XMTL

Cheng Yang put the Spirit of Ice and Snow into his bag and returned to the group. Since everyone’s wounds were fully healed, the only thing left to do was wait for the instance to time out.

“My Lord, you look happy. Did you find something good?” Yu Kai asked.

Cheng Yang tossed the Spirit of Ice and Snow to his friend, “Take a look.”

Yu Kai opened the system pane and after taking a look exclaimed: “Unique subclass! Is it powerful?”

“I’m not sure since I haven’t become a Cryomancer yet but it definitely won’t be weak.”

Yu Kai and the other’s agreed with Cheng Yang’s assessment but none of them had even the slightest desire to fight Cheng Yang for the right to become a Cryomancer. After all, they were only able to obtain the Spirit of Ice and Snow because of Cheng Yang and he was by far the strongest Mage in the territory.

Soon afterwards the instance ended and the group was ejected back into the real world.

Once they were outside, the group continued travelling North. The instance dungeon had been dangerous but the rewards were enormous. Just counting the number of Experience Fragments they gained was impressive not to mention all of the equipment and the invaluable Spirit of Ice and Snow.

“My Lord, are we going to come back to this instance dungeon tomorrow?” Liu Hau asked. After tasting the sweet rewards that the Forgotten Grave had to offer Liu Hau wasn’t content with just hunting in the wilderness where the monster spawn rate was so low.

“We won’t be able to visit all of the search and rescue locations in the North today so we’ll have a chance to run the instance dungeon tomorrow as well. As for after that if I don’t have other plans I can bring a group here to run it. Otherwise stay away from it. without five High Grade DPS you’re doomed to fail.”

Liu Hau wasn’t arrogant enough to try and challenge the instance dungeon alone so he was satisfied by Cheng Yang’s promise to run the instance when he could. After all, if not for Cheng Yang’s skill they wouldn’t have cleared the instance earlier.

Until four that afternoon, the group searched Northern Cloud City. The end result was disappointing. After visiting right locations, only two soldiers families had been rescued. Even worse, one soldier’s family was confirmed to be dead.

For the third evening in a row, you could see thousands of refugees streaming into Phoenix Village. They were naturally the people Cheng Yang’s Cloud City expedition group had saved. With this, the population of Phoenix Village had swelled to fifteen thousand. If you were to measure it by old world standards, it would be classified as a town.

Originally Phoenix Village had been quite crowded, but now there were so many people that the walls physically couldn’t contain all of them.

Cheng Yang had planned ahead for this scenario so instead of letting the civilians fight for the right to stay inside the wall, he directly build the Standard Grade Wall.

At the same time Cheng Yang selected the build option, the entirety of Phoenix Village was shrouded in multi-color light, burning around the village in two concentric rings. When the light disappeared Phoenix Village had two layers of walls lined with watchtowers , both of which were thicker than the Low Grade Wall.

Although the wall was still only three meters high in most locations, the watchtowers reached a height of seven meters. With this new wall constructed the total area protected had jumped up to nine square kilometers, more than enough space for fifteen thousand citizens.

Of course, these changes were purely aesthetic, the real value was in the new wall’s attributes. Its Defense had doubled and the Damage Reduction had increased to five thousand. Even if a massive horde of Standard Grade Immature monsters surrounded Phoenix Village, the citizens would be completely safe.

This scene shocked the vast majority of the civilians, even if they had seen the construction process of the smaller buildings the impact couldn’t compare to a wall being built. This was a wonder they wouldn’t forget.

Building the wall consumed five hundred cubic meters of wood, leaving Phoenix Village with precious little. Fortunately, the highest priced item was now out of the way, leaving only the comparatively cheaper shops. Now the only real barrier to leveling up the village was the twenty-thousand Experience Fragment requirement.

Right now the territory didn’t have a single Experience Fragment to its name. All of the Experience Fragments it used to have were put towards performing class change ceremonies, after all, the six hundred new soldiers represented a twelve thousand Experience Fragment investment. The only reason they could even afford that was the fact that cost of each soldier would be recuperated in a day. Even so, it would take quite some time to break even with the initial investment.

With all of the territories Experience Fragments loaned out to new soldiers, starting new research for the class change statues was put off until tomorrow. However, since the Priest statue would level up after just one more research objective was met Cheng Yang loaned the territory the needed Experience Fragments.

Low level Priests seemed to be of little actual value, their only use being to save their teammates the cost of a Health Recovery Potion. However, once they leveled up and gained access to stronger skills such as Angelic Inspiration their value would become glaringly apparent.

After the walls were built all of the civilians without a family member in the army were forced into the outer village, the area between the two walls. This decision was made some time ago and although it wasn’t “fair”, nothing was in this new world.

It took quite a while to move all of the civilians. Not only were there thousands of people but also tens of thousands of pounds of equipment. Most of the refugees had a small collection of items in addition to the quilts, floor mats and mattresses that the rescue teams brought back from Huimin. Without these it wouldn’t be odd to find several of the weaker civilians frozen to death in the morning.

None of that mattered to Cheng Yang since he had immediately passed all responsibility to his generals as usual.

Today Cheng Yang had reached a milestone, he had amassed a total of five thousand Experience Fragments. Two thousand were from yesterday while three thousand were from today. Once the loggers and new soldiers paid him back he would be able to collect the Experience Fragments he gave to the old soldiers for training and reach ten thousand! Sixteen times training speed was in reach!

As the civilians were being relocated from the inner village Cheng Yang walked over to the Mage statues and placed the Spirit of Ice and Snow on its pedestal.

When he did, it rose into the air until it was level with the statue’s eyes, then it cracked. The endless storm within was released into the world creating a powerful burst of cold air that drew everyone attention.

The storm stopped as abruptly as it started. When Cheng Yang looked back at the statue it was wearing a new circlet inlaid with the Spirit of Ice and Snow.

The system panel of the statue didn’t change much, only two new line was added.

---

Unique Subclasses

• Cryomancer [Unassigned]

---

One of the quirks of a unique class was that the person holding it didn’t count towards the number of people holding its base class. That is to say, after Cheng Yang becomes a Cryomancer the territory will be able to perform an additional Mage class change ceremony.

Even though Cheng Yang wasn’t able to check the Cryomancer system panel until he became one he didn’t hesitate to perform the class change ceremony. Unlike the previous curtains of light that were multicolored, the one that enveloped Cheng Yang now was a pure and icy blue. Cheng Yang felt like he had been dropped into the arctic as his blood froze and his flesh turned into ice.

After a full minute the light disappeared and Cheng Yang felt his body somewhat thaw. With a satisfied smirk he opened up his system pane.

---

Cheng Yang
Phoenix Village Lord
Class: Mage
Subclass: Cryomancer
Profession: Alchemist
Level: High-Grade Apprentice (9.9%)

Age	19	Life Span	200
HP	100.8	MP	191.2
Physical Attack	4	Magic Attack	54.8
Physical Defense	18.6	Magic Defense	8.6
Attack Speed	4	Movement Speed	11

Innate Abilities

• Receive 40% more stats in the Magic Attack attribute when you level up
• When Lord of a territory, all building effects are increased by 30%
• Movement speed is increased by 150%
• Perfect Medicinal Body: All potions effects are doubled and the side effects are halved
• Frozen Flesh: Physical Defense is increased by 50%
• Icy Mind: Mental Defense is increased by 50%

Skills

• Meditation (High-Grade): Meditate to absorb experience fragments and level up
• Icicle Blast (Standard Grade): Attack targets within thirty meters with a spike of magical ice | Damage: 66.4 | Cost: 5 MP | Cast Time: 1.5 sec | Effect: 30% chance to freeze target on hit | Proficiency: 2.1%
• Hibernation Chill (Low Grade): Freeze the air around an opponent greatly slowing them | Duration: 2 sec | Cost: 8 Mana | Cast Time: 0.8 sec | Proficiency: 10.0%
• Sacrificial Blood Cloud (Low Grade): Gift one of your attributes in full to five allies | Penalty: All attributes are halved | Duration: 10 minutes | Cast Time: 12 sec | Proficiency: 2.1%

Equipment

• Wolf King’s Sorrow (Black Iron): A stave crafted from the leg bones of the once mighty Wolf King, a Pinnacle-Grade Evolved monster that ruled a pack of millions. Shoddy construction has caused its power to diminish over time | Increases Magic Attack by 4 | Durability: 69/80
• Corrupted High Priest’s Robes (Black Iron): The robes of the high priest of the St. Luantha cathedral corrupted by demonic magic | Increase Physical Defense by 2 and Mana by 10 | Durability: 48/60
• Standard Battlemage Helmet (Black Iron): A helmet mass produced by the Nubines Citadel for its famed battlemage infantry | Increase Mana by 20 and Physical Defense by 1 | Durability: 67/80
• Rotten Wooden Ring (Black Iron): Once a powerful artifact, this ring made from a holy tree has been nearly destroyed by demonic energy | Increases Magic Attack by 3 | Durability: 75/80
• Crystal Ring (Green Bronze): A simple band ring composed of a single red crystal | Increase Magic Attack by 1 | Durability: 51/60
• Sunbeam Necklace (Green Bronze): A necklace bearing a sun motif that was lightly blessed by a holy entity | Increases Magic Attack by 1 | Durability: 55/60
• Dire Bear Bracelet (Green Bronze): Warm and fluffy this bracelet was made using the fur from one of nature’s fiercest predator | Increases Physical Defense by 1 | Durability: 45/60
• Adoril’s Gauntlet (Black Iron): One of the last fragments of the mithril armor used by Holy Knight Adoril which is the perfect size to wear as a bracelet | Increases Mana by 10 and Physical Defense by 2 | Durability: 77/80
• Iron Ant Boots (Green Bronze): Stylish and practical, these boots were made using hundred of iron ants as sequins | Increases Physical Defense by 1 and Movement Speed by 1 | Durability: 58/60

---

Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

The Skeleton General rushed to the front of the human defensive line and swept its sword sideways towards the Warriors in front of it. The wind itself seemed to be cut by the powerful strike, the first Warrior to receive its attack would inevitably get blown away.

As the sword swept towards the unfortunate Warrior, Liu Hau appeared in front of her.

“Boom!” The collision was so loud Liu Hau’s eardrums nearly ruptured.

The Damage Reduction attribute didn’t just negate damage but also the force behind it allowing Liu Hau to barely resist falling over support from the Warrior behind him. Even reduced, the Skeleton General’s strength was twice that of Liu Hau.

However, the Skeleton General’s title wasn’t just for show. Without pausing the it recovered and sent its sword snaking towards Liu Hau heart from a tricky angle. It defied logic as it snaked through the gap in his armor near his armpit.

The Skeleton General might look clumsy but it was the animated remains of a sword master. Its dexterity was on another level so as an amateur, Liu Hau could only obediently let his heart be pierced.

At the same time, three Magic Missiles slammed against the Skeleton General. Without it’s shield it was just another mob. No matter who it was in life, it was just one skeleton. Together with the last Skeleton Warrior, it was returned to the grave.

“Koko, nice block!” Cheng Yang cheered.

Indeed, if not for Liu Hau stopping the Skeleton General from knocking away the first Warrior it would have been able to directly enter the back lines. The results of that can only be imagined.

“Heh, it was a group effort.” Liu Hau said with an embarrassed smile.

They laughed but their hands weren’t idle. After killing the high level enemies, all that was left was to continue attacking.

The two sides were stuck in a lethal game of tug of war. The Warriors were stronger than the skeletons and their shields could block most of the damage but there were just too many skeletons, they couldn’t block them all. As time passed, the Warriors began to tire out.

The Summoners played a vital role in this fight. Their wolves acted as meatshields, taking attacks for the Warriors while the Summoners themselves would attack any skeleton that tried to break through the formation. Even though Summoner’s couldn’t damage enemies with their staves, their strength was enough to push them back.

The number of skeletons continuously dropped but the group wasn’t made up of trained soldiers. Even with Pang Sun’s healing and the help of potions, the mental stress of such high intensity combat introduced mistakes into their rhythm.

Unable to adjust his stance in time, a Warrior was knocked off balance by the endless wave of attacks. If he were to fall now, the undead hordes would ensure he never had the chance to get back up.

At the last moment Cheng Yang dived forwards and pulled the soldier out of the way, taking his place. As Cheng Yang hit the ground, a dozen skeleton’s stabbed downwards. Cheng Yang now had more than eighty Health so the damage done was negligible thanks to his high Physical Defense. The soldier he saved swiftly returned to his position while Cheng Yang retreated behind him.

Using his highly honed combat sense Cheng Yang was able to use his body as a shield every time a Warrior made a mistake. Even if they only dealt one damage, with attacks continuously hitting Cheng Yang he needed to take a Health Recovery Potion every ten seconds or less.

After a few dozen seconds, the battle finally ended, the dead were laid to their final rest.

None of the Phoenix Village soldiers had died but right now the Warriors didn’t look much better than beggars. Their clothes had been reduced to rags and they were covered in blood.

Fortunately, their actual condition was better than their appearance. As long as the meditated or had Pang Sun heal them, even Liu Hau’s pierced heart would heal. The real loss was any damage done to their equipment. Right now Phoenix Village didn’t have any NPC’s capable of repairing equipment so each point of durability lost was one they couldn’t get back.

Since the canyon floor was finally still, the instance had been cleared.

Cheng Yang quickly started cleaning the battlefield while the others were meditating to recover.

The skeleton armies had spawned far too quickly so Cheng Yang hadn’t had a chance to collect the loot yet. In this instance, every single high level skeleton was guaranteed to drop an item and even normal ones had a decent chance so there was plenty of loot to be found. In addition, this was the first clear of the Forgotten Grave so Cheng Yang had high expectations.

Sure enough, Cheng Yang found six pieces of Black Iron equipment, ten pieces of Green Bronze equipment and a scroll.

Cheng Yang wasn’t interest in the equipment since none of them were better than his current set. Throwing the equipment towards the soldiers to fight over, Cheng Yang opened the scroll.

At this point it seemed liked god was deliberately teasing him. He had found yet another rare scroll but instead of the architectural blueprints he wanted, it was a skill scroll.

---

Spirit Shield
“I am the emperor’s shield! You’ll have to break my unyielding spirit first you filthy necromancer!” – Sword Saint Cao Fu

Grade: Black Iron
Requirements: Warrior
Cool Down: 5 minutes
Duration: 3 minutes
Effect: Absorb a set amount of damage equal to five times Mana times the skills level
Effect: Increase Damage Reduction by five per skill level
Effect: Mana is proportionally reduced when damage is taken.

---

Even if it wasn’t a blue print the skill itself was very practical so Cheng Yang was satisfied. The Sacrificial Blood Cloud was overpowered because Cheng Yang’s level was so high but Spirit Shield was quite decent as well, a Purple Silver skill that grew with user.

Cheng Yang let out a sigh. Sadly only Warriors could learn this skill.

Cheng Yang decided to let Liu Hau learn this skill. After all, among the top ranks of Phoenix Village only him and Old Lee were Warriors. Although Old Lee’s Innate Ability was strong it was geared towards territory management so his combat potential was far lower than Liu Hau’s. Additionally, only Liu Hau participated in clearing this instance dungeon so it was only fair for him to be able to get the first choice of loot.

Then, before the instance ended, Cheng Yang rushed deeper into the canyon to find the final loot. Although the others wanted to follow him, since the instance had been cleared he refused to let them.

The soldiers didn’t insist since they needed to spend a few minutes recovering. Although Pang Sun was there, when she ran out of Mana she would have to Meditate to recover it since potions were to valuable to use in this situation.

Cheng Yang only needed to walk two hundred meters to find what he was looking for. At the end of the canyon there was a pillar made of bones and at its base was a chest. The entire area was wreathed in a blue light and covered in a layer of frost.

“Thank god its here!” Cheng Yang exclaimed.

In his last life first clear of this instance had been conducted by a Russian team that immediately began bragging about their find. The final reward for clearing the instance was a jewel that contained a raging blizzard.

Cheng Yang opened the chest and pulled out the fist sized jewel.

---

The Spirit of Ice and Snow
Giving this jewel to a Mage class change statue grants access to the unique subclass Cryomancer

---

The system pane for the jewel as very basic, but one of the words was incredibly important: unique.

There was no doubt that in this world, if something was described as unique it would be infinitely better than normal items. For example, the Sacrificial Blood Cloud skill. It played a strong role in this instance and had an amazing growth potential.

Regardless of the class, once a Professional reached a high enough level you would need to choose a subclass. For Mages there were four ordinary subclasses: Geomancer, Pyromancer, Hydromancer and Anemancer.

The name “unique subclass” was a bit of a misnomer. It wasn’t that only one existed in the world but that only one could be created per territory. For example, when Cheng Yang gives the Spirit of Ice and Snow to the Mage class change statue it will open up a single slot for a Cryomancer, a number that will never increase. Once someone performs the Cryomancer class change ceremony, unless that person they would be Phoenix Village’s only Cryomancer.

Although the Cryomancer was a unique subclass it would be more accurate to say it was just an upgraded version of the Hydromancer since you would need to be a Hydromancer before you could become a Cryomancer. However, that restriction doesn’t apply to Mage’s without a subclass.

Whether it was losing the Priest Idol from the Blood Soaked Church or the Spirit of Ice and Snow from the Forgotten Grave, mentioning it to any of the high level officials from Cloud City in Cheng Yang past life would get you beaten. After all, Cloud City had access to both of those instance dungeons but didn’t manage to obtain either of the first clear rewards. Having let those two treasures slip through their fingers, how could they possibly feel good if someone mentioned it?

Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

The team Cheng Yang brought into the Forgotten Grave were all from that initial group of soldiers. After several days of constant fighting their combat sense had gradually improved. Although there was a big gap between them and Cheng Yang, they no longer made rookie mistakes.

Lau Hui was the fastest to react. His summoned wolf rushed in between the columns of skeleton warriors.

The wolf was maniacal, crazily attacking skeletons. Each attack ripping a bone off of the skeleton’s body before it was crushed between its jaws. Each shattered bone the heirloom to a moment of infinite prestige.

Once the wolf started attacking the skeletons, their previous imposing formation broke down. Instead of orderly soldiers, they became a sea of chaotic bones that the wolf ground to pieces.

None of the other were idle. Cheng Yang’s five Mages were akin to a mobile artillery unit, every time they released a volley of Magic Missiles almost half a dozen skeletons were returned to dust.

The Mage’s Mana was limited so after crazily shooting seven or eight Magic Missiles they would run dry. To compensate, they would chug potions like water, using only the immediate rejuvenation and ignoring the regenerative effect. Cheng Yang had given them a stipend to stock up on potions before leaving so none of them hesitated to consume as many as they needed.

The other ranged fighters didn’t have the same luxury. Even though they tried to keep up, when they ran out of Mana their only recovery option was to Meditate.

When Lau Hui’s wolf died the horde of skeletons rushed towards the group instead. The Summon Wolf skill had a long cast time so Lau Hui wasn’t able to summon another yet.

Fortunately, there were several Summoners in the group. When one wolf died, the next would rush forwards. In this way the majority of the skeletons were delayed from attacking.

Now that the skeleton warriors were in a frenzy, it was impossible for the new wolves to do much damage. When it arrived, it would near instantly be killed.

“My Lord, is this supposed to be difficult?” Lau Hui couldn’t help but groan, overcome with boredom.

“You’re going to eat those words soon so stop whining.” Cheng Yang reprimanded his friend.

In just forty seconds over a hundred skeletons had been turned into bone meal. When the last skeleton collapse the canyon was deathly silent. The battle had ended.

“That’s it?” Liu Hau said incredulously, “I haven’t even gotten a chance to play yet!”

As a soldier Liu Hau didn’t get a chance to participate since the wolves were able to hold the skeleton warriors back for the duration of the battle.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance.” Cheng Yang chuckled, “This was just the first wave.”

Sure enough, the ground began to shake with magical undulations once more. Eighty meters away a second, larger, skeleton army was formed.

“Attack!” Cheng Yang roared once the skeletons entered the group’s firing range.

Lau Hui had already used his Summoner skill so by the time the army entered firing range, his wolf was ready to block them. This time, the wolf was nothing but helpless prey. The lead skeleton killed the summon in just two hits without losing a single bone.

“My Lord, that one at the front is a Standard-Grade monster!” Lau Hui was very familiar with how much Health his wolf had. Since that skeleton was able to kill it with just two attacks it definitely wasn’t an ordinary soldier.

“All Mages fire at the skeleton in the feathered helmet!” Quickly issued instructions and with a wave of his stave sent a Magic Missile towards the Standard Grade skeleton’s head.

“Pfft…” As usual, his attack was right on target but the helmet covered skull hadn’t been shattered. The empty eyes sockets of the skeleton flashed with green flames as it began to sprint towards Cheng Yang.

At this time, the other five attacks arrived creating a beautiful light show. The green flames were extinguished and the skeleton collapsed into a pile of bone fragments. Even if it had been a Pinnacle Grade monster, that combined attack would have annihilated it.

With that high level skeleton taken care of, the wolves were able to stall the rest with ease.

However, because Lau Hui’s wolf had died so suddenly, a gap had been created where a wolf wasn’t available. Using this gap, the army was able to slowly advance.

The battle lasted a full minute and at the end, not a single skeleton remained.

The last dozen or so skeletons had reached the group’s front line, injuring the defending Warriors. Luckily, none of the wounds were serious so the group was able to conserve their Health Recovery Potions.

Mere seconds after the last skeleton was killed, a new army was being formed.

“Shit, this wave wasn’t over?” Yu Kai shouted. He had originally intended to meditate to restore he Mana but he was forced to stand up and drink a potion instead.

“This is actually the third wave.” Cheng Yang replied, “Each wave spawns a minute after the last one, relentless. Watch out, this wave won’t just have a single Standard Grade monster.”

Those Standard Grade skeletons actually had a special name, the Skeleton Officers.

This sentence surprised the group but when they looked closely, there were indeed two skeleton’s with feathered helmets. They were exactly the same as the one killed earlier!

During the second wave, a Skeleton Officer had instantly killed Lau Hui’s wolf creating an opening for the army. This time they were able to prevent such a gap from appearing.

As soon as the Skeleton Officers entered Magic Missile range they heroically blocked the attacks with their bodies, dying.

This skeleton army was even bigger than the last one, the number of soldiers reached about two hundred and fifty.

In the face of this situation, it was impossible for the summoned wolves to stall all of them. The group was forced to contract their formation, letting the soldiers and wolves form a circle around the ranged attackers.

With the skeletons unable to reach them, Cheng Yang and his Mage unit began to crazily unleash attacks.

By the time the battle ended, the total number of skeletons killed by the group exceeded five hundred. In comparison, they’re side had only lost a few potions. In this respect, humans had an enormous advantage over monsters. Without potions it was hard for a soldier to kill just two monsters at the same level but with the help of potions thirty five people were able to defeat two hundred and fifty monsters without a single casualty. Although Cheng Yang’s mobile artillery unit had played a significant role, you can’t deny how powerful potions are.

“My Lord, please tell me that was the last wave!” Liu Hau wailed as he plopped to the ground.

“Weren’t you just complaining that you didn’t get to fight enough?” Cheng Yang teased.

“Is that something I said?” Liu Hau asked bitterly, “I was a fool, fighting with such intensity at the front is so tiring!”

“A fool indeed. There’s still one wave left.”

Liu Hau looked up and saw the bones covering the group rapidly swirling about as new skeleton soldiers were created. Their tight formation sending a chill down his spine.

“What’s the highest level this time?” Yu Kai had spotted quite a few feathered helmets and a unique breastplate. Once he did, he immediately knew that the situation wasn’t good.

“They’re going to be led by a High Grade Skeleton General and three Standard Grade Skeleton Officers.” Cheng Yang replied calmly.

“Well shit. What’s the plan?”

“Just hit them till they die. The first target will be the general. It’s Health should be around a hundred and twenty so three Mages, you and I should be able to instakill it. The other two can instakill and officer and then we’ll only have the other two officers to worry about. They aren’t very fast so we’ll have time to launch another volley and kill them before they reach us. The real danger will be the three hundred normal skeletons. We’ll just have to rely on the Warriors to defend us.”

“That’s the only way huh?” Liu Hau laughed brazenly then raised his shield high above his head. “What do you say Warriors? Can we hold the line?”

“Yes!” The Warriors shouted, clanging their swords against their shields.

In the distance the skeleton army had already begun marching forwards, following the lead of the Skeleton General. The army slowly advanced, step by step into the group’s attack range.

“Fire!” On Cheng Yang’s everyone unleashed a fierce group of attacks. Five bright streak of light spiraled towards their target, the Skeleton General!

The group eagerly awaited the scene of the two high level skeletons collapsing into bones. When the projectiles approached the Skeleton General its eyes flashed with an explosion of green flames creating a protective cover around itself that swallowed up the five attacks.

Although the targeted Skeleton Officer died, when the green flame shield dissipated the Skeleton General was revealed fully intact!

The soldiers were dumbfounded. What the hell? Was this guy immune to damage?

Even Cheng Yang was shocked. Although he had cleared this instance dungeon in his past life, it was with a team of fifty High Grade soldiers. They had cleanly swept through the entire instance without giving the skeletons the slightest chance to resist. Why was it able to ignore their attacks?

The scene was shocking enough that the skeleton army was allowed to advance to the ten meter mark. It wasn’t until Cheng Yang began yelling that the soldiers resumed their attacks.

“Pfft… Pfft… Pfft…” Three successive attacks landed on the Skeleton General that continued to charge forwards.

At the same time, another Skeleton Officer was destroyed.

In that single round of attacks the entire skeleton army had reached the group. Now the real battle would start.

---

TL Note: You know how lot’s of Chinese translators turn 杀 into “Kill!”, well it can also be translated as “Attack!” so idk why so many people choose the less grammatically correct one.

Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

Cheng Yang didn’t know what the situation was like at the Western Territory Altar right now but he had a fairly good way to find out. Hordes could only gather at fixed rates so the horde guarding the Territory Altar shouldn’t be much bigger than the one at the Western Bridge. If it wasn’t too hard to do so, claiming the Western Territory Altar would greatly benefit Phoenix Village’s development.

When the group visited the city previously, they hadn’t made an effort to clear out the areas they passed though in order to save time. As such, the group ran into several small hordes along the way.

Whenever they ran into a large group of monsters, Cheng Yang would, without exception, use Sacrificial Blood Cloud to quickly crush them. The group’s goal was to rush to the Western Bridge at top speed, so even if they heard refugee’s crying out for them to stop, they kept moving. Although they felt bad, there was nothing they could do for the refugees until they returned in the afternoon.

An hour and ten kilometers later, they arrived at the Western Bridge. From three hundred meters away they were able to get a good look at the horde guarding it. The most common monster was one that Cheng Yang recognized, the Skull Spotted Spider.

Were all of the bridges guarded by headache inducing monsters?

These spiders were a mutated version of Hell-Spinner spiders who evolved to be able to fire their webs as a projectile. Instead of using it to pull their prey towards them it instead locks them in place. If it was just a few dozen of these spiders Cheng Yang wouldn’t care but there were at least five hundred. What’s worse, the commander is probably a Skull Spotted Spider!

“My Lord, what should we do?” Yu Kai asked, “Fight or retreat?”

“We’ll make a temporary retreat. Right now we’re going to focus on rescuing people since we don’t know what abilities the commander will have. Once our elite forces level up we’ll crush this horde.”

Yu Kai and the other generals instantly agreed to Cheng Yang’s plan. Perhaps if they knew another Territory Altar was on the other side of the bridge they wouldn’t have given up so easily.

Not daring to disturb the guardian monsters, Cheng Yang’s group quietly retreated and continued North.

Cheng Yang unfolded a map he stored in his belt loop. Drawn from the memories from his past life, this map didn’t have any building symbols and could only be read by Cheng Yang.

There were several spot on the map marked as points of interest. The first four were the cardinal bridges and the rest scattered throughout the city.

Three of the marks were next to the city center safe zone, an area Cheng Yang didn’t want to visit. The one Cheng Yang was currently targeting was three kilometers southwest of the Northern Bridge.

The group had to slow down quite a bit once they passed the Eastern Bridge. Since this was an entirely new area they had to both fight larger monster hordes and conduct search and rescue operation.

From the Eastern Bridge to the point marked on Cheng Yang’s map it was only about five kilometers but since they needed to check seven rescue points on the way the total distance was almost seven kilometers. That combined with the time it took to search each area meant it was a little past two when they arrived at their destination.

Near buried under the ruins of a hair salon a curtain of light silently shimmered. It’s appearance and that of the entrance to the Blood Soaked Cathedral instance dungeon were nearly identical.

That’s right! This was in fact the entrance to another, different, Low Grade instance dungeon!

If Cheng Yang had known that the weird stone slab he found was the pre-apocalypse form of an instance dungeon he would have spent all of his effort gathering the ones he knew and throwing them into the borders of Phoenix Village.

There was no medicine for regret in this world so unless Cheng Yang reincarnated again there was nothing he could do. Him being reborn once was already more unlikely than a person becoming a god. Reincarnating twice? What a joke!

Although this was a Low Grade instance dungeon, if a team tried to beat Easy difficulty with only Low Grade Apprentices they would surely die. Take for instance the Easy difficulty of the Blood Soaked Cathedral, the boss was a High-Grade monster! If you didn’t know about the environment exploit, entering the instance was a creative form of suicide.

However, there are some differences between instance dungeons of the same grade. Since the Blood Soaked Cathedral can fit a maximum of five people its called a Party-Size dungeon. The one in front of them is a Team-Size dungeon that can fit fifty people. The next size up is an Army-Size instance dungeon that can fit five hundred people. Although there might another size dungeon after that, the largest found in Cheng Yang’s past life was Army-Size.

Cheng Yang had run this instance dungeon it his last life too. It was set at the bottom of a large canyon know as the Forgotten Grave. By chance that was also the name of the instance dungeon.

It’s rumored that the canyon was created when a powerful mage sent an all out attack towards an invading army. As such, the most common rare drops were things useful for Mages, the rarest of which was guaranteed to drop during the first clear. Cheng Yang wouldn’t let anyone take that reward away from him!

Cheng Yang chose to become a Mage due to his Innate Ability so he had made a mental note of where the best items for Mages could be found. Since he needed to come through this direction anyways how could he pass up the opportunity.

“My Lord, is this an instance dungeon?” Yu Kai asked, shaking himself out of a stupor.

“Of course it is!” Liu Hau rapped his friend on the forehead, “It’s just like the one in the village.”

“I can see that.” Yu Kai retorted, “I was just surprised.”

“It’s an instance dungeon.” Cheng Yang confirmed, cutting them off, “However, this one can fit fifty people instead of just five. Of course, it’s also more difficult than the one back in the village because of that.”

“My Lord, you’re not planning on going in right?” A soldier asked in confusion, “There’s only thirty five of us so won’t it be to hard?”

“How can it be difficult with me there?” Cheng Yang asked arrogantly, “Just be careful and we’ll have nothing to worry about.”

The soldier didn’t know how to respond, it was true that Cheng Yang had created several miracles already. So far there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do so if Cheng Yang said it was possible, it probably was.

Of course, Cheng Yang was more than confident. If they had attempted the dungeon a few days again, even if all fifty slots were filled, Cheng Yang wasn’t sure they would have been able to succeed. Now however, he had the Sacrificial Blood Cloud skill! It was already an overpowered ability but since he was two levels higher than the rest of the group, it became absolutely bug-like.

The group crowded around the instance dungeon and held hands as Cheng Yang activated it.

With a gut-wrenching flash, the world around them distorted and changed.

If the Blood Soaked Cathedral could be described as a land of crumbling ruins, this instance dungeon was a land of death. The entire area seemed withered. As far as the eye could see there was just dust, bones, and the blazing hot sun.

“Stick together everyone.” Cheng Yang announced, “The monster density is really high here so if you get separated from the group you’re doomed to die.”

As Cheng Yang’s voice echoed between the canyon wall’s the entire area seemed to shake. Wait! It wasn’t the canyon, it was the bones carpeting it!

“Holy shit! Our enemies aren’t going to be skeletons are they?” Liu Hau shouted in alarm.

“You know what they say, no risk no reward.” Cheng Yang said, “We’re going to have to fight a small sea of skulls.”

“I’ve always thought undead skeleton armies were cool but let’s see how powerful one is in front of us!” Liu Hau declared confidently. “Is there a Necromancer class in this world? It’ll be a lot less fun if there isn’t”

Cheng Yang didn’t answer him since he didn’t know but in his opinion, if there was a Necromancer class, it would be anything but fun.

The bones scattered across the canyon floor vibrated with an intense energy as they shot towards each other. One by one, skeleton warriors pulled themselves out of the bones. The rest dust swirling around them, creating brittle swords and armor.

This scene shocked those who had been raised as atheists. Truly, this world was no longer reasonable.

Hundreds of skeletons gather together forming tight lines, just like an ancient army. If it weren’t for their swords being rusty the effect would have been perfect. However, if anyone were to look down on these skeletons, it would be the last thing they ever did.

Once all of the skeletons had formed the undead army began to march forwards.

“Prepare for battle!” Cheng Yang shouted. The five Mages around him started to cast Magic Missile and the Rangers fired an initial volley.

Instantly a dense cloud of blood burst out of Cheng Yang’s body….

---

TL Note: I’m going to start posting every chapter I translate for the week on Saturday night. I saw another novel that did the same thing and since I’m very inconsistent I thought it would be better.

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Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

The current Captains would become Generals and their Vice-Captains would become Commanders. They had already proven themselves confident so it was the natural conclusion.

Cheng Yang didn’t immediately make those appointments, giving the Captains a chance to pick out the new soldier candidates.

They planned to have a surge in personnel. Each brigade would add a hundred and twenty people to their ranks, increasing the total number of soldiers in the village to seven hundred and twelve. Once they filled all of the slots for each class change statue, the number of soldiers serving the territory would exceed the Phoenix Village from Cheng Yang’s past life.

Currently, the territory didn’t have enough Experience Fragments to immediately perform class change ceremonies for eight hundred and forty soldiers. Unless Cheng Yang asked the current soldiers for donations, there just wasn’t a way to quickly gather enough Experience Fragments. In order to gather enough, most soldiers wouldn’t be able to train tonight and their savings would be wiped out.

It was better to just wait since there wasn’t a dire need for soldiers right now. All they had to do was wait for the new soldiers to pay back their debts and the problem would be solved with time.

Fortunately, it was close to midnight, which meant the Blood Soaked Cathedral instance dungeon would soon reset and the territory would be able to earn a significant number of Experience Fragments.

Cheng Yang didn’t need to handle the bothersome task of performing class change ceremonies nor distributing tools to Loggers. Old Lee was put in charge of class change ceremonies while Yu Kai was lent the money needed to buy tools.

Cheng Yang was the strongest fighter in the territory so it was better for him to gather as many Experience Fragments as possible.

Cutting down trees at night wasn’t safe, so that night Cheng Yang was the only person in the forest.

Cheng Yang swept through the forest like a storm and was able to earn one thousand two hundred Experience Fragments. Additionally, he leveled up his Magic Missile skill again. His overall damage bonus was now 21%. As for his other skill, Wind Bondage, the experience bar only increased by 10%. It would take quite a while for Cheng Yang to improve it.

The Wind Bondage skill was very practical, especially for someone as accurate as Cheng Yang. If he had been able to use this skill yesterday, the fight against the Elite Blood Gehenna commander wouldn’t have gone so poorly.

When Cheng Yang returned to Phoenix Village he didn’t see any of his Generals. Even in his absence, they were quite busy so he didn’t worry about it and directly entered the Blood Soaked Cathedral instance dungeon.

When Cheng Yang left the instance dungeon, he came face to face with Liu Hau.

“Yok-… My Lord. You mentioned in the past that the number of times we could use the instance dungeon everyday would increase with use, but even after clearing it several times everyday, why has nothing changed? I can only bring four people with me into the instance dungeon and I can tell that those left behind are heartbroken.”

“You’re always so impatient Koko.” Cheng Yang snorted, “You need to clear it at least fifty times before it will upgrade again.”

“That’s not too bad. We should be able to accomplish that in… six days?” Liu Hau concluded after some quick finger math.

“We shouldn’t need that long since I’ve also been clearing the Hard Difficulty. In five days, as long as we keep clearing it, the number of daily runs will double.”

“Just doubled?” Liu Hau frowned, “How are we supposed to get enough equipment for everyone if so few people are able to run it?”

Cheng Yang chuckled when he heard that. “If you aren’t satisfied, why don’t you go find another instance dungeon? If you don’t want to, just be patient and wait for this one to upgrade.”

Liu Hau could only sigh. Even he was able to tell that it was unrealistic for a single instance dungeon to supply equipment for the whole territory.

“By the way, my Lord,” Liu Hau said eyeing Cheng Yang’s outfit, “Do you have a full set of Black Iron equipment?”

Cheng Yang shook his head. “Not even close, I have nine out of ten slots filled but only five pieces are Black Iron grade. As for Alchemist equipment, I haven’t gotten a common grade one even after clearing Hard three times! The drop rate is just abysmal.”

Thanks to his amazing equipment, Cheng Yang attributes were very impressive. Most of his stats were boosted by at least one or two with his Physical Defense being the most impressive. Unfortunately, although his Physical Defense had increased substantially, it was only effective if the enemy hit a spot covered by the armor.

Cheng Yang took a bronze buckler off of his back and handed it to Liu Hau. “Here, my luck was pretty good during this run and the Boss dropped this shield. It’ll definitely be useful to you.”

When Liu Hau glanced at the stats his eyes nearly popped out. “My Lord, how could this humble servant dare to-“

Cheng Yang sent a sharp kick towards Liu Hau’s butt before he could finish his dramatic speech. “Knock that off! Take the damn thing and don’t you dare sell it.”

Liu Hau nimbly dodged the kick and walked off while laughing.

Cheng Yang shook his head. He was helpless in front of Liu Hau’s temperament. 

Obviously, the buckler’s stats were pretty amazing, otherwise Liu Hau wouldn’t have acted like that.

---

Humble Bronze Buckler
This shield was forged by the legendary blacksmith Hundred Refined Steel when he was an apprentice

Grade: Black Iron
Class: Warrior
Requirements: Low-Grade Apprentice
Durability: 80/80
Effect: Increase Physical Defense by 3
Effect: Damage Reduction of 4

---

Damage Reduction was the unique attribute shields possessed. The effect is similar to that of the Physical Defense attribute but with some key differences. Take for example Liu Hau’s new shield. If he were to block an attack that dealt eight damage, it would be reduced by six thanks to his Physical Defense of six. After that, the remaining two points of damage would be absorbed by the shield. Even though the shields durability will be reduced by a proportional amount, it was the only way to reduce an attack’s damage to zero. Any other class, even if they had a Physical Defense in the thousands, would still take at least one damage.

After that, Cheng Yang took care of his daily chores. He needed to start any new research that he could then resupply on potions. Some of them were brewed using his Alchemist Profession and the rest were purchased from the Alchemy Tower. As usual, he had one of his soldiers carry most of them while keeping a few in his bag.

That morning, he used up all of his energy making Mana Recovery Potions but he wasn’t able to sustain his use with just those, hence, why he still needed to buy a majority of them from the NPC manager.

Cheng Yang looked at the soldier’s arms stuffed with bottles and couldn’t help but smile. He was still too poor right now, or he would buy a Spacial Ring.

Although they were sold in the Grocery, the smallest one cost ten thousand Experience Fragments. Considering how many expenses the territory had, buying one was too much of a luxury.

Even if Cheng Yang had enough Experience Fragments to buy one right now, he wouldn’t. He could always pay some soldiers to carry his things so it was better to unlock a faster training speed. Of course, Cheng Yang wouldn’t mind buying one in the future when he had a surplus.

After packing up, Cheng Yang planned to lead mostly the same group as last time into Cloud City. Although many of them had already visited the two locations given to Old Lee, they were still useful when navigating the city. Even though the terrain in the city had changed, the people who had lived there in the past were able to recognize various landmarks and guide the group.

Last night, the five brigades appointed all of their leadership positions and several of them were held by members of the group going to Cloud City, including the generals Yu Kai, Liu Hau, and Lau Hui. Fortunately, the structure of their military was organized in such a way that filling those absences for a day was simple.

Cheng Yang would have brought Old Lee as well but he needed the general to stay behind to perform class change ceremonies. Increasing the size of the army was undoubtedly the territories main task so Cheng Yang attached great importance to it.

When the group entered the city, they stayed close to the ravine on the West side and followed it, heading North. This was both to bypass the Western part of the city and observe the situation on the Western Bridge.

Since Cheng Yang had obtained a skill scroll when he cleared the Southern Bridge, he had been obsessed with clearing the other three. Although most of the rules that governed this new gamified world were unknown, one key element had been discovered in Cheng Yang’s past life: everything was consistent. Since each of the bridges had a large horde guarding them, finding a treasure on one meant that all of the others must have one as well.

Although it may have been a fluke that a skills scroll had appeared at the Southern Bridge, Cheng Yang was willing to at least check the other bridges for treasure.

However, treasure wasn’t the only reason Cheng Yang wanted to clear the Western Bridge. What he really wanted was to open up a path to the West.

Cheng Yang knew that there were three Territory Altars surrounding Cloud City. Cheng Yang had claimed one and if he was quick enough he could claim another while they were still free.

Of the two remaining Territory Altars, one was a few kilometers northeast of Cloud City.

Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

Before performing any class change ceremonies, Cheng Yang gathered his four team Captains so that they could discuss the future of Phoenix Village’s military force.

Soon, Yu Kai and the other had gathered in the main hall of Cheng Yang’s Standard Grade Meditation Hall, sitting on stools in a circle around the brazier.

Once everyone was gathered, Cheng Yang started to speak. “Now that the primary class change statues have reached High Grade, each one can perform two hundred and twenty class change ceremonies. Soon the number of people in each team is going to skyrocket leading to inefficiencies in management. Does anyone have any ideas for solving this problem?”

Cheng Yang’s college friends could only stay silent since they had no experience with this kind of problem.

“My Lord, the obvious solution is to create a longer chain of command.” Old Lee said, “Even with just fifty seven people in each team, its difficult to manage everyone during a battle with just a Captain and Vice Captain. A small increase in soldiers could lead to the dissolution of the command structure entirely.”

Cheng Yang nodded, “In that case, do you recommend we use a modern military command structure or one of the ancient systems?”

“Why do we need to follow any specific system?” Yu Kai asked, “We can just create our own. How about… ten people to a squadron, four squadrons to a battalion and five battalions to a brigade?”

“That’ll work for now while we are small but what about later? What will come after a brigade? That system will only support a thousand soldiers.” Cheng Yang asked.

“Above a brigade we can have a regiment.” Liu Hau said, “Then above that how about a Ministry? I recall they had Ministries in the ancient era. Then all of the officers for each level can collectively be known as the Executive Department of Generals?”

Lau Hui snorted, “How many officers do you think there will be in a thousand soldiers? There would be dozens of generals. What if our forces expand to ten thousand? Or a tens of thousands? Generals would be like dogs. What would we call Ministry leaders? Marshals? Grand Marshals?”

“I didn’t…” Liu Hau was stunned by Lau Hui’s rebuttal and was too embarrassed to defend himself.

“Don’t worry about the titles.” Cheng Yang said, “In the past there were several levels of generals, so it’s not unprecedented. Our titles don’t need to follow convention and we can make up new ones as the army grows. I’m open to any ideas so long as they would benefit the territory.”

“In that case my Lord… I think you should step down from your Captain position.” Old Lee recommended, “Since you are the Lord of the territory it isn’t necessary to directly lead the army. Especially since it puts you on the same level of authority as any other Captain.”

“This…” Cheng Yang fell into deep thought, “Your suggestion is a reasonable one. These days even though I was a Captain in name, my true role was that of an overall commander and rarely acted with my team. In that case, tomorrow I’ll announce that Zhao Chuan is taking over my position as Captain.”

Old Lee nodded in satisfaction seeing how much his words were valued by Cheng Yang.

“Should we give each brigade a name?” Liu Hau asked, “I think it would be more convenient than numbering them.”

“We shouldn’t do that until each brigade has a sense of unity. We should use numbers for now and then take input from the soldiers for the name.” Yu Kai said.

“Waiting to name the brigades was my intention in the first place.” Cheng Yang affirmed, “Once the territory levels up again, we’ll be able to build the Barracks. That’s when we’ll name the brigades in a formal setting which will make it more grand.”

None of the others doubted when Cheng Yang said. They all agreed that it would be better to wait until the names could be official.

“My Lord,” Old Lee said, “I have an idea but I’m not sure if its appropriate to say.”

“Old Lee, we’ve only known each other for a few days but I trust your judgement.” Cheng Yang encouraged, “I won’t be offended by anything you suggest.”

“As the supreme leader of the territory you should stop acting intimately with your friends in public.” Old Lee declared, “It is natural for the public to gossip and if they see that your three close friends all assumed leadership positions in the military it would hurt your reputation and undermine your authority.”

“I don’t think that’s-”

Yu Kai interrupted Cheng Yang, “Yoko, I know what you’re thinking but Old Lee is right. Old Lee wasn’t the only one who realized it might cause problems, me and the others already decided to bring it up today but Old Lee beat us to it. From now on, in public we should act more formally around each other even though in private we are the closest of friends.”

“In that case, I’ll try not to show preference for you three in public.” Cheng Yang relented.

“In addition to that, I also think that you should form a personal guard.” Old Lee continued, “Now that you’re not a team leader, it’s necessary to form a small group that answers only to you. If you have a small group of elite soldiers to use your Sacrificial Blood Cloud on it can be useful at critical moments.”

Cheng Yang rejected the proposal without even thinking about it. He knew that Old Lee was just thinking about his safety but creating an elite team wasn’t something he could do at the moment. The only way to gather talented soldiers for a personal guard would be to take them from the brigades. Cheng Yang didn’t want to hurt the core of his military force so he could only wait until he could poach talents from Cloud City.

After settling the matter of a personal guard Cheng Yang suddenly remembered something important. “There’s one more thing I have to tell you that I forgot about. When the class change statues leveled up they gained the ability to sell skills. Right now each statue has a single skill you can buy. However, you can only get it when you level up, so work hard.”

Liu Hau smiled, “I’ve worked hard since the world ended and my experience bar has reached 42% so I should be able to level up in under a week. That skill is exactly the encouragement I needed to reach the next level.”

“Good, I was hoping it would motivate you. Why we’re done here you should go check the statues status pane. I think you’ll like the skills offered.”

When Cheng Yang finished speaking, Old Lee made one last proposal, “My Lord, I also believe that we should increase the number of loans we make to the territories Loggers. The amount of wood we’ve gained after the last two days both from scavenging and harvesting was just five hundred units. It will be a long time before we can solve our housing crisis or even build the Standard Grade wall so as to give the civilians space to lie down. Its far too crowded, we have twelve thousand people living on a square kilometer piece of land.”

Cheng Yang nodded, “I’ve been worried about this predicament for a while. Tomorrow, I’ll loan two thousand Experience Fragments to Loggers without tools. Hopefully with that we’ll be able to build the wall tomorrow.”

After a few more topics were raised, the group dispersed for the night.

After that, Cheng Yang gathered all of the soldiers in order to make an announcement.

The first thing he announced was his resignation as a team Captain. When Zhao Chuan heard the news he felt agitated at first, but when he Cheng Yang announced he would be promoted Zhao Chuan was able to relax.

He was able to predict the that result since he was the only Vice-Captain on Cheng Yang’s team but he couldn’t help but feel nervous. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Cheng Yang was happy to gain more authority in the village.

Cheng Yang’s next announcement that several new leadership positions would be created in the army. Each brigade would have a General and three Commanders. Under them each battalion would have a Captain and two Vice-Captains. Finally, each squadron would have an Officer.

Each squadron would have at least two people from each class except for the Priest class. Since there were so few Priests they would serve the brigade as a whole under the direct command of the generals.

Generals and Commanders would be appointed by Cheng Yang. The Captains and Vice-Captains would be appointed by the Generals and finally the squadron officers would be appointed by the Captains. This was done to limit the effects of a single corrupt individual in a leadership position.

Of course, this was just in name. Cheng Yang, the Lord of the territory, was the most corrupt of all. Even so, Cheng Yang knew that no one would challenge his decision to make his friends generals in the future. Their S-Rank Innate Abilities ensured that their strength would match their rank.

Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

After that, Cheng Yang checked his personal status pane.

Of the loot he had obtained from the day’s activities, the best was undoubtedly the Sacrificial Blood Cloud unique skill. Although he used it at every opportunity he could, the experience bar was only at a measly 2%. This was due to the fact that the Health and Mana didn’t automatically refill after the skill finished, limiting his ability to use it in quick succession.

For Phoenix Village, the biggest gain was increasing its population by 3000. The total population now exceeded six thousand and once the citizens from Huimin, who were too weak to move the day before, were rescued the population would jump to ten thousand.

Cheng Yang didn’t know what the population requirement for upgrading the territory to Pinnacle Grade but ten thousand should be more than enough. That was a problem for the future, right now he needed to focus on the level up requirements for High Grade.

Thanks to the efforts of the Loggers, with the help of a team dedicated to transporting the tree’s they felled, two hundred and fifty cubic meters of wood had been collected.

With that much wood, Cheng Yang would be able to build two more of the shops. Instead, he built only the Grocery and used the rest to make Low Grade Meditation Halls.

Although the shops were incredibly valuable for the territory, very few people could utilize them. None of the regular soldiers had the spare Experience Fragments to invest in a Profession. In comparison, there was an ongoing food and housing crisis among the civilians that needed to be addressed immediately.

What Cheng Yang really wanted to build was the Standard Grade Wall. The area within the first ring was too small to comfortably hold the expanding population and the durability was too low to withstand the attacks of higher level monsters. However, the wall required five hundred cubic meters of wood so Cheng Yang opted to solve the problem he could, with the wood he had.

After selling the wood to the village, each Logger earned twenty Experience Fragments. This was a fair trade enforced by god’s rules.

Of course, those Experience Fragments would be returned to Cheng Yang.

Originally, Cheng Yang intended to take the Experience Fragments back immediately but he had enough of his own to make it a long term loan instead. After all, he had nearly three thousand Experience Fragments so he didn’t need the four hundred the Logger’s could give him for tonight.

That evening, Cheng Yang ordered all five teams outside the wall to hunt edible monsters. The new refugees tore through their remaining food supplies so they needed to quickly gather enough for tomorrow. The only alternative would be to dip into the preserved food they had, but Cheng Yang wanted to save it for a rainy day.

As for himself, he took five people with him to train his new skill. Right now, every Experience Fragment gained would be a huge advantage over the rest of the world, so this opportunity was very valuable.

As such, the five people with Cheng Yang were all either Captains or Vice-Captains of teams. These were people he or his friends trusted so speeding up their growth was a high priority for Cheng Yang.

Cheng Yang didn’t return until two in the morning. Earlier he had given away the two thousand Experience Fragments he had so that others could train with them so he didn’t come back until he had gathered enough to train.

---

The next morning, Cheng Yang cleared the Blood Soaked Cathedral, started new researches, and led a team into Cloud City.

Their morning went smoothly. They visited five locations and saved two soldier’s families, including Old Lee’s. In the afternoon, they met with some trouble.

The family of one of the soldier’s was being held hostage.

The reason was quite simple. During the apocalypse, many types of violent and unsavory people would see it as an opportunity to create a small empire for themselves. In this case, a gang from the old world had captured people and would force them to go out and search for food while they relaxed in safety.

When Cheng Yang rushed in with his soldiers, the gangsters laughed at their weapons. Hearing that they were searching for a man’s parents they immediately held a knife to the mothers neck, expecting the group to drop their weapons. Their intention was to pressure Cheng Yang’s group into becoming their newest slaves.

Was it possible to threatened Cheng Yang? Not if you wanted to live. The gangster holding the knife turned into streamers before the rest of them were even able to process that Cheng Yang attacked them.

Executing a dozen or so people was very simple for Cheng Yang. He had adapted well to the apocalypse in his previous life and didn’t hesitate to kill others.

Cheng Yang’s ruthless actions frightened people, even some of the soldiers watched on in horror. The Cheng Yang they knew was strict but kind, but this let them see another side of Cheng Yang’s character. They realized now that Cheng Yang was no saint. If someone were to piss him off, perhaps they would die on the spot.

Although his actions shocked the soldiers, none of them questioned him or complained. They just settled down the refugees and kept moving.

Old Lee had helped Cheng Yang choose a route between the locations that minimized the chances that they would encounter the military but as they moved closer to the city center, Cheng Yang believed they would meet each other soon.

Cheng Yang didn’t want to start a feud with the army right now so the group gradually slowed their advance so they could more cautiously survey their surroundings.

Even after turning around to return to Phoenix Village, the group didn’t run into the military. Perhaps Cheng Yang had overestimated how quickly the military would spread into the city.

Now all of the locations in southwestern Cloud City had been visited. Cheng Yang decided that tomorrow, they would skip the east half and go directly to northern Cloud City. This was so they would encounter less refugees and could focus on rescuing the soldier’s families.

When Cheng Yang got back to Phoenix Village, all of the primary class change statues had leveled up up to High Grade.

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Mage Statue
Phoenix Village
High Grade
55/260

Research

• Body Strengthening Mana Flow (High Grade): Increase HP by 20% | Cost: 500 | Time: 10 hours
• Extra Mana Node (High Grade): Increase Mana by 20% | Cost: 100 | Time: 10 hours
• Ambient Mana Gathering (High Grade): Increase Magic Attack by 20% | Cost: 500 | Time: 10 hours
• Passive Ironskin (High Grade): Increase Physical Defense by 20% | Cost: 500 | Time: 10 hours
• Mental State Training (High Grade): Increase Magic Defense by 20% | Cost: 500 | Time: 10 hours

Skills

• Wind Bondage (Low-Grade): Binds a target for a set amount of time | Duration: 2 sec | Cost: 25 MP | Cast Time: 3 sec | Level Needed: Standard Grade Apprentice | Price: 100 Experience Fragments

---

Cheng Yang inwardly groaned when he saw the research cost. It would take ten thousand Experience Fragments to finish all of the High Grade research and that was just for the primary statues.

Of course, this cost wasn’t unwarranted. When the statues leveled up, they finally gained the ability to bestow skills to the soldiers! These skills weren’t like the ones they currently had as they wouldn’t be given automatically. These skills were like the Angelic Inspiration skill that the Priests had. In order to obtain them, you needed to pay for them. The new skills were the lowest level skills possible, unlike inherited skills.

In addition, the number of soldiers each statue could produce was quadrupled. Once the funds needed to transfer the soldiers was collected, the strength of Phoenix Village would undergo a quantitative change.

Cheng Yang sighed thinking of all the bills that were piling up: ten thousand for research, thirteen thousand two hundred for new soldiers and ten thousand to upgrade the territory.

After briefly considering shelving research, Cheng Yang decided against it.

One research per statue per day wouldn’t use all of their Experience Fragments which would leave enough to perform a few class change ceremonies. When the process finished, Phoenix Village would have over 800 soldiers so the amount of Experience Fragments gathered every day would increase. There was also the stores’ taxes to think about. Each soldier would earn more when they attacked bigger hordes so they would be able to purchase food and other necessities in the stores.

The benefits a territory with a large number of soldiers received were very clear to see.

Cheng Yang no longer hesitated and started the research for each statue that increased Mana. He didn’t neglect the Standard Grade Priest statue either and started a new research for it as well.

At present, the Priest statue still had three Standard Grade research topics left before it could be leveled up.

Next, Cheng Yang arranged for a batch of new soldiers to undergo class change ceremonies. The population now exceeded ten thousand thanks to rescue efforts in two cities. As such, finding people who wanted to was too easy.

Last Chapter| Index | Next Chapter

“Old Lee, you’re good at this sort of thing so combine the information they gathered and report it to me.” Cheng Yang said.

Old Lee took the soldier off to the side and questioned them. Luckily, the soldiers had exercised some common sense and conducted their interrogations in a way that didn’t allow the refugees to hear each other.

A moment later Old Lee approached Cheng Yang with a sour expression, “My Lord, the situation isn’t good.”

Before Cheng Yang could speak, Feng Lie asked anxiously, “What? Please say they just never saw her.”

Old Lee looked over to Feng Lie with sympathetic eyes. “Mr. Feng, I can’t guarantee that what I’m about to say is the truth, but it should be close. Several of the refugees, those that were healthy, corroborated the leader’s story. Although the others did the same, with a little encouragement, they immediately caved and told us a much worse version. There used to be many more people hiding with these men, including your wife, but anyone who didn’t listen to them were used as bait for the monsters when they scavenged for food. I think you can understand what happened.”

Old Lee’s word struck Feng Lie like a thunderbolt. He trembled before crying out, “Why her? Why Meng Meng? Why was she used?”

“Because she stayed loyal to you until the end. All of the women were offered safety and food so long as they allowed themselves to be used by that man. She was stubborn and resisted. She wasn’t the first or only person to resist, she was just unlucky to be chosen before the others.”

Hearing this Feng Lie’s face became moist with tears as he cried into Liu Hau’s shoulder. The soldiers gathered around him, doing what they could to comfort him. They couldn’t help but respect Nguyen Meng in their hearts.

No one doubted that Nguyen Meng was dead. Several people had matching stories without any collusion so the credibility of their information was higher than that of the leader’s.

“Meng Meng, you should have just done what kept you alive. I wouldn’t have blamed you.” Feng Lie bawled.

Feng Lie’s love for his wife was on full display, her death was a massive blow to him.

“Now that you’ve heard both stories, I’ll let you decide what the truth is.” Cheng Yang said without emotion, “I leave the fate of those refugees to you.”

Feng Lie wiped his eyes. The sadness held within them had been replaced by a bloodthirsty killing intent. “I know what to do my Lord.”

Feng Lie walked towards the leader who was wearing a glowing smile that complimented his suit.

Feng Lie glared at the leader, his expression as cold as a frozen wasteland, “If you can give me a proper explanation, I might just let you live.”

“My friend, I assure you that what I said was true. If the others were badmouthing me it can only be due to a grudge they must-“

“Stop.” Feng Lie ordered. With a single quick movement Feng Lie drew an arrow from his quiver and pointed his drawn bow towards the man’s chest. “Last warning, explain it properly or die.”

The cold gleam of metal shone off of the arrow and even the leader’s warm facade couldn’t hide his fear.

“I.. please sir, consider your actions. This is a society governed by law, if you kill me here the consequences will-“

“Law?” Feng Lie sneered, “Do you think laws still matter here?” Feng Lie pulled back the arrow and released it into the leader’s thigh, causing him to wail loudly.

“There, did that clear your head of those useless thoughts?” Feng Lie asked mockingly as he drew another arrow.

“Sir, if you stop now I’ll let it go but if the military find out you did this you’ll be imprisoned when society is reestablished.”

Feng Lie wordlessly released an arrow into his other thigh.

“It’s true!” The leader shouted, “That woman died but it was for the greater good of the whole group! It wasn’t my fault!”

“You… fucker!” Feng Lie roared sending an arrow directly into the man’s heart.

The man looked down at the blossoming red flower on his suit. “Sir, you…. You said you wouldn’t… The military will….”

Even on his deathbed the leader didn’t break character or show a hint of remorse. “Promises made between people can’t be broken, but you, you aren’t a person at all.”

Feng Lie turned around leaving him to bleed out on the ground. No matter what, the leader would die and in a few hours the monsters would ensure not even a corpse would remain. Only three arrows and a pile of bones.

Feng Lie had killed countless monsters since the world ended but this was the first time he had killed a man. Although he felt somewhat sick, the rage he felt knowing that the man he killed had thrown his wife into jaws of monsters stopped him from vomiting or regretting his actions.

“My Lord,” Feng Lie said as the leader died, “I left that animal in the street but I give you back the fate of the others. Meng Meng is already dead. Killing anyone else would just tarnish my soul.”

“You made the right choice.” Cheng Yang encouraged, “Well take the rest of them with us to Phoenix Village. If you want them, those that contributed to your wife’s death will be your slaves. You can use them to gather materials or just as meatshield.”

“I… I’ll accept your goodwill my Lord.” Feng Lie said after a moment of hesitation.

After that Cheng Yang and the other soldiers left without sparing the refugees another glance. There was no where for them to go so Cheng Yang wasn’t worried about them running from judgement. If they tried, they’d either be eaten by monster or find another hole to starve to death in. Either way, no one would pity them.

Over the next three hours, they visited another four locations. Their luck was good and they were able to rescue another soldier’s family. Although they didn’t find anyone at the other three locations, it wasn’t all bad since the soldiers still had hope.

When they finished searching in the fourth location, it was four in the afternoon. Although there was still an hour before they absolutely had to leave, due to the large number of people they would be escorting back to the village, the group decided to start heading back now.

The group retraced their steps, following the markers they had left. As refugee groups joined them their speed decreased as they needed to match the slower speed of normal people. This caused them to be attacked by monster more frequently.

Thankfully, since they had cleared the path beforehand, the monsters always attacked alone.

By the time they crossed the southern bridge, they were escorting over three thousand refugees. The caravan stretched for eighty meters and was over twenty meters wide.

Even with the sun high in the sky, the forest outside of the city was dark and gloomy. The unknown depths of the forest instilled a deep fear within the refugees.

After entering the forest their speed slowed to a crawl. Monsters would jump out from behind trees and dart through the refugees. With only thirty defenders, casualties were inevitable. Only a few people died due to two key factors. The first being that Pang Sun would heal anyone that didn’t die on the spot. The second being that the Mages strengthened by Cheng Yang’s Sacrificial Blood Cloud were able to one-shot the monsters that attacked them.

Cheng Yang hadn’t decided to save these people out of the kindness of his heart. He wasn’t a good person like Liu Hau. Rather, he knew that Phoenix Village’s population would be critical to its growth. Although Phoenix Village was overcrowded now, it would quickly expand. If they wanted to increase the population to fill the future village he had to act now. In the first few weeks of the apocalypse refugees were everywhere but if you wanted to find some a month from now it would be impossible.

The distance from Cloud City to Phoenix Village was only five kilometer. When they passed through the gates, Cheng Yang let out a long breath.

It was a smooth and uneventful journey despite dozens of people died. No one blamed Cheng Yang for the deaths and no one would dare to complain that the service was poor.

When those people saw the tall walls guarding Phoenix Village they let out cheers of joy. The walls meant they wouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open, always afraid that a monster would discover them. As for what life inside the walls entailed? Who cares. Its better than starving to death in the ruins.

Cheng Yang immediately passed the responsibility of dealing with the refugees to Yu Kai and went to the Territory Altar. He then started the research that increased Magic Defense for the four primary statues and the research that increased Mana for the Priest statue.

After that was finished, the territory still had two thousand six hundred Experience Fragments. Although there was some left over after starting the day’s research, how long would it take to collect the twenty thousand needed to upgrade the village?

Although he was curious, he didn’t really worry about it. After all, his territory was at the Standard Grade while nearly every other territory hadn’t even been claimed.

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Soon after they arrived, the group ran into a problem. “Yoko, how are we supposed to find them?” Liu Hau asked.

“Easy, just shout.” Cheng Yang said, “As long as we clear out all the monsters in a decent radius it’ll be fine.”

“Oh, that should work.” Yu Kai exclaimed.

“Alright, split into groups of six and kill all the monsters in a four hundred meter radius.” Old Lee ordered the soldiers, “It should only take ten minutes so be back on time.”

The team Captains, including Cheng Yang, chose five people each. Each group then chose a different direction and started their pest control operation.

The reason Cheng Yang was working with a group instead of alone was to test his new skill. The arrangement was especially great for the five Mages he chose since they got to experience the thrill of insta-killing monsters.

They were able to smoothly take care of any monsters that appeared and were even able to annihilate a horde with fifty monsters in just thirty seconds. Although they needed to meditate and recharge their Mana occasionally, they were able to achieve a hunting efficiency no less than Cheng Yang when he was using potions.

Ten minutes later, eight monster hordes and dozens of solo monsters were killed. The people who had joined Cheng Yang were incomparably happy since they had each collected over a hundred Experience Fragments. They had been able to earn three time as much as they usually did in a day in just ten minutes!

After clearing out all the monsters, everyone began to call out the name of Shu Yuan’s parents. Shu Yuan was only twenty-two years old this year, barely an adult, so his parents were the only family he had.

The faces of the soldier’s held a trace of apprehension and anxiety. They all knew that there were only two outcomes of their actions int he apocalypse. Even if the worse of the two didn’t happen for Shu Yuan, what about them?

It seemed that Shu Yuan’s luck was fairly good since the groups shouts were answered with a weak voice filled with excitement.

“Yuan-er! Is that you?”

Shu Yuan trembled. That weak voice had sent an electric current down his spine. After a moment of hesitation, he dashed towards the voice at top speed.

Cheng Yang and the others followed behind him at a leisurely pace. Although the voice was fifty meters away, there shouldn’t be any danger since they had cleared such a large area.

A moment later, Shu Yuan come out of a ruined supermarket with a large group of people. Cheng Yang guessed that the two people beside him were his parents while the rest were the people who had taken refuge in the same spot.

Cheng Yang was happy for Shu Yuan. The number of people who reunited with their loved ones in the apocalypse was just too few. Cheng Yang estimated that no more than half of the soldiers with him would be able to eventually save their families. Some of the soldier’s families will have been killed and others just won’t be found. As for whether those soldier’s would ever find their families, only god knew.

“My Lord, I’d like you to meet my parents. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to live peacefully in Phoenix Village.” Shu Yuan said with reverence. If before he only called Cheng Yang “my Lord” in order to appease him, now it was from a place of genuine respect.

“Congratulations, I hope Phoenix Village will serve as your home for years to come. What will you do now?” Cheng Yang asked.

“My Lord, I’ve already explained the situation to them. They will wait here until we can pick them up this afternoon.” Shu Yuan said.

“Very well, I’ll respect your decision.”

Shu Yuan nodded before taking his parent’s hands, “Mom, dad, I have to go with the Lord to rescue my comrades families as well. It’s only thanks to their power that I was able to find you so I can’t be selfish and stay here with you. Don’t worry about me, with our power nothing can stop us. I hope you can forgive me for leaving so soon.”

Shu Yuan’s father was a sensible man and immediately waved it off, “How could we be so impudent as to blame you for that. They’re our saviors so go. It’s only a few hours and they we can have a proper reunion.”

Shu Yuan tearfully smiled and shared a few words with his parents. Giving each a quick hug he returned to the group.

When Shu Yuan’s parents went back into the supermarket the other refugees hid as well.

---

The next location they needed to search was two kilometers away. It was the office building where they hoped to find the wife of another soldier, Feng Lie’s.

Half an hour later the group was calling out for Feng Lie’s wife.

After a few minutes without a response Feng Lie almost broke down.

Seeing this Liu Hau walked over and gave the man a hug, “Hey, don’t worry. She probably just doesn’t have the strength to respond. We’ll just have to search everywhere she could have hidden.”

Feng Lee took some deep breaths and nodded.

The soldiers fanned out, searching through the ruined buildings for places a person could have hidden.

When they had searched about half the area a voice called out to them. “Hail friends! Are you here to save people?”

A man’s could be seen hiding in a collapsed car park waving at them. Seeing Cheng Yang gesture for him to take care of it, Feng Lie walked over to the man.

“That’s right, specifically, I’m looking for my wife. We’ve killed all of the nearby monster so you can come out.”

Soon more than a dozen people exited the ruins and ran over to them. They were dirty but the leaders of the group looked a lot better than most of the refugee’s they found.

“Are all of you people who worked around here?” Feng Lie asked.

A man in a suit smiled charmingly at Feng Lie, “That’s correct, we used to work around here before the earthquake. Who are all of you? Just a while ago I saw you slaughter the monsters in the area, how did you get so strong?”

Feng Lie ignored the man’s question, “That’s not important. Have you met a woman named Nguyen Meng? She was in her late twenties and around one hundred and fifty centimeters tall.”

“Yes actually, she was with us until just yesterday.” The man said with a sympathetic expression, “A large group of people passed through here yesterday and she joined up with them along with a few others. They were heading west, it may be possible to catch up with them if you hurry. If you bring me along I’ll be able to identify the group for you.”

Feng Lie was relieved to hear that and turned to Cheng Yang to ask if they could chase the group. When he saw Cheng Yang’s face he was shocked into silence. A cold murderous intent was emanating from him.

Cheng Yang slowly walked up to the man, “Separate and restrain them. After that interrogate them, check to see if this snake’s story is true.”

“Sir, I promise that-” Before the leader of the refugee’s could finish his sentence Cheng Yang struck a large concrete pillar with a magic missile, turning it to dust and rubble. It was a clear warning.

The man in the suit smartly closed his mouth when he saw that.

Everyone could tell that something wasn’t right but didn’t hesitate to carry out Cheng Yang’s order. Although some people tried to resist what could they do against Professionals?

The group of refugee’s was smaller than the number of soldiers so Feng Lie nervously walked over to Cheng Yang.

“Are you curious as to why I’m doing this?” Cheng Yang asked.

Feng Lie hesitated then nodded his head.

“I don’t blame you but be more observant. This is the end of the world and if you miss crucial details it’ll only get you killed. Many of them seem well fed but those few in the back look like they’re starving. Look at their body language. Those that are starved also look afraid, but not of the monsters. Also, I know the eyes of a killer when I see them.”

“My Lord, you can’t mean…” Feng Lie trailed off, his face turning pale. “Are you saying that they… why would they lie about this?”

“People lie for all sorts of reason’s. I’m not saying they killed your wife but I believe it’s a possibility. Once we question them the truth will emerge. Just… be prepared for the worst.”

Even though Cheng Yang tried to comfort him, Feng Lie was able to tell that Cheng Yang didn’t believe his wife was alive.

After a few minutes the interrogations were finished. Many of the healthy looking refugee’s had bruises on their faces. Several of the soldiers had overheard Cheng Yang and were determined to force the truth out of them.

Cheng Yang didn’t even react to their violent methods. In this troubled world, what did a bit of violence amount to? After all, his soldiers hadn’t killed them.

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The soldiers listened attentively for Cheng Yang’s announcement.

“My only request is that no matter what, while we are in the city, you put the needs of the team before your own.” Cheng Yang announced, “If you aren’t able to comply with this, I have no choice but to expel you from the team. This isn’t me trying to bully you but a decision made for the greater good of Phoenix Village. The reason I say this is because we can’t spend too long searching for just one person’s family. Each of you will provide Old Lee with two possible locations your family could be. We will visit each location for a maximum of thirty minutes before leaving for the next location. We will start will the southernmost locations and work our way north. In addition, all rescue operations will stop at five. After that we will come back every day until each location has been checked. Does anyone have a problem with this?”

After hearing this the crowd began to murmur. It was to be expected, which person would be willing to give up on their family just like that?

One by one the soldiers decided to give in and checked in with Old Lee. In the end, everyone accepted the conditions, something that surprised Cheng Yang. Although everyone wanted to spend as long as they could searching for their families and to be the first in line, they knew it was unreasonable.

After everyone made their decision, Cheng Yang led them across the bridge.

This wasn’t the first time Cheng Yang had crossed the bridge that bordered on a natural wonder so he wasn’t impressed. The rest of the soldiers couldn’t help but gasp in admiration as they looked over the sides.

If this bridge had appeared in the old world, it would have made national headlines and become a top tourist destination. Here, however, it could be seen at every major city in four different places.

The bridge, which was several tens of meters long, was made out of a porous red rock with black flecks. It looked like the entire thing was made from cooled magma. If someone were to watch the formation, they would have seen the chasm drop down at incredible speed before the bridges stretched across from the city side.

There was a tight ring of dense forest right at the city side edge of the bridge. Once Cheng Yang’s group passed through it, the scenery totally changed.

The south was covered in lush natural forests while the north was nothing but ruins, bones and dried blood. Although they had seen a similar scene in Huimin, it was still hard for the soldiers to see their home had been destroyed.

The outskirts of Cloud City, where there weren’t any high-rise buildings, had collapsed. Even the squatter shacks had collapsed into ruins.

The ruins of Huimin were already being reclaimed by the forest when they arrived but Cloud City was different. If not for the monsters wandering about it wouldn’t be difficult to image this was a city that had suffered from a normal earthquake.

Cheng Yang didn’t bother with the monsters that were on their own. Instead he left them to the soldiers who would have a harder time gathering Experience Fragments. Cheng Yang only stepped in when they met groups of monsters so they wouldn’t have to waste time dealing with them.

Cheng Yang and the other traveled north-east for about a kilometer in order to reach the apartment of a soldier named Shu Yuan. His family had lived in the suburbs originally, but due to some financial matters they were forced to move into the city. Not willing to just waste away, Shu Yuan used the last of his money to buy a transport truck and work independently. That decision had allowed him to be saved by Cheng Yang right at the start of the apocalypse.

He lived closest to the southern bridge so it was the first stop for the rescue team.

They were traveled in a line three wide towards the apartment complex when they heard someone call out to them.

“Help us…” The voice was gravelly and cracked. “Please…. Help…. us….”

Although the voice was weak, it couldn’t escape the sensitive ears of a Professional.

“Yoko, what should we do?” Liu Hau asked, concern written across his face.

Liu Hau was an incredibly compassionate person and Cheng Yang knew the only reason he even asked was to set an example for the other soldiers. If not for that, he probably would have rushed over immediately.

“We’ll save them.” Cheng Yang said after watching his friends beg with his eyes, “With so many people dead its only right to try and save those we find. However, our goal is to save the families of our soldiers. Saving everyone we run into will slow us down. You’ll have to be prepared to abandon some of the survivors into later.

“I understand.” Liu Hau said with a grateful smile.

Cheng Yang followed Liu Hau towards the source of the sound. After poking around for a bit, they found the entrance to a cavern in the ruins.

Liu Hau bent down to look inside, “How many of you are there?”

“Eighteen.” A voice said before collapsing into a coughing fit. “Please. Water. We haven’t had any for days.”

“Come out first, then we’ll give you water.” Cheng Yang said.

“Are, monsters… gone?” the man asked with a trembling voice, “Horrible, horrible creatures.”

“Don’t worry.” Liu Hau coaxed, “We killed all of the ones near here.”

Only after hearing that did a pair of men crawl out of the hole. They were haggard and had sunken eyes. They looked like they were on the brink of collapse.

“Give… water.” One of the men croaked.

Liu Hau handed him a disposable bottle filled with river water.

Cheng Yang and the others didn’t blame the men for being so impolite. Faced with the imminent deaths, the fact that they hadn’t done anything evil to them was good enough. If anyone raised a fuss over formalities they could only be considered extremely pedantic.

In the eyes of the others, these men seemed to be lifeless husks but Cheng Yang thought differently. When he looked into their eyes he saw the burning desire to survive. In the apocalypse only that could be considered ones true strength. It took a lot of bravery to call out to an unknown group in their situation. Especially a group that used strange powers and weapons like theirs.

“Didn’t you say there were eighteen of you?” Liu Hau asked, “Why aren’t the others coming?”

The man took a long swig of water before replying with a clearer voice, “They’re too weak. Wait a moment and I’ll pull them out.”

Cheng Yang tried his best to suppress the dark thoughts within him. Even if they wanted to survive with all their might, if they were too weak they would just drag his team down.

“Yoko, it seems like that cavern of theirs is quite safe. Lets leave some food and water with them so they can recover and we’ll pick them up on our way back.” Yu Kai suggested, seeing Cheng Yang’s brows furrow.

By this time the two men had deduced that Cheng Yang’s group wasn’t filled with bad people, so when they heard Yu Kai’s words they immediately began to beg.

“We’ll just follow. You don’t need to guard us but just let us follow behind you. We’ll die otherwise.” the men had fallen to the ground in order to bow before the group, “Please, save us.”

Cheng Yang picked up the man, “You don’t need to worry. I’ll follow my friend’s plan and come get you in the afternoon. Before you get your hopes up I need to warn you, our base is outside the city so if you follow us there will be nowhere to hide from monsters during the journey. We may not be able to protect you. Honestly, you are safer here.”

“Is that true?” The man asked with a complicated expression.

Cheng Yang chuckled. “With our strength do you think we would need to lie?”

“So it is true.” The man sighed. Cheng Yang’s argument was too convincing. If they really wanted him dead they could have just ignored him. They could even kill him right now and no one would be able to stop him. “Still, we want to follow you.”

At that time one of the men an the bottle of water down into the hole. The other one hugged Cheng Yang in gratitude.

As Cheng Yang comforted the man he said, “Old Lee, have everyone chip into the food we’ll give them.”

Without Old Lee having to do anything, the soldiers began handing him parts of their rations, quickly amassed eighteen peoples worth of dried meat and energy bars. Even if they had a small lunch, they would still be able to eat a hearty dinner while these people had been starving for days. They weren’t so heartless as to hog their food.

After giving the two men supplies, Cheng Yang’s group continued on their journey. After watching Cheng Yang leave, the two men retreated back into their hole, praying for Cheng Yang’s safe return.

By the time they arrived at Shu Yuan’s house, they had run into over eighty other survivors. Cheng Yang followed the same policy for every group he met. Telling them to lie low and warning them of the dangers of travelling with them. Even though some of the group had been lucky enough to hide somewhere with supplies, Cheng Yang’s group gave away all of their food and water to those in need,

Thanks to the fact that god didn’t change the terrain inside of the safe zones too much, Shu Yuan was able to pinpoint where his building had been immediately.

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