Chapter 178 : Spirit Horse Forging! Campaign Against Xinye! Contact with Zhang Xiu!
Chapter 178: Spirit Horse Forging! Campaign Against Xinye! Contact with Zhang Xiu!
Hang Yu distributed the latest mission. Zhou Cang and the Azure Dragon Guards were tasked with organizing and assembling personnel. Once the mission start time arrived, they would depart on schedule.
There were still several hours left.
Hang Yu used the remaining time to make several arrangements regarding territorial production.
First, he summoned Zhang Zhongjing and handed him several medicinal pills purchased from the marketplace.
Hang Yu hoped that he could decipher the formulas of these pills. That way, in addition to the Dragon-Pattern Essence Pill and Dragon-Pattern Bone-Fortifying Pill, several new products could be added to the territory, further strengthening the territory’s pharmaceutical industry.
Zhang Zhongjing had just joined the territory and was eager to prove his value.
When he saw the abundant materials in the Lord’s warehouse and the various new medicinal pills originating from the Land of the Stars, his interest as a physician was instantly ignited. He immediately threw himself into work.
“Lord!”
At that moment, a petite fox-eared girl walked into the Lord’s Fortress. She was none other than the territory employee and chief forger, Yan Ling.
Hang Yu had already assembled a forging team of more than ten people.
Among them, Yan Ling had the highest level, the longest experience, and the greatest contributions.
More than a month had passed since she joined the territory. During this time, she had been extremely busy every single day. Even though the forging team continued to expand, there was still an endless amount of work.
However, Yan Ling loved working.
Because the more work there was, the better the performance.
And the better the performance of the Forging Workshop, the higher the commission of Contribution Points!
Yan Ling’s personal level had already reached level 19, and her profession level had reached Intermediate Forger level 9. At this rate, after working for another half month, she would have a chance to break through.
During this period, the neighboring Alchemy Workshop had launched the attribute potion business, causing its performance to skyrocket. This made Yan Ling unwilling to slack off.
Although one side practiced alchemy while the other handled forging—and there was no competition between the two—given the current production capacity, the Alchemy Workshop would still find it difficult to surpass the Forging Workshop in the short term.
But Yan Ling did not want to fall behind.
Her goal was to become the number one employee under the Lord.
Yan Ling entered a state of consuming pills and working herself to exhaustion, constantly setting new records for daily output and contribution.
Precisely because of this, she was extremely busy. If the Lord had not suddenly summoned her, she would never have left her workstation.
Hang Yu was very satisfied with Yan Ling’s growth. If her professional skills increased by one more level, she would be able to challenge the realm of Advanced Forger. If her personal level increased by one more level, she would reach the threshold of a Tier-3 Forger.
And a Tier-3 Advanced Forger…
Was exactly the kind of talent the territory needed next.
Hang Yu said, “I called you here today to assign you an important task. If you can successfully complete it, you will earn a great merit that will greatly help your upcoming advancement.”
Yan Ling’s eyes immediately lit up.
She said firmly, “Please give your orders, Lord. No matter what the mission is, Yan Ling will give her utmost effort and will never disappoint the Lord’s cultivation and expectations!”
Hang Yu did not answer directly. Instead, he asked:
“You’ve been quite envious of the attribute potion business at the Alchemy Workshop, haven’t you?”
“That is indeed something worth envying.”
Yan Ling nodded honestly.
So the Lord had noticed.
In truth, whether forging or alchemy, daily work was extremely dull and repetitive.
Most of the pills produced by the Alchemy Workshop were consumables. With the increase in the territory’s troops and population, the daily consumption was enormous. Naturally, the amount of medicine required for production was equally massive.
Forging work was even more complicated.
It not only involved forging materials into equipment but also strengthening and repairing equipment. Although the quantity was large, aside from high-level equipment strengthening, the unit price was not particularly high.
However, the attribute potions produced by the Alchemy Workshop were essentially luxury items.
The price of a single attribute potion was at least one hundred times—or even several hundred times—that of a normal consumable pill of the same grade. Producing one hundred attribute pills in a day could easily surpass the revenue generated by tens of thousands of ordinary pills.
Most importantly—
There was no need to worry about players lacking money.
The Dragon Blood Pill and Dragon Bone Pill refined by Bai Mu were not sold directly to players. Instead, the territory purchased them all in bulk. No matter how many were produced, they were bought out, effectively becoming a money-printing machine for the Alchemy Workshop.
With Bai Mu receiving a 1% commission, once the quantity accumulated sufficiently, he could earn an enormous amount of Contribution Points.
Other alchemists also benefited depending on their participation and seniority. The flower sprite sisters each received a 0.5% commission, while other alchemists received between 0.1% and 0.25%.
As the Spirit Fields continued to expand—
And with the Fate Skill of Divine Physician Zhang Zhongjing enhancing production—
The future prospects were enormous.
For now, Yan Ling’s contributions and performance remained unquestionably the highest in the territory. This was mainly because players spent enormous resources strengthening their equipment. The higher the equipment tier and quality, the strengthening cost increased exponentially.
This business was difficult to surpass in the short term.
However, strengthening equipment was something every forger could do.
Without a truly unique product, it still felt somewhat unstable.
After all, a forger like her could be replaced. Meanwhile, the flower sprite sisters who cultivated seeds and Bai Mu—who independently learned the expensive formulas for the Dragon Blood Pill and Dragon Bone Pill—clearly had greater irreplaceability.
If the Forging Workshop could also produce its own signature product, it would be a wonderful development.
Hang Yu said, “I plan to start producing a special forging product. If this project succeeds, its value may not be much lower than the current attribute potions.”
“What? Really?”
Yan Ling’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Hang Yu did not keep her guessing. He took out a scroll from his storage space and tossed it to her.
【Secret Manual of Spirit Horse Forging】
Tier-2 Blue Grade…
Description: This is a precious forging secret manual containing the blueprints, experience, and methods for crafting Spirit Horses.
Alchemists had formulas.
Forgers also had manuals.
But the two professions had important differences.
Each alchemy formula precisely corresponded to a specific pill.
Every pill had different techniques, arrays, and refining methods.
Forging manuals were different.
The equipment forged by forgers was divided into standard equipment and special equipment. Most standard equipment did not require blueprints or secret recipes. Instead, they relied entirely on the forger’s own experimentation and accumulated experience.
Even if a brand-new forging material appeared that was extremely difficult to handle, a forger could eventually discover a method to forge it into standard equipment through repeated trials and failures.
This was why the territory should not casually replace its forgers.
If a chief forger who had long worked in the territory were replaced by a new forger recruited from the Land of the Stars, the newcomer would be unfamiliar with the territory’s materials and equipment demands. Naturally, it would take considerable time and cost to adapt.
In simple terms—
Forgers did not rely heavily on blueprints.
But every skilled forger was nurtured through large amounts of materials and accumulated experience, making their training cost equally high.
Besides standard equipment, forgers could also craft unconventional equipment.
For example, the Teleportation Staff that Hang Yu purchased in Sacred Cang City.
Such special equipment could not be crafted by ordinary forging methods.
To forge special equipment—
A forger must master the corresponding secret forging techniques.
The “Secret Manual of Spirit Horse Forging” that Hang Yu had taken out recorded exactly such a special forging method. It was not a blueprint for a single piece of equipment but rather the knowledge and secret techniques for forging an entire category of equipment.
Once a forger learned the knowledge and techniques contained within the manual, they could theoretically master the forging ability for that type of equipment. Of course, successfully crafting it still required materials and practical experience.
This manual had not appeared out of nowhere.
After selling medicine and earning sixty thousand Mana Crystals, Hang Yu spent part of the money purchasing various pills from the market for Zhang Zhongjing’s research.
At the same time, he also searched the market for forging manuals to improve the territory’s forging capabilities.
His luck was quite good.
Within a single day—
He successfully obtained the manual he wanted.
Hang Yu said, “The market value of this forging manual is ten thousand Mana Crystals. As the main force among the territory’s forgers, I have an obligation to cultivate you and share part of the training cost. Therefore, I’m willing to transfer this manual to you for five thousand Mana Crystals.”
When Yan Ling heard this, she was both delighted and troubled.
Forging manuals were extremely valuable.
Especially those that were useful for the territory.
The Lord offering it to her for five thousand Mana Crystals was already extremely fair and clearly preferential treatment.
But the problem was—
Yan Ling was completely broke.
Recently, she had even taken loans from the Land of the Stars to exchange for benefits.
Let alone five thousand Mana Crystals—
She probably could not even afford fifty… or even five.
Hang Yu noticed her embarrassment.
She was unlike Bai Mu, who had once been a lord and possessed considerable savings.
Nor was she like Huayue and Huaxing, the flower sprite sisters, who came from a powerful family.
Yan Ling had no background.
So Hang Yu said directly:
“The territory’s finances are currently stable. You can owe this amount for now. Once you master Spirit Horse forging and advance to Advanced Forger, this amount of Mana Crystals will be insignificant.”
“Thank you, Lord!”
Yan Ling was once again deeply moved.
The Lord treated her incredibly well.
Without such a great lord, a poor and backgroundless person like her might spend her entire life as a minor forger without ever having the chance to rise.
She would remember this kindness forever.
Of course, the money owed to the Lord had to be repaid as soon as possible.
The Lord agreed that she could offset the debt with Contribution Points. Once high-grade Spirit Horses could be mass-produced, these high value-added special items would bring tremendous income to the territory.
Yan Ling had not taken a single day off since joining the territory.
Once she advanced to Advanced Forger, she could even use occasional vacation time to take temporary forging work in Sacred Cang City.
With the earning ability of an Advanced Forger—
Repaying five thousand Mana Crystals would not be difficult.
Hang Yu handed over all the Black-Scale Dragon Horse Spirit Essences recovered by the territory.
There were sixty-five in total.
This was enough to fail dozens of times. As long as she succeeded once, the Spirit Horse forging method would be secured.
These high-grade Spirit Horses could greatly enhance the strength of the Calamity Army and even had potential for further development.
As commodities—
They would also be extremely popular.
Once Yan Ling fully mastered high-grade Spirit Horse forging, she would likely have already broken through to Tier-3 and become an Advanced Forger.
At that time, Hang Yu planned to give her the Spirit Essence of Jueying.
That way, he could upgrade to an even cooler and more powerful mount, further enhancing his overall strength.
After receiving the task—
Yan Ling immediately went to begin her research.
Hang Yu checked the time and said:
“Almost time. The Xinye event can officially begin.”
“Hopefully we can harvest more leeks this time. My Abyssal Essence Points are getting a little low lately.”
…
Around seven in the evening.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge logged in.
When he awakened from the Abyss Barracks—
When all the familiar abilities and power returned—
“Haha, so refreshing! I’m alive again. This body in the game world really feels like my true body. The body in the real world is just a useless burden!”
His body had rested sufficiently.
All fatigue debuffs accumulated earlier had been cleared.
It was another energetic day.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge discovered that although intense combat and frequent deaths accelerated fatigue accumulation, as strength increased and levels rose, the character’s endurance and vitality were gradually strengthened.
He was already level 16.
As long as he did not die too frequently, he could theoretically remain online for three consecutive days and nights.
Of course—
That was only theoretical.
Even if the game body could endure it, the real-world body could not.
“Rui Ge!”
“You online yet?”
“Let’s go! Let’s go! Time to eat!”
“The food at the Kiba Grand Restaurant beats Michelin restaurants by ten streets. If I skip it for even a day, I feel uncomfortable all over!”
“Hahaha, exactly!”
“Hurry up! Hurry up!”
More than ten high-ranking members of Wings of Freedom logged in almost simultaneously.
And eating a meal immediately after logging in had already become a habit for most players.
It was one of the most anticipated pleasures of the day.
Not only did it satisfy their appetite and enhance the gaming experience—
More importantly, meals could reduce fatigue.
Different foods also provided different buff effects, allowing players to prepare according to the monsters they expected to face.
“Hello, Commander Black-Eyed Rui Ge!”
“Welcome to the Territory Canteen!”
“What would you like to order today?”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Salted Fish Thrust, Midnight Pig Slayer, and others entered the restaurant.
A young girl with twin pigtails approached to greet them.
She looked ordinary but clean and gentle.
Following the usual routine, she guided them into a private room.
Midnight Pig Slayer laughed.
“Hey, Er Ya, you look pretty energetic lately. Looks like you’ve been earning quite a lot in tips.”
Er Ya was the girl’s name.
She looked about fifteen and was rather shy.
Hearing the teasing immediately made her blush.
She was clearly not an employee from the Land of the Stars.
Instead—
She was an ordinary NPC from Hexi Village or the Woniu Mountain region.
The chefs led by Aji and Aba were too busy to serve customers personally.
So the restaurant had recruited twenty young girls as waitresses.
Each received five Contribution Points in daily base pay.
Including bonuses and benefits, they could earn seven or eight Contribution Points per day.
Occasionally they also received tips.
For teenage girls without special skills—
This was already a respectable job.
One Contribution Point roughly equaled one Abyssal Magic Stone.
A single Mana Crystal equaled one hundred Abyssal Magic Stones.
For ordinary people eating normal food, it cost only about 0.5 Contribution Points per day to eat well.
Therefore—
These girls earned enough not only to support themselves but often their families as well.
They could even have dreams.
NPC residents in the territory could exchange Contribution Points for Essence.
Although there were restrictions, at least there was hope.
If they saved enough Contribution Points and Essence—
They could learn a skill at the Skill Tower and begin a completely different life.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge believed this was the most impressive aspect of the game.
Its realism.
Its freedom.
And its living atmosphere.
There were famous NPCs like Zhou Cang and Zhang Zhongjing.
There were serious soldiers like Third Brother and Fourth Brother of the Azure Dragon Guards.
There were employees from the Land of the Stars such as Yan Ling, Bai Mu, Aji, Aba, and the flower sprite twins.
Each had their own background, personality, and story.
But were they everything?
No.
These important NPCs were merely the tip of the iceberg.
The true strength of Twisted Three Kingdoms was not only creating major NPCs well—
But making every NPC feel alive.
Even someone as ordinary as Er Ya had emotions, a life path, and future aspirations.
Hundreds of NPCs interacted with players daily.
They were what truly created the immersive world.
Meanwhile—
Players were discussing food choices before the upcoming campaign against Xinye.
“I wonder what we should eat today.”
“The attack on Xinye probably won’t be easy.”
“If that’s the case, we can’t be stingy with food buffs.”
“But we don’t know what monsters we’ll encounter in the Xinye region.”
Artist Faction Leader suddenly said:
“I say stop overthinking it! There’s nothing a full Earth Dragon Feast can’t solve!”
Midnight Pig Slayer smacked his lips.
“But that price is really expensive.”
Street Slayer replied:
“The mission rewards are huge. Ye Li Meng’s people will definitely eat Earth Dragon meals. If we don’t eat well, won’t we lose face?”
“Good point!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge waved.
“Er Ya, bring each of us one Earth Dragon Meat Set!”
Er Ya was delighted.
Today’s customers were extremely generous.
She quickly wrote down the order.
The Earth Dragon set meal was a transcendent dish made from Thousand-Legged Earth Dragon meat.
It was currently the highest tier, highest quality, and most expensive food in the Kiba Grand Restaurant.
Secret-Spiced Thousand-Legged Earth Dragon Roast Set
Tier-2 Premium Food
Strength +20
Agility +10
Spirit +10
Intelligence +10
HP +100
MP +100
Duration: 10 hours
Price: 3500 Contribution Points per serving.
Even for top players—
This was extremely luxurious.
Yet almost every elite player ordered it before the mission.
After eating and preparing supplies—
They gathered at the Revival Plaza.
More than 800 players assembled.
Soon—
Hang Yu arrived riding the Fiery Nightmare Warhorse.
Zhou Cang stepped forward and reported:
“Lord, the time has arrived. All available personnel have gathered. There are 816 soldiers from the Calamity Army participating, along with 50 members of the Azure Dragon Guards.”
Hang Yu scanned the crowd.
Every player looked at him with respect and fanaticism.
Without wasting words—
He gave the order.
“Depart!”
The army marched.
And soon—
They entered the Wan City Region.
Before long, a powerful army appeared ahead.
Black-armored soldiers holding blood spears.
Each wore black iron masks and exuded terrifying pressure.
At the front stood a thin old man holding a mighty tiger-headed spear.
Beside him stood several powerful generals.
Including Wen Dai.
Zhou Cang’s expression darkened.
“Be careful. That is Wan City’s army.”
Players immediately became alert.
“Why is Wan City’s army here?”
“Are they trying to stop us?”
“Is that Zhang Xiu leading them?”
“Are they here to challenge the Lord?”
Instead of fear—
Players were excited.
They stretched their necks eagerly.
“Good!”
“Another show!”
“Fight! Fight!”