Returning to this familiar place, Wei Huan was in no hurry to set out.
Following his established routine, he released his undead army first. While Mu Zhong finalized the mission objectives for the hundred warriors, Wei Huan began attempting to contact Moji.
The moment their consciousness linked, Wei Huan discovered that Moji had grown significantly more powerful. Within the threads of his soul, Moji felt like a roaring, raging fire. Even from a vast distance, the sky where it resided surged with immense energy, as striking as sunset clouds set ablaze.
By comparison, the life fires of the other undead connected to his soul threads were as faint as fireflies. Only Dot Mom, a Pseudo-God rank who had already progressed quite far, could barely contend with Moji.
What had happened to Moji in the last year and a half? Even without Wei Huan's presence, it had upgraded itself to Pseudo-God rank? And it seemed even stronger than expected?
Wei Huan's first instinct was to wonder: 'Can I still control it?'
It wasn't that he was overly suspicious; the undead army was his foundation. If gaining strength meant escaping his control, then his hard work in cultivation would be a joke. The key wasn't that the undead were world-defyingly strong, but that they remained under his thumb no matter what. Wei Huan had to exert significant effort to suppress the impulse to summon Moji back immediately.
Of course, at this distance, he couldn't pull it back into the Great Tomb, but a forced summons would definitely impact Moji. Precisely because he didn't know what it had experienced to become this strong, he had to be cautious to avoid harming it.
Shifting his focus away from Moji, Wei Huan looked at the people behind him. Everyone was in position. Mu Zhong had dispatched a 20-man scout team led by "Brother Hammer," one of the "Big Three" of the vehicle. Hammer's "Stranger Talent" had reached its peak in the Beast World; he could mask the presence of anyone he linked with—including undead—making him perfect for scouting without the risk of detection or ambush.
The rest remained with Wei Huan on Dot Mom's back, waiting for their shifts and continuing their cultivation. They were the vanguard of humanity, the benchmark of power, and they could not afford to slack off. Wei Huan wasn't worried about laziness; those who had made it past billions of people to stand by his side were all possessors of exceptional character and talent.
---
As they advanced, they encountered several ordinary Dark Beast tribes. Any tribe in their path was systematically eliminated. Although these were small tribes, their chiefs or territories often held decent resources. Dark Beasts weren't skilled in technology and couldn't refine most materials, but treasures of heaven and earth were born in places where spiritual energy gathered. Living in such environments promoted longevity and strength.
Since Wei Huan came with a plan to hoard resources, he had brought many spatial warehouses and several units full of gathering robots. With the Facehuggers assisting, they left the lands they scoured completely barren. However, Wei Huan only collected resources along their route; finding Moji was the priority, and the loot from a hundred small tribes couldn't compare to the collection of a single Dark Beast Royal.
The journey was exceptionally smooth. Five days passed without incident, though they had yet to encounter a Royal territory. Xu Qingqiang had brought plenty of cigarettes this time, as if to compensate for his bad luck during their last visit. He hadn't put one down for days. When he stood near Wei Huan, the latter frowned at the smell.
"Do you remember how long it took us to meet a Dark Beast Royal last time?" Xu Qingqiang asked.
"With Moji guiding us, it was two days of forced marching."
"It's been five days now. I thought we'd find Moji quickly, kill a King, and go exploring those secrets. We only have 30 days here, and 5 are already gone."
Wei Huan turned to him. "What are your thoughts on those 'secrets'?"
"Go back to the places we visited before, of course. It has to start there."
"The Twin Pillars of Heaven?"
"Exactly. My system has the map. I noticed your current direction is drifting further and further away from the Twin Pillars."
Wei Huan had noticed too. They had teleported into a corner of the Dark Beast world, far from the center. Initially, the Twin Pillars and Moji's direction were the same, but the paths began to diverge yesterday.
Wei Huan decided without hesitation: "Find Moji first. Don't forget the primary objective."
"I've been waiting for you to say that," Xu Qingqiang nodded. "By the way, how much longer until we find that kid?"
Wei Huan looked ahead. "Less than a day."
They chatted idly until noon. The sun was at its peak. Dark Beasts disliked the sun and usually slept in the shadows during this time; sometimes Wei Huan flew over a tribe without them even knowing. This was typically the calmest and safest period.
Suddenly, Wei Huan's expression changed, his eyes flickering with an odd light. The green flame in his left eye danced as if he were staring at something specific.
"What is it? Find something good?" Xu Qingqiang asked.
Wei Huan didn't speak, but he looked puzzled. After a moment of thought, he let out a sudden laugh.
"What are you doing? That smile looks so l—" Xu Qingqiang choked back the last word.
Wei Huan didn't mind. They were brothers-in-arms; Xu Qingqiang had made worse jokes. He called out to the group, "Attention! I'm increasing speed. Stay alert."
Mu Zhong rushed over. "What's happening?"
"If I'm not mistaken," Wei Huan said, "Moji is coming to meet us."
"Moji is ahead? Tsk, I actually missed that kid," Xu Qingqiang said.
"No," Wei Huan corrected him.
"No? Then what?" Xu Qingqiang bit his cigarette filter, his eyebrows shooting up.
Wei Huan sighed and gestured with his chin. "See for yourself."
Mu Zhong and Xu Qingqiang looked in the direction he pointed. On the summit of a mountain directly in their path, over a hundred Twin-Headed Hidden Demons were flying. They were highly visible, and beneath them lay a massive pile of resources—crimson and yellow minerals, timber cut to uniform sizes, ore, and sand. The summit was almost overflowing.
The two stared at the pile, which would clearly require two or three spatial warehouses to hold. They finally understood what he meant by a "welcome."
Dark Beasts and humans had no common language, different schedules, and opposing cultivation attributes. They were absolute enemies. But to pile up resources that humans would be interested in and leave only a hundred Hidden Demons to guard them—even a fool could see this was a deliberate greeting.
Wei Huan's Grade 6 Hidden Demons surrounded the hundred living ones, keeping them still. Under Wei Huan's order, they drove the living ones away before turning to the resources.
Moji was indeed clever. No one had told it what to do, yet it knew to collect these things. But such intelligence was also slightly worrying.
Mu Zhong, whose wisdom was near-demonic, saw Wei Huan's expression and knew what he was thinking. "Whether your summons is under your control is something you should know better than anyone. Don't overthink it."
Wei Huan nodded. He sent several undead leaders down to collect the mountain of resources. Mu Zhong noticed that Wei Huan sent the leaders specifically, knowing he still harbored some doubt. This was Wei Huan's "reverse scale"—a sensitive point not to be touched.
Once the spatial warehouses were back, Mu Zhong had the 'Heart of Steel' run the tally. The data was sent to Wei Huan. Mu Zhong changed the subject: "These are all super-rare materials, just piled up like this. What has Moji been doing this year and a half? Become a mine owner?"
Wei Huan's brow twitched when he saw the list and quantities. The value of this single pile was nearly half of everything he had brought back last time. Furthermore, the hundred Hidden Demons he had driven away didn't fly far. They stopped and waited as if they had a task, flying back if the fleet didn't move.
The gesture was easy to interpret. Wei Huan set off again, following the Hidden Demons. After another 500 kilometers, they reached another mountain—a snow-capped peak. At the summit was a pile of ice-attribute resources. After the snow mountain, there was a lake with water-attribute resources. Then a volcano, a dense forest, a swamp... in a short time, Wei Huan obtained several times the amount of resources from his previous trip. His spatial warehouses were nearly full.
The warriors behind them went from excitement to numbness. "Did Moji kill the Dark Beast King and take the throne for himself?"
"How many Royals did he kill? Or did he dig through the whole world?"
"This saves us so much time; we can go straight to exploring the secrets."
---
As they went deeper, Mu Zhong noticed a change. "The Dark Beast tribes are becoming more frequent. A lot more."
He observed the ground. "It looks like small tribes have undergone a massive merger. Look at those Schuma Horses running on the plain. Are there a million of them?"
Schuma Horses were social beasts, but no one had seen a million together. They spread across the plain like a black carpet, seemingly escorting the fleet until they could no longer keep up. As they moved further, they saw more: Hidden Demons filling the sky, Flying Monkeys in the trees, and Kobolds who had dug countless holes in the hills. The numbers were staggering—likely over a billion.
Yet, they were deep in the heart of the territory, and Moji was still nowhere to be seen. Mu Zhong looked at Wei Huan, puzzled. 'Did Moji really escape control and is now hiding?'
Finally, Wei Huan sensed Moji's thoughts. Before, at a distance, he only knew Moji was extremely excited and bloodthirsty. As they got closer, that madness became clearer. But the moment Wei Huan's consciousness entered Moji's defenseless mind, he saw fields of corpses, rivers of blood, the falling forms of Dark Beast Royals, and the billions of beasts that had surrendered to it.
In an instant, Wei Huan understood everything. His heart returned to its place.
Out of the blue, Wei Huan said, "You were right."
Mu Zhong looked at him, confused.
The tension in Wei Huan's lips softened into a faint smile. He told Mu Zhong, "I should be the one who understands my summons best."
Mu Zhong realized what he meant. "What did Moji do?"
Wei Huan looked at the gathered tribes below. "Moji is sustaining war through war. These are all its tribes, the citizens of its territory."
Even having guessed it, Mu Zhong was shocked by the confirmation. "This many? There must be over 2 billion?"
Wei Huan nodded. "And it's currently fighting ahead, which is why it hasn't come to meet us." His eyes flared with fire. "Now, let's help it win this long-drawn battle!"
---
Moji had been besieging this Dark Beast Lord's territory for nearly three months. When its master left, he gave it two orders: keep taking control of more beasts and keep the Dark Beast race from developing in peace. Moji realized these were two parts of the same task: constant conquest.
Since the master left, it hadn't stopped. It killed Royal after Royal, absorbing their tribes and looting resources. It had set the entire world on fire. Finally, its power forced the remaining Royals to unite. Three Dark Beast Royals had formed a secret alliance, gathering billions of beasts to ambush Moji, nearly killing it.
Moji didn't fear death—it was immortal through its master's grace. But dying meant failing the order. The fire of death would scorch its soul; "disobedience" was not an option. Moreover, its death would collapse the soul network it managed, freeing the beasts.
To keep conquering and stay "alive," it had slowed down, grinding against the alliance for three months. Its 3-billion-strong army had been whittled down to 1.8 billion. News suggested reinforcements for the alliance were arriving soon, which would dwarf its current forces and likely lead to its defeat.
It didn't know how to proceed without failing the master's command. Just as it felt it might have to crawl back to the Great Tomb in shame, its master's will suddenly descended.
"Moji." A voice of boundless majesty echoed in its mind.
Moji jolted. "Master!"
The undead army arrived faster than expected. As the cherished Nether Qi rolled in from the horizon, Moji first saw a gargantuan, sky-covering black Nether Phoenix. Its wings spread Nether Qi like a tidal wave, and gray snow began to fall over the battlefield.
Any Dark Beast touched by the snow—friend or foe—suffered bone-corroding pain. The weak were dissolved into puddles of rot. Moji didn't care about its followers; it didn't consider itself a Dark Beast. It was of the Undead, ignited by its master. It ordered its tribes to retreat.
The Nether Crow shrieked, swirling wind and snow as it dived into the enemy camp. Then, a sky full of Hidden Demon Walkers arrived like wolves among sheep, tearing the enemy apart. The earth shook with the thundering hooves of the Skeletal Wolf army and the Schuma Walker main force, coordinated by the Demon Eye Lord.
Though the undead numbered only 70,000–80,000 against a battlefield of hundreds of millions, their individual strength was overwhelming. They were a hot knife through butter, slicing the alliance army into pieces and annihilating them.
Moji bared its teeth in bloodthirsty joy, wanting to join the slaughter. But a strange undead caught its eye. It was a creature with scales, three heads that looked like dragons, and dragon horns.
Moji's expression turned ferocious. It recognized the creature immediately. It let out a series of "huo-huo" cries and sprinted across the ground, its eyes turning red with rage at the flying creature. But the creature didn't stop to duel; it just kept flying. Moji looked around, then threw the wooden stick it always carried like a javelin.
Wei Huan and the others arrived just in time to see this world-shattering strike. The wooden stick turned into a sky-splitting edge of light—a power capable of tearing space itself. It swallowed the Schuma that had evolved by consuming the Black Dragon's soul. The light lingered, even punching a massive hole in the sky.
"Did Moji really—!?" Mu Zhong's face paled, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Wei Huan. Had Moji attacked the undead? Had it rebelled?
But when Mu Zhong saw Wei Huan's face, his heart settled. Wei Huan looked perfectly calm, even pleased.
"Wei Huan?" Mu Zhong asked.
"It's fine," Wei Huan reassured him. "Just the instinct to fight for the leadership of the tribe."
Moji had struck because "when the tiger is away, the monkey reigns." How could a mere deformed Legendary Hero dare lead the Schuma Walker tribe? Even the mindless undead had a hierarchy, and Moji—the original leader of the Schuma—was far more than a mindless drone.
Moji had reached a high level within the Pseudo-God rank. With one strike, the three-headed Schuma was killed and sent back to the Great Tomb. Moji was now officially the strongest undead in Wei Huan's hand.