long as there are still Dragon Crystals present on the field, the main crystal will remain in an invincible state.)

[If the main crystal is destroyed, the quest fails.]

[Remaining Dragon Crystals: 100000]

[Remaining Main Crystal: 1]

…

"Is this my faction quest? It's simply outrageous!"

"To actually rely on my single army to fight tens of millions of Survivor lords!"

"And damn it, I still have to defend the crystals. Is this something a human can do?"

Cao Xing inwardly complained endlessly.

However, the only good news was that the monsters of the dragon faction—meaning the Branded Monsters—would obey his command.

However, having to face so many Survivors still brought immense pressure!

After all, that wasn't ten million, but ten billion!

A single spit from each person could drown him!

But since he had already chosen, Cao Xing had nothing to regret.

At worst, it was time to fight!

Anyway, dying here wasn't a true death!

Meanwhile.

The system prompt continued to appear.

[All Survivors have made their choices, now beginning teleportation…]

The moment the prompt ended, like parting the clouds to see the mist, everyone recovered their vision.

They saw that they had suddenly appeared tens of thousands of meters high in the sky.

Looking around, the entire world seemed to be shrouded in a purple mist!

The sky was dark purple, and the clouds were dark purple.

The distant mountains, the earth, and even the rivers were all dark purple!

Not only that, but the entire world seemed to have crystallized!

The earth was crystal clear, and those mountains were like meticulously crafted works of art.

Seeing this scene from mid-air, the Survivors were instantly shocked by what was before them!

"Holy shit! A crystal world, too cool!"

"Is this the world polluted by the dragon's power? Not a single tree, truly barren."

"Brothers, are those mountains crystal mines? Should we dig them up and see? If an entire world is a crystal mine, we'll make a fortune!"

"To the person above, are you dreaming? These are crystals formed after being polluted by the dragon's power; even getting close will cause extreme harm to the human body, let alone mining!"

"…"

At this moment, the instant Cao Xing recovered his vision, he was similarly shocked by the scene before him.

But he quickly regained his composure.

He knew this was time given by the system for everyone to adapt.

What he needed to do was seize the time to imprint the terrain of this plane entirely into his mind.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to protect the so-called crystals under the attacks of so many Survivors.

Scanning his surroundings.

Cao Xing discovered that this special plane was truly extremely vast in area.

Looking into the distance, it was vast and boundless, with no boundaries visible to the eye.

The crystal-like earth extended in all directions, and rows of dark purple mountains undulating endlessly.

At the end of his line of sight, a dark purple mist was shrouded.

It was as if a special barrier had enveloped this world.

It somewhat matched the traditional round-heaven and square-earth world structure.

After observing the terrain of this plane.

Cao Xing's heart sank.

Because he discovered that this plane was simply an open world.

Aside from some crystal mountains, there was almost no terrain for him to use for defense.

"This is troublesome…"

That being the case, he would only be able to fight the massive army formed by the Survivors in various open areas.

By then, surrounded on all sides, it would be utterly impossible with his strength to defend against attacks from so many directions.

Not to mention still having to protect the crystals from being destroyed.

Although his mood was somewhat heavy, Cao Xing still did not give up.

He quickly checked other locations.

At the center of this world stood a giant crystal over a thousand meters tall, continuously emitting dark purple lightning.

Even from this far away, he could hear the crackling 'pop' sounds!

As if it were the heart of the entire world, containing some kind of powerful and vast energy.

Cao Xing pondered: "This should be the main crystal mentioned by the system."

Along this main crystal, there were also a large number of purple crystals surrounding it.

However, the volume of these crystals was much smaller, with a height of only about one hundred meters.

These were the [Dragon Crystals].

Almost every few dozen kilometers, or every ten-odd kilometers, there was a Dragon Crystal.

And near every Dragon Crystal, densely packed black dots were gathered.

Cao Xing looked closely and discovered that these black dots seemed to be monsters with distinct angles and varying sizes.

Which were the —— Branded Monsters mentioned by the system.

Cao Xing's heart instantly rejoiced, "Good grief, there are actually so many Branded Monsters."

"From the looks of it, this battle is still worth fighting."

Previously, he had thought he would need to fight alone.

But now with the help of so many Branded Monsters.

Coupled with the fact that he still had command of these monsters, it allowed him to find a glimmer of hope in an almost unsolvable situation.

Besides these Dragon Crystals.

Cao Xing also saw that in the four corners of this world, magnificent Giant Cities stood tall respectively!

These four Giant Cities were so massive that they exceeded imagination!

The city walls soared into the clouds, seeming like steel ramparts piled up by the hands of deities.

The interior area of the Giant Cities was vastly boundless, the streets were as wide as plazas, and all the buildings in the city were incomparably huge.

Conservatively estimated, each Giant City could accommodate at least billions of people!

One could well imagine what kind of concept this was.

In the center of each Giant City, there was a Goddess statue soaring into the clouds.

It seemed like the symbol of the deity guarding this side of the world.

And they also corresponded respectively to those four true gods!

Cao Xing instantly understood in his heart.

"These four Giant Cities are the safety points for the Survivors, right?"

"In other words, they might attack starting from these four directions."

"And my task is to stop the attacks of these millions of Survivor lords."

Just as he had guessed.

In the sky, countless meteors were already descending towards the direction of these four Giant Cities.

"Hum~ Hum~!"

Tens of billions of meteors transformed into bursts of meteor showers, streaking across this dark purple world.

Looking full of brilliant aesthetic beauty.

The Survivors exclaimed endlessly in mid-air.

"Yahoo! Mom, I'm flying up to the sky!"

"I am the parachute commander, soar through the skies with me!"

"Paratrooper Number One, ready!"

The meteor showers continuously descended.

Then they steadily landed on the streets of the four Giant Cities, transforming into human figures.

However, among them, there was one meteor descending toward the area where the Dragon Crystals were located.

Some sharp-eyed Survivors also saw this scene.

And instantly felt extremely amazed!

"Damn, did you guys see that, it seems like a meteor didn't teleport to the four major main cities, but flew towards the direction of the Dragon Crystals."

"Holy shit! It really is! Could this bro not have chosen a faction and directly gotten thrown into the dragon's lair by the system?"

"Poor brother, moment of silence for him."

…

Meanwhile, after descending for over ten seconds,

Cao Xing finally brought the main force down to the ground.

"Hiss… Crack~!"

As soon as they landed, they heard a series of shattering sounds echoing by their ears.

Just like the sound of the earth being continuously eroded and turning into shattered crystals.

[You have entered a special scene: Crystal Land. Affected by the power of dragon erosion, Max HP is reduced by 20%, Attack Power is reduced by 20%]

[Because you are a creature of the dragon faction, this negative effect has been immunized.]

[A layer of Crystal Barrier has been automatically applied to you and all friendly creatures. This barrier allows you to move safely in the Crystal Land anywhere except the four major main cities.]

…

At the same time, the more than one thousand combat personnel brought by Cao Xing had also recovered their vision.

They raised their heads one after another, looking at this dark purple world with faces full of amazement.

Fellow book lovers, don't worry! Joining the Fifth Faction is the only way to obtain the maximum benefits!

Moreover, among the six Ancient Dragons, not all dragons are in a state of chaotic evil. Just like how there are bad guys among deities, everyone is living for their own ideals.

In this dungeon, many things will be explained, so book lovers, please be patient.