Chapter 2291: The Upper Battlefield
To be honest, neither River nor Pearl specifically required such detailed protection, though they appreciated it. They had not spent decades building a cultivation family, nor did they have any legacy they were leaving behind, so their attachments weren’t that great.
River still had his parents here, true, but he was hardly an only child and his parents would do fine in his absence. In fact, giving them wealth and power would do them more harm than good.
At the moment they were well settled in their environment, but if they quickly rose to prominence and gained a lot of attention, they might now even know how they were taken advantage of. Once the three generation protection period expired, no one could say for certain how long they could last. There was also the fact that River was the one pretending to be a descendant of the Sunborne family, so if he revealed his true parents the discrepancy would immediately be noticed.
Thus, neither of them actually nominated anyone for protection.
"Under normal circumstances, the cultivator is given anywhere between one to six months to wrap up any remaining tasks and obligations before they are taken to the Upper Battlefield. Once there, the chances of coming back are few to none so it’s best not to leave behind any regrets," the Watcher continued.
Although he did not say it out right, it was obvious that he was hinting that Pearl could wait for River to breakthrough for six months at most. If he could not manage it during that time then she would have to leave. It was an unnecessary statement, for the duo had already discussed how he would proceed if he could not be elevated by her breakthrough, which was the sole reason he had accumulated so many points.
"Once you reach the Upper Battlefield, you won’t necessarily go out to fight. There are many strongholds, and you can stay within them and cultivate. The specific details of the situation up there is not something I can share with you just yet, but unless you’re particularly unlucky, no one can force you to risk your life."
The Watcher was working hard to convince them that everything was peachy, which is why they didn’t believe him at all - at least as far as the Upper Battlefield was concerned. They were no longer as naive as they used to be.
With nothing much left holding them back, the couple revealed the existence of the node hidden in the basement and sold that information to Mount Decius. In exchange, they were allowed to reside inside the mountain for a few months, and gained access to resources from the upper battlefield.
Well, technically, River did all that since the deed was in his name.
They flew towards the mountain, carried by a small ship that the Watcher took out of some spatial tool, all the while discussing the future. They still didn’t know what level the Watcher was at, and he did not reveal it.
They remained reserved for the most part, but that reservation quickly turned into awe as they approached the sea of clouds blocking the peak of Mount Decius. That awe then quickly turned to shock as they traveled through it, and then emerged to what seemed like another world at the top.
On the top of the mountain was a palace that looked like it should have existed in legends only. Its size was sufficient to fit even Giants, and its design was like it housed deities! Several others were flying in and out of the palace on similarly designed tools, each of them emitting the aura of a Golden Core cultivator.
Only the Watcher was above everyone else. Whenever he came close, the others stopped and respectfully let him pass.
The spiritual energy within the palace felt like something else entirely, and Lex finally felt like he was somewhere decent. More importantly, he sensed countless materials he could use, so he silently transmitted new quests to River and Pearl.
After the Watcher dropped them off in their new residence, told them the rules, and left.
After making themselves familiar with their surroundings, River set out. With the small favor that Mount Decius owed River for the Spiritual node, he quickly redeemed one of the treasures Lex requested. He then quickly submitted it to his necklace, and then offered the points to Pearl so that she could redeem her first technique in the Golden Core realm!
Considering they didn’t know what their future might hold, she got a combat art called Volcanic Fire and began to learn it. In the meantime, River explored the palace and used his natural charisma and friendly personality to learn as much as possible about this place, as well as about the Upper Battlefield.
Just as they expected, the situation was far from simple. Unlike the Land of a Hundred Rivers, and so many other such regions which were under Mount Decius’ authority, the Upper Battlefield was not a regulated region. No one controlled it, and it was governed solely by individual interests.
Even the allied races were not necessarily allies up there, nor was being from the same race a guarantee of friendliness. The only somewhat constant in the Upper Battlefield was that there was one, consistent type of enemy for everyone: the undead!
The Upper Battlefield was actually a patch of land that fell from a superior region, and it was the site of a massive conflict between immortals. As such, it was filled with corpses and the consequences of that ancient war. Naturally, a place such as that gave birth to a lot of energy related to death, and that naturally gave rise to undead of all sorts.
The battlefield was filled with zombies, skeletons, ghouls, ghosts and all manner of things that loved to devour the living.
The goal for everyone seemed to be to harvest the resources from the battlefield and utilize them to rise to higher levels of cultivation.
