Chapter 17: The Terror of the Warlords!

"One man against ten thousand!"

"I won't say much, just watch the video!"

Below was a video.

The video showed a sea of people—nearly 10,000 of them—besieging a single large man. Like ants, they fell one after another, wave after wave of them dying!

When a player is killed, they lose one level, which isn't much, but losing all of one's equipment is the greatest punishment. However, since equipment was currently very poor—many players were wearing nothing but the cloth clothes and shoes gifted by the system—it was quite a pathetic sight. Besieging a major boss to drop top-tier equipment was the greatest joy for many players; they were incredibly enthusiastic about it. Without needing organization, they spontaneously charged forward to risk their lives, all harboring the mindset that perhaps they would be the one to land the killing blow and claim the loot.

In "Mythic Three Kingdoms," there was no conventional HP setting. Many players struggled to adapt to the lack of health bars; without them, they had no way of knowing when a boss was about to die or how much life it had left, making it impossible to gauge if they could swoop in for a "kill steal." Many of the players' usual experience and techniques for snatching monsters became useless, leading countless players to vent their frustrations and complaints on the gaming forums...

The boss in the video was a burly general, wielding a refined steel spear, wearing a red-tasseled iron helmet and a set of black chainmail. He swung his steel spear with a whistling roar, creating countless "spear flowers" that danced like spirits. It was quite a spectacle, but its lethality was not to be underestimated; every horizontal sweep typically sent several players to the ground.

Clad in exquisite battle armor, he stood in stark contrast to the players in their simple cloth garments.

The general fended off the players' wooden swords, wooden spears, and wooden clubs like a descending deity, possessing the courage of a commander leading three armies.

However, most impressive was the shimmering yellow light swirling around his body. Lin Mu knew that this was the effect of activated internal strength (*neili*), which could mitigate a portion of incoming damage. Simultaneously, the internal strength infused into his weapon and armor enhanced both his destructive power and defensive capabilities—it was incredibly formidable.

It seemed this general was an invincible existence to those several thousand people. A general capable of using internal arts facing off against players who hadn't even "graduated elementary school" was like harvesting leeks—one crop after another...

But, many ants can kill an elephant. No matter how powerful a general was, even Lü Bu would feel a chill being besieged by countless people. Humans eventually tire, and internal strength eventually runs dry.

As the general cleared out large swaths of players, he began to grow weary. The spear in his hand lost its rhythm, and his movements slowed. Seeing this, the players grew even more frenzied.

The general himself knew that staying in one place was not a viable strategy. After clearing the enemies in front of him, he seized an opportunity to break through a weak point in the crowd, vanishing into the mountain forests like a streak of smoke.

The players could only be left eating dust, weeping in frustration...

With Lin Mu's insight, he could judge that this was a low-tier general. The faint yellow light surrounding him was the effect of basic internal arts. A low-tier general is one whose cultivation techniques have reached the basic stage; a mid-tier general has studied them to the mid-stage, while high-tier and "ranked" generals have mastered them to even higher levels. Learning a technique grants a chance to acquire specific skills, allowing one to deal with enemies with twice the result for half the effort, making them even more terrifying.

In "Mythic Three Kingdoms," after a general learns a technique, they receive a cultivation value. This value is the most important metric for measuring a general's strength.

The cultivation values are ranked from lowest to highest as follows: Basic, Mid, High, Yellow, Black, Earth, Heaven, and God. This corresponds to Low-tier... Heaven-tier, and God-tier generals!

The same applied to strategists and other professions!

However, the people in the video were disorganized and chaotic, swarming forward blindly. It was difficult to take down such a low-tier general, and it was entirely possible for one man to hold off ten thousand.

Lin Mu placed great importance on generals. To develop the military strength of his territory, he would certainly need to cultivate a large number of them.

He casually browsed the replies to see if there was any special news!

The number of replies to the post was staggering

Floor 1: Truly invincible! When will I ever become like that!

Floor 2: A general! Now *that* is a general. Forget it, I'm switching to the General class; I don't want to be a life-skill player!

Floor 3: A one-man fortress, impossible to breach! If an unnamed boss general is this powerful, then historical generals must be invincible! How are we supposed to play!

Floor 4: Floor 1, come be my lackey! I'll show you how to flex and fly!

Floor 5: Old driver, lead the way...

...

Floor 18909:...

...

Currently, everyone's equipment, weapons, and skills were scarce, making development very difficult. The system's "government" also imposed many restrictions on players; equipment and medicine were extremely expensive. Common players basically had to fend for themselves, but even wealthy players weren't exactly living in luxury. Copper coins were held by NPC natives, and players had very few copper coins to sell to the rich.

Therefore, before the Mythic World's currency exchange system was opened, no one's starting capital was particularly large. However, money makes the world go round; wealthy conglomerates were buying up copper and silver coins in massive quantities, which actually caused the proportion of copper coins traded among players to rise.

There were many posts on the gaming forums; various tycoons were buying up Village Building Orders and various supplies, and many players wanted to buy copper coins, but demand far outstripped supply.

Currently, the price of copper had reached 10 copper coins for 16 RMB, which was considered very high.

*Once my junior trading market is completed, that will be my time to amass wealth,* Lin Mu thought fiercely, wishing all the buildings in his territory could be completed overnight.

Lin Mu spent three days training in the barracks with Xiao Hu. He wasn't in a hurry to hunt monsters in the wild yet; he wanted to master his spear techniques first and wait for the blacksmith shop to forge some better equipment. As the saying goes, "sharpening the axe does not delay the woodcutting."

Lin Mu's specialty, spear technique, had improved: [Intermediate Spear Technique], while his archery had not improved.

[Intermediate Spear Technique]: Increases combat power by 5% when using a spear as a weapon.

Xiao Hu's specialty had also become [Intermediate Saber Technique], with similar attributes to the spear technique, differing only in the weapon used.

When Lin Mu's [Basic Spear Technique] upgraded to [Intermediate Spear Technique], he felt the spear in his hand become slightly lighter. Furthermore, he no longer felt the initial sense of unfamiliarity; it was as if he were more intimate with the weapon, as if there were an invisible connection. However, this was merely Lin Mu's sensation.

Moreover, Lin Mu was slowly adapting to the slower pace of combat. In his past life, he could have been a Black-tier general, but now he was back to being a commoner!

Training for common specialties like [Basic Spear Technique] was generally very simple—just thrusting, sweeping, and parrying against training posts with a wooden spear without needing to pursue specific forms or routines. However, training after [Intermediate Spear Technique] required specific forms and routines. This was also one of the hidden techniques for soldier training in the game. As an experienced player, Lin Mu certainly knew this, giving him a head start. Other players who didn't know would eventually figure it out, but the time they wasted would allow Lin Mu to stay a step ahead.

...

In three days, Lin Mu's experience had increased by 20%, while Xiao Hu had leveled up once. This was the difference between players and NPCs training in the barracks; NPCs trained faster in the barracks than players did.

During these three days, Lin Mu hadn't gone out much besides being in the barracks. He had previously stocked his inventory with enough food for the two of them.

During this time, Chang Yin and Feng Zhong hadn't come to find him, so the territory's operations must be running smoothly!

Chang Yin managed the territory's miscellaneous affairs, while Feng Zhong went out to clear monster camps to prevent them from attacking and destroying territory buildings. With a God-tier general like Feng Zhong around, Lin Mu didn't need to worry about those monster camps for the time being.

It was time to go out for a stroll.

However, before venturing out for adventure, he had to arm himself first. Lin Mu took Xiao Hu to the blacksmith shop.

[True Dragon Village] had been established for five days. The territory's population had reached 803, and over 20 people were busy in the blacksmith shop, the air filled with the constant *clink-clank* of hammers.

Although some of the blacksmiths had never seen the Lord, they had heard of him from others. Currently, the territory had no painter, so they couldn't depict the Lord's portrait; they only had a vague idea of what he looked like.

Young and promising, polite and humble, wise and mighty...

"Lord, welcome to inspect our work! This place is crude and sweltering; we hope you won't mind!" One of the craftsmen, part of the first batch assigned to the blacksmith shop, stepped forward warmly to greet Lin Mu.

"Haha, I don't mind at all. It's just that you all work so hard in this unbearable heat. I'll tell Chang Yin to give you extra rewards later to compensate you! Since we don't have a brewer in the territory yet, there is no wine; otherwise, I would certainly treat you all to a drink!" Lin Mu said generously.

"Thank you for your generosity, Lord! Being able to give us refugees a meal and a home to live in is already more than we could ask for. We wouldn't dare ask for more rewards!"

"It's what you deserve! As long as everyone works hard, better days await! Our True Dragon Territory will certainly not let you down!" Lin Mu encouraged them.

"Yes, Lord! We will work hard! We will forge more and stronger weapons and equipment for the territory!"

...

Lin Mu left them to their work and went to the blacksmith shop's warehouse to inspect the weapons and equipment.

The blacksmith shop was currently in its early stages, so the variety of weapons and equipment it could forge was limited, including very simple common weapons like iron spears, iron swords, iron sabers, and iron hammers, as well as agricultural tools like iron plows. In fact, when Lin Mu saw them using Grade 3 Tungsten-Iron ore to make these tools, he felt like his heart was bleeding from the waste. However, knowing this was Chang Yin's instruction, Lin Mu suppressed his heartache and didn't question it further.

Ore of this grade could be used to forge Yellow-tier equipment. If the forging skill were stronger and they had the relevant blueprints, they could even forge Black-tier equipment.

For now, Lin Mu chose not to look or listen, but he had no choice. If they didn't forge these tools, the territory's development would be difficult. Being in this wilderness, he couldn't enjoy the conveniences provided by the "System Gods"; everything had to be manufactured himself.

It felt like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Lin Mu selected an iron spear and a piece of iron chainmail, while Xiao Hu chose a saber and a piece of iron chainmail, before leaving the blacksmith shop. Currently, these were the only types of common iron equipment available.

Lin Mu now intended to speak with Chang Yin about territory matters. He hadn't handled affairs for three days and didn't know how the territory's development was progressing. However, Lin Mu wasn't worried; with Chang Yin being a God-tier Scholar, managing a small territory was as easy as taking something from a pocket.

Arriving at the council hall in the center of the village, he saw a clever, lively boy standing at the door.

The boy looked about eight or nine years old, with a small, thin frame and somewhat ragged clothes. He was standing at the door, presumably on guard duty. However, his guarding posture and comical movements, combined with his youthful face trying to look serious, gave Lin Mu an urge to laugh.

"What are you doing here?" Lin Mu approached and asked intentionally.

"I'm guarding the door for Uncle Chang Yin. Who are you? I haven't seen you before. Are you new?" The child answered in a clever, cute voice.

"Haha, I'm not new." Lin Mu was also very happy. Children appearing in the territory represented the future hope of the territory, and Lin Mu cared deeply about nurturing the next generation.

Lin Mu crouched down to be at eye level with the child and asked, "What's your name, little friend?"

"My father and mother call me Gouwa. I'm eight years old. I like drinking animal milk and playing with Heizi!" The child named Gouwa answered in one go, even revealing his hobbies, haha! An eight-year-old should have weaned off milk, but since he mentioned animal milk, it was likely because his parents doted on him and gave it to him frequently.

"What an innocent and cute child! And where are your father and mother?" Lin Mu laughed and asked, patting Gouwa's dark hair.

Beside him, Xiao Hu also laughed upon hearing Gouwa's words.

Lin Mu didn't have any snacks or toys for children in his backpack, only some medicine and equipment gifted by the system; otherwise, he definitely would have taken something out to coax the child. In his past life, Lin Mu always kept small trinkets in his "treasure bag," which might prove useful at certain times.

"My parents are both working. My father is taking care of the cute little chicks, and my mother went to the tailor shop to make clothes," Gouwa answered proudly with his head held high. However, paired with his youthful face and voice, it only made him seem even cuter, causing Lin Mu and Xiao Hu to burst into laughter.

"Alright, alright, your parents are working. Then why aren't you playing? Why are you here guarding the door for Uncle Chang Yin?" Lin Mu asked, while using his hand to wipe a smudge of dirt from Gouwa's face, revealing a slightly flushed but somewhat malnourished face.

"Uncle Chang Yin took us in, arranged jobs for my parents, and gives us grain and meat to eat. He even gave me an extra piece of meat! So I thought I'd guard the door here to help Uncle Chang Yin." As if remembering the grain and meat, a look of longing appeared in Gouwa's eyes, which Lin Mu noticed immediately.

"Good boy, you're doing a great job. I'm going to see your Uncle Chang Yin now. Do you want to come along?" Lin Mu asked, while taking a piece of dried meat from his backpack. This was made by Feng Zhong during his hunts, and he had kept some for Lin Mu. Lin Mu reached out and handed it over.

Gouwa looked at the dried meat in Lin Mu's hand, thought for a moment, and then snatched it away as if afraid Lin Mu would change his mind. He then ran into the courtyard, shouting, "Uncle Chang Yin, someone is looking for you! Someone is looking for you!"

Lin Mu laughed heartily and entered the courtyard in high spirits.