Unit 502, Green Mountain Apartments.
Despite being called an apartment, the interior was quite impressive.
The home Wei Yuan had arranged for Yi Tian offered over a hundred square meters of spacious living space, complete with a balcony. It also had buttons to activate a defensive barrier and call for support with a single press, all specially installed by the government.
Wei Yuan also lived nearby, which gave him a tremendous sense of security.
As for Yi Tian's old home, there was little worth missing.
The original owner of his body had been an orphan who grew up in the Qingcheng Welfare Institute. He had no parents, and even his previous home had been government-provided subsidized housing.
An orphan living safely in Great Xia until graduating from high school and participating in a class awakening ceremony would have been unimaginable in any other country.
That alone meant he could not go wrong by cooperating with Great Xia.
It was currently eleven forty-five.
There was still a little time before the Management Log refreshed its rewards at midnight.
Yi Tian opened his class holder's personal inventory and took out the [Advanced Equipment Blind Box] he had received through Profit Sharing from the Apprentice Trial.
[Advanced Equipment Blind Box: Open to receive one random piece of advanced equipment (weapon/armor/accessory). Chances: rare 50%, epic 40%, legendary 10%!]
Equipment followed the same quality rankings as classes.
Yi Tian had never expected an equipment chest from the Apprentice Trial's Profit Sharing to yield equipment of such high quality.
"Then how incredible would the special rewards from Profit Sharing be if we won the Race Championship in the future?" Yi Tian could not help imagining it.
Epic and legendary equipment were scarce worldwide.
The arrival of the Other Races had led to the occupation of many secret realms that rightfully belonged to Blue Star, leaving every country with extremely limited equipment and material production. Even high-tier class holders struggled to assemble a full set of advanced equipment.
"Open!" Yi Tian opened the equipment Mystery Box.
A moment later, a piece of golden light armor patterned with swirling yellow sand landed in Yi Tian's hands.
[Yellow Sand Armor (epic): Level 5, defense +30, physique +6, magic damage reduction 20%. Gain resistance upon taking damage: grants a shield equal to physique × 500%.]
For most class holders, epic armor was already top-of-the-line equipment.
Yi Tian immediately put it on.
Even with someone protecting him, personal defensive equipment was indispensable.
After all, plenty of extremist organizations still existed in society.
They believed the Other Races would inevitably take over Blue Star and willingly helped them fight the Human Race, using all manner of methods to hunt down promising human newcomers.
There were quite a few such traitorous organizations. Many of the Other Races had histories of supernatural power stretching back over a thousand years, with enormous populations and immense strength. Some were even rumored to have gods!
By comparison, the Human Race's path was far more arduous.
At last, midnight arrived.
A long settlement window appeared on Yi Tian's Profession Panel, along with a considerable amount of funds as rewards.
[Management Log] [Employee-Wan Jiang: Won first place in the border defense New Recruit Martial Arts Tournament. Reward: funds +7!] [Employee-Bai Qiu Li: Achieved the first clear of Qingcheng's solo dungeon-Savage Beast Ridge, on hell difficulty. Reward: funds +4!] [Employee-Bai Qiu Li: Cleared Savage Beast Ridge on hell difficulty four times. Reward: funds +0.4!] ---- [You shared Bai Qiu Li's experience from the first hell-difficulty dungeon clear-5,000 points!] [You shared your employees' monster-killing experience-26,000 points!] [Your level has increased to: level 10!] [You have reached the level required for advancement. Complete the advancement quest to advance your class and obtain a class-exclusive skill!] ------
"Looks like all my employees are working hard!"
Yi Tian beamed as he read the Management Log.
Not only had Wan Jiang taken first place, but Bai Qiu Li had also been busy, earning a first-clear achievement all by herself.
Still, with Bai Qiu Li's exceptional swordsmanship and legendary class, it was hardly surprising that she could solo hell difficulty.
Adding the 10 points he still had, his funds had recovered to 21.4.
"It looks like the funds employees earn from dungeon runs are far lower than the rewards for first clears."
After Bai Qiu Li's first clear, each additional hell-difficulty run earned only 0.1 funds.
It seemed he would have to encourage them to pioneer more new dungeons and clear new difficulties to keep the funds flowing in.
Beyond that, what delighted Yi Tian most was that he had actually reached level 10!
He really was leveling up without lifting a finger!
It was all thanks to Bai Qiu Li's hard work...
While other people needed a full day to clear hell difficulty as a team, she had run it five times in a row. Her efficiency was simply off the charts.
At last, he could advance!
Yi Tian opened his Profession Panel. In the class field, an upward-pointing upgrade button sat beside [Tier 0]. He clicked it to view the advancement quest:
[Tier 1 advancement quest: Recruit three talents with Golden Potential!] [Current progress: 2/3!]
He needed just one more gold-potential talent!
Yi Tian looked at his balance of 21.4 funds and suddenly felt very fortunate.
Thankfully, everyone he had recruited was the best of the best and could earn funds for him. Otherwise, he might have been stuck on this advancement quest for a long time.
Now that he had enough funds, he could check tomorrow for a suitable candidate.
Yi Tian was rather eager to discover the Boss's class-exclusive skill...
Central China region, Great Xia headquarters.
In a conference room, a vigorous elderly man stood before a desk, his penetrating gaze fixed on a holographic strategic map resembling a three-dimensional terrain model.
The map displayed all of Great Xia's territory, its five major theaters of war—East China, South China, West China, North China, and Central China—and the ongoing battles in each.
Beyond Great Xia lay patches of pitch-black strategic markers representing Evil Demons, as though they might devour the country at any moment.
Along Great Xia's borders were over a dozen gray and red strategic markers representing the Other Races, enemies they also had to contend with.
An ordinary person might have wanted to hit surrender just from looking at a predicament like this.
But for Great Xia headquarters, this situation had persisted for decades.
On the other side of the conference room, two officials were discussing the problems they would face that year:
"The Shadow Moon Wolf Clan in North China, the Dracula Empire in West China, and the Yagu Dynasty in East China. We'll have to compete against three of the Other Races this year..."
"Send the newcomers from South China and Central China to reinforce them, especially North China and East China. We can't afford any more trouble there."
"I heard the Void Insect Race destroyed Han Country's capital two days ago. Blue Star has lost another country."
"Han Country is close to our southeastern border. I wonder whether this will affect us?"
The officials grew increasingly dispirited as they spoke.
Just then, the elderly man at the desk suddenly said, "We won't need to worry about East China this year."
Everyone else in the conference room looked startled. "W-we won't? East China..."
"We're not abandoning East China."
Looking at the messages he had received on his satellite phone, the elderly man could not help feeling a little hopeful.
"Wei Yuan said they might be able to handle things themselves this year."
"Send the reinforcements from Central China and South China elsewhere!"
The others immediately brightened, looking thoroughly astonished.
"The Yagu Dynasty that East China is facing ranks among the strongest of the Other Races. Wei Yuan is really that confident?"
"Let's trust him for now..."
"If East China can hold on by itself, West China and North China will receive more reinforcements. They might be able to hold out too!"
Clearly.
Apart from East China, the other four regions—South China, West China, North China, and Central China—faced equally immense threats from the Other Races. But Great Xia could only take things one step at a time.
"Let's hope something changes in East China this year."
Before you continue