Remnant Soul of the Battlefield

Chapter 21: Battlefield Remnant Soul

Dark Cave.

After three consecutive days of frontal clashes, the battle between the players and the Dungeon Clan intensified.

A large number of Iron Shell Bugs surged from underground, controlled by the Dungeon Clan warriors. They were endless, making the players grind their teeth in frustration.

The only solace for the players was that this game had no monster respawn mechanism; dead monsters wouldn't revive.

Victory would eventually be theirs.

Meanwhile, Qi Sheng, operating from behind the scenes, also grew curious about the Dark Cave, wondering about the properties of this Domain Node.

He decided to explore it before the players.

Just as the players engaged in another battle with the Iron Shell Bug tide, a wisp of his consciousness followed the Guider's sensory tendrils, penetrating deep underground to the fifth level.

There, he saw a massive palace surrounded by stone tablets.

In front of the palace stood thousands of soldier statues. Most were broken, clad in black, shattered armor, wielding fractured weapons, frozen in various poses, standing or charging, lifelike.

At the palace's western entrance, he saw numerous Iron Shell Bugs being driven by Dungeon Clan warriors, dragging ore into the palace.

Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the Guider into the main hall. The first thing that greeted him was a five-meter-tall, broken statue standing in the center of the hall.

The statue was covered in heavy, shattered armor, holding a blood-red, broken battle blade, kneeling on one knee and gazing towards the ceiling.

Behind it was a colossal furnace. The Iron Shell Bugs entering the palace were directed by Dungeon Clan warriors to continuously throw ore into the furnace for refinement.

[Ice Blade!]

The Guider's sudden exclamation startled Qi Sheng:

"You recognize this statue?"

[A bloodthirsty madman. After Di Zhao fell, he was a warlord who carved out his own territory.]

"Compared to you?"

[Compared to us four Great Vassals, he's far inferior. But this fellow's strength shouldn't be underestimated. I once tried to recruit him, but he believed he was also qualified to be the new Di Zhao, and refused to pledge allegiance to me.]

"Is he dead?"

[His flame of life has extinguished. He's thoroughly dead... Hmm? There seems to be a cluster of information energy within his body.]

"Attempt to analyze it."

The Guider didn't reply. It guided Qi Sheng's wisp of consciousness closer to the Ice Blade statue, and its analysis ability activated. Instantly, an overwhelming killing intent surged like a tsunami.

"We Di Zhao warriors... do not retreat."

As a hoarse, firm voice echoed, countless memory fragments flashed rapidly through Qi Sheng's mind like a slideshow.

He saw the predicament Ice Blade faced as the world began to collapse.

This was before the four Great Vassals entered Emperor's Tomb Village, before he himself had transmigrated.

At that time, the monster world was gradually corrupting under the terrifying Black Tide, and the ecological environment was becoming increasingly harsh. The region governed by Ice Blade was also being eroded by the terrifying Black Tide.

Facing despair, Ice Blade began to plan for the future.

He sank his palace underground, then relocated his non-combatant tribesmen to the underground, instructing them to mine spiritual ores and store them, waiting for the future.

A grand underground construction project commenced.

The tribesmen didn't understand why their chieftain was doing this, nor what he meant by "waiting for the future," but they all chose to follow his plan.

Before the underground construction was completed, the terrifying Black Tide swept in.

Ice Blade chose to lead his warriors to face the Evil Spirits tide, defending the pure land beneath their feet.

The memory fragments shifted.

In the scene, Evil Spirits descended like locusts, obscuring the vision with their sheer numbers. Ice Blade, clad in heavy armor, led the Black Armor Army to draw their blades and charge at the Evil Spirits.

The battle was exceptionally fierce. After repelling the Evil Spirits tide, only half of the warriors survived.

The second wave of Evil Spirits could arrive at any moment. Ice Blade did not choose to retreat; he and his warriors remained at the entrance of the underground palace, standing ready.

A new wave of Evil Spirits erupted three days later.

Then came the third wave, the fourth wave of Evil Spirits. The endless Evil Spirits caused Ice Blade's weapon to shatter, and the warriors who followed him also perished, yet he still did not leave.

On the day the underground palace was completed, the tribesmen who participated in the construction emerged from the caves, hoping Ice Blade would enter the underground to evade the next wave of Evil Spirits.

Facing the kneeling pleas of his tribesmen, Ice Blade swept his icy blue eyes, devoid of any emotion, across them and said coldly:

"The pure land beneath our feet is a gift from Di Zhao. I, wielding my blade, swear to defend it until my life fades. I would rather die than retreat."

After driving the tribesmen into the underground, Ice Blade welcomed his final battle.

Endless Evil Spirits surrounded him. His flame of life flickered like a candle in the wind, about to extinguish at any moment.

Exhausted, Ice Blade knelt on one knee, gazing at the last wisp of " Di Zhao's Light " in the sky. Infinite fighting spirit still burned fiercely in his eyes.

In his final moments, Ice Blade's mind was filled with the image of Di Zhao crowning him and bestowing territory upon him.

A strong sense of pride and honor filled his heart. He struggled to raise his broken battle blade, pointing it at the tide of Evil Spirits, his hoarse voice echoing through the sky:

"Iron-blooded remnants, battlefield heroes, even a broken body can kill three million enemies!"

"Under Di Zhao, there are no cowards! Wake up, everyone, and fight with me again!"

As his words fell, Ice Blade's flame of life extinguished. Yet, its mindless corpse moved. The remains of countless fallen warriors also rose at the call of Ice Blade's lingering will, continuing to fight the Evil Spirits alongside him.

The memory fragment ended here.

[This guy... even after death, he can imprint his fighting will onto his remains. What a complete lunatic.]

Qi Sheng was shocked by the memory fragment.

As Guider analyzed the memory, he could even feel Ice Blade's unyielding will in the face of despair.

The casual words of Di Zhao were Ice Blade's most glorious moment, a lifelong honor he chose to fight and die for.

[It seems his remains were brought into the palace by his people.]

" Guider, what did Ice Blade mean by waiting for the future?"

[Unclear. It seems he had some kind of plan for the future. Could he be trying to revive himself somehow?]

Just as Guider and Qi Sheng were pondering Ice Blade's future plans with curiosity, the remains of Ice Blade, standing in the center of the great hall, trembled slightly. As if sensing their presence, it looked up towards their consciousness cluster. A scarlet light suddenly flared in its dim eyes, and then a message entered the minds of Qi Sheng and Guider:

" Guider? Nine Yin? Yan Ming? Hyperdimension? ... Whichever of you four old fellows inherits the will of Di Zhao, carry my honor forward. I can no longer fight, and can only offer this as assistance."

As the voice faded, the ground behind Ice Blade cracked open, revealing a golden crystal placed on a formation.

The energy from the ore being refined in the furnace was being channeled here, absorbed by the formation, and integrated into the golden crystal.

Even without touching it, Qi Sheng could clearly sense the surging, pure energy contained within the crystal.

[That kid, Ice Blade...]

At this moment, even Guider, who had been introducing Ice Blade with a teasing tone, was stunned.

Qi Sheng finally understood what Ice Blade meant by waiting for the future.

Ice Blade believed that one of the four favored servants would inherit the will of Di Zhao and become the new Di Zhao, and he had prepared a gift for them that spanned centuries.