My Apocalypse Territory
Chapter 491 - 450 Light Gate

Holding dual swords, with a longsword slung across his back.

Kong's aura surged, centering on him, a sharp Sword Qi enveloped all directions, as if forming a flattened spherical Sword Domain.

A blood-red, gigantic crescent-shaped Sword Light suddenly slowed down and lingered in front of Kong, accompanied by the drawing of his second longsword.

Clang—

Metallic sounds cried out, centering on Kong, within a radius of a hundred meters, several longswords buried in the dirt trembled slightly.

One sword,

The giant crescent-shaped Sword Light shattered like fragile eggshells.

Two swords,

Kong's other sword-wielding hand moved lightly, slicing through waves of ripples.

Nishimura's complexion changed drastically—he slashed out a hundred times instantaneously, but kept retreating, shattering the ground beneath him, his hands trembling. The slightly damaged blood-red tachi snapped with a ping—the blade now reduced to only a hilt and a fragment of the blade.

Nishimura was truly frightened!

He turned and fled, leaving behind ambitions of strengthening "Sky Wolf Hall" and restoring Sakura Country.

He didn't even think about his subordinates.

Although Kong felt somewhat unsatisfied, he did not subscribe to the idea of allowing the tiger to return to the mountain and giving the enemy a chance to grow stronger to sharpen his own skills.

The two of them—one chasing and the other escaping—rapidly moved away from the battlefield.

...

Gurgle.

Yong'an Director Cui Xinseng, together with a few of his top combat forces, managed to kill a "Sky Wolf Hall" executive at the cost of sustaining injuries. Yet, witnessing Kong's battlefield, they still felt an immense gap.

Their spirits took ten thousand points of damage.

"The reputation of Green Shadow... is not for nothing; no wonder so many Awakeners leave everything behind to go to Green Shadow. When it comes to top combat forces, we really are quite behind them,"

"The expert teams of Green Shadow are stronger than ours too. Especially their Equipment, flying mounts—it's truly enviable."

Cui Xinseng wondered if he should send a top official to Green Shadow to negotiate a deal for rune equipment?

He had entertained similar thoughts before but had not taken it seriously enough—resulting in a failed transaction... Perhaps, it would be best if I made the trip myself?

While contemplating,

Beside him, a six-star adventurer, "Fire Crow Mage" Liu Tianming, with Fire Crows flying around him, blasted several "Sky Wolf Hall" experts.

Hearing Cui Xinseng, he turned and said, "Director Cui, have you misunderstood something?"

"Huh?" Cui Xinseng blinked.

Liu Tianming pointed towards the distance, "Those aren't Green Shadow's expert teams, but just regular Corps. Advanced rune weapons, Rune Guns, mounts, and other items, all are standard issue for members of the Green Shadow Corps."

Saying this, Liu Tianming couldn't hide his envy.

The official Awakeners of Green Shadow, as long as they passed the new recruit camps' assessment and became official members, at the very least, could possess a set of Grade C equipment. Each one was standardly equipped with a Space Backpack and a Return City Scroll.

Heaven knows how long he had worked on tasks just for a single Return City Scroll!

Unfortunately, he was too used to being a Lone Hero.

"As for Commander Kong, he is indeed much stronger than us. But his strength, in fact, does not rank even in the top three... no, the top five of Green Shadow. Director Tang, Minister Eileen, Nancy, the Personal Guard Captain, Chief Advisor Yan, and the mysterious person in the cloak—each one's strength is beyond imagination. With a wave of their hand, they could shatter mountains and rivers and change the color of the sky and earth."

"Especially Director Tang, his Power is beyond imagination. You haven't seen that scene where he waved his hand and thunder filled the entire sky... You're aware of the Transcendents, right? It's said that even Transcendents turn to dust easily under that terrifying thunder. The number of Transcendents Director Tang has killed can't even be counted on two hands!"

Liu Tianming could hardly conceal his yearning.

He had only witnessed those scenes from afar, couldn't see anything clearly, but that didn't prevent him and many other adventurers from deducing and reconstructing the real process from clues.

Cui Xinseng's mouth twitched.

You're deliberately trying to deflate me, aren't you?!

But what exactly are Transcendents? Could they be another name for Catastrophe Level Demonized Beasts?

Intending to ask but opening his mouth, Cui Xinseng ultimately swallowed his words bitterly—after all, as the Director of a major Sanctuary, he had to save some face!

...

Nishimura possessed a Space Ring and, while fleeing, he took out two slightly inferior tachis.

While escaping, he occasionally turned back to meet the cuts from Kong's sword.

Before long, he changed swords three or four times, his arms bleeding profusely, and he even employed the secret technique "Qi Sea Burning" he learned from the mysterious person, turning his complexion ghostly pale.

But in a short time, he had already fled more than a dozen miles away.

Kong frowned slightly.

The physical conditioning of the two individuals was actually quite similar. He could tell that Nishimura had mastered an advanced cultivation skill, and his potential had been tapped to the extreme.

However, it was his own mastery of a deeper "intent realm," his greater arsenal of combat skills, and his wearing of A-grade battle boots, which complemented his Wind Series Ability, that slightly increased his speed, continuously shortening the distance between them.

Swoosh!

Once again, Kong closed in, his intent condensing into force; holding his twin swords, he instantly slashed from eight different angles.

— His self-created combat skill "Instantaneous Sky Eight Slashes"!

Each stroke was stronger than the previous ones that had obliterated the blood-red crescent sword light. Eight bursts of Sword Qi descended in an instant.

Nishimura sensed the danger, his expression twisted in futility to dodge or block.

At that moment,

A dim light membrane enveloped Nishimura, and in the next instant, he appeared over a thousand meters away, his heart pounding. The mysterious pendant given to him had shattered.

Nishimura continued his desperate sprint, suddenly catching a glimpse of a light gate between two large trees, two or three meters tall. Clenching his teeth, he rushed through the light gate.

Seconds later, Kong arrived in front of the Light Gate.

He frowned slightly.

"It seems somewhat different from the entrance to the Secret Realm."

Raising his hand, Kong focused his Sword Intent, emitting a beam of sword light that fell upon the Light Gate.

Bang,

The sharp, unmatched Sword Intent vanished without a trace upon touching the Light Gate.

Not even the slightest ripple stirred.

...

More than an hour passed,

Having been informed and then following a Transmission Array and floating airship, Tang Yu arrived in front of this peculiar Light Gate.

"You did right not to enter rashly; this entrance is strange," he said, knowing there could be anything inside. A Sakura Country enemy escaping is one thing, trivial, but if something happened to Kong...

"Anyway, entrances to the Secret Realm are typically singular. Whoever that guy is, even if he runs, he's on a path to nowhere."

Kong stared at the Light Gate for a while and said,

"It's definitely not a normal Secret Realm. Standard entrances to Secret Realms have weak stability; it's odd that my all-out strike didn't cause even a small ripple. Plus... when I struck just now, I felt a sudden throbbing in my heart. I sense that two more strikes might trigger a counterattack from the Light Gate, and I might not be able to withstand it."

Tang Yu was somewhat astonished.

The situation inside the Light Gate was beyond any perception.

However, he had a well-prepared protocol for exploring unknown environments.

Immediately, Tang Yu threw out two fist-sized spheres; upon opening, two medium-grade Fighter Puppets landed and marched toward the Light Gate.

They passed through without the slightest hindrance and vanished.

Tang Yu concentrated, sensing as expected that contact with the Fighter Puppets had been lost.

After waiting a moment,

"The Return City Scroll works; the puppets have returned to the Territory. Inside... at least the entrance seems safe, appearing to be a vast hall."

Upon hearing this, Kong immediately stepped through.

Tang Yu also entered, furrowing his brow immediately, "It feels somehow different from crossing through a Secret Realm entrance. My sensitivity to space is still lacking. Possessing Nightmare and passing through the gate again might allow me to perceive something."

Entering within, the Light Gate still existed behind them, only now it had turned into a column of faint green light, reaching for the Heavenly Dome.

Looking around, there was no sign of anything else.

Tang Yu took to the air, not probing the height of this space for safety's sake. At a hundred meters elevation, he still couldn't see the top, let alone the end of the hall.

Nor were there any people.

He deployed Honey Bee Reconnaissance Puppets to surround the area, continually expanding the scouting range.

An hour, two hours.

Tang Yu's expression gradually grew solemn, "This space is too large, far greater than any Secret Realm we've explored before. The area known so far is already larger than the entire Beiting City and is still endless."

"Yet it's empty, except for those faint green light columns."

(End of the available excerpt, with regrets on the author's behalf.)