My military branches can Evolve Infinitely

"Gemstone Duchy?"

Mu Yuan's gaze grew sharp.

The gap between duchies was immense.

Duchies within major power factions were the true grand duchies.

Just like their Tai Xuan Alliance.

Within the alliance, only a handful of powers dared to call themselves duchies, like the formidable Lord Beiting in the northern border of the Tai Xuan Alliance.

Lord Beiting's combat power might not necessarily surpass that of the renowned powerhouses like the Lord of Han Yue City or Sword Lord Liushi, but in terms of the overall scale and the number of strong warriors, Beiting Duchy could leave Han Yue City thirty streets behind.

A duchy was just that formidable.

Sophia's mouth twitched slightly, "Boss, you might be misunderstanding, it's a different national situation. Moreover, the Gemstone Duchy isn't an internal power of the holy palace; it's still just a vassal to the holy palace, one of the numerous large and small forces surrounding the Star Luo Holy Palace. The Gemstone Duchy is one of the more powerful ones among these peripheral forces."

"Based on my investigation these past few days, the Gemstone Duchy openly has six Legendary Realm warriors, known as the Six Gems of the Gemstone Nation. A few days ago, one of these six Legendary Realm warriors led an exploratory team into our Ten Directions Island Domain."

Six Legendary warriors, terrifying indeed!

Wait, just six Legendary ones?

...

One day later, Mu Yuan met with the grand duke in 'Redstone City,' a vassal power of the Gemstone Duchy.

Not quite accurate.

He didn't show up in person.

Dead Bone said it was not prudent, even if it was just an avatar, it shouldn't be exposed to dangerous situations lightly.

Therefore, Dead Bone took on the task, leading two Lords of Deathremains and two Ghost Commanders of the Underworld, plus a bunch of undead beings to bolster their presence, and they made their way to Redstone City.

The Gemstone Grand Duke... he didn't show his face either.

After all, he was the ruler of the grand duchy, a top-notch character on this great plain.

However, he was paying close attention.

He even came to Redstone City himself and sent one of the Six Gems, the 'Shadow Knight' known as Obsidian, to receive this group.

The City Lord of Redstone didn't understand.

The Gemstone Grand Duke snorted but didn't speak.

Why bother with just any ordinary external exploratory team?

But if, this team was from the new Great Domain across the Whirlpool Sea, that would be quite something.

Firstly, to pass through the Whirlpool Sea and the Stormy Sea Domain on the other side, at least one Legendary Realm warrior was needed to lead.

A power with a Legendary Realm warrior couldn't be simply deemed a small force.

Secondly, on the other side of the Great Domain, there might be a considerable number of Legendary Realm monsters.

It was a dangerous Great Domain.

'However, it's not yet certain whether they are from the Great Domain across the sea,' he thought.

'If they are...'

Thus he sent the Legendary Realm Shadow Knight to probe slightly.

The two groups met.

The Gemstone Grand Duke observed the visitors from afar through the eyes of the Shadow Knight.

"Undead troops? That's quite rare."

"Is the one leading them their lord?"

The undead beings were surrounded by an abundance of death and shadow energy, which couldn't escape the eyes of the Shadow Knight.

But the one clad in silver-gray armor, cloaked in a black cape billowing in the wind, the Shadow Knight couldn't see through him, not in the slightest.

Through the gaps in the helmet, one could faintly discern a pair of eyes faintly glowing with a pale golden light, majestic, noble, indifferent, and utterly inscrutable.

They were the eyes of a king.

Crack—

The line of sight connection that the Gemstone Grand Duke had with his Shadow Knight, through some kind of artifact, suddenly got cut off.

No, it wasn't cut off.

The Shadow Knight didn't dare to continue the 'deep gaze.'

The Gemstone Grand Duke even faintly felt that his own Shadow Knight was trembling. It was the kind of tremble a subject might feel in the presence of a king, the overwhelming urge to kneel.

Illusions, surely!

What a joke.

The Gemstone Grand Duke was still unclear if the team that claimed to have come from Tianyuan City was from across the Whirlpool Sea.

But in the face of power, the truth didn't seem so important anymore.

With equivalent power and each having their own backers, a foundation for cooperation was there.

The Gemstone Grand Duke had already vetoed the plan to expand into the outer domains.

The domain across was unsafe.

And a lord from Tai Xuan had already taken the lead.

At such a time, rather than competing with the Lord of Tai Xuan, fighting for territory, it was better to step back and catch a ride with the Lord of Tai Xuan.

Maybe the earnings were a little less, but it was safe and risk-free.

In his middle age, he understood deeply that stability was most important. He had reached the peak of his own strength, and earning more or less was all about nurturing the next generation. That being the case, he couldn't afford to take risks.

A gamble might leave him with nothing.

A surefire deal was what he favored.

For Mu Yuan, his initial goal had been achieved.

Firstly, by cooperating with the Gemstone Duchy, he could use it as a base point to continuously open up trade routes in the Shen Luo Domain.

Their Ten Directions Island Domain was rich in iron ore, but neither Shiling City nor Pan Shi City could consume it incessantly.

The eastern sea route was even shorter, making it easier for the caravans to travel back and forth.

The Gemstone Duchy also had its own specialties, producing various 'Elemental Spheres (rare)' and 'Elemental Fragments (common).'

And Elemental Spheres were commonly used materials for constructing Miracle Buildings or manufacturing high-order warfare artifacts.

The preliminary cooperation was settled.

As for deeper cooperation, that would require both parties to be more familiar with each other.

Mu Yuan's original purpose was only to get a clear picture of the situation in the Great Domain on the other side.

...

In Redstone City, the Gemstone Grand Duke lit a cigarette and stood by the window, pondering.