In the year two of the Blue Star calendar, in April, after more than a year of operation and construction, Starfire Oasis has grown from a small Level 2 oasis to the grand and vast Level 6 oasis it is today, with the qualifications to challenge for Level 7.
All of this is thanks to the "Popularity Collection Ritual" and the surging popularity contributed by all the people of Blue Star, allowing Starfire Oasis to stand at the doorstep of a super oasis in just over a year.
At this moment, tens of thousands of elites from Starfire Oasis stand in full battle array, clad in polished heavy armor or agile, fitted combat suits, standing on the broad city walls, wide enough to accommodate multiple cars side-by-side. They gaze at the swirling mist over a thousand meters away, which resembles an endlessly high grey city wall stretching endlessly in both directions. Their hearts are like surging waves, filled with endless emotions.
Zhou Hai stands on one of the towering city towers, looking back at the magnificent oasis behind him. High-rise buildings are densely packed, and towering trees hundreds of meters tall are everywhere. In the center stands a taller, pure white tower, radiating holy radiance.
More than a year ago, even with his confidence in the organization and his anticipation for the future, Zhou Hai could not have imagined that in such a short time, they would have built such a magnificent city deep within the Ghost Realm. It was an incredible miracle.
At the same time, he was quite proud. After all, he, Zhou Hai, was one of the first residents of Starfire Oasis, and he had personally witnessed the oasis grow from nothing to its current prosperity. The development of the oasis also had a part of his contribution.
"As if no one else contributed," a youth wearing a baseball cap, hands in his pockets, said with a look of mild annoyance. "Wake up, pal, you're just an employee, you know."
Zhou Hai glanced at him. "Subordinates shouldn't interrupt when their superiors are speaking."
He continued his musings.
Perhaps it was because he was getting older, but Zhou Hai found himself reminiscing. Although his age and awakening level were far from indicative of old age, perhaps it was the presence of so many young people around him that made him feel like he was at least of the uncle generation, and that he had been striving for a very, very long time. Yet, upon reflection, it had been less than two years since he became the director of Baijiang Bureau. The gears of the world seemed to have begun to shift around that time.
While old-timers like Zhou Hai felt a sense of nostalgia, the young recruits, fresh from the training camp, began to feel a growing tension as the time approached, a tension accompanied by an ever-stronger sense of anticipation.
The Black Blade, the chief instructor, was of course beyond mention. The newcomers present were all outstanding students from Blue Star, and they had all seen and attended his classes. They had only witnessed the chief instructor unleashing his full combat power; they had never seen it.
However, the other core leaders of the organization were quite mysterious in their eyes.
Their mentor, the elder, was a man of great learning. Rumor had it that the mentor possessed even more profound knowledge and more exquisite combat skills than the chief instructor. The chief instructor was taught by the mentor, but it was a pity that they were not yet qualified to be the mentor's apprentices.
The Silver Bell Physician was also renowned. The newcomers had all heard of her. Many of the nutrient solutions and cultivation potions they used today were developed by the Silver Bell Physician. It was rumored that the Silver Bell Physician possessed extraordinary medical skills and a smile that could heal the heart. The latter was particularly emphasized, but unfortunately, they had no opportunity to see the Silver Bell Physician, who spent countless hours in the research lab, developing new potions.
The Silver Bell Physician must be working so hard. Would they be able to see this gentle angel today?
Perhaps they could?
A newcomer thought that they had been severely injured, and that the Angel Silver Bell Physician would descend upon them, showering them with healing radiance and a smile that could dispel all gloom. Suddenly, they became even more eager.
However, when they voiced their thoughts, the senior veteran leading them seemed hesitant to speak.
Was it because the Silver Bell Physician was unlikely to be present? The newcomer felt a pang of disappointment.
The newcomers continued to let their imaginations run wild, thinking of other powerful figures.
Lord Liu Shang, in charge of the core tree-planting technology; Master Wang Chui, in charge of the core cannon technology; Miss Yiluo Xi, rumored to be particularly skilled in the art of explosion; Lord Xing Jinglei… no particular rumors about him? Skip.
It was rumored that there was also a very mysterious powerful figure within the organization's core, who was said to be called 'Miss An'?
But even the senior veterans knew very little about this individual. The newcomers only received a few simple pieces of information: she was very strong, terrifyingly strong, so strong it sent chills down one's spine.
As they spoke, this senior veteran seemed to tremble slightly. Could it be that Miss An was very frightening in appearance? It was said that Miss An's combat power was among the top even among the powerful figures, yet she rarely appeared, her fame even less than that of Lord Xing Jinglei. Perhaps their suspicions were reasonable?
No, no, they must not disrespect the powerful figures.
Starfire City. On the high-altitude observation platform of the Dawn Lighthouse, Fang You, clad in a white robe, gazed with profound eyes at the slowly surging grey mist outside the oasis, nodding slightly.
"Almost everyone has arrived."
Since a few days ago, An Jianyiu, Xing Jinglei, and others who were still exploring in the Ghost Realm had returned to the oasis. Even Yiluo Xi, who had been guarding the adjacent oasis, had arrived in Starfire City from Burning Fire Mall not long ago.
After all, the two oases were only separated by a short teleportation channel, which was truly very close. If any unexpected situation arose in Burning Fire Mall, it would not take long to rush back. If a highly urgent accident occurred, he could also have Xiao Huan descend directly within Burning Fire Mall, which only required a single thought from Xiao Huan.
Another point was that the promotion to super oasis was such a significant event that even if he hadn't dispatched Yiluo Xi, this child would have likely snuck over to join the fun.
At this moment, the mythical powerhouses of the Starfire Organization, except for Xiao Huan, who was still in the panel, and Master Wang Chui, who was still diligently forging iron in the base, all other Starfire powerhouses were present.
Oh, right, the mythical powerhouses who were not present included Xitina. She wanted to come, but she was traversing the depths of the Sea of Filth, and it was quite far from Oasis No. 3. It would take some time to rush back, and this girl had once again missed a major battle.
However, Xitina had also killed quite a few seven-star anomalous beings in these days, so she probably wouldn't regret it too much… right?
Oh, and almost forgot, Qian Mian was now also a seven-awakened mythical being. He/She would naturally not be present, still undercover under the Blood Emperor, and it seemed some progress had been made.
Even so, Starfire Oasis could be considered a gathering of powerful figures, with as many as a dozen mythical beings present. Apart from the lack of demigod-level combat power, the strength here was almost comparable to a overlord team from that day.
With such a lineup, the problems facing the oasis's advancement tribulation were probably not significant.
Thinking of this, Fang You did not take out the Oasis Heart but instead communicated with the entire oasis through the close connection between the base module and the oasis, pushing the oasis to take the final step.
Instantly, it seemed as though something had changed.
An invisible, profound power bloomed from the Oasis Heart and spread throughout the entire oasis in an instant. This power could only be perceived by Fang You, the holder of the Oasis Heart. However, to others, significant changes were occurring in Starfire Oasis.
Thousands of meters away, the boundaries of the oasis were slowly but steadily moving outwards.
The dense grey mist that enveloped the land was receding inch by inch, revealing a still relatively barren land, but one where sparse blades of grass could be seen. It was not as dead as the true ground of the Ghost Realm.
The defenders on the city walls watched, gradually holding their breath.
The speed at which the oasis expanded increased, but at the same time, the grey mist that was being compressed and forced to retreat began to transform from its previously calm state to one of ferocity and madness. The grey mist, like a high wall, instantly changed into churning waves, and a terrible storm seemed to be brewing within.
Such scenes were not unfamiliar to the veteran soldiers stationed in Starfire Oasis; in fact, they were accustomed to them. Yet, they could immediately tell that the swirling of the grey mist this time was far more violent than on previous occasions. Although it looked like a similar surge of grey mist, they felt waves of oppressive aura washing over them.
"It's coming!"
The veteran soldiers stopped their casual chatter and grew solemn.
The rookies clenched their weapons, their eyes fixed on the distance.
At this moment, after the recent expansion, the distance between the city walls and the oasis's edge had increased to five to six thousand meters. The barren land in between was covered by sunlight, a place visible to the naked eye. To the elite defenders whose eyesight far surpassed that of ordinary people, they could clearly see even the small blades of grass swaying slightly in the gentle breeze in the distance.
However, they could not see what was happening within the grey mist; their vision could only penetrate tens to a hundred meters at most. This was also one of the difficulties in defending the oasis. Everything within the grey mist was completely invisible to the defenders, and could only be observed when anomalous beings emerged from the mist.
Alternatively, mythical beings could act as scouts, repeatedly piercing through the grey mist with their mythical vision.
Starfire Oasis did not need this.
In the oasis command center, Black Blade stood in the center. Before the curved control console in front of him, a dozen less-than-skillful operators manipulated cumbersome equipment. Finally, these operational commands converged on various crystal display screens, presenting the scene outside the oasis.
Grey mist swirled, anomalous beings swarmed, and the earth trembled.
Curiously, although the grey mist in the image was very dense, the personnel present could still see the scene within the mist relatively clearly and adjust the camera angle, such as from above, in close-up, or change direction.
This was the imagery from the Detection Eyes.
During the preparation phase, Black Blade had selected dozens of locations outside the oasis to build "Detection Eyes." Now, with this epic structure providing early warning and detection, he could obtain intelligence from outside the oasis without leaving his post, gaining more tactical leeway.
In fact, the number of Detection Eyes he had originally applied to build was six hundred and eighteen, but unfortunately, the mentor had rejected his application due to funding reasons, and only eighty-eight were ultimately built.
Thinking of this, Black Blade's gaze sharpened as he stared at each detection screen, predicting the direction of the siege wave, intending to deliver a head-on blow to these anomalous beings.
Fang You was also watching these detection screens.
He was not borrowing Black Blade's vision. As the master of the panel, Fang You had an ineffable connection with these structures built from miracle blueprints. Just as he had incorporated the oasis into the base module, he could directly view the imagery from the Detection Eyes without using external equipment.
However, his focus was different from Black Blade's.
Each to their own specialization… *cough*, since Black Blade was appointed as the overall commander of the defense, he would not interfere. Fang You's focus was on how these anomalous beings appeared. However, he stared for a long time but could not discern the inside story, only knowing that the attacking anomalous beings did not come from the surrounding regions, or at least, not entirely.
Some anomalous beings sensed the fluctuations, or rather, the temptation, and swarmed towards the oasis. However, more of the attacking anomalous beings seemed to appear out of thin air. They passed through layers of grey mist veils, set foot on the desolate land outside the oasis, merged into the surging tide of anomalous beings, and launched their charge along with their kind.
"The anomalous beings are here!"
The eastern defense line was the first to issue a warning.
Several tens of seconds after the general ordered all personnel to be on alert, the surging grey mist reached a certain threshold, and one by one, hideous anomalous beings rushed out from it.
Some of these anomalous beings were no more than a meter tall, ugly but not terrifying. The common one-star anomalous being, the Knocking Child, was a representative. However, there were also many enormous anomalous beings, tens to hundreds of meters tall. They stomped on the trembling ground, crushing one or several Knocking Children with a splat, baring their giant mouths full of sharp teeth and drooling, and galloping forward.
Without much preamble, this oasis advancement war, right from the start, was more ferocious than the defense of Water Marsh Base City.
Terrifying six-star Calamity-level anomalous beings, several of them visible to the eye.
When had the rookies ever seen such a scene? There were no Calamity-level anomalous beings left on the entire Blue Star; they had been killed and turned into rare specimens.
"Stay calm, execute the pre-arranged plan, it's merely six-star anomalous beings!"
The old hands were steady.
Amidst the roaring of giant cannons and the whistling of arrow volleys, the rookies gradually stabilized their minds. Why panic? They should be having fun! Watching the anomalous beings be annihilated by artillery fire, wiping out a large area with one shot, they felt incredibly exhilarating, as if playing a hack-and-slash game, very stress-relieving.
However, after all, this was the strongest wave in the history of Level 6 to Level 7 advancement. For this, Fang You had specifically recalled the mythical beings from various regions, and old brother Black Blade had prepared to set up hundreds of Detection Eyes. If the siege wave was only moderate, wouldn't they have prepared for nothing?
They had not prepared for nothing.
Before the first wave of the eastern defense line's siege was eliminated, the southeastern, western, and northern defense lines, respectively, encountered the surging black tide. Their numbers were so great that "endless" was an insufficient description. The roaring of artillery could not stop the advance of these anomalous beings. They gradually approached, then met the eagerly waiting defenders.
Boom!
Swish!
Clang!
The sounds of explosions, tearing, and shouts were incessant. The siege wave had lasted for half an hour. The high-intensity combat began to show fatigue on many defenders. Moreover, the surging black tide had spread to the foot of the majestic city walls, crashing against the walls in wave after wave. Countless bone spurs and ghost fires emerged from the anomalous tide, increasing the danger severalfold.
However, the situation was still under control. Even the 'rookies' who had just stepped into the Ghost Realm were, in fact, experienced warriors. Each section of the city wall was equipped with medical teams and the Water of Life. It could be said that as long as they were not killed on the spot, even severely wounded and near-death personnel could be rescued.
On one section of the city wall, Yi Yueluxi, as part of the defending soldiers, was also drawing her bow and nocking arrows, shooting out one silver arrow after another. If a powerful being were observing, they would find that Yi Yueluxi could take down a Calamity-level anomalous being with a single arrow, or even a relatively fragile Hell-level anomalous being. And on this section of the city wall, there were three identical graceful figures with silver hair, continuously shooting death-dealing arrows, drawing considerable attention.
After a while, when Yi Yueluxi sensed that her life energy was about to be depleted, she finally stopped her continuous sniping.
After drinking a can of high-level recovery potion, she looked up at the red-robed girl standing in the sky above the anomalous tide, showering it with brilliant orange-red celestial fire. Then, she turned her head to look at An Jianyou, who stood beside her, largely unnoticed throughout, leisurely drinking a large cup of milk with a straw, and asked in confusion.
"Aren't you going to make a move?"
When Miss Youyou was not yet mythical, she could kill a divine avatar with her mortal body. Now that Miss Youyou was a seven-awakened mythical being, Yi Yueluxi was very curious about her strength. She suspected that An Jianyou could already rival or even surpass veteran mythical beings.
However, An Jianyou did not seem to intend to intervene?
She knew that mythical beings needed to invest "mystery factors" as "raw materials" to condense divine nature factors. In other words, even mythical beings needed to grind monsters for experience.
Moreover, Miss Youyou had previously said that personal war contribution depended on position and the number of anomalous beings killed.
Hadn't Miss Yiluo Xi already been killing monsters left and right?
"The current situation is still under control, and since Yiluo Xi has already made her move, there's no need for me to join the fray."
With Yiluo Xi's celestial fire bombardment, the anomalous tide had thinned out, and the pressure on the defending soldiers was no longer as great. If she were to make a move now, it would be like taking away experience points and contribution points from others, which she did not want to do.
She was not short of mysterious value; she could easily gain it by encircling and suppressing some anomalous tides.
She was also not short of contribution points. Therefore, she would leave this opportunity to quickly accumulate anomalous beings to others today.
She took a sip of milk, thinking happily. Yes, seeing everyone become stronger and the organization produce more powerful individuals made her very happy.
An Jianyou merely spread her divine sense, keeping a few "anomalous baby" entities on standby, ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any moment if any unexpected situation arose.
The anomalous tide intensified, and more and more defenders were injured, while new soldiers entered the fray.
Among them, the eastern defense line faced the most ferocious anomalous tide. However, because Yiluo Xi had visited this area multiple times, the anomalous tide had thinned considerably, and the southern defense line was now under the greatest pressure.
Here, an increasing number of defending soldiers were being injured. The general of this section of the city wall was requesting reinforcements.
At this moment, pure white holy light descended from the sky, enveloping dozens of severely wounded and injured soldiers who were about to retreat from the battlefield. Instantly, the foul blood on these injured soldiers spurted out, their ghastly wounds healed at a visible speed, their pale faces gradually became ruddy, and their chests began to rise and fall with strength.
Their wounds no longer hurt, and their limbs felt strong. One by one, the injured soldiers, in a daze, climbed up from their stretchers and looked towards the tall figure who had appeared on their section of the city wall at some unknown time.
"It's the Silver Bell Physician!"
Some veteran soldiers recognized the person, and their excited expressions were as if they had received a beneficial buff from afar, instantly unleashing extremely powerful combat effectiveness.
The rookies were even more astonished. The legendary Silver Bell Physician had appeared? That's right, a powerful figure who could heal dozens of injured people in an instant must be the Silver Bell Physician!
This physician's smile was as sweet as rumored, like sweet dew seeping into their hearts. Many soldiers felt an inexhaustible surge of strength welling up from within them, and they shouted excitedly, filled with immense morale.
With the Silver Bell Physician present, with the Silver Bell Lord behind them, what did they have to fear? These mere anomalous beings, die for me!
Wait...
The soldiers, their blood boiling, suddenly noticed a tall, familiar, angelic figure, who deserved the protection of all soldiers, had bypassed the entire defense line and stood at the very forefront of the city wall. Then, she directly leaped down.
Defending soldiers: "???"
Oh my god, what happened!
The battlefield was chaotic and intense, and the soldiers had no time to pay much attention. By the time they noticed a certain remarkable figure, Silver Bell had already used her Phantom Step to travel to a location several hundred meters away from the city wall.
This distance was about right.
If she was too close to the city wall, she was afraid of accidentally harming her own people.
If she was too far from the city wall, traversing through areas filled with anomalous beings would require her to be extremely vigilant, which was very tiring! No, it was dangerous, and she was sure she didn't have the ability to go too far, so she stopped a few hundred meters away.
She sighed slightly.
Why was she, a physician who saved lives, running to the very front line of the battlefield?
It was all the mentor's fault.
It was the anomalous beings' fault.
It was the world's fault!
She, Silver Bell, only wanted to quietly conduct research!
She flicked her sleeve, and her storage ring tilted, pouring out an invisible dust that scattered like bees and butterflies. Holy light that could heal the body and soul emanated from her, spreading rapidly within several hundred meters around her, with her as the center.
At the end, the defending soldiers at the forefront of the city wall felt their spirits lift. The minor wounds that had accumulated on their bodies rapidly healed, and their almost depleted life energy was replenished.
At this moment,
Before they could think further, they saw the anomalous beings, also shrouded in this pure white holy light, their bodies as if sprayed with some invisible, terrifying liquid, rapidly decaying, softening, and liquefying. In the blink of an eye, the hideous and terrifying anomalous beings were reduced to mere skeletal remains, with thick gray-green viscous liquid slowly dripping from them.
A tall woman in white, wearing form-fitting trousers and with her black hair tied up, stood in a hellscape of scattered remains and viscous liquid. She was spotless and still wore a smile that could heal the heart.
An angelic smile.
"Oh my!"
Looking at the anomalous beings decaying and liquefying before them, the defending soldiers couldn't help but take a few steps back, then looked back at the tall figure in the distance.
Physician Silver Bell, she... well, she was definitely an angel!!