Chapter 71: The Wall of the Gods
One day later.
Amidst surging yellow sand, Su Xiao was traveling at high speed across a vast desert. With Amu, the "mobile air conditioner," by his side, he barely felt the scorching heat of the desert climate.
Su Xiao took out a compass. This item was a green-quality piece of equipment; it wouldn't point south, only in one fixed direction. With this, distinguishing directions became simple.
Comparing it with a map, Su Xiao was already very close to the "Seme Wetlands." At his current speed, he could reach the Wall of the Gods in no more than five hours.
Su Xiao was somewhat fatigued, but he had no time to rest. His remaining stay time was getting shorter and shorter. If he couldn't increase it, whether he could even reach the Shadow of Law Destruction ruins was uncertain.
Aside from the map of the Saint Sordin Kingdom, Su Xiao also had a somewhat crude map of the Undead Empire.
The Undead race also had an empire, or rather, the towns within Undead territory were no fewer than those within human territory.
The capital of the Undead race was in the Dark Moon Swamp. Don't think of it as a desolate wasteland. Above the Dark Moon Swamp was a vast tangle of vines, and on those vines sat the capital of the Undead race.
In terms of machinery and construction, Undead technology far surpassed that of humans. As for agriculture, humans completely outclassed the Undead.
Su Xiao's destination this time was near the Dark Moon Swamp. He only knew the approximate location of the Shadow of Law Destruction ruins; he would have to search for the exact spot after arriving at the Dark Moon Swamp.
Putting away the map, Su Xiao continued forward. Ahead lay the "Seme Wetlands."
Four and a half hours later, Su Xiao passed through the "Seme Wetlands." His impression of this wetland was that it was difficult to traverse, with far too many plants and animals.
Su Xiao gazed into the distance. A pitch-black wall of heaven appeared before him. The Wall of the Gods had arrived.
The Wall of the Gods separated human territory from that of the Undead race. It wasn't entirely built from piled rock. Most of it was, but some sections, due to special geographical locations, were constructed from solid ice or non-flammable wood. One of the most unique sections was even built from piled animal bones.
For the Undead race to invade human territory, they had to breach the Wall of the Gods. They wouldn't stretch their battle lines too long; they only attacked the Wall of the Gods in a few areas, such as the Lulimas Snowfield (where Huang Fen was located) and the Kekebaya Gobi Desert.
These sections of the wall shared a common characteristic: it was very difficult for humans to transport supplies there. Even if they could, it would cost a tremendous amount of manpower and resources.
Clearly, the section of the Wall of the Gods where Su Xiao was located was not an area the Undead race was attacking, and he wouldn't choose such a region either.
Su Xiao needed to penetrate deep into Undead territory. Charging into the Undead army sounded impressive, but it wasn't a wise choice.
On the contrary, Su Xiao found a section of the wall that the Undead race was least likely to attack. The "Seme Wetlands" were rich in resources, so there was no supply transportation problem here at all. The Undead race hadn't attacked this place in centuries.
Su Xiao advanced to the front of the Wall of the Gods. As soon as he reached the base of the wall, a horn sounded from above.
"Person below the wall, halt!"
A dozen soldiers stood at the edge of the Wall of the Gods, watching Su Xiao with wary eyes. These soldiers were constantly on alert, so they spotted Su Xiao as soon as he approached. This demonstrated the overall quality of the Saint Sordin Kingdom's army.
This section of the wall was quite peaceful. Even so, the soldiers here were this vigilant. If this were a location where war raged year-round, how sharp would those soldiers be?
Su Xiao pulled a roll of parchment from his bosom, tied it to a few stones, and tossed it up the hundred-meter-high stone wall.
The dozen or so soldiers on the wall instinctively ducked behind the parapet. A crossbow mechanism emerged from behind the wall, aimed at Su Xiao. After about ten seconds, the crossbow was pulled back.
"You are... the Iron Hand?"
A soldier on the wall looked at Su Xiao with disbelief. The highest-ranking officer he had ever seen was the legion commander of their region. As for the Iron Hand, a direct appointee of the king, he had only heard of him. He never thought he would see one in the flesh today.
Soon, a large group of soldiers gathered on the wall and reported Su Xiao's arrival to their superiors. While doing all this, the soldiers lowered a rope ladder.
Su Xiao climbed the rope ladder up the Wall of the Gods. Over a hundred soldiers had already gathered on the wall. They wouldn't believe any letters or documents unless their superiors confirmed them. They wouldn't let their guard down. Nearly a thousand years of war had made the Saint Sordin Kingdom's army exceptionally elite.
"Lord Iron Hand, may I ask why you have come to the front lines?"
A squad leader spoke. He really couldn't figure out why Su Xiao was here, and Su Xiao's aura puzzled him. The squad leader had originally thought the Iron Hand's aura would be similar to an assassin's—not heavy with bloodlust, but with a sharp gaze.
That wasn't the case. The squad leader sensed a very heavy blood aura on Su Xiao. Rather than believing Su Xiao was the Iron Hand, the squad leader was more inclined to think Su Xiao was a legion commander who had killed enemies on the battlefield for over a decade.
"Special mission."
Su Xiao brushed him off and walked to the other side of the wall. No Undead were spotted outside the wall; as far as the eye could see was a vast expanse of wasteland.
[Tip: The Hunter has activated the Adventure Group Promotion Assessment.]
...
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao's lips curled up. He had stayed in the royal capital for so long without being able to activate the Adventure Group Promotion Assessment. So, the only place to activate it was the front-line battlefield.
Based on his observations in the Primordial World contact channel, most contractors were near the front-line battlefield or the royal capital. Only a few unlucky contractors had been teleported to some godforsaken places.
The first thing contractors did upon entering the Primordial World was to find ways to improve their status while gaining benefits. Therefore, most contractors chose to head to the front-line battlefield, where status improvement was more direct—just kill enemies.
A small number of contractors targeted the royal capital. But to enter the royal capital, they first needed a certain status; otherwise, entering would be useless, or they might even be wanted for suspicious identity.
It seemed Su Xiao had done a lot in the royal capital, but in reality, he hadn't stayed there long. When he left, other contractors hadn't even entered the royal capital yet.
[Mark is being generated...]
A burning sensation came from the back of Su Xiao's hand. Soon, a skull-shaped mark appeared on the back of his hand. The energy within the mark felt somewhat familiar to Su Xiao, similar to Undead Force, but slightly different.
[Undead Positioning Mark has been generated.]
[Number of times the Hunter has executed the Adventure Group Promotion Assessment: 0.]
[Hunter's stay time has been cleared. Can return to Reincarnation Paradise at any time (non-combat state).]
[Within ten minutes of the assessment starting, the Hunter must enter Undead territory. Otherwise, 10,000 Paradise Coins will be deducted per minute. If there are no Paradise Coins to deduct, the Hunter will be forcibly expelled from this Primordial World.]
[Timing has begun. Assessment score will be determined by the Hunter's stay time in this world (stay time before accepting the assessment is not counted).]
...
Su Xiao had successfully activated the Adventure Group Promotion Assessment mission. Not only that, but he had also solved the problem of stay time. From now on, he didn't have to worry about how much stay time he had left, but rather how long he could hold out.
That sounded a bit strange, but considering the mark on Su Xiao's hand, it wasn't so strange.
"Undead Positioning Mark." At first glance, it seemed like a mark to locate the Undead race, but it was actually the opposite. Based on the assessment content, Su Xiao deduced one thing: as long as the mark on his hand remained, some or all of the Undead race would continuously hunt him down.
This was all Su Xiao's speculation. If it proved true, his situation wouldn't be optimistic. The worst-case scenario would be enduring a pursuit by the Undead army while searching for the Shadow of Law Destruction ruins.