1531

I leaped over the corpse-riddled area to a spot about 200 yards away from the Dragon Cannons. There, I summoned the Phantom Wolf King and continued to kill more NPCs and players.

It didn’t take long before the player controlling the Dragon Cannon reached maximum hate. They aimed the cannon at me and roared, "Die!"

Bang!

The Dragon Crystal’s powerful energy slammed into my Dihai Shield and sent me flying across the air while spinning like a top. I lost over 8 million HP this time because I hadn’t used Profound Armor. After I climbed back to my feet, I executed Burning Blade Slash that instakilled the surrounding players and restored about 3 million HP to me. In a group battle like this, they would have to try really hard to overcome my 50% lifesteal.

……

"Stay away from Lu Chen’s battle zone! You’re just going to get killed for nothing!" He Yi ordered.

Beiming Xue was providing cover fire for Lian Xin as they advanced toward the Dragon Cannon. Chaos Moon and dozens of Dragonlight Cavalrymen rode straight up to the siege weapon and swung their weapons again and again. Although the Dragon Cannon had 100 million HP, it was only a matter of time before it was destroyed.

Destroying the first Dragon Cannon only took us 17 minutes. During this time, I had tanked probably 20 Dragon Crystal shells in total and lost nearly all of my Scarlet Dragon Armor’s durability as a result. I still had some Magic Oil in my bag though, so restoring the equipment was as simple as pouring the potion over my armor.

Boom!

The dozen or so players manning the Dragon Cannon were ejected after it collapsed from a Stormwind Slash. Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen immediately ran up to them and killed them all. While standing atop the pile of rubble, I glanced to the east and said, "About 30% of the second and third Dragon Cannons’ areas of effect overlap with one another, so watch out. Chaos Moon, what are our casualties?"

She curled her lips as she reported, "We lost around 8,000 players…"

"Damn. No rest for the wicked though. Next!"

……

It took much longer to bring down the second Dragon Cannon because Copper Spear and Era of Strife’s players had returned. It took us almost an hour before we were finally able to destroy both the siege weapon and Era of Strife’s 40k players. I also helped Copper Spear in returning to Level 243 using the Song of Freedom. The guy must be so happy right now.

The third Dragon Cannon went down in just 30 minutes, but our losses were still incredibly severe. Our 200k players had dwindled to less than 100k after the continuous battles. Li Chengfeng had returned from the canyon entrance with just 5,000 players as well. Li Chengfeng managed to snipe Cyan Frost, but Red Maple also managed to kill Lu Buyi. Both sides had sustained considerable losses.

And of course, it was an absolute bloodbath inside the canyon.

"Time to loot the battlefield and teleport back to the city…" I sighed. "It is said that one’s legend is built atop countless corpses, and this battle certainly fits the description… but whose legend will this battle be attributed to?"

Luo River God of the Capital walked up to us and said, "Someone said on the forums that the Little Heavenly King has grown arrogant over his achievements and attempted to challenge the entire Japanese server with Ancient Sword, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and Blazing Hot Lips. They said that he is attempting to claim as much merit for himself before the Nation War begins and increase his CGL ranking. Finally, they said that Candlelight Shadow was a lot steadier than you are…"

I simply smiled and said, "Er, sure? I totally want to claim more merit to myself, yes…"

Luo River God of the Capital smiled meaningfully. "You won’t defend yourself, Lu Chen?"

I pulled the Xuanyuan Sword out of a still warm body and replied, "Those who understand me don't need any explanation, and those who don’t understand me, don’t deserve it."

"Hehe. That does seem to be the case." Luo River God of the Capital let out a sigh before continuing, "Back then, you were abandoned by the China server and forced to fight alone in Final Duel Valley. How many people in the world could truly understand your feelings? You must’ve felt incredibly wronged and bitter at the time, haven’t you?"

I shot her a puzzled look. "Why are you bringing that old story up, Sister Wang Luo?"

She shot me a smile and said, "Nothing? I just thought that there are only three players in the entire history of Eternal Moon who truly deserve the title of ‘Heavenly King’, and you are without a doubt the one with the most painful experiences of them all. Lonely Grave once said that any guild who got either Falling Dust or Candlelight Shadow would be able to conquer the world, and that prediction has since proven itself to be true. Today, you and Candlelight Shadow are the only people capable of challenging each other."

I shrugged. "I don’t really care about that. Rather than fight Candlelight Shadow for the world or become the world’s number one, I would rather go crazy while I’m still young and wreck the noobs for fun…"

……

It was at this moment Stranger of Three Lifetimes walked over and said, "Yo, is it over? Can we leave now? It’s 6 pm in Beijing already…"

He Yi said, "Yep, it’s over. If you’re done looting the battlefield, feel free to return anytime you want."

"Okay!"

And so, everyone teleported back to their respective cities. After I returned to Dark Moon City, I repaired my equipment and teleported again to Violet Empire.

Swhoosh!

I flew back to Xinran’s room but couldn’t find her anywhere.

I walked up to the window and basked in the cool wind and calming shadows of bamboo forest for a moment. Then, I shouted, "Come back, Xinran! It’s time to log out!"

Although Xinran was now a player, she didn’t have a player ID I could add into my friend list. As a result, it wasn’t easy to contact her the normal way.

However, it looked like Xinran could sense my summon somehow because a swirl of energy suddenly appeared next to me. A spatial rift opened in midair, and the next thing I knew Xinran was wrapping her arms around me. She smiled like a flower as she said, "I heard from Sophie that you’ve successfully completed the escort mission, big brother. You’re amazing…"

I said humbly, "It was just an escort mission. You should’ve seen me when I soloed hundreds of Wild Chickens in Wild Pheasant Ridge, kicked the Green Praying Mantises of Cool Wind Forest in the ass, and beat up the Wild Wolves of Sky Forest until they went running for their mothers! I was invincible back then!"

"Really? You soloed hundreds of Wild Chickens alone? You’re amazing, big brother!!"[1] Xinran exclaimed with widened eyes before rubbing her cheeks against my neck.

Pretending as if my shameless boast wasn’t embarrassing at all, I said, "Alright, let’s log out of the game. I can be hungry, but you cannot…"

"Mn. I’ve logged out once to eat lunch at noon."

"Good girl. And now it’s time to eat dinner."

"Mn!"

……

I went to Xinran’s room after logging out of the game. Before I could knock on the door, it opened on its own to reveal Xinran on her feet. She was now strong enough to walk on her own, although she wasn’t fully steady on her feet yet. The two of us slowly made our way toward the living hall. Lian Xin, He Yi and Murong Mingyue were already there, and the table was full of delicious food. It was great to have a cook prepare all our meals for us. If there was one thing I would like to complain about though, it would be that the cook was a Shanghainese cook. The food he cooked was a little too sweet for my taste.

After we took our seats, we enjoyed some soup before diving into the main course.

"We took out 10 Dragon Cannons in total today. Red Maple must be so angry that his face may become permanently twisted," Beiming Xue said.

He Yi chuckled at that. "Mn. Our casualties were more severe than expected, but it was worth it in the end."

I hummed. "Honestly, the situation isn’t as optimistic as you may think. Red Maple is the god of his server. How do gods react when you destroy their plans and piss them off? His eventual counterattack will surely be something to behold…"

Murong Mingyue’s eyes widened. "What do we do then?"

I grinned. "What else? I’ll treat him to Chains of Freedom again, of course!"

"Shameless!"

Suddenly, I received a phone call from Hot and Sour Noodles, Zhang Chun—

"What’s the matter, uncle? I’m having dinner right now."

"First things first, congratulations on your accomplishments at Swallow Ear Canton. I’m calling you because there’s something important you need to know!"

"What is it?"

"There’s no hurry. After you’ve finished your dinner, please log into the game and come to the Holy Temple of Sky City at 10 pm. The guild leaders are holding a meeting to discuss the upcoming Nation War."

"Got it!"

……

I told everyone what Zhang Chun said to me after hanging up. Was it a pre-Nation War mobilization meeting, or was it something else? Oh well. It didn’t matter as long as the guilds could set down their differences and work properly with each other…

After I finished dinner, sent her back to her room and cooed her to sleep, I returned to my room and logged into the game.

Swhoosh!

After I appeared in Violet Empire, I teleported to Sky City and flew to the Holy Temple without pause. I was going to be late.

The second I flew into the Holy Temple, I ran into someone and sent them stumbling at least ten meters to the back. The unfortunate guy was none other than Warsky!

Warsky stared at me with an alarmed look on his face, "What the fuck, do you dislike me that much, Lu Chen? And how much Strength do you have right now? I cannot believe you managed to knock me back so far…"

I apologized, "Sorry, sorry, it was an accident. I was rushing because there were only a few minutes left on the clock."

Zhang Chun stepped out from within the Holy Temple and smiled at all of us. "It looks like all guild leaders with over 100k players under their command are here. There are 100 of us. That’s good. Anyway, I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve summoned you all here today to discuss the upcoming Nation War, but before that, there is something important that I need to tell you all."

"What is it?" I asked.

Zhang Chun summoned the system tool and brought up the world map. He then pointed at a couple of marked dots and said, "Just this afternoon, Vienna’s Sorrow obtained a couple Relocation Tokens from the NPCs and moved a couple of Rank 10 territories to these locations. As you can see, they are obviously aiming to pincer Hot Sand City and Fortress of the Iron Halberd, and relocating their territories will allow them to resupply their forces much quicker. All signs point toward the Northern Alliance aiming to attack the Fortress of the Iron Halberd very soon, and if they succeed, Dawn City and Wind City will become exposed to their forces. Of course, Hot Sand City will be having a bad time as well."

Lin Yixin asked, "What do you think we should do, uncle?"

Zhang Chun said, "I would like to hear all of your opinions first. Candlelight Shadow, Warsky, what do you two say?"

Warsky crossed his arms in front of himself and said, "I, Zhu Yuanfang, believe that holding the fort is the royal road here. We are outnumbered by the Northern Alliance, India server and Japan server combined, which is why we should reduce their numbers via defending from our fortifications. Once 48 hours have passed, we’ll launch a counterattack and conquer 1 or 2 cities."

However, Candlelight Shadow let out a cold chuckle and said, "I think we should go on the offensive!"

Everyone looked surprised by his suggestion.

Zhang Chun looked at me next. "What do you think, Lu Chen?"

I leaned against a totem and said, "I agree with Candlelight Shadow. I think we should force the Northern Alliance to be on the defensive and claim the initiative for ourselves."

1. T/N: I think this is a reference to the chickens in Oblivion? ☜

I leaped over the corpse-riddled area to a spot about 200 yards away from the Dragon Cannons. There, I summoned the Phantom Wolf King and continued to kill more NPCs and players.

It didn’t take long before the player controlling the Dragon Cannon reached maximum hate. They aimed the cannon at me and roared, "Die!"

Bang!

The Dragon Crystal’s powerful energy slammed into my Dihai Shield and sent me flying across the air while spinning like a top. I lost over 8 million HP this time because I hadn’t used Profound Armor. After I climbed back to my feet, I executed Burning Blade Slash that instakilled the surrounding players and restored about 3 million HP to me. In a group battle like this, they would have to try really hard to overcome my 50% lifesteal.

……

"Stay away from Lu Chen’s battle zone! You’re just going to get killed for nothing!" He Yi ordered.

Beiming Xue was providing cover fire for Lian Xin as they advanced toward the Dragon Cannon. Chaos Moon and dozens of Dragonlight Cavalrymen rode straight up to the siege weapon and swung their weapons again and again. Although the Dragon Cannon had 100 million HP, it was only a matter of time before it was destroyed.

Destroying the first Dragon Cannon only took us 17 minutes. During this time, I had tanked probably 20 Dragon Crystal shells in total and lost nearly all of my Scarlet Dragon Armor’s durability as a result. I still had some Magic Oil in my bag though, so restoring the equipment was as simple as pouring the potion over my armor.

Boom!

The dozen or so players manning the Dragon Cannon were ejected after it collapsed from a Stormwind Slash. Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen immediately ran up to them and killed them all. While standing atop the pile of rubble, I glanced to the east and said, "About 30% of the second and third Dragon Cannons’ areas of effect overlap with one another, so watch out. Chaos Moon, what are our casualties?"

She curled her lips as she reported, "We lost around 8,000 players…"

"Damn. No rest for the wicked though. Next!"

……

It took much longer to bring down the second Dragon Cannon because Copper Spear and Era of Strife’s players had returned. It took us almost an hour before we were finally able to destroy both the siege weapon and Era of Strife’s 40k players. I also helped Copper Spear in returning to Level 243 using the Song of Freedom. The guy must be so happy right now.

The third Dragon Cannon went down in just 30 minutes, but our losses were still incredibly severe. Our 200k players had dwindled to less than 100k after the continuous battles. Li Chengfeng had returned from the canyon entrance with just 5,000 players as well. Li Chengfeng managed to snipe Cyan Frost, but Red Maple also managed to kill Lu Buyi. Both sides had sustained considerable losses.

And of course, it was an absolute bloodbath inside the canyon.

"Time to loot the battlefield and teleport back to the city…" I sighed. "It is said that one’s legend is built atop countless corpses, and this battle certainly fits the description… but whose legend will this battle be attributed to?"

Luo River God of the Capital walked up to us and said, "Someone said on the forums that the Little Heavenly King has grown arrogant over his achievements and attempted to challenge the entire Japanese server with Ancient Sword, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and Blazing Hot Lips. They said that he is attempting to claim as much merit for himself before the Nation War begins and increase his CGL ranking. Finally, they said that Candlelight Shadow was a lot steadier than you are…"

I simply smiled and said, "Er, sure? I totally want to claim more merit to myself, yes…"

Luo River God of the Capital smiled meaningfully. "You won’t defend yourself, Lu Chen?"

I pulled the Xuanyuan Sword out of a still warm body and replied, "Those who understand me don't need any explanation, and those who don’t understand me, don’t deserve it."

"Hehe. That does seem to be the case." Luo River God of the Capital let out a sigh before continuing, "Back then, you were abandoned by the China server and forced to fight alone in Final Duel Valley. How many people in the world could truly understand your feelings? You must’ve felt incredibly wronged and bitter at the time, haven’t you?"

I shot her a puzzled look. "Why are you bringing that old story up, Sister Wang Luo?"

She shot me a smile and said, "Nothing? I just thought that there are only three players in the entire history of Eternal Moon who truly deserve the title of ‘Heavenly King’, and you are without a doubt the one with the most painful experiences of them all. Lonely Grave once said that any guild who got either Falling Dust or Candlelight Shadow would be able to conquer the world, and that prediction has since proven itself to be true. Today, you and Candlelight Shadow are the only people capable of challenging each other."

I shrugged. "I don’t really care about that. Rather than fight Candlelight Shadow for the world or become the world’s number one, I would rather go crazy while I’m still young and wreck the noobs for fun…"

……

It was at this moment Stranger of Three Lifetimes walked over and said, "Yo, is it over? Can we leave now? It’s 6 pm in Beijing already…"

He Yi said, "Yep, it’s over. If you’re done looting the battlefield, feel free to return anytime you want."

"Okay!"

And so, everyone teleported back to their respective cities. After I returned to Dark Moon City, I repaired my equipment and teleported again to Violet Empire.

Swhoosh!

I flew back to Xinran’s room but couldn’t find her anywhere.

I walked up to the window and basked in the cool wind and calming shadows of bamboo forest for a moment. Then, I shouted, "Come back, Xinran! It’s time to log out!"

Although Xinran was now a player, she didn’t have a player ID I could add into my friend list. As a result, it wasn’t easy to contact her the normal way.

However, it looked like Xinran could sense my summon somehow because a swirl of energy suddenly appeared next to me. A spatial rift opened in midair, and the next thing I knew Xinran was wrapping her arms around me. She smiled like a flower as she said, "I heard from Sophie that you’ve successfully completed the escort mission, big brother. You’re amazing…"

I said humbly, "It was just an escort mission. You should’ve seen me when I soloed hundreds of Wild Chickens in Wild Pheasant Ridge, kicked the Green Praying Mantises of Cool Wind Forest in the ass, and beat up the Wild Wolves of Sky Forest until they went running for their mothers! I was invincible back then!"

"Really? You soloed hundreds of Wild Chickens alone? You’re amazing, big brother!!"[1] Xinran exclaimed with widened eyes before rubbing her cheeks against my neck.

Pretending as if my shameless boast wasn’t embarrassing at all, I said, "Alright, let’s log out of the game. I can be hungry, but you cannot…"

"Mn. I’ve logged out once to eat lunch at noon."

"Good girl. And now it’s time to eat dinner."

"Mn!"

……

I went to Xinran’s room after logging out of the game. Before I could knock on the door, it opened on its own to reveal Xinran on her feet. She was now strong enough to walk on her own, although she wasn’t fully steady on her feet yet. The two of us slowly made our way toward the living hall. Lian Xin, He Yi and Murong Mingyue were already there, and the table was full of delicious food. It was great to have a cook prepare all our meals for us. If there was one thing I would like to complain about though, it would be that the cook was a Shanghainese cook. The food he cooked was a little too sweet for my taste.

After we took our seats, we enjoyed some soup before diving into the main course.

"We took out 10 Dragon Cannons in total today. Red Maple must be so angry that his face may become permanently twisted," Beiming Xue said.

He Yi chuckled at that. "Mn. Our casualties were more severe than expected, but it was worth it in the end."

I hummed. "Honestly, the situation isn’t as optimistic as you may think. Red Maple is the god of his server. How do gods react when you destroy their plans and piss them off? His eventual counterattack will surely be something to behold…"

Murong Mingyue’s eyes widened. "What do we do then?"

I grinned. "What else? I’ll treat him to Chains of Freedom again, of course!"

"Shameless!"

Suddenly, I received a phone call from Hot and Sour Noodles, Zhang Chun—

"What’s the matter, uncle? I’m having dinner right now."

"First things first, congratulations on your accomplishments at Swallow Ear Canton. I’m calling you because there’s something important you need to know!"

"What is it?"

"There’s no hurry. After you’ve finished your dinner, please log into the game and come to the Holy Temple of Sky City at 10 pm. The guild leaders are holding a meeting to discuss the upcoming Nation War."

"Got it!"

……

I told everyone what Zhang Chun said to me after hanging up. Was it a pre-Nation War mobilization meeting, or was it something else? Oh well. It didn’t matter as long as the guilds could set down their differences and work properly with each other…

After I finished dinner, sent her back to her room and cooed her to sleep, I returned to my room and logged into the game.

Swhoosh!

After I appeared in Violet Empire, I teleported to Sky City and flew to the Holy Temple without pause. I was going to be late.

The second I flew into the Holy Temple, I ran into someone and sent them stumbling at least ten meters to the back. The unfortunate guy was none other than Warsky!

Warsky stared at me with an alarmed look on his face, "What the fuck, do you dislike me that much, Lu Chen? And how much Strength do you have right now? I cannot believe you managed to knock me back so far…"

I apologized, "Sorry, sorry, it was an accident. I was rushing because there were only a few minutes left on the clock."

Zhang Chun stepped out from within the Holy Temple and smiled at all of us. "It looks like all guild leaders with over 100k players under their command are here. There are 100 of us. That’s good. Anyway, I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve summoned you all here today to discuss the upcoming Nation War, but before that, there is something important that I need to tell you all."

"What is it?" I asked.

Zhang Chun summoned the system tool and brought up the world map. He then pointed at a couple of marked dots and said, "Just this afternoon, Vienna’s Sorrow obtained a couple Relocation Tokens from the NPCs and moved a couple of Rank 10 territories to these locations. As you can see, they are obviously aiming to pincer Hot Sand City and Fortress of the Iron Halberd, and relocating their territories will allow them to resupply their forces much quicker. All signs point toward the Northern Alliance aiming to attack the Fortress of the Iron Halberd very soon, and if they succeed, Dawn City and Wind City will become exposed to their forces. Of course, Hot Sand City will be having a bad time as well."

Lin Yixin asked, "What do you think we should do, uncle?"

Zhang Chun said, "I would like to hear all of your opinions first. Candlelight Shadow, Warsky, what do you two say?"

Warsky crossed his arms in front of himself and said, "I, Zhu Yuanfang, believe that holding the fort is the royal road here. We are outnumbered by the Northern Alliance, India server and Japan server combined, which is why we should reduce their numbers via defending from our fortifications. Once 48 hours have passed, we’ll launch a counterattack and conquer 1 or 2 cities."

However, Candlelight Shadow let out a cold chuckle and said, "I think we should go on the offensive!"

Everyone looked surprised by his suggestion.

Zhang Chun looked at me next. "What do you think, Lu Chen?"

I leaned against a totem and said, "I agree with Candlelight Shadow. I think we should force the Northern Alliance to be on the defensive and claim the initiative for ourselves."

1. T/N: I think this is a reference to the chickens in Oblivion? ☜