Chapter 132 : A Thousand Faces! The Calamity Army Breaks into Woniu Mountain Range!
Chapter 132: A Thousand Faces! The Calamity Army Breaks into Woniu Mountain Range!
Seven Players had tested the functionality of the Enlightenment Tower.
Among them, only three succeeded in unlocking new skills.
These three were Lone Boat, Little Bell (Xiao Lingdang), and Chimera Wraith.
The others had all failed. Although failure would result in the loss of a large amount of Essence, it did not mean a complete waste—each failed Enlightenment attempt brought one step closer to success.
So, what kind of skills did the Players develop?
Hang Yu immediately checked their new skills!
Lone Boat combined Flashstep and Shadowstep to create a new skill: Shadow Assault!
Chimera Wraith combined Wind Blade and Flame Arrow to create a new skill: Flame Blade!
Little Bell (Xiao Lingdang) combined Flame Arrow and Wind Blade to create a brand new skill: Windflame Arrow!
From the skill attributes, Lone Boat’s skill was by far the most formidable.
[Shadow Assault], Green-Quality Skill, current skill level 10. Permanently increases Agility by +30, consumes 45 Mana, allows rapid stealth dash and delivers a fierce strike to the target. Movement speed +152, attack power +58, hitting a vital point deals an additional 120% critical damage. This skill has a cooldown of 100 seconds; next-tier skill adds +25 seconds to cooldown.
“Interesting!”
What made this skill powerful was that it combined the stealth effect of Shadowstep with the rapid dash of Flashstep—not only uniting the two skills, but also massively enhancing offensive power.
If it struck a vital point and triggered a critical hit—
It could deal up to 220% critical damage.
This wasn’t as simple as one plus one equals two!
The real effect was that a strike which would normally just be a critical hit might become a lethal critical under Shadow Assault’s buff. Even without a lethal hit, it could still cause several times more damage.
This new skill had both very clear advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage: fast and ferocious!
The drawback: the effect of Shadow Assault lasted only an instant, and the dash range was only several dozen meters.
If one approached the target using Shadowstep, then the advanced skill Shadow Assault would also enter cooldown alongside it. If one appeared blatantly before the target without stealth, it would easily alert the target to defend their vitals, reducing the success rate.
But regardless—
It was still an extremely practical skill.
The higher Lone Boat’s level and stats, the greater the range, speed, attack power, and critical damage bonus of Shadow Assault.
It would become a devastating one-shot kill technique, effective for both monster-hunting and PvP.
When Lone Boat’s skill information was revealed—
The other Players’ gazes toward him changed.
All thought: we must never offend this boss in the future!
Otherwise, in PvP, it would be impossible to guard against. One encounter and you'd be instantly wiped!
The quality of Shadow Assault clearly outclassed the other two skills. But Shadow Assault, like Hang Yu’s Swiftshadow Step, resembled a combo technique formed by two fused skills. The skill itself hadn’t undergone a breakthrough. In contrast, the other two skills were different.
Little Bell (Xiao Lingdang) and Chimera Wraith had combined two White-Quality Skills into a Green-Quality Skill.
This was undoubtedly a breakthrough!
If they could train the new skill to full level—
They would gain an additional 10 attribute points.
What surprised or confused the Players was that the two had used the exact same pair of skills for the fusion, yet the end result was two completely different new skills.
Chimera Wraith’s Flame Blade was characterized by immense power and strong cutting capability, allowing partial defense penetration and thus causing powerful individual damage.
Little Bell (Xiao Lingdang)’s Windflame Arrow wasn’t as powerful, but it consumed little, had short cooldown, and long range. It could be fired continuously, ideal for kiting monsters with the wind-style combat strategy.
The only thing the two skills had in common was speed!
Not only were they extremely hard to dodge—
They also inflicted burn damage!
As for why the same two skills could fuse into two different results? Hang Yu wasn’t surprised at all. This was clearly a normal phenomenon within the Enlightenment Tower.
It simply meant that Flame Blade was a skill formed with Wind Blade as the primary base, while Windflame Arrow was based mainly on Flame Arrow—hence the final effects differed naturally.
Each skill had its strengths and weaknesses.
It all depended on how the Players chose.
When the Players figured out the reason, they were all shocked by the complexity and variability of the game's skill system!
You had to know—
As of this point in time—
The Skill Tower and NPC instructors could provide more than 20 skills in total!
How many of these could be fused into new skills? How many new fusion skills could then be combined with other ordinary skills—or even fused again into another fusion skill?
Every step offered countless paths to explore, and each skill could generate an astonishing number of variations. The number of possible combinations was beyond imagination!
The number of territory skills would only continue to grow.
The number of new combined skills and their variations would exceed all expectations.
Once everyone could craft their own unique exclusive techniques—
The Players, upon learning this, were all greatly encouraged and eager to try. The only regret and complaint was that the Enlightenment Tower’s Essence cost was too high. At the very least, only top-tier Tier-Two Players had the chance to use it.
Even for them—
It wasn’t an easy feat.
At that moment, Ye Li Meng, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Mad Blade Old Wang, and Midnight Pig Slayer, who had all failed their skill fusions, wore depressed looks. It was truly a case of joy for some and sorrow for others.
Hang Yu didn’t pay attention to the Players’ ensuing discussion. He had already returned to the Lord’s Hall and retrieved a stone from his storage space. This item was none other than a Talent Stone, which was a hundred times more valuable than a Skill Stone.
Since he had obtained this thing—
It was better to use it sooner rather than later.
He immediately fed the Talent Stone into the Lord Core.
The Talent Stone turned into light and was absorbed by the Lord Core.
All Players received a notification from Xiao Ba.
[Ding, due to the Calamity Army's outstanding performance during the Lord War, you have received a blessing from the Lord and activated a Talent Skill: Self-Healing!]
In that instant—
All Players clearly felt—
Something had changed in their bodies!
When they opened their personal panels, they saw that the once-empty talent slot now displayed a new ability.
[Self-Healing], Tier-One Talent, White-Quality, Max HP + (Level × Tier), recovers 10% of total HP per hour under normal conditions.
“What’s going on?”
“Why did I suddenly get a new skill?”
“That’s not a skill, it’s a talent!”
“It’s a reward granted by Lord Hang Yu after we captured the Dragon-Lizard Tribe’s territory!”
“Damn, there’s even such a good thing? Lord is seriously awesome!”
“I always wondered why the talent slot in this game was empty. So talents can be acquired through Lord Wars!”
“……”
The Players were pleasantly surprised to discover—
Though Self-Healing was just a White-Quality Talent, its effect was decent and genuinely useful.
It had two main effects.
The first was increasing max HP. The amount gained wasn’t fixed—it depended on both level and tier.
For example, a Level 10 Player at Tier 1 would gain 10 HP.
A Level 13 Player at Tier 2 would gain 26 HP.
This boost wasn’t huge—
But for Players at the current stage, it was definitely significant.
After all, low HP, being easily one-shotted, and low error tolerance had always been a major pain point for Players.
The second effect was recovery. As long as the Player wasn’t weakened due to hunger, fatigue, or other abnormal conditions, they could slowly regenerate HP and heal non-permanent injuries.
Talents were different from skills.
Talents didn’t require learning or training.
Every territory subject could receive them.
This included not only Players, but also affiliated subjects.
At the moment Hang Yu fused the Talent Stone with the territory, whether it was in the Luoshui Main City, Hexi Village, or Sanxiang City, all subjects loyal to Hang Yu received this ability.
In Sanxiang Ancient City—
Zhou Ji and Feng Yi were stunned.
They had been rewarding wounded soldiers at the recovery camp.
Although the damage to Sanxiang City during the defense battle wasn’t severe, many soldiers were still injured during combat. Feng Yi had gathered them all and was preparing to summon Monk Players for healing.
Who would have thought—
That at that very moment—
They, too, received the territory-wide announcement.
Whether it was the most inconspicuous grunt or commoner, or high-ranking Tier-Two figures like Feng Yi and Zhou Ji, they all simultaneously gained the Self-Healing talent that had originally belonged to the Dragon-Lizard Tribe!
In an instant—
The injured soldiers in the recovery camp—
Their wounds began to heal at speeds visible to the naked eye!
Thousands of soldiers and civilians in and around Sanxiang City all felt their vitality improve. They were so shaken that many spontaneously stood up and moved to open spaces to kneel in the direction of the Luoshui Main City in gratitude.
“Long live the Lord!”
“Thank you for the Lord’s grace!”
“……”
If Loyalty could be quantified—
Right now, it would be: “Loyalty +1, Loyalty +1, Loyalty +1…”
“The Lord is truly a divine being!”
Zhou Ji couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
“He’s actually able to seize the Dragon-Lizards’ fortune and use it for us humans!”
Feng Yi was filled with reverence and awe. “A Lord descended from the heavens... perhaps he truly can restore order, deliver the people from suffering, and return this world to clarity!”
Only the Lord could completely purify the Abyssal Corruption Source.
Only the Lord could resist the invasion of Foreign Tribes, even plunder their Talents for personal use.
If that wasn’t a savior, then what was?
Zhou Ji, Feng Yi, Feng Xu, and other natives had all strengthened their resolve to follow and swear absolute loyalty to the Lord!
After the Talent Stone was activated—
The responses from the Players and the natives—
Were clearly observed by Hang Yu. He realized that compared to the direct effects of this White-Quality Talent, the prestige and loyalty it indirectly brought him were perhaps even more valuable.
“One Talent is too few!”
“It’s best to obtain more Talent Stones for the territory!”
“After all, this is one of the territory’s core competitive advantages!”
Hang Yu knew: the more Talents there were and the higher their quality, the more loyal the affiliated subjects would become. Likewise, more natives would seek refuge in his territory.
The reason was simple—
As long as one pledged allegiance, they could gain Talents.
This was an immediate and tangible benefit.
Hang Yu, being Human in the Abyss Three Kingdoms Plane, already had a natural grassroots base. If he could gather enough Talent Stones, it would only enhance this advantage and make it even easier to earn the allegiance of the natives.
The reverse was also true—
If an affiliated subject betrayed the territory—
They would first have to consider whether they could endure the cost of instantly losing all their precious Talents.
Unfortunately—
Talent Stones were too valuable.
They were almost impossible to find in the trading market.
The primary method of acquisition was to participate in and win a Lord War, and it seemed unlikely that he would obtain a second Talent Stone anytime soon.
So be it—
Since they could only be encountered by chance—
There was no need to deliberately seek them out.
He would simply seize the opportunity when it appeared!
Hang Yu opened the official game website and glanced at the Forum. Posts were still ablaze with activity, as Players could now directly log into the Forum within the game, allowing for real-time updates and discussion.
The initial skill fusion results from the Enlightenment Tower—
And the just-recently activated Self-Healing Talent—
Had already been shared to the Forum by Internal Test Players, naturally igniting tremendous enthusiasm and discussion among Players.
“Awesome (voice crack)!”
“Wraith boss’s Flame Blade has insane damage!”
“One slash from that, and you’re either dead or crippled!”
“I think Boss Bell’s Windflame Arrow is more practical. Long range, short cooldown—perfect for farming monsters!”
“Ha, Boss Lone Boat’s Shadow Assault is clearly the strongest! Disappears in an instant, flanks from behind and strikes—You might not even realize how you died!”
“Shadow Assault is definitely awesome! An absolute god-tier PvP skill!”
“Is there anyone who still doubts Lone Boat boss’s number one PvP strength?”
“The game’s freedom is scarily high. Even skills can be DIYed—I can’t even imagine how many skills are in the skill library. Could be in the millions!”
“What’s the point of formulaic cookie-cutter skills? This DIY skill system is just too brilliant!”
“……”
“The mystery of the Talent system has finally been solved!”
“Talents obtained by Players should be tied to the Lord War. Hope we get more of those so we can log in with tons of Talents unlocked!”
“War is the true engine of territorial development!”
“Developers, hurry up and bring more Lords into the game!”
“Exactly! That Lizard Lord was pathetic—barely fought and already wiped. Do the devs dare give the Internal Test bosses some real action? Set up a chaotic multi-Lord war already!”
“……”
After a quick glance—
The Cloud Players’ discussions were ablaze.
But there weren’t many valuable suggestions.
Hang Yu returned to the official homepage and posted a brand-new announcement. Not only did it present the recent game updates, but it also revealed the most important and anticipated news among Players.
In one sentence: Twisted Three Kingdoms was expected to recruit 900 new Players in three days, and the latest winning list would be released in two days.
Without a doubt—
As soon as the news dropped—
The Forum instantly exploded.
Cloud Players genuinely hadn’t expected that just a few days after the last recruitment of 450, a new announcement would already be posted—and this time, the number had doubled to 900!
That was a massive increase!
At that moment, everyone felt they had seen the dawn of hope!
Although, compared to the ever-growing number of reservation applicants, the current odds of winning were still less than 1 in 10,000—thanks to the continuous expansion of the Calamity Army, everyone now believed there was hope of entering the game.
“That’s enough for now!”
After closing the Forum—
Hang Yu said to Xiao Ba, “Release the Woniu Mountain mission!”
Xiao Ba immediately complied and replied, “Yes, Master. Xiao Ba has issued the main quest to Players!”
There were still many unexplored areas in Woniu Mountain.
Hang Yu had little interest—after all, the Dragon-Lizard Lord had entered this region nearly a year ago. Most easily-discovered Sources of Corruption had already been eradicated, and the rest held little exploration value.
He planned to assign regular Calamity Army soldiers and Sanxiang City soldiers to explore the region and look for materials that could be gathered or recovered.
As for the Calamity Army elites?
Their task was to locate the Core Corruption Zone as soon as possible.
Although it was still unclear why the Abyssal Corruption in the Woniu Mountain region had neither worsened nor spread—and even the identity of the Core Corruption Source in Woniu Mountain remained unknown—
Hang Yu believed that, with the current strength of the Calamity Army, they should be capable of handling it. And it would be even better if several Players died in the process—after all, these were all high-value, resource-rich advanced Players.
Just as Hang Yu expected—
Once the mission was issued—
The Players immediately showed great interest and began forming or joining teams, preparing to enter the depths of Woniu Mountain in squads.
“Latest update!”
“The Calamity Army officially begins exploration of the Woniu Mountain Range!”
“It’s finally starting? We’re definitely going to run into Zhou Cang this time. I wonder who the Core Corruption is in this area!”
“Is the greatest mystery of the Woniu Mountain map finally going to be revealed?”
“Excellent! Bosses, update fast! I’m way more interested in Three Kingdoms figures than fighting Dragon-Lizard People!”
“……”
The official Forum re-entered livestream mode.
Tens of thousands of Cloud Players expressed intense interest in the Woniu Mountain expedition.
Though this operation was not as large-scale as the Lord War, it was full of unknowns and suspense. It also offered interaction with Three Kingdoms characters and had the potential to spark broader discussions and viral topics.
……
Meanwhile—
Special Task Force Headquarters.
Wang Yue was undergoing a series of advanced medical examinations, scanned by one high-tech device after another, as if being subjected to mysterious and highly sophisticated scientific experiments.
Various test results and data were compiled.
When Academician Xia and the research team reviewed them, they all widened their eyes in disbelief—though their expressions also showed a sense of inevitable realization.
Group Leader Zhou couldn’t help but ask, “So what’s the result?”
Academician Xia said, “If we had doubts before, then based on the before-and-after changes in Xiao Wang’s body, we can now be fairly certain that the game is indeed affecting his physical condition.”
“Especially after the territory activated the Self-Healing talent!”
“I discovered that Xiao Wang’s cell vitality has greatly increased, and his cellular regeneration and repair capabilities have grown significantly—enough to accelerate recovery from cuts and slashes by forty to fifty percent.”
Group Leader Zhou’s eyes widened. “That’s incredible!”
Had this not come from Academician Xia himself, Group Leader Zhou would never have believed it. Enhancing wound recovery by forty to fifty percent—what kind of concept was that?
Perhaps it wasn’t easy to perceive in everyday life.
But if this capability could be applied to the general public, it would drastically shorten recovery times for injuries, reduce the risk of infection, and offer significant aid to soldiers, athletes, and outdoor professionals alike.
“If our team hadn’t been collecting samples and running tests every day for the past few days, I wouldn’t believe the changes happened overnight. I’d probably think Xiao Wang was just naturally gifted.”
Academician Xia said grimly, “We can now be fairly certain that this change happened due to acquiring the Self-Healing talent in the game.”
In other words—
This game could truly affect reality.
And Talent-type abilities had the most obvious impact!
Group Leader Zhou couldn’t help but say, “Even the lowest-tier White-Quality Talent can significantly enhance one’s physical constitution. If the territory were to obtain Green-Quality or even more advanced, powerful Talents in the future... we might not be able to explain any of it!”
Could it be—
That this really was a game created by extraterrestrials?
Was its true goal to modify the human body?
Academician Xia said, “There’s no helping it. For now, we’ll cover it up as long as we can. If it becomes uncontainable, we’ll coordinate to lock down the truth. That’s the only feasible response at this stage.”
Group Leader Zhou nodded.
Though the game subtly affected Players—
There was currently no evidence to suggest any of these effects were negative. Nearly all of them were positive, even strengthening the body.
The longer the gameplay—
The higher the Player’s stats—
The more obvious these changes became.
This meant that the earlier one entered the game, the greater the advantage.
Though some overseas Players had already mixed in, the vast majority were still domestic. This was a good situation and needed to be maintained.
Group Leader Zhou was now fully focused on how to get more official personnel into the game to seize early advantages. Even if they couldn’t reach top-tier levels right away, at least they could secure more time for training.
“Leader!”
“Latest update!”
A Special Task Force member ran over—
Holding a document. “According to the intel released on the game Forum, the Woniu Mountain main quest has been initiated.”
Group Leader Zhou grew serious. “Have Wang Yue log in immediately. The Special Task Force must participate fully in this mission!”
“Yes!”
Soon after—
Toasting the Moon logged in again.
At this point, Toasting the Moon had reached Level 9.
“Boss!”
“You’re finally online!”
“We just received over a hundred pieces of White-Quality Equipment.”
“But most of it is unusable Dragon-Lizard People gear!”
“……”
After logging in—
Two Players approached Toasting the Moon.
One of them had the ID Peeing Against the Wind for Three Thousand Zhang, a Level 6 Warlock. The other’s ID was Dawn Knight, a Level 7 Warrior.
Both were part of Toasting the Moon’s in-game recruits. He knew their real-world identities well—each had great potential and qualifications for cultivation.
Given time—
They might rival the top Players.
The two were unaware that they had become part of the Special Task Force’s external support network, essentially public servants working for the nation. At this moment, they only felt lucky to have found such a wealthy boss.
After accepting the equipment—
Toasting the Moon had them and the rest of the team continue collecting Abyssal Magic Crystals and gear, then turned the equipment into the territory for its meager recycle value.
Once the daily work was done—
Toasting the Moon headed to the main hall.
Several Woniu Mountain exploration teams were preparing to depart.
But what disappointed him was that the teams required Level 10 as a minimum to join, and he hadn’t yet met that requirement.
“Huh, isn’t that Toasting the Moon?”
At this moment, Black-Eyed Rui Ge spotted him. “You’re already Level 9? You’re pretty impressive!”
Street Slayer said, “If you want to join the Woniu Mountain operation, why not come with us?”
Hearing this—
Toasting the Moon was overjoyed.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge’s team included Salted Fish Thrust, Street Slayer, Chimera Wraith, Midnight Pig Slayer, Little Bell (Xiao Lingdang), and Chenxi—all Tier-Two bosses—plus ten Level 10 Players.
Because Rui Ge and the others knew Toasting the Moon and had a good relationship with him, they extended an invitation as soon as they learned he wanted to join the Woniu Mountain expedition.
The difference between Level 9 and Level 10 wasn’t all that significant.
Toasting the Moon was a very capable Ranger.
He had reached Level 9 in such a short time and had already learned multiple skills. That alone proved his value—joining the team would definitely enhance its overall strength and wouldn’t be a burden.
After a few minutes of preparation—
The group finalized their mountain route—
And departed without further delay.