Chapter 61: The Hidden Dragon Rises from the Abyss, the Dynastic Empire Begins with the Veins!

Lin Mu had no idea that the moment Qingfeng Stronghold became a vassal territory, a myriad of resplendent rays suddenly burst forth from the Yellow Dragon Divine Decree deep within the council hall of True Dragon Village. A dragon-shaped beam soared straight into the sky, seemingly unbound by spatial dimensions, and in the blink of an eye, it hovered high above Qingfeng Stronghold. After soaring for a moment, the phantom dragon's head plunged downward, ignoring physical structures, and fiercely merged into the territory stele of Qingfeng Stronghold.

At that very moment, Lin Mu felt a wave of spatial turbulence, as if some supernatural entity had surged into the stele.

When the dragon-shaped radiance appeared, Chang Yin and Feng Zhong both raised their heads simultaneously, gazing at the beam as if, in their eyes, it had nowhere to hide!

"Dragon fortune flourishes, soaring across the nine heavens; the dormant dragon rises from the abyss, and the dynastic rule begins at its veins! It seems our lord is beginning to display his true edge and reveal his extraordinary might!" Chang Yin and Feng Zhong spoke simultaneously, as if sharing a single mind!

As a mortal lord, Lin Mu could neither see nor hear these manifestations; he merely sensed a subtle turbulence in the space around him.

From this moment on, the attributes of Qingfeng Stronghold underwent a dramatic transformation:

【Qingfeng Town】 (True Dragon Village Mirror Territory)
Level: Intermediate Township
Township Attributes:
Attribute 1: Increases resource gathering yield within the territory by 20%.
Special Attribute 2: 【Humanistic Glory】 (Activated): Benevolence embraces the mandate of heaven, moral governance prevails, virtue is practiced, and peace reigns throughout the realm. Overall work and training efficiency in the territory increased by 100%.
Special Attribute 3: 【Human Dao Blessing】 (Activated): Grace blankets all living beings, making every citizen like a dragon. The aptitude of registered residents is increased by one tier.
Special Attribute 4: 【Nüwa's Favor】 (Activated): The Great Deity Nüwa looks upon humanity to transform them into the dragons of the nine heavens, roaming the world and gathering the fortune of heaven and earth. Resources occupied by the territory are enhanced by 100% overall.
Current Residents: 2,005 / 150,000
Public Sentiment: 96
Public Security: 92
Tax Rate: 10%
Current Resources: Grain 200,000 units, Timber 258 units, Stone 280 units, Copper Coins 72,940.

Current Buildings: ......
Constructible Buildings: ......
Existing Resources: 1 Large Salt Mine, 5 Grade-1 Medium Black Iron Mines, 2 Grade-1 Camphor Wood Forests, 2 Grade-2 Pine Forests, 1 Grade-3 Fir Forest, 4 Grade-1 Marble Quarries, 1 Grade-2 Bluestone Quarry, 1 Ordinary Coal Mine, 1 Advanced Wild Monster Camp.
Stronghold Area: 50 square kilometers
Territory Area: Unlimited (Conventional territory area is twice that of a village; this village was established by a divine-grade village-building token (mirror), and has no territorial boundaries).
Divine City Heart (Mirror): Durability: 500k / 500k, every attack is forcibly reduced to 1 point.
Resources required to upgrade Intermediate Township to Advanced Township: 500,000 units of grain, 500,000 units of stone, 500,000 units of timber, 5,000,000 copper coins, 70 basic buildings, and the territory's resident population must reach or exceed 150,000.

Seeing the drastically altered attributes of the Qingfeng Stronghold territory, Lin Mu was now certain of the mystery behind the divine-grade territory's mirror attributes. At the same time, once Lin Mu completed the mirror setup, Qingfeng Stronghold had been officially renamed Qingfeng Town!

"Ding!"

"—System Prompt: Lord Lin Mu, because Qingfeng Town possesses the mirror attributes of a divine-grade territory, the Profound-tier Village-Building Token can now be dismantled. Congratulations on obtaining a Profound-tier Village-Building Token!"

Another prompt sounded as the stone stele suddenly transformed into a stream of light. With a whoosh, an extra Profound-tier Village-Building Token materialized in Lin Mu's hand. Now he possessed two village-building tokens! If other players were to find out that he held two Profound-tier Village-Building Tokens, there is no telling how crazy they would go! Obtaining village-building tokens in the outside world was still extremely difficult, and their value had skyrocketed amidst fierce bidding among countless wealthy tycoons.

What Lin Mu never expected was that after establishing the mirror attributes, the territory's village-building token could actually be retrieved and used again. Could this be a legendary bug?! Great Deity Nüwa, please don't smite me!

If this were truly the case, then he could establish territories infinitely! He could expand his territory endlessly! Could anything be so domineering?! Both startled and delighted, Lin Mu paced back and forth anxiously in the back hall.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Mu concluded that it might not actually be feasible. During the establishment of the mirror attributes, one of the original attributes was retained, which meant the Profound-tier Village-Building Token was actually incomplete, missing one attribute. If this token were used to build a village and then subjected to the mirror process again to retain another attribute, the Profound-tier token would lose yet another attribute. Eventually, the attributes of the village-building token would be exhausted, and it could no longer be used to found villages. Thus, infinite territorial expansion was not possible; there were still inherent restrictions in place.

Lin Mu was not disappointed. Even if infinite expansion was impossible, the secret of his divine-grade territory could save an enormous number of village-building tokens for the China region!

On a global scale, Lin Mu did not know the exact number of village-building tokens in "Mythological World", but it was certainly not infinite. If the consumption of village-building tokens in the China region was reduced because Lin Mu could establish numerous vassal territories, then the foundation of the China region would undoubtedly be stronger and more resilient than those of other countries.

To a certain extent, establishing territories could be seen as plundering or augmenting a nation's foundational strength.

In the future, Lin Mu could use far fewer village-building tokens to expand his territory, allowing him to sell some to other players in the China region so they could establish more territories. Lin Mu suddenly thought of that grand achievement for the first region! The reward for it involved the entire nation! A wave of excitement surged within Lin Mu!

That achievement required the autonomous territories of players within a single country to reach 100, upon which the country would undergo its first system update. The system rewards were exceptionally lavish, even increasing the legendary National Strength value—truly formidable!

This national achievement demanded the collective foundational strength of all lord-class players in that country; it required the concerted efforts of every player!

Now, with the bug-like existence of the Yellow Dragon Divine Decree, he should be able to bring that legendary reward back to the China region... Lin Mu firmed his resolve.

Autonomous player territories reaching 100 within a country did not include the vassal territories under players who already owned primary territories; they had to be independent territories to count. Lin Mu checked the system announcement logs for the China region. Currently, there were already 58 announcements of established villages in China. Because Lin Mu had previously filtered out these announcement prompts, he hadn't heard them!

He never imagined that his great China already boasted 58 territories. Looking back at his past life, there shouldn't have been nearly this many. It was only five months since the game's launch, and the difficulty for players to acquire territories was still remarkably high!

This must be the effect of his own little butterfly wings flapping!

Had he guessed incorrectly earlier and the mirror attributes didn't exist, he would have had to use the village-building token in his hands to found a new village, and then make it submit to his territory as a vassal in order to expand his territorial boundaries.

For now, he shouldn't need to do that. Should he go to the trading market and sell these two village-building tokens? Lin Mu wondered, feeling somewhat conflicted.

Regardless of worries and troubles, the first vassal territory of True Dragon Village had finally appeared. More would follow in the future, making the territory's lands broader and vaster! Lin Mu's ambition burned like a raging fire, and his eyes shone with sharp brilliance.

One of the four large strongholds was now safely in his pocket!

What he needed now was to conquer the second one: the Azure Dragon Stronghold!

Glancing at the third item in the territory series quests—subjugate the Azure Dragon Stronghold—a fierce, battle-hungry smile crept onto the corner of Lin Mu's lips. *Heh, Azure Dragon Stronghold, just you wait! Once I get everything prepared, I'm coming for you. Come right into my bowl...*

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Seeking collections and recommendation votes~~ Lin Mu has begun subjugating territories. Although it's in an internal valley, it's still a start~!!