“Zhou Yi?”
Seeing the somewhat familiar ID of the message sender, Lin Yi suddenly remembered that he was also a rather powerful Lord.
Besides the most recent content, scrolling up revealed several unread historical messages.
“Hello, Lin Yi, I represent the Zhou family in greeting you. I wonder if you have time to talk?”
“After leaving the Trial Land, are you interested in cooperating with us? You can rest assured regarding the treatment; we will certainly not mistreat you...”
“...”
Lin Yi rubbed his nose.
Too many people sent him private messages every day, and if these types of messages weren't seen immediately, they would quickly be drowned out by new ones.
It was a good thing Zhou Yi included the Universal Gem item information this time, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have noticed.
Super Love Farming (Hunter): “Of course we can exchange! What do you need?”
...
“Cough, cough, cough...”
Zhou Yi took down his handkerchief, the scarlet blood mixed with saliva on it was glaring.
Upon seeing the updated private message, a glimmer of hope appeared in his previously dim eyes.
“I need ten Tier 3 Undead Essences.”
Super Love Farming (Hunter): “That’s all?”
Zhou Yi: “Yes, that’s it. However, this is an item for a hidden quest. You need to submit the materials to me first before I can give you the gem.”
Super Love Farming (Hunter): “Small problem, but are there really no other demands? I feel a bit embarrassed...”
Zhou Yi: “The quest can save my life, so in my opinion, it’s a very good deal.”
Super Love Farming (Hunter): “Oh, alright then. I’ll list it for designated purchase.”
Both parties were well aware of the value of an item that could upgrade building levels.
Exchanging it for some Tier 3 monster materials was an absolute steal!
Soon, the transaction was finalized.
Zhou Yi successfully obtained the Undead Essence as he wished.
He gazed at the dark gray orb on the table, took a deep breath, and submitted the quest.
“Congratulations! This session’s Lord, Zhou Yi, has completed the triggered hidden quest 【Person of Fragile Fate】, earning 300 Reputation Points!”
The Will’s prompt echoed.
The dark gray orb also began to tremble, and under Zhou Yi's hopeful gaze, it shattered with a bang, transforming into a wisp of gray mist that enveloped him.
The next second, a visible flush appeared on Zhou Yi’s pale face, and he became radiant, instantly recovering his former vitality.
“One year, huh? That should be enough...”
Carefully sensing the changes in his body, Zhou Yi’s expression gradually became resolute.
He opened the private chat interface and sent Lin Yi another carefully worded long message.
“You can consider my previous proposal.”
“What happened in the Trial Land has spread outside. You are now the center of public opinion in the Great Xia Empire, and your every move is under close scrutiny.”
“Currently, the common people of Great Xia view you as a chosen one, a key figure who will lead them to defeat the foreign races and move towards a better future.”
“Many factions want to establish friendship with you, but there are also quite a few with ulterior motives.”
“The internal situation of the Empire is turbulent, more complex than you imagine. If you hastily choose a relocation area after leaving the Trial Land... due to public sentiment, the Royal Family might target you.”
“If you cooperate with the Zhou family, we can not only provide you with a sufficiently safe relocation area, but you can also ask for any materials or supplies! I will personally deliver them to your doorstep!”
“Please consider it carefully.”
....
Lin Yi silently closed the private chat interface, walking along the road deep in thought.
He had expected to cause social upheaval, but he never imagined the impact would be so severe.
“The Royal Family...”
“Forget it, political struggles are brain-draining. It’s best not to get involved.”
Of course, if the Zhou family could deliver on what was discussed in the chat, he wouldn't mind providing military support.
The most important thing now—he stopped, looking up at the dark gold, Immortal-grade Tavern, which was nearly twice the size of the Mythic Tavern.
“Damn it! It has to succeed!”
Lin Yi took out a light purple stone, and an upgrade message appeared before his eyes.
“Do you want to use ‘Universal Gem’ on the Immortal-grade Hero Tavern?”
“Once used, it cannot be reversed. The building will be upgraded to Universe-grade.”
What a “chance”!
This young master likes it!
Lin Yi’s lips curved into a smile, and he decisively confirmed!
“Building upgrading, estimated to finish in 8 hours.”
The purple stone transformed into a barrier covering the Tavern.
Glancing at the time, Lin Yi didn't linger and turned to walk towards the main building.
.....
Crack—
As the bludgeon slammed down, the head of a Tier 2 Trial Beast shattered instantly.
Sweaty Babbit panted, kicking away the Trial Beast that had caused them so much trouble.
“I always feel...” His ox-like eyes, like copper bells, looked into the distance, his voice slightly trembling, “Fighting monsters at someone else’s doorstep feels too much like sneaking around. Won’t we get beaten up?”
Ahead.
A squad of ten spearmen stood guard at the rift entrance, chatting and laughing.
No matter what kind of Trial Beast, as long as it poked its head out, it would certainly not survive the second second.
Such terrifying strength...
Babbit looked around, there were several identical teams distributed everywhere.
If they had even a hint of a different idea, their fate would be even worse than the Trial Beasts.
Fortunately!
The Lord said.
This was the reward given by that powerful Lord for their dangerous journey through the Undead army to reinforce—special permission to hunt Trial Beasts in this area.
Li Xue brushed back the hair stuck to her face with sweat, smiling, “That’s about enough. Let’s get ready to go back! We’ve been clearing monsters all the way, and it seems we’ve already exceeded the area the Lord designated. Although he didn’t stop us, we shouldn’t push our luck.”
As she spoke.
Her gaze swept into the distance, and the sturdy city wall, over ten meters high, came into view.
“Built from Black Adamantite...”
“It’s simply an indestructible monster. The Lord must have spent a lot of money.”
Li Xue opened her friends interface and couldn't help but smile again when she saw the newly added name.
This trip was truly not in vain!
She finally added Lin Yi as a friend!
Suddenly—
The heavy iron-clad city gate slowly opened, and a dense sound of footsteps could be heard from afar.
Under Li Xue’s growing astonishment, villagers carrying building materials streamed out one after another.
Roughly calculated, in just a few breaths.
Nearly five hundred people came out!
Most importantly, how did you train such strict discipline and neat formations??
Why were they not on the same page as the villagers in her territory?
Babbit shivered, saying, “Hiss, they’re not coming for us, are they?!”
“No.” Li Xue’s eyes were serious, “They must be going to build something outside the territory.”
Building outside a strongly claimed territory...
Lord, are you preparing to build a military base?
But only one of the same type of military base can be built.
The barrier was about to open, and such a precious slot at this stage, who knew which lucky person had received the Lord’s protection.
“Let’s go.”
Li Xue felt a little envious in her heart and led her team to quickly depart towards her territory.
On the way, she opened the Points Ranking again.
After seeing the data for the top spot, her mouth couldn't help but twitch.
“Even those powerful foreign races are probably just like this, right?”
“I really want to see what kind of expressions those foreign race Lords will have when the overall ranking opens.”
“Trial Points Ranking (Regional)”
“1. Super Love Farming (Hunter) — 49980 points”
“2. Not Love Farming — 2231 points”
“3. Qingxue (Li Xue) — 1942 points”
“4. Zhou Yi — 1665 points”
“5. Dashing Young Master — 1320 points”
“....”