Chapter 34: The Rise of Heroes in the Huaxia Region

As Lin Mu and Chang Yin discussed urban planning, the Huaxia region suddenly surged with activity, as various factions began to emerge like bamboo shoots after a spring rain:

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player Xuanyuan Changying for establishing the third village in the Huaxia region, [Xuanyuan Village]. Reward: One Grade 6 special NPC! Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player First Myth for establishing the fourth village in the Huaxia region, [First Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player Sima Longxiang for establishing the fifth village in the Huaxia region, [Sima Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player Shrine God-Emperor for establishing the sixth village in the Huaxia region, [Shrine Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player Beitang Xue for establishing the seventh village in the Huaxia region, [Qingguo Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player Beitang Wei for establishing the eighth village in the Huaxia region, [Hanye Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player God of War of Flame for establishing the ninth village in the Huaxia region, [War God Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

"——Huaxia Region Announcement: Congratulations to Huaxia region player Jianghu Baixiaosheng for establishing the tenth village in the Huaxia region, [Qianji Village]. Reputation +50, Level +1. We hope the player continues to work hard, establish meritorious deeds, and strive for world hegemony!"

Hearing such a massive wave of announcements from the Huaxia region, all occurring within a short span of time, indicated that many factions were beginning to surface.

Lin Mu knew that he was the catalyst behind these territories being established so early. By consistently selling Yellow-grade weapons over the past few days, he had greatly bolstered the strength of players in the Huaxia region, allowing them to organize more aggressive offensives, conquer system-run camps, obtain Village Establishment Tokens, and set up their own territories.

In his previous life, the establishment of these territories only began to compete on an even footing about two to three months after the game launched, once players had naturally developed enough strength. Under Lin Mu's influence, the growth of the Huaxia region had been accelerated by more than a month. Whether this was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen, but for now, in the eyes of all Huaxia players, this signified prosperity. The large-scale establishment of territories fueled the fervor of more players, strengthening the resolve of those with grand ambitions and filling them with the desire to charge onto the battlefield.

Of course, blessings and curses are intertwined. With the rapid development of players and the increase in the number of territories, competition became inevitable. Schemes, backstabbing, sieges, and looting would surely ignite the flames of war. Wherever there are people, there are interests; where there are interests, there is conflict; and where there is conflict, battlefields are formed. The consumption of supplies and equipment on these battlefields would be immense—a form of internal depletion.

Lin Mu knew that in his past life, many factions engaged in mutual warfare. Only those separated by vast distances, who had no immediate conflicts of interest, were able to form alliances.

"The world bustles for profit; the world moves for profit."

Betrayals were inevitable, which was why many factions avoided formal, system-recognized alliances unless absolutely necessary. Lin Mu was well aware that internal strife among the Chinese was intense—though this was true of other regions as well. Rarely did a region remain harmonious and thriving during its early stages of domestic development. One notable exception was the Vatican Pope civilization zone, where players were led by Pope the Fifteenth, maintaining a unified and harmonious front. However, due to the small geographic area, scarce resources, and low population, their development remained very slow despite being a unified faction.

"Indeed, those reclusive families and conglomerates have started to pour their full efforts into 'Mythical Three Kingdoms.' It seems their strengths are fairly balanced. With proper planning and a bit of player strength, conquering camps to obtain Village Establishment Tokens is quite easy. Their tokens probably aren't high-level, certainly incomparable to mine, heh..." Lin Mu muttered to himself upon hearing the flood of announcements.

Beside him, Xiao Hu watched his lord whispering to himself. He didn't know what was being said, but he didn't interrupt, continuing his march with a solemn expression.

Lin Mu was leading Xiao Hu and 100 soldiers to clear out a monster camp. They started with low-level camps, which were easy. Equipped with superior weapons and armor, the low-level and intermediate camps were merely practice for them—a chance to get used to blood and earn experience.

The soldiers were orderly and displayed high military discipline. Even when clearing low-level camps, their offense and defense were well-coordinated, their footwork steady. It seemed that under Feng Zhong's training over the past few days, they had made rapid progress.

For low-level camps, the group's latent strength was overwhelming, effectively sweeping through them. For intermediate camps, although the fighting was tougher, they used the experience gained from the low-level ones to push forward steadily, killing monsters to level up. Lin Mu and Xiao Hu managed to clear both types without any casualties.

Monster camps, like the bandit camps, could be destroyed or occupied, but Lin Mu chose to leave them for now. If destroyed, a camp would level up—a low-level one becoming intermediate—but this could only be done twice. For a low-level camp, destroying it twice would only raise it to high-level, which wasn't very valuable. However, for higher-level camps, the value of upgrading was immense. For instance, an intermediate camp upgraded twice would become a King-level camp, spawning a [King Beast]! A high-level camp would become an Emperor-level camp, spawning an [Emperor Beast]! However, this required one's own territory to reach the corresponding level as well.

Lin Mu knew the value of a King Beast well. It represented not only top-tier weapons and armor but also the potential to drop rare items like blueprints for elite buildings. In his past life, King Beasts were highly sought after. Since wild King Beasts were rare and did not respawn, the King Beasts in monster camps—which respawned after a certain period—became the focus of fierce competition. Players would fight to the death for the right to kill them, and that was, in a sense, part of the game's enjoyment.

By leaving the camp as it was, it would simply refresh its monster population to the maximum the following day.

After spending most of the day clearing low-level and intermediate camps, Lin Mu led his men to the only high-level camp in the east.

It was a humanoid monster camp—a rebel camp. Rebel camps were rare among system monster camps, which were usually inhabited by beasts. Since this one was near his territory, it was a potential source of population!

Lin Mu lacked the "Scan" skill and could not view the rebels' stats or potential. If they had high aptitude, he could recruit them once he learned the "Persuade" skill. Although forcibly recruited rebels had low initial loyalty, he was confident that the condition of his territory would soon make them turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately, he lacked both the scanning and recruitment skills, which was quite frustrating.

Regardless of level, every monster camp had a leader. Killing them yielded better loot and had a higher drop rate compared to regular monsters, which sometimes dropped nothing but experience. Clearing five low-level camps had only yielded some healing medicine—no blueprints or skill manuals. The intermediate camp was better; notably, Lin Mu obtained a blueprint for an elementary private school. Once he had a teacher, he could build and operate it.

Thanks to the refugee and drifter camps he had exchanged for with massive amounts of reputation from the Fate Merchant, his territory’s population grew about twenty times faster than other players'. Combined with the bonuses of a God-tier territory, his development was truly progressing by leaps and bounds.

With the private school, his territory's talent pool would explode. Eventually, the territory's output would be more abundant, better, and stronger. He would be able to maintain his advantage indefinitely.

As for this high-level camp, he didn't know what it would drop. It was impossible to conquer it without casualties at the moment. Lin Mu led his soldiers to clear out some patrolling scouts and stragglers on the periphery, without venturing deep into the camp. He lacked the strength for that right now. It might be possible if Feng Zhong were here, but Feng Zhong was currently very busy. Before the territory had soldiers, Feng Zhong had only cleared the camps enough to prevent them from attacking the village.

He would wait until his soldiers were higher level and stronger before clearing it. Wasting the potential of the camp for now was acceptable. This high-level camp would certainly contain a high-ranking leader, likely an intermediate or advanced general, whom Lin Mu and his men could not defeat in a single move.

After clearing some of the rebels, Lin Mu was currently Level 21—a Tier 2 soldier with no inner energy, no skills, and no special traits; a "three-no" soldier!

Xiao Hu, under Feng Zhong's tutelage, was already Level 29—the peak of a Tier 2 soldier. At Level 30, he would become a Tier 3 soldier. With his Grade 8 aptitude, his strength was truly improving with every level.

Name: Zhang Xiaohu
Aptitude: Grade 8
Loyalty: 90
Profession: None
Reputation: 0
Status: True Dragon Village Soldier
Merit: 0
Level: 29 (58%)
Command: 13, Might: 60, Intellect: 16, Politics: 7
Combat Power: 6200
Command Force: 1300
Strategic Power: 1600
Domestic Efficiency: 7%
Stamina: 150
Speed: 20
Defense: 30
Morale: 80
Talent: None
Skills: None
Specialties: [Intermediate Swordsmanship], [Elementary Archery]
Equipment: Deerskin Clothes, Cowhide Boots, Black Iron Steel Blade
Wealth: 1489 Copper Coins

...

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