Chapter 255 : Holding Seven Maps! A Bountiful Harvest! The Day of Starsea Return Is Approaching!
Chapter 255: Holding Seven Maps! A Bountiful Harvest! The Day of Starsea Return Is Approaching!
At 8:00 PM Beijing time.
The livestream program began as scheduled once again.
"Hello, everyone!"
"Welcome to Exploring the Arcane!"
"I'm your host, Xiao Sa. Joining us in today's livestream, besides the familiar military commentator Professor Zhang, are several highly respected senior professors from prestigious universities!"
"..."
The host was dressed impeccably in a suit, speaking with utmost seriousness.
Although the program had already been airing for several days,
seeing a nationally renowned television host seriously discussing events from a game,
while inviting leading experts from various fields to participate,
still gave people an unreal, almost absurd feeling.
"As everyone knows!"
"The Corpse Lich Territory Campaign is an important milestone in the history of our territory's development!"
"It has now been more than eleven days since this campaign began, while our counteroffensive against the Corpse Lich Territory has entered its sixth day."
"Eleven days is not particularly long for a major military campaign."
"Yet this battle, fought beyond Earth itself, has been continuously spreading through articles, videos, media outlets, and every imaginable information channel."
"It has already caused an enormous sensation and influence in the real world."
"It can even be said that people from all walks of life and nations are paying close attention to it."
"The level of public interest is no less than that of a world-class sporting event."
"This is a massive demonstration of our nation's soft power!"
"..."
"I've received reliable information!"
"The Calamity Army is highly likely to capture the Corpse Lich Territory's main city tonight."
"This will undoubtedly become a historic moment."
"Just like the championship match of a sporting event followed by the entire nation."
"It is incredibly inspiring!"
The host suddenly changed the subject.
"However, such an outcome seems somewhat different from Professor Zhang's earlier prediction."
"Professor Zhang, do you believe this campaign can now officially be declared over?"
Zhang Nanshan smiled.
"Without question."
"Since the counteroffensive against the Corpse Lich Territory began, the two most decisive battles have been the annihilation of the Corpse Lich Territory's main army..."
"...and the assault on Shaxian City."
"When Jia Xu launched his surprise attack to destroy the Skeleton Giant Altar..."
"...then used two major army groups to encircle and completely wipe out the Corpse Lich Territory's main force..."
"...and when our Lord personally appeared during the assault on Shaxian City to slay the Corpse Lich Lord..."
"That was the moment this war was won."
He sighed.
"I, along with most people, was indeed mistaken."
"The Corpse Lich Territory had probably been manipulated by Jia Xu from beginning to end, completely dancing in the palm of his hand."
"I also never expected our Lord, who hadn't personally entered battle for so many days, to descend at precisely that moment."
"If the Lord hadn't personally intervened, then even with a strategist as outstanding as Jia Xu..."
"...the Calamity Army would never have been able to complete all three phases of the mission within seven days."
The host nodded in agreement.
"Indeed."
"If the Corpse Lich Lord hadn't appeared, and if our Lord hadn't personally intervened..."
"...the Calamity Army could never have won so quickly."
"This only proves how much the Lord cherishes and cares for his people."
"And the Lord's performance this time has also provided us with a wealth of material for further study."
Next, the discussion shifted entirely to the Lord himself.
As expected of Humanity's supreme leader, he remained the most important NPC in the Human Territory.
He was its creator, its soul, and the pillar supporting the entire Human Territory.
His popularity surpassed every other NPC and remained unrivaled.
Whether it was the overwhelming strength he displayed, his newly revealed cultivation techniques, or even his mount, every aspect sparked countless discussions and analyses.
Meanwhile, countless traditional television viewers exploded with complaints.
"This world has completely gone insane!"
"A famous television host!"
"Well-known professors and experts!"
"And they're actually analyzing the power of the Tyrannical Blazing Flame Saber Art!"
"They're seriously discussing how many forms the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear Technique has!"
"This completely shatters my worldview!"
"Can a game actually advance human productivity?"
"Humanity's future lies among the stars—not inside virtual worlds!"
"Other countries are announcing Mars colonization plans..."
"...while our experts are promoting games!"
"Heh, it's fine. Once the Cult Leader open-sources everything, it'll all be over."
"Boycott it! We must boycott it!"
"..."
Host Xiao Sa then asked,
"There are now many spectator players, myself included, who are very curious."
"After this campaign concludes, what entirely new territories will become available?"
"Professor Wang, could you explain?"
Professor Wang, the head of Peking University's History Department, adjusted his glasses before speaking.
"Based on the information we've gathered..."
"Besides the Xian Mountain region north of Wolong Mountain..."
"...the Corpse Lich Territory directly controls two additional maps."
"One of them is the Heyin Valley located north of Xian Mountain."
"Heyin is the Corpse Lich Territory's starting region."
"It contains the main city, Netherblood City."
"Although the region itself isn't particularly large..."
"...it is the most important area of the Corpse Lich Territory."
"It serves the same role that the Luoshui Region serves within the Human Territory."
"According to clues gathered by frontline players..."
"...we've confirmed that Heyin originally belonged to Runan Commandery."
"The Core Pollution Source there is someone named Du Yang."
"He was the uncle of Han Hao, one of Cao Cao's subordinate generals."
"We estimate his level to be around Level 10."
"Unfortunately..."
"That region suffered devastating destruction."
"No Human survivors remain."
"So we're currently unable to determine its precise historical timeline."
"..."
"The Corpse Lich Territory's final map lies west of Heyin."
"It is called Xiping County."
"The Hexi Pollution Source there is Han Sui."
"I believe most people are already familiar with Han Sui."
"He was one of the famous warlords of the late Eastern Han."
"He was sworn brothers with Ma Teng, Ma Chao's father."
"He once submitted to Cao Cao before later betraying him."
"According to certain historical records..."
"In the sixteenth year of Jian'an, Qu Yan and Jiang Shi killed Han Sui and presented his head to Cao Cao."
"They later occupied Xiping and fought continuously against the Hexi Commanderies."
"So, barring any surprises..."
"...this Xiping map should represent the place where Han Sui died."
"Using the timeline classification method proposed by the famous Calamity Army player Chi Mei Wang Liang..."
"...the historical point of this map falls after the sixteenth year of Jian'an—that is, after AD 215."
"Meanwhile, at least thirty to forty years have passed within Abyssal Time."
"Xian Mountain."
"Heyin."
"Xiping."
"These three regions are about to become Humanity's newest territories."
"And if we include the Wan City region as well..."
"...the Human Territory will directly control seven maps."
"..."
Professor Wang then displayed a map, providing a detailed explanation of the three new territories that Humanity was about to acquire.
Countless spectator players and Arcane scholars finally gained a much clearer understanding of their future lands.
The Xian Mountain Region contained twenty-one territories: four cities, and seventeen towns.
The Heyin Region contained eight territories:
one city, and seven towns.
The Xiping Region contained thirteen territories: one city, and twelve towns.
In other words, the Corpse Lich Territory possessed a total of forty-two Blessing Points.
From this day onward, all forty-two Blessing Points would belong to Humanity.
The spectator players were thrilled.
Because more Blessing Points meant more places to explore, more adventures, more monsters, more resources, more hidden opportunities, and more beautiful scenery waiting to be discovered.
Professor Zhang added,
"Although this campaign has greatly expanded Humanity's territory..."
"...and future resource acquisition will increase dramatically..."
"...it also means we will face even greater challenges than before."
The host asked,
"Why do you say that?"
Professor Zhang pointed toward the territorial diagram.
"According to the rules of Abyssal Three Kingdoms..."
"...every unexplored region contains limitless possibilities."
"They may conceal terrifying Abyssal forces..."
"...or powerful Starsea Territories."
"As Humanity's borders expand..."
"...the number of unknown neighboring regions also increases."
"Every bordering region..."
"...could become the source of a future invasion."
"And we have absolutely no way of predicting when."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The worldview of Abyssal Three Kingdoms was truly unique.
It resembled an enormous sandbox, a strategy game, or even a gigantic game of Minesweeper.
Since the entire Three Kingdoms era had become polluted and distorted across both time and space, the Abyssal Will had created countless chaotic, fragmented dream worlds.
No one knew what kind of world lay beyond the borders illuminated by the Starsea Blessing.
Originally, the Human Territory resembled the Chinese character "田."
Around it lay eight unknown neighboring regions.
Now, the northern section of Wolong Mountain connected with the Corpse Lich Territory.
Meanwhile, the Corpse Lich Territory itself resembled the shape of the character "7."
Rather than reducing the number of neighboring unknown regions, the expansion had actually increased them from eight to eleven.
Those eleven squares… each represented a separate Abyssal map.
Each concealed unimaginable danger.
If the territory wished to eliminate future threats, it had no choice but to continue expanding.
Yet the more it expanded, the more unknown regions it bordered.
The host summarized,
"According to the distorted space-time structure of the Abyssal Three Kingdoms..."
"...as long as the territory continues expanding..."
"...its potential risks will also continue increasing."
"This presents an even greater challenge."
Professor Zhang nodded solemnly.
"Based on everything we've seen so far..."
"...that does appear to be the case."
"And strictly speaking..."
"...our sample size is still far too small."
"We cannot even begin imagining whether future Nightmare Fragments might appear..."
"...that completely surpass our understanding and cognition."
"Furthermore..."
"There's another concern."
"Strictly speaking..."
"...every Starsea Lord is an invader."
"As a Starsea Lord continuously expands and strengthens within the Abyssal Plane..."
"...will that attract the attention—or hostility—of major Abyssal forces?"
"For example..."
"...Abyssal Evil Gods who possess countless incarnations and whose influence stretches across innumerable dream worlds."
"Or perhaps..."
"The Abyss and the Starsea are mortal enemies."
"Could the Abyssal Will itself possess mechanisms designed to suppress the growth of Starsea forces?"
Host Xiao Sa looked concerned.
"According to your theory..."
"...the faster the territory develops..."
"...and the larger it becomes..."
"...the more dangerous its situation will become?"
Professor Zhang laughed.
"That's only speculation."
"I don't know whether it's correct."
"But honestly..."
"...there's no need to worry too much."
The host asked,
"Why?"
Professor Zhang laughed heartily.
"Because behind the Human Territory stand nearly ten billion potential citizens."
"I believe that once the territory completely digests the gains from this expansion..."
"...the next round of Calamity Army recruitment will begin."
The host's eyes lit up.
"Every expansion of the Calamity Army has been larger than the last."
"Following this trend..."
"...I believe people like us will soon be able to join the territory..."
"...and become members of the Calamity Army ourselves!"
Everyone present looked excited.
Especially those few individuals who already knew the inside information.
They could hardly wait to join the territory themselves.
At that moment, the host suddenly received a message through his earpiece.
His face lit up with delight.
"Breaking news!"
"I've just received the latest report!"
"The Calamity Army has successfully occupied Netherblood City!"
They had finally succeeded!
The moment this news spread across the forums, countless spectator players immediately sent congratulatory messages to the players inside the game.
The Calamity Army had successfully completed the conquest of the Corpse Lich Territory within seven days.
Before the operation began, most people had been pessimistic.
Some had even placed bets against them.
Yet now, no one thought the capture of Netherblood City had happened too quickly.
Because territorial expansion benefited everyone.
The larger the territory became, the larger the population it could support.
And the greater everyone's chance
of being selected to become a member of the Calamity Army.
……
Luoshui Main City.
Inside the Core Hall.
Hang Yu received a notification.
【You have occupied Netherblood City!】
【Maximum Skill Tower construction limit +1!】
【Maximum Refining Workshop construction limit +1!】
【Maximum Alchemy Workshop construction limit +1!】
【Maximum Abyssal Cafeteria construction limit +1!】
【Maximum Abyssal Workshop construction limit +1!】
【This Lord War has concluded. You are victorious. You obtained "Starsea Treasure Chest (Blue)" ×1!】
The Calamity Army had captured Netherblood City's Core Blessing Point, lighting it with Humanity's Starsea Blessing.
This meant the Lord War had officially ended.
Netherblood City's Blessing Point was a Main City-level Blessing Point.
Moreover, it was Blue quality.
After annexing such a territory,
Hang Yu naturally gained increased construction limits for many buildings.
He also unlocked a completely new structure called the Abyssal Workshop.
Every territory core automatically included dozens of basic buildings.
Some could be constructed immediately.
Others required various prerequisites.
These prerequisites might include prerequisite building chains, territory size, or population requirements.
The Abyssal Workshop was one of the territory's fundamental buildings.
Like the Refining Workshop, Alchemy Workshop, and Abyssal Cafeteria, it belonged to the production category.
However, its construction requirements were considerably higher.
The unlock conditions for the Abyssal Workshop were:
A Tier-Three Territory, plus at least three additional Main City-level Blessing Points.
Hang Yu had long since become a Tier-Three Lord.
His territory already possessed White Tiger City and New Wan City.
Now, with Netherblood City added, he finally satisfied all three Main City prerequisites.
The Abyssal Workshop's function was very straightforward.
It unlocked the ability to recruit Builders.
Builders were a special production profession independent of Refining, Alchemy, and Cooking.
Their primary role was upgrading and modifying territorial facilities, or even designing completely new structures from scratch without blueprints.
A territory possessing a Starsea Builder would gain limitless new possibilities.
Of course, Abyssal Workshops weren't cheap.
Builders themselves were even rarer than the three primary production professions.
Finding a suitable candidate wouldn't be easy.
Regardless, unlocking another foundational facility was unquestionably excellent news.
Hang Yu temporarily set that matter aside.
After every Lord War, the victorious Lord received a Starsea Treasure Chest upon annexing the enemy's core territory.
The higher the defeated Lord's rank, the stronger their race, and the greater their territorial foundation, the more valuable the treasure chest became.
Furthermore, the enemy territory itself was also an enormous treasure.
Its buildings could all be dismantled and recycled, yielding vast quantities of resources and blueprints.
Hang Yu decided to open the treasure chest first.
As for recycling the Corpse Lich Territory, he would wait until every Blessing Point had been activated.
The players had already accepted their assignments.
They were advancing separately.
Within the next two or three days, they would occupy every remaining city and town.
Once the Human Territory annexed every Blessing Point, only a small number of universal buildings would be preserved for future modification by Builders.
Everything else would be dismantled in one massive operation.
Not only would this greatly improve efficiency, it would also increase the chances of obtaining rarer blueprints and materials.
【You opened the Starsea Treasure Chest. Abyss Crystals +800,000, Blessing Sand +2,000, Forging Spirit Crystals +2,000, "Relic: Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror" +1, "Talent Stone: Eye of Malevolence" +1!】
Hang Yu was delighted.
There was no need to mention the eight hundred thousand Abyss Crystals.
The territory was about to undertake massive construction and large-scale expansion.
This was exactly the timely assistance he needed.
Even for a Tier-Three Territory, this was an enormous fortune.
It would dramatically accelerate future development.
The Blessing Sand and Forging Spirit Crystals were both exceptionally precious refining materials.
With so much Blessing Sand, Hang Yu could easily enhance all of his equipment to +10 or even beyond.
Of course... what truly excited Hang Yu wasn't the mountain of Abyss Crystals or the rare materials.
Abyss Crystals, no matter how valuable, could always be earned.
Blessing Sand and Forging Spirit Crystals, no matter how expensive, could eventually be purchased.
However...
Relics and Talent Stones were not things one could simply buy whenever desired.
————
【Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror】
Special Relic.
When possessed by a Lord, the Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror can create a tangible Mirror Projection at any Blessing Point within the territory.
Mirror Projection Features:
The projection perfectly replicates the Lord's aura, equipment, cultivation arts, ordinary abilities, and talents.
While controlling the projection, the Lord's true body cannot move.
The projection may display up to 20% of the Lord's overall combat power.
If the projection is forcibly destroyed, the Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror enters a seven-day cooldown. Essence may be consumed to shorten the cooldown.
The Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror's abilities improve alongside the Lord's advancement.
————
This was the Relic Xie Ming had possessed.
Back at Huangmei Hamlet,
Xie Ming had even deceived Jia Xu.
If even Jia Xu couldn't distinguish the projection before engaging it, then the Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror's projection was practically flawless.
With this, Hang Yu now possessed three Relics: the Heavenly Dao Cube, the Treasure Gathering Spirit Orb, and the Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror.
Each one was immensely useful.
The Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror allowed Hang Yu to project himself anywhere within the territory covered by a Blessing Point.
Not only did this dramatically increase his mobility, it also greatly improved his interactions with players.
Hang Yu then turned his attention to the final reward.
【Talent Stone: Eye of Malevolence】
Green-quality Talent.
After fusing with the Territory Core, every citizen within the territory will gain the Eye of Malevolence Talent.
Another Talent Stone!
Skills were acquired abilities that required learning and cultivation.
Talents, however, were innate abilities shared by every citizen.
The value of a Green-quality Talent Stone was ten to one hundred times greater than that of a Blue-quality Skill Stone.
During the previous Lord War, Hang Yu had obtained the Self-Healing Talent Stone.
As a result, every citizen now possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities.
However, that Talent was ultimately only White quality.
Its contribution to combat was rather limited.
This time, his luck had truly exploded.
Although the Eye of Malevolence was only Green quality, it represented the core racial Talent of the Malevolent Corpse Fiend race.
Even among Talents of the same rank, its value was exceptional.
It enhanced attributes, granted immunity to ordinary diseases, increased spell damage, and significantly strengthened perception and awareness.
Its practical usefulness was extraordinarily high.
Compared to it, Self-Healing was almost negligible.
Humanity occupied the bottom of the Starsea hierarchy not merely because they were naturally weak.
Many top-tier superior races were not necessarily born powerful either.
Some even began at Levels 1 and 2, just like Humans.
However, every superior race possessed extraordinary racial Talents.
It was precisely those Talents that granted them overwhelming growth potential.
Meanwhile, most inferior races, including Humans, possessed no extraordinary racial Talents whatsoever.
Naturally, their growth was much more difficult.
However... as long as a race survived one Lord War after another...
even the weakest race could gradually absorb the Talents of other races, breaking free from their racial limitations, until they eventually stood shoulder to shoulder with the superior races.
The Heavenly Evolution Treasure Mirror and the Eye of Malevolence Talent Stone were undoubtedly the greatest rewards of this treasure chest.
Their future value was simply impossible to measure.
From this point onward, the Lord War had officially concluded.
This was Humanity's second Lord War.
However, whether it had been the Dragon Lizard Lord Chi Lin, or the Corpse Lich Lord Xie Ming, neither truly belonged among the superior races.
For that reason, although he had achieved victory twice in succession, and both victories had come rather easily,
Hang Yu felt no trace of arrogance.
Always remain vigilant.
Never underestimate an opponent.
Only by doing so could one survive longer within the perilous Abyss, and perhaps one day evolve into a legendary Lord like Principal Long,
freely traversing both the Abyss and the Starsea.
In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.
During that time, Hang Yu carried out numerous construction and development projects.
For example, he constructed Tier-Three city walls, Barrier Towers, Spell Towers, and other facilities within Netherblood City.
He also built a Skill Tower, an Advanced Stable, various workshops, and transferred ten Calamity Army barracks there, further strengthening the region against infiltration by outside forces.
This round of blueprints and construction cost another 360,000 Abyss Crystals.
The Corpse Lich Territory Campaign had generated roughly 2.2 million Abyss Crystals in total, so this expenditure was hardly significant.
The truly massive expense would come next— the complete upgrade of every barracks.
Only after upgrading every Tier-Two Abyss Barracks to Tier Three could the territory significantly expand the Calamity Army's population limit.
Advancing them required not only enormous quantities of Abyss Crystals, but also astonishing amounts of Tier-Three materials.
At this point, his material reserves had already been almost completely exhausted.
Furthermore, large-scale recruitment itself was also extremely expensive.
Just as Hang Yu was carefully planning every aspect of the territory's future development, two extremely important pieces of news arrived one after another.
Both carried enormous significance.
First, the Calamity Army had completely occupied every Blessing Point within the Corpse Lich Territory.
Second, Little Eight sensed the aura of the Starsea's return.
He estimated that the Day of Starsea Return would arrive within forty-eight hours.
Both were unquestionably good news.
Now that every Blessing Point within the Corpse Lich Territory had been annexed,
Humanity had completely secured control over those three new regions.
Hang Yu had gone from directly controlling three and a half maps to six and a half maps.
His personal strength also increased noticeably through the additional Starsea Blessings.
Everything had progressed one or two days faster than expected.
The primary reason was the Calamity Army's steadily increasing manpower.
The new recruits had matured rapidly over the past several days.
Only around four thousand players had initially participated in the Corpse Lich campaign.
Now, that number had already expanded to seven thousand.
With more manpower, efficiency naturally increased.
After all, missions were limited, while rewards were generous.
Whichever Legion captured, occupied, and activated a Blessing Point first received the mission rewards and Legion merit.
Competition between players was therefore inevitable.
Some entirely new rivalries had even begun to emerge.
Precisely because of that competition, their efficiency had become so astonishing.
As for the imminent arrival of the Day of Starsea Return, there was nothing surprising about it.
Hang Yu had already estimated that it would occur within the next few days.
This Starsea Return was particularly important.
Not only would they participate in the Sacred Azure Rising Stars Tournament, allowing the territory's Heroes to make their mark within the Starsea, they also needed to search for Divine Source Material, which was essential for resolving Dian Wei's problem.
Fortunately, Hang Yu had eliminated the threat posed by the Corpse Lich Territory before the Starsea Return.
Otherwise, the territory would have been placed in an extremely passive position.
During wartime, Hang Yu truly wouldn't have dared to leave the territory with his key subordinates.
If someone launched a surprise attack on his home base, the consequences would have been disastrous.
Moreover, new territorial expansion was impossible during the Starsea Return.
Now, he could finally focus on those other matters without worry.
With that thought, Hang Yu activated teleportation, arriving inside Netherblood City— formerly the Corpse Lich Territory's capital.
Even he hadn't expected to become the Lord of seven maps so quickly.
If news of this were revealed within the Human Lords' communication channel, he would immediately become a legendary figure, admired by countless others.
Hang Yu swept his gaze across the city.
Undead buildings stood everywhere.
The Corpse Lich Territory had spent many years and enormous resources developing this capital.
There were no shortage of rare buildings.
Hang Yu disliked the name "Netherblood City."
Nor did he wish to preserve traces of another Lord's rule.
This city would become one of the territory's most important hubs.
Therefore, he officially announced that Netherblood City would be renamed.
Taking the surrounding region as its reference, it would henceforth be known as Heyin City.