Chapter 54: A Lord's Promise is Worth a Thousand Gold!

"Ding!" A pleasant system notification rang in Lin Mu's ears.

"—System Notification: Lord Lin Mu, due to the Chief of Qingfeng Village leading the entire village to submit to True Dragon Village, your territory series mission has reached the second stage: [Occupy Qinglong Village]. Since you have completed the first stage mission, the system grants a special reward: Prestige +100, Command +1!"

The prestige reward was as stingy as ever; gaining only 100 prestige for subduing a large mountain fortress meant it would take ages to accumulate a million or more. However, the +1 Command was quite good; basic attributes were always extremely important and rare.

"Gao Hai, can you tell me about the situation regarding your specialty, the [Marching Pouch]?" Lin Mu asked with an expectant look. He wouldn't worry about the second stage mission, [Occupy Qinglong Village], as he would complete it very soon.

"Actually, the Marching Pouch is based on my family's secret recipe. Because our Gao family benefited from the shadow of our ancestors, we inherited a very rare technique for producing marching supplies. Consequently, the production technology for the [Marching Pouch] has received great treatment. Our family was once very prosperous and earned countless merits within the Great Qin Empire. The clan was flourishing, and heroes emerged in every generation. Unfortunately, what brought us success also brought our downfall. For unknown reasons, the once-mighty Great Qin Empire collapsed overnight. Our clan suffered a massive blow and began a downward spiral, eventually declining to our current state. It is truly lamentable!"

Hearing Gao Hai's lament, Lin Mu was shocked. He hadn't expected Gao Hai to be a descendant of a remnant official of the Great Qin Empire. As expected of someone born into a noble family; even though they had declined, a broken ship still has three pounds of nails—a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. Perhaps the Gao family played a part in the Great Qin Empire's invincible conquest of the world. Thinking of the invincible Great Qin, Lin Mu felt a surge of excitement.

"I did not realize Chief Gao was a descendant of a renowned clan. Please accept my bow! With the assistance of the Gao family, our territory will be like a tiger with wings or a fish in water! I, Lin Mu, hereby promise that if your Gao family assists me with all your might, I will never fail you, and perhaps I can restore the prosperity of your ancestors! I hope we can advance hand in hand, braving the turbulent currents and forging ahead together!" Lin Mu bowed slightly and made a resonant promise.

Lin Mu rarely made promises. Previously, he had only promised to protect his people during the first banquet in True Dragon Village. This was his second promise, which showed how much he valued the Gao family's specialty technology.

"Good, good! My offering of our specialty is also in the hope of restoring our family's former glory and the honor of our ancestors! For this purpose, our Gao family is willing to give our lives and resolve any difficulties for my Lord!" Even his form of address had changed, shifting from "Lord" to "My Lord," suggesting they had completely submitted to him.

"Ding!"

"—System Notification: Due to your promise, Gao Hai's Loyalty +20. Currently reached: Fanatic!"

A lord's word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Having received Lin Mu's promise, Gao Hai would follow him to the death.

Since Lin Mu lacked the inspection skill and Gao Hai had not yet been registered in the household, he could not view his attributes. However, since the system indicated that the 20-point loyalty increase had reached the 100-point "Fanatic" threshold, Gao Hai's loyalty must have been above 80.

As expected, this promise was extremely important.

In the ancient setting of *Mythical Three Kingdoms*, the promises made by lords and leaders were vital, perhaps because they were recognized by the "System God." Although there were no explicit system prompts, if a person made a promise and failed to fulfill it or broke it, the consequences would likely be extremely severe.

While reading historical books, Lin Mu recalled a story: the hegemon Cao Cao, driven by lust for a man's wife, allowed Zhang Xiu's sister-in-law to serve him in bed and failed to treat Zhang Xiu's family well, breaking his word. Consequently, Zhang Xiu rebelled and defeated Cao Cao, forcing him to flee like a stray dog. Cao Cao even lost his eldest son, Cao Ang, and his great general, Dian Wei—a case of losing both the lady and the soldiers.

Back then, Cao Cao had advisors falling like rain—super-strategists like the genius Guo Jia, the statesman Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, Xun You, Cheng Yu, and more—but peerless generals were few and far between. If Cao Cao had as many fierce generals as Liu Bei, the Three Kingdoms era would not have happened; it would have been an entirely different version of history.

Unfortunately, history is history; there is no right or wrong, and there are no "ifs."

In *Mythical Three Kingdoms*, a character's promise was also paramount. Some earth-shattering promises, if they received the mandate of heaven and caused celestial phenomena to change, brought countless benefits, but the consequences of breaking them were equally dire.

Lin Mu thought of an epic plotline, which was also a promise recognized by the Heavenly Dao: the Peach Garden Oath, where the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei made promises to each other!

At that time, heavenly omens appeared, auspicious signs filled the sky, and even a system announcement was triggered, causing a massive impact. It was a truly heavy promise.

Lin Mu had often wondered maliciously with other players: if one of them had broken such a promise, what would have happened? Would they have been struck dead by divine lightning from the system?

However, because their promise was so heavy—though their words were few, their sentiment was as thick as Mount Tai—Liu Bei's hegemony rose from nothingness with the help of his two divine general brothers, eventually contending for the world!

Countless players had tried to recruit Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, using every trick in the book to no avail; perhaps it was because of that Peach Garden Oath!

Lin Mu's thoughts drifted from Gao Hai to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, even planning to dig up the very foundation of the hegemon Liu Bei. A smile unconsciously played on his lips.

Seeing Lin Mu's smile, Gao Hai's hair stood on end, and he broke into a cold sweat. Was his Lord truly as reliable as he appeared? But since he had already submitted, he had to do his utmost, the fanatic Gao Hai thought to himself.

"My Lord, since our village already possesses the specialty [Marching Pouch], how do you intend to arrange it? Do you wish for us to move back to True Dragon Village to manufacture them, or stay here?" Gao Hai interrupted Lin Mu's reverie.

"Ah, I have already considered it. We will manufacture them wherever it is most convenient. What are the materials required for the [Marching Pouch]? If True Dragon Village can produce them, it would be best to settle there for production!" Lin Mu snapped back to reality and asked.

"Aside from the two rare primary materials, [Void Mink Skin] and [Void Mink Blood], the other auxiliary materials are very common," Gao Hai replied after a moment of thought.

"Are [Void Mink Skin] and [Void Mink Blood] produced by a beast called the [Void Mink]? Are there large populations of this beast in the Qilian Mountains?" Lin Mu inquired immediately upon hearing the information.

Generally, territories are established based on certain conveniences. Some rely on terrain and water, some on resources, and some on population... each is different.

One of the reasons Lin Mu established his territory in the Yinglong Valley was that the resources were abundant and the location was hidden and safe!

...

"My Lord is wise; you understand instantly. The primary materials, [Void Mink Skin] and [Void Mink Blood], are indeed collected from the [Void Mink]. However, the [Void Mink] is not a mere beast, but a rare demon beast—a low-tier demon beast possessing a special bloodline. I do not know if they exist elsewhere in the Qilian Mountains, but our family settled here specifically because the [Void Mink] appeared here!" Gao Hai explained.

"Oh? Is it the environment in the back mountains that sustains these demon beasts?" Lin Mu asked. He knew the surroundings of Qingfeng Village, but he had not yet visited the mountains behind the fortress, so he was guessing.

"It is not that the environment of the back mountains sustains the [Void Mink], but rather that there is a special Secret Realm in the back mountains where a large number of [Void Minks] live. Our ancestors were overjoyed when they discovered this Secret Realm; they never expected to find a legendary resource realm. Unfortunately, by then, our family had already declined severely. After years of hiding here, our family has only just been able to recuperate and slowly grow our population again," Gao Hai said, his tone dropping as he spoke of his family's history. To think that a once-vast clan had declined to the point where even a tiny Qinglong Village could bully them—it was truly tragic!

"What? There is actually a Resource Secret Realm!! A Resource Dungeon!!" This was the second time today that Lin Mu had jumped up in surprise. He hadn't expected this village to have not only a specialty but also a Resource Secret Realm! It was truly a blessed land.

In the players' understanding, a Resource Secret Realm was a Resource Dungeon—an inexhaustible source of resources and one of the most important sources for a territory's growth.

This was likely a special setting of the game world; otherwise, given the resources of the entire Han Empire, they would surely run out one day, no matter how vast the territory was.

Resource Dungeons were also primary targets for competition among later players and indigenous overlords, their importance comparable to the territory's land itself.

Lin Mu hadn't expected a Resource Dungeon to appear so early in the game. It seemed his luck was truly heaven-sent and his aura was overwhelming!

"However, because the grade of our village's Secret Realm is too low, the spatial capacity of the produced Marching Pouches is not very large."

"Using materials from low-tier Void Mink demon beasts, the absolute peak capacity we can achieve is a forty-eight-slot pouch! The specifications we produce are twenty-four, thirty-six, and forty-eight slots!"

"But, in our ancestral secret recipe, the forty-eight-slot pouch is not the end. With peak craftsmanship and the use of materials from Divine Beasts, one can craft the legendary Qiankun Bag! A Qiankun Bag can actually contain living creatures, unlike the crude Marching Pouch, which can only be based on quantity and is very limited. A Qiankun Bag is a small pocket dimension. Alas, alas... our skills are insufficient and our professional levels are too low. Many high-end techniques in the secret recipe were sealed away by our ancestors and cannot be viewed! Our descendants have been useless, wasting many years... sigh..." Gao Hai sighed heavily.