City of the Abyss

The core region of the Abyss Empire lies beneath the southern lands, where at least fifty main cities form a protective ring around the imperial capital. The scale and defensive capabilities of each main city are no less than those of the Dark Portal today.

The empire's main legion, the Abyss Guard directly under the royal family, and several pillars of the empire who are infinitely close to the Star God realm.

All of these are clustered together in the core area of ​​the south. Not to mention the emperor of the Abyss Empire who wields the "living artifact," whose strength is rumored to be approaching the threshold of a Star God.

"The records of the Heavenly Dragon Empire are severely lacking. Judging from the contents of these memories, the Abyss Empire should be the strongest among the five great empires."

Without the dragon race, the power of the Heavenly Dragon Empire would be far less.

With my current forces, if I were to directly march south and launch a direct assault, although I could conquer this empire, the casualties and losses would be considerable.

Li Xingyao weighed the options in his mind: "More importantly, the Abyss Empire's underground network is too vast. If my undead legion is dispersed into countless tunnels and advances simultaneously, my efficiency and troop strength advantage will be diluted."

With a thought, Li Xingyao's consciousness sank into the Soul Palace and began deduction with his soul clone.

"I need a more efficient plan of action." Li Xingyao's consciousness unfolded a panoramic map of the Abyss Empire within his Soul Palace.

He originally planned to use the same method he had used in the Axis Empire—to break through from the core area, advance steadily and step by step, eliminate the remaining enemies city by city, and gradually erode the wealth of the entire empire.

But looking at the three-dimensional map of the underground world in front of him, he quickly dismissed the idea.

The Abyss Empire's underground network is so vast that countless cities are scattered throughout its crisscrossing tunnels and underground spaces.

If they were to attack each city one by one, even if the undead army were tireless, just traveling and searching would take months, or even longer.

He didn't have much time to waste. The ever-changing battle situation, the opportunity to break through to the Saint Rank Perfection, the threshold of the Star God Realm—everything was urgent and waiting for him to move forward.

More importantly, this method of advancing layer by layer is not feasible in the Abyss Empire, because the terrain there is far too advantageous for the defenders.

Every underground town can be transformed into an impregnable fortress. The Abyss Empire's tens of thousands of years of operation have long since turned the entire underground world into their own domain. But the most crucial point is that it's too time-consuming!

But Li Xingyao has something that others don't.

He looked down at the dark purple crystal in his palm—the key given to him by the Lord of the Dark Gate.

This crystal is not only the key to the warehouse, but in the lord's dying memories, Li Xingyao also obtained a crucial piece of information: this crystal is also connected to the spatial coordinates of the Abyss Empire's capital region.

As a key figure in the northern border of the empire, that lord had the authority to be directly teleported to the capital to report military intelligence in case of emergencies.

In order to prevent external enemies from invading from the surface, the Abyss Empire's teleportation network has designed all special external teleportation nodes to be one-way reception—the outside world cannot directly teleport to the capital, but authorized persons inside the capital can open channels in reverse.

"As long as I can enter the capital region and start from the center, the entire empire's defense system will be dismantled from within."

Once he had a clear idea of ​​what to do, a sharp, cold glint flashed in Li Xingyao's eyes.

This is his new plan—instead of advancing layer by layer from the outside in, he will jump directly to the heart of the Abyss Empire and sweep outwards from the center.

All of the Abyss Empire's defensive fortifications are outward-facing, making the interior of the Imperial Capital region much simpler for him.

Once he can break through the capital, the most difficult point, his undead army will be able to roam freely in the heart of the empire, eliminating all the important nodes one by one, and completely dismantling the foundation of the Abyss Empire's rule from the inside out.

"The risks of this plan are also obvious."

"So I'm not bringing the undead army with me." Li Xingyao tapped the map lightly, placing his finger on the center of the capital city area. "I'll go in myself."

The soul clone paused slightly, then understood his intention: "You mean... to be teleported directly into the capital?"

"right."

A fierce glint flashed in Li Xingyao's eyes. "The undead legion doesn't need to teleport with me."

All I need to do is bring that crystal into the capital, and then summon the undead inside. If I can get in, my undead can get in too.

"After I enter the capital, I will summon the undead legion immediately."

The emperor and high-ranking officials of the Abyss Empire are in the capital. Once they are dealt with, the entire empire's command system will be completely paralyzed.

Then I'll sweep across from the inside out, taking over all the core resource strongholds around the capital region.

Li Xingyao's lips curled up slightly. "As long as the royal family escapes or is destroyed, the Abyss Empire will be leaderless."

The remaining generals in various regions fought their own battles and were no match for my undead army.

Pushing from the inside out is much faster than hitting from the outside in.

The soul clone did not raise any further objections.

It had already sensed that resolute determination in Li Xingyao's mind.

…… …… …… ……

The preparations took less than half a day.

Li Xingyao recalled the entire undead army back to the Ruins World, stood on the ruins of the Dark Gate, held the dark purple crystal in his palm, and poured his star energy into it.

The crystal emitted a deep hum, and the energy patterns inside began to rotate rapidly.

A beam of deep purple light shot out from the crystal and condensed into a spatial coordinate cursor in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, a massive surge of spatial energy erupted from the crystal, directly enveloping Li Xingyao.

The teleportation undead of the Abyss Empire are buried deep underground, which is completely different from the conventional laws of space.

Li Xingyao felt as if he were being pulled by a tremendous force, passing through layer after layer of the earth's crust and skimming through one ancient, dark spatial tunnel after another, his entire being traversing at high speed through the Abyss Empire's vast underground network.

The teleportation lasted only a few seconds, but this method of teleportation, so different from that of the Heavenly Dragon Empire, made him extremely uncomfortable.

As soon as his feet touched solid ground again, Li Xingyao immediately opened his eyes and tried his best to suppress his breathing.

The first thing you see is a dimly lit underground space—it seems to be an abandoned node in the outer city of the capital, filled with dusty boxes and decaying objects.

The air was thick with a lingering stench of decay, and overhead was a dark, inky dome of rock. A few glowing runes were cast on the rock face, weaving a pattern of light and shadow that flickered between light and shadow.

This is the capital of the Abyss Empire—Abyss City.