Chapter 19: Expert-Level Talent

Name: 【Deerhide Boots】

Rank: Yellow

Trait: Footwear

Attributes: Speed +50, Defense +5, Durability 100/100.

Description: Meticulously crafted by an expert tailor using ordinary deerhide. They are cold-resistant and warm. Relatively precious; even ordinary commoners hope to own a pair of deerhide boots.

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Name: 【Cowhide Boots】

Rank: Yellow

Trait: Footwear

Attributes: Speed +30, Defense +10, Durability 130/130.

Description: Made of exquisite cowhide, they are tough and durable. Just like the Bull Demon King, hehe!

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Name: 【Deerhide Tunic】

Rank: Yellow

Trait: Clothing

Attributes: Defense +20, Durability 100/100.

Description: Meticulously crafted by an expert tailor using ordinary deerhide. They are cold-resistant and warm. A must-have item for staying at home, traveling, or even committing arson and murder.

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Name: 【Purple Sable Fur Coat】

Rank: Black (Xuan)

Trait: Clothing

Attributes: Defense +100, Combat Power +200, Durability 200/200.

Description: Meticulously crafted by an expert tailor specifically for a lucky Lord. The workmanship is fine, exquisite, and luxurious; warm in winter and cool in summer! If a woman wears it, her charm might increase greatly, but on certain people, it's a waste.

Seeing this equipment, Lin Mu was truly speechless with shock. Regardless of the strange descriptions, what Lin Mu cared about were the attributes. Yellow and Black rank equipment had actually appeared! To think his territory possessed such talent—he was truly blessed by heaven. No wonder Chang Yin specifically instructed him to come to the tailor shop!

Haha, a fine steed deserves a hero, and purple sable suits me! Without a second thought, Lin Mu put on the 【Purple Sable Fur Coat】 and stepped into the 【Deerhide Boots】. They were extremely comfortable, warm in winter and cool in summer! After equipping them, both Lin Mu's speed and combat power increased. This was luxurious armament; finally, the privileges of being a Lord were being felt. If he, the Lord, didn't use good things first, then who would?! Which player outside could possibly compare to him?

He let Xiao Hu equip the 【Cowhide Boots】 and the 【Deerhide Tunic】. Given his Tier 8 aptitude and high attributes, wearing these wouldn't be a waste.

These four items, which were practically神器 (divine artifacts) in the early game, provided Lin Mu with great assistance. He felt a surge of excitement.

In his past life, he never had such a start. He was incredibly happy now, and he loved this kind of happiness...

In his previous life, he had worked himself to the bone. After refugees spawned, he had to manage and arrange everything himself. The so-called "Scholar" gifted by the system was stiff and stubborn, unable to be flexible in many matters and always needing to consult Lin Mu. Now, with a God-tier Scholar like Chang Yin, everything was managed perfectly. It was pure bliss!

The purple sable fur felt incredibly smooth to the touch. The exquisite tailoring technique had perfectly integrated the sable skin into a single piece. It felt very comfortable on Lin Mu, and he felt as if a current of power was flowing through his body.

Through the equipment descriptions, Lin Mu knew that these items were made by the expert tailor who had appeared in his territory.

"My Lord, this purple sable coat is a masterpiece that our eldest sister, Sister Jiang, worked on through the night. You must cherish it!" a young and beautiful tailor praised from the side.

It was indeed a masterpiece. +200 Combat Power could be considered an increase of 2 points in Martial Might, making it extremely precious. Additionally, the +100 Defense was quite outstanding for Black rank equipment.

In *Mythical Three Kingdoms*, equipment is categorized into Divine, Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. There are also ordinary items. Like ordinary items, Yellow rank equipment generally does not increase Combat Power; only Black rank and above possess this special attribute, which shows how difficult it is to obtain Black rank equipment.

Equipment of Earth rank and above is even harder to obtain, which is why many so-called "family heirlooms" are basically Black rank equipment.

Speaking of heirlooms, many players have encountered this situation: "Young hero, I see you have extraordinary bones and a profound constitution, a genius in martial arts. I have a family heirloom that can be yours for only 998 silver coins. Would you like to take a shot? Hehe..."

Lin Mu had encountered this in his past life and had been scammed out of quite a bit of money. However, some heirlooms were indeed real. Some players reported obtaining an Earth rank 【Dragon-Shocking Spear】, causing countless players to frantically search for so-called heirlooms, but later... hehe...

...

If one were to ask what was most important to a general in the Three Kingdoms era, it would be Martial Might—that is, Combat Power.

To have heaven-reaching combat power and sweep through all directions—these were the dreams of every general.

"I am very grateful to Sister Jiang for making such a divine artifact for me. You have worked hard! Please accept my bow!" Lin Mu was not pretentious and gave a sincere bow. The woman leading the group, Sister Jiang, slightly stepped aside, not accepting the bow.

"My Lord is too polite. We are a family of refugees who have been blessed by your grace, being taken in and given warm meals and a stable environment. It is our Jiang family that can live and work in peace because of you! We should be the ones thanking you! Please accept our bow!" As she finished, all the women and children present bowed in unison.

After Lin Mu bowed, the system prompt sounded

"—Ding!"

"—System Prompt: Lord Lin Mu, your subject Chen Hui's loyalty +10!"

His loyalty actually increased by ten points. As expected of an expert talent—polite, dignified, and well-mannered. Her level of education must be high, and her family background must be extraordinary. With expert-level skills, she wouldn't starve anywhere; her family must have a story.

"There is no need for such politeness. To meet in this vast, boundless Divine Land is a matter of fate. I also hope everyone can work together to make our home more beautiful and prosperous! As the master of this village, I will certainly protect its safety! Rest assured!" Lin Mu said, feeling somewhat moved and inspired.

"From now on, True Dragon Village will be our home. We will work hard to add bricks and tiles to it," the women and children said in unison.

Lin Mu looked at them happily. These people would be the foundation for conquering the world in the future.

...

Amidst his busyness, Lin Mu summoned his territory attribute panel and searched for the attributes of Jiang Yuan and Sister Jiang, wanting to understand them more closely.

From his conversation with them, Lin Mu knew that Sister Jiang was Jiang Yuan's wife, the mother of the adorable Gouwa. Truly a family of talents. He wondered what kind of person Gouwa would become, born to two such outstanding individuals; Lin Mu felt a sense of anticipation.

Name: Jiang Yuan (Courtesy Name: Xiande)

Aptitude: Tier 8 【Heavenly Treasury】

Loyalty: 85

Profession: Expert Beast Tamer

Title: Junior 【Beast King】

Reputation: 37,900

Identity: 【True Dragon Village】 Beast Tamer

Merit: 1,578

Level: 27 (47.9%)

Command: 44 | Martial Might: 21 | Intelligence: 42 | Politics: 15

【Derived Attributes】

Combat Power: 2,100

Commanding Ability: 4,400

Divine Strategy: 4,200

Internal Affairs Efficiency: 15%

Stamina: 300

Speed: 40

Defense: 80

Morale: 80

Talent: 【Heart of the Wild】

Skills: 【Beast King Descent】, 【Beast King's Heart】, 【Serenity】

Specialties: Expert 【Beast Taming】, Advanced 【Animal Husbandry】, Expert 【Beast Speech】

Internal Cultivation: 《Beast King True Manual》, Incomplete, Earth rank manual, 6 layers total, currently practiced to the 4th layer. Each layer studied increases Intelligence and Command by 1 point, and increases the character's charm/affinity with beasts and spirit beasts.

Equipment: Worn Brocade Clothes (+20 Defense), Worn Brocade Shoes (+10 Speed)

Wealth: 26 Copper Coins

======================

Name: Chen Hui (Courtesy Name: Qingxian)

Aptitude: Tier 8 【Lianzhen】

Loyalty: 86

Profession: Expert Tailor

Title: None

Reputation: 460

Identity: 【True Dragon Village】 Tailor

Merit: 0

Level: 28 (49%)

Command: 24 | Martial Might: 12 | Intelligence: 53 | Politics: 23

【Derived Attributes】

Combat Power: 1,200

Commanding Ability: 2,400

Divine Strategy: 5,300

Internal Affairs Efficiency: 23%

Stamina: 200

Speed: 20

Defense: 25

Morale: 90

Talent: 【Dexterous Hands】

Skills: 【Ten-Stitch Dense Thread】, 【Night Sewing by Lamplight】, 【Decomposition Art】

Specialties: Expert 【Tailoring】, Advanced 【Leather Armor Making】, Advanced 【Gathering】

Internal Cultivation: 《Weaver's Heart Method》, Earth rank manual, 9 layers total, currently practiced to the 6th layer. Each successful layer studied increases Intelligence by 2 points and slightly increases production success rate.

Equipment: Brocade Clothes (+25 Defense), Worn Brocade Shoes (+10 Speed)

Wealth: 38 Copper Coins

As expected, they were from a family of great talent; even their cultivation manuals were Earth rank. In the Three Kingdoms, the classification of manuals is the same as equipment: Divine, Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. Earth rank manuals should be considered very high-level, possessed only by families with long-standing heritage. Even wealthy families without such depth would not have such a collection; these high-tier manuals cannot be bought with money alone.

Lin Mu drooled looking at Jiang Yuan and Chen Hui's manuals. He was still a commoner with no manuals, and his only skill was the Gathering skill gifted by the system. His only specialty was the Intermediate Spear Technique and Basic Archery that he had spent three days practicing hard. Is the gap really this large?!

The manuals of native NPCs generally cannot be taught to players unless they are taken as disciples and become successors of their lineage.

With his eyes set on Heaven or Divine rank manuals, Lin Mu looked down on Earth rank manuals. *Having nothing and yet looking down on Earth rank manuals, hmph...*

An "Expert" level talent is considered to have reached the level of a "Master" in a sub-profession.

Professions are divided into seven ranks: 【Junior】, 【Intermediate】, 【Advanced】, 【Expert】, 【Grandmaster】, 【Great Master】, and 【Divine Artisan】. Ranks below Expert are relatively easy to achieve, but becoming a Master or above is extremely difficult, with the resources and money required being unestimable.

Artisans above the Expert level need to comprehend their own craft, which varies from person to person. Lin Mu didn't know the specific rules; in his past life, his sub-profession was merely an Advanced Alchemist.

The 【Divine Artisan】, however, is the pinnacle existence in the Three Kingdoms world. Lin Mu had never even seen one. He had heard that when Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu swore brotherhood in the peach garden, the craftsman who repaired and forged their divine artifacts was of the Divine rank. However, Lin Mu did not know the specific details; it was merely hearsay.

In general, talents above the Expert level are extremely rare, as precious as giant pandas.

That such talents could appear in his territory now must be a hidden effect of the God-tier Village Building Order, Lin Mu speculated, while simultaneously looking forward to future changes.

After exchanging pleasantries and words of encouragement with the ladies in the tailor shop, a well-equipped Lin Mu left the village with Xiao Hu, stepping out of the village for the first time.

As Lin Mu walked out of the village range, he received a system prompt that he was unaware of

"—Ding"

"—System Prompt: Lord Lin Mu, due to your use of the God-tier Village Building Order, unpredictable changes have occurred in the Yinglong Valley. Four large-scale mountain strongholds have formed around your territory. If the population of these strongholds reaches its limit, they may attack your territory. Please be cautious."

Holy crap, four large-scale strongholds? Great System God, are you trying to kill me?

What is a large-scale stronghold? A stronghold is only called "large-scale" when its population reaches the magnitude of 150,000, and the troops within are also very high-level—Tier 3 ordinary soldiers, Tier 4 elite troops, and there must be leaders at or above Junior General rank. Their strength would completely overshadow 【True Dragon City】; even one of those strongholds could easily destroy the village.

Four large-scale strongholds, if full, would be 600,000 people!

What is going on? The System God shouldn't be this ruthless, right!!

Lin Mu truly felt like crying without tears! How can it be this perverted? Does it even want people to live!

For the first time, Lin Mu felt a heavy pressure, as if a giant wave was sweeping over him, or a massive boulder was pressing down, trying to crush and overwhelm him.

But where there is crisis, there is opportunity! Only by grasping the opportunity within and neutralizing the danger can the territory's development reach a new level. Lin Mu clenched his fists.

Lin Mu had known earlier that once a territory was established, there would be system-spawned strongholds or other villages around it, but he had never heard they would be *large-scale* strongholds. Weren't they supposed to be small? And he didn't know if they were filled with bandits. If they were bandits, he'd have to run for his life!

There are differences between strongholds. If they are bandits who specialize in evil, killing like flies and filled with crimes, then with Lin Mu's current military strength, it would be like an egg hitting a stone. If they are strongholds composed of refugees and civilians, then conquering such a stronghold would be beneficial for increasing the territory's population.

Pressure creates motivation. Lin Mu became even more urgent about building an army.

Should he abandon the elite troop strategy and have some low-aptitude subjects stop production to become militia? No, Lin Mu rejected the idea.

Lin Mu felt he shouldn't lose his composure yet. After all, the situation of the four strongholds was unknown. As the saying goes: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles!"

Moreover, the strongholds wouldn't attack the village immediately; they would only attack once their population reached full capacity. This was a system restriction.

He would go back and discuss it slowly with Chang Yin and Feng Zhong. Temporarily suppressing his shock, Lin Mu continued to go leveling with Xiao Hu.

(End of Chapter)