"You have captured Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold. Your fame will soon spread, and Black Wind Stronghold's fearsome reputation will rise accordingly. Your Jianghu Reputation has increased by 200, triggering the corresponding main quest 'Greenwood Overlord.'" "Main Quest: 'Greenwood Overlord I'" Quest Content: Become a Greenwood Overlord of one region, defined by a commandery city, and command a ninth-rank faction; Quest Difficulty: Grade A, Rank B Quest Reward: Jianghu Reputation +500, obtain the title 'Greenwood Overlord,' 1,000 Cultivation Points, 2,000 Potential Points, and raise the realm of two random martial arts by one level."
"A rare main quest!"
After reading the notifications on the panel once more, Jiang Dali was exhilarated.
A main quest corresponding to one he had triggered was extremely rare.
Moreover, the rewards were exceptionally generous.
Previously, although he had issued players a similar quest to unify the Greenwood,
that had merely been a feast for the players. He could only receive a tiny amount of Cultivation Points and Potential Points as rewards.
Yet now, with Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold captured, he had unexpectedly triggered a main quest as well.
Most importantly, in his view, the difficulty of this quest was not a problem at all.
"Hui City is Huizhou's commandery city. Among the Greenwood strongholds surrounding Hui City, there are only Black Wind Stronghold, Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold, Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold, and Swift Wind Mountain Stronghold.
"As long as I command these four strongholds, I'll definitely become Hui City's Greenwood Overlord.
"Now that Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold has already fallen to me, Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold won't be difficult to capture either. Feng Sihai of Swift Wind Mountain Stronghold doesn't seem to be a problem, so this main quest is practically almost complete."
Jiang Dali felt extremely relaxed at that moment.
While temporarily resting at Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold, he had already sent a carrier pigeon back to Black Wind Stronghold with news of the victory, while also preparing his next plan to attack Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold.
Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold had only two leaders in charge.
One of them was Blood Finger Condensing Suan, who had already died by his hand.
The other was Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold's Great Mountain Lord, Wu Yunhong.
Though Wu Yunhong was a woman, she had firmly held the position of Great Mountain Lord of Chongfeng Mountain Stronghold, so her skills naturally could not have been weak.
However, Jiang Dali did not take her too seriously. He had already planned to set out and attack once the dead players had all regrouped.
Although the players were still extremely weak and could not be relied upon at all,
he was not really counting on them to display any combat strength. Rather, he intended to continue issuing the next stage of faction war quests and help the players rapidly grow stronger.
Only when the players became stronger could they, in turn, bolster his own strength.
At this time, after completing the second stage of the quest to unify the Greenwood, the players had once again gained a considerable amount of Cultivation Points and Potential Points.
Quite a few had even advanced to the Strength Training Realm.
Meanwhile, during his battle with Ghost Blade Ji Ming, Jiang Dali had expended a great deal of accumulated Cultivation Points to advance to the Outer Qi Realm. His strength had increased substantially, and he had recovered a great deal of internal qi and Qi and Blood during the battle itself, unleashing formidable combat power. Now, perhaps his only weakness was that his internal force remained too weak.
"Only a little over five hundred Potential Points remain. That isn't enough to raise my basic internal skill. I'll have to wait."
He had originally exhausted all his Potential Points, but after the players completed the first stage of the faction war quest, he had gained another two hundred or so Potential Points.
Added to the Potential Points gained from killing Ji Ming, Gu Sun, and the others, he had accumulated more than five hundred again.
However, raising his basic internal skill to the fifth realm, Mastery, required 1,000 Potential Points.
He was nowhere near having enough at present.
After considering this, Jiang Dali flipped through the unique original martial arts manual currently in his possession, a hint of amusement appearing on his face.
This manual was a fragment of a human-tier saber technique manual obtained by Ghost Blade Ji Ming, called "Trick Saber."
Ghost Blade Ji Ming's title had come from this manual as well.
However, when facing Jiang Dali, he had been utterly crushed by the disparity in strength and had not been able to demonstrate much of its power at all.
Jiang Dali naturally understood the value of such an original manual that was not a copied version.
Every original manual was exceedingly rare in the Comprehensive Martial World. Reading one often would naturally deepen one's understanding of that martial art and improve its proficiency.
Copied manuals could not compare to this special effect.
Furthermore, for a faction to grow and prosper, the number of original manuals in its Scripture Depository would also be a key measure of its standing in the future.
There was a saying widely circulated throughout the Jianghu: "All martial arts under heaven come from Shaolin." Part of the reason for it was that the martial arts stored in Shaolin's Scripture Depository were the richest in all the land.
He put away the manual.
Jiang Dali then picked up the treasured saber Ghost Blade Ji Ming had used to sever the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber and examined it.
As the blade turned, a cold gleam reflected across his face, carrying such sharpness that it made one's hairs stand on end.
"Ghost Head Saber Grade: Third-grade famous weapon Weight: 88 jin, 3 liang, 2 qian Damage: 30–37 Description: The famous Ghost Head Saber forged by Master Craftsman Gan Hu. Its blade incorporates century-old black iron, capable of cutting iron like mud. Sturdy and durable, it is extremely valuable."
"A good saber! What a pity."
Jiang Dali studied the Ghost Head Saber for a moment, inwardly lamenting its shortcomings.
The Ghost Head Saber weighed more than twice as much as the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber. Its ability to cut iron like mud and its sturdy durability suited his tastes perfectly. In terms of damage, it was nearly four times stronger than the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber's mere 6–8 damage, and it could easily pierce the Golden Silk Armor's 15–17 defense.
But unfortunately, this saber lacked nine rings, making it unsuitable for unleashing his saber technique to its fullest.
The Nine-Ringed Golden Saber had a thick blade, with nine iron rings threaded through its spine. Its tip was flat rather than pointed forward, its handle was somewhat thin and heavily curved, and there was a ring at the end of the hilt.
The rings of the Nine-Ringed Saber further enhanced its chopping power. When the saber was held upright, the metal rings hung down, shifting the weapon's center of gravity toward the hand and making it easier to control.
And when facing an enemy, shaking the hanging rings was highly effective at intimidating them.
Compared with the Ghost Head Saber, Jiang Dali was more accustomed to using the Nine-Ringed Golden Saber.
Remembering that Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold now had a blacksmith, Jiang Dali immediately stated that he wished to meet him.
"Stronghold Master, please take a seat. This lowly one will summon Blacksmith Zhang at once!"
A quick-witted bandit leader said obediently.
"No need!"
Jiang Dali stood up. "I'll go meet this blacksmith myself."
Led respectfully by the bandit leader, Jiang Dali soon arrived at Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold's smithy and met the rare intermediate blacksmith in the stronghold.
The man was a one-armed middle-aged man with an exceptionally sturdy and powerful build. His eyes were bright and lively, and he looked like someone with genuine skill.
Tuoshui Mountain Stronghold had changed hands, and Jiang Dali was now its new master. Naturally, the man knew this, and he respectfully bowed to Jiang Dali, his expression somewhat uneasy.
"No need for formalities. I value talented people greatly. I hear you're highly skilled at forging weapons, so I'll test you now. Pass the test, and you'll be richly rewarded!"
Jiang Dali waved his hand.
Two bandit underlings immediately stepped forward, each respectfully carrying a weapon.
The bandit holding the broken Nine-Ringed Golden Saber still looked fairly composed.
The one carrying the Ghost Head Saber, however, was visibly struggling.
"Stronghold Master, whatever your orders, this lowly one will do his utmost!"
When Blacksmith Zhang saw the two sabers, his expression grew even more constrained, and his heart filled with unease.
This imposing new Stronghold Master said there would be a reward if he passed the test.
But what if he failed? No punishment had been mentioned.
He had heard that the new Stronghold Master loved chopping off heads. Would the punishment be slapping his head around?
As Blacksmith Zhang nervously let his thoughts run wild, he glanced at Jiang Dali's arms, thicker even than his own as a blacksmith, and swallowed a mouthful of warm saliva with difficulty.
Brothers of Black Wind Stronghold, send over some recommendation votes! Also, the 80-stone bow I wrote yesterday has been changed to an 8-stone bow. Sorry, I got the unit wrong.
Before you continue