Chapter 64: The Second Round of Beta Testing is About to Begin
The main base.
Inside the Forging Workshop,
Yan Ling used Contribution Points to exchange for 1000 Abyssal Essence Points.
With that, she successfully broke through her personal cultivation, advancing from Level 5 to Level 6.
Although her forging skill level did not increase, at the current rate of earning Contribution Points, plus the territory’s periodic exchange of Abyssal Magic Crystals for Contribution Points, it would not take long to improve her forging skills.
Yan Ling felt very satisfied and used her remaining essence to raise her Cooking skill by one level, allowing her to cook more and better food for the Lord.
The Lord treats me so well.
I must work hard to repay the Lord.
I wonder if Uncle Bai Mu’s alchemy process is going smoothly.
After finishing her cultivation, Yan Ling immediately walked into the Alchemy Workshop across the way, where she was immediately greeted by a refreshing medicinal fragrance.
“What are you doing here?” A tall, blindfolded uncle with wings on his back was sitting in front of a refining furnace, using Alchemy.
Even though he could not see, he could still sense the visitor’s identity, but his tone was rather cold, lacking any enthusiasm or courtesy between colleagues.
Uncle Bai Mu had been a Lord before.
Such a person was inevitably somewhat proud and aloof.
“Sorry to bother you, I wanted to ask about the progress of the alchemy,” Yan Ling still spoke politely. “I need medicines that can quickly restore mana, stamina, and energy, so I can do more work and improve the Forging Workshop’s performance!”
Bai Mu said, “Because the territory doesn’t yet have a stable supply of herbs, most of the current materials are from the inventory of Hexi Village, so the potions produced are quite mixed. There might be a few that meet your needs. Take a look yourself.”
Yan Ling hurried to check the display cabinet.
She immediately found several medicines that met her requirements.
Although the uncle appeared lacking in motivation, his work efficiency was quite high, perhaps due to his rich experience.
“Wow, Uncle Bai Mu, you really are amazing. If you could stay in the territory permanently, you would definitely have a promising future.”
At that moment, Bai Mu suddenly stopped working, startling Yan Ling, who was selecting potions.
She quickly asked, “Was there anything wrong with what I said?”
Bai Mu hesitated for two seconds. “The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. It’s best not to pin too many hopes or emotions on this territory.”
“How can you say that, Uncle?”
“Don’t misunderstand, I have no prejudice against Lord Hang Yu. He is indeed a talented, capable young Lord with great personal charisma, and his subjects also seem quite different from others. But sadly... he is only human.”
Yan Ling said, “Humans may start off lower, but starting point doesn’t determine the upper limit. The Stars’ Human Race has produced many great Lords!”
Bai Mu remained noncommittal. “If it were an ordinary shallow-layer Abyssal plane, I would also believe that Lord Hang Yu could accomplish great things. But this is a plane located in the Eternal Night Layer. You haven’t undergone the basic training for Lords, and probably haven’t visited many territories, so you might not understand what that means.”
Yan Ling’s expression changed slightly.
She understood what the uncle meant.
Not having undergone Lord education didn’t mean she had no common sense.
Yan Ling knew that the Abyss World was layered: the deeper you go, the more madness and distortion, the fewer normal natives, and the more Fallen spawned.
What did it mean for an Abyss to be in the Eternal Night Layer?
Not every plane could sink that deep.
Only worlds that had nurtured vast fortunes could sink to such depths, capable of producing Abyss monsters and Fallen at a thousand or ten-thousandfold the rate of shallow-layer worlds!
Some great-fortune beings, once corrupted,
Could easily transform into the legendary Abyssal Demon Lords, or even into more forbidden and terrifying existences, possibly becoming unfathomable and unobservable Abyssal Evil Gods.
Such beings were beyond the comprehension limits of ordinary people.
Of course,
Yan Ling was not a Lord.
Her knowledge in this area was limited.
She had not learned too deeply and dared not inquire too much.
She bit her lip. “Is there really no hope?”
“Human soldiers are too fragile. No human Lord has ever survived at this depth,” Bai Mu said as he turned back to resume his work. “We are just hired employees. Doing our jobs properly is enough.”
“No, I still believe in the Lord!”
Yan Ling said, “I feel that Lord Hang Yu is not an ordinary Lord.”
Bai Mu made no comment.
He could only say that young people had little experience.
She simply did not know how difficult it was for Lords to survive, let alone how cruel the competition between Lords was.
This was a reality that could not be changed by individual will!
…………
At the same time.
Inside the Hall.
Hang Yu was eating melon seeds while monitoring the disaster scene.
When he discovered that Ma Yuanyi was a Level 7 Commander-class unit and that he had at least four subordinates not inferior to Xu Feng, he felt slightly surprised.
Meeting an Abyss Commander in the novice village already?
Truly worthy of being in the Eternal Night Layer Abyss, the difficulty was indeed higher.
But this was something he had mentally prepared for.
Now that Hang Yu had already reached Level 10, with solid skills and attributes, as long as he stayed within his territory, he could definitely protect himself.
At this moment.
Various data continued to refresh.
【Player Street Slayer has died, Essence Points +1250!】
【Player Little Bell has died, Essence Points +900!】
【Player Black-Eyed Rui Ge has died, Essence Points +1250!】
【Player Mad Blade Old Wang has died, Essence Points +1250!】
【……】
The Fourth Calamity Army once again suffered total annihilation.
From activating the Hexi Township teleportation point to discovering the core polluted area of Luoshui Execution Ground, each of these players had died at least twice on average, contributing a total of 62550 Essence Points to the territory.
If including the deaths of other players,
The total harvest for the day exceeded 65000 Essence Points.
For other Lords, Abyssal Essence Points were extremely precious and rare resources, with every point carefully acquired and used sparingly.
But for Hang Yu, gathering them was easier than drinking water, to the point that he didn’t even know how to spend it all.
It wasn’t that Hang Yu didn’t want to give feedback to the players.
The problem was, there had to be a proper reason to do so.
After all, Twisted Three Kingdoms was a game, and the reward and punishment mechanisms needed to be clear.
To earn massive Essence Point rewards, players had to complete tasks or activities matching the reward difficulty, or else it would break the balance and hurt the gaming experience.
In addition,
Training players had to follow a rhythm.
One could not rush and make the Fourth Calamity Army too powerful too quickly.
Ensuring that the “leeks” grew robustly and happily was important, but preventing them from becoming titanium leeks that were impossible to cut was also crucial... so growing and harvesting leeks was truly a science and an art!
Of course.
Setting aside profit.
From the perspective of the game itself,
A good game could not lack challenge.
Especially for this type of game, if it became too easy, it would lose its fun.
Fortunately, aside from the Fourth Calamity Army,
The surplus Essence Points could be used to train the regular army, allowing both forces to complement each other perfectly.
Currently, with a large amount of Essence Points on hand,
Hang Yu decided to first strengthen the Eight Personal Guards around him.
This would allow him to both rationally consume the Essence Points and quickly transform them into territorial strength, making the territory more secure against the upcoming Abyssal threats.
【Essence Reserve -12000!】
The six Personal Guards with starting skills at Level 9 had their skills upgraded to the maximum level.
【Essence Reserve -18000!】
The Eight Personal Guards’ levels were all raised to Level 7.
【Essence Reserve -12000!】
The four Personal Guard warriors’ Concentrated Qi Slashes were cultivated to maximum level, each gaining a permanent +10 Strength boost!
【Essence Reserve -12000!】
The two Personal Guard warlocks’ Taiping Lightning Spell skills were also cultivated to maximum level, each gaining a permanent +15 Spirit boost!
After this round of upgrades, the Eight Personal Guards’ strength surged dramatically.
Even when facing Ma Yuanyi’s four top subordinates, they could easily dominate.
They could even hold their ground against Ma Yuanyi himself for a long time!
The territory’s security was thus further enhanced.
Even in the most extreme situations, there was now a solid fallback!
Hang Yu still had about 20,000 Essence Points in reserve.
He temporarily did not plan to use these, intending to save them for issuing player tasks or cultivating territory employees.
Hang Yu glanced over the basic status of his territory.
Currently, there are 68 recruited vassal troops.
In a few more hours, a new batch of selected players would arrive, bringing the total to 78.
It would soon approach the current maximum limit of 100.
At the beginning,
Because the population was extremely limited and precious,
And the game’s exposure was too low, resulting in very few pre-registrations,
Hang Yu had established a rule of granting only ten slots per day to ensure the quality of every player.
He had not expected Twisted Three Kingdoms to explode in popularity so quickly.
Now, the number of reservations was enormous.
Moreover, the territory’s financial situation was steadily improving.
Thus, it was time to adjust the strategy in a timely manner and expand the population capacity as much as possible, recruiting more players at greater intensity.
After all, the more players,
The greater the benefits generated from harvesting leeks.
Hang Yu opened the game forum.
This time, with the appearance of the big boss,
There would definitely be a huge stir and various discussions.
He planned to use this opportunity to announce the second round of beta testing!