My Misfortune Crushed Instances

Cheng Wen finally understood why the Western Kingdom voluntarily withdrew their stronghold at Cold Pool Valley. It wasn’t due to any conspiracy, but simply because they were running out of manpower.

The battle on the main front lasted the entire day without any particularly significant results—just an exchange of mid to low-level Extraordinary being on both sides, with none of the major generals perishing.

Then Li Rui came from behind with a strike, directly eliminating two high-risk targets. Including Farah Land, who was caught off guard and killed from the beginning, and Dylan Hegg, who retracted after returning, the Western Kingdom lost four high-risk level Extraordinary beings within a few days of this campaign.

This loss is immense even for the three major nations, thus they voluntarily relinquished space. The other two countries that seized the territory must defend it, and more importantly, explore the spoils and disperse their personnel.

Cheng Wen was enjoying the situation, and the deputy commander responsible for exploring the spoils whispered, "Old Cheng, there’s an issue. Li Rui’s accomplishments are too substantial. According to my rough calculations based on the protocol, he alone can take all the spoils waiting to be allocated."

"...Then we must hasten the exploration. The Western Kingdom is sure to be honest for a while now, so we should discover some new spoils as soon as possible."

The Secret Realm battlefield has never seen a situation where output couldn’t keep up, simply because no one has made such great merits in such a short period.

It’s not only about eliminating targets, but achieving results in key battles, leading both the Polar Alliance and the Western Kingdom to give up some areas under their control, indirectly providing more spoils.

Duan Ling suddenly slapped his forehead and added, "Officer, I remember, he was mumbling something in his sleep. Cheng Mingyue said it was needed to unlock his derivative skills."

"What?"

"Inch of Glowing Stone."

"Legendary-level material."

Cheng Wen nodded and said to the deputy commander, "Alright, then inform everyone to keep an eye out for any clues related to this material and report immediately."

This kind of treatment is also rare.

Duan Ling felt a bit envious, but there was nothing he could do. His level was too low, and in this Secret Realm battlefield, he was just the most basic Extraordinary being, relying on sentry duty and sending messages to accumulate some merits, at most developing some small-scale spoils locations.

However, he quickly accepted the situation; after all, not everyone can compare with such Heaven’s Chosen. This time, he came to experience it, so he could showcase his skills in the next Secret Realm battlefield.

While some were happy and some were worried, on the side of Dragon Country celebrating, the atmosphere in Central City, controlled by the Western Kingdom, was grim.

Losing four high-risk-level Extraordinary beings within a few days was too much to bear for them.

The only consolation for Ulysses was that, before the city fell, the barber managed to transfer the personnel of the intelligence system and the most important spoils, reducing the losses significantly.

Li Rui had come too hastily at the time, with no time for thorough searching, only grabbing a few large boxes that hadn’t been moved in time, which contained nothing rare or precious.

Despite this, everyone in the Western Kingdom who knew of this event was practically grinding their teeth in hatred.

They had painstakingly collected those items, only to have them fall into the hands of the Dragon Country people.

In the Secret Realm battlefield, such incidents are rare, because most people would quickly exchange their merits for spoils.

Not only does this ensure they have what they earned, but more importantly, once utilized, they can immediately enhance their strength, allowing them to earn even more merits, creating a virtuous cycle.

Compared to losing a major general on the frontline, having their spoils stolen was also considered a great humiliation +1.

"This is my fault."

Ulysses, being the overall commander, was able to maintain his composure, "I severely underestimated the power of the Foggy Evil Ghost, failing to allocate enough blocking force, which led to the fall of Central City."

The chief aide smoothed things over, "There was nothing we could do. Based on our intelligence, that person shouldn’t have displayed the current level of strength."

Others chimed in agreement, as this was indeed true.

Ulysses waved his hand and continued his self-reflection before addressing the main issues.

"The Great King Haralun of the Wind Slave Royal Court has expressed his dissatisfaction to me. He believes that the territories we originally captured were taken over, and the progress of unifying this island has been hindered."

The Great King Haralun is a transliterated name, referring to the contemporary Great Chief of the Wind Slave Royal Court and the king of the most powerful tribe on the plateau.

"Ha, if he likes land so much, let him fight for it himself." a staff member laughed mockingly.

Though numerous, these local Demon Race lack top-tier experts, and dreaming of facing the Polar Alliance and Dragon Country alone is folly.

However, Ulysses said with a grim face, "That’s exactly what he’s planning."

"....."

Silence gripped the room.

Their relationship with the Wind Slave Royal Court was one of cooperation rather than dominion. The situation arose when Roger Simon showcased his monstrous strength, which the plateau revered the most. Thus, he earned Great King Haralun’s respect, quickly enhancing their favorability, followed by negotiations orchestrated by a few skilled mediators, persuading the plateau’s army to descend with them.

Normally conquering the Royal Court’s people would have required many prerequisite steps.

Skipping these has resulted in two impacts.

One is the rapid acquisition of the island’s largest support, enabling them to fight on two fronts early on and seize large swathes of land;

The other downside is the weakness of their cooperation.

Now, with their conquest halted, the Royal Court couldn’t sit still.

Ulysses understood clearly, the Great Chief couldn’t be blamed.

In the campaigns, every tribe under the Royal Court suffered heavy losses. Without compensating them with more land swiftly, it was difficult to calm the tribes.

Even the Great King had no choice; he had to advance, or the army’s morale would crumble and disperse eventually.

"Try persuading him first. If not, let him go, and we’ll find another opportunity," Ulysses could only propose this plan.

.....

"Don’t worry, I’ll go find the Prophet right away, figure out where your foe is, and then we’ll take revenge."

Li Rui woke up, realizing he had slept for 24 hours straight. The first thing he did was find Ju Ye and reassure him.

If the ghost riders charged the enemy alone, it would be nothing short of suicide.

They only possessed the strength of high-risk Extraordinary beings when they charged together. Once scattered, they lost that advantage.

Hearing his words, however, Ju Ye just grinned, "Benefactor, rest assured, we can wait."

In life, he was a general who killed mercilessly. In death, he became a ghost, and his grin was rather unsettling.

Seeing Ju Ye was in no hurry, Li Rui relaxed. He settled the ghosts in the east, shook off Kawina who still wanted to tail him, and went to the Yellow Earth City command center.

He found out that Chen Cheng had been backstabbed by Simon. After a round of ridicule, he went to report to Cheng Wen.

The general commander was very generous, first giving him more than twenty pieces of refined gold and then pointing to a cellar full of spoils, saying, "Go in and pick whatever you like, take whatever catches your eye."