A New Day

How's it going at the front?

Yan Fushou was somewhat taken aback to see the two of them arrive together. He immediately closed the forum and asked, "How many frontline soldiers participated in the arena matchmaking? Is there a risk of the frontline falling? Do we need the Strategy Group to plug the gaps?"

Wang Huai, the military representative at the front, paused for a moment, then shook his head with a strange expression and replied, "I don't know if it's because the system is cooperating with this Cross-Realm Arena —the frequency of monster spawns at the front is much lower than usual."

Although some defensive lines were indeed chaotic at the beginning of the match due to the reduced number of soldiers, there was no major disorder or loss of territory. On the contrary, ---

He paused, his expression becoming even more intriguing.

Yan Fushou was completely bewildered. "On the contrary, what is it?"

Li Shengkai chimed in, "On the contrary, it's because of the arena that the strength of the frontline soldiers has seen a qualitative leap."

"?"

Yan Fushou was slightly taken aback.

Li Shengkai explained, "As you know, the soldiers on the front lines usually clear dungeons by following the strategies provided by the Strategy Group —although they don't have the attributes of top players, it's precisely because they rely entirely on memorizing the strategies that they are so familiar with Lu Xiu's..."

Dungeons, I'm all too familiar with them.

They could even recite the enemy's attack methods and characteristics, and the entire dungeon's route!

Yan Fushou realized something and his eyes widened slightly: "You mean to say—"

"Almost every soldier matched into the arena won, and all received excellent loot."

Wang Huai replied, "The frontline defenses not only didn't collapse, but the soldiers actually experienced a collective leap in strength! Although detailed data hasn't been fully compiled yet, based on the initial summary, every soldier who entered the arena received a huge amount of Survival Points, as well as rare, high-rated combat items, skills, and equipment."

Yan Fushou was stunned.

Although he had a vague premonition when he saw so many players celebrating on the forum, he still couldn't help but feel astonished when he actually heard that the front-line army had also achieved a collective leap in strength through the arena.

This is allowed?!

"So, you mean that the dungeon Lu Xiu created not only offers excellent rewards for clearing it, but now, as Cross-Realm Arena setting, it can also strengthen the frontline soldiers through combat?"

"Yes! But it's not just about strengthening; if this situation continues, or if similar cross-industry activities happen a few more times, we're even confident we can hold the front line forever!"

Wang Huai said with a hint of excitement, "--If the opposing team keeps choosing Lu Xiu's dungeon, not only the frontline soldiers, but the strength of all players in the entire Nine Provinces might undergo a qualitative change!"

Yan Fushou fell silent.

This is really----

But that's impossible.

At this moment, Li Shengkai poured cold water on the situation, shaking his head and saying, "Once the truce is over, Prison Rock will definitely conduct a review, and as long as they're not stupid, they will absolutely not touch Lu Xiu's already exposed dungeons again, at least the SS dungeons will be avoided."

This, coupled with Zhang Chongshan's defection—we still don't know exactly how much detail about the Nine Provinces folk copy he revealed to Prison Rock.

Therefore, this favorable situation where I easily won against my opponent by relying on my familiarity with the Lu Xiu dungeon should not last long.

As time goes on, it's highly likely that the two sides will still need to fight face-to-face.

"Yes----"

Wang Huai sighed, "It's a bit of a pity—if only every day could be like this."

Speaking of which...

He suddenly changed the subject, rubbed his hands together, and then looked intently at Yan Fushou: "So, Old Yan, what do you say—"

Is it possible for Lu Xiu to urgently construct several new dungeons within thirty days?

"As long as it's a completely new instance that Zhang Chongshan and Prison Rock know nothing about—if they dare to choose it, it'll be another one-sided free lunch."

It's obvious.

This frontline military representative really didn't want to give up the excellent situation he was in.

Li Shengkai also looked at Yan Fushou.

Yan Fushou finally realized why the two had come to find him.

He thought for a moment, then gently shook his head. "I could ask Lu Xiu, but the results probably won't be as good as you think—don't just focus on the current gains, don't forget that it will take us quite a while to clear Lu Xiu's dungeon."

Lu Xiu's dungeon was a nightmare for those Prison Rock players, but wasn't it also a nightmare for us Nine Provinces players at the beginning? The reason we're seeing such good results today is simply because Nine Provinces players are already very familiar with the dungeons that serve as arena scenes, especially since there was a month-long system dungeon hiatus before, giving everyone ample time to learn about her dungeon."

Wang Huai and Li Shengkai were taken aback.

The feverish mind, fueled by the enormous profits, finally cooled down a bit.

"If Lu Xiu were to release a completely new version right now—"

Yan Fushou continued, "Do you really think that players can figure out Lu Xiu's new dungeon in just a few hours of rest? Do you think the Strategy Group can come up with a strategy guide? Impossible. At that time, let alone messing with the Prison Rock players, we'll be completely clueless when we match up with them. Besides, Lu Xiu's dungeon rating can't be too low. It's questionable whether Prison Rock players will even dare to choose it later on."

"----The main reason is that the reward is just too good."

Wang Huai was silent for a moment, then rubbed his temples and said with some emotion, "I had completely forgotten about that. I got carried away by the huge profits—"

"I understand the pressure on the front lines, but let's let the new instance happen naturally."

Yan Fushou patted his shoulder. "Moreover— Lu Xiu's current dungeons don't just have SS ratings. Prison Rock has obviously participated in these kinds of activities. Looking at the forums, on the first day, most of them seemed to confidently choose the highest-rated dungeons. But after suffering this loss, will they admit defeat? Will they directly choose the lowest-rated dungeons? I don't think so. They should gradually explore lower-rated dungeons and try S-rank first."

We still have many opportunities.

Furthermore, in face-to-face combat, our players aren't necessarily going to lose, and neither are the frontline soldiers. Don't forget that Lu Xiu's dungeon isn't just about scenery—"

Upon hearing this, Li Shengkai's expression turned somewhat strange, recalling the rewards from the Lu Xiu dungeon.

The Ordinary Person's Courage, the Survival Instinct, the Loser's Obsession ----

All things considered, it seems that players from Nine Provinces are indeed quite difficult to defeat.

Putting aside everything else, they're at least very hard to kill.

The first day of the competition officially entered a seven-hour rest period at midnight.

But the players in Nine Provinces had no intention of taking a break.

Instead, they erupted into an unprecedented frenzy.

Because whether it's a frontline soldier, a top player, or an ordinary player.

What a fruitful harvest!

On the forum.

Posts showing off rewards are everywhere.

Countless low-level players became stronger in just one day.

Somewhere in the Four Seas.

A player at Sequence 9 looked at the SS skill that was now his, and at the tens of thousands of survival points that had appeared in his inventory.

I still can't quite believe it.

SS-rank skill!

He'd never seen one like it in his entire life!

And that huge amount of Survival Points ----

He was actually forced to participate in the arena, since it was a mandatory matchmaking event. He didn't want to go at all and always thought that this event had nothing to do with him.

----Sequence 9, no good equipment, the only decent skills I have are from Lu Xiu's dungeon.

What right do they have to compete?

But unexpectedly, the system forced a match.

When he was first matched with someone, he was actually prepared to die.

But what I didn't expect was...

Lu Xiu's dungeon was surprisingly difficult even for the players from Prison Rock —he and his teammates, relying on their understanding of the dungeon mechanics, somehow managed to win in the end.

Thinking of this...

He took a step back, sat on the edge of the bed, pulled the panel closer, and after repeatedly confirming that he wasn't dreaming, he let out a sigh of relief.

Then he put his hands together in prayer position.

"Thank you, Lu Xiu ----"

Chen Capital.

Longsword Guild.

Jiang Qiu sat in her office, looking at her spoils of the day, and then at the guild members' hauls—and remained silent for a long time.

This moment.

She recalled again the words Lu Xiu had spoken at the underground Training Ground of the Coordination Bureau.

At the time, she felt that Lu Xiu was too extreme, not considering the players' feelings, and making the dungeon so dark and torturous.

Lu Xiu then launched into a tirade against her.

She realized then that her thinking was naive.

But I never expected to be taught another lesson today.

Jiang Qiu slowly leaned back in her chair and sighed softly.

If the dungeons weren't so difficult, if I hadn't died again and again, cursed them over and over, and etched the dungeon process into my very bones—I wouldn't be where I am today.

If Lu Xiu had lowered the difficulty of the dungeons—we wouldn't have all of these here today.

"That's really true—"

Jiang Qiu recalled the beautiful girl with her ponytail standing on the Training Ground, looking at him with disappointment and frustration, and gently shook her head.

That's really impressive.

Coordination Bureau.

Wei Yidong was shouting loudly, "Invincible! Absolutely invincible! I casually got two SS-grade equipment pieces! Two pieces! Those Prison Rock players were like idiots in the Lu Xiu dungeon! I kited and beat them up! Hahahaha! I'm so strong!"

Shen Nian sat in the chair, glanced at him, and silently moved to the side.

dislike.

Fan Lixin, clutching his afro, found it all too noisy.

Cheng Xiu pushed up his glasses, got up, and went out.

Hey! What do you mean by this? Give me some feedback!

On the other side of Nine Provinces, the players were overjoyed.

On the other side, Prison Rock, the style is completely different.

During their truce, all the players were like they were in a funeral—they all had serious faces, and very few of them could actually smile.

Although Prison Rock did not come away empty-handed, he did occupy several areas of Chen Capital, and some players won the arena.

But this gain is negligible compared to the overall losses suffered by all players in Prison Rock.

Obsidian City.

somewhere.

A player from Prison Rock stared blankly at his empty equipment slots.

After a while.

--

She suddenly stood up, then grabbed the cup and smashed it on the ground.

"What the hell is that dungeon?!"

On the other side.

Zane sat in the chair, utterly dejected.

Somewhat devastated.

He finally crawled out of hell! He finally managed to farm some useful gear after failing in the special event! And now it's all gone again!

Lu Xiu!

Lu Xiu!!!

He gritted his teeth as he muttered the name.

Tomorrow, I absolutely cannot choose her instance again!!!

Prison Rock, Royal Court.

The Prime Minister, looking at the compiled damage report, remained motionless in the same posture.

Much later.

He suddenly looked up at the officials below, his breath coming in ragged gasps, and said, "Bring Zhang Chongshan here! Didn't he say that Prison Rock's imitation of the Nine Provinces copy was 80% accurate? I want to ask him face to face! Why is there such a big difference between 80% and 80% accuracy!"

The official lowered his head and forced a smile, saying, "Prime Minister—I was just about to report to you that Zhang Chongshan escaped from prison before the new version was released, and his whereabouts are currently unknown."

The Prime Minister's eyes widened suddenly.

"!!!"

the next day.

7 o'clock.

Matchmaking has reopened.

The familiar window reappeared before the eyes of all players in both areas.

After a successful match, countless players once again entered the arena.

Just this once.

The strategies of players Prison Rock have clearly changed.

--