The Heaven and Earth Refining Array

The four Skeleton Cavalry, riding tall skeleton horses, charged forward first, followed closely by the Skeleton Infantry, their momentum fierce and menacing!

Facing the charge of so many skeletons, Zhao Fu's expression remained unchanged. He raised the Bronze Military Talisman, and four beams of gray light shot into the skulls of the Skeleton Cavalry. The cavalry came to an abrupt halt, the blue soul fire within their skulls flickering violently before they actually turned around to attack the other skeletons.

The other skeleton soldiers were somewhat bewildered; how could those who were their own a moment ago suddenly become enemies? A moment later, this group of skeleton soldiers was completely wiped out by Zhao Fu and his party.

Continuing their exploration, they encountered three more waves of skeleton soldiers, and Zhao Fu successfully subdued 10 more Skeleton Cavalry. He had intended to head back, but suddenly noticed a glimmer of light ahead, which appeared exceptionally conspicuous in such a dark passage.

Unable to resist his curiosity, the group pressed on. The passage ahead grew brighter and brighter, eventually becoming somewhat blinding. Shielding their eyes, they continued walking until they reached the end of the passage, only to discover they had arrived inside a massive space.

This space was a thousand meters high and covered an area of over thirty kilometers. What was terrifying was that this entire thirty-kilometer expanse was covered in white bones—it was a veritable sea of bones. The remains were of all shapes and sizes, belonging to countless races: humans, elves, angels, orcs, demons...

There were countless races, and Zhao Fu even spotted a dragon skeleton a thousand meters long. This dragon was not the Western type with fleshy wings that resembled a lizard, but the Eastern divine dragon with a slender, snake-like body, deer antlers on its head, and a body shimmering with fish scales, capable of soaring through the heavens without wings.

"What is this place?"

The group stared at everything before them in shock, their hearts filled with both confusion and strange wonder as they whispered to themselves.

At this moment, Zhao Fu noticed a massive altar over three hundred meters high and ten thousand meters wide ahead, and he could not help but want to walk toward it.

"Your Highness!"

Bai Qi reminded him with a grave expression.

Hearing this, Zhao Fu nodded; he knew this place was not simple, but he still decided to go up and take a look. His primary concern was not that these bones would turn into undead—if these bones could become undead, the Terror Forest would not exist, as there would not be a single living creature left in the entire forest.

Zhao Fu stepped into the expanse. The bones were like rotten wood, snapping with a crunch under his feet. As they continued to advance, the group remained vigilant, scanning their surroundings as they slowly moved forward.

In the end, nothing untoward happened, and the group arrived at the base of the altar.

Only then did they see the true appearance of the altar. It seemed to be constructed from jade-like stone blocks with a greenish hue. Mysterious runes appeared to flow within each jade brick, and the entire altar exuded a mysterious and ancient aura.

Zhao Fu stepped onto the jade stairs of the altar, and when nothing happened, he dismissed the idea that this was a legacy altar. Subsequently, the group walked up the altar one by one until they reached the top.

A massive array was carved onto the top of the altar, surrounded by rows of jade slots. Each slot contained an energy stone that looked like a crystal; there were thousands of them.

Zhao Fu knew these energy stones; they contained vast amounts of energy, and one was said to cost 20 gold coins. Most of the energy stones in these slots had been exhausted, with only about a hundred still retaining some energy.

Zhao Fu pressed his hand against the altar and received a set of information.

[Heaven and Earth Refining Array] Introduction: One of the six heaven-defying arrays, capable of refining all things in the world and seizing the power of their origin.

Seeing this information, even Zhao Fu was shaken. One of the six heaven-defying arrays—just hearing the description was enough to know how incredibly powerful it was. Its function was to refine all things and seize the power of their origin. Zhao Fu immediately associated it with the bones filling the space, and though he had an inkling of what it meant, he remained uncertain for now.

At the same time, because he was standing at a high vantage point, Zhao Fu scanned the surroundings and discovered that this space had not just one passage, but thousands similar to the one his group had arrived through.

With a grave expression, Zhao Fu said, "That is enough for today. Let us return, and no one is to speak a word of what happened here."

Seeing Zhao Fu so serious, the others understood the gravity of the situation and nodded in obedience. "Yes!"

Subsequently, the group returned to the surface.

"Your Highness!"

Just as Zhao Fu returned to the surface, Li Si walked over with a joyful expression. Zhao Fu asked with a look of surprise, "What is it, Li Si?"

Li Si bowed and replied, "Your Highness! Some members of a foreign race have come to offer their allegiance."

Hearing this, Zhao Fu was filled with confusion. What foreign race would voluntarily come to offer their allegiance? He followed Li Si to an open space within the village and saw over thirty individuals, most about 1.3 meters tall, with grayish skin and thick, powerful limbs. They looked no different from ordinary people; these were Gray Dwarves, the lowest of the dwarf bloodlines.

Among these Gray Dwarves, there were about twenty males, a dozen or so females, and some children, but no elderly. They looked destitute, as if they had traveled a long distance; their clothes were covered in mud and grass clippings, and many were even injured.

Seeing Li Si leading a young man toward them, the Gray Dwarves realized this youth was the lord of the place. A middle-aged Gray Dwarf walked over and said, "Guhadolak!"

"Notification! Do you wish to accept the service of Solon?"

Zhao Fu saw the Gray Dwarf say something he could not understand—it must have been the dwarven language—and then a notification sounded in his mind.

Without much thought, Zhao Fu chose to accept!

Solon, the middle-aged Gray Dwarf, was overjoyed upon receiving the news of Zhao Fu's acceptance. He knelt on one knee, and the other Gray Dwarves followed suit, saying in unison, "We are grateful to the noble Lord for taking us in!"

"Everyone, rise!"

Seeing this, Zhao Fu spoke to the group of Gray Dwarves, and they stood up one after another.

"Solon! What happened to you all? Why have you ended up in such a state?" Zhao Fu asked, his heart filled with confusion as he looked at the destitute and miserable group.

Hearing Zhao Fu's words, Solon replied with anger and grief, "Lord! We were villagers from Kaji Village, a hundred miles away. We originally had a population of over six hundred Gray Dwarves, but we were attacked by an orc tribe with a population of over five thousand. Kaji Village suffered countless casualties, and we are the only villagers who managed to escape!"

"Orcs?"

Hearing this name, Zhao Fu was startled. Orcs were a highly aggressive race, and each individual was robust and powerful with a violent temperament. Ordinary humans were absolutely no match for orcs, and the fact that it was an orc tribe with a population of over five thousand made it even more dangerous.

However, Zhao Fu did not panic too much, as that orc tribe was a hundred miles away and would not be able to discover Great Qin Village for some time. Still, he could not afford to be complacent. Zhao Fu immediately consulted with Bai Qi and the others, while Li Si arranged for the newly joined Gray Dwarves.