My Apocalypse Territory-Chapter 424 - 396: Establishing a Branch

Five days had passed since the Doomsday Cult was eradicated.

During this period, the cult-related disturbance in Tiannan Province had gradually calmed down, but the aftermath instigated by the cult was still extensive.

In the two villages that served as the headquarters of the cult, various Sanctuaries followed clues and utilized retrospective and tracking abilities to identify some human Awakeners who had secretly sided with the Ghost Hand Clan...

Some were high-ranking officials within the Sanctuaries, and even stationed within the Army that eradicated the cult.

A very few had fled before their identities were discovered, but most of the discovered traitors were captured and imprisoned.

The major Sanctuaries also underwent a reshuffling of power; all the traitors were influential figures, either high-ranking officials within the Sanctuaries or leaders and deputy leaders of large Mercenary Corps, and top-tier Awakeners among others.

According to information obtained from interrogations, these individuals were approached by the Ghost Hand Clan at different times.

They were instructed to capture a sufficient number of high-aptitude children in exchange for more powerful abilities.

The power they obtained was indeed substantial.

The traitors possessed a means to grow stronger quickly and with ease, which gave them a taste of overwhelming power.

Unable to resist the temptation, they exerted themselves even more vigorously.

"Does this forcibly enhanced power have any side effects?"

asked Tang Yu.

Inside the newly established prison in the Territory, nearly ten traitors were imprisoned, one of whom was a Fourth Epoch Strongman with twelfth-layer combat power, who wouldn’t have been captured if he hadn’t run into the Green Shadow Corps heading to the villages during his escape.

Most of the Fourth Epoch Strongmen and Ghost Hand Clan members, other than those who were slain underground by him, had escaped without a trace.

The other Sanctuary Armies didn’t have the capability to stop them.

The warden was Luo Zhe.

He furrowed his brow, "Inside their bodies, there is a strange force that continuously transforms their bodies and gives them combat power far beyond their peers.

For now, no side effects of this power are apparent; it neither draws on their potential excessively nor does it corrode their vitality... However, their bodies are undergoing transformations that progressively deviate from human characteristics."

Originally in Luoxia, the Skeleton Clan also used power as bait to strengthen ordinary people and enlist their service.

But that strengthening came with severe side effects, forcibly advancing ordinary people to third-layer Awakeners would leave them with only about a year to live, to Fourth Layer meant about eight months, and to Fifth Tier, even less than three months.

It was a forced enhancement at the cost of their vitality.

The power that the Ghost Hand Clan granted to the traitors, despite being slower, was still relative, being several times faster than cultivation; such a bug-like enhancement without side effects?

Tang Yu was skeptical.

His current strength was obtained through step-by-step diligent cultivation, and his rugged combat skills were enhanced through numerous fights.

There are no shortcuts to becoming powerful!

"Have you unearthed any other information?"

"The humans who sided with the Ghost Hand Clan have very little information, including those from the Fourth Epoch. However, a few captured elite members of the Ghost Hand Clan know quite a bit."

Luo Zhe paused, "There are a total of over six hundred members of the Ghost Hand Clan. Indeed, there are four Transcendents among them. The strongest Transcendent holds an elder position within the Ghost Hand Clan. As for their Clan Leader, he is at the Transcendent Second Stage but may not necessarily be the strongest member... However, it has been confirmed that the portal has capacity limitations; the stronger the individual passing through, the more it causes instability in the portal."

"Regarding the Blood Sacrifice, it’s said that the younger the age, the lower the strength but higher the aptitude, the more favor they receive from the world... This is also why the Ghost Hand Clan chooses children, but the Blood Sacrifice isn’t for enhancing strength; its specific purpose, these Ghost Hand members probably have no access to, no matter how they are interrogated, there’s no outcome."

Tang Yu grunted.

Too little information to make any guesses.

It would be great if they could capture a Transcendent from the Ghost Hand Clan.

After Luo Zhe left, Tang Yu shifted his attention elsewhere.

This time, many Sanctuaries suffered heavy losses; preliminary estimates suggest their high-end combat forces were reduced by at least three layers, and even by more than half in many cases, including later exposed traitors from within the Sanctuaries, further weakening their high-end forces.

Every Sanctuary was quietly licking its wounds.

Regarding this operation to eradicate the Doomsday Cult, they regretted it deeply. Not only that, but they also had to be thankful for the assistance of Green Shadow, otherwise, the Sanctuary Alliance Army would have faced total annihilation.

The name of Green Shadow Sanctuary reverberated through Tiannan and even spread to the neighboring West Forest Province.

Four Transcendents!

In an era when other Sanctuaries don’t even have twelfth or thirteenth layers, Green Shadow had four Transcendents more terrifying than strategic-level weapons!

Absolutely untouchable.

Seizing this opportunity, Tang Yu began to make his strategic moves throughout Tiannan Province, establishing branches of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and the Adventurer’s Guild within the major Sanctuaries.

*Martial Arts Halls, cultivation clubs, and combat skills training centers—similar establishments were plentiful in the Sanctuaries. The introduction of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall would indeed hurt the interests of some people, but just a small portion.

As for the Adventurer’s Guild, the impact was much more significant, directly competing with the official Mercenary Associations of the Sanctuaries... The Mercenary Associations, already managing and controlling idle Awakeners, normally faced joint resistance from local powers when the Adventurer’s Guild moved in, yet they couldn’t withstand Tang Yu’s choice of timing.

Our Green Shadow saved the primary forces of these Sanctuaries; now, when we want to establish a small branch of the guild in your location, if you refuse, have you become too conceited, or can our Transcendents no longer wield a sword?

Sanctuaries like Pingliang grimaced but had to agree.

Tang Yu had already secretly decided: to usurp the business, starting from sanctuaries like Pingliang. As for other sanctuaries like Lindong that had good cooperation and were close by, whether to establish a branch was insignificant.

Besides establishing the Martial Arts Hall and Adventurer’s Guild, Tang Yu also had agents from the Intelligence Department work with officials from the Municipal Department to recruit survivors across all the major Sanctuaries, this time not stealthily but entirely overtly.

"It’s still the transportation issue. Given Green Shadow’s reputation, if not for the numerous dangers in the wilderness, those survivors and Awakeners would definitely have made their way to Green Shadow themselves."

Thanks to the Floating Airships, they were able to transport survivors from hundreds of kilometers away to Green Shadow. If they had to use regular vehicles, the number of escorts required along the way would be immeasurable, and much slower; a round trip would take more than a week, unlike the airship which could make several trips in a day.

After arranging all the matters, Tang Yu summoned Puppet Guard One and Two, accompanied by two Puppet Guards, and headed to the First Cultivation Holy Land.