Chapter 466 - 185: The Mortal Realm Is the Real Regular Army After All

Chapter 466: Chapter 185: The Mortal Realm Is the Real Regular Army After All

The start of the new year.

The weather was gradually warming, and spring was just around the corner, yet this time of year was often the coldest.

"Hooo."

Chen Fan blew a breath into his palms and headed toward the Vehicle Workshop within Nameless Mountain. ’The past few months have been busy, but now it’s time to focus on the Mortal Realm itself. Its various buildings need upgrading.’

Just then—

"RUMBLE..."

"RUMBLE..."

An immense sound came from the horizon, shaking the very earth and mountains.

The ground was trembling slightly.

It was as if the sky itself were collapsing.

"..."

Chen Fan’s expression shifted. He quickly walked to a nearby Flying Ship and flew into the air, searching for the source of the sound. He couldn’t see a thing. It was foggy today, and visibility was low. He pulled a Sound Transmission Talisman from his robes and spoke in a low voice.

"Find the source of the sound, quickly!"

Right now, his greatest fear was that the mountain ranges of Jiangbei had collapsed.

Those continuous mountain ranges were a manifestation of the Eternal Night Continent’s core Grand Array. In a sense, these mountains were the primary defense preventing the Ghost Tide from making landfall. Their own defense line merely patched up the areas where the Array Patterns were broken.

If the entire mountain range in Jiangbei were to collapse...

The gap would be...

Impossible to seal.

Jiangbei would have to be abandoned. Moreover, he would have to quickly decide whether to fall back to the New Continent or to the Yellow Springs Entrance Defense Line. Once night fell, the Ghost Tide would devour Jiangbei.

Soon—

He received a reply.

The Mortal Realm Members closest to the source of the sound rapidly reported the news up the chain of command until it reached Chen Fan.

"Domain Lord."

It was Shao Qiu’s voice.

"Starting from Sector 1 of the Jiangbei Defense Line’s West Section, the ground is shaking violently. It’s like something is about to burst out of the earth. It’s spreading rapidly along the Jiangbei Defense Line and has already reached Sector 27 of the West Section."

"..."

After receiving the message, Chen Fan, his expression grave, steered the Flying Ship and sped toward the West section of the Jiangbei Defense Line.

The Jiangbei Defense Line was divided into two parts.

They were designated as the "East" and "West" sections.

The differently numbered sectors represented specific locations along the Jiangbei Defense Line. This system facilitated rapid Positioning for arranging personnel, resupplying materials, and allocating missile resources during wartime.

Sector 1 of the West Section.

That was the area where the West section connected to the mountains.

A short while later.

Chen Fan arrived at Sector 38 of the Jiangbei Defense Line’s West Section. The phenomenon had already spread this far. And he saw it.

In front of the Jiangbei Defense Line, the ground churned as if an Earth Dragon were burrowing rapidly beneath the surface. Soil was thrown to either side as the disturbance surged along the defense line.

The Array Patterns on the 8,500 Godslaying Cannons along the Jiangbei Defense Line lit up in unison. They were ready to fire at a moment’s notice, waiting only for Chen Fan’s command.

He didn’t know what was happening.

The Ghost Corpses outside the Jiangbei Defense Line, which had not yet been cleared away, were now being tossed into the air.

He could feel it.

Something enormous was moving underground, following the path of the Jiangbei Defense Line at an incredible speed.

And—

He couldn’t tell if it was friend or foe.

’A Ghost Object?’

’Impossible. Jiangbei hasn’t fallen yet, and Ghost Objects can’t move during the day.’

’An Exotic Beast?’

’Was it drawn here by the Exotic Beast Breeding House?’

"Damn it..."

The corner of Chen Fan’s mouth twitched. ’It actually seems possible. But isn’t this Exotic Beast a little too big? Could my Exotic Beast Breeding House even hold it?’

Judging by the commotion, it looked just like an Earth Dragon.

...

’Friend or foe, I’ll find out once it shows its head.’

Chen Fan didn’t give the order to fire immediately. He only declared an immediate shift to a wartime state. Many Mortal Realm Members who had still been asleep were instantly awakened and hurried to their battle stations.

For the first time, the Jiangbei Defense Line was brought to full operational status during the day.

Ready to fire at any moment.

Finally.

The burrowing Earth Dragon reached the eastern end of the Jiangbei Defense Line.

The churning stopped.

The next moment—

The ground began to shake violently.

Then,

a "defense line" 170 kilometers long slowly emerged from the ground. It rose up on the coastline, only a few dozen meters away from his own Jiangbei Defense Line.

"What is happening?!"

Chen Fan’s pupils contracted. He recognized this defense line. It was the Jiangbei Defense Line from the Ancient Era, the one he had seen in the vision from the Immortal Celestial Master.

’Didn’t that defense line fall during the Ancient Era?’

’How could it have appeared again now?’

He could also see countless people bustling about on the defense line that had just appeared. But... their bodies were translucent. They clearly weren’t alive.

And they didn’t spare them a single glance.

They just went about their business.

Just then—

Shao Qiu’s voice came through again.

"Domain Lord, in Sector 99 of the Jiangbei Defense Line’s West Section, there’s a... ghost... standing in the air."

"..."

With a deep frown, Chen Fan quickly piloted the Flying Ship to the location Shao Qiu had reported. As he approached, he saw an old man in the distance.

His temples were white with age.

He wore a smile, but his eyes were filled with regret and unwillingness, mixed with a hint of relief. He kept looking back, studying the defense line behind him.

His body was translucent.

Floating in mid-air, just like that.

He paused for a moment before descending from the Flying Ship onto the Jiangbei Defense Line. He looked at the translucent old man floating a few dozen meters away, paused again, then spoke with tentative hesitation.

"Greetings, Senior."

"This is the Jiangbei Mortal Realm. Might I ask who you are, Senior...?"

The old man didn’t reply.

It was as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He just kept looking back at the defense line behind him. After an unknown amount of time, the old man finally faced forward. It seemed as if he were carefully studying the Jiangbei Defense Line, and also as if he were meeting Chen Fan’s gaze, as a smile appeared on his face.