Chapter 374 - 8: A Little Shock

Chapter 374: Chapter 8: A Little Shock

A few hours later, Yuan Xiaobo emerged from a hidden Heaven-Reaching Vine Platform on the outer ring with his Gladiator Squad and the messenger.

The messenger stepped out of the platform, a look of utter amazement on his face. He gazed at the surrounding forest and the abyss behind him, unable to believe it. It had taken him many days of flying just to reach the inner perimeter of this territory where he was found by a patrol, yet now, he had gotten out in a matter of hours.

"What are you gawking at? Let’s go! If we’re late, don’t blame me!"

At Yuan Xiaobo’s urging, the messenger hurried to catch up with the squad.

Behind him, the part of the Heaven-Reaching Vine Platform visible above ground gradually sank, disappearing into the forest.

After traversing several kilometers through the forest, the group arrived at its edge.

The messenger stepped out of the forest, got his bearings, found a familiar landmark, and led the squad toward Li Hua’s territory.

...

Inside Li Hua’s territory, a group of lords had gathered in a conference hall.

They had all worked together once during the last phase and achieved decent results. Plus, having developed their lands in the same region, they were all reasonably familiar with one another.

Now sitting together, the lords who knew each other well were making small talk and discussing the development of their respective territories.

Many of the lords present had earned their ticket to advance by massively boosting their points in that final battle.

"Lord Li, didn’t you say you sent a messenger days ago? Why isn’t Lord Lin here yet?" someone asked, growing impatient. The subservient tone from the last phase was gone from his voice.

After four years of development, their territories’ military strength was no longer weak. Their subjects had followed the development strategies they left behind, building steam engines and dramatically increasing productivity. They had reached a preliminary level of industrialization, manufactured all sorts of gunpowder weapons, and significantly boosted their armies’ combat power.

In their eyes, Li Hua’s territory, by contrast, still looked like a feudal agrarian society. If they didn’t know that Li Hua had some very powerful heroes—and quite a few of them at that—they wouldn’t be sitting here so politely.

Who was to say? Once the war officially began, Li Hua might have to rely on their forces.

Judging from the final performance in the last phase, the strength of Li Hua’s heroes was commendable. But even though they were strong enough to fight ten thousand men, they couldn’t stand against an overwhelming number of enemies.

Quite a few lords thought this way, but since Li Hua was currently the only one who could contact Lin Yu, they didn’t do anything rash.

Before entering this phase of the competition, their impression of Lin Yu was simply that his Mages were astonishingly powerful and adept at dealing with large groups of enemies.

However, when they returned to their own territories, they discovered a vast, endless forest on their borders. The men they sent to investigate were blocked by a massive abyss.

Only then did they realize that Lin Yu had hidden his true strength, which was unfathomable. Thus, they all developed the desire to befriend him.

Unfortunately, Lin Yu had long since blocked messages from strangers. Combined with his rare public appearances, Li Hua was the only person present on Lin Yu’s friend list who could contact him.

"Patience," Li Hua said. "The messenger I sent is still alive, so he will definitely get word to Lin Yu."

"Why don’t you private message him again?" another lord suggested. "The spatial barrier disappeared today, so the war has officially begun. Maybe Lord Lin is done with whatever he was busy with?"

Li Hua thought that made sense, so he sent another private message to Lin Yu.

Li Hua (Private Message): "Bro, you there?"

Lin Yu (Private Message): "What’s up? Hasn’t your messenger returned already?"

Li Hua (Private Message): "Huh? You’ve already seen the messenger I sent?"

Lin Yu (Private Message): "Yep. Saw him and read your letter."

Lin Yu (Private Message): "But let me make one thing clear. My defense line is pretty long, and I need my main forces to hold it."

Lin Yu (Private Message): "So, I don’t have many people to spare for a joint defense with you all. I can only send a Militia Team."

Lin Yu (Private Message): "If you don’t want them, just say so. Don’t let my subjects feel slighted."

Li Hua (Private Message): "How could we not? Your soldiers were so powerful in the last phase. How could they be weak in this one?"

Li Hua (Private Message): "After four years of development, even these ordinary lords dare to give me attitude now, to say nothing of a lord with a territory as massive as yours."

Li Hua (Private Message): "Even if it’s just militia, I’m sure if you’re willing to send them, they must be strong."

Lin Yu (Private Message): ""

Li Hua (Private Message): "By the way, just how big is your territory? I heard from the other lords that the entire plain to the north is an endless forest. I originally thought your forest was only north of my territory!"

Lin Yu (Private Message): "Didn’t your messenger bring a camera? Just wait for him to get back and see for yourself!"

With that, the two ended their conversation.

Li Hua looked at the lords sitting in the hall. After days of waiting, they all looked quite impatient.

Thinking of the heroes in his own territory, Li Hua found it a bit amusing. ’If they knew about the huge host of heroes in my territory, I wonder if their attitude would change again?’

At the end of the last phase, he had drawn a "Building Grade-Up Scroll" and used it to upgrade his territory’s Sword Tower into a Sword Sect.

After four years of development, half of his subjects had successfully changed their class to become members of the Sword Sect. Furthermore, the Sword Sect didn’t just have the Sword Immortal class; it now included professions like Swordsmith, Sword Array Master, Talisman Sword Master, and Sword Master Physician.