Upon seeing Horace and his two companions, whether they were minotaurs, humans, or Black Prison Clan, they all bowed respectfully.
Horace, Burns, Sunil are not only Lord Rank nobles, but also the three Guardian of the Watchers' Nest.
His prestige here is unparalleled.
Seeing that Horace and his two companions were accompanied by a young man, they all cast curious glances at Lu Qingfeng.
Horace pointed to the vast valley and introduced it to Lu Qingfeng, "This is where Grandpa Sunil and Uncle Burns led their people to settle 1,400 years ago. They took in many wandering humans and Black Prison Clan. I was taken in 500 years ago along with my father and other people. 300 years later, I was promoted to Lord Rank and given the title 'Ragebattle Baron,' becoming the third Guardian of the Watchers' Nest."
In Horace's description.
Whether it's the Watchers' Nest, the Flameblade Refuge, or even the more distant Starshine Floating City and the Thorn Grand Rift, they are all located in a region called the 'Heaven's Punishment Abyss'.
According to legend.
The Heaven's Punishment Abyss is divided into seventy-two layers, with thirty-six layers located in the Material World and the other thirty-six layers located in the Heavenly Realm.
The Watchers' Nest and the aforementioned locations are situated in the First Layer and weakest layer of the Heaven's Punishment Abyss. The deeper one goes, the stronger each layer of the Heaven's Punishment Abyss becomes. By the thirty-seventh layer, one enters the Heavenly Realm, and the Abyss Lord's strength is at least that of a High-Level Legendary or even Sacred Domain Saint.
It was terrifying.
Even the First Layer the Heaven's Punishment Abyss is extremely dangerous for the weaker races living there, such as humans, Black Prison Clan, and Minotaur Clan. The ubiquitous abyssal creatures, such as scorpions and blood-sucking worms, are enough to kill ordinary humans, Black Prison Clan, and orcs.
There are even more terrifying Devil Creature like the Purple-Eyed Bone Dragon.
Once awakened, their attacks on the Watchers' Nest often result in heavy losses, even with the resistance of the three Guardian, including Horace.
Surviving in the abyss is extremely difficult.
As a result, the strong among many weaker races often step forward to establish shelters and camps to protect their own kind and the weaker ones.
The Watchers' Nest, Flameblade Refuge, and Starshine Floating City were all established under these circumstances.
Certainly.
The former two are vastly different from the latter and are not comparable.
"The Watchers' Nest has been established for 1,400 years, making it a long-standing site that has bred generations of offspring from the three races. A total of 37 abyssal Devil Creature have been defeated, and four of them have inflicted semi-destructive damage on the Watchers' Nest."
"Currently, there are over 42,700 humans, over 7,400 Black Prison Clan, and over 15,100 Tauren in the Watchers' Nest."
Horace explained the basic situation of the Watchers' Nest to Lu Qingfeng, then looked at Lu Qingfeng with sincere eyes, "Baron Guangyuan, Horace sincerely hopes that you can stay in the Watchers' Nest and become the fourth Guardian to Guardian the weak people of the three races."
Lord Rank are rare.
If Lu Qingfeng can be left in the Watchers' Nest, there won't be too many casualties when encountering Abyss Devil Creature of the Purple-Eyed Bone Dragon level in the future.
Horace had a deep affection for the Watchers' Nest and this home, and desperately hoped that Lu Qingfeng could stay and work with him to better protect the safety of the more than 60,000 people of the three races.
"Please allow me to think about it."
Lu Qingfeng naturally didn't want to be confined to one place, but for now, the Watchers' Nest was a good place to live. He could leave after he became familiar with the situation on the First Layer of the Heaven's Punishment Abyss.
"This is a big deal, and we really should think about it carefully."
Seeing that Horace was getting anxious and wanted to ask more questions, Sunil quickly stepped forward to stop him and smiled at Lu Qingfeng.
Lu Qingfeng didn't care.
Although Horace was Lord Rank powerhouse, he had the heart of a child, and Lu Qingfeng had no ill feelings towards him.
There's no rush to Flameblade Refuge.
Lu Qingfeng first settled down in the Watchers' Nest.
[Players have discovered a new world – 'The Barbarian God Realm', rewarding 30,000,000 experience points]
Whether it was because the Barbarian God Realm was too valuable, or because Lu Qingfeng's cultivation was higher than at the beginning of his reincarnation, the system rewarded Lu Qingfeng with a full 30 million experience points for discovering the Barbarian God Realm.
Thirty million!
"Enough for me to advance to the mid-stage of the Solid Core Realm, saving me more than two hundred years of arduous cultivation!"
Watchers' Nest.
Watcher Heights.
Lu Qingfeng's eyes revealed a look of surprise and delight.
Even if I were to die in the Barbarian God Realm right now, immediately, or at any moment, with just these 30 million experience points, it would still be a huge profit.
He was overjoyed.
Instead of wasting experience points to improve his cultivation, Lu Qingfeng began to organize the information he had gathered since arriving in the Barbarian God Realm.
"The Barbarian God Realm is divided into two. So-called 'legends' are not allowed to enter the Material World, and newly promoted legends are not allowed to stay in the Material World. This is absolutely the best situation for me."
Lu Qingfeng sat cross-legged in the stone house, thinking to himself.
According to his understanding.
Surviving the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, also known as the 'divine punishment' by Horace and others, signifies advancement to the 'Lord Rank'.
So.
The Lord Rank should correspond to the Core Formation Stage in the orthodox Immortal Dao system.
This is the highest combat power in the First Layer the Heaven's Punishment Abyss, and also the highest combat power in the entire Material World.
In other words—
"In the Material World, the Core Formation True Person is the pinnacle."
"The Core Formation Stage corresponds to the Lord Rank in the Barbarian God Realm. The Lord Rank is further divided into five ranks: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. A newly Lord Rank is equivalent to a Baron, which is comparable to the Void Core Realm. The strongest Grand Duke is still at the Lord Rank, and theoretically should be at the Golden Core Realm or the peak of the Golden Core Realm."
"If that's the case, then I have a lot of room to maneuver."
A glint flashed in Lu Qingfeng's eyes.
With his foundation, even before advancing to the Core Formation, he was already a force to be reckoned with among True Person. After advancing to the Core Formation True Person, he was virtually invincible among those in the Core Formation realm.
However, in the Material World, there are no powerful beings who have surpassed the Core Formation level.
Wouldn't that mean Lu Qingfeng could run rampant and do whatever he wanted, both in heaven and on earth?!
"To the west lies the Thorn Grand Rift, where the Thorn Grand Duke resides. He commands a vast array of ferocious abyssal creatures, forming an opposing faction to the Starshine Floating City to the east."
"Let's test the skills of this Thorn Grand Duke first, see who is stronger between him and Golden Core True Person, and then plan our next move."
Lu Qingfeng recalled Horace's description of the surrounding situation and made up his mind.
Only--
"Before that, let's digest the 30 million experience points and advance our strength to the mid-stage of the Solid Core Realm."
Lu Qingfeng smiled.
His vital energy was rising steadily, and he entered a period of secluded cultivation.
It was seven or eight thousand miles away from the Watchers' Nest.
A vast and awe-inspiring city floats above the clouds, its starlight illuminating the earth and overlooking the world.
In the floating city.
In the conference hall.
A round table was set up, around which sat five powerful figures of different appearances and races.
These are the five dukes of the floating city, and also the five supreme council members of the Starshine Floating City.
But now they've all gathered here.
In the air, the Crystal Ball floats, and a scene is playing out—
The young man took a Golden Ring from his wrist and tossed it lightly, which subdued the Purple-Eyed Bone Dragon that ignored the Meteor Fire Rain and Flameblade Slash and crushed the earth elemental giant.
In the end.
His eyes seemed to be looking at the five dukes, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"The Crystal Ball's records are extremely well-hidden; even a marquis-level expert might not be able to discover them, yet this young man managed to find them."
Among the five dukes was an old woman with white hair, who spoke in a frail voice.
She was the only human on the field.
If Horace and the others were here, they would surely recognize that this was Duke Roriel, the strongest human in the Land of Thorns and Starlight, and one of the five dukes and five supreme council members of the Starshine Floating City.
Duke Roriel is a Technique Method necromancy and can summon an army of the undead. He has an extremely high reputation throughout the First Layer of the Heaven's Punishment Abyss.
They are revered as the 'Undead Guardian'.
"The Purple-Eyed Bone Dragon has formidable defense and the ability to corrode with poison gas. If we can't defeat it, it can simply burrow into the Corrosion Demon Cave, where even we can't do anything to it. Yet this little guy managed to tame it so easily."
"Not simple."
The centaur sitting next to Duke Roriel, with a holy expression, offered his opinion.
He was a powerful centaur, and like Duke Roriel, he was the ruler of Starshine Floating City, known as Duke Toinby.
He worships the great Light God and is the most devout follower of the Light God. He wields righteous and sacred power and is known as the 'Absolute Judgment' of the Starshine Floating City.
"The newly appointed lord is merely a baron, not particularly powerful. What he possesses is a magical artifact that contains an extremely sacred power, no less than Duke Toinby's power of judgment. If we could obtain the method for making this magical artifact, or study it carefully, we would find it much easier to deal with the various Devil Creature in the Heaven's Punishment Abyss in the future."
Their views and concerns differed from those of the Duke of Roriel and the Duke of Toinby.
Duke Doyle, a member of the Night Elf race and known as the 'Master of Alchemy and Potion', stared intently at the Demon-Subduing Golden Ring in Lu Qingfeng's hand in the image, his eyes burning with fervor.
"Is Duke Doyle trying to steal the magical artifact from this young man?"
Duke Roriel turned his head, a hint of anger appearing on his relaxed face.
"Duke Roriel has misunderstood."
"It's not about stealing, it's about negotiating and borrowing. This magical artifact is different from all the magical artifacts in the Heaven's Punishment Abyss. Once we master its crafting method, our Starshine Floating City will no longer be held back by the Thorn Grand Rift, and we can expand outwards to protect more of our suffering people."
Duke Doyle's expression was one of fervent zeal as he looked at Duke Roriel. "Does Duke Roriel believe that this young man is unwilling to contribute his strength for the future of Starshine Floating City and for its countless citizens?"
Duke Roriel's cloudy eyes flashed with a fierce light as he pointed at Duke Doyle and said sternly, "The purpose of our Starshine Floating City is to provide protection, not to plunder. I absolutely disagree with you demanding this magical artifact or its crafting method from this young man in any way you force him."
"Duke Roriel— "
A smile appeared on Duke Doyle's eerie night elf face as he was about to speak again.
If you owe something, you have to pay it back. How could you not pay it back?
I'll return it after I've saved a few chapters.
We still need to ensure stable updates first.