thenovelthief Chapter 421 - 417: New Battlefield Rules
Chapter 421 - 417: New Battlefield Rules
The next morning.
Lin You, accompanied by the crew, arrived outside the city with Cheng Pu seeing them off.
"Alright, I’ll see you off here for now. Remember to visit Chixiao City whenever you have the chance."
Cheng Pu said cheerfully as he saw Lin You onto the airship.
At this moment, the day had just broken, and caravans and vehicles shuttling outside Chixiao City gradually restored the calm of the previous night.
"Brother Cheng, you’re welcome to visit Yellow Sand City anytime you have the chance." Lin You exchanged pleasantries.
"Sure, I’ll drop by when I’m free."
"Then I’ll take my leave. There are still many things to handle in the territory; I’ll visit again some other day."
"Safe travels."
Cheng Pu didn’t say much more, stepping back with his team.
Lin You, accompanied by Xu Zhong and others, boarded the airship and went up to the deck.
Aboard with them were the crew of the destroyed airship and some idle merchant cultivators.
In no time.
The airship took off, gradually ascending.
Amid a surge of hot air, it flew back towards Yellow Sand City, drawing countless passersby to stop and watch.
"My Lord, it seems this Yellow Sand City Lord won’t be simple in the future."
The steward beside Cheng Pu said in a low voice, eyes fixed on the gradually departing airship.
"Indeed." Cheng Pu sighed, his gaze profound.
"In all my years of assessing people, this is the first time I’ve encountered such a lord with a kingly presence."
"Given his strength, his future achievements will surely not be small."
"Luckily, we risked everything to keep his people safe this time; otherwise, our Chixiao City might have lost a great backing."
"The Lord is wise indeed." The steward complimented with a bow.
"Alright, let’s head back. The weather’s getting colder, seems like it’ll snow soon."
Cheng Pu waved his hand, turning back towards Chixiao City.
Right at that moment, countless tiny white dots appeared in the vast sky, gently floating down from above.
The previously clear view was slowly covered in white.
"My Lord, it’s snowing."
At the edge of the airship, Xu Zhong spoke softly to Lin You.
"Yes, it’s snowing."
Lin You sighed, watching the continuously falling snowflakes.
With his Tier Eight body strength, the cold wouldn’t affect him much.
But this sudden snow still brought a moment of reverie to his heart.
Turning and turning.
He had been in this world for almost a year now, indeed time flies.
If it were in the old world, everyone would probably be eating dumplings and lunar new year dishes by now?
"By the way."
Lin You suddenly thought of something, looking at Xu Zhong.
"In our Yellow Sand City, are there any festivals like the Winter Solstice?"
"Winter Solstice?" Xu Zhong paused, recalling with a pensive look, "I remember there was before, but back then the city was almost deserted, so hardly anyone celebrated it."
"I see." Lin You pondered for a moment, "Alright then, let’s designate today as Winter Solstice in Yellow Sand City, and give everyone a day off."
"The Lord is wise!" Xu Zhong’s eyes lit up.
For the development of a city, a balance between work and rest is essential.
Taking advantage of this Winter Solstice, everyone can joyfully celebrate, which would also help to enrich the living atmosphere of Yellow Sand City.
With a richer living atmosphere, more residents would naturally be attracted to settle, enhancing the sense of belonging.
The Lord indeed has great foresight, to even think of this.
Xu Zhong couldn’t help but admire in his heart, his expression growing more respectful.
Yet he had no idea.
Lin You simply wanted to celebrate a festival.
...
And so.
Under the falling snowflakes, the Magic Energy Airship continued its flight.
After over two hours, it finally made a successful return to Yellow Sand City.
After giving Xu Zhong a few instructions, Lin You took the airship materials obtained from Cheng Pu back to the territory, preparing to repair the damaged Magic Energy Airship and fill the gap.
This time, to express his apology.
Cheng Pu had given him a full 20 sets of airship materials, once again astounding him with the foundation of the veteran lord.
After all, gathering even one set of materials required significant effort from him.
Yet Cheng Pu had provided so many at once, truly impressive.
With these 20 sets of materials, Yellow Sand City’s fleet of Magic Energy Airships finally numbered 50, nearly allowing for an additional airship on each route, greatly enhancing transportation efficiency.
And on the way back, Lin You had already instructed Xu Zhong to expand the routes and recruit more personnel.
No hesitation, he crafted all the airships in one go.
After completing these tasks, it was already nearing noon.
Contesting for the Origin Fruit was virtually impossible by then.
So he simply took the afternoon off, celebrating the festival with the residents in the territory, without worrying about other trivial matters.
...
The Winter Solstice snow continued to fall without stopping.
Whether it was to welcome the arrival of a new year, or signify something else, it kept on for days without any sign of ceasing.
Yet even so.
Nothing could dampen the lords’ enthusiasm.
Especially over by the Ancient Origin Tree, where the contention was fervent, completely unaffected by the changing climate.
Moreover, the rules within the Demon Plane were inherently chaotic.
Even as the climate changed across realms, it remained unchanged, showing no alteration.
During this time, Lin You, like the others, went daily to contest for the fruits, and managed to acquire 6 Origin Fruits.
Together with the ones snatched before, there are a total of 7, amounting to 7000 points of Power of Faith.
Including the accumulated increase from the territory during this period, it’s just breaking the 40,000 mark, just 10,000 away from reaching Tier Nine.
His own strength has also increased by about eighty percent compared to when he first advanced a tier.
Even without using the Divine Fragment to activate Enhancement Skills, he would not lose to any Veteran Lord.
This can be considered a qualitative leap.
"Brothers, the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Realms will open at noon tomorrow; are you all ready?"
A message suddenly appeared on the Duchy channel.
After three months of combat and improvement, a new round of the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Realms is finally coming.
Lin You checked the territory situation while opening the channels of the Duchy and Empire, which were flooded with rapidly scrolling messages.
"Been ready for a long time, just waiting for the battlefield to open to slaughter the other side."
"Tsk, tsk, as expected of the big shots, unlike us who can only hide to survive."
"I wonder what battlefield rules will be assigned this time; last time, it was mandatory territory offense and defense, nearly got killed."
"You’re doing well; last time, it was a battle royale, with monsters one or two tiers higher hunting us down every day."
"Battlefield rules? Isn’t it just Lords teleporting to freely snatch treasures? It’s been like that every time I’ve entered a Tier Six battlefield."
This time, the topic Lords discussed the most was no longer which battlefield number they’d be assigned but rather what kind of battlefield rules they’d randomly encounter.
Everyone’s reactions varied.
There was worry, expectation, and even fear.
This was something Lin You could deeply relate to.
Because each time one enters the battlefield, the survival rules vary greatly.
For instance, at Tier Six, he underwent both free treasure snatching and the Imperial City battle royale rules.
At Tier Eight, even the territory was teleported together to resist a Beast Tide.
The most perilous among them.
Was none other than Tier Six, Battlefield No. 1.
It was also during this that he acquired his first Divine Fragment.
If it weren’t for the fortunate acquisition of a key artifact for the battlefield mission, most of the people might have died there.
Thus.
The battlefield rules are crucial for their survival return.
If you encounter those extremely unreasonable life-and-death game rules, then it’s just bad luck.
Under such rules, the mortality rate is undoubtedly terrifyingly high, and even Lin You is not eager to face it.
Even though higher difficulty brings better rewards, he’s still reluctant to touch it.
"Hope for better luck tomorrow..."
Watching the messages scrolling by in the channel, Lin You thought to himself.
Battlefield No. 1 is different from others, significantly more challenging; just hoping it won’t be too outrageous.
And so, the entire night, the Duchy channel was bustling with activity.
It gradually quieted down only after the King gave a pre-battle pep talk.
Soon.
The night passed.
As the sun reached its zenith, the next day’s noon arrived.
Familiar prompts suddenly echoed across the continent.
[Attention all Lords, the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Realms is opening, teleportation is about to occur; please prepare.]
[During the opening of the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Realms, your territory and associated territories will be protected and not destroyed by external forces.]
[At that time, all Lords will...]
The same familiar taste, the same formula.
Even though Lin You had heard it more than three times, he still wanted to complain about the system’s long-windedness.
Of course.
These words are mainly for the new Lords who’ve just descended onto the continent; after all, he’s a Veteran Lord, so he just skimmed over it.
Soon after, a few prompts sounded in his mind.
[Respected Lord, the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Realms has officially opened.]
[This time’s teleportation target is the Lord and Species; please choose accompanying Species.]
No need to teleport the territory?
Lin You was slightly stunned, looking somewhat surprised.
This is different from last time; the rules seem to have changed again.
Without much thought, he immediately chose species other than Cultivation species and the Ancient Tree of Knowledge as companions.
Soon after, a dazzling light shot into the sky, enveloping the entire Yellow Sand City.
And in all directions across the continent, beams of light appeared as well, crafting a magnificent scene in the sky.
"Whoosh!"
The light flashed, and Lin You and the species vanished from the original spot.
Other Lords, like him, also disappeared, teleported into various battlefields within the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Realms.
Having been accustomed to this type of teleportation, Lin You wasn’t much affected.
Once the weightless state passed, when he stood firm again, he found himself in a gigantic war stronghold.
Tall walls surrounded the stronghold on all sides.
On the edges, there were even rows of ancient and quaint buildings.
It looked much like a frontier town built between two countries, filled with an aura of desolation and killing.
The position he was in was right in the middle of the battleground.
In the center of the battleground stood a huge Sword Shield statue, exuding an overpowering sense of oppression.
Beside him, lights continuously flashed, with one Lord after another being teleported.
Lin You focused his gaze, staring at the emerging figures.
Then, to his astonishment, he discovered.
These Lords were actually from different Realms, all teleported into this wartime stronghold!
Their numbers were massive, numbering over ten thousand.
And they were rapidly increasing.
What exactly is going on!?