Chapter 116: The Dragon-Lizard Army Attacks!
The forum was still bustling with excitement.
Suddenly, another major announcement stirred up a fresh wave of uproar.
"Good news!"
"Quick, check the homepage!"
"The official announcement is out!"
"Because the territory successfully occupied Shansang Ancient City, they’re going to recruit 450 Calamity Legion soldiers in one go!"
"This batch of slots is expected to be officially distributed in the early hours of tomorrow night. Players who obtain a game slot can log into the game as early as the day after tomorrow."
"Holy crap, for real? That many slots at once!"
"This proves it—territory development is directly tied to player slots!"
"This is a smart move. If the territory were still small and they suddenly recruited 80,000 to 100,000 players, it’d be inevitable that monsters would outnumber people right at the doorstep."
"That’s not a lot of people! Shansang Ancient City is still a city, after all. With the scale of the city and the Wo Niu Mountain map, housing tens of thousands of players wouldn’t be a problem!"
"Yeah, why only recruit 450? If foreigners saw this, they’d think we can’t afford to play games. This small number of slots isn’t even enough to go around! Release a few hundred more—one for everyone!"
"450 is too few! At least 4,500 would make more sense!"
"Ordinary players without PY deals still dreaming of getting in? Better wash up and go to bed early!"
"Though I agree the slots available to regular players aren’t many and most of the recruited will be top players, I’m still planning to try—what if I win?"
"Actually, recruiting more hardcore veterans in the early stages isn’t a bad thing. After all, the better the Calamity Legion performs and the faster it develops, the more slots will be generated in the future."
"Exactly! Just wait! One day it’ll be my turn to get selected!"
"……"
After the official announcement from Twisted Three Kingdoms revealed the recruitment information, millions of Cloud Players were rubbing their hands in anticipation. Even though the odds of winning were very low, most still held onto hope.
What if they got in?
Even if they didn’t, with a few hundred more players, the forum would be livelier with shared content. Even just being a Cloud Player watching stories and pictorial livestreams in the forum was still addictive and entertaining.
After this round of expansion, the Calamity Legion’s numbers surpassed nine hundred, and the pace of expanding territory and seizing land would only accelerate. The rate at which new game slots were generated would also increase.
As long as the territory kept developing—
Then being selected was only a matter of time.
In addition, there was another new hot topic in the forum—more precisely, not just a topic, but an event, perhaps even a live competition.
It turned out that just before the official website released the announcement—
Internal test players who had reached level 5 simultaneously triggered the task for the Second Resurrection Point.
This task was very simple: just find a way to reach Shansang Ancient City and activate the resurrection point located within the ancient city.
No matter when, no matter how—as long as they succeeded in arriving, they would receive a reward of 1,000 Contribution Points. Based on the current recovery rate set by top players, that was equivalent to a 50,000 yuan bonus.
If they managed to be among the first hundred players to activate the resurrection point, not only would their name be etched into Shansang City as a commemorative record, but the reward would also be doubled.
That meant a full 100,000 yuan bonus!
Though such a reward might not mean much to top players, it was incredibly enticing to most ordinary players.
Besides, who wouldn’t want to go see Shansang Ancient City for themselves?
Almost every player who reached level 5 set out into action. Most even livestreamed their journey on the forum, which caught the attention of Cloud Players, who treated it like a competitive race.
Of course, the vast majority of players who foolishly tried to rely on luck were immediately killed by Dragon-Lizard People upon entering Wo Niu Mountain. Only a very small number of incredibly lucky players managed to livestream their way to Shansang City.
That was when people realized—
Trying to break through the blockade of the Dragon-Lizard People without any preparation was nearly impossible.
At the very least, they needed to prepare a bottle of Breath Concealing Potion. Although there were still many unpredictable dangers even with the potion, at least it gave them the ability to evade the Dragon-Lizard People’s pursuit.
Hang Yu had purchased the ingredients for Breath Concealing Potion from the market. Now, the territory had already begun producing Breath Concealing Potions, and players could buy them at one-third of the previous price, which was quite affordable.
In no time at all—
Over two hundred players charged forward one after another, putting on a spectacular show of various bizarre death styles. Every player's adventure was filled with suspense—no one knew when a Dragon-Lizard Person or some strange monster might suddenly appear. It could be said that they contributed greatly to the entertainment of Cloud Players on the forum.
…………
【Player “Zui Mian” has died, Essence +900……】
【Player “Faded Memory” has died, Essence +1250……】
【Player “Aching Snail” has died, Essence +900……】
【Player “Nuclear Hotpot” has died, Essence +1250……】
【……】
In the blink of an eye—
More than half a day had passed.
Hang Yu’s log kept updating continuously. In the past dozen or so hours, nearly three hundred new player deaths had occurred in Wo Niu Mountain, generating a total of 280,000 Essence.
Now the Essence reserves had surpassed 650,000. At this pace, they were expected to reach an unprecedented 700,000 by the end of the day.
“Not bad, not bad!”
“These players are really going all out!”
Hang Yu was quite satisfied with the income brought in by the players’ suicidal antics. He didn’t hold back with the Essence either—instead, he used 200,000 Essence to raise ten of his Personal Guards to level 11.
As a result, Hang Yu now had fourteen Tier-Two Personal Guards at his side.
Hang Yu then spent another 80,000 Essence to raise the first eight Personal Guards from level 11 to level 12, and also invested 100,000 Essence to craft several max-level skills for them to further enhance their strength.
The players’ growth was simply too fast.
As the most loyal core unit—
The strength of the Personal Guard Corps couldn’t afford to lag behind the players.
This round of operations greatly boosted the power of the Lord’s Personal Guard Corps, especially the eight core guards led by Zhang San. Any one of them alone could rival Dragon-Lizard Commanders like Black Fang.
Although Essence was pouring in—
It was being spent just as quickly!
Hang Yu had already spent 2,500 Abyssal Magic Crystals and 10,000 Material Essence to construct five new Crude Abyss Barracks in the territory, increasing the population cap to 1,100.
Out of the newly added 500 population capacity, Hang Yu planned to use 450 to continue recruiting players and expanding the Calamity Legion. The remaining 50 would be used to recruit regular soldiers to reinforce the Personal Guard unit.
After this round of expansion—
The number of players would reach 1,030.
The number of Personal Guards would reach 70.
According to Hang Yu’s original plan, the ratio of Calamity Legion to regular army was meant to be 8:1 or 9:1, but now the Personal Guard numbers didn’t even reach one-tenth of the player count.
Hang Yu wasn’t too concerned about this. After all, rigid rules stifle the living. Currently, the territory showed no obvious signs of danger, and maintaining expansion remained the top priority.
Moreover, quality outweighed quantity when it came to troops.
If Hang Yu could cultivate all seventy Personal Guards to Zhang San’s current level, then even that would be a terrifying force at this stage—more than enough to form a strong defense for the territory at any moment.
Of course—
He couldn’t neglect his own growth either.
Hang Yu spent 5,000 Essence to learn two new skills: “Wind’s Protection” and “Shadowstep”. He then spent a total of 10,000 Essence learning the ultimate move “Fiery Tiger Roar” from Zhou Ji.
【Essence -14000!】
【Your “Wind’s Protection” has been trained to the highest level. You have gained a permanent +15 to Spirit!】
【Essence -15000!】
【Your “Shadowstep” has been trained to the highest level. You have gained a permanent +15 to Agility!】
【Essence -18000!】
【Your “Fiery Tiger Roar Slash” has been trained to the highest level. You have gained a permanent +15 to Strength!】
A total of 62,000 Essence was spent in succession.
Hang Yu had gained three excellent new skills.
One was a defensive support spell, one a rapid dash skill, and one a powerful offensive move. Not only did these diversify his combat style, but they also significantly boosted his attributes.
Hang Yu then upgraded the entire Huangtian Commander Set to Tier-Two.
At this point, his combat power had, without exaggeration, practically reached the peak level of commander-class units of the same tier.
Xiao Ba said, “Master, in the Trading Hall, there’s a Lord willing to trade a Tier-Two blueprint in exchange for the ‘Construction Blueprint: Shansang City Elite Barracks’.”
“Oh? Really?”
Hang Yu’s blueprint had been listed on the trading market for nearly a full day.
During that time, no less than eighty Lords had expressed great interest in the blueprint, but most could only offer Abyssal Magic Crystals or items Hang Yu wasn’t interested in.
Because of this, the blueprint had yet to be traded.
When Hang Yu heard Xiao Ba’s report, he was intrigued and immediately opened the trading market to check the situation.
【Ding, Lord 6532 has purchased 500 portions of food. You have received 100 Abyssal Magic Crystals!】
【Ding, Lord 3521 has purchased 300 portions of food. You have received 60 Abyssal Magic Crystals!】
【Ding, Lord 8250 has purchased 1000 portions of food. You have received 200 Abyssal Magic Crystals!】
【……】
He opened the information panel.
A flood of transaction notifications filled his view.
The 20,000 portions of food were nearly sold out in less than a day!
Hang Yu couldn’t help but marvel at how many wealthy Lords there were. Generally, the price of Tier-One food ingredients floated between 100 to 200 Abyssal Magic Stone Fragments, and the current market for food was undeniably strong.
After all the food sold and transaction fees were deducted, the total profit was around 7,700 Abyssal Magic Crystals. Combined with the roughly 5,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals still on hand, it would be enough to cover the next day’s recruitment.
Hang Yu planned to spend another 1,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals to purchase common rations.
That amount of food would be enough to feed the territory’s residents for about ten days.
Soon, Hang Yu saw the blueprint Xiao Ba had mentioned. When he laid eyes on it, he couldn’t help but be surprised.
【Construction Blueprint: Enlightenment Tower】, Tier-Two building blueprint… Construction cost: 8000 Abyssal Magic Crystals, 5000 Tier-Two Material Essence.
“It’s actually the Enlightenment Tower!”
Hang Yu had of course heard of this type of building.
The function of the Enlightenment Tower was simple—it all boiled down to four words: skill fusion.
With the assistance of this tower, there was a chance to fuse two skills of the same type into a brand-new skill. However, the process consumed a significant amount of Essence—it could even be called a bottomless pit for Essence.
The Enlightenment Tower was not only useful—
But could remain effective over the long term.
However, for most Lords, due to the massive Essence consumption, very few were willing to use it for training soldiers, thus its function often ended up being limited.
After a round of bargaining—
Hang Yu traded the Elite Barracks blueprint for the Enlightenment Tower blueprint.
Of course, since it was a Tier-Two blueprint, the other side also offered over a hundred pieces of White-Quality Equipment or weapons as additional compensation.
The trade was concluded.
Both sides were very satisfied.
Hang Yu had successfully exchanged a blueprint he didn’t even care for with one that could provide long-term value for his territory, and could even greatly enhance both personal and territorial strength.
Of course—
Due to its high construction cost—
It could only be stored for now until the right time came.
Just as Hang Yu was feeling pleased with this extremely successful trade—
Xiao Ba suddenly warned, “Master, a large number of Dragon-Lizard People are gathering near Shansang City. The Dragon-Lizard Lord may have already sensed something unusual within the city.”
Hang Yu paused for a moment. “That’s quicker than I expected.”
Xiao Ba said, “Once they realize you’ve taken the city, they’ll definitely feel an intense sense of crisis.”
Hang Yu nodded.
Shansang City was the largest city in the Wo Niu Mountain region.
The Dragon-Lizard People had attacked it for two to three months without success, only for it to fall into the hands of a newly arrived enemy Lord. It was impossible for the Dragon-Lizard Lord to remain calm after discovering this.
Hang Yu asked, “How many players are currently in Shansang City?”
Xiao Ba replied, “As of now, 126 players have successfully arrived and activated the Resurrection Point.”
“Not bad!”
Hang Yu nodded in satisfaction.
This group included eight Tier-Two players and a dozen or two of the top elite players. With their support, plus Shansang City’s own garrison and defensive fortifications, they should be more than capable of resisting the Dragon-Lizard Lord’s fierce assault.
With Shansang City secured—
The next target—
Would naturally be that enemy Lord.
Only by completely eliminating these threats and hidden dangers could Hang Yu focus all his strength on dealing with the lurking dangers deep within Wo Niu Mountain.
……
Half a day earlier.
In the Dragon-Lizard base camp.
The Dragon-Lizard Lord Chi Lin received a report from his subordinates.
“What did you say?” Chi Lin was shocked and furious. “A human Lord has occupied Shansang City? How is that even possible?”
The old Dragon-Lizard said solemnly, “Though it’s hard to accept, all the signs we’ve observed so far suggest it’s a reality we must face.”
The attending commanders looked at each other in disbelief.
One of the commanders asked, “We’ve attacked Shansang City over a dozen times, and failed nearly every time. How did this weak human manage it?”
The old Dragon-Lizard said, “It’s not that strange. Although we’ve attacked many times, our strategy was focused on attrition and harassment to reduce losses. We’ve never deployed our full strength.”
“Though the human Lord is weak, the race of this plane is also human. So, he can more easily gain the natives’ trust and achieve his goals by means other than war.”
“……”
The old Dragon-Lizard’s tone became stern. “We must strike now, while the enemy Lord’s position is still unstable. If we wait until he has firmly secured his foothold, the cost to remove him will be several times higher!”
Chi Lin was already furious to the extreme.
He hadn’t expected to let the enemy pick up such a massive bargain.
Perhaps the constant siege and harassment by the Dragon-Lizard People had ironically helped the human Lord seize the city without shedding a drop of blood.
A complete miscalculation!
The mistake had to be corrected immediately!
When the Dragon-Lizard commanders requested permission to attack—
Chi Lin, brimming with murderous intent, declared, “This time, I will take action personally!”
He had been frustrated by the human Lord’s reliance on the Will of the Stars to hide within his base camp. Now, with Shansang City as a target, it might just be the perfect chance to kill him once and for all!