Famous Throughout the Land

Several hundred li away from where Jian Shang was...

Two or three hundred warhorses raced like wind and lightning, charging straight toward Yongjia City.

"Neighhh..."

Just as the system announcement sounded, a horse at the front of the party suddenly reared up, whinnying loudly. The figure on its back was graceful and alluring.

Who else could it be but Ye Caiyun?

"Jian Shang?! Could he still be at Shizhuang?"

Ye Caiyun suddenly reined in her horse. Coupled with the system announcement, it threw the party into brief chaos. She turned on her own to look toward the distant rear, muttering inwardly before smiling like a blooming flower as she thought:

"Both wise and brave, keen-minded and farsighted, versed in warfare and skilled in action, meritorious to the realm! What a grand title. Was he really that impressive? Still, it proved I hadn't misjudged him!"

"Jian Shang! The player Caiyun brought back earlier?"

Seeing Ye Caiyun's reaction, Liu Qianlou's face darkened. Jealousy, envy, and resentment surged up together as he looked at her and asked in an unnatural tone.

"Unless he killed himself, can people in this world share the same name? Even if he did kill himself, he couldn't reenter so quickly, and the cooldown wouldn't have ended yet!"

Ye Caiyun was still smiling sweetly as she looked at Liu Qianlou and replied.

"Hehe... Such an outstanding young man is indeed rare. What I value most is talent. Later, I'll hold a banquet to celebrate for him. Caiyun, could you introduce this promising young talent to me?"

The muscles in Liu Qianlou's face twitched several times before he forcibly squeezed out an unconcerned smile.

"If I could, I'd naturally be more than willing. Setting everything else aside, that special troop type alone is exceptionally rare. Forging the Sacred Court has only been running for three or four days, and there have been nearly ten system announcements. It seems no one has obtained a special troop type yet—only divine weapons, cultivation manuals, and special items!"

Ye Caiyun replied with regret on her face.

"No way? Even you can't invite him..."

Delight surged through Liu Qianlou's heart, but he put on an astonished, disbelieving expression as he asked.

"Stop making wild guesses! You've all been imagining things. I don't know him at all. When I first saw him, he deliberately caught my attention. He had a brain, and since I was heading back to the residence anyway, I simply brought him along. That's all there was to it! In this vast sea of people, after parting this time, who knows when we'll meet again?"

Before Liu Qianlou could finish, Ye Caiyun returned to her usual expression and replied slowly in an even tone.

"Caiyun, there's no need to be discouraged. It's only the lowest-grade special troop type. I'm sure we'll obtain one soon enough! If you like it, I'll let you command it when the time comes!"

Liu Qianlou was even more delighted within, hurrying to ingratiate himself with her.

"It's a deal, then. I'll thank you in advance!"

Ye Caiyun gave Liu Qianlou a captivating smile and agreed repeatedly, leaving him momentarily dazed.

"The system is unfair! We've killed plenty of barbarians along the way, and there were quite a few barbarian leaders among them. I even personally killed a Northern Di squad leader, yet I only got 2 points of Strength and 10 Merit, without even any Prestige! Meanwhile, he raised all four attributes! And didn't we kill Village Chief Shi Rong? There wasn't even a system announcement. You have to know, no player faction has occupied a town-level base yet!"

Liu Qianlou nodded heavily as though making a promise, then began shouting in indignation.

"Pay attention to the wording in the system prompt. The system doesn't speak pointless redundancies. If I'm not mistaken, Jian Shang must have led others in surrounding and killing the barbarians. That involved military strategy and planning, so his Command and Intelligence rose. During the process, he must have won the people's support, so his Politics increased. Finally, Jian Shang must have personally killed the barbarian leader, which was why his Strength rose! Besides, player factions are all busy seizing bases and developing their forces right now. They'd be lucky not to avoid the barbarians, so what player faction would deliberately go after them? That was what it meant to be meritorious to the realm! So you can't say the system is unfair. At most, it was a coincidence born of strange twists of fate!"

Ye Caiyun gave Liu Qianlou a faint glance and explained slowly, yet she was rather disappointed inside:

"Could it truly be that heroes could never pass the test of beauty?! Liu Qianlou was the legitimate son of the Liu family. He had been wise, astute, calm, capable, and steady in his actions—a dragon among men. How had he become so narrow-minded, petty, jealous, and unreasonable?"

Of course, the shrewd Ye Caiyun also knew that Liu Qianlou had said those things because he wanted to diminish Jian Shang's standing in her heart.

"He killed the village chief before, and now he personally killed a barbarian leader. That kid's luck is really good!"

Seeming to detect the dissatisfaction in Ye Caiyun's tone, Liu Qianlou gave an embarrassed smile. Though he had also learned from his subordinates that Jian Shang had killed Shi Rong mainly through calmness and adaptability rather than luck, he still had to say it that way.

"Clop, clop, clop..."

The urgent, dense thunder of iron hooves gave Jian Shang no time to ponder the meaning of the system prompt. Thinking of the pleasant surprise, he knew Sun Ji and Yang Ning deserved much credit. He immediately pressed down on his saddle, leaped into the air, and landed on the barbarian leader's mount, swiftly chasing after Jiang Yao and the others with the barbarian cavalry leader's corpse.

To Jian Shang's relief, perhaps because their leader had been killed, the barbarian cavalry chased them for only several dozen meters before turning back one after another and no longer pursuing them.

Of course, Jiang Yao, Jian Shang, and the others had been surrounded by the barbarians this time mainly because Jian Shang had killed the barbarian cavalry leader's older brother. Though that brother had been worthless and merely an ordinary barbarian cavalryman, the leader had still wanted revenge for him. The other barbarian cavalrymen, however, had no reason to take such risks.

"Are you all right?"

Since the barbarian cavalry had stopped chasing them, Jiang Yao and the others slowed down after galloping several li. Once Jian Shang caught up, Jiang Yao was the first to ask with concern. The others also wore concerned expressions, while Sun Ji and Shi Jin looked somewhat ashamed. Earlier, they had thought the barbarian cavalry had surrounded them to hunt Jian Shang down.

"Why did you even bring the barbarian's corpse back? How disgusting!"

Jiang Qing bared her teeth in a crooked grimace as she looked at the barbarian leader's corpse before Jian Shang, its blood staining the horse, and cried out.

"Thank you, everyone!"

Jian Shang beamed, completely unconcerned. He first took the hard bow and quiver hanging beneath the horse's belly and tossed them to Yang Ning. Then he pried open the barbarian leader's hand, took out a bronze curved saber, and threw it to Sun Ji as he thanked them.

If he remembered correctly, Jiang Yao and the others had seemed to mention during their earlier conversation that Yang Ning was skilled in archery.

"Thank you!"

Yang Ning was overjoyed. Rarely, he spoke up to offer his thanks, immediately caressing the hard bow with such fondness that he could not bear to put it down.

Yang Ning had long dreamed of owning a bow. Though he had previously made several himself from hardwood, they often snapped, and he had not dared take them out to use. The hard bow in his hands was entirely black, seemingly forged from dark gold, while its string was woven from heavenly silkworm silk. It should be a sharp weapon-grade item, already the weapon of Yang Ning's dreams.

"Thank you!"

Compared with Yang Ning, Sun Ji also thanked him, but while he smiled, he was not particularly excited. After all, Sun Ji disliked resolving matters through force, and he did not like sabers as weapons either.

"If you don't like it, give it to me! Don't you always say that even if a strategist carries a weapon, it should be a sword?"

Seeing Sun Ji's lack of reaction, Jiang Qing, who was staring enviously at the bronze curved saber, could not help but ask for it.

Sun Ji froze briefly. This time, he did not think much of it and instead looked toward Jian Shang.

"Since I gave it to you, it's naturally yours. You can deal with it however you wish!"

Jian Shang smiled in reply, then began searching the barbarian cavalry leader's corpse on his own. Since it had earned a system announcement and belonged to a leader-level figure, it surely would not be lacking in wealth.

"Ding! Congratulations to the player faction Peerless City for becoming the first to successfully occupy a town-level base. Special rewards: one Merit Shrine special building blueprint, one Commander's Platform, and tenfold reimbursement of occupation costs. Peerless City's leader, Wei Wushuang, receives 10 points to each of the four major attributes, 1,000 Merit, and 1,000 Prestige. May all players continue striving and create even greater glory!"

Central Plains, Anqiao County.

On the streets of Anqiao County, which had already been renamed Peerless City, a handsome and spirited man with sharp brows and starry eyes stood holding a hundred-forged steel saber, his lapels stained with blood, muttering to himself.

"Jian Shang?! The first person to obtain a special troop type!"

In Xianyang City, the capital of the Great Qin Empire, a tall, powerfully built young man in brocade robes sat in a tavern. Gazing out the window, he muttered to himself, reciting the protagonists of the system announcements from the past four days.

"Wei Wushuang of Peerless City?! Jian Shang the lone wanderer?! Xiong Ba of the Heroes' Association?! Twenty-Fourth Night of the Brothers' Alliance?! Dragon Soul of the Soul of Huaxia... Let's see who will have the last laugh!"

A true tyrant did not fight over a moment's gain or loss. Let them see who could stand proud above the storms of fate!

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