“To think that a Transcendent-level cultivation method could be obtained from a secret realm!”
Xia Tianxin’s heart immediately burned with excitement.
Compared to Mortal-level cultivation methods, Transcendent-level secret manuals were undoubtedly of higher value.
More importantly, this provided the territory with the means to deal with those Transcendent-level high-grade creatures three days later.
“Zhou Ti is only a Silver-tier talent. The level of this ‘skill book’ is not the highest. If I can take down ‘Li Guang’ and ‘Gao Shun,’ the secret manuals obtained will probably be astonishingly valuable!”
Xia Tian’s heart grew even more excited.
Even if the final attempt to summon a character failed, just clearing the secret realm challenge and receiving the rewards would be well worth the expenditure of luck points!
“Hmm, for Li Guang’s challenge, it’s natural to send Hua Rong. With his Grandmaster-level archery, Hua Rong should have a high chance of success. Of course, Li Guang is a Gold-tier superior talent after all, so the difficulty won’t be much lower than the Hua Tuo secret realm. Therefore, it’s best to let Hua Rong raise his level to ‘Tier 9’ first.”
“The secret realm of ‘Li Hong,’ the designer of the Divine Arm Crossbow, can be given to Shen Lian to complete, because the bond only requires possessing a Divine Arm Crossbow to enter. Shen Lian has ‘Proficient’-level crossbow skills, plus his rich experience as a Brocade Guard, so his chances of completing the challenge are very high.”
The only uncertainty was “Gao Shun.”
Xia Tian had originally thought it through well, letting Wu Song or Hua Rong undergo “rapid training” at the training ground to gain the “Siegebreaker Camp” bond before going to “challenge” – wouldn’t that be a sure thing?
As it turned out, he was overthinking it!
The Earth’s Will indicated that “talents” above Blue-tier could not be upgraded through “rapid training,” meaning that even he himself had lost the qualification to obtain the “Siegebreaker’s Resolve” trait.
“Then I can only let Da Niu try first, but before that, I must also raise his level to Tier 7 or above.”
Xia Tian made a decision in his heart.
“My lord, Chief Hua has returned with a large number of people!”
At this moment, Shen Lian, who was assigned to patrol outside, came to report with a calm expression… “Is this the so-called ‘Sanctuary’?”
“It looks pretty good, actually. Thank goodness, we can finally find a safe place to live.”
“Those wolf demons last night were too terrifying. I hope this place is really as Chief Hua said, able to block those man-eating demons.”
Outside the protective barrier, about five hundred people, bustling and carrying their families, with iron pots, quilts, clothes, etc., looked at the “Sanctuary” with the Fire of Fortune suspended above it, their expressions weary and anxious!
And Hua Rong, in his silver armor and with his silver spear, along with the soldiers recruited earlier, were loudly maintaining order.
“Hiss, so many people?”
Xia Tian was a bit stunned to see such a vast crowd, more than double the number of centaurs that had previously surrounded the territory.
Because in his mind, it would have been quite good if Hua Rong could bring back one or two hundred people.
After all, Chinese people have been accustomed to their native land since ancient times, making it very difficult for them to abandon their homes and move.
Hua Rong’s group of forty-one people, plus their families and the parents of the children, would have already exceeded expectations with two hundred people. But this group of people in front of him was definitely more than double that two hundred, perhaps bringing over half of Qingfeng Stronghold’s population?
How did Hua Rong manage to do it!
“My lord, it wasn’t entirely Hua Rong’s ability. It’s because last night… Qingfeng Stronghold is gone!”
Upon hearing Xia Tian’s question, “Little Li Guang,” in his silver armor and with his silver spear, said with a wry smile.
He then recounted to Xia Tian what happened after he returned.
Unlike ordinary villages inhabited by common folk, Qingfeng Stronghold was a “military stronghold” with Song Dynasty characteristics. About half of its population was equivalent to the army, and the other half were the soldiers’ families.
Although Chief Liu Gao was a civil official, in the Song Dynasty, civil officials controlled the military, and most people, having just arrived in the “Land of Eternity,” still habitually obeyed his orders.
Therefore, Hua Rong and the others’ “poaching” efforts were not very smooth after they returned.
In fact, after Chief Liu Gao found out, that evening, he led his direct subordinates, openly carrying torches, to their door, claiming that they must have been “bewitched by ghosts and possessed by evil spirits” after going out, and intended to lure the people in the stronghold to a monster’s den to be used as blood food!
The villagers found it difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood, leading to a tense standoff between the two sides.
It was at this moment that wolf howls suddenly erupted from all around the stronghold. In the darkness, a large number of hideous monsters with heads like jackals but bodies resembling humans, their eyes glowing green, rushed out from the surrounding jungle, pouncing and biting anyone they saw.
Qingfeng Stronghold hastily organized a counterattack.
However, as ancient people, most were night-blind at night, and their combat effectiveness was severely affected. Many people were seeing such “half-human, half-beast, man-killing, man-eating” monsters for the first time, and were so scared their hands and feet went limp, unable to grip their weapons.
Although Hua Rong and the others had experienced battles with centaurs and had no fear of these “wolf demons,” they were unfortunately too few in number.
However, somewhat dramatically, those gnolls seemed to possess a certain intelligence, even understanding “decapitation” tactics.
In the chaotic battle, a gnoll actually snuck into the rear and, with a single claw, disemboweled and killed Liu Gao, who was scared witless and had weak limbs, leaving faeces, urine, and internal organs all over the ground!
Hua Rong took the opportunity to organize the soldiers to counterattack, relying on his identity as “Military Chief.” He also locked onto the enemy leader during the battle and shot him with an arrow, wounding him!
Ultimately, this forced the “gnolls” to retreat.
However, many people from Qingfeng Stronghold had already died, and in the chaos, a large-scale fire broke out, burning down more than half of the houses.
At this point, the original site of Qingfeng Stronghold was clearly no longer suitable for living. Furthermore, the soldiers who had accompanied Hua Rong on his outing enthusiastically promoted the various benefits of the territory, such as “being able to eat meat until full and live in big, good houses.”
The remaining people in the entire stronghold ultimately chose to migrate collectively, which led to the current large group of nearly five hundred people.
“Five hundred, five hundred is good!”
Although, theoretically, he should have felt regret and sadness for Qingfeng Stronghold’s plight, Xia Tian couldn’t hide his excitement when he saw this large group of “refugees.”
Population was more important than he had imagined. Not only could it gather luck, but more importantly, after the territory’s protective shield weakened, there must be enough people to ensure that the territory could still be defended against the onslaught of a large number of Mortal-level fierce beasts and monsters!
【Your territory has recruited an ordinary human (White). Territory luck +5.】
【Your territory has recruited a disabled human (Gray). Territory luck +4.】
【Your territory has recruited a human elite (Green). Territory luck +10.】
As more and more refugees joined, Xia Tian’s territory’s luck rapidly increased.
However, just as Xia Tian had expected, the vast majority of these people were just ordinary white-tier humans, and some even became disabled gray-tier names due to severe injuries, having lost limbs in last night’s battle with the wolf demons!
Among the two to three hundred people who had already joined, there were only about twenty green-tier elites, and as for blue-tier talents, none had been seen so far.
However, this was a normal proportion.
After all, talents were hard to come by, and even green-tier human elites were very valuable for the early development of the territory.
【Your territory has recruited a Silver-tier talent with superior potential. Luck +600!】
【Your territory has established a bond with a Gold-tier hero. Do you wish to view it?】
Just as Xia Tian was busy arranging for the wounded to be treated, two pieces of information suddenly appeared.
What’s going on, a Silver-tier talent!
And a Silver-tier talent providing six hundred luck points, not much worse than Hua Rong, and even carrying a Gold-tier talent’s bond.
There was someone like this in Qingfeng Stronghold?
“Is this the so-called Sanctuary?”
“This lord’s mansion is quite impressive, not inferior to the former Prime Minister’s residence… Hmm, is that the Golden Terrace where King Zhao of Yan once ‘bought horse bones with a thousand gold’?”
A man in his thirties, with long, narrow eyes, an unremarkable face, and wearing a black long gown, stood among the crowd, curiously surveying everything around him. His gaze lingered especially on the lord’s mansion and the Golden Terrace for a long time, with a peculiar glint in his eyes.
Suddenly, he seemed to acutely sense something.
The man abruptly looked up, meeting the sharp gaze of the “Lord” that was directed at him, as if it could see into people’s hearts!
【Li Ru (Silver)】
【Level】Tier 8
【Physique】1.5
【Spirit】7.5
【Talent】Poisonous Strategist (Cultivating poison-attribute cultivation methods yields twice the results, and their power increases)
【Trait】Discernment (Sharp mind, able to identify some incorrect information), Poisoned Wine (Carries a wondrous item, a wine cup, that can generate deadly poison ‘Zhen Wine’)
【Skill】Intelligence and Military Strategy (Master), Confucian Studies (Expert), Internal Affairs (Expert)
【Description】Some historical figures whose “merits and demerits are difficult to assess” will not be summoned through “competition” but will directly descend upon the “Eternal Continent” like figures from the “Sea of Illusions.”