Yun Ji's bloodstained words struck everyone's hearts like thunder. The joy of just gaining the heroic spirits' recognition was instantly replaced by an icy sense of urgency. "Valley of Buried Soldiers"—the name alone made it clear that it was no good place, much less one where an ancient will slumbered and the End Times Cult was using it to construct an "anchor point"!
"Move!" Su Yan gave the order without hesitation. Their strength had just risen, and they carried the Mount War God Ally Token. Their momentum was at its peak—how could they stand by and watch the enemy complete its scheme?
The four of them wasted no time, racing deeper into Mount War God in the general direction Yun Ji had forcibly deduced, toward an area where even the heroic spirit phantoms had grown sparse and dim. The closer they drew to the Valley of Buried Soldiers, the stranger their surroundings became. The killing aura in the air was no longer merely fierce battle intent; it was mixed with the decayed scent of rusted weapons and the dead silence of all things reaching their end. The ground beneath their feet shifted from dark red to an ominous purplish black. Broken divine weapons were embedded everywhere, long drained of their spiritual essence, yet coated in a sticky black substance that twitched faintly as if alive.
"Careful. That black substance is highly corrosive. Don't touch it directly," Bai Zhi warned. The Willow Branch in her hand emitted an even denser purifying radiance, dispersing the threads of black mist trying to approach. Little Big Dipper seemed restless, giving threatening low growls at those blackened weapons. The star markings on its shell lit up on their own, forming a faint barrier. It was clearly extremely repulsed by this aura.
At last, a massive "wall" formed from countless enormous weapon fragments twisted and tangled together blocked their way. At its center was an irregular crack, like the gaping maw of some monster. An unbearably dense Breath of the End and soaring deathly resentment poured out from within. This was the entrance to the Valley of Buried Soldiers!
Before they even entered, the Compass began trembling more violently than ever. Silver light flashed wildly. On the Star Map pointing into the depths of the crack, a massive dark-red mark pulsed like a heart, nearly leaping off the surface of the compass. Dense black threads wound around it, inspiring dread at a glance.
"This is it." Su Yan took a deep breath and suppressed the pounding in his chest. "The concentration of the Breath of the End inside far exceeds anything we've faced before. Everyone, be careful. Fellow Daoist Yun Ji, how are you holding up?"
Yun Ji swallowed a pill, and some color returned to her pale face, though her expression remained grave. "I'm fine. I can still fight. The heavenly secrets inside the valley are in chaos. My deductions will be severely disrupted, and I won't be able to predict things as accurately as before. You'll need to rely more on yourselves."
"Understood." Mo Hen nodded, gripping several specially made Demon Breaking Mechanical Thunders and Flashbangs in each hand. "I'll send in the Scout Bees first."
However, the Scout Bees had barely flown a few meters into the crack when they seemed to strike an invisible wall. They were instantly corroded by the dense black aura and vanished in a wisp of green smoke.
"There's an extremely powerful energy field and Corrosion Barrier at the entrance." Mo Hen frowned tightly.
"Let me try." Su Yan stepped forward and poured the Power of Stars into the Compass. The Compass, now 56% repaired, shone with blazing silver light as a concentrated Order Beam shot toward the energy field at the entrance.
"Sizzle—" Like cold water dripping into hot oil, the Order Beam clashed violently against the end-times energy field, producing a piercing sound. The invisible barrier rippled fiercely, and the area struck by the beam visibly thinned.
"It's working! But I don't have enough power to break through it completely!" Su Yan felt his Spiritual Power draining rapidly.
"Together!" Bai Zhi immediately poured her pure Buddhist Spiritual Power into Su Yan's body. Mo Hen also transferred his True Qi, while even Little Big Dipper moved closer and sent over a stream of blazing Battle Intent Star Energy. At the side, Yun Ji used the Heavenly Mystery Secret Method to stabilize the energy transfer and prevent backlash.
With the combined power of the four of them, the Compass's beam suddenly doubled in thickness!
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass rang out as the energy field at the entrance was forcibly torn open, leaving a gap wide enough for one person to pass through!
"Get in!" Su Yan shouted. The four people and one pet charged into the gap without hesitation!
The moment they entered the Valley of Buried Soldiers, an indescribable oppressive feeling crashed over them! The light in the valley was exceptionally dim, and the sky seemed covered by a curtain stained with filthy blood. As far as the eye could see stretched an endless graveyard of weapons! Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, forks... countless remnants of divine weapons were piled into mountains that extended to the horizon. Yet these remnants, which should have been solemn, were now covered and connected by viscous black matter, as though they formed the veins of some vast and evil living organism.
At the very center of the valley stood a savage altar over a hundred meters tall, built entirely from twisted weapons and black matter! At its summit, a giant dark-red fleshy tumor over ten meters across pulsed ceaselessly. Countless black energy tendrils stretched from it into the weapon graveyard below, drawing out its dead silence, resentment, and Power of the End like a heart pumping blood! That was the "anchor point" still taking shape!
Around the altar wandered countless monsters completely corrupted by the Breath of the End—[Buried Soldier Golem] (Level 42, extremely high physical defense), [Vengeful Soul] (Level 41, powerful spell attacks, inflicts Mental Pollution), and [End Times Priest] (Level 43, elite, continuously channels energy to reinforce the altar). Their numbers far exceeded those at any previous stronghold!
"We have to clear these guards before we can get close to the altar!" Mo Hen rapidly assessed the situation.
"I'll draw their fire. Find openings and attack!" Without hesitation, Su Yan activated [Starlight Bodyguard] (ice-blue version) to its limit, then cast the newly learned [Origin Return Incantation] to bring himself to peak condition. Holding the Compass, he spread an enhanced [Star Track Deduction] across the battlefield. Though he could not predict every detail as precisely as Yun Ji, it was enough to grasp the monsters' general attack rhythms and aggro range.
He charged straight at a group of Buried Soldier Golems, alternating [Lightning Talisman] and [Soul Chasing Talisman], unleashing astonishing damage and instantly drawing massive aggro. Little Big Dipper followed close behind, activating [Battle Intent Burn] at full force and turning into a destructive violet gale. It focused on tearing apart the golems weakened by Su Yan's [Armor Shattering Talisman], Star Fire swirling around its claws and fangs as it dealt considerable damage to the end-times creations.
Mo Hen moved like an assassin in the night, weaving through broken spears and shattered halberds. His mechanisms no longer pursued kills, instead focusing on interrupting the End Times Priests' channeling spells and using various control devices to restrict the Vengeful Souls' movement. Bai Zhi was under immense pressure. She had to tend to Su Yan and Little Big Dipper at the front while also protecting Mo Hen from harassment at the flanks. Her [Heart Calming Incantation] hardly stopped, while the aura of [Universal Salvation] stubbornly spread a patch of pure ground through the filth. Her magic power poured forth like floodwaters through a broken dam.
Though Yun Ji could not make precise predictions, she stood in a relatively safe position and continuously formed hand seals. Streams of clear radiance flew from her hands—sometimes reinforcing Bai Zhi's shield, sometimes weakening the end-times concentration in a particular area, and sometimes using the Heavenly Mystery Secret Method to disrupt the priests' spell structures. Her presence greatly improved the team's endurance and room for error.
The battle was brutally intense. The monsters of the Valley of Buried Soldiers were not only high-level but utterly fearless of death. Under the influence of the End Times Altar, their strength seemed inexhaustible. Su Yan repeatedly found himself in peril, pushing [Shrink Ground into Inches] to its limit, while the cooldown of [Origin Return Incantation] never seemed short enough. Little Big Dipper was covered in wounds, but [Battle Intent Burn] and Life Steal only made it fight more fiercely. Its roars shook the air.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate and everyone's magical power and stamina were rapidly draining away, the [Mount War God Ally Token] in Su Yan's chest suddenly grew hot!
"In the name of the War God, heroic spirits, aid me!" Inspiration struck Su Yan, and he raised the token high!
Hum—
The token erupted with dazzling golden light, and four solid heroic spirit phantoms appeared out of thin air—the very four types of heroic spirits they had defeated during the trial! Though their time was limited, the addition of Level 40 elite heroic spirits instantly turned the tide! The Berserker Heroic Spirit roared into the enemy ranks, sweeping its giant axe; the Assassin Heroic Spirit moved like a ghost, specifically eliminating priests; the Priest Heroic Spirit's healing aura complemented Bai Zhi's spells perfectly; and the Strategist Heroic Spirit's formations continuously disrupted the gathering of end-times energy.
The pressure suddenly plummeted! Su Yan's team was invigorated and seized the chance to launch a fierce assault!
"Now! Attack the base of the altar and sever its connection to the weapon graveyard!" Yun Ji seized the moment and pointed at several of the thickest black energy tendrils at the altar's base.
Su Yan, Little Big Dipper, and the heroic spirit phantoms focused all their firepower on those tendrils! Lightning, Star Fire, talismans, axe shadows, dagger flashes... all kinds of light intertwined and exploded!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid a chain of explosions, several major energy tendrils were forcibly severed! The entire Valley of Buried Soldiers shook violently. The dark-red fleshy tumor atop the altar released a sharp, ear-piercing shriek, and its pulsations abruptly accelerated, as though it had been completely enraged!
"Foolish ants! You dare disrupt the holy sacrifice!" A voice filled with venom and madness came from the top of the altar. Accompanied by that voice, a figure cloaked in dense black fog and holding a twisted bone staff slowly rose into the air—it was the Sower projection that had appeared at the funeral home before! But his aura was far stronger than it had been then, having clearly reached the level of a Level 45 boss! Evidently, the one presiding over such an important "anchor point" was no ordinary projection!
"So you've finally shown yourself!" Su Yan's gaze was icy, without a trace of fear. He could feel the Compass frantically absorbing the end-times origin that had leaked from the severed tendrils. Its repair progress was surging toward 57% at an unprecedented rate! The runes on its surface shone brighter and brighter. Even in his mind, along the edge of the Star Map, phantom images of unfamiliar, older, and more mysterious constellations began to emerge...
The true Final Battle was about to begin. And Su Yan's Compass seemed poised to unveil a new layer of mystery.
Before you continue