Chapter 221 : Jia Xu Becomes the Acting City Lord! Hang Yu's Brand-New Mount!
Chapter 221: Jia Xu Becomes the Acting City Lord! Hang Yu's Brand-New Mount!
Under the Moon, Hidden Blade
After the Filthy Golem was destroyed,
Hang Yu received a notification from the Will of the Stars.
【You absorbed a Special Corruption Source. Tier-Three Talent Points +6!】
After obtaining the flesh of the Filthy Spawn, Hang Yu had already been able to absorb this Special Corruption Source directly. The reason he hadn't done so immediately was because he wanted to see if it had any special uses. In any case, he could absorb it whenever he wanted while it remained in his possession.
This thing could also be brought back to the Land of the Stars as a local specialty.
After all, Special Corruption Sources were useful materials for top-tier Lords capable of confronting Evil Gods directly.
Even a Legendary Lord like Principal Long would be interested in it. There might be opportunities to exchange it with true powerhouses for scarce resources or valuable benefits.
Of course,
there were many ways to obtain Special Corruption Sources.
A top-tier talent like Jia Xu, however, was something that could only be encountered by chance.
This time, Hang Yu had cleverly exploited the characteristics of the Corruption Source to further corrupt Jia Xu, causing his physical body to rapidly collapse and become demonized. This allowed him to carry out an even more thorough purification, achieving the goal of destroying first in order to rebuild.
When the Players slew the Filthy Golem, the Corruption Source wasn't wasted either. It was purified and converted into Talent Points.
Gaining six Tier-Three Talent Points was a fairly good reward.
If he could absorb another sufficiently high-quality Tier-Three Lesser Corruption Source, he would accumulate enough Talent Points to unlock his next Lord Talent. Not only would this increase his strength, but it would also bring Hang Yu one step closer to Tier Four.
Of course,
although there would be quite a few Lesser Corruption Sources in the Old Wan City Region, they wouldn't necessarily all be Tier Three. Even among the Tier-Three ones, most weren't of particularly high quality. Ones on the level of the Evil Dragon or the Evil Infant were quite rare.
The most ordinary Tier-Three Nightmare Corruption Source generally provided only a single Tier-Three Talent Point, so gathering enough Talent Points would still require considerable effort.
Hang Yu wasn't in any hurry.
First, he still needed to activate two more Lord Talents before advancing to Tier Four, and that certainly wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight.
Second, territory development needed to remain as balanced as possible. Blindly pursuing personal strength was unwise.
Hang Yu had been a Lord for less than three months, yet his development speed was already astonishing. If he focused solely on increasing his own strength, reaching Tier Four within three months wasn't impossible.
But while his personal power would improve,
the territory's development and the army's training would temporarily fall behind.
Luoshui Main City and the territory still had many important buildings waiting to be constructed.
In addition, numerous buildings required upgrading, while the population and resources of the controlled regions had yet to be fully integrated.
Before these foundations were firmly established, rushing toward becoming a Tier-Four Lord purely for the sake of speed would bring no benefits. Instead, it might cause him to be matched against excessively powerful opponents too early, plunging himself into completely unnecessary danger.
Steady development remained the correct path.
More effort needed to be devoted to building up the territory.
Putting these thoughts aside, Hang Yu first reviewed the rewards from this battle.
Although the Scourge Army had successfully destroyed the Filthy Golem, they had suffered astonishing casualties in the process, generating over forty million Essence.
This clearly exceeded expectations.
Hang Yu had never been stingy when it came to rewarding and nurturing the Scourge Army.
He kept only twenty million Essence for himself and distributed everything else as quest rewards.
As a result, many Players who had lost levels immediately recovered them. Several Tier-One Players advanced to Tier Two, while multiple peak Tier-Two Players moved one step closer to Tier Three. The overall strength of the legions increased once again.
For the Players, the surprises didn't stop there.
At least twenty people earned Gold Ratings during this battle.
From their reward chests, they obtained numerous precious items, including Black Dragon Spirit Horse Bone Whistles, skill books, skill cards, attribute potions, various utility items, and special treasures.
After such a bitter struggle,
the generous rewards made everything worthwhile.
It was a perfect example of enduring hardship before enjoying success.
Everyone felt satisfied both mentally and materially.
The Filthy Golem's loot was another tremendous harvest.
To prevent the Essence within the spoils from dissipating, the Players immediately picked up the Boss's drops.
【You picked up the spoils. Abyssal Essence +7,000,000, Abyssal Magic Crystal +30,000, Filthy Outer God's Golem Eyeball ×441, Filthy Outer God's Golem Flesh ×425, Filthy Golem Gem ×200, Filthy Golem Soul Essence ×100!】
"Damn! So much Essence! So many Magic Crystals!"
"So this is the complete loot from a Boss-class unit?"
"The Essence reward alone is enough to make up for everything we lost from dying during the battle!"
"..."
Little Bell looked completely baffled.
"How come it didn't drop any equipment?"
Black-Eyed Sharp Bro replied,
"Although this Boss was formed after Jia Xu's body collapsed, it probably wasn't complete because Jia Xu's soul wasn't involved. On top of that, the distortion from the flesh of the Spawn of Evil God turned it into something that's not really a humanoid monster in the conventional sense."
Having explored the Abyss Three Kingdoms for so long,
everyone was already familiar with the loot characteristics of different target types.
Humanoid units.
Wild monsters.
Starsea units.
Native units.
The type of enemy Players killed greatly affected the loot they received.
Of course, these were only broad classifications. Each category contained many subtypes, and some special monsters couldn't be categorized so simply.
Under most circumstances,
humanoid monsters were the most common. They generally didn't drop crafting materials other than gems. Although they dropped equipment, the quantity was relatively small. Their Essence yield, however, was extremely high.
Abyssal wild monsters were less numerous than Abyssal humanoids. Their Essence and Magic Crystal drops were moderate, but they produced abundant crafting materials, making them the most valuable category overall in terms of economic return.
Although the Boss defeated by the Scourge Army this time had originally been human, a series of coincidences ultimately transformed it into a wild-monster Boss.
That was why it hadn't dropped equipment directly.
Its actual value, however, was even greater.
Thanks to the effects of the Heavenly Dao's Blessing, the Filthy Golem exploded with over a thousand pieces of blue-grade materials in one go.
The value of these materials exceeded that of five or even ten pieces of blue-grade equipment by more than tenfold.
If one looked purely at economic returns,
this Golem generated over twenty or even thirty times the profits of Zhang Xiu.
It was unquestionably a tremendous windfall.
Although it hadn't dropped a single piece of blue-grade equipment, the materials it produced were sufficient to create dozens or even hundreds of blue-grade items for the territory, benefiting far more Players in the process.
Once every Player returned to report,
Hang Yu nodded in satisfaction.
"You fought well in this battle."
"You've all grown considerably during this period. You now possess the ability to stand on your own."
Upon receiving praise and recognition from the Lord,
every member of the Scourge Army looked excited.
"It's all thanks to Lord Hang Yu!"
"We only fulfilled our responsibilities!"
"That's right! Serving Lord Hang Yu and contributing to the territory is our greatest honor! We'll continue working even harder!"
"..."
The Players immediately began showering him with compliments,
hoping to raise their NPC Favorability.
At that moment,
they noticed an unusual figure standing beside Hang Yu and Zhang Zhongjing.
It was none other than Jia Xu, who had just been killed.
His body was now semi-transparent as he floated in midair.
Cold Yin energy radiated from his entire being.
He had clearly become a ghost possessing form but lacking flesh.
"Excellent! Truly excellent!"
Jia Xu praised them.
"The methods and capabilities of the Scourge Army are astonishing. Since Lord Hang Yu can create such an army, what obstacle could possibly prevent him from sweeping across the Abyss? My expectations for the future of this territory continue to grow."
Everyone looked toward Jia Xu.
【Supreme Yin Ghost: Jia Xu】, Level 25 Commander-Class Unit...
Description: Jia Xu had refined his soul into a spiritual body through a secret Supreme Yin technique. Although his strength was far inferior to his peak state, he still possessed power that could not be underestimated.
This had actually been Jia Xu's final contingency plan.
When he realized he had been corrupted,
he decisively separated and sealed away his soul.
His goal was simple—
if everything became irreversible,
he could at least survive as a ghost.
Even then,
the success rate had been extremely low.
First, he absolutely required Zhang Zhongjing's assistance to complete the transformation into a ghost.
That was why Jia Xu had originally wanted to use Hang Yu to locate Zhang Zhongjing.
Second, even with his own methods, completely severing the connection between body and soul was extraordinarily difficult.
He still risked continuous corruption until even his soul became completely tainted.
Now, however,
with the Lord's assistance,
everything had succeeded perfectly.
This form would allow him to survive for many more years.
The only drawback was that without a complete body, both his aptitude and talents would be greatly diminished.
Even his future potential had been significantly reduced.
After Jia Xu awakened once more,
he had sensed the entire battle.
The Scourge Army's immortality shocked him beyond words.
Such an army was practically invincible.
As for the being who had created this army—
the Lord's abilities and terrifying power shook Jia Xu to his very soul.
Only now did he truly understand just how extraordinary the existence he had chosen to follow really was.
Hang Yu said,
"Your current condition is only temporary. I'm already preparing to reconstruct your body. Within a few days, you should recover to your peak condition."
"Thank you, Lord!"
Jia Xu bowed deeply with the utmost respect.
"I never imagined I would one day recover so completely. Without your grace, Lord, such a miracle would have been absolutely impossible. From this day forward, I shall follow you with unwavering loyalty and repay your great kindness."
"Excellent."
The Players were ecstatic.
Everything was now set in stone.
This supreme talent had officially joined the territory.
That was even more exciting than completing the quest, receiving rewards, or collecting loot.
After all, quests would always come again, while rewards and loot were temporary.
But Jia Xu joining the territory would permanently change countless things.
Whether in personal abilities or Fate Talents,
this legendary Poison Strategist was surely among the very best.
He would undoubtedly play a vital role in the territory's future,
while also providing Players with countless new stories and gameplay possibilities.
For example—
What skills did Jia Xu possess?
Probably too many to count.
An incredible number.
He would surely become a source of countless top-tier hidden skills.
"Jia Xu."
"You've only just joined the territory."
"For now, you'll serve as the Acting City Lord of New Wan City."
After a brief moment of consideration, Hang Yu assigned Jia Xu his first duty.
"I'll grant you authority to command the Scourge Army. In addition, I'll dispatch a unit of the Azure Dragon Guards to assist you."
"Your task is to complete the integration and organization of the territory's human resources as quickly as possible."
Jia Xu possessed immense prestige throughout the New Wan City Region.
Although few people had ever met him,
everyone knew his name.
The very foundation of the New Wan City Region rested upon the Sixfold Fate Array.
Among the common people, the Founder of Extreme Yin held even greater prestige than the Spear King Zhang Xiu.
The Extreme Yin Sect he had established was also one of New Wan City's strongest powers.
As the true mastermind,
Jia Xu's network of informants stretched throughout the entire region.
Naturally, he understood every aspect of New Wan City.
He also understood
that he needed to prove his worth.
Without hesitation, Jia Xu made a military pledge.
"Grant me only three days, my Lord, and I shall complete the integration of all military and civilian personnel throughout New Wan City, fully incorporating the entire region into your territory."
Hang Yu was extremely satisfied.
New Wan City contained several hundred thousand people.
For an outside conqueror, completely assimilating such a region was no easy task.
Although Hang Yu had already won both the people's support and their loyalty,
organizing such a vast labor force remained an enormous undertaking.
Internal administration had never been his specialty.
Nor was it a major focus at the Lord Academy.
The reason was simple.
Before becoming a Lord, no Starsea Lord could predict what kind of plane they would descend upon.
Nor could they know its culture, environment, or races.
Under such circumstances,
spending enormous amounts of time studying governance simply wasn't worthwhile.
Different races and environments required entirely different governing methods.
No universal solution existed.
When dealing with fundamentally different races,
it was nearly impossible for a Lord to truly understand their culture or satisfy their needs.
Building genuine trust was even more difficult.
In many cases,
it was far more efficient to rule through overwhelming military force,
thereby reducing the costs of governance.
That was why the path of domination remained the optimal choice for the overwhelming majority of Lords.
Hang Yu, however,
had no intention of choosing that path.
Although the King's Path was the most difficult among all methods of conquest,
once successfully implemented,
it could maximize the talents and potential of every citizen,
allowing every gifted individual to shine.
The loyalty,
honor,
and sense of belonging possessed by the territory's people
were its greatest source of strength.
Jia Xu was New Wan City's greatest local power.
He knew every faction,
every military force,
and every corner of the region.
Entrusting the integration of human resources to him was undoubtedly the best possible decision.
Hang Yu's requirements were straightforward.
He wanted complete household registration records,
production capabilities,
level distributions,
lists of outstanding cultivators,
local skill archives,
and related information.
This would greatly accelerate the formation of the Azure Tiger Guards and Iron Eagle Guards,
while also allowing the population to be redistributed efficiently—
moving some residents to the main city,
or to places like Xinye that required reconstruction.
Human resources would thus be optimized,
creating even greater value.
Hang Yu also issued several new quests to the Scourge Army remaining in New Wan City.
He encouraged them to continue exploring the remaining regions of Wan City
and reclaim additional abandoned towns and strongholds.
The New Wan City Region contained ninety-five percent of Wan City's total population,
yet occupied less than one-tenth of its total area.
Aside from Old Wan City,
more than ten ancient cities remained,
along with vast unexplored regions awaiting development.
The Scourge Army was still too weak.
Furthermore,
the threat posed by hostile Lords remained.
Now was not the time to assault the Core Corruption Zone.
That didn't prevent the territory from steadily swallowing more land,
acquiring more resources,
and expanding its hunting grounds.
Through this process,
more monsters would become available for farming,
strengthening both the Scourge Army and the territory's resource production.
As for the Corpse Lich Territory north of Wo Niu Mountain,
it was certainly both a threat and a nuisance.
However,
the two territories had only encountered each other three days ago.
Both sides knew far too little about the other.
The time for decisive battle had not yet arrived.
The territory protection period of the Strange Corpse Demon Lord still had four days remaining.
During this time,
there was no way to actively probe the enemy,
nor any reason to station massive armies along the border.
After all,
with the enemy hidden while his own forces were exposed,
large troop movements might instead reveal weaknesses and leak valuable information.
Hang Yu's true core territory remained Luoshui Main City.
With Wo Niu Mountain serving as a strategic buffer to the north,
it was highly unlikely that the opposing Lord could launch a large-scale invasion.
Small-scale surprise attacks had already proven ineffective.
Hang Yu simply needed to maintain strategic patience.
Wen Pin would continue defending Sanxiang Ancient City,
closely monitoring any large-scale military movements by the Strange Corpse Demon.
Everywhere else,
development would continue as normal.
There was no reason to disrupt the territory's pace.
Four days would pass in the blink of an eye.
Once the territory protection period ended,
he could seize the strategic initiative
and launch his counteroffensive.
After making the necessary arrangements,
Jia Xu returned to New Wan City
and officially assumed his role as Acting City Lord.
With Jia Xu overseeing the region,
Hang Yu could finally rest easy.
Returning to the main city,
Hang Yu asked,
"How has the blueprint procurement been progressing lately?"
Xiao Ba immediately replied,
"Reporting to Master. During the past few days, we've acquired five Spirit Field Blueprints. In addition, we've obtained a total of nine blueprints for Reconnaissance Towers and Barrier Towers."
Acquiring Spirit Field Blueprints was nothing unusual.
Hang Yu had been purchasing them all along.
As the territory's production capacity increased,
its demand for Spirit Fields continued to grow.
As for Reconnaissance Towers and Barrier Towers,
after Gan Ning's surprise attack,
Hang Yu had realized that the territory's surveillance and defensive capabilities were still lacking.
He therefore instructed Xiao Ba to purchase every security-related blueprint available on the Trading Market.
Among these common blueprints,
Reconnaissance Towers and Barrier Towers were the easiest to obtain.
They typically sold for two to three thousand Magic Crystals each.
That was why nine had been acquired in less than two days.
Hang Yu examined them.
Five Reconnaissance Towers.
Four Barrier Towers.
Without exception,
all were Tier-One building blueprints.
Frankly speaking,
even building a hundred of them wouldn't stop Gan Ning's Shadow March.
That wasn't to say they were useless.
Like ordinary Arrow Towers,
their effectiveness depended not only on the building's tier,
but also on the Reconnaissance Specialists and Barrier Specialists operating them.
These towers weren't fully automated.
They required personnel to activate and control them.
If several high-level Azure Dragon Guard Spellcasters were stationed within them,
both their detection range and defensive capabilities would increase dramatically.
For that reason,
Tier-One towers still had practical value.
Hang Yu's territory already possessed many Tier-Three units.
Whether he selected sufficiently powerful citizens
or directly assigned Azure Dragon Guards,
ordinary stealth units would find it nearly impossible to infiltrate the territory—
even if someone like Gan Ning remained undetectable.
"Tier-One Reconnaissance Towers and Barrier Towers are sufficient."
"From now on, focus all efforts on acquiring Tier-Two or higher reconnaissance and defensive buildings."
"Understood!"
"Any progress on acquiring other types of blueprints?"
"Not yet."
Hang Yu couldn't help but rub his temples.
The territory still had countless facilities requiring upgrades.
There were also many basic buildings still waiting to be constructed.
For example,
teaching facilities.
Recovery facilities.
The former would greatly improve the territory's ability to spread skills.
As the territory expanded,
it possessed an ever-growing number of skills,
yet most lacked Skill Stones.
If Hang Yu wanted these skills to circulate rapidly,
the best solution would be constructing a large training hall.
Unfortunately,
blueprints for such buildings were quite rare.
As for recovery facilities,
there were many different types.
However,
few matched Hang Yu's requirements.
What he wanted was a building capable of healing spiritual and mental damage.
Such a facility could rapidly restore Players' Fatigue Value,
greatly reducing their offline time.
It would also serve as the foundation for constructing an Arena
and introducing competitive gameplay.
The Arena,
in particular,
was something Hang Yu valued immensely.
Once completed,
it wouldn't merely increase Players' enjoyment.
It would also become another highly effective method of harvesting Essence on a regular basis.
Now that the territory had reached this stage of development,
there were simply too many things requiring construction and improvement.
All of them demanded enormous amounts of resources and Magic Crystals.
Hang Yu's current income was only barely sufficient to sustain development.
Resources and Magic Crystals could always be accumulated eventually.
The real headache lay with blueprints—
especially rare ones.
Some simply couldn't be purchased,
no matter how much money one possessed.
The territory's current market remained too small.
Both exports and procurement were heavily limited.
It was becoming increasingly necessary to establish access to larger markets
to satisfy the territory's ever-growing needs.
"My Lord, Yan Ling requests an audience."
Just as Hang Yu was contemplating this issue,
Azure Dragon Guard Zhang San stepped forward to report.
Hang Yu paused briefly before nodding.
"Let her enter."
Yan Ling walked into the Lord Core Hall.
She looked utterly exhausted,
as though she hadn't slept for several days.
It was obvious she had been working overtime nonstop.
Yet despite her fatigue,
her eyes sparkled with excitement,
and anticipation filled her face.
"I have fulfilled my mission."
"Your mount has been successfully forged."
With that,
Yan Ling presented a bone whistle.
【Whistle of the Peerless Shadow Evil Dragon】, Tier-Three Special Equipment, Blue Low-Grade Quality.
Attached Skill: Peerless Shadow Summon
Durability: 100/100
"Excellent work."
Hang Yu was extremely satisfied upon seeing the item.
Unlike forging ordinary Black Dragon Warhorse Bone Whistles,
the soul of Peerless Shadow was a unique spiritual material.
It was extraordinarily difficult to process,
and there was only one chance.
Failure meant complete destruction.
Under such circumstances,
the difficulty and pressure Yan Ling faced were unprecedented.
Yet she had still succeeded.
She had not disappointed her Lord.
Yan Ling hurriedly replied modestly,
"A large part of the credit belongs to the Dean. He possesses profound expertise in Soul Forging. Without his assistance, I wouldn't have been able to complete this equipment."
The fox-eared Forging Specialist remained as honest as ever.
But those details were unimportant.
Hang Yu happened to be in need of a sufficiently powerful new mount,
and Yan Ling had delivered one.
The Whistle of Peerless Shadow had no other function.
Its sole purpose was to summon the Peerless Shadow Evil Dragon Horse.
The Peerless Shadow summoned by this bone whistle possessed the strength of a top-tier Commander.
In other words,
even as merely Lord Hang Yu's mount,
it already ranked among the strongest combatants in the entire territory.
Very few individuals could defeat it.
However,
this wasn't even its limit.
As a piece of equipment,
it could still be strengthened and upgraded.
Its current quality was merely Blue Low Grade.
The territory possessed abundant blue-grade materials.
If the whistle could be upgraded to Blue High Grade,
then with Hang Yu's current strength,
he could summon a Boss-class mount.
If even his mount reached Boss-class combat power,
combined with Hang Yu's own accumulated strength,
he would become virtually unstoppable against any Tier-Three Boss.
Even someone as powerful as Dian Wei
would be unable to contend with him.
Theoretically,
once he possessed such a powerful mount,
Hang Yu could personally lead an army to capture Old Wan City
and seize the region's Core Corruption Source.
Even for Hang Yu,
this mount was immensely valuable.
Naturally,
he didn't hesitate to reward Yan Ling.
【You received 1,000,000 Contribution Points!】
Yan Ling suddenly received the notification from Xiao Ba.
When she saw the amount credited,
she could hardly believe her eyes.
One million Contribution Points!
Equivalent to one million Essence!
Not only was it enough to repay all the debts she had accumulated recently,
she would even have several hundred thousand Contribution Points remaining,
which she could exchange for Essence
to further improve her Forging abilities.
Hang Yu said,
"This is your bonus."
"T-That's... far too much!"
Yan Ling exclaimed.
"I don't deserve such generosity."
One million Contribution Points—
equivalent to one million Essence—
wasn't much to Hang Yu anymore.
But to Yan Ling,
it was an unimaginable fortune.
"Then work even harder to repay the territory's investment."
Hang Yu continued,
"The territory will continue expanding its production teams. Before long, there will be many more Tier-Three Advanced Forging Specialists."
"As the territory's Chief Forger, you must possess strength worthy of commanding everyone's respect."
Suppressing the joy in her heart,
Yan Ling nodded.
"Yes!"
More Forging Specialists were going to be recruited?
The territory's development speed was simply unbelievable!
...
Meanwhile,
inside the Corpse Demon Main City,
the Strange Corpse Demon Lord was holding a meeting.
"My Lord,"
said one of the Corpse Demon officials holding a staff as he pointed toward an illusory map created through magic.
"Besides Wo Niu Mountain, the Human Territory controls three regions."
"They are Luoshui, White Tiger Mountain, and Wan City."
"Among them, Luoshui is the Humans' main stronghold, although the region itself isn't very large."
"White Tiger Mountain appears to have once belonged to another territory that the Humans later annexed after defeating its Lord."
The Soul Flames within the eyes of the Corpse Demon officials flickered violently.
One Corpse Demon General exclaimed,
"That Human has already fought and won a Lord War?"
"He currently controls only three regions. There's no way he could have fought two Lord Wars in such a short period!"
"No."
"That's not impossible."
"The faster a territory develops and expands, the higher the probability of triggering Lord Wars."
"This Human Lord may have risen and expanded far faster than we imagined."
"He is definitely no ordinary Human."
"What nonsense!"
"Humans are such a weak and talentless race."
"No matter how strong they become, how powerful can they really be?"
"Regardless..."
"We must not underestimate him."
"..."
The Strange Corpse Demon Lord remained silent as his subordinates argued.
He simply said calmly,
"Continue."
The Corpse Demon holding the staff continued,
"Compared to Luoshui, Wo Niu Mountain, and White Tiger Mountain, the region deserving our greatest attention is Wan City."
"It reportedly contains a population of several hundred thousand."
Several hundred thousand people?
The moment this intelligence was revealed,
every Corpse Demon became visibly excited.
For Undead like them,
native populations were invaluable resources that could be directly transformed.
If they converted all several hundred thousand people,
they would gain an enormous army.
There was therefore no doubt—
among all the Human territory's lands,
Wan City was by far the most valuable.