Immortal Bastion

At noon the next day, Chen Yi was meditating when Ethan arrived outside the tent, his face full of excitement.

It was here!

The corners of Chen Yi's lips curled up slightly.

"Come in."

Just as Ethan was about to ask something, he heard Chen Yi's voice and immediately lifted the tent flap and walked in.

"Brother Yi, good news! The Empire is finally making a move against those Vassal States, and General Darius himself will be leading the army on this expedition."

"Those kings use hereditary power and hollow titles to force people to kneel, while Noxus wants them to stand and drag those self-righteous kings down from their thrones."

Chen Yi gave Ethan a strange look. Could the simpleton in front of him really have come up with lines like that?

Ethan had finally finished reciting the contents of the order, yet he did not see any excitement on Chen Yi's face, which left him a little disappointed.

When he had first read that magnificent order, he had been excited for half an hour straight, itching to march out with General Darius on the spot.

Ethan did not dwell on it any longer and said with some regret, "Unfortunately, the Recruit Camp didn't receive a conscription order. Otherwise, I'd really like to find out whether a king's head feels any different."

Chen Yi did not know the answer to that either. "There will be a chance someday."

Ethan nodded. There were countless small nations across the Runeterra Continent.

Under SivHD's leadership, he would have plenty of chances to test it sooner or later.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Ethan continued, "But Brother Yi isn't included in that. You're a player and don't belong to the Recruit Camp. With your strength, Brother Yi, there's no need for you to train here."

"Speaking of which, I'm curious. Why were you Teleported to the Recruit Camp? That person..."

Remembering something, Ethan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Brother Yi, I've already written you a recommendation letter. You only need to take it to the Immortal Bastion and enlist."

Chen Yi looked delighted. "Thank you, Mr. Ethan."

After chatting briefly with Ethan, Chen Yi took the recommendation letter and set off for the Immortal Bastion, the capital of Noxus.

The Recruit Camp was located in Drek'Thar, not too far from the Immortal Bastion.

The land of Noxus was extremely barren. The soil in Chen Yi's hand had the texture of sand.

This was not caused by desertification, but because the soil contained a small amount of dark power.

By the feel of it... it was probably power aligned with the dead and Undead Spirits.

A simple structure formed in his mind in an instant, and flames ignited in Chen Yi's hand.

As the flames burned, black smoke slowly rose from the soil in his hand.

"This power can be removed, but the Fire Elemental isn't suited for this sort of thing. Even after removing the dark energy, it would be difficult for plants to grow in the soil."

The soil in Chen Yi's hand scattered in the wind. He shook his hand, and the flames went out.

The state of the land alone made it clear why Noxus loved invasion. It was a policy necessary to sustain the nation's development.

Along the way, Chen Yi encountered a great many bandits.

Some were beggars, some were mercenaries, and some were even soldiers from Vassal States.

Under Noxus's harsh rule, no one dared cause trouble inside the cities.

But outside the cities, things were different.

The only thing Chen Yi did not understand was why they all came after him.

This was already the sixth time along the way. Did he look rich, or did he look easy to bully?

"I have a question. Why does everyone like coming after me?"

The six mercenaries opposite him had barely bothered to hide themselves. They had casually covered the lower halves of their faces with black cloth and come out to rob him.

Yet Chen Yi's question made the mercenaries laugh.

"Look, brothers, I told you he was definitely a big catch."

"The kind of young master with a wealthy family who reads a few ranger biographies and comes out to seek adventure."

"Look at his fair skin and that confused expression. Don't tell me he's from Piltover."

"You're lucky you ran into us. We'll teach you what the cruelty of the world really means."

"We don't ask for much. Have your family pay the ransom. And take off your clothes while you're at it, so the few of us can have some fun."

Chen Yi's expression darkened. It was not that he enjoyed killing.

Boom!

Fireballs fell amid the mercenaries' horrified gazes, followed by an unending barrage of them. It continued for more than a minute.

Only when the area where the mercenaries had been standing had been smashed several meters into the ground did Chen Yi stop.

The pockmarked ground radiated intense heat. The mercenaries were gone, and even their weapons had been melted by Chen Yi.

What bad luck!

Besides having many bandits, Noxus also had an enormous number of poor people.

No one here would choose to help them. Demacia was the one willing to help commoners, while this was Noxus.

A nation that carried the law of the jungle to the extreme!

Naturally, Chen Yi was not the sort to meddle in other people's affairs.

Following the river, Chen Yi spent half a day reaching the Immortal Bastion.

From afar, he saw a towering structure made of Blackstone, shaped like an archway.

Noxus's Arch!

The symbol of Noxus's power.

Whenever it conquered a piece of land, Noxus's Arch would be built there to signify that the land belonged to Noxus.

"A player?"

"Yes. This is my recommendation letter."

Barona, the dark-skinned beautiful female officer dressed in cool attire, gave Chen Yi an odd look.

This was the first time she had encountered a player coming to enlist.

The recommendation letter stated that Chen Yi needed a great deal of War Merit and possessed formidable strength, though exactly how formidable was unknown.

Bang!

Barona drew the dagger at her waist and drove its sharp blade straight into the wooden table. "I don't know how you convinced the commander of a thousand at the Recruit Camp, but now! Immediately! Go back to wherever you came from!"

Clearly, she did not believe a player Teleported to the Recruit Camp could possibly be very strong.

Here it came again!

Again!!

Chen Yi was already getting tired of this. Did he look young, so everyone thought he was easy to bully?

"Can I take this as... you provoking me?"

Heat spread outward from Chen Yi.

In an instant, the temperature in the surrounding area began rising rapidly, just like the Wrath in Chen Yi's heart.

Scorching! Violent! Like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Fire Intent on the panel quietly rose by two levels.

The temperature climbed even higher.

The nearby spectators cried out in alarm. The heat made breathing difficult, and they hurriedly backed away.

Some entertainment was not so easy to watch.

The person standing closest was hit by the heat wave, and her brown hair began to dry and scorch.

She seemed to see a Fire Snake licking at her, ready to swallow her whole at any moment.

When she came back to her senses, there was no Fire Snake.

There was only that seemingly young powerhouse before her, along with the ever-rising temperature.

She hurriedly dropped to one knee and apologized, "I'm sorry, my lord!! Please spare me."

Barona received no response to her apology. Even though she could not see him, she felt as though she could be burned alive by flames at any moment.

Only a short moment had passed, yet to her it felt unbearably torturous.

"Hmph!"

Noxus had its own order within its cities. Unprovoked slaughter was forbidden, and Chen Yi was not yet qualified to challenge Noxus's rules.

As Chen Yi withdrew his aura, the temperature around them slowly began to fall.

Amid the respectful gazes of the crowd, Chen Yi took the enlistment token, a Blackstone badge representing the strong.

Not far away, a woman watching for entertainment stared curiously at Chen Yi. "Is that... a Blademaster? No, he doesn't have the sharp presence of a Blademaster. Strange, truly strange."

"My intuition tells me he's a mage. Was that some kind of magic just now?"