After saying his goodbye to Su Xing, Ram took a final look back at him as he walked down the empty street, his mind shifting to the Descend options on the Lord's panel.
As he opened it, a single region displayed itself: Red River Domain, with two choices for entry.
Su Xing's words echoed in his mind: one choice was to descend through a Territory Projection, while the other would physically move his entire territory into the Red River Domain.
The benefits of projection were clear. If Lords encountered a powerful enemy they couldn't handle, they could retreat safely, and any damage suffered would be minimized. The downside? They couldn't bring all their troops with them through territory projection, with low development potential.
The second option is to fully descend, transferring their entire territory, complete with all buildings and troops to a specific region, and defend against the Alien Lords.
"This first option must be for newcomers like me—to get a feel for things before diving in too deep," he murmured, deciding quickly.
With a tap on the Territory Projection, anticipation stirred within him.
The moment Ram selected the Territory Projection, his body disappeared from the Lord's City and reappeared in a shadowed, foreboding landscape.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, blocking out most of the sunlight and casting everything in a murky gloom.
The air was heavy, and an eerie silence blanketed the area. Around him, tall, twisted trees stood, their gnarled branches reaching out like skeletal fingers.
A cold rain began to fall, soaking him instantly.
But as he looked down, he noticed something unsettling—the raindrops were blood-red and slightly sticky, clinging to his skin.
The moment they touched him, a strange, foreign energy slipped inside his body, tingling and faintly unsettling.
At first, the sensation was subtle, but as more raindrops fell, the power accumulated rapidly within him, growing difficult to ignore.
"What is this?" Ram muttered, inspecting his hand.
Nothing looked different on the outside, but he could feel the particles of spiritual power within his body moving defensively, reacting to the intruding force, purifying it almost reflexively.
He felt the spiritual power in his body decrease slowly as it continued to purify the foreign energy that entered his body.
With his current level of a thousand points of spiritual power, he believed he should have no trouble purifying the intrusive energy for two to three days, provided the intensity of the foreign energy does not increase more rapidly than his purification rate.
His brow furrowed as he tried to piece together the sensation. "Wait... this feels familiar," he murmured, searching his memory. Then it hit him.
"I didn't feel much because of my special spiritual power, but what about other creatures?" Ram immediately understood what it was like to enter high-level maps with low-level strength.
According to his estimations, Ram could tell that for most creatures, this would be a death sentence without serious protection unless they are Tier 4 or higher to withstand such an environment for a long period of time.
"There should be some special methods to survive this kind of situation, I should ask Brother Su about it later, but for now... I should return back soon."
He shook the raindrops from his hand, watching the small pool splash into the muddy ground, and glanced up at the dark sky, which seemed to bleed shadows with every drop.
Glancing around, he noticed an unsettling quietness—the only sound was the relentless patter of the blood-red raindrops against the muddy ground.
He could see no sign of life or movement—no creatures lurking in the shadows, just the twisted, lifeless trees and the crimson rain falling in sheets.
But there was something else, too—an area of about a hundred square meters around him felt different, like it was somehow bound to him, almost like an extension of his own space, one that he could instinctively manipulate.
Though he couldn't see the Sylvan Soul Tree, he sensed an undeniable presence, a tangible feeling that this was his Territory Projection, that was transported with him.
Ram also felt that he could immediately stop the projection, but doing so also meant his body will return back to his own territory.
But that wasn't a concern for him. This trip was only an experiment, a way to confirm his theories.
Without hesitation, Ram ended the territory projection, the shadowy world of the Red River Domain vanishing as he returned to his own space.
Once back, he focused his mind on locating the spatial nodes he had previously used to teleport. Ordinarily, his current strength wouldn't be enough to detect space nodes.
However, with the help of his space, he quickly sensed traces of three distinct nodes: one connected to the Void Space where Su Mu and the others were at, another marked the Lord City -173, and finally, the last one—an anchor point to the Red River Domain where he'd recently projected.
Curious, he first attempted to connect with Lord City, but an invisible force immediately blocked his attempt.
He quickly deduced the reason. "The city's teleport access must be restricted. Only those with the proper authorization—and the cost of Source Power—can pass through."
Noting this, Ram redirected his focus toward the Red River Domain. This time, he felt no resistance, and the pathway remained open, almost as if inviting him back in.
A heavy surge of energy coursed through him as his spiritual power drained rapidly, fueling the teleportation.
Moments later, Ram reappeared near the same dark, twisted forest he had left moments before. The thick, ominous clouds loomed above him once again, and the blood-red rain resumed its steady assault, sticking to his skin with that faint, unsettling energy.
A small grin spread across his face as he muttered to himself, "Yes, it's a success... just as I thought."