Chapter 21: First Signs of the Enemy

"Lord, my abilities have increased again! I gained 8 points of Origin Attributes. What should I do?" Xiaohu asked inquisitively from the side.

In truth, Xiaohu hadn't killed as many monsters as Lin Mu, but his leveling speed was faster than Lin Mu's. Lin Mu was quite envious of the leveling speed of these NPCs.

What made Lin Mu even more envious and resentful was that gaining one level provided 8 points of Origin Attributes. If he had such talent, he would punch the South Mountain Nursing Home, kick the North Sea Kindergarten, knock down everyone under one meter tall, and roar in the mortuary, "If you're not convinced, stand up! Every single one of you who can still breathe!"

Uh, no, it should be: "Punch Lu Bu, kick Zhao Yun, knock down Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan, and roar in Tokyo City, Japan: 'If anyone is dissatisfied, step up and face your death!'"

...

"Haha, alright then. For now, put all your points into Martial Might. Become a brave general," Lin Mu instructed.

"Mm-hmm." After a moment of silence, Xiaohu finished allocating his points. Xiaohu was now Level 2 and had gained 16 Origin Attribute points. After allocation, his Martial Might reached 17, with one Origin Attribute point remaining. His combat power was on par with Lin Mu's, but Lin Mu was confident he could take Xiaohu down; his own years of combat experience meant he was more than what his surface combat power suggested.

The attribute allocation of native NPCs was generally handled by the NPCs themselves; they possessed subjectivity and autonomy, which Lin Mu knew. However, they could also follow the advice of others. For instance, Xiaohu was extremely obedient to Lin Mu, treating Lin Mu's words like imperial decrees—whatever he said was right.

As Lin Mu's level rose, so did Xiaohu's! The squad's strength increased accordingly.

Unfortunately, the Level 10 Wolf King didn't drop a single item. The system's drop rate was truly frustrating...

Next, they would head deeper into the area, where the beasts should have even higher levels.

For several consecutive days, Lin Mu and Xiaohu spent their time leveling and fighting. At night, they stayed out in the wild, finding a sheltered spot away from rivers to rest. This was generally fine; such short-term exposure to the elements was nothing to a veteran like Lin Mu, but Xiaohu found it a bit difficult to bear. Although he didn't complain to Lin Mu, his morale was low, and he often looked dejected.

He was still young and had experienced little of the hardships of sleeping in the wild.

During this time, Lin Mu logged off to eat breakfast, performed some quick physical exercises, and then logged back in. He was afraid that if he disappeared for too long, the young boy Xiaohu might become frightened. After all, spending the night alone in the wilderness could easily invite feelings of loneliness and fear, especially for a youth of his age!

Lin Mu was an experienced traveler; he knew these hardships and knew how to comfort Xiaohu. Seeing Xiaohu's dejection, Lin Mu immediately motivated him, reigniting his morale.

During these days of leveling, announcements in the Huaxia Region were constant. Many players had begun establishing territories, and the BattleNet forums had started seeing guides for Village Building Tokens. Lin Mu followed the news briefly; most were large guilds using human wave tactics to seize strongholds to obtain tokens, while others were conquering system villages—specifically, the villages of the Great Han Dynasty.

As long as they weren't massacring villagers and commoners, and instead used quest methods or purchased villages directly, the system allowed it. The Han government wouldn't interfere with these small, outlying villages, but the taxes paid by conquered villages to the government remained at 50%, just as before. This was an exorbitant tax rate, the same as that imposed on commoner villages. Excessive taxation is fiercer than a tiger!

However, the players who had obtained territories were celebrating their development. After all, having one's own territory meant the dream of world hegemony was not far off. Wasn't the goal of playing games to live freely, traverse the world, make a name for oneself, and be revered by thousands?

Moreover, the wealthy and the social elite knew that this game contained the secrets of human evolution. Constant development was for the sake of a better life in the future.

Furthermore, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era, smoke rose from every corner and wars were constant; everyone harbored the ambitions of a warlord! A territory was the foundation; though small, the future it could carry was limitless.

Just think about Liu Bei—did he not start from a tiny territory to become one of the overlords of the Three Kingdoms?

Everyone had pursuits. Some players who obtained territories sold them on the forums to strike it rich overnight, which drew intense attention to the forums and drove countless players to crazily hunt for Village Building Tokens and conquer system villages.

Lin Mu did not judge them, nor did he criticize them for not understanding this world and giving up the chance to become a Lord. Everyone had their own world. The 2 billion people of China had 2 billion different worlds, 2 billion dreams, 2 billion ideas, 2 billion worldviews, and 2 billion sets of values. There was no right or wrong; it simply depended on the perspective from which one viewed the problem.

Obtaining a massive sum of money might be beneficial for those ordinary players, especially when compared to the ethereal prospects of warlord destiny, national fortune, or cosmic fate; ordinary players focused more on their actual lives.

The myth of sudden wealth began to attract massive social attention. Many television stations and various virtual holographic platforms were paying close attention to *Mythical World*. More and more commoners were joining the game, which could be seen as a positive driving force.

In the past, Lin Mu had also yearned for such a life, hoping to encounter a miracle, obtain a Village Building Token, sell it to become a tycoon, and improve his life. He also hoped that after obtaining a territory, he could develop it himself and become a local warlord...

Counting carefully, there were only 8 villages established or conquered in the Huaxia Region; including his own, there were only 9, which was still extremely few.

As the number of village territories increased, Lin Mu remembered that the system would open a Village Building Token Dungeon. The specific condition was likely that 100 territories had been born within a certain region. In other words, once the number of territories reached 100, the system would open a dungeon to obtain Village Building Tokens. There were 10,000 tokens in that dungeon: Yellow-grade accounted for 80%, Black-grade for 18%, and Earth-grade for 2%. There were no Heaven-grade tokens.

The dungeon was quite difficult, and early-stage players would be unable to clear it. Once their levels, equipment, and skills improved, their chances would grow. However, no matter how difficult a dungeon was, players always had a chance to clear it. Once they had a specific goal, the power players exerted became greater and more targeted; this was one of the resilient aspects of players.

However, the Huaxia Region was a mixed bag of people. With countless large powers and massive conglomerates investing heavily, many Village Building Token Dungeons had already been cleared.

The thought of those major powers mobilizing hundreds of thousands or even millions of people was terrifying. Lin Mu needed to work very hard; otherwise, if he were caught, their foundation would make destroying him as easy as a tsunami swallowing a small boat.

*Keep going, keep going!* Lin Mu constantly encouraged and reminded himself in his heart.

After several days of leveling, Lin Mu was now Level 5 with 18 Martial Might. To Lin Mu's envy and jealousy, Xiaohu had risen to Level 8 with 32 Martial Might, and his combat power had soared to 3,200. The speed of his growth was like a rocket, demonstrating the terrifying potential of high talent.

The monsters on the plains were no longer a match for Xiaohu in a single exchange, so his leveling speed dropped sharply. Lin Mu and Xiaohu decided to enter the perilous Qilian Mountains.

At the same time, Lin Mu wanted to scout for the traces of the four large strongholds mentioned in the system.

The trees were lush and green, weeds grew in abundance, and deeper in, ancient trees towered toward the sky while old vines coiled like twisted ropes amidst the swirling mist.

The Qilian Mountains were continuous, with peaks shrouded in clouds and steep rocky cliffs. The roars of beasts echoed incessantly through the mountains. Standing at a distance looking at the Qilian Mountains, one might feel a sense of grandeur, as if swallowing ten thousand miles or riding upon the clouds.

Lin Mu couldn't help but recall a line of poetry: *“A thousand mountains, the birds have flown; ten thousand paths, no human trace remains.”*

However, the birds had not flown away; instead, there were ten thousand birds in the forest and teeming beasts. The phrase "ten thousand paths, no human trace remains" was quite fitting for the atmosphere.

The heavy peaks and ridges rose into the clouds like a fairyland. Such scenery didn't exist in reality, which was part of what attracted countless travel-loving players to *Mythical Three Kingdoms*.

The countless dangers in the mountains could not deter the wandering hearts of travelers.

Currently, the system had not yet enabled the real-time streaming function, so players couldn't broadcast to BattleNet. Otherwise, many players would present the vast landscapes and fairyland-like scenery to everyone.

Streaming could be considered a major feature of virtual games. Real-time broadcasts of player combat, boss fights, and competitions all garnered extremely high popularity, and the official virtual game companies collected various fees to amass wealth.

Lin Mu knew that once the streaming function of *Mythical World* was opened, countless players would make a fortune from it.

In modern society, fighting stars are often more popular than some actors or singers; in reality, people do tend to value martial prowess and combat.

Furthermore, the secret of how *Mythical World* affected the physical body was slowly being revealed to the world.

...

At the foot of a peak on the outskirts of the Qilian Mountains, Lin Mu and Xiaohu had spent half a day trekking to reach this point.

Lin Mu calculated in his head: from here to the village, it would take about five days on foot. If running at full speed, it would take about 2 to 3 days. If they had mounts, like good horses, it would take even less time.

Through several days of training, Xiaohu was slowly adapting to this lifestyle. His youthful face was gradually becoming more resolute, and his gaze was sharpening. Lin Mu was very satisfied with Xiaohu's performance; a person's growth is a process and cannot be achieved overnight by pulling on seedlings to make them grow.

To become a person of status, one must put in more effort than others.

The iron spears and leather armor of Lin Mu and his companion were starting to look worn. After several days of combat, the durability of their equipment and weapons had dropped significantly. If durability reaches zero, the equipment will be destroyed and cannot be repaired. If there is still durability left, it can be restored to like-new condition at a blacksmith shop.

When leaving the territory, Lin Mu had brought as many extra iron spears as possible, but he only had a few pieces of leather armor, and he couldn't carry much more. Without the protection of leather armor, they would get injured during combat. Currently, recovery medicines were scarce, and relying on natural body recovery would take an unknown amount of time and was extremely inefficient.

On the outskirts of the Qilian Mountains, common medicinal herbs began to appear, which were not found in the Yinglong Valley plains. Lin Mu continuously used his Gathering skill, and the herbs in his backpack slowly increased: Hemostatic Grass, Red Leaf Flower, Qi-Restoring Flower, low-year Ginseng, low-year Green Lingzhi... these were all common Grade 1 herbs. Once they reached Grade 1, they could be used to manufacture some Grade 1 pills, such as Yellow-grade [Blood Recovery Pill], Yellow-grade [Stamina Pill], and various levels of [Blood Qi Pill]—low, medium, and high.

Lin Mu only gathered mature herbs; he left the immature ones so he could transplant them later once his territory had herb farmers.

In places where humans are rare, resources are abundant. This place would be his in the future; he would monopolize all the resources here. Haha, he was going to be rich!!

Lin Mu turned into a hardworking little bee, constantly moving around...

Meanwhile, Xiaohu cleared the beasts nearby. Xiaohu was neither a butcher nor a herb farmer and lacked the gathering skill. Although he could manage to gather some, his efficiency was very low. Not wanting to waste these resources, Lin Mu instructed Xiaohu to clear the surrounding beasts.

...

After filling his backpack slots, Lin Mu abandoned other resources and called Xiaohu to walk along a small path. There should be signs of human habitation here; otherwise, this path wouldn't be so well-maintained for human walking.

Following the path, Lin Mu and Xiaohu slowly ventured deeper into the mountains. The cries of apes and roars of tigers became more frequent and clearer, echoing incessantly, but neither of their expressions changed.

For now, no poisonous insects or venomous beasts had appeared on these mountain paths, which was good news. Otherwise, without detoxification pills, the two of them would certainly have to turn back.

After walking for an unknown amount of time through dense jungle and rugged mountain paths, Lin Mu finally saw a wisp of smoke rising as the sky began to darken. That was the sign of humans cooking!

Lin Mu was overjoyed; he had finally found signs of life! Once you know where they are, things become easier.

Lin Mu whispered to Xiaohu, "There is a large stronghold ahead. Walk softly and be careful!"

"Mm!" Xiaohu nodded in understanding. Lin Mu had already mentioned this situation to him on the road.

Lin Mu did not continue along the path but instead led Xiaohu to forge a new way, making difficult progress toward a mountain peak.

When Lin Mu reached the side of the peak and looked down, a massive stronghold came into view.

The stronghold was situated in a large valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. The fourth side faced the direction from which Lin Mu had come, and the terrain there was flat, with farmland cultivated for the stronghold's crops.

Standing on the southern peak, Lin Mu and Xiaohu could overlook the entire stronghold.

Looking at the surface of this stronghold, one could not judge whether it was a bandit camp or a civilian village; further investigation was needed.

The light figures of Lin Mu and Xiaohu began to approach the stronghold. Lin Mu prayed silently in his heart, hoping it was a civilian village; otherwise, since it wasn't far from his village, it could easily lead to an expedition to raid and plunder his territory.