First-Tier Power

"You have joined the contest for the Core Token of Beginner Village 10021!"

"You are currently the Command Token holder. If you survive for the allotted time without being killed and without leaving the Command Token's range, you will gain ownership of Beginner Village 10021's Core Token!"

Below the system messages was a countdown.

Seeing this, Qin Shujian understood.

This was why the player he had killed with a single slash had stood there for so long without obtaining the Core Token.

A ten-minute limit did not seem like much.

In reality, however, it was deadly.

After all, with so many players fighting over it, who could guarantee they would hold out and emerge victorious among thousands upon thousands of players?

But—

Just because other players could not do it did not mean Qin Shujian could not.

He looked at the players around him, none of whom dared approach recklessly.

Qin Shujian stood with his hands behind his back, his expression cold.

The Tiger-Head Great Saber was planted in the ground, with more than half its blade buried in the soil.

At this sight, anger appeared on many players' faces.

Anyone could see that the boss's behavior showed utter contempt for them.

Had it been anyone else, these players would have swarmed them long ago.

But.

As they looked at Qin Shujian standing within the ring of light, their anger soon dissipated, leaving them feeling helpless.

If they wanted to fight,

they had to be capable of winning.

Even if they could just penetrate his defenses, this many players could overwhelm the boss through sheer numbers, reviving over and over.

But the Liangshan Stronghold Chief before them was terrifyingly powerful.

Not only were his attacks overwhelming,

his defenses were peerless as well.

With the players' current strength, they could not even penetrate his defenses.

Trying to defeat this boss through sheer numbers was nothing but a pipe dream.

At that moment,

all the players felt the game's deep malice.

"There's no way to win!" Lu Shoujia took several deep breaths, feeling utterly helpless.

It was not just him. The other faction leaders' expressions also shifted uncertainly.

Despite all the games they had played,

this was the first time they had had their faces ground into the dirt.

And yet, they lacked the strength to fight back.

Zhao Xiaomeng's expression was grim as she sighed. "After this, Beginner Village 10021 is going to be famous."

A Novice Village trampled at will by a boss.

Every player in Beginner Village 10021 shared in the humiliation.

"I'm leaving."

Cao Hong turned and walked away.

Rather than keep looking at Qin Shujian's infuriating face, he would rather put him out of sight and out of mind.

The thought of having died at the hands of Liangshan's bandits at least ten times gave him the urge to take Qin Shujian down with him.

If they really could die together, Cao Hong would not hesitate.

But.

He knew perfectly well himself.

If he actually charged forward, he would only end up pinned to the ground and beaten.

Once Cao Hong left, the others hesitated before reluctantly leaving as well.

For a time, quite a few of the players gathered in the Novice Village center quietly withdrew.

Even more, however, remained there, unwilling to give up.

They could not advance.

Nor could they retreat.

Time trickled by.

The players did not dare attack, and Qin Shujian had no interest in attacking for the moment either.

His immediate priority was to claim the Core Token.

Ten minutes was neither particularly short nor particularly long.

Soon, the countdown reached its end.

"You have obtained the Core Token of Beginner Village 10021!"

"You may choose to destroy or absorb it!"

"Destroy: the Core Token will be converted into a corresponding amount of Life Source, and Beginner Village 10021 will cease to exist!"

"Absorb: the Liangshan Stronghold Chief Token can absorb Beginner Village 10021's Core Token. After absorption, the Liangshan Stronghold Chief Token will be enhanced, and Liangshan Stronghold will advance to a First-Tier Power!"

When the countdown ended, the pale blue ring of light faded, and the floating bronze Command Token dropped into Qin Shujian's hand.

At the same time, the system messages arrived as expected.

The last two messages stirred something in Qin Shujian.

Logically speaking, Life Source was what mattered most to him. Although he did not know how much he would gain from destroying the Core Token, he reckoned it would be a substantial amount.

After all, conquering Beginner Village 10021 had taken considerable effort.

Yet when he saw the final notification, Qin Shujian hesitated.

Liangshan Stronghold would advance to a First-Tier Power!

Qin Shujian did not actually know what a First-Tier Power was.

But he could be certain of one thing: if Liangshan Stronghold advanced to a First-Tier Power, it might benefit the entire stronghold.

One choice clearly strengthened him alone.

The other would most likely strengthen everyone.

However, Qin Shujian only hesitated briefly before making his decision.

He had not forgotten.

Most of the credit for his rapid growth belonged to the other bandits, who had killed players and supplied him with vast amounts of life source.

Otherwise, working alone, he might have spent forever killing without ever reaching his current cultivation level.

Besides, looking at it another way,

as the Liangshan Stronghold Chief, strengthening Liangshan Stronghold would indirectly strengthen him as well.

If Liangshan Stronghold grew stronger as a whole,

it would certainly be able to provide him with more Life Source in the future.

So.

That was the main reason behind Qin Shujian's decision.

"Absorb!"

At a thought,

the Liangshan Stronghold Chief Token flew out from his robes and merged with the Novice Village's Core Token.

In the end,

a greenish Command Token floated before Qin Shujian.

When he grasped the greenish Command Token, the system messages refreshed once more.

"You have absorbed Beginner Village 10021's Core Token!"

"The Liangshan Stronghold Chief Token in your hand has undergone a transformation!"

"Because you are the Liangshan Stronghold Chief, Liangshan Stronghold has advanced to a First-Tier Power!"

"First-tier power: all bandits will gain two cultivation levels from their current level, up to a maximum of Martial Entry Level Six. Liangshan Stronghold's influence will expand!"

"As the Liangshan Stronghold Chief, your cultivation level will increase!"

"Because you are already at Martial Entry Level Eight, the cultivation increase has failed. You have received an additional 500 points of life source!"

Reading these messages, Qin Shujian broke into a delighted smile.

He had never imagined that advancing Liangshan Stronghold to a First-Tier Power would bring so many benefits.

Even setting everything else aside,

having every Bandit gain two cultivation levels was enough to multiply Liangshan Stronghold's overall strength several times over.

Meanwhile.

"Because the Core Token has been absorbed by the Liangshan Stronghold Chief, Beginner Village 10021 has ceased to exist. Players formerly assigned to Beginner Village 10021 will be randomly reassigned!"

"During random reassignment, you will be forcibly logged out!"

"Countdown: five seconds!"

The other players' expressions changed drastically the moment the Core Token was absorbed.

The system messages caught them completely off guard.

"What the fuck..."

Many players immediately began cursing.

But before they could say anything more, they dissolved into white light where they stood, forcibly logged out.

Please vote, please vote!!!