Chapter 41: Ancient Surrender Technique

There is no harvest without effort, and Lin Mu believed this deeply!

It was only because of Feng Zhong's presence that the territory was able to take down the King Beast, the Howling Moon Silver Wolf King, and obtain four extremely important items.

Even the priceless Village Building Token felt like the least valuable treasure in Lin Mu's possession; the importance of the other three items went without saying.

Since his territory had been established using a God-tier Village Building Token, providing him with infinite territory area, there was no need to use another token to establish a village. This Profound-tier Building Token was destined to be exchanged for money!

Arriving at the infirmary, many soldiers were still undergoing medical treatment. The atmosphere was heavy with low whispers; they did not howl because they were not afraid of pain—this was the resilient character of the natives.

Unlike Lin Mu and others who had grown up like flowers in a greenhouse, these natives lived under harsh conditions, where bleeding and sweating were part of daily life...

The trauma of war would forever remain in the hearts of these people.

Lin Mu impatiently had the territory's senior physicians study the recipe for Blood Coagulation Pills. Upon inquiry, he found that the territory's herb reserves could satisfy the recipe, meaning they could now produce the pills.

Lin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. His territory now had eight intermediate physicians and five senior physicians. Usually, since there were no major battles in the villages—only ordinary training and monster hunting for leveling—injuries were typically superficial and could be treated with ordinary Hemostatic Powder. However, today's siege and defense battle had been the most brutal since the territory's inception. Many were injured; being struck by the massive wolf beasts had torn flesh and bone, leaving the soldiers with severe wounds. Even Feng Zhong had sustained heavy injuries.

Ordinary Hemostatic Powder was no longer sufficient. Now, with the Blood Coagulation Pills, treatment and recovery would be far superior to the powder, ensuring they wouldn't have to fear deaths caused by untreated severe wounds.

In *Mythic Three Kingdoms*, if soldiers sustained heavy injuries and did not receive treatment, they would easily die.

Since his territory lacked any buildings capable of resurrecting soldiers, a soldier's death meant a permanent loss, turning them into a handful of yellow dust.

Therefore, in war, besides grain, weapons, and equipment, medicinal pills and drugs were also vital.

Furthermore, medicinal pills were considered high-end goods. If an entire army were equipped with them, even someone as wealthy as a nation would face bankruptcy! This demonstrated just how precious medicinal pills were.

After instructing the physicians to manufacture the Blood Coagulation Pills, Lin Mu immediately had them administered to the heavily wounded soldiers for recovery.

After giving his instructions, Lin Mu waited nearby; he wanted to wait for the physicians to finish refining the pills so he could bring a portion to Feng Zhong.

With the pills tucked in his bosom, Lin Mu walked directly toward the Village Council Hall...

After the village was upgraded to Advanced level, the villagers cleaned up the aftermath of the brutal battlefield. The blood-stained stones of the city walls were washed away with water, and broken stones were moved out and replaced with better ones.

The village returned to its usual days of prosperity and bustle.

In the following days, Lin Mu worked continuously with Chang Yin to handle territorial affairs. Because the village had been upgraded to Advanced, some of the territory's buildings could also be upgraded to Advanced status.

A primary village restricted initial buildings to the primary level. To upgrade them, there were three methods: one was to use intermediate or advanced blueprints directly; another was to have specialized talents command architects to complete the upgrades—previously, because Lin Mu's territory had an Expert-level Tailor, the tailor shop could be upgraded to Expert level.

The third method was to increase the territory level, which allowed buildings to be upgraded regardless of whether specific talents were present; an Advanced village could construct Advanced buildings.

The territory's resources were very abundant, and there were more copper coins than could be spent, so upgrading everything to Advanced buildings would not be a problem.

Lin Mu had been busy in the territory recently and had become very familiar with the residents. He treated them very well—kind, approachable, virtuous, and humble—leaving a very good impression on them.

In this life, because Lin Mu knew certain secrets in advance, he treated these natives exceptionally well. Much like in the real world, he did not discriminate and managed them with sincerity, wanting them to live comfortable lives.

As if by Lin Mu's merit, the current public support within the territory had actually reached 98 points.

Lin Mu did not know what the maximum value of 100 points would do for the territory. In his past life, no player territory had ever reached 100 points; unless it dropped below 50 points and risked rebellion, one could only pray to the gods.

On April 1st, Year 180, Lin Mu went to the blacksmith shop to collect weapons and to the intermediate market to list items for sale and see if there were any good finds, as was his custom.

While clearing his backpack, Lin Mu suddenly saw a book lying in one slot, shimmering with an ancient, flowing light. Beside it was an ancient treasure chest: the [Nuwa Treasure Chest].

Lin Mu thought for a moment and slapped his forehead. He had truly been overwhelmed by work. When Feng Zhong killed the King Beast, the Howling Moon Silver Wolf King, the system had rewarded him with a special skill book!

And the [Nuwa Treasure Chest] was a system reward from when he upgraded to an Advanced village.

When the village was upgrading to an Intermediate village, the massive losses sustained while defending the walls had left him feeling somewhat depressed, and the village situation at the time required his constant attention and management. In the midst of the bustle, he had forgotten.

However, it wasn't too late to look at it now.

Name: [Ancient Subjugation Technique] Tier: Wonder Trait: Inheritance-type skill, Incomplete Attribute: Allows a character to learn a skill possessing a portion of the power of ancient subjugation magic. Description: Taking the Dao as Heaven, the Law as Earth, Luck as Technique, and Humanity as the Foundation, the ancient sages created techniques to subjugate fierce warriors, soothe agitation, suppress chaos, and recruit masses. The Ancient Subjugation Technique was earth-shattering, striking terror into the hearts of enemies! However, through the passage of time and countless worldly vicissitudes, the technique has gradually declined, becoming so incomplete that it no longer possesses its ancient glory!

It was actually the Ancient Subjugation Technique! Subjugation! Haha, the skill he had long anticipated!

Subjugation, as the name implies, meant going to recruit rebels or enemies to make them his own. Their loyalty would depend on the tier and level of the skill. If it were a Grandmaster-tier Heaven-tier Subjugation Technique, its activation would be world-shaking.

If two armies had their formations set for a charge and an enemy activated a Grandmaster-tier Heaven-tier Subjugation Technique, instantly recruiting most of one's own men, what would be the point of fighting? One might as well just surrender!

In a full-scale confrontation, a silver tongue is worth more than a million soldiers!

Of course, this was merely player speculation. On a real battlefield, every commander would have special trump card skills; otherwise, being defeated by a minor player would become a global laughingstock!

Lin Mu had learned such a skill in his past life, but it was only a Yellow-tier Persuasion Technique, and he had only trained it to the Expert level. He could activate it three times a day, recruiting 150 people per use with a loyalty of 50. Such a skill was considered quite good.

He wondered how this Ancient Subjugation Technique would fare; just looking at the name, it sounded incredibly powerful.

"Ding!" "—System Prompt: Player Lin Mu, do you wish to learn [Ancient Subjugation Technique]?"

Of course!

Lin Mu tapped the book, and it instantly transformed into a stream of light that entered his head "—System Prompt: Congratulations, Player Lin Mu, you have learned [Ancient Subjugation Technique]."

[Ancient Subjugation Technique]: A Wonder-tier ancient magic. Due to unknown reasons, it is currently in an incomplete state and only possesses a portion of its power. Current Level: None, cannot be upgraded. Can be activated once per day. Upon successful activation, it can subjugate 3% of the enemy's total number. The loyalty of the subjugated individuals is 60 points. Due to its incompleteness and insufficient power, its effects may be negated by certain special effects. Subjugated individuals will spawn in the refugee camp of the player's territory.

What domineering attributes! One activation could subjugate 3% of the enemy's total force. Don't look at that 3% as small; if the enemy had a million men, one skill use would result in 30,000 people. And that was only once a day—if one did this every single day, no one could withstand it. It truly would strike terror into the hearts of enemies!

As for the possibility of being negated by special effects, he would deal with that when he encountered it!

Lin Mu wanted to dance with joy. His first skill was an incredibly powerful ancient magic. Even though it was incomplete, the attributes were top-notch.

Unfortunately, the subjugated people spawned in the refugee camp. Otherwise, during a standoff between two armies, if he used the Ancient Subjugation Technique and 3% of the enemy army defected and launched a sudden attack from within their own ranks, the strategic effect would be decisive.

Lin Mu couldn't wait to test the skill's effect.

After learning the skill, Lin Mu ran toward the Advanced Rebel Camp to the east, wanting to test the dominance of this ancient skill.

While on his way, Lin Mu casually opened the [Nuwa Treasure Chest]

Name: [Nuwa Treasure Chest] Tier: Yellow Trait: Special Treasure Chest Attribute: High chance to open Yellow-tier items, small chance to open Profound-tier items. Description: A gift bestowed upon the world by the System Saint, Nuwa. It contains countless treasures. Each chest can only be opened once and disappears after use. Opening it yields only one item, the tier of which is random. Perhaps you will obtain a coarse flatbread, or perhaps a legendary famous sword! Or perhaps, with heaven-sent luck, you might even obtain a Divine Artifact! Cherish every opportunity to open one! You may encounter them in the wild if your luck is deep, or obtain them through system competitions or special events.

The Nuwa Treasure Chest was a common chest in *Mythic Three Kingdoms*, appearing as mission rewards, system rewards, or competition rewards. Furthermore, certain fierce beasts in the wild guarded these chests. The stronger the beast, the higher the tier of the Nuwa Treasure Chest it guarded, and the higher the probability that the item obtained upon opening would be of top quality.

In his past life, because Lin Mu's starting location was in Yuzhou rather than Yangzhou, he was unaware of all the Nuwa Treasure Chests in Yangzhou during the early stages, making it impossible to seek them out in advance—a small regret.

Lin Mu knew the locations of many Nuwa Treasure Chests in Yuzhou, but he couldn't even leave the Yinglong Valley, let alone travel to a place as far as Yuzhou.

"Divine Artifact! Great Goddess Nuwa, please grant me a Divine Artifact!" Lin Mu shouted in his heart. This was his universal blessing when opening a Nuwa Treasure Chest, a way to give himself hope. In his past life, many players used this phrase when opening chests! Although it provided no actual luck bonus, it offered peace of mind.

The Nuwa Treasure Chest was Yellow-tier, but what if his luck exploded and he pulled a Divine Artifact? Although no player had ever pulled a Divine Artifact, the description of the Nuwa Treasure Chest allowed for it: those with deep fortune could indeed obtain a Divine Artifact!

"Ding!" "—System Prompt: Player Lin Mu, you have opened a Yellow-tier [Nuwa Treasure Chest] and obtained the [Purple Cherry Helmet]."

Name: [Purple Cherry Helmet] Tier: Yellow Trait: Helmet Attribute: Defense +50, Durability 150/150. Description: Purple tassels adorn this sturdy helmet, representing the longing and blessings of an unnamed young woman for her partner who has left home for the battlefield.

It was actually equipment, which was very good. Although he had been shouting for a Divine Artifact, pulling one from a Yellow-tier Nuwa Treasure Chest was millions of times harder than winning the lottery in real life.

He was currently lacking equipment for the helmet slot. Although it sounded a bit feminine, a helmet providing +50 defense was well worth it.

Thus, Lin Mu equipped the Purple Cherry Helmet. His current equipment consisted of the Clear Astral Spear, Purple Sable Fur Coat, Deerhide Boots, and the Purple Cherry Helmet.

His equipment was still sparse. He did not equip the Azure Wolf Iron Shield himself, instead letting his subordinates use them. When defending the walls, it was because the soldiers had the Azure Wolf Iron Shields that they could withstand the sharp claws of the Howling Moon Wolves; otherwise, there would have been even more casualties.

With the helmet equipped, Lin Mu finally possessed a hint of the majesty of an ancient, mighty general! Unfortunately, he was still as weak as a newbie.