Chapter 117

Shen Xing took off his glasses and stared intently. Sure enough, a semi-transparent blue panel appeared before his eyes.

The table clearly lists all the stats and skills, exactly the same as in the game.

Of course, as the system says, it has no other functions besides viewing.

It's equivalent to the basic version of the Pioneer's panel.

"Although it doesn't have any other features, it's still a very important update."

"Common can use this data to assess their physical fitness and daily progress."

"It can even be applied to the medical industry; in the future, when you go to see a doctor, you can simply report your test results and condition."

Shen Xing thought happily and continued to check the next item.

The second update is the allocation of new slots, which means that a bunch of newbies will be coming in to play (and suffer).

"The player's initial territory is randomized, which is a part that depends a lot on luck."

"Leaving aside the number of resource points near the territory, if they appear near a player's territory like Gideon's, then we're doomed."

Shen Xing shook his head and continued checking the third update.

This one is related to the game; it actually reduced the drop rate of soul fragments and increased the drop rate of Soul Stone.

This update has both advantages and disadvantages.

The downside is that it's now more difficult for players to develop high-potential units.

The advantage is that players have more Soul Stone in the early stages, which is enough to develop their territory or upgrade their troops, so they don't have to be as careful with their resources as Qin Lang and the others.

"It seems the system wants players to focus on territorial development and balance troop development."

"After all, given the current situation, upgrading troop types yields the highest returns. Many Apprentice Rank players already have hundreds of troop types, yet their territories still only have a few small wooden houses."

"However..." he paused slightly, "This is actually a good thing for me, since I have one chance a day for [Life-Sacrifice Evolution], so I'm not short of souls at all."

"Furthermore, I've also been focusing on developing my territory."

"Could it be... that I really am the chosen one of this version?"

Shen Xing narrowed his eyes slightly.

Let's continue analyzing the next update.

The fourth point is about resource point refreshes. My quarry and lumber mill in my territory were almost depleted, so it's a good time to replenish them.

"In addition, the system notified me that there are a few high-level resource points nearby, and my territory should have some as well."

"I'll call Xia Wanyin over then, and use her abilities to help me investigate."

Next up is the biggest update, and also the most important one.

Major expansion pack – Rain of Weeping!

After watching the trailer, Shen Xing understood why it was raining.

So it turns out that some deity who has been asleep for many days has awakened, is grumpy in the morning, and has been crying the whole time.

It seems this Rain God is a crybaby too.

Huh? The crybaby Rain God... that sounds kind of cute, doesn't it?

Ahem, I've digressed. Let's get back to the update.

This time, a [Points Leaderboard] has also been launched.

Earn points by defeating monsters in the fog.

However, only lords below the Transcendent Rank can compete for this list.

Players at the Transcendent Rank or above can redeem rewards through the Points Shop.

"The reason for this distinction is probably that the system considered that there were too many new players this time, and that they wouldn't be able to get many points with their current skill level, so this leaderboard was introduced."

As Apprentice Rank player, Shen Xing naturally doesn't have Points Shop feature.

So he opened the leaderboard to check out the specific rewards.

[Beyond 10,000: Soul Stone *100, Silver Coins*100, Elite Soul Fragments*5]

[Rank 10000~5001: Soul Stone *500, Silver Coin*500, Bright Elite Soul *1]

[Rank 5000~1001: Soul Stone *1000, Silver Coin*1000, Bright Elite Soul *2]

[Rank 1000-101: Soul Stone *2500, Silver Coins*2500, Dazzling Boss Soul *1]

[Rank 100-11: 10 Greater Soul Stone, 10 Kingdom Gold Coin, 1 Dazzling Boss Rank Soul, 3 Troop Nest Enhancement Stone]

[Ranks 10-4: 15 Greater Soul Stone, 15 Kingdom Gold Coin, 1 Dazzling Boss Rank Soul, 3 Troop Nest Enhancement Stone, 1 Golden Gem of Choice]

[3rd Place: 20 Greater Soul Stone, 20 Kingdom Gold Coin, 1 Dazzling Boss Rank Soul, 3 Troop Nest Enhancement Stone, 2 Golden Gem of Choice]

[2nd Place: 30 Greater Soul Stone, 30 Kingdom Gold Coin, 1 Brilliant Leader Rank Soul, 3 Troop Nest Enhancement Stone, 2 Golden Gem of Choice]

[1st Place: 50 Greater Soul Stone, 50 Kingdom Gold Coin, 1 Brilliant Leader Rank Soul, 3 Troop Nest Enhancement Stone, 3 Golden Gem of Choice, 1 Proof of Hero]

(Note: The top 100 challengers will have the opportunity to enter the Rain God Illusory Realm and challenge the Rain God Avatar.)

In the illusion, players are ranked according to the damage they deal to the Rain God Avatar, and receive different levels of Rain God's Blessing.

(A live stream will also be available, which all players can watch from the territory center.)

Chapter 93: Hellscream Move, a Combination Ultimate Technique!

"Wow! This reward is really a bit over the top."

"Especially the first place, it's simply outrageous."

"If we can take this down, it'll be a true leap forward."

Shen Xing gasped, stunned by the rewards from this ranking event.

Players ranked 10,000th and below will each receive 100 Soul Stone and Silver Coins, as well as half an Elite Soul – essentially a freebie!

For Shen Xing right now, these resources might not mean much.

But for new players who have just entered the game, this is already a surprisingly large sum of money.

With these Soul Stones, you can at least build a level 5 or higher 10-person team, which can be of great help in the early stages.

This confirms his guess that the system launched this leaderboard to accommodate a large number of new players.

Meanwhile, the rewards are even more generous for those ranked within the top 10,000.

He was especially envious of the first-place [Proof of Hero].

The Proof of Hero, as the name suggests, is a magical item that can promote your troops to hero units.

If he can take it, he can upgrade Hellscream to a hero unit, thus greatly increasing his combat power.

But taking the top spot on the leaderboard is easier said than done.

This expansion will be released simultaneously for players worldwide.

In other words, Shen Xing has to compete with novice lords from all over the world.

Furthermore, there's a small note at the end. "[When Pioneer breaks through a rank during the leaderboard period, they will automatically exit the leaderboard.]"

"At my current pace, advancing to the Transcendent within seven days shouldn't be a problem."

"However... if I can secure a ranking on the leaderboard this time, I can wait a little longer."

Then, Shen Xing clicked on the current ranking list and took a look.

[First Place: Aaron Weeks, 134 points]

[Second Place: Fatima, 112 points]

[Third Place: Yamagami Tetsuya, 98 points]

[Fourth Place: Luo Feng, 87 points]

[Fifth place...]

[My ranking: 10000+]

"These people are outrageous. The leaderboard had only been open for less than three minutes, and they'd already racked up over a hundred points."

Shen Xing pondered that it was probably because these lords encountered a large-scale monster attack on their territory not long after the expansion was released, which is why they gained a large number of points so quickly.

By this point, he had carefully reviewed all the updates.

Some updates had little impact on him, but others significantly altered the environment of both worlds.

But regardless, the primary goal of all Pioneer remains unchanged.

Expand your territory, strengthen your troops, and continuously enhance your strength.

Only in this way can they have the ability to protect themselves in an increasingly turbulent situation.

"I also need to carefully plan the future development of my territory."

Shen Xing closed the leaderboard interface and glanced around.

The Bonfire cast an orange glow, illuminating the buildings.

Gray raindrops continued to fall from the sky.

He pushed his wheelchair, preparing to collect the water from the Moon Well as usual.

"My lord, please wait a moment!"

A bald orc with wings on its back and a shiny head quickly approached him.

Shen Xing stopped in his tracks and asked, "Is something the matter?"

"You... your Fried Chicken has been absorbing Soul Stone these past two days, and it successfully leveled up to level 9 last night," Hellscream.

Shen Xing's heart stirred, and anticipation appeared in his eyes.

This means that the Hippogryph can use advanced materials to break through to the Tier Two of Transcendent!

"Fried Chicken, come here," Shen Xing called out.

A flapping sound came from a corner of the distant city wall.

Immediately afterwards, a burly figure came running with strong strides.

"Eee-ri~ Eee-li~"

The Fried Chicken circled the wheelchair twice, then stopped in front of him, seemingly in a good mood.

Shen Xing patted its head and noticed that the creature seemed to have grown even bigger in the two days since he hadn't paid much attention to it.

Moreover, it always felt that the color of its feathers had become darker, showing signs of turning black.

Could it be... because I've been eating too many snacks?