Chapter 145 : Harvest Summary! Comprehensive Upgrade! Third Closed Beta Incoming!
Chapter 145: Harvest Summary! Comprehensive Upgrade! Third Closed Beta Incoming!
Zhou Cang was not only the Captain of the Lord's Personal Guard but also the Chief of Territory Security. He was responsible for leading the Canglong Guard to resist external threats at any time, as well as maintaining order and enforcing rules within the territory.
Where there were people, there was strife. Where there was strife, there were interests in conflict. And where interests clashed, chaos would inevitably arise.
The reason why the Calamity Army was currently so harmonious—
Was primarily due to two factors:
The first was that the number of players was limited, and every one of them had been screened by Xiao Ba. Even if they weren't all industry elites or famed experts, at the very least, they were mentally stable, not prone to mischief, and relatively obedient—a high-quality group.
Had this layer of screening not existed, and the game slots were distributed completely at random—allowing people from all walks of life to enter indiscriminately—then all sorts of outrageous, bizarre events could have occurred.
The second was that although the game had only been live for less than a month, the pace was incredibly intense. Challenge after challenge came in rapid succession, forcing players to band together. Under such circumstances, it was difficult for significant interest disputes to arise.
Whether it was Ma Yuanyi in the first map, or the Dragon-Lizard Lord of Wo Niu Mountain, or the Corruption Source Zhang Bao—each was a powerful enemy beyond the players’ capabilities. Only by uniting could they barely hold their own.
Because of these formidable foes—
And their shared honor and interests—
The players would naturally focus on growing the pie first.
Hang Yu believed that as the player count increased and the composition became more complex, and as the game map and town strongholds expanded, competition—and even conflicts—between players would certainly emerge.
Appropriate competition—
Hang Yu did not oppose it.
He even encouraged it.
Because only competition could stimulate potential and vitality, allowing players to grow faster and more powerfully. Besides, numerous tests had already proven that player-versus-player kills could also yield Essence and loot.
The only premise was—
That the intensity of the competition must be controllable.
And the methods of competition must stay within the boundaries of the rules.
But in this world, there had never been a shortage of people who disregarded rules and order. Moreover, for players, this was merely a virtual world, where human nature could be unleashed with abandon. Precisely because of that, a clear legal system of rewards and punishments was necessary for restraint.
Rules, however—
If not bound to absolute force—
Would never earn respect. And rules that earned no respect were no better than a worthless scrap of paper.
The very reason Zhou Cang and the Canglong Guard were established was because of this. Hang Yu had to preemptively draft the territory’s rules. At the same time, he had to build a strong enough enforcement force—to draw a clear red line for all internal competition and conflict among players.
If internal strife among players led to a decline in territory strength—or worse, hindered development and production—such behavior would be strictly suppressed, and the troublemakers and lawbreakers would be severely punished.
After Zhou Cang took command of the Canglong Guard—
Hang Yu spent over a million Essence to further enhance the strength of seventy Canglong Guard members.
Now, even the most basic Canglong Guard had reached levels 14 to 15, fully equipped with elite gear and several max-level skills. Any one of them, if placed among the players, would be considered top-tier.
Among them, the eight personal guards—Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, Zhao Liu, and others—had already reached level 16. Their overall power had reached quasi-commander level. They already held considerable deterrence for players.
Now that Zhou Cang had become the head of the Canglong Guard—
It was like adding wings to a tiger.
Hang Yu had Zhang San take Zhou Cang on a tour around the territory to familiarize him with Luoshui’s main city and territorial layout. He also had him visit the Chief Forger Yan Ling, and requested the Forging Workshop to customize a set of usable weapons and equipment.
After Zhou Cang left—
Hang Yu continued to tally up the spoils from the battle.
Zhou Cang was only one of the greatest rewards from Wo Niu Mountain.
Besides this fierce general, Hang Yu had also gained many other benefits.
For instance, the “Abyssal Treasure Chest” he hadn’t yet opened, and the exceptional Skill Stone left to him specifically by Guan Yu.
Hang Yu checked the Skill Stone first.
【Skill Stone: Simple · The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes】, Blue-quality skill... Learning Requirements: 260 Strength, 150 Agility, Level 20, and consumption of 100,000 Abyssal Essence.
Upon reading the skill description—
Hang Yu was very surprised.
Why did the skill’s name carry the “Simple” prefix?
So this was actually a youthful version of the “Martial Saint’s Three Strikes”?
That was kinda scammy... but then again, maybe not. After all, the skill’s quality was real. The fact that it was a youthful version didn’t mean it was weak. It just meant the “True · The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes” was likely a Purple-quality skill.
Purple-quality skills, let alone exploding from Guan Yu’s doppelganger, were likely impossible to acquire.
Even if one dropped, Hang Yu probably couldn’t learn it yet.
Even this youthful version of the Martial Saint’s Three Strikes—
Had extremely harsh learning conditions.
So far, Hang Yu had never seen a skill that required 100,000 Essence to learn. On top of that, the attribute thresholds were sky-high: 260 Strength, 150 Agility, plus a hard Level 20 cap... Not a single requirement was achievable by the average player!
At this stage, aside from Hang Yu and Zhou Cang, no one could learn this skill!
The higher the conditions—
The stronger the skill!
Even among Blue-quality skills, “The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes” ranked at the very top tier!
Hang Yu couldn’t help but exclaim, “Lord Guan is still strong as ever!”
When Guan Yu fought him, he had said that these three saber techniques were created in his early years. They aligned with the combat style he used when he was still a general. But how many years did the late Han and Three Kingdoms period even last? And how long had he existed on the Abyss timeline?
Not to mention how long Guan Yu’s main body had lived—
Just absorbing the experiences, knowledge, and insights from countless doppelgangers was already terrifying enough.
With such vast time and experience—
How could Guan Yu not develop even more powerful techniques?
There was no doubt that the real Guan Yu no longer relied on these three techniques. He had become powerful enough to rival Abyssal Evil Gods—nearly touching the level of conceptual combat. The means at his disposal were far beyond human imagination.
“In front of such an ultimate boss—”
“I’d better stay low for now!”
Hang Yu deeply understood the gap between himself and the top-tier beings of the Abyss Three Kingdoms.
That said—
The Martial Saint’s Three Strikes was definitely worth learning.
Even the youthful version outclassed every skill he currently had.
But the problem was—although Hang Yu met all the learning requirements, he didn’t have a Skill Tower that could embed the Skill Stone.
There were currently two Skill Towers in the territory. While neither lacked open slots, ordinary Skill Towers could only embed White and Green-quality Skill Stones. Blue-quality required the tower to be upgraded.
Skill Towers were basic structures included with the territory.
Upgrading such buildings didn’t require extra blueprints or items but did have a prerequisite:
All buildings in the main hall had to be upgraded to Tier-Two first.
And not just the main hall facilities and the Skill Towers—
Right now, many buildings across the territory needed to be upgraded. For example, the Abyss Barracks!
Hang Yu had already constructed 20 Abyss Barracks.
The territory's current total population had reached 2,000!
The newest batch of 900 players would arrive at 8 PM tonight.
And that wasn’t even the population cap. Because all 20 Abyss Barracks were Tier-One buildings, the upgrade prerequisites were already met. If all were upgraded to Tier-Two, the population limit could be doubled!
That meant—
A full 4,000 people!
But upgrading this many buildings—
Would place a significant strain on the territory’s finances and materials.
Hang Yu immediately checked the current financial and material reserves of the territory.
The current reserves were:
Abyssal Magic Crystals: 17,000
Tier-One Food: 77,000
Tier-One Materials: 71,000
Tier-One Material Essence: 676,000
Tier-Two Material Essence: 93,000
Grey-Quality Equipment: 4,901
White-Quality Equipment: 4,245
Green-Quality Equipment: 155
Abyssal Essence: approx. 3,268,000!
A few days ago—
There had been about 32,000 Magic Crystals.
So why had so many been spent all at once?
The largest expense was undoubtedly the recruitment of new players.
Nine Abyss Barracks at 500 crystals each = 4,500 Magic Crystals.
900 new players at 20 crystals each = 18,000 Magic Crystals.
If not for the Calamity Army’s exceptional recent income, and the constant return flow of Magic Crystals from the players, Hang Yu would’ve only had about 10,000 left in hand.
Hang Yu intended to fully upgrade the Lord’s Hall facilities, 20 Abyss Barracks, 2 Skill Towers, the Abyss Canteen, and the Territory Walls. If all went according to plan, Luoshui’s main city would be completely transformed.
After a round of calculations—
It would cost around:
32,000 Magic Crystals + 60,000 Tier-Two Material Essence!
The biggest expense, of course, came from upgrading the 20 Abyss Barracks.
Each Tier-Two Barrack cost:
1,200 Magic Crystals + 2,400 Tier-Two Material Essence.
Twenty of them = 24,000 Magic Crystals + 48,000 Tier-Two Material Essence!
That wasn’t a small sum.
But for Hang Yu, it was hardly a problem.
First of all, he had basically claimed the entire territory of the Dragon-Lizard Lord. As a result, the territory’s Material Essence inventory was quite ample. He could afford the 60,000 Tier-Two Essence—or substitute it with 600,000 Tier-One Essence.
As for the Magic Crystals?
At first glance, there was a shortfall of 15,000 crystals!
But with Hang Yu’s current assets, filling that gap was a trivial matter.
Not to mention he still had a stockpile of premium gear, food, and materials that could be liquidated quickly.
And in his possession was a high-quality blueprint—“Tomb of the Dragon-Lizard”—that he hadn’t sold yet. Based on its value, it could easily fetch tens of thousands of Magic Crystals.
More importantly, he hadn’t even needed to sell anything yet.
Because he still had an “Abyssal Treasure Chest” on hand. As a boss-clear reward chest, the loot would definitely be generous.
Last time, the chest dropped from defeating Ma Yuanyi contained a whopping 10,000 Magic Crystals. The one he just obtained from Zhang Bao’s defeat—couldn’t possibly contain less than that, could it?
Don’t Delay!
Hang Yu immediately opened the treasure chest..
【You have opened the “Abyssal Treasure Chest (Green)”, Abyssal Magic Crystals +25,000, Forging Crystal +50, Zhang Bao Soulstone +20, Guan Yu Soulstone +10, “Skill Stone: Great Peace Flame Talisman” +1, “Blueprint: Great Peace Talisman Tower” +1!】
As expected, the rewards in this kind of chest were extremely abundant. The magic crystals alone totaled 25,000, directly bridging the funding gap for the territory’s comprehensive upgrade.
This time, many high-grade materials he had never seen before appeared.
【Forging Crystal】, Tier-Two Material, Blue Mid-Grade... Used to upgrade Tier-Two equipment, with a certain probability of promoting it to Tier-Three.
This item was an upgraded version of the Forging Crystal Shard. The latter could only upgrade Tier-One gear to Tier-Two, whereas the Forging Crystal was a Blue-quality material that could push Tier-Two to Tier-Three.
As a Blue-quality material!
The value of a Forging Crystal was hundreds of times greater than a Forging Crystal Shard!
A single Forging Crystal placed in the market at the Trading Hall could probably fetch several hundred or even a thousand Magic Crystals—so the total value of fifty was self-evident.
However, such rare and precious materials—Hang Yu naturally had no intention of selling.
Although he wasn’t at Tier-Three yet and couldn’t use Tier-Three equipment, and Yan Ling’s forging level also couldn’t yet craft such high-grade items, he could simply store them for future upgrades when the time and conditions were right.
As for the “Zhang Bao Soulstone” and “Guan Yu Soulstone”, both were also ultra-high-grade Blue-quality materials.
【Zhang Bao Soulstone】, Tier-Two Material, Blue Low-Grade... A rare gem infused with Zhang Bao’s soul energy. Has a low chance of upgrading Green-quality gear to Blue, and a certain chance of granting new skills to equipment!
【Guan Yu Soulstone】, Tier-Two Material, Blue High-Grade... A rare gem infused with faint traces of Guan Yu’s soul energy. Has a high chance of upgrading Green-quality gear to Blue, and a certain chance of granting entirely new skills or ability traits.
Soulstones were rare quality-enhancement materials.
They not only allowed Green-quality gear to break into Blue—
But their greater value lay in the ability to grant entirely new traits or skills to equipment.
These thirty Soulstones were several times more valuable than the fifty Forging Crystals—especially those infused with Guan Yu’s soul energy, which were incomparably rare and of top-tier quality!
Hang Yu planned to keep the Guan Yu Soulstones to enhance his own equipment. As for the slightly inferior Zhang Bao Soulstones, he would use them to enhance the gear of Zhou Cang and other personal guards—or issue them as player rewards.
This treasure chest didn’t just contain a pile of Magic Crystals and materials.
There were also Skill Stones and Blueprints.
The Great Peace Flame Talisman was a Green-quality spell skill. Its power wasn’t as high as the Explosive Flame Spell, which was also Green-quality, but it featured continuous area-of-effect damage.
At this stage, the territory already had many stockpiled skills.
This particular one wasn’t especially impressive—something players could take or leave. But for Hang Yu, having more skills never hurt. Even if unused, they could increase his stats or serve as skill materials inside the Enlightenment Tower.
However, after seeing the blueprint included in the chest—
Hang Yu realized that neither he nor the territory might need the Flame Talisman Skill Stone.
【Blueprint: Great Peace Talisman Tower】, Tier-Two Blueprint, Construction Cost: 1200 Magic Crystals + 2000 Tier-Two Material Essence…
Based on the blueprint’s nature and description—
Hang Yu concluded it was a skill-type building.
The construction cost wasn’t high for him at this stage.
So he directly had the building constructed, placing it beside the Skill Tower and Enlightenment Tower.
From the outside, this tower displayed both the architectural style of the Starsea and elements of the Great Peace Sect, carrying the legacy of the talismanic arts from the “Great Peace Esoterica.”
Hang Yu glanced at it.
There were a total of six skills:
Great Peace Windstrike Talisman, Great Peace Lightning Talisman, Great Peace Flame Talisman, Great Peace Ice Talisman, Great Peace Rejuvenation Talisman, Great Peace Clarity Talisman.
Wind, Fire, Lightning, Ice—
The Four Offensive Talismans—
Plus two supportive talismans.
These were the six fundamental talismans of the Great Peace Esoterica.
The essence of this Talisman Tower was that of a Skill Tower—but unlike the territory’s own Skill Towers that required manual socketing of Skill Stones, the Great Peace Talisman Tower came with pre-installed fixed skills.
With the Talisman Tower—
The citizens of the territory could now systematically train in the Great Peace Sect’s talisman techniques.
This Talisman Tower not only allowed for learning spells but also for training within—providing rapid skill progression without consuming Essence. Of course, even so, for players it wasn’t worth the time and opportunity cost, so this setup was better suited for non-player citizens and auxiliary forces.
All in all—
These six skills—
Weren’t particularly exceptional.
Hang Yu had already learned both the Great Peace Lightning Talisman and the Rejuvenation Talisman.
The Lightning Talisman had been learned via Skill Stone, while the Rejuvenation Talisman was learned from the village chief of Hexi Village—Wei Ji.
Hang Yu didn’t use them often, as his combat style and gear were mostly centered around close-quarters martial arts. Spells served only a supporting role.
Still—
The more skills, the better.
Especially this systematic set of skills—
Would make fusion inside the Enlightenment Tower even easier later on.
So Hang Yu casually learned the “Flame Talisman”, “Ice Talisman”, “Windstrike Talisman”, and “Clarity Talisman”.
The first three were all Spirit-based skills. Maxing them out added a total of 45 Spirit points. The Clarity Talisman was a Will-based skill, adding 15 Will.
With that, Hang Yu had now mastered all six talismans of the Great Peace Sect.
Wind, Fire, Lightning, Ice—no need to elaborate, all were offensive skills with different elemental types.
The Clarity Talisman, like the Rejuvenation Talisman, was a support-type healing spell. The Rejuvenation Talisman restored HP over time, while the Clarity Talisman removed various abnormal conditions—such as poison, stun, sleep, or hallucinations.
Now that he had the Great Peace Talisman Tower—
The Skill Stones for “Great Peace Flame Talisman” and “Great Peace Lightning Talisman” were no longer necessary. Hang Yu planned to sell or trade them on the market for other skills or items.
“Since the territory’s resource reserves are ample—”
“It’s time to officially start the full-scale upgrades!”
“I must get everything ready before reaching the third Abyss Region!”
Hang Yu summoned the infrastructure specialist player “Great Wall of China” and issued him a task.
Since buildings could be redesigned or rebuilt during their upgrade phase, even some Barracks could be relocated to White Tiger City or Sanxiang City—adjusting the layout for better convenience for players logging in or out.
As the number of players increased—
Spawn points didn’t all need to be in Luoshui Main City.
Players could now choose to descend into White Tiger City, or even Sanxiang City.
This would prevent new players from overwhelming one area and outpacing the respawn rate of nearby Abyssal Creatures.
Furthermore, the specifications of buildings could receive major boosts during upgrades—with a great deal of customization available in the redesigns.
Great Wall of China’s job was to draft a new territory planning scheme as soon as possible. Once core facilities were upgraded, they needed to satisfy functional demands and integrate smoothly with ongoing infrastructure projects.
On that foundation—
The more convenient, beautiful, and user-friendly—the better.
Upon learning that he could redesign and renovate numerous new buildings overnight, Great Wall of China grew excited—gathering a large group of students that very night to begin drafting proposals.
And just then—
Xiao Ba suddenly alerted: “Master, the Day of the Stars’ Return is about to arrive!”
Hang Yu was slightly startled.
He had previously instructed Xiao Ba—
To notify him in advance when the Day of the Stars’ Return was near.
“How long is left?”
“Roughly twelve hours.”
“That’s one or two days earlier than I expected.”
Hang Yu had spent a considerable time in the Abyss. Now that the Day of Return had finally come, he definitely intended to return—treating it as a short vacation after nearly a month of tireless effort.
Moreover—
Several days ago—
He had already informed the players about this.
Recently, the territory’s equipment stock had surged. Green-quality gear alone had reached 155 pieces. While most were from the Dragon-Lizard race, with a bit of modification, they could be sold to players.
Some of them were quite high-quality.
Due to the rising player population, good gear remained in short supply. Almost no one would voluntarily hand over high-quality White or Green gear to the territory in exchange for Contribution.
Among all the recent reclaimed gear—
Seventy percent had been contributed by Toasting the Moon.
Hang Yu knew his background—
And understood his purpose.
He just wanted to see the Land of the Stars with his own eyes. Just wanted a follower slot. He had already invested at least 30 million. Was it worth it?
But since he had been so proactive—
Hang Yu couldn’t just ignore it.
It was normal for a Starsea Lord to bring a few followers back when returning to the Land of the Stars. Since Toasting the Moon wanted it so badly, Hang Yu decided to take him along.
“There are just over ten hours left.”
“Let me post an announcement on the official site first!”
Hang Yu asked Xiao Ba to connect him to the internet. Out of habit, he glanced at the forum’s special zone and saw that all recent events had already spread widely.
No need to guess—
The forum was buzzing like Lunar New Year.
Explosive threads and hot topics were everywhere.
Whether it was the final battle at Wo Niu Mountain, or the powerful bosses encountered—
The Huangtian faction behind Zhang Bao, Demon Zhou Cang joining the territory, Guan Yu’s duel with the Lord… every one of these was loaded with hype and could spark countless discussions.
Especially the battle between the Lord and Guan Yu—
This fight not only refreshed everyone's perception of the Lord’s strength but had been recorded and widely circulated. The impact was more sensational than anything before.
Too much content—
Dazzling—
Overwhelming—
Hang Yu didn’t read into the details for now.
He directly posted a new thread on the official homepage:
《Twisted Three Kingdoms: Third Closed Beta Launch & Major Update Preview》！
(Author's note: Transition chapters like this are tough to write but can’t be skipped. New plot and story arcs are on the way soon. Thanks to reader 20220725230117615 for the 500 Qidian Coin reward!)