Mission: Transport Tiebo

In the end, after Barn and the others took turns persuading her, Fukaloss finally suppressed the urge to charge straight into a purple-ranked mission and opted for a cyan-ranked one instead.

It was ranked in the third tier of difficulty, a test run to gauge the true risks and pacing of missions during this period of spatial instability.

Like the Ice Blade Squad, all thirty-three teams tacitly avoided the seven most difficult purple missions at the start, each choosing lower-difficulty tasks to test the waters.

Looking at the ordinary human Sanctuary Guide before them, the group exchanged glances, feeling somewhat surprised.

The male Sanctuary bowed respectfully: "My lords, my name is Carosso. I shall lead you to a resource point in the far east of the Ice Prison Royal City. There are five Iron Cypresses there that require your safe relocation."

The Ice Blade Squad thus gained a temporary member, and the group of seven left the legion base, speeding toward the far east.

Along the way, Carosso explained meticulously: "Iron Cypresses are extremely precious plants. Their texture is as hard as refined iron. Every thousand years, each tree grows two meters of core timber, which is a top-tier material for refining Divine Artifacts."

Barn and Declan exchanged a calm look.

Both knew that while Iron Cypress was indeed a decent material for refining in the Yulan Continent, it was only considered precious to those below the Sanctuary level. To a Sanctuary powerhouse, the material was actually mediocre, at best serving as a secondary ingredient for forging weapons.

However, the environment of Gobada was extreme and metal resources were severely scarce; even refined iron could be used as the main material for a Divine Artifact embryo, so Iron Cypress naturally became a rare resource at the Royal City level.

Carosso continued: "This Humble One believes your team's composition is exceptionally suited for this mission. Iron Cypresses possess primarily water and earth attributes; your powers are just right to protect them so they do not wither during transport."

The group understood.

This escort route was kept confidential from the outside, so the probability of being deliberately intercepted by enemies was actually quite low.

The real difficulty lay not in combat, but in how to keep these delicate, rare plants alive in the harsh environment of Gobada until they reached the Royal City.

This mission was rated as cyan difficulty for one primary reason: the distance was vast, located at the very edge of the Ice Prison Royal City's sphere of influence.

Fortunately, Gobada was not particularly vast to begin with. The group traveled entirely underground, concealing their auras, and arrived at the mission site in just five days.

"To have to hide underground just to avoid being discovered by the enemy—there are so many rules," Fukaloss muttered discontentedly.

But at this moment, the five Iron Cypresses appeared before them.

The person guarding this resource point was also a Mid-level God.

Yet, judging solely by his aura, the opponent was far stronger than Haywood, who had guarded the orchard previously.

"He must be a Mid-level God who broke through on his own." After Barn became a god, his perception of divine levels had become increasingly sharp, and he could roughly gauge the opponent's strength at a glance.

"Are you all here to relocate the Iron Cypresses?" The Mid-level God's gaze was sharp and filled with caution.

It was not until Carosso produced the Royal City token and the opponent carefully verified the auras and the badges of the team members that he nodded slowly:

"The token is correct, and the badges confirm you are indeed from the Ice Blade Squad. You may take the five Iron Cypresses. To ensure you don't fail to transport them all at once, I will remain stationed here for one hundred years until you have finished relocating them all."

After speaking, the Mid-level God led them to the clearing where the Iron Cypresses grew.

This resource point was much smaller than the previous orchard, perhaps because the spatial rifts were denser nearby, resulting in a higher concentration of elemental energy.

It was precisely because of this that they were able to grow Iron Cypresses, which were far more precious than ordinary fruit trees.

The group examined the five Iron Cypresses.

They were no more than three or four meters tall, with trunks only as thick as a person's thigh. Yet, since they bore the name "Iron," they were in no way inferior to refined iron in terms of hardness or weight.

The biggest trouble was that the root systems of the Iron Cypresses were as voluminous as their above-ground bodies, and they must not be significantly damaged, or they would wither and die immediately.

Gideon spoke first: "My true form can carry one tree. Two would be a bit of a stretch; I cannot guarantee their survival rate."

Blair, in his Beholder form, said: "I can use an Ice Clone to carry one, but the icy body might damage the root system. I will need someone to assist in protecting the roots."

Declan, the Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon, gave a wry smile: "I can barely carry one, but my speed will be much slower."

His racial talent was not suited for brute force, and the profound mysteries he had comprehended were unrelated to strength; he was merely stronger than Barn and Julia, who were human.

Fukaloss calculated: "Even if I carry one, we cannot transport them all in one trip. Moreover, if we are ambushed on the road, the Iron Cypresses will likely wither instantly."

Although she had initially wanted to risk taking a purple mission, once she had actually accepted the task, she made completing it safely her primary goal and no longer acted on impulse.

In the end, the team decided to transport them in two trips.

For the first trip, Gideon, Blair, and Julia would each carry one Iron Cypress.

As the strongest member of the team, Fukaloss would not participate in the carrying, instead taking full responsibility for vigilance and serving as the ultimate combat backup.

Gideon patted his chest: "I still have my divine clone, so I have the capacity to dig tunnels. We will travel underground."

Fukaloss nodded: "That works. We seek stability for the first trip; we can take the surface for the second."

Gideon revealed his true form directly—

The massive Earth Violent Bear, manipulating earth-type divine power, pulled one Iron Cypress up root and soil, slowly handing it to Blair.

Then, he handed the second one to Declan.

Finally, he hoisted a heavy Iron Cypress himself and walked at the very front. With the support of his divine clone, he could carry the load while easily carving out an underground passage.

Fukaloss hovered at his side, remaining alert for any possible surprise attacks.

Julia carried the second one with difficulty, her steps heavy. Declan followed closely on her left and right with his bow to protect her, while the guide Carosso assisted from the side.

Blair walked at the very end.

Barn spent the entire journey circulating his water-type divine power, gently nourishing the root systems of the Iron Cypresses to prevent them from being frostbitten by Blair's cold energy.

The Sanctuary-level beings in the wilds of Gobada, most of whom lived for no more than a few tens of thousands of years, had never seen such a spectacle.

The oppressive aura of three God-level beings traveling together radiated outward, causing the Sanctuary-level prisoners they passed to tremble and scramble out of the way, lacking even the courage to lift their heads.

The group of seven returned toward the Royal City in silence.

The first transport had gone surprisingly smoothly, with no enemies encountered along the way. With three of the five Tiebo trees successfully delivered, the mission was safely more than halfway complete.

Yet, the members of the Ice Blade Squad showed little relief on their faces; instead, a hint of subtle urgency permeated their expressions.

Because in the time they had spent moving back and forth, many other squads in the mission hall had already completed their first tasks and were beginning to tackle their second.

In one month, they had only finished half of a single mission.

The mission they had chosen was cyan-ranked, which was certainly not low in terms of grade, but it suffered from a low frequency of completion. A quick calculation revealed that even if the mission reward was slightly higher, it could not match the sum of two or three consecutive yellow-ranked missions. In terms of efficiency, they were already falling behind.

Fukaloss was naturally proud and ambitious, and the thought of others pulling ahead in progress made her unable to sit still.

"The first trip already caused quite a stir, so there's no point in hiding and skulking around anymore. There's no need to keep burrowing underground," she decided immediately. "For the second trip, we fly directly!"

No one had any objections.

The group of seven no longer deliberately concealed their auras, unfolding their figures in unison and speeding at a low altitude across the desolate earth. The wind and sand were whipped backward by their divine power, and the figures shot across the dead, silent wilderness like arrows released from a bow.

The journey that originally required five days was covered in just one day this time, as they returned to the resource point and stood before the clearing where the last two Tiebo trees remained.

"Time is tight, no more splitting into batches," Fukaloss commanded crisply. "Gideon, Blair, you two each carry one, and we will fly back to Ice Prison Royal City at full speed!"

The mid-level god who had broken through on his own, standing guard to the side, watched them in silence from beginning to end.

Receiving the order, Gideon and Blair did not hesitate.

Earth divine power and water divine power surged simultaneously as the two carefully lifted the remaining two Tiebo trees, roots and all. The roots were wrapped in moist soil, protected by Barn in advance with water divine power to ensure they would not wither or be damaged during the high-speed flight.

The two heavy Tiebo trees, which looked as if they had been cast from refined iron, were hoisted onto the backs of the two massive figures.

Seven figures rose into the air simultaneously and flew at full speed toward the direction of Ice Prison Royal City.