Next Target

Li Xingyao had no interest in those administrative matters. What he cared about now was something else entirely.

"The Abyss Empire..."

As these four words slowly surfaced in his mind, a faint excitement, seemingly emanating from the depths of his soul, crept up his spine and into his heart.

Unlike the Axis Empire, the Abyss Empire is an empire dominated by dark-based professions.

In their society, the number of necromancers, shadow mages, blood mages, shadow assassins, and blood warriors far exceeds that of other races.

Due to the radiation from the dark elemental arrays that spread throughout the entire territory, and the fact that most of the training grounds in the Abyss Empire are dug underground.

The minerals unearthed from the veins were also "polluted" star energy crystals tainted by the laws of darkness. The treasure vault contained countless rare and exotic treasures imbued with the attributes of death, soul, and the laws of shadow.

For Li Xingyao, the Abyss Empire was like a treasure trove tailor-made for him, a necromancer.

Moreover, the Demon Energy Dynasty is currently occupied by the Heavenly Dragon Empire and the Divine Race Empire, and a large amount of resources are being divided up between the two countries.

With the collapse of the Axis Empire, the main force originally sent to attack was recalled, and ultimately all of them were lost at his hands.

Therefore, the battle there will soon enter its final stage. In addition, the main force of the Tianlong Empire's legions is clearing out the remaining forces of the Magic Energy Dynasty in other places, while the post-war order is being established on the other side.

While the biggest "cake" of the Magic Dynasty is still there, there are not many high-value targets in other regions that are worth Li Xingyao's personal attention.

The Abyss Empire, on the other hand, is a "virgin land" that has not yet been fully developed.

"Perfect."

Li Xingyao smiled faintly. "The environment of the Abyss Empire may not be very friendly to ordinary professionals, but for me... it is more suitable for my undead legion to fight than anywhere else."

Their 'home turf,' which they've cultivated for tens of thousands of years, has no effect on suppressing me!

With a thought, Li Xingyao's soul clone in the Soul Palace immediately understood his intention and began to transmit new combat orders to the various command units of the undead legion.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the undead legions scattered throughout the Axis Empire had completed their assembly and deployment, and began to activate reverse teleportation in turn.

Those undead squads, having just looted valuables from various places, returned to the Ruins of Guixu like waves receding from the sea after completing their missions.

Li Xingyao hovered above the ruins of the former imperial city of the Axial Empire, feeling the rapid increase in the number of undead in the Ruins of Return.

Each spatial fluctuation that returns signifies a fully-equipped undead squad returning home.

As the Soul Banner space transformed into a real world, it gained the ability to absorb soul power and teleport items to the dead.

Therefore, the scattered undead brought back not only resources, but also the souls and fragments of laws they devoured along the way.

After completing all of this, Li Xingyao did a rough inventory.

After the war against the Axis Empire, although the total number of the undead army remained at around 20,000 without any further large-scale expansion, its overall quality achieved a leapfrog improvement.

In addition to the undead that had already fused with the divine artifacts, more than a hundred undead have fused with divine artifacts of similar law attributes during this period.

However, looking at the more than three hundred other artifacts with different attributes in the Ruins of Return world, Li Xingyao couldn't help but scratch his head.

Some of these are simple elemental laws, while others contradict Li Xingyao and the undead.

Besides being able to leave some for family and friends, the remaining amount is still quite considerable.

Therefore, faced with this situation, he planned to find other empires after the war to exchange for artifacts with other attributes.

"We should at least greet our future neighbors! But the problem now is how to deal with the Abyss Empire."

Li Xingyao silently planned his next move.

"The Axis Empires are known for their rune technology and constructs, and their warfare tends to be characterized by positional warfare and direct confrontation."

The Abyss Empire is a kingdom of dark-type professionals—necromancers, shadow mages, blood mages, shadow assassins… Their tactics lean more towards stealth, ambush, corruption, and attrition.

If we wage guerrilla warfare against them within the territory of the Abyss Empire, it would be an unnecessary waste of what is about to become "my resources," and the undead legion might not be able to exert its full advantage.

As if suddenly remembering something, Li Xingyao paused in his muttering, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"However... the environment they rely on for survival is precisely my home turf."

The dark attribute world is a place where others are suppressed, but for me and the undead, it's not at all.

The Abyss Empire's expansion within its borders also benefits me.

"Moreover, the Abyss Empire's 'home advantage,' which it has cultivated for tens of thousands of years, simply does not exist in front of me."

He turned and looked south, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of space, landing on the dark region where the Abyss Empire was entrenched.

"The secret vaults, mineral deposits, cultivation resources there... are all the things that are most suitable for me."

With a thought, Flamel's enormous figure flew out of the Void World and slowly descended in front of Li Xingyao in a pale white light.

The undead Nether Dragon slowly unfolded its bone wings, the bones rubbing together and producing a piercing cracking sound, while a cold, eerie blue light flickered silently in its eye sockets.

Li Xingyao leaped onto the dragon's head and sat down between its two horns. "We're going to the Abyss Empire."

The journey from the Axis Empire to the Abyss Empire required traversing almost all the territories of the vassal races in the eastern part of the Heavenly Dragon Empire.

But for Li Xingyao, who now possesses a spatial artifact, this distance only requires a few less precise spatial jumps.

Upon arriving at the border between the two countries, Li Xingyao randomly chose a city on the northern border of the Abyss Empire as his entry point.

According to intelligence obtained from the Tianlong Empire's military affairs department, this city is called "The Gate of Darkness".

It is one of the main trade hubs for the Abyss Empire to communicate with the outside world, and also the northern hub of the Abyss Empire's unique and vast transportation network.

The city is not large, but it is very well defended, at least on the surface.

Li Xingyao hovered high in the sky, looking down at the barren, gray-brown land below.

Because dark magic arrays are spread throughout the entire territory, there is almost no non-dark vegetation on the surface of the Abyss Empire. The ground is covered with huge cracks and collapsed pits, which are all entrances to underground structures.

The entire land resembled pieces of skin that had been brutally torn apart, revealing large layers of dark red rock beneath, concealing a bottomless darkness.

Occasionally, wisps of grayish-white gas would rise from the cracks, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur mixed with decay.

"No wonder, under normal circumstances it is very difficult for foreign races to invade the Abyss Empire."