Dragon Blood Saint Emperor

Surveying the city-like space before him, it was hard to believe a garrison area of this scale existed beneath the Barbarian God Battle Platform.

Ye Wushuang knew a thing or two about War Fortresses. It was an ancient term.

Legend had it that long before Ancient Times, the cosmos held far more than just the Nine Great Celestial Domains. Within these domains existed one powerful and terrifying empire after another.

These empires were unlike typical influences. Their strength was immense, comparable to the great powers of ancient times. They also possessed ambitions of hegemony, unwilling to be confined to a single region. They sought to traverse the heavens and conquer the cosmos.

However, campaigning across the cosmos was incredibly taxing on resources. Moreover, replenishing troops was difficult, making long-term campaigns impossible.

Thus, to solve these problems, some empires forged terrifying constructs known as War Fortresses.

A War Fortress was typically forged from unyielding Divine Iron. This Divine Iron was the same top-grade material used to craft Holy Dao Soldiers, and every piece was incomparably precious.

A War Fortress built from countless pieces of Divine Iron possessed an astonishingly terrifying Defense Power. Legend claimed that not even a Saint could shatter one. Furthermore, terrifyingly powerful experts would use Heaven-Defying Means to carve out the space within and complete its construction.

These imperial powers used the War Fortresses to garrison their armies, turning them into war machines that spread the flames of conflict across the heavens and battled beneath the stars.

’To think the Barbarian God Battle Platform is actually a War Fortress!’

A War Fortress. How could Ye Wushuang not be shocked?

Ye Wushuang sized up the Barbarian God War Puppets and murmured, "This must be a War Fortress forged by the Barbarian God Race in ancient times. During the Ancient Era, the Barbarian God Race once ruled the Grand Emperor Domain. Their power was immense; only they could have afforded to create something so terrifying."

"Kid, this is just the first level?"

The Dragon Cat chuckled mischievously. "Only empires with immense resources can forge a War Fortress. They’re divided into three levels. This one is for garrisoning troops and combat. There should be two more."

"Two more levels?"

This was news to Ye Wushuang. Even the Ten Thousand Spirits Soul King, a Nirvana Realm expert, had only ever heard of War Fortresses, never actually seen one.

"You’ve seen one before?"

Ye Wushuang asked the Dragon Cat.

"GAK GAK GAK! Your Lord Cat here stormed one before. I accidentally broke the control center and... well, it blew up."

The Dragon Cat’s face soured as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

In truth, Ye Wushuang had no idea that the Dragon Cat had been injured on that occasion—the first time in its entire history. If it hadn’t gone back and tricked the Beast World Master out of a healing treasure, it would have lost all nine of its lives.

"First, let’s find the entrance to the second level. From there, we can get to the third level—the control center. Once we have control, it means... GAK GAK GAK! Kid, you’ll own a complete War Fortress!"

The Dragon Cat’s gloom vanished, replaced by a wide, toothy grin.

’The control center?’

Ye Wushuang hesitated, but a glance from Dii Qingxue told him she was willing to take this risk with him.

And so, the two of them and the cat began their search for the passage to the second level.

"By the way, Dead Cat, if the third level is the control center, what’s on the second?" Ye Wushuang asked curiously as they searched.

"You’ll know when we get there."

The Dragon Cat offered no explanation, simply darting through the empty space, searching relentlessly.

But after searching for what felt like an eternity, they hadn’t found a single clue.

The two of them and the cat ended up back where they started.

"Is there anywhere we haven’t looked yet?" The Dragon Cat’s shifty eyes darted about, and it stroked its draconic horn with a paw, looking this way and that.

"We haven’t investigated that high platform!" Dii Qingxue said, pointing. None of them—not the two humans, not the cat—had inspected it. Having witnessed its power earlier, they had overlooked it.

Ye Wushuang’s gaze swept across the area, finally settling on the Top-Grade Spirit Stones floating overhead.

"Look," Dii Qingxue added suddenly. "The arrangement of those Top-Grade Crystal Stones is incredibly profound. It looks just like a powerful Array."

"Kid, you have any Top-Grade Spirit Stones?" the Dragon Cat asked, lowering its paw from its horn and trotting forward.

Ye Wushuang produced the single Top-Grade Spirit Stone he had taken from the War Puppet earlier.

The Dragon Cat took it and, with a flick of its paw, tossed the Top-Grade Spirit Stone toward the center of the floating cluster.

RUMBLE!

A shimmering curtain of light suddenly materialized, blocking the incoming object.

However, upon sensing that it was a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, the barrier consumed it.

Immediately after, countless points of Spiritual Light burst forth in a blinding, brilliant flare that made it impossible to open one’s eyes!

RUMBLE!

Abruptly, the entire space began to tremble violently.

Ye Wushuang and Dii Qingxue went on high alert. After the momentary blindness passed, they fixed their gazes on the changes happening within the space.

Then, they watched as massive Celestial Ladders gradually extended downward from the sky, as if they were stairways leading to the mythical Celestia Palace Divine Hall.

At the same time, the crown on Ye Wushuang’s head flashed with a sudden brilliance.

"These Celestial Ladders are the passages to the second level for the soldiers! We can go up!" the Dragon Cat yelled. Overcome with curiosity, it was already stepping onto one.

"Let’s go up and take a look," Ye Wushuang said to Dii Qingxue.

"Be careful," Dii Qingxue cautioned before stepping onto the Celestial Ladder with him.

With every step they took, the rung of the Celestial Ladder behind them vanished, leaving nothing but a void of Chaos. It was a mystifying, one-way journey.

Of course, Ye Wushuang didn’t notice the crown on his head flickering, its light growing ever more intense.

RUMBLE!

The end of the Celestial Ladder marked the entrance to the second level.

The moment he stepped onto the second level, Ye Wushuang felt as if he had entered another world.

It was a boundless expanse. Reclining mountains, winding rivers, and dotted residential palaces filled the landscape, and there was even a colosseum...

It was like a completely separate, living world.

The nature’s spiritual energy here was countless times denser than it was outside.

"This second level is usually the soldiers’ resting quarters," the Dragon Cat explained. "It was created by a peerless expert who used incredible means to capture and refine an entire Outer Heaven Relic Continent, carving it out with Great Divine Techniques."

’The first level is for training, the second is for resting,’ Ye Wushuang thought. ’This War Fortress is truly something else.’

Ye Wushuang gazed into the distance. This continent was countless times larger than the Ninth Pass. It could easily house not just hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but millions, even tens of millions.

One could only imagine how terrifying the Ancient Empires must have been!

"This is the second level; we can’t explore all of it right now. Let’s find the entrance to the third level first. Once we control the War Fortress, all of this will be yours."

The Dragon Cat urged, seeming even more excited than Ye Wushuang.

Piloting a War Fortress, sweeping across the heavens.

The very thought made its feline heart pound with excitement.

BOOM!

At that very moment, however, ten beams of Divine Light suddenly shot over from the distance, transforming into ten giants that blocked their path.

The aura of each giant was even more terrifying than that of the elderly giant on the Battle Platform. The color drained from Ye Wushuang’s face as he immediately went on guard.