Garrisoning the Resource Point

A group of six traveled across the desolate wilderness of Gobada, with Fukaloss walking at the forefront, chattering away as she explained the mission.

"This is a very common garrison mission. It's a small resource point on the border that has been frequently harassed by people from the Azure Fire Royal City lately. But the place is too small to justify sending a large number of deities to guard it, so it's been left to several Ice Blade Squads to take turns watching over it for years. The previous team has been stationed here for too long, so we are here to take over."

Julia added from the side, "These missions are highly sought after. Guarding a resource point means the elemental energy is much denser than outside; it's considered a rare treasure trove for cultivation in Gobada—though, of course, it can't compare to the Yulan Plane in the outside world."

"Hehe, it's precisely because they are so sought after that they rotate every hundred years," Fukaloss laughed. "Otherwise, if a few teams hogged them, there would have been an uproar long ago."

Declan quickly took the opportunity to flatter her, "Miss is truly capable, to be able to snatch up such a lucrative job!"

Barn, however, seemed somewhat distracted.

He had already dripped his blood to claim the Divine Artifact Chainmail, which he wore close to his body. The material of this armor was ordinary, merely infused with a small amount of magic metal, and it barely reached the level of a low-god divine artifact through the nourishment of divine power; to him, it was better than nothing.

As for the divine artifact Mist Hidden in his hand, because his divine power was restrained and its aura was not apparent, Fukaloss had seen it before but, without dripping her blood to claim it, she couldn't discern its true nature and simply assumed it was an ordinary low-god divine artifact, so she didn't ask further.

But what Barn was truly concerned about at this moment was not these two pieces of equipment.

It was that faint, elusive wisp of gray energy deep within his mind.

There was a reason he had arbitrarily identified it as Primordial Chaos Qi. To this day, he had no idea how to channel this power, yet it had never caused the slightest harm to his soul.

Most importantly—not long ago, when he went to finish off a dying dark-element deity, the soul-killing strike the opponent unleashed in their final moments had been effortlessly blocked by this gray wisp, without even causing a ripple.

Looking back at the entire original work, he couldn't think of anything else that resembled it, save for Primordial Chaos Qi.

But even if it is, I can't use it... Barn sighed inwardly.

How precious was Primordial Chaos Qi? It was even more heaven-defying than a Sovereign Spark or a Supreme Divine Artifact, yet it just drifted quietly beside his soul, and he couldn't command even the slightest bit of it.

"We're here!"

Fukaloss's voice abruptly pulled him back to his thoughts.

The five Sanctuary-level experts all looked up at this strange place.

Spatial rifts that should only appear at an altitude of a thousand meters were now flickering and tearing open at a low altitude of just over ten meters from the ground, the pitch-black fissures flashing with dangerous light.

Yet, in the very center of this chaotic rift zone, there was a hundred-meter area that was perfectly clean, without a single crack.

"This is the resource point?" Barn asked in surprise. "The sight is certainly peculiar."

Julia said softly, "Gobada is a planar prison; many of its bizarre rules exist to trap the prisoners. They don't let us escape easily, but they don't completely cut off our path to survival either."

Gideon's massive bear face revealed a hint of desolation. "It really is cruel."

As the group stepped into the safe zone, an old man slowly opened his eyes inside a crude earthen hut, his tone flat: "You are late."

Barn scanned the surroundings; there were several similar earthen huts nearby, with a few figures vaguely hidden inside. Their auras were all at the Sanctuary level, clearly the other two garrison squads.

The old man pointed to a small orchard not far away. "My name is Atticus, and I have been guarding this orchard for years. Those are the fruit trees that must be protected. The three teams will each guard one direction and assist me in repelling outsiders. Remember—keep a close watch on the underground as well."

"According to the rules of previous years, this place produces one hundred fruits annually. If the number falls below this, you will be punished. When the hundred-year garrison period ends, rewards will be settled based on actual production."

Barn looked at the orchard. There were only ten dwarf trees in total. Even if the elemental energy here was slightly better than the outside, it was still pitifully thin compared to the Yulan Plane, so one could imagine the yield.

Fukaloss led the group to the defensive direction assigned to them and immediately ordered, "Gideon, build a few earthen huts and dig a tunnel underground. We will take turns guarding the surface and the underground."

Gideon nodded, and his thick Earth Pulse spread out; several simple yet sturdy earthen huts rose from the ground in an instant.

Declan stared at the fruit trees in the distance, unable to help but lick his lips. "Miss, he said that as long as it's not below one hundred, the mission is considered complete. So if we can make the trees produce a little more..."

Blair immediately interrupted, his vertical pupils flashing with cold light. "Those are just ordinary apples, at most good for satisfying a craving. But if the yield increases, the final reward we get will be higher—you'd better hold back."

"You're a Beholder, so naturally, you don't need to eat or drink!" Declan muttered, but upon catching Fukaloss's gaze, he nodded obediently. "Fine, the mission reward is more important."

Fukaloss said, "The old man in the orchard is a mid-god; any fruits produced in excess of the annual quota belong to him."

"A mid-god? Why isn't he in the Royal City?" Blair asked in surprise.

Fukaloss seemed very familiar with affairs inside the Royal City. "He is likely a mid-god who refined a godhead. There are always some lucky deities—but those who refine a godhead cannot compete in strength with mid-gods who broke through on their own. However, they are still stronger than low-gods, so they are assigned to garrison various resource points."

Beside them, Julia seemed to have something on her mind. She exchanged a quiet look with Fukaloss, and the two of them exchanged a few words via soul communication.

Fukaloss didn't say anything more and walked straight into the main hut, turning to assign tasks:

"My Death Clone will take Gideon, Declan, and Blair to guard the underground; my Water Clone will guard the surface with Barn and Julia. We will rotate every ten years."

"Yes, Miss!"

The days of guarding the resource point were extremely dull, yet it was indeed a rare and lucrative job.

In Gobada, apart from inside the Royal Cities, only these kinds of resource points had a continuous flow of elemental energy, allowing one to both produce supplies and cultivate in peace.

Inside the earthen hut on the surface, Barn suddenly spoke up: "Miss, the other two teams... is there a problem with them?"

Fukaloss didn't answer, but Julia sighed softly first. "There's no problem, it's just that I recognize one of the teams. They were also a family from within the Royal City, but about two hundred years ago, their pillar—a mid-god—was killed in battle."

"There is no such thing as human sentiment in Gobada. Having lost their mid-god, only two low-gods remained in their family. They were no longer qualified to stay in the Royal City, and only after being driven out did they form a squad."

"However, Lord Ice Prison King, remembering the contributions that mid-god had made, arranged some relatively easy tasks for them, such as guarding this resource point."

Barn glanced at Julia calmly.

The fact that she knew these inside details clearly meant she also came from a family of high-ranking figures in the Royal City.

And since even the fallen descendants of the Royal City had to rely on favors to get such scarce garrison missions, yet Fukaloss was able to snatch one up so easily... her background was likely even more extraordinary than they had imagined.

Fukaloss spoke at this moment, her tone becoming a bit more solemn:

"Alright, let's not talk about that. The Azure Fire Royal City is the strongest of the Five Royal Cities, and this resource point happens to be on the border line, so we must be careful."

"You may cultivate, but you must absolutely not enter deep meditation. You must keep a portion of your consciousness alert at all times to the movements around you."