1548

The stone towers collapsed one after another, and soon the Impassable Great Wall itself began falling apart. A loud boom later, the entire structure collapsed into a pile of ruins. As Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and all the guilds who were part of the Swallow Ear Canton invasion army were crossing over the ruins, Warsky shouted words of encouragement from the sky[1], "Let’s march all the way to Swallow Ear Canton! No way a tiny tier 2 city can stop our advance!"

Some distance away, Candlelight Shadow let out a chuckle and said, "You’re always too optimistic, Warsky. I just received word that Flowing Cloud is rallying a 15-million-strong army at the borders. If we were to attack Swallow Earn Canton in full force, I’m certain that they will try to stop us. Can you claim that we will definitely endure a full-powered assault by the forces of Elephant City?"

Warsky frowned. "What is your plan then?"

"We must send between 3 to 5 major guilds to intercept Elephant City’s forces outside Final Duel Valley. Otherwise, we will be facing a two-pronged attack and be trapped between a rock and a hard place."

Warsky smiled. "In that case, who do you think we should send to intercept them?"

Candlelight Shadow hummed for a moment before answering, "The guilds we send must be powerful enough to hold back Elephant City. I think Ancient Sword, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and Peach Garden are pretty good choices!"

I abruptly unsheathed my sword, glared at Candlelight Shadow and growled, "Bullshit! I didn’t see either of you offering your assistance when Ancient Sword was holding back the Northern Alliance’s tens of millions of troops, and now you want us to stop Elephant City as well? Dream on! My brothers and sisters’ levels and experience aren’t so cheap that they can be thrown away like this!"

Beside me, Lin Yixin pulled my hand and said in a soft voice, "That Candlelight Shadow is so shameless, Little Cheat. It’s clear he’s planning to use this Nation War to weaken our guilds. Hmph. Flowing Cloud has recently become a god, and she’s supported by the divine mage, Lui Lok, who wields the scepter of the Twelve Divine Armaments. Who would want to fight against an opponent that strong?"

A short distance away, Zhang Chun said placatingly from his warhorse, "Stop it. I’m the supreme commander, so allow me to call the shots, okay? I want five of the ten biggest guilds of Vanished God City to intercept Elephant City. That’s Rose of the Holy Domain, Hall of Immortality, Throne Seeker, Fate, and Zero Pitch Sonata. On top of that, I’ll give you 5 million troops to support your efforts. Is that enough?"

A knightress stepped out into the open, and she was none other than the guild leader of Rose of the Holy Domain, Rose Thorn. She was now a Level 255 Guardian Knight and fully clad in elite equipment. She watched Zhang Chun coolly as she said, "Hot and Sour Noodles, you are aware that we don’t have a single divine player across all our guilds, right? How do you expect us to deal with Flowing Cloud and Lui Lok? Even if we pretend they don’t exist, the number one guild of Elephant City, Dark Clouds, is chock-full of experts. How on earth are we going to beat them?"

Zhang Chun inhaled deeply before breaking into a polite smile. "Don’t worry, Beauty Rose. I’m not asking you to defeat them. I just want the five of you to delay them long enough for us to conquer Swallow Ear Canton. 5 hours. In 5 hours, Swallow Ear Canton will definitely fall to our forces. When we’re done, we’ll swing around Final Duel Valley and assist you in taking out Elephant City. What do you think?"

Rose Thorn smiled. "We still have to be rewarded for our efforts, right, Battle Monarch?"

The leader of Hall of Immortality, Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch, smiled as well. "Yeah. You’re basically asking us to suicide into Elephant City’s main force. We ain’t doing this without some reward."

Zhang Chun’s smile widened until it looked like his wrinkles were blooming. "That’s no problem at all. If you are able to halt Elephant City’s main force completely for 5 hours, I promise that the CGL committee will reward all 5 guild leaders extra points. In fact, I’ll even make an exception and allow you all to enter the CGL Hall of Fame. What do you say?"

Rose Thorn watched Zhang Chun with her icy pupils for a moment before replying, "Alright. A verbal agreement means nothing though, so I’ll be uploading this footage to the forums immediately. If you break your word, be ready to lose your position in the CGL committee!"

Zhang Chun nodded. "No problem!"

Satisfied with the promise they had wringed out of Zhang Chun, Rose Thorn, Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch, Emperor’s Equal and more said to their subordinates, "Time to head over to Final Duel Valley, people! We’re going to intercept the grandsons of Elephant City!"

……

I didn’t comment on the trade, but Beiming Xue pouted from atop her Fire Phoenix and said, "The standard to enter the CGL Hall of Fame is getting lower and lower these days…"

He Yi chuckled. "It’s not that bad. The guild leader of Fate, Predestined, was a CGL Hall of Famer himself; he just wasn’t able to achieve much during the Nation Wars. Nothing stays the same forever. Some people will shine like the stars, and will gradually fade into obscurity. It is one of the ironclad laws of history."

Lian Xin commented, "Seriously though, Rose Thorn and Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch are sketchy as hell. I can’t believe they forced Uncle Zhang Chun into giving them a promise like that…"

I shrugged. "He’s the one who asked for this position, so…"

Whoosh…

It was at this moment Lin Yixin flew up to us. She shot us all a smile before asking, "Snowy Cathaya and I will be attacking Swallow Ear Canton soon. Will you be joining us, Little Cheat?"

However, I shook my head and said, "No. We’ve been online for too long already, I’m planning on logging out and catching some rest. The Nation War is 72 hours long, and I don’t plan to be tired and groggy when my strength is actually needed. Vienna’s Sorrow, Tear Stain or the other top-tier experts are absent most likely for the exact same reason. Who knows, they may even be enjoying a vacation right now. They will only show up and strike the fatal blow during our weariest moment!"

"So, what are you planning to do?"

“I just told you. I’m going to log out of the game, see Xinran for a bit, eat some food, and catch a good nap…" I then looked at the rest of my party and said, "You guys should catch some rest as well. Someone will notify us if our presence is needed. Someone should inform our players to take turns resting as well. Hopefully, we’ll be able to catch between 5 to 7 hours of sleep before the next big battle. No one can fight for 72 hours straight and still be at their best[2]."

Li Chengfeng nodded in agreement. "Yes. Prolonged exhaustion can slow down one’s brain, and raise reaction time to between 1 to 3 seconds. If that happens, you won’t be able to defeat a first-rate expert even if you’re Daluo Jinxian. I’ll discuss this with Chaos Moon and make the appropriate arrangements in a moment. Dominating Heaven Blade and his 5 million troops are about to reach Fortress of the Iron Halberd anyway, so we can afford to log out of the game. What do you all say?"

I expressed my agreement immediately. "I’m logging out even if you guys tell me not to. I’m about to burst a bladder…"

Lin Yixin turned red and said, "In that case, I guess I can log out and catch some rest as well. I’ll ask Purple Marquis, Lexi and Shadow Chanel to work a bit harder…"

I shot her a disdainful look. "You are the leader of Snowy Cathaya and the boss of the Snowy Cathaya workshop, and you won’t even fight together with your comrades? By the way, how much longer are you planning to freeload off us, huh?"

Lin Yixin slapped my shoulder. "I do what I want!"

Murong Mingyue said, "Everyone in the house is logging out, okay? I’ve already instructed the cooks to prepare dinner. It’ll be ready in about 20 minutes, so you may as well wash yourselves during this time and prepare. It’s already past 9 pm in the real world, and as Lu Chen said, I doubt we will be catching too much sleep tonight. Go go go!"

"Mn!"

……

And so, we teleported to Dark Moon City first, Dawn City next, and then flew straight back to Fortress of the Iron Halberd. At a glance, it looked like the Northern Alliance hadn’t fully expanded their next wave, and there were no real main guilds among them. They were definitely working to chip away at our strength little by little. Well, that wasn’t my business now. Dominating Heaven Blade could hold them back while we catch some rest.

I removed my helmet and took a quick bath. I stepped out of the door after drinking some water.

The scent of delicious food was already permeating the living hall by the time I arrived. So far, the three cooks we hired had proven to be incredibly reliable. Dinnertime had passed quite some time ago, but they didn’t hesitate to start cooking the moment they received a call from Murong Mingyue. Then again, I doubted that they would harbor many grievances when they were male, and everyone in the house besides me was a gorgeous woman. On a related note, one of the cooks was a famous cook for GGS until He Yi wrenched him free from his previous position and hired him to serve us. My taste buds certainly weren’t complaining at all[3].

Xinran was sitting beside the table and holding a glass of warm water when she saw me. She immediately put the glass down and opened her arms wide at me, saying, "Hug me, big brother…"

Me: "..."

I walked up to her and rubbed her head for a bit. I then inquired about her daily activities, "What have you been doing during the day, Xinran?"

She blinked once before answering, "War is happening not too far away from Purple Grape City, and Sophie is quite nervous about it. That is why I spent the whole day keeping her company and protecting her lair from invaders…"

"Lair?" I asked in a dumbfounded voice.

Xinran stuck out her tongue at me and said, "That’s what Sophie calls her city anyway… How is your Nation War, big brother?"

I answered, "It’s going okay, I guess. The enemy’s fierce, but we are quite powerful ourselves, so…"

"Do you need my help, big brother?" Xinran gave her small fist swing with a bright smile on her face. "I’m pretty powerful inside the game, you know? Also, I’ve upgraded the Spirit Piercing Umbrella to a whole new level. Now, Sophie can’t break it even if she hits it 10 times at full power…"

I clapped my hands in delight as I sat down. "That’s amazing!... is it good enough to stop Lin Na’s attacks though?"

Xinran tilted her head cutely and thought hard for a moment. Then, she said, "Big brother, I used to think that Lin Na is incredibly terrifying, but now… he’s still powerful, but he doesn’t feel as scary as before. Why is that?"

I shook my head. "I don’t know…"

She continued, "Sophie told me that it’s because I had entered the Banished Lands and received the baptism of its divine powers. It is why I have grown by leaps and bounds since then. Since Lin Na has never entered the Banished Lands before, and he is still too afraid to risk his own life, I…"

I patted her head again and said, "That’s very comforting to hear. Make sure you kill him the next time you meet him, okay Xinran?"

"..."

Xinran looked up at me but didn’t say anything.

Suddenly, Beiming Xue interrupted, "Big bro, you shouldn’t pat Xinran’s head too much. It’ll affect her growth…"

Murong Mingyue stared at Xinran’s chest and said, "Oh, I don’t know about that. They look pretty big to me, and they’re not sagging in the slightest…"

I nodded in deep agreement. "Your eyes are as piercing as X-ray, sis!"

Xinran shot me a confused look and asked, "What is ‘sagging’, big brother?"

I answered, "It’s nothing. All you need to know that yours aren’t saggy at all, and that’s good…"

Lin Yixin and He Yi abruptly slapped the table and rose to her feet. "And how would you know that? You’ve seen them before, haven’t you?!"

Their reaction caused me to tremble like a leaf. "No… no… Let’s get back to dinner, shall we? We need to finish quickly and catch some rest soon. The Nation War needs us, and… uhh…"

Beiming Xue and Lian Xin wouldn’t stop snickering for a time.

……

After we finished dinner, and I had put Xinran to sleep, I returned to my own room and slept like a pig myself. It had been an extremely exhausting day.

I was dreaming when my phone suddenly jolted me to wakefulness. It was a phone call from Li Chengfeng, and I had no doubt that it was about the Nation War.

1. T/N: Did he ascend? I don’t remember myself ☜

2. T/N: or be alive for that matter. Even streamers get to eat, shit, and piss during their marathons ☜

3. E/N: Except you WERE complaining that it’s too spicy because he’s from Beijing. ☜

The stone towers collapsed one after another, and soon the Impassable Great Wall itself began falling apart. A loud boom later, the entire structure collapsed into a pile of ruins. As Warsky Alliance, Candle Dragon, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and all the guilds who were part of the Swallow Ear Canton invasion army were crossing over the ruins, Warsky shouted words of encouragement from the sky[1], "Let’s march all the way to Swallow Ear Canton! No way a tiny tier 2 city can stop our advance!"

Some distance away, Candlelight Shadow let out a chuckle and said, "You’re always too optimistic, Warsky. I just received word that Flowing Cloud is rallying a 15-million-strong army at the borders. If we were to attack Swallow Earn Canton in full force, I’m certain that they will try to stop us. Can you claim that we will definitely endure a full-powered assault by the forces of Elephant City?"

Warsky frowned. "What is your plan then?"

"We must send between 3 to 5 major guilds to intercept Elephant City’s forces outside Final Duel Valley. Otherwise, we will be facing a two-pronged attack and be trapped between a rock and a hard place."

Warsky smiled. "In that case, who do you think we should send to intercept them?"

Candlelight Shadow hummed for a moment before answering, "The guilds we send must be powerful enough to hold back Elephant City. I think Ancient Sword, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and Peach Garden are pretty good choices!"

I abruptly unsheathed my sword, glared at Candlelight Shadow and growled, "Bullshit! I didn’t see either of you offering your assistance when Ancient Sword was holding back the Northern Alliance’s tens of millions of troops, and now you want us to stop Elephant City as well? Dream on! My brothers and sisters’ levels and experience aren’t so cheap that they can be thrown away like this!"

Beside me, Lin Yixin pulled my hand and said in a soft voice, "That Candlelight Shadow is so shameless, Little Cheat. It’s clear he’s planning to use this Nation War to weaken our guilds. Hmph. Flowing Cloud has recently become a god, and she’s supported by the divine mage, Lui Lok, who wields the scepter of the Twelve Divine Armaments. Who would want to fight against an opponent that strong?"

A short distance away, Zhang Chun said placatingly from his warhorse, "Stop it. I’m the supreme commander, so allow me to call the shots, okay? I want five of the ten biggest guilds of Vanished God City to intercept Elephant City. That’s Rose of the Holy Domain, Hall of Immortality, Throne Seeker, Fate, and Zero Pitch Sonata. On top of that, I’ll give you 5 million troops to support your efforts. Is that enough?"

A knightress stepped out into the open, and she was none other than the guild leader of Rose of the Holy Domain, Rose Thorn. She was now a Level 255 Guardian Knight and fully clad in elite equipment. She watched Zhang Chun coolly as she said, "Hot and Sour Noodles, you are aware that we don’t have a single divine player across all our guilds, right? How do you expect us to deal with Flowing Cloud and Lui Lok? Even if we pretend they don’t exist, the number one guild of Elephant City, Dark Clouds, is chock-full of experts. How on earth are we going to beat them?"

Zhang Chun inhaled deeply before breaking into a polite smile. "Don’t worry, Beauty Rose. I’m not asking you to defeat them. I just want the five of you to delay them long enough for us to conquer Swallow Ear Canton. 5 hours. In 5 hours, Swallow Ear Canton will definitely fall to our forces. When we’re done, we’ll swing around Final Duel Valley and assist you in taking out Elephant City. What do you think?"

Rose Thorn smiled. "We still have to be rewarded for our efforts, right, Battle Monarch?"

The leader of Hall of Immortality, Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch, smiled as well. "Yeah. You’re basically asking us to suicide into Elephant City’s main force. We ain’t doing this without some reward."

Zhang Chun’s smile widened until it looked like his wrinkles were blooming. "That’s no problem at all. If you are able to halt Elephant City’s main force completely for 5 hours, I promise that the CGL committee will reward all 5 guild leaders extra points. In fact, I’ll even make an exception and allow you all to enter the CGL Hall of Fame. What do you say?"

Rose Thorn watched Zhang Chun with her icy pupils for a moment before replying, "Alright. A verbal agreement means nothing though, so I’ll be uploading this footage to the forums immediately. If you break your word, be ready to lose your position in the CGL committee!"

Zhang Chun nodded. "No problem!"

Satisfied with the promise they had wringed out of Zhang Chun, Rose Thorn, Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch, Emperor’s Equal and more said to their subordinates, "Time to head over to Final Duel Valley, people! We’re going to intercept the grandsons of Elephant City!"

……

I didn’t comment on the trade, but Beiming Xue pouted from atop her Fire Phoenix and said, "The standard to enter the CGL Hall of Fame is getting lower and lower these days…"

He Yi chuckled. "It’s not that bad. The guild leader of Fate, Predestined, was a CGL Hall of Famer himself; he just wasn’t able to achieve much during the Nation Wars. Nothing stays the same forever. Some people will shine like the stars, and will gradually fade into obscurity. It is one of the ironclad laws of history."

Lian Xin commented, "Seriously though, Rose Thorn and Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch are sketchy as hell. I can’t believe they forced Uncle Zhang Chun into giving them a promise like that…"

I shrugged. "He’s the one who asked for this position, so…"

Whoosh…

It was at this moment Lin Yixin flew up to us. She shot us all a smile before asking, "Snowy Cathaya and I will be attacking Swallow Ear Canton soon. Will you be joining us, Little Cheat?"

However, I shook my head and said, "No. We’ve been online for too long already, I’m planning on logging out and catching some rest. The Nation War is 72 hours long, and I don’t plan to be tired and groggy when my strength is actually needed. Vienna’s Sorrow, Tear Stain or the other top-tier experts are absent most likely for the exact same reason. Who knows, they may even be enjoying a vacation right now. They will only show up and strike the fatal blow during our weariest moment!"

"So, what are you planning to do?"

“I just told you. I’m going to log out of the game, see Xinran for a bit, eat some food, and catch a good nap…" I then looked at the rest of my party and said, "You guys should catch some rest as well. Someone will notify us if our presence is needed. Someone should inform our players to take turns resting as well. Hopefully, we’ll be able to catch between 5 to 7 hours of sleep before the next big battle. No one can fight for 72 hours straight and still be at their best[2]."

Li Chengfeng nodded in agreement. "Yes. Prolonged exhaustion can slow down one’s brain, and raise reaction time to between 1 to 3 seconds. If that happens, you won’t be able to defeat a first-rate expert even if you’re Daluo Jinxian. I’ll discuss this with Chaos Moon and make the appropriate arrangements in a moment. Dominating Heaven Blade and his 5 million troops are about to reach Fortress of the Iron Halberd anyway, so we can afford to log out of the game. What do you all say?"

I expressed my agreement immediately. "I’m logging out even if you guys tell me not to. I’m about to burst a bladder…"

Lin Yixin turned red and said, "In that case, I guess I can log out and catch some rest as well. I’ll ask Purple Marquis, Lexi and Shadow Chanel to work a bit harder…"

I shot her a disdainful look. "You are the leader of Snowy Cathaya and the boss of the Snowy Cathaya workshop, and you won’t even fight together with your comrades? By the way, how much longer are you planning to freeload off us, huh?"

Lin Yixin slapped my shoulder. "I do what I want!"

Murong Mingyue said, "Everyone in the house is logging out, okay? I’ve already instructed the cooks to prepare dinner. It’ll be ready in about 20 minutes, so you may as well wash yourselves during this time and prepare. It’s already past 9 pm in the real world, and as Lu Chen said, I doubt we will be catching too much sleep tonight. Go go go!"

"Mn!"

……

And so, we teleported to Dark Moon City first, Dawn City next, and then flew straight back to Fortress of the Iron Halberd. At a glance, it looked like the Northern Alliance hadn’t fully expanded their next wave, and there were no real main guilds among them. They were definitely working to chip away at our strength little by little. Well, that wasn’t my business now. Dominating Heaven Blade could hold them back while we catch some rest.

I removed my helmet and took a quick bath. I stepped out of the door after drinking some water.

The scent of delicious food was already permeating the living hall by the time I arrived. So far, the three cooks we hired had proven to be incredibly reliable. Dinnertime had passed quite some time ago, but they didn’t hesitate to start cooking the moment they received a call from Murong Mingyue. Then again, I doubted that they would harbor many grievances when they were male, and everyone in the house besides me was a gorgeous woman. On a related note, one of the cooks was a famous cook for GGS until He Yi wrenched him free from his previous position and hired him to serve us. My taste buds certainly weren’t complaining at all[3].

Xinran was sitting beside the table and holding a glass of warm water when she saw me. She immediately put the glass down and opened her arms wide at me, saying, "Hug me, big brother…"

Me: "..."

I walked up to her and rubbed her head for a bit. I then inquired about her daily activities, "What have you been doing during the day, Xinran?"

She blinked once before answering, "War is happening not too far away from Purple Grape City, and Sophie is quite nervous about it. That is why I spent the whole day keeping her company and protecting her lair from invaders…"

"Lair?" I asked in a dumbfounded voice.

Xinran stuck out her tongue at me and said, "That’s what Sophie calls her city anyway… How is your Nation War, big brother?"

I answered, "It’s going okay, I guess. The enemy’s fierce, but we are quite powerful ourselves, so…"

"Do you need my help, big brother?" Xinran gave her small fist swing with a bright smile on her face. "I’m pretty powerful inside the game, you know? Also, I’ve upgraded the Spirit Piercing Umbrella to a whole new level. Now, Sophie can’t break it even if she hits it 10 times at full power…"

I clapped my hands in delight as I sat down. "That’s amazing!... is it good enough to stop Lin Na’s attacks though?"

Xinran tilted her head cutely and thought hard for a moment. Then, she said, "Big brother, I used to think that Lin Na is incredibly terrifying, but now… he’s still powerful, but he doesn’t feel as scary as before. Why is that?"

I shook my head. "I don’t know…"

She continued, "Sophie told me that it’s because I had entered the Banished Lands and received the baptism of its divine powers. It is why I have grown by leaps and bounds since then. Since Lin Na has never entered the Banished Lands before, and he is still too afraid to risk his own life, I…"

I patted her head again and said, "That’s very comforting to hear. Make sure you kill him the next time you meet him, okay Xinran?"

"..."

Xinran looked up at me but didn’t say anything.

Suddenly, Beiming Xue interrupted, "Big bro, you shouldn’t pat Xinran’s head too much. It’ll affect her growth…"

Murong Mingyue stared at Xinran’s chest and said, "Oh, I don’t know about that. They look pretty big to me, and they’re not sagging in the slightest…"

I nodded in deep agreement. "Your eyes are as piercing as X-ray, sis!"

Xinran shot me a confused look and asked, "What is ‘sagging’, big brother?"

I answered, "It’s nothing. All you need to know that yours aren’t saggy at all, and that’s good…"

Lin Yixin and He Yi abruptly slapped the table and rose to her feet. "And how would you know that? You’ve seen them before, haven’t you?!"

Their reaction caused me to tremble like a leaf. "No… no… Let’s get back to dinner, shall we? We need to finish quickly and catch some rest soon. The Nation War needs us, and… uhh…"

Beiming Xue and Lian Xin wouldn’t stop snickering for a time.

……

After we finished dinner, and I had put Xinran to sleep, I returned to my own room and slept like a pig myself. It had been an extremely exhausting day.

I was dreaming when my phone suddenly jolted me to wakefulness. It was a phone call from Li Chengfeng, and I had no doubt that it was about the Nation War.

1. T/N: Did he ascend? I don’t remember myself ☜

2. T/N: or be alive for that matter. Even streamers get to eat, shit, and piss during their marathons ☜

3. E/N: Except you WERE complaining that it’s too spicy because he’s from Beijing. ☜