Chapter Five: The Dragon Rises from the Abyss, The Divine Village
After several days of relentless travel without rest, eating wild fruits when hungry and drinking clear spring water when thirsty, Lin Mu finally descended Yinglong Peak and arrived at its foot. Beneath Yinglong Peak lay a vast canyon surrounded on three sides by towering mountain ranges. The immense terrain resembled a giant bowl for dining, but one side of this bowl was missing—the side facing the boundless sea.
At last, he had arrived: this was the place where Lin Mu planned to establish his village—the Yinglong Valley.
Yinglong Valley was a sea-facing valley on the east. A mighty river flowed down from the mountain streams of the Qilian Mountains, coursing through the valley's plains before emptying into the vast ocean.
To the north of Yinglong Valley stood Yinglong Peak; to the east lay the endless sea; to the west stretched an unbroken mountain range, vast and mysterious, its dangers unknown, perhaps even home to immortals. This was the Qilian Mountains, the very place where the Yinglong River flowed.
To the south was another continuous mountain range. In his previous life, Lin Mu knew this area was inhabited by numerous alien and mountain tribes, with their powers intricately entangled. It would be one of his future strategic focuses.
The terrain of Yinglong Valley was remarkably flat, essentially a vast grassland. Many wild beasts roamed here, but none could deter Lin Mu’s determination to build a village.
In Lin Mu’s heart, this was the best location in Yangzhou to establish a village: surrounded by mountains on three sides and bordered by the sea on one side. The mountains harbored abundant wildlife, the sea teemed with fish, and the resources were rich.
After traversing half a day, Lin Mu reached the central part of Yinglong Valley, nearer to the Yinglong River, ensuring access to both water and land.
He took out the Yellow Dragon Token from his backpack. The token shimmered with seven-colored flowing light, marvelously divine and endlessly fascinating. In his previous life, the best village-building token he had owned was only of Earth rank, and the finest tokens he had seen were Heaven rank, glowing with five colors. The Earth rank ones had only two colors—blue and cyan—entwined like two dragons floating within.
This seven-colored token was as if all hues had merged into one, transforming into a colossal golden dragon that roared mightily into the sky with an ineffable majesty.
Holding the token in midair, Lin Mu bit his finger and let his blood drip onto it. The blood slowly soaked into the token as a melodious system prompt echoed in his ears:
“Ding!”
“—System alert: Player Lin Mu, do you wish to use the Divine City’s Heart [Yellow Dragon Token] to establish a village?”
“Yes!!” Lin Mu replied with overwhelming excitement.
The flowing light on the token immediately exploded and soared into the sky. A seven-colored glow descended from the heavens, illuminating the surroundings with an extraordinary radiance.
As Lin Mu activated the token to found the village, the radiant light surged upward, and the ground seemed to rumble thunderously… like a dragon’s roar shaking the nine heavens!
Lin Mu felt the earth tremble beneath him, as if an earthquake had struck. What was happening? Could an earthquake really occur here? Please don’t trap me!
In his previous life, when he had built a village in this valley, nothing like this had happened. Could this be a sudden change in heaven and earth triggered by the use of the Yellow Dragon Token?
The dragon-shaped light soaring in the sky seemed to resonate with the trembling earth.
After a moment of anxious waiting, the swirling light transformed into a majestic phantom dragon and merged into the ground ahead.
A reassuring and joyful prompt sounded in Lin Mu’s ears:
“—System alert: The regional conditions satisfy the requirements for using the [Yellow Dragon Token]. Village established successfully.”
“—System alert: Village established successfully. Please name your village. Note: You have only one chance to name the village.”
Ignoring the note, Lin Mu calmly entered the name “True Dragon.”
“—System alert: [True Dragon Village] has been established! Player Lin Mu can view its attributes in the territory council hall’s attribute panel.”
Just as Lin Mu, thrilled beyond words, prepared to check the attributes, countless system notifications rang in his ears:
“—System alert: Congratulations on successfully establishing the world’s second village, [True Dragon Village]. You have been bestowed the title ‘World’s Second Village’ and received special rewards: a special mineral vein! Personal level +2, Essence Attribute +2, Reputation +200! We hope the player continues to strive for glory, build achievements, and dominate the world!”
“Now a world announcement needs to be issued. Do you wish to hide your name?”
Of course, he chose to hide it. Staying low-key was the way. Better to avoid the attention of thieves than to have them covet you.
Moreover, since he was using his real name, if some powerful financial syndicates or malicious forces learned of it, his current strength was insufficient to withstand their unscrupulous means.
Meanwhile, a world broadcast could be heard by all players everywhere:
“Ding!”
“—World Announcement: Congratulations to the player from the Huaxia region who has established the world’s second village, [True Dragon Village]. Awarded the title ‘World’s Second Village’ and special rewards: a special mineral vein! Personal level +2, free attribute +2, reputation +200. We hope the player continues to strive for glory, build achievements, and dominate the world!”
“...!”
“...!”
The three consecutive chimes stirred countless players’ emotions—The world’s second village had appeared!
In the American region, whose background was the “God Civilization” like the Huaxia region’s “Mythical Three Kingdoms” civilization, the world’s first village, “Angel City,” had been established.
Salid, the player who founded the first village, was moved: “I didn’t expect someone from the East to establish a territory so early. Seems they’ve also had some fortuitous encounters. I must speed up my own construction, or they’ll catch up! My village-building token was obtained through an agreement between my country and Nüwa. Now Huaxia has one too—could it be they compromised as well?”
The Huaxia region had the largest population and the most players. Although the overall average level wasn’t high, many hidden talents lurked within. To secure one’s footing, one could not slack off. Salid buried himself in managing his territory while glancing at the special reward barracks, a smile creeping across his lips.
Great America remained number one in the world.
...
In the Japanese region, whose background was the “Mythical Warring States” civilization—a chaotic era of rival warlords—at a wild monster spawn point, the leader of the Imperial Guild, Honda Taro, grumbled:
“Damn it, how do those Chinese get such good luck? They established a territory before us Great Japanese Empire. Damn it, damn it...”
“Takeda Hattori, you must hasten to complete the system’s village-building token quest. Don’t fall behind those Chinese. Once our Great Japanese Empire flourishes, their land of divine treasures will be nothing but lambs to the slaughter!”
“Hai-ya!”
...
In the Indian region, the “Mythical Buddhist Kingdom” civilization, representing the origin of Buddhism...
“...”
In the European region, the “Gods’ Civilization”...
“...”
In the Egyptian region, the “Pharaoh Civilization”...
“...”
...
In the Huaxia region, within the “Mythical Three Kingdoms” civilization, in Yanzhou, outside a forest, Xuanyuan Changying, the heir and youngest master of the Xuanyuan family—its most outstanding disciple—was hunting a humanoid monster.
It was a level 1 thief, level 13. Xuanyuan Changying handled it with ease. Though the world announcement was startling, it did not completely throw him off—only a slight pause. He swung his wooden spear, sending out a bloom of spear light that struck the thief’s throat. Blood gushed forth as the thief collapsed, dead. A small white cloth bag rose from the corpse—the kind dropped when killing monsters or players.
Experience gain notifications chimed in his ears.
In the Mythical World, drops appeared this way: when players killed wild monsters, any extra loot appeared as a white cloth bag. If multiple items were dropped, they would be inside the bag.
Xuanyuan Changying had killed a level 2 thief, who dropped a white cloth bag, indicating additional loot this time.
Not every monster kill yielded extra items; it was all chance. The odds were said to be as low as one in ten thousand or one in a thousand—extremely rare.
One of his subordinates stepped forward, picked up the bag, and handed it to Xuanyuan Changying.
The small white cloth bag was palm-sized, roughly made, even somewhat coarse.
Xuanyuan Changying briefly examined it before putting it in his backpack. Turning to the elderly man beside him, he said, “Order the Black Shadow Legion to investigate who established the village. See if there are other ways to obtain village-building tokens! Also, if that player is a lone wolf and not from a noble family, see if we can recruit him.”
“Yes, Young Master! I will handle it immediately,” the elderly man replied.
“Enough, Tianbo, how many times must I tell you not to call me Young Master?” Xuanyuan Changying said wearily, as if he had reprimanded him many times before.
“Heh heh, it’s a matter of etiquette, and etiquette must not be discarded! Young Master, please don’t be angry. Besides, you deserve to be called Young Master!” the elder answered with a smile.
“Ah, you really are...” Xuanyuan Changying smiled faintly.
Their conversation was very casual. Unlike other players’ passionate exuberance, Lin Mu’s world second village seemed like a mere passing cloud to them, not something they took too seriously.
If Lin Mu were here, he would be very surprised—after all, Xuanyuan Changying had been very formidable in his previous life...
...
“Ha ha ha, who would have thought our Great Huaxia region established the world’s second village! Truly a glory for the nation! The nation’s brave warrior!”
“Quick, quick, quick! Let’s kill this boss and see if it drops a village-building token. If it does, we’ll strike it rich! Haha, come on, brothers!”
“Investigate! Find out who established the village before me! Once found, destroy their village, wipe their level clean, and make them regret ever surpassing me! Hmph...” a spoiled scion fumed.
...
Countless players, whether envious, jealous, or hateful, Lin Mu could not hear them. After the world announcement, the district announcement followed, but it was simple:
“—Huaxia District Announcement: Congratulations to the player from Huaxia District who established the district’s first village. We hope the player continues to strive for glory, build achievements, and dominate the world!”
This was the common announcement whenever a player in the district established a territory. Regardless of the order, whenever a player established a village, a district-wide announcement like this would appear:
“—Huaxia District Announcement: Congratulations to the player from Huaxia District who established a village. We hope the player continues to strive for glory, build achievements, and dominate the world!”
Since the game world had just opened, a system announcement was a rare and golden opportunity for advertisement. Though meaningful, such announcements would soon become commonplace as more villages were established—there might be over a hundred such notifications, and players would get used to them.
Moreover, as the game progressed, some villages would be destroyed, others restarted, creating countless scenarios. This diversity and playability attracted many.
Only the first three villages in the world received the territory establishment announcement rewards; others did not. Lin Mu had already gained the world announcement rewards, so he would not receive district announcement rewards.
Lin Mu’s world announcement was truly a glory for the nation and greatly boosted many players’ enthusiasm.
With reputation, a special mineral vein, level increases, and Essence Attribute points, the rewards were extremely generous. No wonder players in his previous life had fought fiercely to be first or among the top three.
The game had only been open for less than 10 in-game days, equivalent to just over half a day in the real world.
The time ratio between the game world and real world was 10:1—that is, one real day equaled ten in-game days.
Having received the system’s special rewards, Lin Mu was now level 2 (0%), with 10 Essence Attribute points—2 from the system reward and 8 from leveling up (each level granted 4 Essence Attribute points).
Adding all Essence Attributes to his combat power, Lin Mu’s strength reached 14, with a battle power of 1410.