Chapter 0590 Black-Clad Army

Chapter 0590: The Black-Clad Legion

The Hua Tian Legion was also a formidable force that rarely made appearances.

Their method of accumulating points involved orchestrated assaults on small and medium-sized legions.

Once targeted by them, few legions stood a chance of escaping.

The Hua Tian Legion would capture members of other legions and let Hua Xiyue finish them off. After amassing a large number of points, Hua Xiyue would exchange them for techniques, spirit talismans, and other treasures.

Long Qiaofeng specialized in hunting Spirit Martial Realm warriors from various legions, so she was quite familiar with their operations.

At this moment, she guided Qin Yun toward the northern region of the Immortal Soldier Illusory Realm.

The northern area was a frozen wilderness, where perpetual blizzards raged. Towering ice mountains dominated the landscape, and the environment was extremely harsh.

"Who would’ve thought the Hua Tian Legion would hide in this icy region!" Long Qiaofeng frowned as she gazed at the distant snow-capped mountains. "Taking action there won’t be easy!"

"Is the Hua Tian Legion entirely composed of Dharma Protector Hall disciples?" Qin Yun asked.

"Mostly!" Long Qiaofeng nodded. "Immortal Soldier City houses a total of 100,000 disciples—40,000 in the Immortal Soldier Palace, 30,000 outer disciples, 15,000 inner disciples, and 3,000 in the Dharma Protector Hall."

"The Hua Tian Legion has around 500 disciples!"

Qin Yun found the total number of 100,000 disciples in Immortal Soldier City unexpectedly small.

"From what I know, the Hua Tian Legion alone has about 400 Spirit Martial Realm members. After all, the Dharma Protector Hall consists of elite disciples!" Long Qiaofeng said. "So, if you annihilate the entire Hua Tian Legion, you could earn around 800 to 900 points!"

"Almost a thousand!" Qin Yun took a deep breath.

"Of course, annihilating them is impossible. The Hua Tian Legion is formidable—even we tread carefully around them!" Long Qiaofeng shook her head. "Even Tian Yaolei has to be extremely cautious when facing them."

Qin Yun stared at the distant snow mountains and said, "If Hua Xiyue isn't there, it shouldn't be a problem. That guy’s no pushover!"

"Hua Xiyue wields a Profound Body and totems. His martial soul has also been refined by a Soul Refinement Master, imbued with the StarMoon Sigil, making it extremely formidable." Long Qiaofeng said, her voice dripping with envy.

Qin Yun was also a Soul Refinement Master, but he hadn’t cracked the code on how to strengthen his own martial soul.

"Let's go scout first!" Qin Yun said before dashing toward the snow mountains.

Half a day later, Qin Yun and Long Qiaofeng entered a blizzard-scourged zone.

The blizzard here was so intense that even Spirit Martial Realm martial artists could barely advance—clearly a deliberate design of the Immortal Soldier Illusory Realm.

"Qiaofeng, are there any places in the Immortal Soldier Illusory Realm that are particularly difficult to reach?" Qin Yun asked.

"Yes! The interior of these snow mountains! The Hua Tian Legion is only stationed on the outskirts—far from the core!" Long Qiaofeng replied. "I don’t even know what purpose that area serves!"

Qin Yun had previously heard from Xie Qirou that the Source of Immortality might be found within the Immortal Soldier Illusory Realm.

This mysterious realm was directly powered by the energy released from the Source of Immortality.

In theory, it was possible to come into contact with the Source within the Illusory Realm.

At night, the frozen wilderness was lashed by furious winds, with snow and ice shards swirling violently.

Amid the darkness, the roaring blizzard was terrifying.

To Qin Yun and Long Qiaofeng's surprise, they encountered a colossal Profound Beast elephant, which they worked together to slay.

They carved out a cave in an iceberg and went inside to rest.

"Hua Tian Warband is hiding really deep!" Long Qiaofeng hissed.

"Good. When I destroy them, they won’t slip away easily!" Qin Yun chuckled. "How much longer till we get there?"

"Another two hours. They’re probably hiding inside the iceberg!"

Long Qiaofeng sucked in a breath. "Do you have a battle plan? I can mask up and fight alongside you, but I’ll hold back—I can’t let them recognize my aura!"

Qin Yun laughed. "No need to fight—just stick with me. If things go south, you’re my getaway!"

"Alright, tell me your plan!" Long Qiaofeng said. "Let me weigh in!"

Qin Yun took out a furnace, a forging hammer, and the mystical beast’s corpse.

"I’m making Mystic Runes!"

With enough powerful Mystic Runes, even Spirit Martial Realm martial artists would be hard-pressed to defend against them.

In the Immortal Soldier Illusory Realm, after all, without good armor, strong Mystic Runes can wreck you—even if you don’t die, you’d be severely injured.

"How many are you planning to make?" Long Qiaofeng asked sharply.

"Not sure!" Qin Yun grinned. "I’m using every last bit!"

Without Qin Yun, Long Qiaofeng’s dragon and phoenix martial souls, both fire-attribute, would still make her a force to reckon with.

Now, she was helping Qin Yun craft runes, handling odd jobs.

Even if it was grunt work, she took it very seriously.

"Qin Yun, are you a Runes Master now?" Long Qiaofeng asked, suddenly remembering that Qin Yun was a freakishly gifted rune-carver.

This should have earned him respect, but because he had offended many major factions, he was shunned.

After all, when he defeated Ying Chengyu’s disciples last time, he made waves across immortal sects.

Many genius disciples from those sects were eagerly waiting for him to participate in the Martial Arts Championship—everyone was gunning for him!

"Guess so. I can now forge mystical weapons, craft Mystic Runes, and set up mystical formations!"

After reaching the Spirit Martial Realm, Qin Yun no longer needed others’ help to forge mystical weapons.

"Impressive!" Long Qiaofeng murmured in admiration.

"Not bad. At least your Long Clan can’t take me down!" Qin Yun said. "One of your Long Family elders in the Medicine Immortal Valley swiped four of my Dao Artifacts. Can you help me investigate his background?"

"No problem!" Long Qiaofeng had already decided to betray the Long Family.

While carving runes, Qin Yun chuckled. "You ditched the Long Family just like that!"

"Yue Wulan and Tian Ruoleng did the same, didn’t they? They betrayed their families for benefits too. And it worked out—I heard the king-grade spirit artifacts you forged for them are nearly as good as mystical weapons!"

"Besides, the Long Family never treated me well. They’re very biased." Long Qiaofeng’s face twisted with resentment.

The runes Qin Yun was currently carving were top-tier fire runes and Exploding Flame Stars—all fire-attribute runes.

Because he possessed the Flamefury Rune Soul, carving fire-attuned runes was as easy as breathing for him.

Qin Yun wasn’t sure what level his Mystic Runes were, but he did his best to engrave all the compatible fire-attuned runes onto them.

It took him a full day and night to complete a hundred of these Mystic Runes.

In the real world, with the Mystic King Cannon and the Nine Yang Divine Hammer, wiping out that battalion wouldn’t have been difficult for Qin Yun.

“We’ll head over after dark!”

Qin Yun glanced at the sky. Despite the blizzard, there was still some light—night hadn’t fallen yet.

Long Qiaofeng could only follow Qin Yun’s lead now, knowing full well how powerful the fire runes he had crafted were.

“Qiaofeng, in this Celestial Arms Mirage, which faction is the strongest?” Qin Yun suddenly asked with curiosity.

“The Black-Clad Battalion!” Long Qiaofeng’s expression darkened with dread as she spoke of them. “A very mysterious group—few in number but incredibly strong. They all wear black clothes and masks. No one knows who they are, and not one has ever ranked in the top ten.”

“Then what’s their purpose?” Qin Yun grew even more intrigued.

“No idea! Tian Yaolei’s Blazing Thunder Battalion was wiped out by them once!” Long Qiaofeng looked puzzled but also fascinated. “After that battalion was destroyed, no one’s scores suddenly spiked.”

“And those defeated by the Black-Clad Battalion get docked a hundred points!”

“Could they be something... beyond the rules?” Qin Yun’s eyes narrowed. “Are they comprised of the elders?”

“Many suspect that. It’s said they’ve already wiped out over twenty battalions!” Long Qiaofeng warned. “In any case, we must be careful!”

When night fell,

Qin Yun and Long Qiaofeng battled through the howling blizzard.

After more than an hour, they arrived outside an icy mountain.

“They’re inside. I’ll take point.” Qin Yun carefully seared a tunnel through the ice with black flames.

In this Celestial Arms Mirage, arcane energies couldn't manifest externally, so the Piercing Mystic Art couldn’t be used.

After probing the interior of the icy mountain with his powerful psychic senses, he cautiously slipped into their stronghold.

Long Qiaofeng stayed outside as Qin Yun had instructed.

Qin Yun was only scouting for now, not preparing to strike—he needed to verify Hua Xiyue's presence.

If Hua Xiyue was present, a direct confrontation would prove troublesome.

He wanted to ensure he took down as many as possible, leaving Hua Xiyue no choice but to acknowledge his prowess.

After scouting, Qin Yun found a considerable force stationed within.

The icy mountain’s interior was vast, containing multiple large proving grounds.

Many disciples of the Dharma Protector Hall were engaging in lethal duels inside these proving grounds.

In the Celestial Arms Mirage, death or severe injuries only translated to phantom pain in their physical forms—no lasting harm.

Thus, many disciples frequently engaged in such no-holds-barred combat here.

This way, they could hone their combat arts to perfection and forge true battle instinct.

Qin Yun scouted the area but didn't sense Hua Xiyue's presence, then began sticking those Mystic Runes all over the place.

He stuck Starfire Mystic Runes near anyone he found and in key spots.

Once he was done, Qin Yun bolted out.

"Is Hua Xiyue inside?" Long Qiaofeng blurted out, seeing Qin Yun return so quickly.

"No, I've plastered the whole place with Mystic Runes!" Qin Yun chuckled. "Let’s move back—way back!"

As he led Long Qiaofeng away from the iceberg, he activated the runes!

Boom!

In the pitch-black night, amid the raging blizzard, the iceberg suddenly exploded, erupting in a huge fireball.