David immediately opened the warehouse door: "After Calvin returned, our Spirit Jade was greatly replenished, and the refining speed increased significantly. Now we have eight Rune Array Cannons, twelve Heavy Crossbows, and twelve Long-arm Rune Launchers."
Owen Bertram checked and thought the amount was still insufficient: "Notify Otis King and the others that all four groups are now refining Rune Array Cannons."
David was puzzled, but Owen Bertram simply said, "Go and pass on the order."
With the fastest speed, the four groups each refined a Rune Array Cannon. Owen Bertram waited at Looking Cloud Cliff for two days, and ordered David to gather a hundred military officers. They announced that they were going to install large-scale Magical Instruments at the outposts and brought all Rune Array Cannons, Heavy Crossbows, and Long-arm Rune Launchers to Copper Gorge.
Ordinary military officers didn’t notice anything unusual, but David found that most of those selected were old hands from the Summit Guard Post. The rest were strong individuals from the Third and Fourth Great Realm, carefully chosen to ensure loyalty.
"This is going to be a big deal," David muttered to himself. As expected, when they arrived outside Copper Gorge, Owen Bertram suddenly ordered the team to change their route. They bypassed a few outposts under construction and went straight to the Extinction Domain.
Loyalty wasn’t an issue for the team; the military officers only found it strange but executed the order without hesitation. They went directly into the Extinction Domain, and when they were several dozen miles from the valley entrance, Dandelion detected their presence.
Divine Heavenly Soldiers guarded the valley entrance. They observed Dandelion’s movement but didn’t have any further reaction - they even continued to set up a "trade" arrangement at the entrance using their roots.
A team of one hundred people was indeed large in the Extinction Domain, but it wasn’t too "unusual." Dandelion still wanted to "hook" a few puppets from this team.
Owen Bertram took the lead, becoming particularly alert when they reached this point.
Magpie hovered in the sky above, monitoring an even larger area.
At the appropriate position outside the valley, Owen Bertram said to David, "You supervise the deployment of all large-scale Magical Instruments. Aim at that valley."
At David’s command, the military officers sprang into action. By this point, everyone knew that their target was inside the valley, presumably a powerful Demon Being.
Owen Bertram, alone, released his Five-toothed Flying Sword, which hung over his head. Meanwhile, he played with Jerry Gourd - before deploying the large-scale Magical Instruments, he had to block everything coming from the valley.
Dandelion sensed something was wrong and countless roots surged up from the soil, pushing an ancient copper coffin to the surface.
With a series of clicking sounds, the coffin lid opened, and an Ancient Corpse stood up straight. It wore an ordinary soldier’s uniform, with only its upper body covered in plain leather armor. A dense layer of black energy wrapped around its body, obscuring its face.
As it got up, its rigid arm lifted, and a War Halberd flew out of the coffin into its hand. With one step out of the coffin, it was already at the valley entrance.
Owen Bertram felt a strong surge of energy coming from the valley!
"Something’s not right..." Owen Bertram muttered to himself: "Judging from the attire of this Ancient Corpse, it would have been a corporal at most. Why is it so much stronger than the one that floated downstream to the Iron Spear Underground Palace all those years ago?"
That Ancient Corpse had been a minister from a previous dynasty and seemed to be a Demon Clan member.
Its status was much higher than that of a "corporal," but its energy was nothing compared to this one.
"This Ancient Corpse is older and, therefore, stronger!"
Owen Bertram stood with his hands behind his back, proudly stepping forward to the entrance of the valley.
Seeing him, the Ancient Corpse’s black energy surged and emitted an ancient battle cry. With a thrust of its War Halberd, a black energy river shot out directly at Owen Bertram, reaching him instantly. The speed was so fast that there was no time to respond.
The black energy river collided with Jerry Gourd.
In Master’s hand, Jerry Gourd projected a three-foot-tall golden Gourd Illusion, protecting the Master.
The black energy river burst continuously outside the Gourd Illusion, creating large patches of black sparks, causing the golden Gourd to shake.
Jerry Gourd’s siblings immediately began to squeak: Jerry couldn’t handle it, so Master shouldn’t favor him.
Enraged, Jerry Gourd’s golden light suddenly intensified, stabilizing his body.
However, the black energy river seemed endless, and the Ancient Corpse instantly crossed the void, reaching the golden Gourd Illusion and striking it heavily with its War Halberd.
The Gourd Illusion shattered, and Owen Bertram’s Five-toothed Flying Sword also fell from the sky, suddenly expanding to a ten-foot size and crushing the Ancient Corpse.
Surprisingly, the Ancient Corpse didn’t dodge or evade, allowing the Five-toothed Flying Sword to strike its head, emitting a grating noise that made one’s ears ache. Sparks flew beneath the Flying Sword!
Owen Bertram was also taken aback: this monster could withstand his Five-toothed Flying Sword.
However, Owen Bertram’s eyes burst with unending confidence as he shouted, "Break!"
The power of the Five-toothed Flying Sword increased dramatically, continuing to press downward, making the Ancient Corpse’s feet sink into the ground. At that moment, a tiny Sword Pill, silent and invisible, quickly pierced the Ancient Corpse’s chest!
The Ancient Corpse hesitated for a moment: A sneak attack? A trick?
Dandelion behind it was furious: Cunning humans!
The Sword Pill circled around the Ancient Corpse and struck again. This time the Ancient Corpse was prepared. Its War Halberd swung back, accurately intercepting the Sword Pill.