Chapter 359: The Potential of the Domain
After an experiment that wiped out all the Dark Night She-wolves and the mountain stronghold, Owen, who was still not satisfied, also found the hidden weapon.
Playing with the black and gold wolf head scimitar in his hand, Owen wasn’t interested in this weapon with acceleration and stealth effects. Instead, he fell into deep thought. After a while, he ordered the opening of the Secret Realm passage to release the three members of the treasure-hunting duo.
The Thief and the Warlock, as if granted amnesty, hurriedly ran away, carrying the Warrior who was still chewing on grass. Owen’s performance just now was too terrifying. With a wave of his hand, the mountain stronghold and the she-wolves were all gone. With another wave, the hidden rare weapon appeared in his hand. They couldn’t understand what had happened, so how could they not be afraid?
The two sides were not on the same level at all. Now, the two of them really had no other thoughts but to run away as fast as they could. If they weren’t afraid of leaving the grass-eating Warrior behind and angering Owen, they wouldn’t even want to bring this burden with them.
Owen remained lost in thought because the existence of the Secret Realm made him involuntarily connect it with the Domain, and the more he thought about it, the more intriguing it became.
Theoretically, the Domain was also between reality and illusion. It could be empty, or it could give birth to all things, which was very similar to the Secret Realm.
Perhaps the God of Reality and Illusion had mastered this law before becoming a god, Owen boldly guessed, and decided to invest more energy in this aspect.
Compared to forging a path to godhood through his own efforts, following the footsteps of the pioneers and then finding a way to open up a path at the end was undoubtedly more time-saving and energy-efficient.
After letting Mogg leave the Secret Realm as well, Owen, undisturbed, slowly unfolded the Domain. Suddenly, the surrounding space began to distort as if squeezed, producing more and more folds.
This was because Owen was not simply covering the Domain this time but exploring its roots more deeply, which was why there was such a big commotion.
Something was expanding and exploring within his body. The Secret Realm was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. The entire space contracted and vibrated violently, trying to squeeze Owen out, but it was always unsuccessful. Owen seemed to have taken root inside, firmly blocking the exit, and relying on the increasingly robust Domain to continue expanding and deepening.
The initial Domain was broken. Although it was of extremely high quality and had the ability to distort reality and illusion, it was rootless, which was why Owen used it cautiously.
Because for ordinary enemies, using the Domain was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, or a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it was not worth using.
But for enemies who truly transcended the laws, it was like delivering food to their doorstep, and it was easy to mess things up.
In other words, it was not useful against truly powerful enemies and not worth using against weak enemies.
It wasn’t until he could exchange for the Golden Tree Seed that Owen found the possibility of repair.
The Golden Tree had the potential to grow into a World Tree. Theoretically, as long as it was irrigated with enough essence and laws, it could be achieved.
The problem was that if he really had so much essence and laws, wouldn’t it be better to become a god himself?
Fortunately, the existence of the system allowed Owen to take a shortcut. He could not easily integrate countless laws and essences, but the Golden Tree was different. It was originally designed for this purpose. So after planting the Golden Tree Seed in the Domain, he continuously exchanged items with laws and essence characteristics from the system as nutrients for the Golden Tree’s growth. Although the quality and quantity might be lacking, it was enough to build a stable and relatively complete foundation.
Moreover, luckily, when Owen was previously swept into the dimensional turbulence, the Domain absorbed a large amount of chaotic essence and imprints like a sponge. Although the impact caused most areas to become chaotic, it became more potential-laden and no longer incomplete. As long as the Golden Tree slowly absorbed and sorted out these laws and essences, the Domain would be no different from the initial form of a Divine Realm. This was also the reason why the Secret Realm space, although resisting, seemed very powerless, because the difference in quality and essence between the two was too great.
The only problem now was that Owen was too weak. Even with cheats, he could hardly control the power of the Domain, which even ordinary gods found difficult to control.
As the Domain continued to expand, the Secret Realm’s violent resistance became increasingly feeble, allowing the Domain to firmly suppress it and penetrate deeper.
After penetrating deep enough, Owen rubbed his hands, activated Mysticism and Intelligence Enhancement, and summoned his Patronus, the Ancient Sage, beginning to peel back the veil of the Secret Realm layer by layer, exploring its hidden secrets.
Peeling back one layer, covering another, Owen carefully explored the secrets of the Secret Realm while comparing it to the Domain. He found that his guess was correct. The Domain was another form of Secret Realm, only incomplete and lacking the most important core. Only because its quality was high enough could it crush the Secret Realm.
In any case, Owen felt that he had gained a lot. Finally, he swallowed the Secret Realm core in one gulp, turning it into nutrients for the Domain.
Although the Domain had swallowed a lot of laws and essences, it still hadn’t reached its limit, which made Owen sigh with emotion.
Just an incomplete fragment had such an outrageous quality. If it were a complete Domain, coupled with the bonus of divinity and divine authority, how awesome would it be?
Owen, not daring to think further, left the already collapsed Secret Realm, taking Mogg with him and riding straight towards the Northland.
As he got closer and closer to the Northland, Owen gradually learned more information.
Five Southern Kingdoms vying for supremacy, the Imperial Capital a land of chaos, the hinterland with the Hundred Cities Alliance, and the North was no better.
Now the Northland was divided into five distinct layers, from south to north: the Northern Border City Alliance, evolved from the Imperial Border Army, the Northland Noble Alliance, mainly composed of the second batch of Northland nobles, the Northern Glory Alliance, centered around North City, the Northland Barbarian Tribes, and the Barbarian Kingdom.
Among them, the Northern Border City Alliance, inheriting the foundation of the Imperial Border Army, was the strongest, second only to the Five Southern Kingdoms and the Hundred Cities Alliance. It occupied strategic passes and fortified cities, with ample military supplies. Its standing army alone was as high as 200,000, and once mobilized, it could gather 500,000 troops, already capable of competing with three human kingdoms. Even the neighboring Hundred Cities Alliance had to station a large army in this direction.
Then there was the Northland Noble Alliance. Due to the collapse of the Empire, a large number of refugees poured into the Northland. The Imperial Border Army was also in chaos at that time, and they took advantage of the situation to gain a lot. Although the total population was not as large as the Northern Border City Alliance, because of its unique council system, it could integrate its power to the greatest extent, so it could not be underestimated.
The Northern Glory Alliance, centered around North City, did not receive many refugees due to its distance, but its sound agriculture and trade allowed its population to grow steadily. Now it had a population of several hundred thousand, and with two powerful allies, it could not be underestimated either.
As for the Northland Barbarian Tribes, because they did not gain much from their southward advance 30 years ago, and were even severely exploited by the Barbarian Kingdom’s army, they had not yet recovered. Many tribes near the Northern Boundary River had chosen to join the most powerful barbarian tribe, the Wild Bull Tribe, and learned to farm and herd, making their lives more stable. The Northland Barbarian Tribes naturally declined further.
The Barbarian Kingdom remained mysterious. First, it was too far away, and second, it was extremely xenophobic, resulting in very little news coming from it. Moreover, its southward advance again ten years ago caused considerable losses to the three major alliances, becoming the biggest threat to the Northland. Even the Northland Barbarian Tribes, who were also barbarians, regarded it as their mortal enemy.
Unfortunately, relying on the undead army and the newly grown warriors, the Barbarian Kingdom remained powerful, enough to pose a fatal threat to any alliance.
Apart from these, there were also many members of evil organizations such as the Demon’s Head, the Flesh and Blood Church, and the Church of Calamity active in the Northland. It was also a must-visit place for many adventurers.
Because the Northland was sparsely populated, the probability of triggering Secret Realms was very low, and many undeveloped Secret Realms existed, attracting many adventurers to come.
However, the danger level of the Secret Realms in the Northland was second only to the former site of the Academy City and the Imperial Capital. Ordinary people really didn’t dare to explore them alone.
