Chapter 74: Clan of the North Luo Master

Ji Xinghuo got off the train and stepping out of the station, he saw a bustling large city.

“Yanhuang City!”

Next to him, Chi Zhonglin looked around and exclaimed, “It’s been a long time since I last came here. I used to stay in Yanhuang City when I first arrived in Star Realm, then moved to Olympia. If not for the Star Gate being in Olympia, I would still prefer this place for its sense of belonging.”

Ji Xinghuo nodded, affirming that as long as the Star Gate exists, the benefits of Olympia are irreplaceable.

Yanhuang City is located more than four hundred kilometers east of Olympia.

It’s a key city in the Star Realm for the Asia-Pacific Community, second only to Olympia.

“Let’s leave the city.”

Ren Mian led the team onto a bus.

Ji Xinghuo looked through the window at the cityscape. The architecture of Yanhuang City had a distinct Eastern style, with white walls and black tiles, deep courtyards, seemingly traveling back to an ancient city thousands of years ago.

With a population exceeding five million, Yanhuang City is the third largest in the Star Realm, after Olympia and New Philadelphia in terms of the area — it ranks second, featuring towering city walls visible from miles away.

The bus parked at the base of the city, and the group of four got off.

“East City Gate.”

Ji Xinghuo looked at the large characters on the city gate, stepping out and not far ahead, they would enter the territory of the North Luo Master Clan.

This hunting expedition aimed not at typical monsters but at the North Luo Master Clan.

The greatest enemy of humanity!

Last night, when Ren Mian revealed the hunting plan, Ji Xinghuo was shocked; Chi Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi looked solemn too.

A deep-seated hatred for the North Luo Master Clan is a common emotion among all humans.

Shortly after the Star Gate opened in 2033, the North Luo Master Clan invaded Earth, causing two billion deaths in the first year alone. The subsequent decades of resistance left a permanent psychological scar on humanity. Even today, recalling that history still stings.

In the Milky Way, Earth is 25 light-years from the North Luo Master.

But in Star Realm, the distance between their Star Gates is just 548 kilometers — almost face-to-face!

In the realm ruled by Tianyu Wangting within the Thousand Peak Abyssal Forest, while other Star Gates are at least three or four thousand kilometers apart, only Earth and North Luo Master are the closest.

This proximity is a great misfortune for Earth.

Because the North Luo Master’s Star Gate opened a thousand years prior to Earth’s, they entered the Star Realm earlier and encountered supernatural forces giving them the means to wreak havoc on Earth.

In 2051, under the forced mediation of Tianyu Wangting, both sides signed a peace treaty.

The treaty established a boundary line at the midpoint of both Star Gates, forbidding any cross-border violations.

The midpoint lies 274 kilometers southeast of Olympia, and both sides have constructed a military defense line stretching over two thousand kilometers.

This line is both a defense and a front line.

This lengthy defense is manned by international forces, with major contributions from the Asia-Pacific Community and the American Federation. The defense line stretches from New Philadelphia in the south (owned by the American Federation) to Yanhuang City in the east (owned by the Asia-Pacific Community), along with countless forts and defensive installations protecting Olympia.

“Little Chi, go rent four mounts,” Ren Mian told Chi Zhonglin near the city gate where there’s a horse shop.

Ji Xinghuo chuckled inwardly.

Soon, Chi Zhonglin returned leading four horned horses.

The four mounted the horses and rode out of the city.

Leaving through the East City Gate, Ji Xinghuo saw vast mountains and forests stretching out before them.

Hunting teams followed the road for a while before dispersing into the forest, vanishing like streams flowing into the ocean.

“We’ll follow the road straight to the front line,” Ren Mian pointed east.

The four urged their horned horses into a quick trot, racing along the well-constructed and safe road, they reached a massive military fortress known as “Eastern Extreme Pass” within an hour.

Eastern Extreme Pass was built in a perilous mountain valley, a strategic point.

Small groups might bypass Eastern Extreme Pass by crossing the mountains, but any large force heading toward Yanhuang City had to capture this fortress.

Entering Eastern Extreme Pass, the atmosphere was tense, everyone’s expression grave.

As Chi Zhonglin returned the mounts to the horse shop, Ji Xinghuo surveyed the surroundings.

The thick, high fortress walls were fitted with rows of steam crossbow cannons, watchtowers stood everywhere, populated mostly by soldiers of the Asia-Pacific Community’s Star Realm Army; more than thirty thousand troops garrisoned here including two legendary extrahumans detected by magnetic field sensing.

Hunting teams entering and leaving Eastern Extreme Pass were all hurried, none stayed long.

“Let’s go.”

Ren Mian led her team out of the fortress, they looked at the endless forest ahead and she solemnly said, “A few more kilometers and we’ll enter the territory of the North Luo Master Clan. Stay alert at all times, danger could arise any moment.”

“Our destination is quite far from Eastern Extreme Pass, about four thousand kilometers.”

“We need to be vigilant throughout the journey, try to avoid the enemy,” she paused, adding, “but let’s not miss any opportunity to strike if one presents.”

“Understood.” All three nodded.

Earth and North Luo Master have had a peace treaty for over 170 years, but such agreements have little restraining power; frictions are common, and large-scale conflicts break out two to three times each year, with a major Star Realm war every thirty years.

On the border, hunting teams from both sides infiltrate, sneak, and assassinate each other, leading to ongoing deaths.

A road stretched out from Eastern Extreme Pass into the forest.

If they followed this road for about ten kilometers, they would see a military fortress of the North Luo Master Clan facing Eastern Extreme Pass from a distance.

Ji Xinghuo and his team didn’t take that road; after Ren Mian assessed the direction, they veered slightly north, weaving through the forest.

The forest of the Thousand Peak Abyssal Forest was lush, huge trees created a canopy blocking the sun. From top to bottom, the layers decreased in sunlight exposure, and the lowest level had sparser vegetation. From every direction, huge tree trunks loomed, forming a complex and deep maze that made it easy to get lost.

Ji Xinghuo heightened his alertness, his magnetic field sensing expanded.

Within an 800-meter radius, his brain mapped the magnetic fields, expertly filtering different types to form various sensory images.

Chi Zhonglin led the way with Ji Xinghuo and Ren Mian in the middle, Jiang_nan Caiyi slightly trailing, all maintaining alertness.

Ren Mian kept her eyes on Ji Xinghuo nearly all the time.

Ji Xinghuo was the team’s “eyes” while she was the “brain”. Both needed to exchange information regularly to command their next moves.

After walking for over half an hour, Ji Xinghuo signaled to stop.

“What is it?”

Ren Mian immediately initiated a mental link.

Ji Xinghuo pointed to the left: “There’s a pack of shadow wolves there, eight in total. Shall we engage?”

“No,” Ren Mian almost instantly replied, “Every battle here is dangerous and could attract the enemy. Let’s avoid the pack.”

“Alright.”

The team detoured, maintaining their distance from the wolves.

Ji Xinghuo thought it a pity.

Ren Mian wasn’t aware his magnetic field sensing range was 800 meters, assuming it was only about 300 meters. The discrepancy in their scouting ranges was significant.

Confident in his ability to remain vigilant against enemies, he believed they could swiftly eliminate the wolf pack and harvest their spirit energy.

Over the next few hours, Ji Xinghuo detected two or three monsters but only reported those that came within 300 meters.

Thus far, they hadn’t encountered any fights.

Just as Ji Xinghuo was starting to relax, he suddenly tensed, though he didn’t let it show on his face.

To the right and ahead, his magnetic field sensing detected a very concealed outpost built twenty meters up a tree, hidden among dense leaves, blending in with the shadow. It would be hard to spot with just the eyes.

Ji Xinghuo didn’t alert the others prematurely but continued observing.

There were “people” inside the outpost!

He sensed five life forms’ magnetic fields: one humanoid that resembled the body shape of Earth’s humans but had an extra tail; three others were smaller humanoids, only about a meter tall, agile and tiny; the last magnetic field was the strangest.

Without Ji Xinghuo’s extensive experience in identifying life form magnetic fields, it might have been easily overlooked.

This life form’s magnetic field was vast, almost merging with the tree outpost, scattered like hundreds of intertwined branches forming a large ball with a core that seemed to be its brain.

“North Luo Master Clan!”

Ji Xinghuo recognized them instantly.

North Luo Master Clan is a collective term; unlike Earth that has only humans, they comprise four different races.

Their home planet orbits the star “North Luo Master” and is a gas giant named “North Luo Master b,” known as “Da Gun,” three times the mass of Jupiter with over 200 satellites. Four races were born on three of these satellites.

The best environment is on “Bi Jade Forest,” half the diameter of Earth with a thick atmosphere, over 40% water and oceans.

The rich ecosystem of Bi Jade Forest gave rise to two races: the “Da Gun People” and the “Vine Spirits.”

Another moon, “Gray Ring,” is ruled by small insect-like beings called “Golau Kack,” light in gravity, they possess membrane wings enabling short flights, and their movements are highly agile.

The farthest and harshest environment is “Night Star,” home to the tough, cold-blooded “Stone Lizards.”

Before the Star Gates opened, the four races waged wars against each other for tens of thousands of years.

However, once the Star Gates opened, the Da Gun People, with superior talents, eventually gained the upper hand. After centuries of struggle against the Vine Spirits, they unified the three satellites and amalgamated the four races into what is now known as the North Luo Master Clan.

The Da Gun People became the ruling class of the North Luo Master Clan, followed by the Vine Spirits, while the Golau Kack and Stone Lizards were subjugated, ranking at the bottom.

That strange magnetic field life form was a Vine Spirit.

They are a half-animal, half-plant species, hermaphroditic, self-propagating without a fixed form, naturally possessing the ability to control plants, making almost the entire race plant sorcerers.

The three small humanoids were Golau Kack.

This insect race excels at flying, possesses acute auditory capabilities, and a few have mastered illusion skills, thus they hold reconnaissance and assassination roles within the North Luo Master Clan.

The humanoid magnetic field was a Da Gun person, the commander of this outpost.

As for the Stone Lizards, Ji Xinghuo didn’t detect any.

He moved on silently, and when they were just over three hundred meters from the outpost, he suddenly paused, gestured for silence, pointing at the concealed outpost up in the tree.

“North Luo Master Clan!”