171 To Be Bestowed the Rank of a General, Extinguish a Species! (2/2)

After saying that, Chen Yutong's Spirit Qi suddenly unfurled; energy that far surpassed the cultivation level of Wang Baole and the rest—the peak of the True Breath realm—exploded instantaneously and fused with cruiser. That sent a tremor throughout the cruiser and sparked an incredible propulsive force; the cruiser crossed a vast distance in a blink of an eye.

Wang Baole stood in the middle of the cruiser and turned toward a Green Forest Lake, which shrunk rapidly as the distance grew. He took a slow, deep breath. His determination and resolve toward the mission shone clear in his eyes.

Chen Yutong's cruiser differed from the cruisers of the Ancient Martial realm and the common folk. As someone who was not only a top-tier disciple of Upper Academy Island but was also a popular candidate in the running for deputy Pavilion Head as well as a cultivator at the peak of True Breath realm, Chen Yutong's cruising speed was extremely fast. Despite the vast distance separating the seventh primary stronghold and Upper Academy Island, if all things went well, it would be a matter of hours before they reached their destination.

In comparison, if Wang Baole had taken the cruiser at Lower Academy Island, the traveling time would have been much, much longer. After all, they were bound to encounter numerous bad weather conditions, every manner of which would affect the speed of the cruiser.

Only cruisers such as Chen Yutong's could, due to his exceptional cultivation level, ignore and pass safely through most parts of the adverse weather. There were of course quite a few changes in the weather and atmosphere that even Chen Yutong's cruiser had to steer clear of.

As for the threat of monsters, though there existed ferocious beasts within the Federation lands, most were of the Ancient Martial realm. True Breath realm beasts generally lay low. The Federation had plans of exterminating all beasts within their territory, but this was a nearly insurmountable task. Each year, common beasts, nourished by Spirit Qi, mutated into ferocious beasts in great numbers.

It would not be completely impossible a task if the Federation was to put its mind to it. However, due to reasons unknown, the Federation only set their sights on ferocious beasts of the True Breath realm. Every year, a specialized department would conduct a targeted extermination.

There were also some territories that seemed to have reached an agreement with the Federation to keep out of each other's backyard.

Presently, Chen Yutong's cruiser dashed through the clouds. From afar, one could see a streak of white arcing across the blue heavens, accompanied by the thundering boom of the sound barrier being broken resonating all around—it was like the roar of a giant beast, formidable and awe-inspiring.

Within the cruiser, Chen Yutong and Wang Baole stood at the front of the deck, gazing into the distant lands.

Cities town after cities could be sighted on the ground that passed speedily by. Most were, regrettably, in ruins and had been taken over by the encroaching jungles. A few times, they could see the remains of what had once been cities.

”When the Beast War broke out, humankind was on the losing end of the war. More than half the population died,” Chen Yutong said softly as the sight of city ruins sped past.

”I've read a lot about that war. During that time, among all the various political forces in the Federation camp, the highest cultivation level reached then was the Foundation Establishment realm—no one had attained the Core Formation realm!

”The monsters camp, on the other hand, had three Core Formation realm Beast Kings…

”Fortunately, during that pivotal moment of crisis, someone in the Federation finally broke through the Foundation Establishment realm and stepped into the Core Formation realm. It was this that turned the tide of the war. The Divine Armament came into being then. After battling the other political forces as well as the monsters for the Divine Armament, the four great Dao Colleges finally emerged victorious!

”The appearance of the Divine Armament resulted in the Federation's decisive victory. The Federation built the seven primary strongholds and killed all the Beast Kings. However, they failed to drive the beasts to extinction…

”But I believe that as we continuously advance and improve, this planet beneath our feet will one day be fully ours!”

A fierce light shone in Chen Yutong's eyes.

Wang Baole was experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. He was about to speak before he noticed a stronghold appearing on the land ahead. It sat on a mountain valley; armed with fierce-looking spikes, pitch-black stronghold walls of metal, Numinous Treasure-grade grand cannons on numerous ring-shaped platforms nested within the spikes, the stronghold exuded a fearsome aura that shook one to the core.

The countless warriors in the stronghold and the air of violence emanating from their persons were equally terror-inducing.

”Are we here?” Wang Baole looked over immediately. Chen Yutong, Zhou Penghai, and Sun Fang followed suit.

”This is a minor stronghold. The one slightly ahead is the seventh primary stronghold—the one we're to report at!” Chen Yutong said in a low voice after he had taken a look.

”This is just a minor stronghold?” Wang Baole was stunned. He soon noticed many more strongholds like the one that he had just seen ahead. Even though they were referred to as 'minor', the size and scale of each stronghold was, in actuality, huge. They were often built on mountain ranges and mirrored the primary stronghold. Together, the strongholds formed an irregular blockade!

Within an hour, Chen Yutong announced that the seventh primary stronghold was right ahead of them. Wang Baole stared, in awe, at the earth-shattering, great metal wall on the mountain range in the distance.

No words could describe the tempest of emotions that he was experiencing. Wang Baole was shaken to his core. The stronghold before him, whose size and magnitude vastly exceeded the many minor strongholds that they had seen, and the imperial gate that seemed to support the heaven and earth held his gaze captive.

It was at this precise moment of weakness, of faltering, that he saw—from within the majestic stronghold walls, rising into the skies—rings of smoke clouds that continued their ascent up the heavens.

The Eternal Smoke Signal!