Chapter 133

"Call..."

Shen Xing exhaled a breath of hot air and sighed, "Finally reached level 9! The attribute bonus this time is quite substantial."

Unlike before level 5, where each level up only increased attributes by a paltry four or five points, which were randomly allocated to the four main attributes, resulting in only one or two points of improvement.

After level 5, things change. Almost every level provides a stat boost of over ten points, resulting in a significant improvement.

Furthermore, Shen Xing studied the attribute growth curves of other lords when they leveled up on the forum.

Aside from those who are born with extraordinary physical abilities, such as Yu Feifei and Gu Feng, who are second or third-generation lords.

Because their parents or grandparents were powerful lords, their family genes were strong, and they were born with extraordinary talents.

Therefore, the attributes gained from each level up are significantly higher than those of other players.

There's nothing you can do about it; they were just born lucky.

You, a novice lord, think you can compare to those who have accumulated power over generations?

As for Common lords, the increase in their four-dimensional attributes with each level up is roughly the same as the increase in their three-dimensional attributes when Shen Xing levels up.

In other words, the attribute compensation mechanism mentioned earlier is also effective during upgrades.

"That's not bad. At least now, every time I level up, my three main attributes are higher than other players, except for Agility, which is 0."

Shen Xing analyzed the situation and then looked at his own level. "However, I've already reached level 9, the maximum level."

"Next, I need to prepare the materials to break through to the Tier Two Transcendent level."

The breakthrough methods for lords and troop types are actually quite similar.

Units need to absorb different advanced materials to break through their limitations.

A lord needs to fuse with something called the [Lord's Heart] and then bind their consciousness to the core building of their territory, the [Bonfire], in order to break through to the Transcendent.

This material has a chance to drop from some powerful monsters.

Of course, you can also purchase it from the Anomaly Handling Bureau.

"I remember, a Tier Two Lord's Heart recently sold for around 12 million on the trading channel."

"I'll save up some money and see if I can get one after this ranking season ends."

Shen Xing made a plan for the future in his mind.

Then, I opened the leaderboard and took a look.

As expected, my ranking has dropped out of the top 100, and I am currently ranked 132nd.

"These top 100 players are all top-tier players."

Shen Xing sighed, "I've taken down several waves of monsters and even sent Xiao Hei out to explore and kill wandering monsters, but my ranking keeps dropping."

"It seems that to maintain our ranking, we'll either have to find a special area with a large number of monsters, or send out a dozen teams deep into the fog to clear it out."

Clearly, Shen Xing does not meet either of these conditions.

Then, he noticed a red dot flashing continuously on the edge of a mountain range in the northern part of the minimap.

It seems to be the underground lava cave that Leina discovered.

"A flashing red dot indicates that a friendly unit is engaged in combat with the enemy."

"And for that area, I deployed Hellscream and Gorehowl..."

Although Shen Xing couldn't see what was happening there, that wasn't a problem.

Lord Shen, with his extraordinary wisdom, devised a solution in just one second.

"I can roughly judge the battle situation by the number of troops in the territory and the increase in points on the leaderboard."

"This is a case of making good use of the system's functions."

He first checked the [Territory Troop Details] and found that two orcs had died, which was still within an acceptable range.

When Shen Xing opened the [Points Leaderboard], his eyes narrowed immediately.

The points above are increasing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

From a previous score of over 900, it has now surpassed 1,000 and is still rising at an astonishing rate.

Its ranking also jumped from 132nd to 125th.

"Such rapid growth suggests that there are many enemies in that area."

"Furthermore, two orcs have also fallen, indicating that Hellscream and Gorehowl cannot immediately take over this area."

After a moment's thought, Shen Xing made a decision. "In that case, I, the lord, will go there myself."

"Whoa--" He whistled.

In a corner of the territory, a massive shadow rose up at the sound, soaring straight into the sky.

Then, with astonishing speed, it flew rapidly towards Shen Xing.

"Call..."

A strong gust of wind rushed towards him, nearly overturning him and his wheelchair.

The Fried Chicken flapped its wings and landed steadily in front of its owner, its bright yellow eyes staring straight at him.

Shen Xing leaped lightly onto its broad back.

Then, with a gentle pat on his back, the Fried Chicken immediately understood and lifted him into the air.

However, instead of immediately rushing out of the fog, they came to the open space in the south of the territory.

There, a beautiful woman with red hair was intently practicing her swordsmanship.

The sword moved with his steps, his body as light as a swallow, and beautiful sword flowers bloomed in the air.

"Leina, I'm going to the lava cave. The defense of the territory is in your hands."

Below, Leina sheathed her sword and nodded, saying, "Alright, may the Goddess Heral bless you."

After giving instructions on the defense of the territory, Fried Chicken immediately flapped its wings and flew into the mist.

The lantern was lit in mid-air, its orange flame creating a safe zone with a diameter of 100 meters.

Then it transformed into a streak of light, traveling through the heavy rain.

A dozen minutes later, Shen Xing had arrived near the target point on the map.

Looking out, a vast expanse of dark mountains stretches across the land.

The mountain continuously emitted a black aura, dispersing the gray fog and allowing Shen Xing to see its entirety.

The entire mountain range stretches for countless kilometers, with continuous black forests and undulating, rugged hills whose patterns resemble the scales of some ancient creature.

Every corner of the mountains exudes an aura of death.

Like a black dragon on the verge of death, it lay prostrate on the earth, making its last stand.

[You have discovered a special area: Black Sky Wing Mountain Range...]

"That name sounds pretty powerful."

Shen Xing glanced at the system notification, then refocused his attention on the map.

The flashing red dot is not far to the right, about two kilometers away.

"Fried Chicken, keep going."

"Chirp!"

The Hippogryph obediently responded with a cry, flapped its wings, and soared into the mountains.

Beneath our feet, vast swathes of black forest receded into the distance, and every short distance we flew, a massive ravine came into view.

Soon, Shen Xing found the target at the bottom of a ravine that was about tens of meters deep.

Deep underground, a wide opening can be seen, emitting a blinding red light.

Even before getting close, you can feel waves of heat hitting you.

Shen Xing had the Fried Chicken carry him into the cave entrance, leading him into a deep, dark passage.

The passageway is wide enough for a giant bird like Fried Chicken to move around easily.

It's very hot inside, and the temperature gets higher the further you go in.

We continued deeper along the winding route, advancing for several minutes, but still hadn't reached the end.

Shen Xing estimated that they had already gone at least several hundred meters underground.

This cave is indeed quite deep.

Finally, as the Fried Chicken turned a corner, the scene before them suddenly changed.

What appeared before Shen Xing at this moment was a huge underground cave.

The interior space is extremely spacious, as if you have entered an underground world.

A winding river of lava flows slowly.

On the surrounding rock walls, even more lava flows down, forming lava waterfalls.

"This place... is quite spectacular."

"If we develop it further and turn it into a tourist attraction, and then build a roller coaster from the outside, that would be really great."

Shen Xing looked around, lost in thought.

"Chirp!"

The Fried Chicken seemed to have noticed something, and with a flap of its wings, it darted forward dozens of meters.

Shen Xing looked down and saw many signs of battle near the lava river.

The black earth was littered with weapon fragments, as well as the corpses of many Dretch and hellish imps.

Moreover, the trail leads upwards, seemingly moving upstream.

"It must be Hellscream and his group. Let's go over there."

Shen Xing patted the Fried Chicken on the back.

The Hippogryph immediately flapped its wings and sped along the lava river.

The scorching temperature distorted the air, and each breath felt like inhaling a ball of fire.

The temperature here is definitely over 100 degrees Celsius.

Fortunately, Shen Xing is now a level 9 lord, with a strong enough physique to easily withstand such high temperatures.

After flying for several hundred meters, it seemed that they had finally reached the end of the lava river.

Ahead, a massive pool of lava suddenly appeared.

The entire lava pool was over one or two kilometers in diameter, bubbling and gurgling, from which large numbers of hellish creatures were constantly emerging.

There are common types such as Dretch, hellish imps, and fire bats.