The Lord's Empire - Chapter 10 – Demon Priest

Zhao Fu and Bai Qi looked at each other, feeling quite surprised. They had expected the Goblins to go hungry for a few days before charging out in desperation, yet the Goblins had unexpectedly surrendered. Zhao Fu lightly smiled and chose to accept, and another system announcement sounded in his mind.

“You have accepted Logue Village’s surrender. You have received 50 Achievement Points!”

Following this, Zhao Fu brought his people to the entrance of the village, saying to the kneeling Goblins, “You can all rise!”

Hearing this, the Goblins all slowly stood up with expressions of fear in their eyes. Even though they couldn’t understand what Zhao Fu was saying, they understood his intentions. This was because lords had translations available to them, and it was similar to telepathic communication skills. Even though they spoke different languages, they could understand each other’s intentions.

At this moment, the elderly Goblin kneeling at the front spoke a few garbled words that meant, “We thank the respected lord for accepting Logue Village’s surrender.”

Zhao Fu nodded and asked curiously, “Logue, why did you choose to surrender now instead of waiting a few days?”

Logue was the name of the elderly, bitter-looking Goblin. From the beginning, he had suspected that Zhao Fu did not have many people because of his reluctance to attack the village. As such, he sent out 100 Goblins in order to hunt for food and to entice Zhao Fu to attack the village.

If Zhao Fu had chosen to attack the village, he could have used the blood-colored altar’s effects and the remaining Goblins in the village to deal a serious blow to Zhao Fu. However, it hadn’t even crossed his mind that Zhao Fu would attack the 100 Goblins instead of the village. Not only did he kill all 100 Goblins in the hunting party, but he also chose to surround the village without attacking them.

At that point in time, Logue Village only had two options if they did not surrender: the first one was to starve to death, while the second one was to charge the encirclement. Comparatively speaking, it was much better to surrender as early as possible.

After hearing Logue’s explanation, Zhao Fu took his people to the center of the village and looked at the blood-colored altar, receiving some information.

[Demon Altar]: Can be used to change one’s profession to Demon Priest through a sacrifice. Special effects: Demon Priests standing on the Demon Altar can communicate with gods. Effects: All stats +5%.

When Zhao Fu saw this information, he motioned for Bai Qi to bring over a wild beast. Soon, Bai Qi carried over a 150-kilogram wild boar and placed it on the altar. Zhao Fu slit the wild boar’s throat with a knife, and the wild boar screamed as its blood poured out.

As the blood flowed onto the altar, the blood-red altar shined with a bloody light. The wild boar seemed to be completely terrified, and it continuously shrieked. After it died, the wild boar’s corpse shriveled up until it became completely dry, giving it a terrifying appearance.

The bloody light coming from the altar became even more intense, and an illusory image that looked like an imp appeared in the air. The imp had three short horns on its head, pitch black pupils, and a pair of small and large wings on its back.

“Tadidawuatoka!”

The demonic image said in the demon language, meaning, “Lowly human, do you believe in our glorious god, Kerr?”

“System announcement! Would you like to change your profession to Demon Priest?”

“Warning! Once you change your profession to Demon Priest, your Swordsman profession will be erased, but you will keep the skills!”

Zhao Fu did not hesitate to accept. A bloody light shot from the demonic image into Zhao Fu’s forehead, following which Zhao Fu heard a system announcement.

[Demon Priest]: D grade Military. Description: A Priest of the Demon God Kerr. Effects: Receives [Demon’s Power]

After the bloody light shot into Zhao Fu’s forehead, the demonic image slowly disappeared, and everything went back to normal.

Zhao Fu looked at his Demon Priest profession and marvelled inwardly, “This D grade military profession is much better than my previous profession. It gives Strength +1%, Constitution +1%, and Intelligence +4%; [Hell Fireball] and [Blood Healing] skills; and [Demon’s Power], which gives all stats +2.”

It was a pity that this was the limit for this military profession. The so-called ‘Demon God Kerr’ was only a low godly spirit in Hell, and it was not very powerful.

In this world, there was a maximum of 100 Demon priests. Zhao Fu had been quite lucky that one had died not too long ago, so there was a spot available for him.

Zhao Fu felt quite pleased, and he smiled as he went to look at the Goblin’s barracks. The Goblins only had two Profession Change Stone Steles:

[Goblin Soldier]: F grade Military. Description: Soldiers of the Goblin race. Effects: Receives the skill [Slash].

[Goblin Warrior]: E+ grade Military. Description: Goblins that have mutated by obtaining the primogenitor’s power. Effects: Receives [Primogenitor’s Power].

No wonder the Goblin Warriors were so powerful; they were E+ grade Military. However, they were limited to five positions.

Currently, the Great Qin Village had not developed much, so even though Logue Village had become a Subsidiary Village, Logue Village would only be slightly affected and would not receive great benefits.

Zhao Fu went to have a look at the other parts of Logue Village before coming to the Storehouse. They had quite a lot of money, roughly 4,000 copper coins and 15 silver coins. Apart from that, there was not much else.

They had perfectly resolved the Goblin crisis, but the Popular Support of Logue Village was only at 50. As such, Zhao Fu ordered some people to go back and bring some food. The Goblins, who had gone hungry for a few days, immediately leapt at the food and ravenously ate, causing Popular Support to rise by 10 points.

Following this, Zhao Fu took his people back to the Great Qin Village. Due to the Goblins, they had stopped all construction for the past few days, so now they resumed working. The main tasks were to cut wood, build houses, and start farming land. Zhao Fu also sent a team of soldiers to patrol the Great Qin Village’s surroundings to see if there were any dangers.

After giving out orders, Zhao Fu did not have much to do. He looked at the two skills he had obtained from his Demon Priest profession. One was Hell Fireball, D- grade, and the other was Blood Healing, E+ grade.

Skills were also split into 9 major grades and 3 sub-grades. Zhao Fu obtained Fireball, an F grade skill, from the Violent Flame Rabbit, so he wanted to see the strength of his new D- grade skill, Hell Fireball.

Zhao Fu went to an empty piece of land and spread out his hands. A blood-coloured fireball appeared in his hands, and he threw it.

Bang! When the fireball landed on the ground, an explosion sounded out as a one meter wide crater appeared. It was at least four times stronger than a normal Fireball, which could only leave behind a black mark on the ground.

As for Blood Healing, it was a skill from Hell that was similar to a normal Priest’s healing skill.

After trying out his two new skills, Zhao Fu felt that it was a pity that there was a limit on the number of people with this profession. Also, in the Heaven Awaken World, Magic skills were quite rare, and they were worth 10 or so times more than Physical skills. Zhao Fu hoped that he would be able to create a Mage group in the future.

Zhao Fu decided to spend the rest of his time cultivating. Bai Qi was already at the peak of Stage 0-2 and about to step into Stage 0-3, while he was still at Stage 0. [TLN: Stage 0-2 denotes 'Stage 0, Step 2']

At lower levels, cultivation was not very important, but in the future, it could determine the fate of an entire nation. Thousands of normal soldiers would not be able to defeat a single Stage 9 soldier, and the normal soldiers would just be annihilated. If a nation did not have soldiers with high cultivation, it would be difficult for the nation to stand firmly.

Right now, the Great Qin Village did not have many people, and having a single person who could fight was already not bad. However, after they had more people and things stabilized, Zhao Fu would start training elite troops.

The Lord's Empire - Chapter 9 – Logue Village

After listening to Li Si’s report, Zhao Fu nodded. The next day, he summoned 14 new villagers. There were seven people who could fight and a B grade woman, who Zhao Fu also arranged to change to Scholar. He hoped that they would be able to gain the Taming skill with more Scholars soon.

Zhao Fu took the seven people who were able to fight to become soldiers. Now, Zhao Fu had 28 soldiers, and he brought them to the Goblin village.

The Goblin village was still in full defense mode, so Zhao Fu chose to not attack. Instead, he told Bai Qi to continue laying traps while training the soldiers.

Another day passed, and Zhao Fu summoned another 15 people. Six of them could fight, so Zhao Fu arranged for them to change profession to soldiers. The Goblins still hadn’t dared to come out, so Zhao Fu continued to wait while setting traps. While doing this, Zhao Fu also discovered another Decade Iron Tree.

The next day, Zhao Fu summoned 14 people, eight of whom could fight, and one B grade villager, and he sent them all to change professions.

The Goblins finally ran out of food today, and they could no longer endure the hunger. This time, roughly 100 or so Goblins came out of the Goblin village, and about half of them were females. There were 4 Goblin Warriors who had just changed professions, and they were a bit smaller than the Goblin Warriors from before.

Right now, there were only 20 or so Goblins left in the village that could fight and the Goblin Warrior that had returned from the previous hunting expedition. There were 30 or so females, and some elderly and young Goblins who essentially couldn’t fight.

From how things looked, it seemed that attacking the Goblin village would be quite easy, but Zhao Fu felt that it would not be so simple. He felt that the blood-colored altar was not ordinary, and there could be something special about it.

As such, Zhao Fu decided to attack the 100 or so Goblins. Of course, it was stupid to directly attack them, or they would have set all of those traps for nothing.

Zhao Fu split up the 34 soldiers into three groups and gave an explanation of their plan before sending one team to attack.

When the Goblins saw that there were so few enemies, they immediately raised their sabers and yelled as they rushed over. The group of people attacked a few times and turned and ran, following Zhao Fu’s orders.

The Goblins cheered excitedly and chased after them, wanting to kill the enemies who had tormented them for the past few days.

However, in the next moment, the Goblins started to fall into the ready-dug pits, and they were impaled by the sharp wooden spikes. They continuously howled, the big group of Goblins instantly losing 20 out of the 100 Goblins.

After losing a portion of their forces instantly, all of the Goblins stopped, not daring to advance. They had no idea if there were more of these pits ahead, so they did not dare to advance. All they could do was stand still as they furiously roared.

Swish, swish, swish…

Suddenly, a few arrows pierced some of the Goblins. The Goblins saw a few enemies running from their left, and they immediately chased after them in rage.

As they ran, they triggered trap after trap. Large logs and rocks smashed down from above, either heavily injuring Goblins or killing them directly.

The 80 or so Goblins had now been reduced to about 50. At this moment, another group appeared to the right of the Goblins, shooting them with arrows before running away.

The Goblins had already suffered twice, and they did not dare to stupidly chase after them anymore. They could only stand still at where they were and brandish their weapons, roaring at the escaping enemies.

By now, the other two groups had merged and circled around from behind the Goblins. Arrows and fireballs landed on the group of Goblins, catching them completely off-guard. This attack was quite effective: the fireball heavily injured two Goblins and gave a few other Goblins light injuries, while nine arrows found their marks, killing three Goblins, heavily injuring five, and lightly injuring one.

Now, there were only around 40 Goblins who were still able to fight. The group that had been running also turned around and started to attack, reducing the Goblins’ numbers even more.

“Bai Qi, get rid of one of the Goblin Warriors as quickly as possible. All Shieldbearers focus on defense and hold up the other two Goblin Warriors. Infantry charge, and Archers fire at will. Leave the Goblin Warrior with the lame legs to me,” Zhao Fu loudly commanded, and everyone moved to carry out his orders.

The remaining Goblin Soldiers had only just changed professions and many of them were female, so they were quickly dealt with by the Infantry and Archers. Eight or nine Shieldbearers held wooden shields and tightly surrounded two of the Goblin Warriors.

Zhao Fu was able to deal with the lame Goblin Warrior quite easily. Of course, he did not fight it at close range because he definitely wouldn’t have been able to defeat it. Instead, he launched Fireballs at it – because the Goblin Warrior was quite large and had lame legs, it was unable to dodge his attacks, and it was killed by Zhao Fu in the end.

On the other side, Bai Qi quickly dealt with the Goblin Warrior he was responsible for. The remaining two Goblin Warriors did not require Bai Qi to act, and they were killed by arrows. They died in quite a pitiful manner – they were surrounded by shields and barely had any space to dodge the arrows that rained down on them.

After the battle was over, everyone started to sweep the battlefield.

Bai Qi put away his sword and turned to look at Zhao Fu, a hint of a smile on his cold and handsome face. Zhao Fu’s tactics and commands during the fight had been stellar. He lacked experience in large battles, but this was enough to show Zhao Fu’s exceptional talent. How could Bai Qi not feel happy to have such a capable lord?

Zhao Fu turned around and saw Bai Qi’s smile. Zhao Fu felt quite confused and asked, “Bai Qi, what are you smiling at?”

Bai Qi lightly shook his head and did not respond to Zhao Fu’s question. Instead, he asked, “Your Majesty, how should we proceed? Do we attack the Goblin village?”

After thinking about it, Zhao Fu replied, “Surround it first. I feel that there is something strange about the Goblin Village. Regardless, they don’t have any food, so they’ll have to come out sooner or later. There’s no need to rush.”

Bai Qi nodded and replied, “This subordinate feels the same way. They probably left the village empty to lure us over. However, they hadn’t expected that Your Majesty would ambush the 100 or so Goblin Soldiers and 4 Goblin Warriors, who have now all been destroyed, instead of attacking the village.”

Zhao Fu felt more and more that the Goblin village was not so simple. After clearing out the battlefield, he took his soldiers to surround the village.

The Goblins looked at the enemies surrounding their village and understood what had happened. Looks of fear and terror appeared on their faces as the village became somewhat chaotic.

Zhao Fu looked on from outside and did not plan to attack. They were in the palm of his hands, so there was no need to be hurried.

After observing the village for 10 or so minutes, Zhao Fu was surprised to see an elderly Goblin walk out with an ancient, wooden walking stick. The elderly Goblin brought the rest of the Goblins out and knelt at the entrance of the village.

Following this, Zhao Fu received a system announcement, “Logue Village has surrendered to you. Would you like to accept?”

The Lord's Empire - Chapter 8 Three Victories

The second group of Goblins had less than 50 Goblins, and just like the first time, the Archers launched their arrows, injuring and killing a few Goblins, before the Shieldbearers rushed up with the Infantry right behind them.

Zhao Fu also launched 2 Fireballs, but he started feeling mentally tired. He had already launched 7 Fireballs when dealing with the first Goblin group, so he had to stop for a while.

The Shieldbearers and Infantry battled with the Goblins while maintaining orderly ranks, with the Archers freely shooting from behind them.

At this moment, one of the Goblins rushed out of the fray and raised its saber as it howled, charging towards Zhao Fu.

Zhao Fu didn’t feel any fear when he saw this because he had been mentally prepared for a long time. Facing this life or death battle, he gripped the iron sword in his hands and rushed to meet the Goblin. Zhao Fu looked at the Goblin charging towards him and slashed towards it with all of his might.

The Goblin tilted its head, easily evading Zhao Fu’s attack. It cackled as it mocked Zhao Fu, slicing at Zhao Fu’s waist with its saber, causing Zhao Fu to quickly retreat.

Seeing this, the Goblin pressed forwards.

Zhao Fu had slipped up the first time, but he remained calm and ignored the Goblin’s taunts. Facing a real life or death battle, his heart wildly thumped with nervousness. However, he did not fail to monitor his surroundings and took a step back before suddenly leaping towards the Goblin and stabbing towards it.

The Goblin also easily avoided this strike, and it immediately moved forwards and swung its saber towards Zhao Fu. However, at this moment, it tripped on a stone and lost its balance.

This was what Zhao Fu had been aiming for, and he swung his sword towards the Goblin.

The sword cut into the Goblin’s neck and some blood flowed out, but it had not cut too deeply. As such, it did not deal too much damage.

The Goblin howled in pain and raised the saber in its hands. It was about to slash down when Zhao Fu’s heart tightened, and he used all of his strength to push the sword deeper into the Goblin’s neck twisted upwards.

Blood sprayed, filling the air.

Warm blood covered Zhao Fu’s body, and the Goblin’s corpse slowly fell to the ground. After taking a life for the first time, Zhao Fu’s heart thumped quickly as he raggedly breathed.

By now, the battle between the groups had also concluded. Bai Qi killed the Goblin Warrior and suddenly turned to see Zhao Fu covered in blood. He was given a great fright, and quickly hurried over and asked worriedly, “Your Majesty, are you alright?”

Zhao Fu gradually recovered and slightly shook his head, signaling that he was fine.

Seeing this, Bai Qi let out a sigh of relief.

“Ask around to see if anyone was injured!” Zhao Fu said.

Bai Qi nodded and looked at everyone before answering, “Your Majesty, no one was injured greatly.”

Zhao Fu let out a breath and looked up at the sky. It was nearly midday, so they would not be able to catch up to the third and fourth groups. As such, he decided to lay in wait and ambush the third group when they came back.

Li Si brought a group of women to deliver lunch for them, and everyone rested for a while.

Time gradually passed, and soon, the third group of Goblins returned with a few wolves, 10 or so wild rabbits, and a 200-kilogram wild boar – a bountiful journey.

Zhao Fu and his soldiers were hidden in the grass, waiting for an opportunity.

The Goblin Warrior swaggering at the head of the group suddenly sneezed, attracting many of the Goblin Soldiers’ attention. It was then that Bai Qi gave the order to attack.

Arrows flew towards the Goblins, piercing them and causing quite a commotion. A few Goblins were instantly killed, and others were heavily injured. After recovering for a few hours, Zhao Fu’s mind had recovered by more than half, and he could use Fireballs again. As such, he also launched a few.

With the experience that they had gained from the previous two battles and adding on the fact that it was an ambush, this battle was much shorter than the previous two battles. Barely anyone was injured – of course, this was also partially due to the Goblins’ weariness and the injuries they already had from hunting.

After resting for a bit, Zhao Fu led his people to where the fourth group of Goblins was returning from.

It was a pity that the fourth group had already reached the Goblin Village, making Zhao Fu feel quite disappointed. If they could have destroyed the fourth group, the Goblin village would not have been as scary.

By now, they had killed nearly 150 Goblins, and the Goblin village sensed that something was wrong. They had no idea who the enemy was or how many enemies there were, so they could only nervously stand guard.

Many Goblins were standing on the outer perimeter of the village, attentively looking around. Whenever they detected anything, they immediately rushed up and surrounded it.

Zhao Fu and his soldiers came quite close to the Goblin village, and he had a look at the tight security. He muttered, “Right now, the Goblin Village only has around 60 Goblins who can fight. The rest are all elderly, children, or females.”

The Goblin village seemed to have been greatly weakened, but Zhao Fu did not plan to attack. He wasn’t in a rush because the Goblins went out to hunt every day to make sure they had enough food. As such, once they ate all of their food, they would definitely come out. Compared to directly attacking, ambushing was easier and went much more smoothly.

Moreover, Zhao Fu did not want to make any sacrifices. By now, Zhao Fu felt incredibly close to the Great Qin Village and its residents.

However, they couldn’t just wait here idly for the Goblins to come out. While the Goblins were still in the village, Zhao Fu ordered his people to start laying all sorts of traps around the village.

The sky gradually darkened, and after leaving a few people to keep watch, Zhao Fu and the others brought back the spoils from the battles with the Goblins. There were 10 or so wild rabbits, a few wolves, and the wild boar. Even though wolf meat didn’t taste very good, it was better than nothing. Moreover, wolf teeth could be used to make arrowheads, and wolf skin could be used to make leather armor.

The materials gained from the Violent Flame Rabbit were Blue grade. However, He Yun’s, the Tailor Shop’s owner, tailoring skill was only at Basic level, so she was unable to use Blue grade materials to create leather armor. As a result, it was just stored in her shop.

After returning to the Great Qin Village, Zhao Fu and the others lit a bonfire. Now that the crisis was resolved, the atmosphere was no longer as tense, and the villagers laughed and talked heartily with each other.

As Zhao Fu entered the village, a few four or five-year-old children excitedly ran over. They crowded around Zhao Fu and looked at him in awe as they cheered, “Your Majesty! You’re so amazing; you killed so many Outlanders!”

Zhao Fu slightly smiled when he heard this and explained, “I didn’t do all of it; your parents contributed greatly as well.”

“But it was under Your Majesty’s amazing leadership that we were able to kill so many Outlanders,” one of the boys said excitedly as he hugged Zhao Fu’s leg.

This boy was quite good at flattery despite being so young. Zhao Fu lightly smiled and patted his little head, the coldness in his heart gradually thawing.

Following this, the children’s parents quickly came over and apologized before taking them away.

Zhao Fu went to the Village Hall and thought for a moment before asking Li Si, “How were our gains from killing the Goblins today?”

There was no time for Zhao Fu and his group of soldiers to collect the spoils after each battle, so this was left to Li Si and a group of women.

Li Si grinned and cupped his hands respectfully as he replied, “We obtained 152 Goblin Sabres. However, they’re too small and aren’t suited for our use, so they need to be modified. We obtained 685 copper coins from killing the Goblin Soldiers and 7 silver coins from killing the 3 Goblin Warriors.”

The Lord's Empire - Chapter 7 Blood Colored Altar

There were not many Goblin Warriors, only 5 of them, but what caught Zhao Fu’s attention was the one-meter-tall blood-colored altar at the center of the village. The altar was made of different kinds of rocks, and it gave him a very bad feeling.

Given how close they were, the Great Qin Village would be in great danger if the Goblins discovered the Great Qin Village. Right now, the Great Qin Village only had 47 residents and 21 soldiers. How could they fight more than 190 Goblins?

These Goblins definitely weren’t as easy to kill as the ones in games that had virtually no fighting power. After examining them closely, Zhao Fu found that their fighting power was quite decent.

Zhao Fu thought for a while with a serious expression on his face.

“Bai Qi! I’ll stay here to observe the Goblins. Hurry and take everyone back to the Great Qin Village and tell Li Si to go into Level 1 Defence Mode. Train all of the soldiers so that it won’t be their first time fighting if we do go to war. If something happens, I don’t want anyone to die because we failed to prepare properly.”

Bai Qi became quite worried when he heard this, and he said anxiously, “But Your Majesty, your safety…”

Zhao Fu felt a warm feeling within his heart and cut Bai Qi off, saying, “Don’t worry! I’ll be careful, and it’s best that I do this. I’ll be able to plan our defenses while looking for any weaknesses. However, you should train them as quickly as possible because the Goblins might find us soon.”

Bai Qi realized the gravity of this matter, and he could only sincerely nod before taking everyone back to the village and informing Li Si.

Li Si became quite serious and commanded the women to reinforce the fences and help make all sorts of weapons.

Bai Qi called together all of the soldiers and trained them in arranging formations, working together, and mobilizing together.

When the Great Qin Village’s villagers heard that Zhao Fu was risking his life by standing guard and observing the Goblin Village, they all felt incredibly moved. Everyone worked hard together, and soon, Popular Support rose to 90.

Zhao Fu hid in some tall grass on a hill and was looking down at the Goblin Village, searching for any weaknesses. If they engaged in a direct confrontation, it would be a pyrrhic victory even if they won. This was not something that Zhao Fu wanted.

Time gradually passed, and soon, the sunset and part of the sky was dyed red. At this moment, Bai Qi brought some people to come and find him.

Zhao Fu sighed. After observing for so long, he hadn’t found anything that he could exploit. However, he learned some things about the Goblins. First, their intelligence was not very high, and they loved to fight. They often started fighting over a piece of meat.

It was about to get dark, so Zhao Fu could only return, leaving 2 people there to stand guard. He had considered a night attack, but they still only had 23 people when adding himself and Bai Qi. Facing 300 or so Goblins, even a night raid would not work.

As a result, Zhao Fu did not sleep very well. The next day, he once again summoned new villagers. This time, there were only five of them who could fight out of the fifteen he summoned, making Zhao Fu feel quite disappointed.

At this moment, one of the villagers he had left behind last night to keep watch came to report and said, “Your Majesty! The Goblins have started to move.”

Zhao Fu quickly asked for more details. He learned that the Goblin village’s soldiers had split into 4 groups, with about 50 Goblins in each group, and had headed in 4 separate directions.

After the villager reported this, Zhao Fu felt that an opportunity had come. The Goblins were not a farming race, and they relied on hunting to obtain food. The Goblins went out hunting every day to make sure that they had enough to eat.

“Bai Qi! Hurry and assemble everyone!” Zhao Fu immediately ordered.

Following this, 26 soldiers were gathered in front of Zhao Fu. Zhao Fu brought a few fruits to serve as breakfast and then led Bai Qi and the soldiers to catch up to one of the Goblin groups.

There were roughly 50 Goblins in this group, and it was led by a Goblin Warrior.

At this moment, Bai Qi showed the results of his training. What followed was a true battle, not a disorderly brawl.

Bai Qi ordered the soldiers into three lines: Shieldbearers at the first line, Infantry at the second line, and Archers at the third line. This was the most basic formation.

“Archers, I know that you changed professions recently, so I don’t expect you to kill someone with every arrow. Just make sure you hit them; aim for the largest parts of their bodies,” Bai Qi said to the Archers before making the signal to fire.

Following this, the Archers raised their bows, and arrows shot out into the group of Goblins. Zhao Fu also released a Fireball with them, sending it shooting towards the Goblins.

The eight Archers all hit a Goblin. Three of them received light injuries, four received heavy injuries, and one unfortunate Goblin was killed on the spot. Zhao Fu’s Fireball also exploded, injuring 5 or 6 Goblins. One was blasted into the sky and crashed to the ground - that one didn’t have long to live.

At this moment, the Goblins also discovered them. They roared as they raised their sabers and rushed over.

Many of the soldiers revealed terrified looks when they saw so many Goblins rushing towards them. After all, they had never fought in a real battle before. Bai Qi coldly harrumphed when he saw this, and the fear that everyone felt suddenly decreased when they heard him. It was most likely due to Bai Qi’s Title that increased morale.

“Release arrows!” Bai Qi once again bellowed, and eight arrows flew, shooting a few Goblins down. The Goblins were prepared this time, so not as many arrows hit the Goblins. Zhao Fu also released a Fireball, blasting a few Goblins again.

By now, the Goblins were nearly within 10 meters of them. Bai Qi yelled, “Shieldbearers advance! Scatter their spirit! Infantry, follow right behind them!”

The 8 Shieldbearers rushed up, colliding with the Goblins at the front. The Goblins chopped at the wooden shields, leaving shallow marks, but they were unable to injure anyone. Thus, the Goblins’ momentum was greatly reduced.

A charge required a large spurt of energy, and only by continuously charging forwards could they maintain their momentum. After being blocked by the Shieldbearers, the Goblins lost not only their momentum but also their morale.

In the beginning, the arrows and Fireballs had already reduced the Goblins’ strength by almost a third, and now that they had been stopped, the Shieldbearers and Infantry started to counterattack. The Archers behind them also freely shot as Zhao Fu continuously launched Fireballs.

The situation quickly turned to Zhao Fu’s favor.

As for the large, well-built Goblin Warrior, it was held at bay by Bai Qi single-handedly. Even though the large Goblin Warrior looked quite fat, it was quite agile. It slashed the knife in its hands quite quickly, and Zhao Fu could only see a flash of light whenever it attacked. Zhao Fu felt quite worried when he saw this, but it was good that Bai Qi was not weak either.

After an hour, the battle finally concluded. Zhao Fu’s people suffered some light injuries, but most of them were fine. On the other hand, the Goblins had been completely destroyed. This was the result of many different military professions cooperating well.

After resting for a while, Zhao Fu took his people to chase after another Goblin group.

The Lord's Empire - Chapter 6 – Goblins

It was morning when Zhao Fu entered the Heaven Awaken World again. This time, Zhao Fu summoned fourteen people: eight males and six females, and seven of them could fight. There was also a B grade villager among them, a white-haired elder, and Zhao Fu immediately changed his profession to Scholar.

As for what he was to research, because crop output was not a problem due to the Village’s special stats, Zhao Fu had the elder choose Taming. If they could obtain the Taming skill, they would be able to tame some wild beasts and start developing livestock.

Now that they had houses, they had more safety and could start farming. Zhao Fu did not do this himself, and he instead left it to Li Si. Zhao Fu brought Bai Qi along and took the few weapons in the Smithy. They started to patrol the surrounding area to see if there were any dangers or resources.

On the way, Zhao Fu and his super-bodyguard Bai Qi killed a few wild rabbits and two wolves. They only dropped copper coins, and the wild rabbits only dropped one copper coin each, while the wolves dropped three to four copper coins each.

Suddenly, the grasses shook as a rabbit that was a little bit bigger than the dog appeared. It had flame-red fur and was not cute like most rabbits. Instead, it looked quite ugly, and there was a savage and vicious look in its eyes.

Bai Qi threw down the rabbit and wolf corpses he was holding and blocked the path in front of Zhao Fu.

At this moment, the rabbit opened its mouth and fire elemental essence gathered in its mouth, forming a fireball. Following this, it flicked its head upwards as the fireball rushed towards Zhao Fu.

While facing the fireball, Bai Qi said seriously, “Your Majesty! Please retreat for a moment!”

Zhao Fu nodded. Fighting was not his strength, so he wasn’t going to bring trouble to himself.

The fireball flew over, and a hint of sword qi covered Bai Qi’s sword as he slashed the fireball.

Bang!!

The fireball exploded into sparks, not injuring Bai Qi in the slightest.

Zhao Fu sighed in amazement when he saw this. SSS grade characters were indeed quite powerful. In just a short period of time, Bai Qi’s cultivation had already greatly increased.

Following this, the rabbit once again shot out a few fireballs towards Bai Qi, but he easily evaded all of them. Bai Qi was not only SSS grade, but his stats were also incredibly high, and he had a buff from his Title and Profession, making him quite strong.

The rabbit started to look irritated when he saw that its fireballs were unable to hit Bai Qi. It leaped up and opened its mouth, revealing 2 sharp fangs as it tried to bite Bai Qi.

Bai Qi coldly harrumphed and turned his body as he stabbed it with his sword. Blood flew through the air as the sword pierced through the rabbit’s throat, killing it instantly.

“System announcement! Your General has killed an Elite magic beast, the Violent Flame Rabbit, and has gained 6 Achievement Points.”

“System announcement! You have gained 3 Achievement Points.”

So it was an Elite magic beast. magic beasts were variants of normal creatures, and they had stronger bodies as well as magic. For example, the Violent Flame Rabbit could shoot fireballs.

Killing Elite magic beasts or above gave Achievement Points, as did attacking other Villages. Achievement Points are mainly used to raise one’s status. In order to raise the level of one’s village, he or she needs to have a certain status. For example, in order to raise his village to an Intermediate Village, Zhao Fu’s status needed to be at least Citizen, but he was only a Commoner right now.

At the same time, the higher one’s status was, the better his or her treatment would be in main cities.

The Violet Flame Rabbit dropped 2 shining silver coins and a red orb of light, which Bai Qi delivered to Zhao Fu.

Zhao Fu looked at the red orb of light. It was called an Innate Elemental Orb, and after using it, one would obtain the corresponding skill. After using it, Zhao Fu obtained a Fireball skill.

The gains from today were quite good. Realizing that it was almost midday, Zhao Fu carried the Violet Flame Rabbit while Bai Qi carried the wild rabbits and wolves as they made their way back.

At this moment, however, Zhao Fu suddenly saw a very strange-looking tree. Its bark was jet-black and gave off a metallic luster. The tree was about ten meters tall, and its trunk was one meter wide. Its leaves were also a dark green color.

Zhao Fu had a look and saw that it was called the Decade Iron Tree.

[Decade Iron Tree]: Grade: White. Can be used to create equipment.

Zhao Fu was delighted when he saw this tree because they could now create weapons. There were only a few weapons in the Smithy right now, and there were not enough for everyone. As such, Zhao Fu’s discovery of the Decade Iron Tree alleviated the awkwardness of not having enough weapons.

Zhao Fu immediately went back and brought people to cut down the Decade Iron Tree to create wooden sabers, wooden swords, wooden shields, and wooden bows. Even though wooden sabers and swords could not compare to iron sabers and swords, they could still deal damage. Moreover, Zhao Fu could now have people change to Shieldbearer or Archer professions.

They had made great progress today: they created weapons, cultivated land, and planted their wheat seeds. Everything was coming along nicely, and Zhao Fu felt quite excited. At night, he did not leave the Heaven Awaken World and instead cultivated.

The third day.

This time, he summoned 15 people: 10 males and 5 females. There were 8 of them who could fight, so Zhao Fu had 4 of them become Shieldbearers and 4 of them become Archers. Now, the Great Qin Village had 21 soldiers.

Zhao Fu was about to take Bai Qi with him to patrol around when suddenly, a few of the women responsible for collecting wild fruits quickly ran over and said that they had discovered Outlanders, a term for foreign races.

Zhao Fu’s expression became serious when he heard about this, and he quickly asked for specifics.

The women had been 2 kilometers south of the Great Qin Village, and they had been collecting wild fruits when they suddenly heard some wild boars scream. They gathered up their courage to take a look and saw some wild boars being surrounded and killed by Outlanders. After that, they immediately ran back in terror and reported what they saw to Zhao Fu.

Zhao Fu immediately took people to go south. By now, the Outlanders had left, but there were still traces of blood and footprints on the ground. 3 kilometers south of the Great Qin Village, Zhao Fu discovered an Outlander village.

The Outlanders that lived there were not very tall – they were a bit more than one meter tall – and had green skin, pointy ears, and bulging stomachs. They were extremely alike to the creatures found in most games, Goblins.

There were around 300 or so Goblins in the Goblin village, and Zhao Fu immediately felt a sense of danger while anxiously observing the village from outside.

He found that there were 300 or so goblins in the village. There were 40 to 50 elderly and young Goblins, and 80 or so female Goblins. Only about 190 of the Goblins could fight.

This was a Normal grade village, which meant that there were only 100 soldiers at most. Nearly half of the Goblins who were able to fight did not have a profession, making them weaker due to not having any skills or Profession bonuses.

Most Goblins held sabers and were called [Goblin Soldiers], and Zhao Fu also found some Goblins that were 2 meters tall and very well-built. They held knives that looked disproportionate to their bodies and looked incredibly savage. Those Goblins were called [Goblin Warriors].

Dual Sword God - Chapter 49: The Completion of Ascension Phase

The Central Square was filled with silence, as the spectating crowd and major influences look at the scene before them in sheer surprise. A few of the elders from major clans and forces couldn't help but rub their eyes upon witnessing the scene before them. One elder was so shocked that he pulled a few strings of hair from beard completely ignoring the burning sensation of pain.

"They are of a different league..." muttered an elder as he looked at the figures of the six individual who made it the apex of the Ascending Dragon Platform.

"They beat Qing'er and Tang Wu and treated the Ascension Phase challenge like it was nothing but a walk in the park!" said Xin Zhu as he exclaimed while looking towards Tang Fei.

"Indeed! Although we cannot underestimate the talents from the Golden Dragon Empire and the Southern Wasteland, there is only one thing that I find rather strange when looking at this situation," said Tang Fei.

"Hmm, what could be more strange than the scene of those empire class and southern wasteland talents making a fool out of our kingdom's geniuses?" replied Xin Zhu as he was about to roar in a fury.

Tang Fei shook his head and pointed towards three individuals amongst the bunch that was standing proudly at the limit of the platform seemingly unaffected by the pressure.

"Look at the those three, they are not from any empire class or large influences, in fact, the young man with red hair is from the Feng Clan, and the blue haired youth is called Dai Lin of the Blue Thunder that young man's servant. As for the youngster with a bow on his back, there is no information regarding his existence in our kingdom," said Tang Fei with a serious expression as he looked at the trio.

"What? That youth is from the local Feng Clan! Wait, you're also saying that the black haired youth beside them does not exist!" replied Xin Zhu in wonderment.

"Em. What's very strange is it's almost as if he appeared out of thin air, there is no personal history records or any background. He is similar to this Feng Clan that has appeared in this small town only about a hundred years ago."

"...." hearing his words Xin Zhu went silent as he observed the trio focusing on youth with the bow, he then focused his gaze towards the Feng Clan.

"We should pay more attention to these individuals..." said Tang Wu solemnly.

"Em," replied Xin Zhu as he waved his hand where after a servant appeared for a moment before vanishing.

Sou!

The Shen Imperial Family elders looked at the scene in surprise they also paid close attention to the form of the Feng Clan Youngster and his group, as did many of the influences that remained hidden.

The woman in white looked at the six individuals who stood at the apex of the stairway with a strange gleam in her eyes, shorty, a smile could be seen on her face as she whispered to herself.

"Chosen's are born... When Dragons rise and Tigers fall...." her voice trailed off into the wind which began to flow towards the stairs trailing all the way upwards passing the struggling geniuses making its way to Ji Weng and others reaching the apex of the stairway.

*****

It was an incredible work of art, at the limits of the sky that stood at the end of a stairway, was an unusually broad foothold stretching across a vast region of the space for multiple kilometers. If one looked from a high angle, they would see only a single platform in this area that had two lifelike sculptures of a black and a white dragon coiled around its edges. These dragons gave off the impressing that they could come to life at any moment in time as their eyes gleamed with a strange glow of intelligence.

Standing proudly on this platform were six figures each who seem to have the bearing of an expert of a different class. The pressure in this area was more than one hundred folds compared to the steps below the platform. As they stood within this overwhelming pressure, the sound cracking bones and rippling muscles could be heard as their bodies were pushed to its limits in resisting the terrifying force.

Soon, however, they were not alone.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

Quickly, a few more individuals appeared on the platform seems to have struggled through a fierce battle.

Ji Weng, Xuang Bei, Tang Wu, Xin Qing, Lang Kuang and Miren Fei looked towards the central platform before them with shock as they saw the forms standing there unmoving.

"What are they doing over----" as Ji Weng was about to question what was happening at that platform in front of them a disturbance occurred.

Buzz!!

"Congratulations for making it to the limit of Dragon Stairway! You now have a choice. To leave now an be rewarded with a small dragon token or to partake in the 'Chosen Wars' by staying on the platform you see before you, withstanding its pressure for no more than an incense stick of time. Choose Wisely..." an ancient voice said which flowed into the minds of all the geniuses as it faded away once more to nothingness.

"So this is the final test," said Tang Wu as he looked at the figures of Feng Yu, Dai Lin, Hui Ying and the others that stood proudly on the platform with their hands behind their backs.

Xin Qing felt a fire in her body lit up as her competitive spirit rose upon seeing them standing on the platform without a sweat. "I will not lose to any of you..."

Lang Kuang and Miren Fei looked at Feng Yu and Dai Lin and gripped their fists firmly as they nodded towards each other making their decisions. "We cannot fall behind the Young Master and Squad Leader!"

Xuan Bei frowned as he says Dai Lin and the others he gritted his teeth and said "Hmph! This Prince will not lose to a band of vagabonds and lower class talents from my kingdom."

As if they were planned before hand they all responded in unison "We will accept the challenge!.."

As their voices reverberated throughout the space, a short moment passed before the ancient voice was heard one more.

"Very Well! Begin Final Ascension Phase!!" it said as it faded away once more.

Puuiiii!!!!

Instantly, multiple beams of light shot from the black and white dragons that teleported each of the geniuses onto the platform.

As soon as they appeared on the platform, the geniuses were instant tossed into a state of peril.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Within a moment all of them had fallen to there knees unable to lift their bodies upward, as a towering pressure came over their forms. Their bones start crackling as if trying to break apart as their muscles began to show signs of rupturing.

"Arrghh!!! I will not give up!!" roared Tang Wu as he gathered all his strength of his fleshy body and powered his willpower to force himself to stand as his leg muscles tore and blood started to flow from his legs.

Miren Fei and Lang Kuang also had a similar struggle as Miren Fei's body seemed to glow in a strange jade-like her body seemed to be identical to that of jade, as it helped her to mitigate most of the pressure allowing her to bearly lift herself to her knees. "My body was also unusual since birth innately attuned to the forces of jade... but even with this I am only bearly capable of barely resisting this force," she said as she thought to herself.

Lang Kuang's body started to break as his muscles bulged and a bit of white silver wolf hair came over its surface. "Arghh!!! If not for my Sacred White Wolf's physique my state would be even worse that Tang Wu's" a bit of blood could be seen flowing from his arms and legs at the places where his skin was torn.

Xin Qing could only lift herself to her knees and remain in crossed legged posture as she utilized all her willpower to keep conscious and suppressed her body tearing to pieces, while Ji Weng and Xuan Bei pushed all their efforts into standing to bear the pressure as a man should.

The influences of these geniuses could only praise as they observe their geniuses struggling with the pressure.

"Good! That's my Qing'er do not give up even if have sit grit your teeth and bear it!" said Xin Zhu as he looked proudly at his goddaughter.

"Now that is the Tang Family spirit!" said Tang Fei as he looked at his nephew proudly.

Xiang Tian looked at his son Xiang Shu in surprise as he had just realized that his son was standing on the platform as if it was like a breeze.

"When did Shu'er get so strong? What's going on here?" Xiang Tian said as he looked at the scene in shock.

The Town Lord seeing this complained."Clan Leader Xiang, and here you were previously saying that your son was not talent then what am I seeing now. Did you hide his potential before to show off?"

"Ha Ha! I didn't know, he hid his true strength from me too?" replied Xiang Tian.

"Hmph!" snorted Huang Mang who looked at Xiang Shu with killing intent in his heart.

On the side of the Feng Can, Elder Duan and Elder Chen were surprised as they looked at the few talents who were withstanding the pressure with ease beside Feng Yu.

"Such strength! It looks like Yu Child is going to be in for quite the fight," said Edler Duan.

"Em. These geniuses aren't too bad," replied Elder Chen.

"Of course they aren't, that Southern Wasteland Youth, those three from the Golden Dragon Empire are in no way inferior to the talent of the sacred domain. What they lack though is the different training environment," replied Feng Junling as he looked at them with interest. However, he soon shifted his gaze and looked at Xiang Shu with a strange light in his eyes.

"Brother, that Xiang Shu is a rather strange one. I'm pretty sure he was not this powerful a few months ago. How do you explain this kind of strength?" asked Feng Yunlong who was also looking at Xiang Shu's figure curiously.

"There are a few theories... but those should be impossible..." replied Feng Junling.

"Hmm...." Feng Yunlong looked on silently.

Feng Xingyu looked at the trial and yawned before closing her eyes and not paying attention to the rest of the tests.

Back on the platform, Feng Yu looked at the individuals around while maintaining his strength to resist the pressure. Noticing the ease at which they were handling the pressure, he couldn't help but feel a bit curious regarding these geniuses.

He cast his gaze towards Dai Lin and saw that Dai Lin was approaching his limits soon, he then looked around at the Mysterious Spear Youth and the Southern Wasteland youth who returned a look of their own.

"You are strong..." said the Mysterious Spear youth as he spoke calmly as if the pressure couldn't inhibit his speech.

"So are you both..." replied Feng Yu as he looked at the two of them calmly.

The Southern Wasteland Youth smiled oddly and closed his eyes paying no more attention to Feng Yu.

"Hmph! for a local aboriginal! You are quite powerful but still not a match for me, Xia Rou!" replied the pretty young girl.

"For a pretty lady like yourself to have such a sharp tongue! You ought to be careful as men will only find it hard to be attracted to the young miss" said Hui Ying who stood beside Feng Yu teasingly.

"You bastard! You dare to mock me! Ouch!" as she was caught up in a fury by Hu Ying's statement, Xia Rou got distracted and suffered a minor injury because of the pressure.

"Ha Ha! Sister Rou, even outsiders, are starting to become wary, I've told you once before. Now you've gotten warned by another and ended up getting injured" said the brawny youth.

"Shut up!" Xia Rou roared as she channeled a strange kind of power that helped her resist the pressure.

Sensing this energy Feng Yu became stunned "Mageforce..." but soon he cleared his mood and thought once more. "These guys..." he looked at the side finally resting his vision on an indifferent form.

Xiang Shu looked at Feng Yu calmly in silence, seeing this Feng Yu felt it even more strange. He decided to face the matter with a cold glint in his eyes. "Who are you?..." said Feng Yu in a deep voice.

Xiang Shu hearing this was stunned, but soon a strange maleficent smile came over his face as he responded. "Young Master of the Feng Clan, Who do you think I am? I am but who I am?..."

Dai Lin who was listening as he heard this felt a strange sense of danger as he looked towards Xiang Shu silently and then towards Feng Yu who returned a glance before continuing to focus on the pressure.

Quickly time passed and the incense stick of time soon ended for the last trials.

Buzz!!!

Suddenly there was a change on the platform, as the coiling dragons soon erupted a bright light from their eyes.

Puuuiii!!!!

In an instant, the pressure was lifted and the geniuses on the platform, all collapsed to the floor as they regulated their powers to heal their injuries. Now, there were about 50 different geniuses who made it to the final platform and withstood the pressure of the last trial.

Feng Yu and Dai Lin walked towards Miren Fei and Lang Kuang as they grouped at a corner of the stage.

"How was it? Did you enjoy the Trial?" asked Feng Yu with a smile on his face.

"Reporting to Young Master! This Trial was very beneficial as it seems that my control regarding my special physique has increased," said Lang Kuang excitedly.

Miren Fei also smiled as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and responded. "This one had no problems, Young Master!"

"Hmm, Good! Make the best of the time to heal up, we don't know what could happen next," said Feng Yu as he walked turned around and faced the geniuses of the platform who were now readying themselves.

Soon, a voice could be heard once more.

"Well Done! You have completed the first phase of the challenge. You remaining talents are now eligible for the battle of chosen's. The battles will begin at dawn, so make use of the time you have to recover from your injuries!" said the voice as a beam scattered around the platform creating an invisible barrier as the talents of the influences were sent into a vast space.

Dual Sword God - Chapter 48: The Dragons Rise as The Tigers Descend!

The wind was chilly as a sea of clouds filled the entire field of vision, painting the world in a hue of pure white. The golden rays of sunlight beamed its way through the vast area of clouds occasionally reflecting off a massive construct that could now be seen within this space. It was colossal stairway ascending towards the very limits of the sky itself, as it stood calmly overlooking the world.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

However, this calmness was soon disturbed, as many silhouettes appeared and disappeared as they mounted its stairs climbing to the limits of the heavens itself. The figures moved with unique and various styles, some moving as flexible as monkeys, some leaving nothing but blurs and others even morphing into the beams of light.

Sadly, these were only the strongest among these climbers, as the weaker ones would slowly throttle their way up the stairway as if they were bearing the worlds greatest pressure, trying their hardest to overcome their limits.

"Arghh!!!!!!!!!!" a bulky looking youth roared to the heavens as his veins protruded on his entire body, beads of sweat poured down his frame as he struggled with every ounce of his fleshy bodies power at to mount his next step up the stairway.

Step!!

Finally, after a loud stomp on the ground, he managed to take to his further along the stair. He sat down and regulated his breathing as he wiped his sweat from his forehead and looked up at the endless stairway remaining in front of his eyes.

"Haa... Haa... this challenge is going nowhere. I won't make it if I continue to struggle at this remote section. How could anyone be so monstrous as those geniuses from the Imperial Families and Top Class Influences." he said as he calmed his breath. Soon, he moved his vision downwards an noticed a strange scene.

As the other talents struggled to make their way forward with all their might, there were five unusual forms quickly surpassing the masses traversing the stairway as if they were weightless entities.

"What on earth?" before the youth sitting down could finish the forms instantly appeared by his side only to vanish to the distant steps of the stairway ascending to the heights of the heavens.

The youth looked up at the disappearing forms that traversed the limits of the sky in the blink of an eye in shock.

"Are! Are my eyes playing tricks on me?" said the youth as he rubbed his eyes vigorously.

Down on the ground level, all of the audience and crowd looked at the scene being displayed on a screen made of energy in surprise.

"These guys! Who the hell are they?" said a member of the crowd.

"Not to bother about those unknown guys don't you see who that guy is?" another said as he pointed at the red-haired youth that was walking on the stairway. Looking closely, it seemed as if he was talking a stroll beside the other individuals who each displayed a similar kind of leisure as they traversed hundredths meters upwards with each step.

"How can this be?!!!!" Xiang Tian roared as he looked at the figure of Feng Yu in shock. He couldn't believe what he saw even wholly forgetting the fact that his son Xiang Shu was displaying a similar type of strength with ease.

"When did the Feng Clan kid get so powerful? Wait, Could it be just his willpower? That's right that has to be it. This challenge does not require a deep cultivation base." he said to himself as he decided to convince himself that Feng Yu was only lucky because of his strength of will.

Xun Yanshan looked at Feng Yu with a strange glow in his eyes as he pondered "Such skill, could this so-called troublemaker be really as the common mass proclaim him to be?"

The Town Lord along with his wife and other significant characters looked in surprise as they didn't expect to see this kind of scene mainly from the low key and unusual Feng Clan.

Feng Xingyu looked at Feng Yu with a proud expression on her face as she spoke "Ha Ha! Eldest Brother, Little Yu'er reminds me of you in the past... " she said as he looked at Feng Yu with a slight look of nostalgia on her face.

Feng Yunlong hearing her couldn't help but nod as he watched his son, soon the figure of a young man with a broad back appeared in front of his eyes. He stood on top of a divine mountain radiating powerful energy that seemed as if it could destroy all things in its path. The young man looked back at Feng Yunlong as said "Little brother, with me here. Who can block our path?"

Soon, the image of this young man superimposed the youthful-looking man at the peak of his thirties currently standing in front of him, he also looked back with a similar expression at Feng Yunlong and spoke. "Hmph! With me here! How can my nephew not be as manly?" he said with absolute confidence in his eyes.

Feng Yunlong rolled his eyes as he retorted "He may be your nephew, but he is my son. If there is anyone he takes mostly after in manliness it's me for sure!"

Feng Xinyu hearing this smirked as she responded: "You mean the genes that came mostly from Sister Shangan!"

"Xingyu!!!..." Feng Yunlong roared as a towering aura was about to erupt from him, but before the aura could escape. It was restricted by invisible pressure as a hand gently patted his shoulder.

"Calm Down!" said Feng Junling as he looked at Feng Xingyu disapprovingly.

As the Feng Clan quelled its drama, the challenge amongst geniuses continued.

Crackle!!

A streak of blue lightning swiftly beamed towards the heights of the stairway traversing many of the struggling talents, but soon it began to slow down as it reached an area that was very close to the limits of the sky.

Puii!

After a flash of light, the figure of Dai Lin soon appeared once more to the world, right behind him were the forms of Ji Weng and Xuan Bei who looked at the lightning that materialized into a man before them in shock.

"Blue Thunder Dai Lin!!!!" Ji Weng and Xuan Bei roared as a rush of battle intent rose in their eyes.

Dai Lin looked at them in surprise as he smiled and responded "Ah... I didn't think I'd have reached so far, the Genius of the West and Prince of our Kingdom! Do you want to challenge me?" said Dai Lin as he waved his finger and pointed at himself.

Seeing his lax attitude, Xuan Bei felt a wave of anger due to his causal response.

"Dai Lin, your talent is exceptional I would like to make a bet," said Ji Weng as a sharp look came over his eyes.

"Oh! What does the illustrious Western Genius want to bet with me?" replied Dai Lin.

"Let us compete to see who among us can reach to top first! If you are capable of achieving victory among the both of us, you will have the chance of requesting any item you desire. However, if you were to lose you will join one of me as my retainer!" said Ji Weng as he looked at Dai

Hearing this Dai Lin frowned but after a moment he smiled and shook his finger "No No! It's after I beat you. You will give me anything I want, as for trying to make me your retainer. Hmph! You're not qualified!" as he said this he flickered and transformed into a streak of blue lightning once more ascending the stairway, only this time it was much slower than it was previously.

"Chet! You don't know good from bad! Let me show you what true genius is!" said Ji Weng as he revolved his <Drunken Monkey Steps> quickly and flexibly making his way up the stairs strangely.

"Both of you, don't you talk as if I'm not here!" said Xuan Bei as he started his <Flame Serpent Steps> once again.

As the trio continued their struggle a few forms could be seen catching up behind them, a young man leaped once transforming into a series of remnant shades as he made his way up the stairway swiftly as a shadow flowed amongst the railing of the stairs like a black beam of light.

Dai Lin looked behind at these two individuals in surprise, as Xuan Bei and Ji Weng cursed in their minds.

"Damn! That shadow bitch and that brute have made it here too soon!" said Xuan Bei.

"Hmm... aren't those?" as Ji Weng was observing Tang Wu's and Xin Qing's appearance he also noticed two familiar forms that while at a distance, were swiftly catching up.

"Oh? They certainly are something else, to have caught up so quickly," said Dai Lin as he saw Lang Kuang and Miren Fei in the distance.

Soon, however, he focused back on track as his form vanished amongst the clouds followed by Ji Weng, Xuan Bei, Tang Wu and Xin Qing.

*****

Time continued to flow as the struggling talents proceeded to mount the Ascending Dragon Platform, a few famous geniuses in smaller influences had started to succumb to the pressure of the stairway. Soon, falling like a meteor threatening to collide with hard the ground, luckily the elders from the Sky Splitting Sword Sect had acted creating a barrier cushion to lessen the damage caused by falling from the far heights of the stairway.

The crowd seeing this scene couldn't help but sigh at the loss of these talents who couldn't ascend.

"Where there are Dragons, there are kings amongst dragons, where they are geniuses there are geniuses amongst geniuses. The world has always operated on the logic of strong and weak, those who cant stand above the pack aren't capable being chosen." said the strange old man as he looked at the scene with a deep gaze. Soon, he cast his gaze back towards the stairway and a smile came on his face.

"The Dragons rise as the Tigers descend..." he softly as his voice trailed off into the wind.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

As Dai Lin and the other geniuses pushed forth with all their might, vaguely, the summit of the stairs could be seen growing closer and closer as they traversed upwards. A smile could be seen on each of their faces as they felt that they were about the be first ones to make it to the end of the challenge but soon, there was a change.

Buzz!!!

The pressure within the area instantly increased once again, by at least tenfold.

Thud! Thud!

A few of the geniuses who were closer to them collapsed on the stairway as they felt their body were about to rip to pieces.

"Damn! What the hell!!" a genius roared in defiance as he struggled to move.

Lang Kuang and Miren Fei also started to struggle quite a bit but still pushed on forwards.

"I will grow stronger and kill the ones who killed my father!" roared Miren Fei as she pushed all her focus into her strange dance forcing her steps forwards.

"I will make my clan proud!" said Lang Kuang as he pushed forwards like a true wild wolf.

Dai Lin, Xuan Bei, Ji Weng, Tang Wu and Xin Qing frowned as they felt the increased pressure causing them to be unable to display their movement techniques to their full capabilities. Now, they could only move at the same speed the other talents moved with at the lower steps of the Ascending Dragon Platform.

"It looks like this last phase won't be easy!" said Dai Lin as he struggled to push forwards while revolving his <Heavenly Electric Circuit Scripture>.

As they continued to make their way forwards, there was a disturbance behind them. A few silhouettes could be seen making their way upwards. As if the pressure didn't mean anything to them, they instantly traversed the distance soon catching up the forms of Dai Lin and the others.

The Geniuses looked at them in shock.

"Isn't that the guy from the Feng Clan!" said Ji Weng as he tried to calm his shock.

"So now Young Master has finally caught up." Dai Lin said with a smile on his face.

"The Southern Wasteland Youth and these guys are no joke," said Tang Wu as he looked at the group finally looking at Feng Yu.

"Hmph! You finally show true form." Xin Qing said as he looked at Feng Yu who was strolling the stairway with the group behind her.

Soon, they appeared in front of everyone else while continuing with the strange leisurely walking pattern up the stairway as if strolling on the beach.

The Mysterious Spear Youth with the Pretty Young Girl and the Brawny Youth paid no attention to Ji Weng and the others as the continued to stroll onwards quickly vanishing before their eyes. As Xiang Shu moved strangely as if like the wind itself he glided forwards like a causal ghost?

As they moved Feng Yu and Hui Ying who was moving amongst them saw Dai Lin, Lang Kuang, and Miren Fei, seeing that the latter was struggling he sent a message to Dai Lin.

"Dai Lin, pick up the pace, or you'll be left behind." Feng Yu said casually.

Hui Ying beside him also spoke with a mocking smile "Blue Thunder Dai Lin, is this where you legacy ends?"

Dai Lin hearing this smiled as a spark lightning shone in his eyes while he responded: "As Young Master Commands!"

His body glowed with bright electrical energies as his form quickly vanished appearing beside Feng Yu and Hui Ying making their way towards the stairs summits.

Ji Weng, Xuan Bei, and others could only look on in surprise with their mouths opened wide as their forms vanished towards the summit of the stairway.