XMTL

“Alright, group two, its time to switch out. Group one is going to cultivate, then sleep. We’re going to hunt monsters for another three hours then sleep as well.” Chéng Yáng said, “Old Lǐ, make sure no one overdoes it. Leave at least an hour of your Core Skill’s usage so that you can use it to regenerate Health and Mana tomorrow. If you have any leftover you can do it right before midnight.”

Group two contained all of Chéng Yáng’s friends. Since they had gotten to cultivate first they had maximized their benefits from it compared to group one. They also had an easier time farming since most of the large herds had already been destroyed by group one. This allowed Chéng Yáng to relax, and enjoy the feeling of being reunited with his friends, hunting monsters together like they used to before Liú Hào had lost his arms.

When they finished, it was a little after two in the morning. Although they killed less monsters than group one, they still killed over three hundred.

On the way back Chéng Yáng had to listen to Liú Hào’s constant griping: “What kind of shitty game is this? How can there be tanks and DPS but no healers! I want to file a complaint against this shitty game designer for making these fights so hard!”

Chéng Yáng’s lips curved up as he listened, but he didn’t say anything. Although he knew that the Cleric Class had the healer role, he was having too much fun watching his friend seethe to let him know that.

---

At this point, the first round of research had been completed by the Class Statues, increasing he chosen Attributes for each Class by fifty percent. Naturally, Chéng Yáng chose a new research option for each statue. For Mages he chose to increase Movement Speed, so they would have more survivability. Although damage was important, since Mages had low Health and couldn’t upgrade it, being able to keep their distance from enemies was the only way to survive. As for the other Classes, he researched Ability Power for the Rangers, Attack Damage for the Knights, and Attack Speed for the Druids.

The research cost a total of four hundred Soul Fragments, a burden Phoenix Village could easily afford.

Chéng Yáng was extremely satisfied with the current fiscal situation of his Settlement. In just nine hours he’d been able to earn almost fourteen hundred Soul Fragments. This number was a bit of an anomaly since the spawn rate hadn’t changed in the surrounding until halfway through. Even so, Chéng Yáng was optimistic about the growth of the Settlement. If he was diligent, he would be able to upgrade the Settlement in less than a week. At that point he could institute taxes, solicit donations, or even use his personal funds to make sure the Settlements coffers were full.

After finishing all of his administrative tasks Chéng Yáng spent an three hours cultivating. Since he had 132 Soul Fragments he was able to unlock four times cultivation speed at the cost of consuming thirty Soul Fragments. Combined with the 13% increase from the Cultivation Chamber he was using, Chéng Yáng was able to raise his experience bar to 3.91%, a massive increase over his first cultivation session!

By the time he had finished, the sun was barely visible on the horizon. Chéng Yáng slept for another hour, then got up at 6:00 AM. Thankfully, cultivation was very similar to sleep, allowing Chéng Yáng to feel well rested despite his busy night.

At the moment, he was the only person awake, everyone else was still asleep. He hadn’t assigned a night patrol since the Low-Grade monsters wouldn’t be able to breach the wall even if they tried, but starting tonight he would have to arrange one.

Chéng Yáng chuckled. Sleep was a hard habit to beat, but in the next few months they would gradually reduce the time they spent asleep to the bare minimum.

With a holler, Chéng Yáng attempted to rouse the rest of the Settlement. Despite the noise, only Yú Kǎi and a few others came outside. Of those, only Yú Kǎi seemed to be energetic. The rest looked quite sluggish.

“Yángzǐ, what are our plans for today?” Yú Kǎi asked excitedly. He was the person in Chéng Yáng’s friend group having the most fun. In his eyes, so long as Chéng Yáng was around he wouldn’t be in any real danger.

“After eating breakfast, I plan to lead everyone to the town of Huìmín, in order to save some of the residents. It’s a little over a kilometer away so we shouldn’t have any trouble reaching it. If we run into something we can’t handle, its close enough to the Settlement that we can run back and hide inside.”

“What are we having for breakfast?” Yú Kǎi asked while licking his lips. A moment later, his face filled with fear and disgust. “You’re not going force us to eat roasted monster flesh are you? to roast monster flesh are you?”

“Not today, but at some point yes.” Chéng Yáng replied with a chuckle. “Most bestial monsters are edible, the Venom-Fanged Grey Wolf in specific is surprisingly delicious. Since we don’t have any cooking tools we’ll eat this for today.”

Chéng Yáng pointed to the bag of high calorie food he’d bought the day before.

“Nice!” Yú Kǎi rejoiced, “I’m starving! Last night I had nothing to eat even after all that exercise we got.”

It was indeed a cruel thing to let a rich kid like Yú Kǎi go hungry for a night, otherwise why would he be so excited for some cheap biscuits.

“Go wake everyone else up,” Chéng Yáng said, “Then we’ll distribute some food and start our expedition. We’ll leave a Mage and a Ranger behind to clear any monsters, but everyone else will head over.”

Chéng Yáng wanted to bring everyone with him, but the most efficient way for the territory to gain Experience Fragments was to kill monsters right after they spawned to keep the respawn timers low. This strategy took a few months to discover in his previous life, but he would be able to implement it immediately.

“By the way,” Yú Kǎi pointed past Chéng Yáng, “What is that thing over there? I noticed it last night but was too scared to touch it.”

Chéng Yáng froze up then glanced behind him at the Territory Altar. A few feet away from it, there was an oval shaped curtain of light. It was a phenomena he couldn’t be more familiar with.

It was a portal. More specifically, it was the entrance to an Instance Dungeon.

But why was it here? There definitely wasn’t an Instance Dungeon inside the Settlement in his previous life. Actually he’d never heard of any Settlement with an Instance Dungeon so close to the Territory Altar.

Chéng Yáng walked over to investigate, and realized what must have happened. The strange rock he’d found yesterday was missing, and it its place was the Instance Dungeon. That stone disk must have been the initial state of the Instance Dungeon before the apocalypse!

Chéng Yáng felt a pang of regret. There were four other Instance Dungeons in the area surrounding Xiāngyáng. If he’d know that he could directly move them into his Settlement, he would have spend some time looking for their corresponding stone disks.

Having an Instance Dungeon inside the Settlement was undoubtedly a boon. Since it was inside the collection radius of the Settlement, naturally a portion the Soul Fragments were collected. This had been confirmed by a Settlement in the US after it had become a Pinnacle-Grade village and expanded far enough to include an Instance Dungeon.

Other than naturally formed Instance Dungeons, there were also artificial ones that could be spawned by a High-Grade Village after building a Trial Hall. However, compared to a naturally formed Instance Dungeon, those spawned by the Trial Hall would have their Soul Fragment drop rates cut in half and wouldn’t be collected by the Settlement. In fact, you had to pay to spawn them!

The main reason for clearing an Instance Dungeon, either natural or artificial, was because the monsters there had a chance of dropping equipment! You could also find Skill Scrolls, potions, and even rare special items.

If this was the Instance Dungeon from his past life, it should be a Beginner Instance Dungeon that led to an instance of the Blood Soaked Cathedral. At Normal Difficulty, all of the monsters would be at the Low-Grade Immature level with the occasional Elite, with most of them being F Rank monsters, a few F+ Rank mini-bosses, and a D Rank boss.

The reason Chéng Yáng had been so eager to find it yesterday, aside from being able to obtain a few Soul Fragments, was because the loot tables were adjusted for the first person to clear an Instance Dungeon. The rarest item from the loot table was guaranteed to spawn in the end chest.

For the Normal Difficulty Blood Soaked Cathedral, that item would be a Cleric Idol. Sacrificing it to a Territory Altar would create a Cleric Class Statue!

Although he could get one by repeatedly grinding the Blood Soaked Cathedral, it would be far more efficient if he were able to secure the first clear reward.

Once Chéng Yáng collected himself, he decisively changed his plans for the day. Since the Blood Soaked Cathedral had come to him, he was determined to obtain the first clear. If he could raise a batch of Clerics, the number of fatalities in his teams would instantly be halved.

Of course, under normal circumstances, there would be no way for Chéng Yáng’s group to kill a D Rank monster. However, it was easy to find loopholes and tricks when clearing an Instance Dungeon. They were the same every time you entered, so if you were clever you could avoid having to deal with certain enemies or obstacles.

Chéng Yáng knew just such a trick for the Blood Soaked Cathedral which would allow even a Low-Grade Apprentice to defeat the Boss.

“Is it dangerous?” Yú Kǎi asked with a bemused expression after seeing Chéng Yáng’s rapidly fluctuating emotions.

“It’s an Instance Dungeon.” Chéng Yáng replied, “It can be considered fairly dangerous, but to us its like a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered. Grab Hàozǐ, Bīngzǐ, and Old Lǐ. We’re going to run this once before we head to Huìmín.”

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

While they were drunk on pride from their quick victory a rope like thread of silk shot towards Chéng Yáng with a sharp hiss.

“Hell-Spinner Spider!” Chéng Yáng yelped with surprise as the silk landed on his body. Reacting on instinct he fell to he ground with a spin, using the momentum to yank on the silk.

A few meters away, a spider the size of a sink fell out of a tree. It was a dull reddish color and covered in spikes. Before anyone else could react, Chéng Yáng fired a Magic Missile into its abdomen, spraying gunk everywhere and killing it instantly.

Hell-Spinner Spiders were easily the most dangerous monster in the early stages of the apocalypse. The silk it had spit out was a Skill used to grab a player and pull them into the spider, a combo capable of instantly killing a Low-Grade Apprentice Mage. Luckily the Skill could be cancelled and the monster’s health was abysmally low.

“Although that spider is only a Low Grade Immature monster its incredibly dangerous in the woods.” Chéng Yáng said cautiously, “It’s one of the few Low-Grade monsters with a ranged attack. If you see one grab somebody you have to kill it instantly!”

Even if Chéng Yáng hadn’t warned them who would dare to be careless around a massive spider. No one would want to enter its stomach.

They set off again, but before they’d even run forty meters a large group of shadows bolted out of the woods at them.

“Herd incoming! Remember the tactics I taught you!”

Chéng Yáng yelled to remind them, but he didn’t have high hopes for the group. He carefully counted the attackers, if there were too many he would get them to retreat. Thankfully it was just a dozen Graveseekers. Even if this was a hard fight, there wouldn’t be any real danger with him around.

Since he was closest, Chéng Yáng fired a Magic Missile into the lead monster before retreating behind the Knights’ shield wall. Just like with the Raatma before, the rest of the group immediately peppered the Graveseeker Chéng Yáng had struck with attacks, killing it instantly.

Moments later, the Druids’ wolves rushed out from behind the Knights and collided with the Graveseekers. However, with only four wolves, they could only slow the Graveseekers down long enough for the Ranged Classes attacks to come off cooldown.

This time, Chéng Yáng chose not to attack. If the group remembered his advice, they would attack in mixed groups of six to maximize their damage. Unfortunately, without him marking a target, they all fired at random monsters, spreading the damage out without killing a single one.

A few moments later, the Graveseekers attacked the line of Knights. Despite their efforts, several slipped past them. After all, there were only seven Knights, but eleven Graveseekers.

The battle devolved into chaos as the Graveseekers wantonly attacked the groups backlines. The Druids had been in the middle of summoning new wolves, but their attention was diverted as they were forced to defend themselves.

Chéng Yáng observed the battle with a cold, detached gaze. He would only intervene when it looked like someone was in lethal danger, otherwise he let them suffer a few injuries.

A little over a minute later, the final Graveseeker died. When it did, several members of the group collapsed to the ground whimpering in pain. Other than the Knights, none of them had experienced an attack from a monster, and the reality struck them hard.

Chéng Yáng gave them a few seconds to rest before clearing his throat to get their attention.

“Do you think we can reach Xiāngyáng?”

Chéng Yáng didn’t say anything else and simply waited for an answer that didn’t come. The eyes of the lumber mill workers around him were filled with reluctance, but they didn’t have the confidence to say they could reach Xiāngyáng.

“You all saw the battle,” Chéng Yáng finally said, “If there had been one or two more monsters some of you may have died. Not only do we not have the numbers to break through to Xiāngyáng, you’re undisciplined.”

The group still seemed reluctant to give up, causing Chéng Yáng to sigh.

“Let me put this a different way. Suppose we do make it to the city. We break through the monsters and find your families. Are you confident that you can protect both them and yourselves? Several of you almost died despite being Players, an ordinary person would have bled to death long ago.”

“Fuck!” Lǐ Wànshān grit his teeth so hard it seemed like they might break. “Once I have the strength I’ll slaughter my way directly into Xiāngyáng, I only hope my wife and child can wait for me… this fucked up world!”

Lǐ Wànshān vented the emotions in his heart that many of the other workers shared. Even if they were desperate to save their families, they couldn’t guarantee their own safety, much less that of an ordinary person.

Chéng Yáng led the group back to the Settlement in an uncomfortable silence. From time to time a monster would peak its head out from behind a tree only to be killed by Chéng Yáng and the others. Most monsters didn’t have night vision and with the full moon Chéng Yáng’s group wasn’t at that much of a disadvantage at night.

Once they were back inside the Settlement, Chéng Yáng decided that it was time to dangle the carrot now that they had seen the stick.

“If you want to get strong enough to save your family the only option is to quickly amass Soul Fragments allowing you to cultivate to a higher level. In order to achieve that goal, we’re going to split into two even groups. One group will go out of the Settlement with me and drag monsters back to the walls. This will ensure their safety while hunting monsters. During that time the other group will begin cultivating.

---

Three hours later, the first group finally went back into the Settlement. In that time they had killed almost four hundred monsters. If not for Chéng Yáng insistence that they kite the herds into the collection range of Phoenix Village they might have been able to kill more.

During that time, not a single Standard-Grade monster appeared causing the members of the first group to feel grateful. If a few monsters like the Graveseeker from earlier had appeared, no one could guarantee their lives. It was normal for them not to encounter anything too strong on the first day of the apocalypse, after all, the ones from earlier only appeared because Chéng Yáng had claimed a Territory Altar so early.

It was almost midnight, which meant everyone’s limit on their Core Skill would refresh soon. Although this meant that Chéng Yáng and the other members of group one had lost some of the cultivation time, it couldn’t be helped.

When Chéng Yáng walked into the settlement, he couldn’t see a single person inside. This meant that they had taken the lesson tonight to heart and were diligently cultivating. Of course it was possible that some of them had fallen asleep due to exhaustion, but at least they weren’t idling about. How could they when every second they wasted was a second longer their families had to wait for rescue?

“Yángzǐ, how was it?” After hearing the gates open, Yú Kǎi had come out to greet the first group.

“It wasn’t too bad.” Chéng Yáng said. “Everyone here is starting to get the hang of group combat. We had a lot of gains. What about you?”

“I was only able to use double cultivation speed for a few hours.” Yú Kǎi said with a sigh. “With my progress at this rate it will take me more a month to reach the Standard-Grade Apprentice level! Can that be considered fast?”

As the other members of group two exited the Cultivation Chambers, they reported similar gains. For every Soul Fragment you wanted to consume for training, you needed ten extra stockpiled. Since everyone in Phoenix Village had at least thirteen Experience Fragment they were all able to double their cultivation speed.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Cultivation? The crowd was filled with questions after hearing that familiar but out of place word.

“Although the world has become like a game, Players will not level up automatically after killing monsters. Instead, using the Core Skill of your class allows you to cultivate. Whenever you use your Core Skill you draw in energy from the world. So far you’ve used it to restore your Health and Mana but it can do more than that.” Chéng Yáng explained, “If your Health and Mana are both full, the energy you draw in strengthens your body. On its own, the effects are slow, but if you absorb a Soul Fragment the effect doubles. Every factor of ten above that will also double the efficacy. If you absorb ten Soul Fragments you’ll cultivate four times as fast, if you absorb a hundred, eight times as fast. You can only use your Core Skill for four hours each day, resetting at midnight. So be sure not to waste the time you’ve been given.”

Chéng Yáng didn’t ask them to donate the Soul Fragments they had to Phoenix Village. Each one was paid for with their sweat and blood. He had nothing he could give them in return right now and leveraging the safety of the Settlement would only earn their resentment. Besides, their strength was his, so letting them use their Soul Fragments to cultivate was beneficial to him.

“The buildings near the south gate are called Cultivation Chambers. Cultivating is thirteen percent faster inside one and they’ll also double as your residence from now on.”

Chéng Yáng then divided them into groups of five and assigned each group a Cultivation Chamber. Although it was a bit forceful, no one minded. Even having a roof over their head was something to be grateful for, much less a room and bed of their own. Only Páng Shān lived alone. She was the only girl in Phoenix Village and had refused to sleep near a bunch of older men but promised to share a Cultivation Chamber once more women joined the Settlement.

“Yángzǐ,” Yú Kǎi suddenly asked. “We were able to become Players, but what about the people in Xiāngyáng?”

Chéng Yáng looked north.

“There’s a Safe Zone in Xiāngyáng with a set of Class Statues, but I’m afraid no one will have had the chance to use them yet.”

---

Just as Chéng Yáng remembered, Xiāngyáng was still in a paralyzed state.

When facing monsters the citizens of Xiāngyáng could only obediently be slaughtered. Even if you were a former star athlete or martial arts champion you were equal under the monsters’ jaws. Your carefully honed skills would be useless.

Of course, humanity wasn’t completely defenseless. Everything with a circuit board had been turned into scrap, but most guns still worked.

Xiāngyáng’s police force was armed, but wasn’t militarized so they didn’t have high munition weapons like RPGs. They were limited to semi-automatic rifles and pistols, but it was better than nothing.

The Xiāngyáng municipal government was extremely efficient and in just under half an hour had been able to assemble the majority of the police force. Their original plan was to calm the public and provide emergency services. However, the appearance of monsters forced them to change those plans.

Nearly ten monsters had spawned in the ruins of the town hall where the police were gathered, attacking them immediately. The police fired back just as fast, riddling the monsters with bullets. However, even after expending entire clips, some of the monsters were still standing. Their response hadn’t been particularly organized, but the bullet holes on the creatures bodies were clear to see. How were they still alive!?

The opening left by the police’s need to reload allowed the monsters to fatally wound a few of them only to die soon after themselves.

The police didn’t know it, but in game terms, their pistols only dealt three damage, two after subtracting most monsters’ Damage Resistance Attribute. Even armor penetrating rifle rounds would only deal six or so damage. Modern weapons were impotent when facing monsters.

The police adapted quickly to the realization that each monster needed over a dozen bullets to kill. They organized into groups of four to consolidate fire. After that, they didn’t lose a single officer and started to take back the area surrounding the town hall.

Unfortunately, they ran into two big problems. The first was that any area they cleared wouldn’t stay cleared. New monsters would quickly spawn and attack them from behind. The second was that they were burning through their ammunition at an alarming rate! Before long they wouldn’t even be able to defend themselves, much less the city.

Their only options now were to either secure a temporary base of operations using the ammunition they still had, or dig their reserves out of the rubble of the Public Security Bureau. There was no telling how difficult the latter would be without machinery so the top brass made the decision to fortify a nearby underground parking lot and wait. If they could hold on until a rescue force arrived they would have a chance to survive this. At this time, the national military held the weight of everyone’s hopes.

Although the earthquake had leveled every building on Earth, only the above ground floors were affected. Anything below ground remained intact so long as the nearby terrain remained mostly unchanged.

Around the world, underground facilities like the parking lot used by the Xiāngyáng would become the last refuge of humanity. Although it was still possible for monsters to spawn there, they would only kill one or two people before their instincts drove them to the surface.

Although most monsters near a Safe Zone would be driven to the far edges of the area surrounding it, a minority would instead be drawn to the Safe Zone itself. Although they couldn’t enter, they formed an impenetrable wall around it, stopping humans from entering as well. The only people currently inside were those that were there since before the earthquake.

Unless Chéng Yáng’s actions had created a butterfly effect, the military would find out about the Safe Zone early tomorrow morning then break through the monsters’ encirclement the day after. Only then would the citizens of Xiāngyáng have the chance to become Players.

Similar to Xiāngyáng, most major cities would be recaptured within two or three days of the earthquake.

That would be the beginning of a new era!

---

Chéng Yáng spent ten minutes with the group reviewing team battle tactics but he could tell their hearts weren’t in it. All they could think about was rushing out to save their families.

It was inevitable. The powers they received made them feel invincible and other than Liú Hào, none of them had suffered a serious setback. They’d seen one of their own die, but they believed that together anything was possible.

Except for Yú Kǎi, everyone else left the Settlement. Although Chéng Yáng would have preferred to leave a Mage like Féng Jié, none of them were willing to give up the chance to save their family. Although Yú Kǎi would run out of arrows quickly, it was fine since Chéng Yáng never planned to visit Xiāngyáng. The group would be back within the hour.

They jogged in three rows: the Knights and wolves at the front, the Druids and Mages in the middle, and the Rangers at the back. Chéng Yáng walked about ten meters ahead of the rest of the group, leading the way.

The group followed what remained of the highway. Although the terrain in the area had changed a lot, the modifications mostly affected elevation. Even though the asphalt looked like it had been blasted apart by a missile, it was easy enough to follow.

For the next few weeks it would still be usable as a landmark, but by the end of the month it would be nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the terrain. Vegetation growth had massively increased after the apocalypse, so huge trees would soon break the rest of the road to dust and hide that it ever existed.

It didn’t take long for them to encounter their first monster: a rat-like humanoid creature carrying a knife called a Raatma.

The monster screamed as Chéng Yáng’s Magic Missile blasted apart its flesh. Then, before either could do anything else, the Raatma exploded into a pile of viscera as over a dozen attacks ripped through its flesh.

The group cheered at their swift victory, but Chéng Yáng clicked his tongue. What they’d done had been an enormous waste of resources, especially for the Rangers who still hadn’t fully recovered from the training exercise earlier today.

Despite that, Chéng Yáng stayed silent. They knew what the most effective strategies to fight were but had disregarded them. They would learn an painful lesson tonight on why those strategies were so important.

The blood they shed tonight would also serve to instill fear in their hearts towards monsters. Something they gravely needed.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Chéng Yáng opened the Territory Altar system pane, navigated to the Research tab and selected the Mage option. It was time to unlock the true potential of his Settlement.

---

Mage Research Subjects

Phoenix Village
Low-Grade
7/20 Registered

Research

Artificial Mana Nodes
Mimicking the processes of the heart using magic allows for the creation of an artificial Mana nodes in other organs, significantly increasing a Mage’s Mana storage capacity.

Cost: 50

Time: 6 hours

Mana Purification Techniques
Adjusting the techniques Mages use to draw that Mana into their body helps filter out natural impurities, increasing its purity and thus efficacy per unit.

Cost: 50

Time: 6 hours

Stoneskin Tattoos
Recent rune inscription advances allow for the creation of magic tattoos that duplicate the effects of the Stoneskin spell powered by the excess Mana a Mage naturally exudes.

Cost 50

Time: 6 hours

Mental State Training
Diligent visualization training allows Mages to form a mental barrier around their body that reduces the strength of incoming magic energy waves.

Cost: 50

Time: 6 hours

Mana Circuit Reinforcement
By widening and strengthening the circuits through which a Mage’s Mana flows, the flow can be increased, decreasing the time they need to recover after casting a spell.

Cost: 50

Time: 6 hours

Body Strengthening Mana Flow
A Mage’s Mana is normally at rest unless casting a spell. With training it can be continuously circulated through the body, boosting its natural functions.

Cost: 50

Time: 6 hours

---

Just the Low-Grade Research available to Chéng Yáng would allow any random Player registered with Phoenix Village to greatly surpass the S-Rank elites around the world. This was the incentive that the Gods created to force people to seek out and claim Territory Altars.

The buffs granted by Research might seem excessive at first, but only if you assumed that your enemies were other humans. Up until now, every monster Chéng Yáng had fought, including the Elite Standard-Grade Graveseeker had been a low-quality F Rank monster.

Players had an Attribute total of fifteen at the Low-Grade Apprentice level, F Rank monsters were the same which meant that skilled Players could consistently beat them. A D Rank monster at the Low-Grade Immature level had an Attribute total of forty-five. If a Player met a D Rank monster, even if they were a level higher than their opponent, their death was absolute. Compared to monsters, humans were far too weak. Without the buffs provided by a Settlement, they would eventually be overrun no matter how high their levels were.

Once all of the Low-Grade Research for a Class Statue was researched, Chéng Yáng could spend Soul Fragments to level it up. The Research cost would increase by a fifty for each option already researched for that Class Statue, so he’d need to collect a thousand and fifty Soul Fragments to pay the Research fees for a single Class Statue. All of the Class Statues needed to be at the Standard-Grade to level up the Settlement, so he’d need a total six thousand three hundred Soul Fragments.

Collecting that many Soul Fragments wouldn’t be particularly difficult, the Settlement already had five hundred and twenty-eight, but it would be time consuming.

The spawn rate in the vicinity of a Settlement was supposed to be significantly lower than in other areas. This was something put in place to prevent Settlements from advancing too quickly. Chéng Yáng had assumed it was a rule that would be applied in one of the patches the Gods would make since the spawn rate had been normal earlier, but ever since he gained full control over Phoenix Village the spawn rate had been decreasing.

If a Low-Grade Village relied solely on killing monsters that attacked the walls, they would gain around a hundred Soul Fragments an hour. The only other strategy was to kite a horde of monsters over from another area, into the Settlement’s collection range. Most Settlements couldn’t rely on this method because the areas nearest to them were regularly picked clean.

Since Chéng Yáng had captured the Territory Altar in an unconventional way, the areas around the Settlement would still be filled to the brim with monsters. If he concentrated his energy into pulling monsters over from other areas, it wouldn’t be too hard to upgrade the statues in the minimum thirty-six hours required for the Research to complete.

Chéng Yáng selected the Artificial Mana Nodes Research option causing the system pane to grey out and display a timer. Until it finished none of the Class Statues functions would be available.

Chéng Yáng then researched Heart Overclocking and Beast Blood Transfusion to increase the Health of his Knights and Druids which would allow them to fight longer. For his Rangers, Chéng Yáng chose to increase their Attack Damage by researching Tendon Tightening.

At this time Liú Hào and another Knight placed a pallet of lumber down next to Chéng Yáng. Originally these pallets needed either a forklift or a group of four people to move. Knights had the strength of three men, so although the pallets were too bulky to carry on their own, they only needed two people.

“What’s all this wood for, Yángzǐ?” Liú Hào asked with a cheerful facade. “Ah! I saw some of the wood fall into the river during the earthquake, do you want us to fish it out?”

“If you can’t don’t worry about it but I’d like you to try. We need the wood to build things like the wall and being able to see how much we have left will be useful for planning. We should still have enough to build the things we need but its going to be difficult to get any more for a while so its important to use what we have sparingly.”

Liú Hào nodded with understanding. Without logging tools it would be difficult to cut down trees, especially with monsters breathing down their necks.

Turning back to the Territory Altar System Pane, Chéng Yáng built ten Cultivation Chambers along the edge of the south wall, five on either side of the gate. Even though the others had seen the phenomena when the wall was built, the sight of a building appearing from nothing shocked them. Especially since they had the time to focus on it now.

Chéng Yáng was left with a little over a hundred units of Wood. It was a shame he hadn’t been able to gather more before the apocalypse, but even after spending well beyond his means this was all he could get.

While the Cultivation Chambers were being constructed, Chéng Yáng focused his attention outside the walls. The spawn rate was already at its lowest. Only a single monster would appear every minute or so, a rate eight times lower than earlier. As a result, the Mages and Rangers on the wall were sitting idle.

Chéng Yáng sighed then called them down from the wall, there was no point in having all of them there. A sweep every ten minutes would suffice from now on. Each Wall Segment had five Armor and recovered one Durability per second. Unlike Attack and Magic Resistance, Armor could reduce damage from an attack to zero, so your average Low-Grade Immature monster was completely incapable of doing any damage to a Wall Segment. Even if one could, it would take hours for it to breach the wall.

— 7:15 PM —

The last minutes of twilight came to an end, ushering in the night. The wall was lined with everlasting torches, but the rest of the village was dark. Standing atop the Territory Altar, a moonlit Chéng Yáng addressed his citizens.

“Congratulations on surviving the day.” Chéng Yáng’s voice spread like fog. “There wasn’t time earlier, but now I will answer any questions you have.”

“How did you know all of this would happen, Yángzǐ?” Liú Hào asked.

Chéng Yáng had expected this question. Although they would probably believe him if he said he was a regressor, he had a different idea in mind.

“I had a vision!” Chéng Yáng shouted with fervor, “Two days ago during class my mind was filled with scenes from the apocalypse and omens of death! I wanted to ignore it but an unknown existence urged me to act! It guided me to this Settlement and provided me with the knowledge we need to thrive in this new world! As you’ve seen, everything that was revealed to me has come to pass!”

Telling them he had been reincarnated would create an air of mystique around him, but it wouldn’t inspire absolute faith and fanaticism in him. Thus, he created the image of himself as a prophet.

Chéng Yáng’s speech was absurd, but the crowd found themselves accepting it. They’d all heard the voice of the Gods’ messenger earlier that day, so who could say some other entity hadn’t spoken to Chéng Yáng? How else could they explain where Chéng Yáng had learned the things he knew?

“Earlier you said this was a global phenomena…” Lǐ Wànshān’s voice was strained. “Are you sure that’s true?”

“It’s true!” Chéng Yáng declared, “This disaster also affected Xiāngyáng, the rest of China, and everywhere else! By now every building in the world has collapsed into a pile of rubble. Mountains have become plains, plains have become oceans, and monsters fill them both. The Gods’ rules are the new laws of physics. You’ve experienced it yourself today. The power we hold would be unimaginable in our old world.”

Lǐ Wànshān was crestfallen. Many of the others looked to be on the verge of collapse. Who among them didn’t have someone they loved? Earlier they’d been too preoccupied or hadn’t wanted to think about the danger their families would be in, but now they were forced to confront the fact that they might already be dead.

“My family is in Xiāngyáng, I have to go rescue them!” Lǐ Wànshān shouted. “It’s only a few kilometers away. With our power, if we work together we’ll be able to kill any monsters we meet and reach the city.”

“My son is in the city too, he’s only five, how can he survive on his own?” One of the workers chimed in anxiously.

Before the panic spread to the rest of his crowd Chéng Yáng fired a magic missile into the ground.

“With our current strength rescuing anyone from Xiāngyáng is impossible. We wouldn’t even be able to reach the city. Its been a few hours since the world ended, meaning we’ll have to fight herds with dozens of monsters. Do you have the confidence to win those fights? Even if we get past those, right outside the city will be herds numbering in the hundreds.”

Seeing that the crowd was still agitated, Chéng Yáng sighed.

“If you don’t want to take my word for it, I can take a group outside the walls to verify what I said. I hope in the future you’ll have more faith in me.”

They were ecstatic, their thoughts written clearly on their faces: Hopefully the situation isn’t too bad yet, we might have a chance to rescue our families tonight!

Chéng Yáng felt a pain in his heart seeing their hopeful expressions. If even half of the people they wanted to save were still alive by the time they had the strength to reach Xiāngyáng it would be a miracle.

“Just tell us what to do next, Mr. Chéng. We’ll all follow your orders.” Lǐ Wànshān proclaimed.

“Everyone but Yú Kǎi will follow me to scout the area between Phoenix Village and Xiāngyáng. Although it will be risky to do so at night, the moon is bright tonight. On the off-chance that my visions were wrong, we will break through to Xiāngyáng and save your families. Otherwise, our goal is to collect as many Soul Fragments as we can that way we have the funds needed for cultivation.”

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Chéng Yáng tried to close the gates after ending the exercise, but they didn’t respond to his command. Even more concerning to Chéng Yáng was that it seemed like monsters had stopped spawning.

What’s going on? He thought.

He didn’t know what the rules were concerning a Lord’s power to open and close the Settlement gates, but he was very familiar with those regarding the spawning of monsters. Unless there was simply no space in an area for a new monster to spawn, their numbers would continuously increase. The absence of the normally ubiquitous curtains of light was as horrifying as a silent forest.

“Everyone quickly replenish your Health and Mana!” Chéng Yáng hollered, “Hurry!”

Less than twenty seconds later brilliant light erupted from right outside the east and west gates. It was the telltale sign of a monster spawning, but on a level several times greater than usual.

Chéng Yáng’s heart jumped into his throat. There was nothing like this situation in his memories so he didn’t know how powerful those two monsters would be, but they would at least be above the Low-Grade Immature level. Even if they didn’t reach the High-Grade Immature level, they would probably be Elites which had all of their base Attributes increased by thirty percent.

What was going on?! How could such a powerful monster spawn now? And not one, but two of them! Even normal Standard-Grade Immature monsters shouldn’t be able to spawn for another couple weeks!

Realization flashed through his eyes. Was this related to why he’d needed to wait before becoming the Lord of Phoenix Village? Some kind of trial set up by the Gods?

It didn’t matter either way. What he needed to focus on now was overcoming this crisis.

“Go to the west gate!” Chéng Yáng shouted at his group while sprinting towards the east gate. His incredible speed allowed him to arrive in mere seconds.

By the time he arrived, a massive Graveseeker had engaged the defending group. It was at least as tall as the average human and the pitchfork it carried was in significantly better condition than the others.

“Go support the west gate!” Chéng Yáng shouted while landing a Magic Missile on the Graveseeker, slightly deforming its abdomen.

“I’ll take care of this one then come help. All you need to do is stall for time!”

Yú Kǎi’s group didn’t hesitate. The single round of battle they’d had was enough to show just how outmatched they were. If Chéng Yáng could handle this alone, they would let him.

The monster chased the fleeing Players, allowing Chéng Yáng to land another easy shot on its head. With a tragic, angry bellow, the Graveseeker turned to face Chéng Yáng.

The previous attack had imploded its face, causing it to look even uglier than normal. The Gods rules forcefully kept it alive since its Health hadn’t hit zero, but it was truly a hideous sight.

To prevent the monster from switching aggro again, Chéng Yáng ran outside the village. With great bounding steps, the Graveseeker followed. Twice now it had been hit by Chéng Yáng’s Skills so it would follow him to the ends of the Earth if no one intervened.

Chéng Yáng didn’t have the Observation Skill but he was certain this was an Elite Standard-Grade Immature Graveseeker. The monster was steadily closing the distance between them which meant its Movement Speed was well over 2.2!

Chéng Yáng didn’t know how many times he’d experienced battles like this in his previous life. Sprinting forwards with all your might as a faster monster closed in on you. Desperately firing off attacks and hoping that it died before catching up.

Chéng Yáng whipped his stave around behind him. With nothing but a quick glance at the monster’s position, Chéng Yáng guided a Magic Missile into its arm.

— Twenty-three meters —

Blue blood burst from the monster’s right leg. Unfortunately that didn’t slow it down.

— Sixteen meters —

Teeth and viscera fell to the ground. Surely it was close to death by now. Yú Kǎi’s group must have done some damage at least.

— Ten meters —

Chéng Yáng lifted his stave to fire the next Magic Missile, a ball of light gathering on the end…

— Four meters —

As he turned his head to fire, Chéng Yáng noticed a brilliant silver object rapidly approaching him. The Graveseeker’s pitchfork and Chéng Yáng’s Magic Missile passed each other like ships in the night. It was too late for Chéng Yáng to react. A red flower blossomed from his chest to match the blue one forming on the Graveseeker’s.

The impact carried him forward into the ground as the pitchfork, thrown with the strength of a dozen men, shattered his ribs and crushed his organs. Out of the corner of his eye, he read the message flashing in front of his eyes: 14.2 damage! Over half his Health in a single hit!

The pain was immeasurable. Chéng Yáng threw up blood as he fought to stand up. Even a injury like this wouldn’t incapacitate him so long as he could overcome the pain, the Gods’ protection went both ways. He needed to get up! He wouldn’t survive another hit!

The heavy breath and pounding footsteps of the Graveseeker rumbled in Chéng Yáng’s ears from behind him. Desperately, he pushed off the ground with a spin, swinging his stave. It struck the monster’s outstretched hand right before the beast barrelled into him, throwing them both to the ground.

With a wince, Chéng Yáng pushed the Graveseeker’s corpse off of him. It had been down to the wire, but he’d managed to beat it.

An immense number of Soul Fragments burst from the monster’s body. Elite monster’s were guaranteed to drop the maximum amount of Soul Fragments meaning Chéng Yáng had earned four from the fight. Another of the Elite monster’s quirks was that every participant would receive the full amount instead of splitting it!

Chéng Yáng watched the motes of light fly towards the west gate with a grim expression. If not for the damage the other’s had done, he would have surely died.

---

Liú Hào watched the green-feathered monster that stepped out of the curtain of light with trepidation. His Mage, Hú Yīnghuì, had landed a shot on the creature’s shoulder but it hadn’t even flinched. Their eyes met. Then it looked past him to Hú Yīnghuì.

“Get ready!” Liú Hào shouted when the monster charged towards them, its pitchfork glowing.

Liú Hào was already quite used to the tempo of combat for Knights. He planned to block the monster and have the others in his group whittle it to death. With a raised shield, Liú Hào met the Graveseeker’s attack.

A soft, marbled red like raspberry sorbet filled his vision. It wasn’t until his back hit the ground that Liú Hào realized he’d been thrown into the air.

Although a shield would negate the damage of an attack, the force behind it would remain unchanged. It was a fatal weakness when fighting opponents whose Attack Damage, and therefore strength, was significantly higher than yours.

Winded, Liú Hào jumped to his feet. The other Knight in his group, Hè Téngyì, had engaged the monster. Two fresh wounds decorated its body, a meter long bloody streak stretching from its left shoulder to its right hip, and one of the signature impact craters of a Magic Missile over its heart.

Having learned from Liú Hào’s mistake, Hè Téngyì was crouched low to the ground in an attempt to offset the force of the Graveseeker’s attacks. Even so, when its pitchfork connected, the man was thrown head over heels.

Ignoring the man at its feet, the monster shot like a loosed arrow towards Hú Yīnghuì, Mana shimmering across its weapon.

Moving on instinct, Liú Hào sprung forwards, pushing Hú Yīnghuì out of the way. Two messages flitted across his vision as he felt the tines of the pitchfork pierce his flabby flank. The first was a warning against friendly-fire, and the second announced that his Health had been reduced to twenty-five point eight.

As he fell to the ground it pain, Liú Hào saw two flashes of light as an Energy Slash passed through it and a Magic Missile landed on the monster’s back.

Pulling its weapon out of Liú Hào, the Graveseeker switched targets to attack Hè Téngyì. It closed the distance between them in an instant and thrust its pitchfork towards the Knight’s chest.

He raised his shield to block but the pitchfork stopped an inch short. Then, with grace unbefitting something so monstrous, the Graveseeker used its leg to sweep Hè Téngyì’s out from under him.

With an audible crunch, the Graveseeker pressed its foot down on his shield arm, pinning it to the ground.

Realizing what was happening, Liú Hào rushed forward and used Energy Slash to leave a bloody streak on the monster’s waist.

“Get off!” Hè Téngyì roared as he released an Energy Slash of his own. At the same time, a Magic Missile slammed into the monster’s shoulder.

In response, the Graveseeker stabbed the mans throat. Mana rampaged through Hè Téngyì’s body, ripping his vocal cords apart and turning his shouts into tepid, wet gurgles.

“Stop attacking!” Liú Hào shouted anxiously as he stabbed the monster through where its kidney should be. “Let me draw its aggro!”

Despite Liú Hào’s warning, Hè Téngyì’s sword uselessly flailed against the monster’s legs with panic filled eyes, bloody bubbles filling his mouth. No matter how many times he hit the monster, unless his weapon was off cooldown it wouldn’t deal even a single point of damage.

As the monster ruthlessly plunged its pitchfork into the Knight’s chest, an arrow from one of the Rangers penetrated deep into its upper back and an Energy Slash from Liú Hào swept across its chest and upper arms.

Seeing the Graveseeker raise its pitchfork for another attack, Liú Hào opted to wrap his arms around the Graveseeker’s in an attempt to stop it. The Graveseeker plunged its glowing pitchfork into the Knight’s abdomen, despite Liú Hào’s efforts, then tossed him away like a wet rag. When the tines exited Hè Téngyì’s body, they pulled his entrails out with them.

With a pained, babbling roar, Hè Téngyì fired another blast of light up at the monster from where he was pinned on the ground, splitting it from crotch to crown while a Magic Missile shattered part of its jaw.

Liú Hào gripped his sword with both hands and took a firm stance. Using the last of his Mana, with every muscle in his body screaming, he fired an Energy Blade point blank at the monster’s neck. He could feel muscles tear and bones crunch as he pulled the blade all the way though, decapitating the monster.

Indifferent to it all, the Graveseeker’s pitchfork shattered Hè Téngyì’s skull.

The Graveseeker turned around with bloodthirsty eyes. The sight of it standing over the mangled corpse of a man that had just minutes ago been laughing beside him filled Liú Hào with fear.

When the monster batted him aside with its glowing pitchfork, Liú Hào only barely managed to raise his shield in time. As he flew through the air he watched the Graveseeker dart towards the back line fighters, barreling towards the retreating Hú Yīnghuì.

He hit the ground and immediately rolled to his feet in pursuit, but even with his Innate Ability, how could he compete in speed with a monster even Chéng Yáng couldn’t outrun?

Liú Hào could only watch helplessly as death rapidly approached Hú Yīnghuì despite the Magic Missile he’d fired into the monster’s chest.

Right before the Graveseeker reached him, a large furry mass slammed into it, forcefully stopping its charge. Their Druid had managed to cast Summon Wolf just in time!

Right after, far too soon to have been cast by Hú Yīnghuì, a Magic Missile tore through the monster’s stomach causing blue blood to spray everywhere.

Glancing over, Liú Hào saw Féng Jié. Tens of meters behind him Dù Chéng and Lǐ Wànshān were desperately sprinting towards the fight.

With renewed vigor, he burst forward and slashed his sword across the Graveseeker’s back.

He felt his humerus shatter before he’d even registered that the Graveseeker had switched targets and swept its pitchfork behind itself. His arm spasmed from the pain, cause him to lose his grip on his sword. It slipped through his fingers, impaling the ground.

The Graveseeker turned on a dime, ignoring the wolf gnawing on its leg. It stared down Liú Hào with endless loathing. Mana coated the pitchfork as it thrust towards Liú Hào’s chest.

Pain roared through his body in waves, setting every nerve on fire. With bloodshot eyes, Liú Hào watched the pitchfork approach him in slow motion. The shaft wiggled like a snake as the tines changed direction, piercing towards his eyes.

It took everything he had to pull his shield up in time to block the attack, but that was all he could do. His stance was too unstable after the sudden shift. His back hit the ground. The next instant he felt the bones in his good arm creak as the monster stepped down on it.

Looking up, Liú Hào saw a vision of death. With his shield pinned he had no way to stop what was coming. His head would burst just like Hè Téngyì before him, painting the grass red and white.

Before that dream became reality, a Magic Missile slammed into the Graveseeker’s head, turning its attention back to Hú Yīnghuì. The Graveseeker shot Liú Hào a hateful glance before leaving to kill the Mage.

“Slow it down!” The Druid shouted as his wolf bit into the monster’s calf and dug its paws into the ground.

The Graveseeker dragged itself forwards tanking a Magic Missile from Féng Jié and a Reinforced Arrow from the other Ranger in the group. It struggled forwards a few more meters before turning its attention to the wolf anchored to its leg.

With a howl, it swung its pitchfork like a club, sending the wolf flying into the sky along with a bloody chunk of its leg.

Turning back to the Mage, the Graveseeker found itself face to face with Liú Hào. Despite the wet streak in his pants running down his leg from his crotch, Liú Hào stood firmly between the monster and his teammates. With gritted teeth he placed his shield in front of himself, holding it with both hands.

With narrowed eyes, the Graveseeker stepped forwards and thrust a shimmering pitchfork towards Liú Hào’s abdomen.

Eyes wide open, Liú Hào tracked the monster’s every move. It was another bluff, he was certain. The pitchfork stopped, and in sync with the Graveseeker’s back leg which whipped forwards, Liú Hào lowered his shield to protect his leg.

The monster smirked. It barely had something recognizable as face, but Liú Hào knew it was smirking. A realization that turned his blood to ice.

The monster planted the foot that was swinging forwards into the ground and completed its original attack, tilting the pitchfork upwards to drive it into Liú Hào fleshy jowls. Liú Hào’s fat body was lifted from the ground as if he were a marshmallow and not a man. When the pitchfork reach an aphelion above the Graveseeker’s head, Liú Hào felt the tines pull out of his body as he flew through the air.

He hit the ground with a thud.

Liú Hào was barely even able to read the system alerts through the pain. Zero point six. He had less than a single point of Health. Liú Hào’s body relaxed, he was finished. He’d done his best, but it wasn’t enough, and now he was done.

The sound of Mana impacting flesh echoed in his ears. A wolf growled. Another dull squelch.

“I’m out of Mana!”

That would be Hú Yīnghuì.

Liú Hào let his eyes droop closed. It was over. That terrifying monster would kill Hú Yīnghuì, then it would kill the Rangers, and then the Druid, and then Féng Jié, and finally it would come back to finish him off.

“Block it Mr. Lǐ!” The next sound to enter Liú Hào ears was Niú Bīng’s gravelly voice.

Forcing himself to sit up, Liú Hào cracked his eyes open.

A magnificent scene like a painting entered his eyes. A flash of energy sliced through the Graveseeker’s outstretched arm. A wolf that was significantly bigger than the other one had slammed into the monster’s chest. The middle-aged Lǐ Wànshān was standing over a fallen Hú Yīnghuì with his shield raised, blocking the monster’s pitchfork.

Perhaps it was because Niú Bīng’s wolf had offset some of the force, but by some miracle, Lǐ Wànshān was able to stand his ground.

He raised his sword to the heavens, then swung it down to earth.

Light filled Liú Hào’s barely opened eyes.

When he could see again, the Graveseeker was standing still, the arm holding its weapon lying on the ground in severed at the bicep and elbow. A timeless moment passed, then it fell apart at the seams. Its head slid of its neck, then split into three slices as it fell. The rest of its body followed soon after, crumbling into bloody chunks.

---

Chéng Yáng watched the second Elite Graveseeker fall as he ran through the east gate. At the same moment, a sudden clarity struck him like lightning as he felt a deep connection between him and the Settlement.

He could sense everything that happened within its range without having to focus on it. He could feel the monsters which had started to spawn again outside the wall. The fish swimming through the river. Liú Hào somberly kneeling by the body of the dead Knight. Even the ants creeping through the grass.

It was a strange feeling. Chéng Yáng had heard that Lord’s could sense anything that happened in their territory, but he never expected it to be so comprehensive.

With a thought, the Settlement gates slammed closed and Chéng Yáng ran over to meet the crowd forming around the east gate.

“You did well.” Chéng Yáng placed a comforting hand on Liú Hào’s shoulder before turning to the others.

“Unfortunately, work still needs to be done. Mages and Rangers are to patrol the walls and kill any monsters trying to break in. The Knights and Druids will gather the lumber and transport it to the Territory Altar. Also, someone needs to bury the dead. From now on the area between the river and the northeast wall will be a cemetery.”

With a quiet determination, everyone present followed his orders. They had been willing to listen to him earlier, but it was only now that they respected him. He’d been able to kill a monster on his own that had needed ten people to beat, and not all of them had survived.

The death of one of their own in such a gruesome manner despite the power they’d been granted as Players stifled the faint excitement they’d originally felt. They couldn’t help but wonder which of them would be laid to rest next in the new cemetery.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Note: You can view a numerical breakdown of the fights here

After killing the Graveseeker, Chéng Yáng turned to the group.

“You three will be responsible for killing the next monster that appears. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Skills and attacks don’t lock on automatically. If you’re not confident in landing an attack, wait until its close enough that its impossible to miss! Otherwise you’re just wasting resources. This will also allow the Knights to practice holding back monsters.”

“Rest assured Mr. Chéng.” Lǐ Wànshān replied, “We know what we need to do. Me and Dù Chéng will stand at the front but since our damage is low we will need to rely on Féng Jié for lethality.”

As he was speaking, a Venom-Fanged Gray Wolf peaked its head around the edge of the gate. Just like the Graveseeker, it charged at the group the moment it noticed them.

“Prepare for battle!” Lǐ Wànshān shouted.

— Fifty meters —

— Forty meters —

— Thirty meters —

— Twenty meters —

A Magic Missile flew wide, completely missing the beast.

The twenty-something Féng Jié glanced nervously at Chéng Yáng.

“I-”

“No need for an explanation.” Chéng Yáng cut him off. “Just hit the next one.”

Féng Jié grit his teeth. His Skill was on cooldown but the wolf was already upon them.

Lǐ Wànshān’s expression was ruthless as he slammed his shield into the wolf in an attempt to block its charge. The man and the wolf engaged in a battle of strength, one the wolf won when Lǐ Wànshān lost his footing and fell to one knee.

Seeing that Lǐ Wànshān was in danger, Dù Chéng rushed forwards. Noticing him, the wolf changed targets and leaped at Dù Chéng. Panicking, Dù Chéng raised his sword to meet the wolf instead of his shield, striking down on its head.

With a crisp sound Dù Chéng’s sword bounced off the wolf’s skull without leaving so much as a mark. Venom-Toothed Gray Wolves had an Innate Ability that increased the Attack Resistance of their heads by three points. Unfortunately, Dù Chéng forgot Chéng Yáng’s warning about that from earlier.

With a disgusting squelch, the wolf bit into Dù Chéng’s shoulder, tearing through his clothes and ripping out a pound of flesh. It spat out the bloody hunk of meat, then moved to rip out his throat.

Before it could, the wolf’s own throat exploded in a fountain of gore. Féng Jié had managed to hit the beast with a Magic Missile!

After scrambling to his feet, Dù Chéng no longer dared to act on his own. He stuck next to Lǐ Wànshān, attacking when he attacked and retreating when he retreated. Although the wound on his shoulder was agonizing, the adrenaline from his near death experience stopped him from acknowledging it.

“Die!” In unison the two Knights slashed out at the monster. Lǐ Wànshān’s blade caught the wolf between its ribs, leaving a bloody streak on its flank, but Dù Chéng’s was once again blocked by the monster’s hardened skull.

Faced with the combined inertia of two attacks, the wolf was forced to the ground. Before it could get up, Féng Jié fired another Magic Missile into its head, partially crushing its jaw.

Féng Jié didn’t feel any satisfaction from hitting the wolf. If he couldn’t hit a stationary target from three meters away he may as well kill himself to save the wolf the trouble.

With the three of them working together the wolf’s Health was slowly whittled down to zero. Once it finally died, light particles flew from the corpse into each of their bodies. Since they had fought it together, the Soul Fragments dropped were evenly split between them, resulting in each person gaining a third of a Soul Fragment.

During the battle, more than half of the damage was dealt by Féng Jié but if Lǐ Wànshān and Dù Chéng hadn’t blocked the wolf’s advance, he might have been killed before he being able to land a single shot.

Compared to the six seconds Chéng Yáng needed to beat a similar enemy, the battle with the wolf had lasted a sluggish thirty seven. It allowed the group to truly grasp the difference between themselves and Chéng Yáng.

“I’ll handle the next one.” Chéng Yáng said, “Sit down over there and use your Core Skills to recover.”

While they did that, Chéng Yáng defeated another Venom-Fanged Gray Wolf. Once he was done, he passed the baton back to the others and spent a few seconds Meditating to recover his spent Mana. Like this, Chéng Yáng’s group settled into a steady rhythm.

The other groups were much the same, having a fighting team and a resting team. Although they didn’t have a powerful fighter like Chéng Yáng to keep the balance, Summoners could use Spirit Communion even if they had a wolf summoned so they never lacked a fearless meat shield.

Over time, the skill of the Players gradually increased. At first they needed four people to handle a single monster, then three, then just two. Although Chéng Yáng believed that most of them were ready to try soloing a monster, he decided against having them do so. Without his supervision an accident might result in someone’s death.

Their coordination wasn’t outstanding but there were at a level where each defending group would be able to hold their own against a dozen monsters. Not bad for the first day of the apocalypse.

---

Xiāngyáng was in the midst of a second disaster. Tens of thousands of monsters prowled the streets leaving corpses in their wake.

For normal people monsters were a nigh unbeatable existence. Unlike Players, humans could bleed to death, so even a glancing blow might end their life. Fighting with a monster was equivalent to suicide.

Fortunately monsters were stupid and most weren’t particularly fast. This allowed most people to escape into the rubble of collapsed buildings to lose pursuing monsters.

Since monsters could spawn anywhere at any time, people would escape one monster only to have another spawn in their new hiding spot. A vicious cycle that ate away at their stamina.

Gradually people became accustomed to hearing the sound of others collapse to the ground in agony followed by the soft, wet slurp of flesh flowing down a monster’s gullet.

Unless they saw a human, monsters that spawned within a few kilometers of a Safe Zone would be compelled to leave the area and didn’t form herds. Otherwise humanity would have gone extinct that very day.

---

The situation in Phoenix Village gradually tilted into the favor of the monsters. Although the teamwork and individual skill of each group was constantly increasing, the spawn rate had been as well. It wasn’t uncommon for a group to have to fight two or three monsters at once now.

As a result, they were starting to feel the pinch when it came to Mana usage. Even though they would only need a few dozen seconds to recover, it was getting harder to secure that much downtime

So long as they could block enemy attacks, Knights were able to fight continuously since they didn’t need Mana to fight. Even so, their damage was abysmal without the use of Energy Slash and it would take them almost a minute to kill a monster on their own.

The Rangers were the worst off. Although they had the strongest offensive power, they weren’t suited to a protracted battle. After running out of arrows they’d only be able to deal a single attack every minute! By now their presence on the battlefield was negligible.

Chéng Yáng felt envious of the situation in Xiāngyáng. If he had access to the stores in the Safe Zone they would be able to exchange their Soul Fragments for Mana and Health potions, allowing them to quickly recover. Despite that, Chéng Yáng didn’t regret coming out to Phoenix Village. Although they would be able to advance faster in the short term, waiting to claim the Territory Altar would have delayed their long term growth.

Chéng Yáng signaled for the exercise to end at dusk just as the sun dipped under the horizon. Everyone was exhausted and if they continued fighting, they would eventually be overrun. It was better to close the gates for the night and have the ranged Classes farm from the safety of the wall tomorrow morning.

Even so, the exercise had been a complete success! No one had died and everyone had gained experience, Skill proficiency, and Soul Fragments.

Chéng Yáng was able to raise his Magic Missile proficiency to fourteen percent and had eighty nine Soul Fragments. The others averaged seven percent proficiency gain and about twenty Soul Fragments.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

“Knight.” Chéng Yáng announced.

Lǐ Wànshān grinned.

“Good, I’d hoped to become a Knight.”

Lǐ Wànshān approached the Knight Class Statue and initiated his Transcendence Ceremony. A few seconds later he was holding a sword and shield identical to Liú Hào’s.

---

Lǐ Wànshān

Phoenix Village Citizen
Class: Knight
Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	39	Life Span	110
HP	52	MP	10
Attack Damage	3	Ability Power	1
Attack Resistance	2	Magic Resistance	2
Attack Speed	1	Movement Speed	1.1

Innate Abilities

• Health is increased by 30%
• Movement speed is increased by 10%
• Efficient Registration: When acting as the Player Resources Manager, a Settlement may register 30% more Players

Skill

Essence Gathering (Core Skill)
Enter a horse stance and draw in worldly energy to recover and advance.

Energy Slash (Low-Grade)
Fill your blade with Mana, then release it in a devastating arc that cuts through enemies.

Damage: 8	Cost: 3 Mana
Range: 3 m	Cooldown: 3 sec

Equipment

Iron Sword (One-Handed)
A crude blade fit for slashing and stabbing.

Damage: 3	Cooldown: 1.5 sec
Range: 1 m

Wooden Heater (One-Handed)
A sturdy and reliable shield. | Attacks that hit the shield have their damage nullified.

Damage: 1.5	Cooldown: 3 sec
Range: 1 m

---

Another S-Rank Innate Ability! And it was one that improved Settlement management. It was similar to a Chéng Yáng’s Innate Ability except that Lǐ Wànshān wouldn’t need to become a Lord for its effects to apply. He only needed to be assigned an official management position.

Being able to register more Citizens meant more Players would receive any bonuses that Phoenix Village provided. Although there weren’t enough people to fill each Class Statue’s capacity right now, in the future there would be hundreds or even thousands of unregistered Players living here.

Lǐ Wànshān didn’t have nearly the same reaction upon reading his Innate Ability. He was even disappointed that it didn’t increase two combat related Attributes! His only frame of reference was the other three who had S-Rank Innate Abilities, so he had no clue just how lucky he was.

Although he wasn’t needed anymore, Chéng Yáng joined the others farming monsters on the wall. The faster they gathered Soul Fragments, the faster he could perform additional Transcendence Ceremonies.

In order to make the process more efficient, after transferring his friends and Lǐ Wànshān, Chéng Yáng prioritized people with the potential to be a Ranger or Mage.

Once the final Transcendence Ceremony ended, Phoenix Village had eight Knights, six Mages, six Rangers, and four Druids.

Chéng Yáng was also able to fully verify his theory. Aside from the unlucky cab driver who had B-Rank talent every other person was able to gain an A-Rank Innate Ability. Although it was disappointing that there weren’t any other S-Rank talents, Chéng Yáng was satisfied with having five under his banner.

A-Rank talents were still quite rare, so as long as none of these people left Chéng Yáng for some other faction, the core fighting strength of his Settlement would be astronomical.

Chéng Yáng was confident that everyone would stay by his side. The cruelty and destitution brought upon by the apocalypse was unbearable, so after they went out and saw how others lived they could come to appreciate the advantages a Settlement provided.

The only truly disappointing thing was that no one else had an Innate Ability that affected Settlements or Hidden Attributes.

In total the process had taken an hour. Perhaps if he hadn’t gone to rescue Niú Bīng, Chéng Yáng would have been able to get a few more S-Rank talents. Even so, Chéng Yáng didn’t regret saving his friend in the slightest.

Now it was time to train his forces. Once the monsters surrounding the Settlement had been cleared, Chéng Yáng called everyone down off the walls to have a meeting by the Territory Altar.

“Now that everyone has become a Player its time to learn how to fight as a team. I’m going to open the gates and allow monsters into the village. When they come in, you’ll need to defeat them. Afterwards, we’ll meet again and I’ll give you another task. Phoenix Village has four gates, so we’ll create four groups to defend them.”

Chéng Yáng then turned to Lǐ Wànshān.

“Old Lǐ pick a Knight and a Mage to defend the south gate with me. The leaders for the teams defending the other gates will be my friends Liú Hào, Niú Bīng, and Yú Kǎi. Split the remaining Players evenly between those groups, but make sure to have at least one member of every Class in a group. If you absolutely can’t hold on, call out to me and I’ll close the gate you’re protecting. I don’t want any of you to die.”

Finally he turned to Páng Shān.

“You’ll follow me to the south gate but keep a healthy distance.”

Lǐ Wànshān had an uncomfortable look on his face. His experience as a businessman told him that Chéng Yáng was trying to weaken his influence. Obviously Chéng Yáng didn’t trust him and had separated him from most of his employees in order to control them better. Although those men hadn’t pledged their loyalty to Lǐ Wànshān, their close relationship meant his words held a lot of weight to for them.

Even though he had realized this, Lǐ Wànshān refused to let it bother him. He wasn’t interested in authority. All he wanted was to survive and then return to Xiāngyáng to save his family. Right now, only Chéng Yáng could provide him with an opportunity to do that, so how could he dissent?

Lǐ Wànshān wasn’t wrong. Chang Yang had indeed arranged the teams with the goal of weakening the influence of Lǐ Wànshān’s faction. It also allowed him to intimidate Lǐ Wànshān with a show of force.

If Lǐ Wànshān’s former employees continued to obey him, it would be a problem if the man tried to stir up trouble for Chéng Yáng later. Of course, Chéng Yáng could force them to obey using the authority granted to him as a Lord. However, that kind of tyranny would instill hatred and obedience in equal parts.

After the groups were arranged, Chéng Yáng drilled everyone on the tactics necessary to get the most out of their Skills and optimize their synergy. He also detailed the various strengths and weaknesses of the monsters commonly found in the area.

Most of his advice was simple, but it wasn’t intuitive. Like how an Energy Slash could pass through multiple targets, or that a Reinforced Arrow could be partially controlled after firing, or the importance of avoiding friendly fire. Countless people had died in his previous life because they hadn’t realized simple things like these. The information about the monsters’ abilities was even more valuable. When people encountered a new monster with unknown abilities, casualties were inevitable. Every sliver of information had been paid for in blood.

Once he was done, Chéng Yáng sent the groups to their respective gates and opened them.

Less than a minute after they started, a curtain out light appeared outside the south gate. When it disappeared, an odd creature stood in its place. The monster was bipedal and looked similar to an ape except that it was covered in green feathers and its entire head was taken up by a segmented mouth that looked like a blooming lotus. It was only a meter tall but no one dared to underestimate it after seeing the jagged pitchfork held in its hand.

“I’ll handle the first one, so watch me.” Chéng Yáng said, striding to the front of the group. “This is a Low-Grade Immature Graveseeker. It has thirty Health and can deal up to seven damage when using its pitchfork.”

Lǐ Wànshān had just seen Chéng Yáng and the others kill dozens of monsters while they were on the walls, but it was an entirely different feeling when the monster was right in front of him.

Once the monster got close to entering his range, Chéng Yáng raised his stave and fired off a Magic Missile. Right as the Graveseeker passed the thirty meter mark, the Skill slammed into its chest scattering blue blood and green feathers everywhere. A perfectly timed shot!

The monster let out a shrill cry which was similar to the wailing of a baby as it continued its charge towards Chéng Yáng who’d taken the opportunity to put some distance between them using his superior Movement Speed.

This process repeated once more as the monster helplessly tried to chase Chéng Yáng around.

When the third Magic Missile connected, the monster collapsed to the ground.

At the same time weak and indistinct light escaped its body and integrated with Chéng Yáng’s.

“Wow…” Lǐ Wànshān breathed.

Although he’d been scared before, watching the monster fall to the ground without so much as scratching Chéng Yáng completely erased the tense atmosphere.

Lǐ Wànshān did some quick math in his head. Since the monster had thirty health, that meant Chéng Yáng’s attacks dealt at least ten damage. This was considerably more than the three he dealt as a Low-Grade Apprentice Knight.

Lǐ Wànshān knew from his employees that Low-Grade Apprentice Mages only dealt five damage, which meant that Chéng Yáng was at least one level higher than the rest of them!

Faced with this fact, Lǐ Wànshān only felt relief. There wasn’t a hint of jealousy in his heart. Chéng Yáng was his ally, so the more powerful Chéng Yáng was, the safer he would be, and the higher the chance he would be able to rescue his family!

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

After becoming a Ranger, Yú Kǎi learned how to use a bow. The system would handle Skill activation, but weapon techniques needed months of practice to hone.

Yú Kǎi then followed Chéng Yáng up to the village walls to hunt more monsters.

He barely hit anything in the beginning but after only a dozen or so tries Yú Kǎi started to consistently hit the nearly stationary monsters. The power behind the arrows wasn’t amazing, but so long as a weapon made contact with someone, the system would deal the full amount of damage, so that didn’t matter. Yú Kǎi had been just as quick to pick up archery in Chéng Yáng’s previous life, but his progress was still shocking to watch.

Once the Settlement Soul Fragment balance hit ten again, Chéng Yáng brought Niú Bīng over to the Druid Class Statue. According to Chéng Yáng’s memories this Class would fit him best since his Innate Ability increased a Hidden Attribute for Druids and although Druids weren’t necessarily a ranged Class their summoned beasts could be sent over the wall to fight in their stead and be re-summoned when they died.

Of course the real reason Chéng Yáng chose to perform Niú Bīng’s Transcendence Ceremony next instead of finding another Ranger or a Mage was that they were friends. If becoming a Player shortly after the apocalypse increased a person’s talent, he absolutely needed to give that opportunity to Niú Bīng whose Innate Ability was only D-Rank in his memories.

A few moments later Niú Bīng was up on the wall next to Yú Kǎi holding a staff. It was similar to the stave used by Chéng Yáng but instead of a jewel it was topped by a ring with beast claws on it.

---

Niú Bīng

Phoenix Village Citizen
Class: Druid
Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	20	Life Span	110
Health	30	Mana	30
Attack Damage	3.9	Ability Power	1
Attack Resistance	1	Magic Resistance	1
Attack Speed	3	Movement Speed	3.3

Innate Abilities

• Summoned creatures have 30% more Health
• Attack Damage is increased by 30%
• Movement speed is increased by 10%

Skill

Spirit Communion (Core Skill)
Lie on your back and commune with spirits to recover and advance

Summon Wolf (Low-Grade)
Summons an obedient wolf with base attributes equal to the summoner.

Duration: 10 min	Cost: 10 Mana
Cast Time: 14.75 sec	Cooldown: 44.26 sec

Equipment

Wooden Staff (One Handed)
A solid wood staff, well suited to hitting things.

Damage: 6.5	Cooldown: 1.48 sec
Range: 1 m

---

Chéng Yáng was elated after checking Niú Bīng’s stats! It looked like his guess had been correct! The sooner you performed a Transcendence Ceremony, the better your Innate Ability would be. Perhaps the mechanic was that each person starts with S-Rank talent but it decays over time? That would explain how some people still got S-Rank talents days or weeks after the start of the apocalypse, they simply had a slower rate of decay!

Most powerful factions in his memories would have a handful of people with S-Rank Innate Abilities, five at most. If he could get everyone here to perform Transcendence Ceremonies fast enough, Chéng Yáng’s group would have over a dozen! More twice that of the most powerful faction in his previous life!

Luckily Chéng Yáng knew a way to assess a person’s compatibility with a Class. Otherwise he might end up wasting an S-Rank Innate Ability by guessing incorrectly.

While Chéng Yáng fantasized about a glorious future, Niú Bīng had already gotten accustomed to his new Skills.

When it was just Chéng Yáng and Yú Kǎi farming, the monsters could only helplessly scrabble at the walls. Now that Niú Bīng was there the fighting below the wall became bloody and fierce. After summoning a wolf, every monster in the area would charge straight for it like a shark to blood. The wolf would be surrounded and torn apart after just a few seconds. After it died, Niú Bīng would simply summon another and start the process over again.

Without a doubt Druid was the Class with the lowest skill floor. Compared to the Ranger Class which had the highest, the difference was night and day.

Soon Chéng Yáng had enough Soul Fragments to let Liú Hào perform his Transcendence Ceremony. Even though Liú Hào would probably still have an S-Rank Innate Ability even if he went last, Chéng Yáng felt it was better to do it now just in case. If he was wrong and screwed over his friend he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. The others would simply have to wait and hope for the best.

After Liú Hào performed his Transcendence Ceremony Chéng Yáng let out a sigh of relief. Liú Hào still had that outstanding S-Rank Innate Ability.

---

Liú Hào

Phoenix Village Citizen
Class: Knight
Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	19	Life Span	110
Health	40	Mana	10
Attack Damage	3	Ability Power	1
Attack Resistance	2	Magic Resistance	2
Attack Speed	1.3	Movement Speed	1.43

Innate Abilities

• Attack Speed is increased by 30%
• Movement Speed is increased by 30%
• Movement Speed is increased by 10%

Skill

Essence Gathering (Core Skill)
Enter a horse stance and draw in worldly energy to recover and advance.

Energy Slash (Low-Grade)
Fill your blade with Mana, then release it in a devastating arc that cuts through enemies.

Damage: 8	Cost: 3 Mana
Range: 3 m	Cooldown: 2.99 sec

Equipment

Iron Sword (One-Handed)
A crude blade fit for slashing and stabbing.

Damage: 3	Cooldown: 1.49 sec
Range: 1 m

Wooden Heater (One-Handed)
A sturdy and reliable shield. | Attacks that hit the shield have their damage nullified.

Damage: 1.5	Cooldown: 2.99 sec
Range: 1 m

---

Liú Hào’s Innate Ability would make him a natural fit for the Assassin Sub-Class once it became available. With his ability to catch up to the opponent and deal rapid blows, no one would be a more capable Assassin than Liú Hào.

In Chéng Yáng’s memories there were only around five hundred people known to have an S-Rank Innate Ability, and right now his faction had four! It was enough to make him feel giddy.

Chéng Yáng tried to suppress the excitement in his heart, but he couldn’t help but expand the scope of his goals. Previously he would have been content to just become a Lord and provide a better life for his friends, but with this kind of combat power, he felt it might be possible to conquer multiple Settlements and build an Empire!

While the others fought monsters from atop the walls Liú Hào could only stand awkwardly to the side. Despite his strength, if he were to leave the safety of the walls, he’d fair no better than Niú Bīng’s wolves.

The next person Chéng Yáng allowed to become a Professional was Páng Shān. Compared to the others, Páng Shān had a closer connection to him, so she was his first choice.

Chéng Yáng had never met Páng Shān in his previous life, so he didn’t know what kind of Innate Ability she had, so he would have to pay an extra ten Soul Fragments to have one of the Class Statues assess her potential.

Once the Settlement had the funds, Chéng Yáng brought Páng Shān over to the Mage Class Statue and payed the necessary price to have her potential measured, causing a stream of energy to enter her body. She glowed for a short moment before the energy flowed to her forehead and condensed a mark there.

The mark that developed on her forehead would indicate which Class her Innate Ability was best suited for. For the Mage Class it would be a pointed hat, a shield for Knight, an arrow for Ranger, or a claw for Druid. However, Páng Shān had none of those, the mark on her head took the form of a pair of raised hands.

Although it was not one of the four standard Classes, Chéng Yáng was familiar with the Hidden Class that mark represented: Cleric, the most highly valued Class of all.

The only reason a Hidden Class would be chosen as a person’s highest potential was if their Innate Ability increased a Hidden Attribute for that Hidden Class. Innate Abilities like this were even rarer than those that affected the Hidden Attributes of standard Classes, so Chéng Yáng was ecstatic to find someone who had one. Naturally a Cleric Class Statue was needed to become a Cleric, so there was no way for Páng Shān to become one at the moment.

I suppose I’ll have to find a priest statue as soon as possible. Chéng Yáng thought. Hidden Class Statues were rare drops in Instance Dungeons but Chéng Yáng wasn’t worried about getting one. The Instance Dungeon he had been looking for earlier had the Cleric Class Statue in its loot table, and it should have spawned by now.

Chéng Yáng didn’t want to waste Páng Shān’s talent even if it meant the overall power of her Innate Ability might fall, so he decided not to have her become a Player for now. After he explained why he’d changed his mind she obediently left to go accompany Niú Bīng on the wall.

Chéng Yáng decided to do Lǐ Wànshān’s Transcendence Ceremony next.

Although Lǐ Wànshān had seen Chéng Yáng display clear favoritism he hadn’t complained. If he’d been in Chéng Yáng’s position he would have done the same. What use would complaining be? If Chéng Yáng wanted to prevent him from ever becoming a Player, what could he do about it? Even worse, what if he expelled him from the Settlement entirely for complaining? Without the walls he’d be killed by monsters within minutes.

“Mr. Chéng, what Class do you think I’m suitable for?” Lǐ Wànshān asked rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“Let’s perform the test and see Mr. Lǐ.” Chéng Yáng said, “Remember, you must follow my orders after becoming a Player.”

“Mr. Chéng you can rest easy. So long as your orders don’t violate basic human ethics I can follow any rules you set. I’m not an ungrateful man. Also, from now on you don’t need to be so formal, just call me Old Lǐ, not Mr. Lǐ.”

“Don’t worry Old Lǐ, I don’t plan to do anything heinous, now, on to the test.”

Chéng Yáng paid the fee and a glowing shield appeared on Lǐ Wànshān’s forehead.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Expanding outwards from the city center a dome of multi-colored light began to enclose an area of two and a half square kilometers in Xiāngyáng. As it expanded, it pushed out every unnatural object, showing buildings aside as if they were made sticks.

People that saw the barrier fled from the approaching curtain of light lest they be trapped inside. Although they didn’t know what the dome was for no one wanted to take the risk of finding out. Those that weren’t fast enough were hit by the wave of material being pushed outwards sustaining serious injuries, making those ahead of them sprint even faster.

Unbeknownst to them, an hour later, four Class Statues like the one in Phoenix Village but ten times as tall were rising from the ground. In addition, six ancient-looking buildings had materialized in a ring around the statues. What purpose did these buildings serve? Chéng Yáng knew but the people of Xiāngyáng certainly didn’t.

---

At the same time Chéng Yáng and the others were running towards Phoenix Village.

Niú Bīng was an athlete so the pace was manageable. Páng Shān and the taxi driver, however, were struggling. Even so they had managed to make it seven hundred meters in the last four minutes which was already commendable.

At that time, Chéng Yáng’s face crumpled. Just now he had detected multiple mana fluctuations around them which could only mean one thing: monsters had spawned.

Fifty meters ahead of the group a curtain of light shimmered and a large gray wolf with black fangs streaked in green liquid stepped out. It let out a wild howl before charging at Chéng Yáng.

Niú Bīng and the others jumped in shock. Where had such a ferocious beast jumped out from. Not to mention it had a weird appearance.

With a thought, Chéng Yáng activated his Magic Missile Skill. Mana flowed through his body from his heart into the stave he was carrying, forming a swirling ball of white energy on the tip. Then, as quickly as it had gathered, the ball of energy shot towards the wolf like a meteor.

Using the mental connection between himself and the Skill, Chéng Yáng steered it towards the wolf. The attack struck it on the head, shattering an eye socket and leaving a bloody hole. The wolf was only a Low-Grade Immature monster. In front of the Standard-Grade Apprentice Chéng Yáng it was like meat on the chopping board.

Despite the severity of its injuries, the wolf continued to charge towards them without even the slightest decline in its vicious aura. No matter how close to death a monster was, its only focus would be to kill the enemy in front of it

“How is that thing still alive?!” Niú Bīng gasped.

Even as a normal person he could tell that that the power of Chéng Yáng attack far surpassed that of a normal weapon.

“A Venom-Fanged Gray Wolf of this level has thirty Health and one Magic Resistance. I only deal twelve damage so I need at least three shots to kill it.” Chéng Yáng explained while his Skill was on cooldown.

As soon as the cooldown ended, Chéng Yáng cast Magic Missile again. This time it hit the wolf’s legs, shattering one and causing it to stumble, its charge halted.

After their initial shock the three bystanders were able to calm down. Even so how could they accept that such a monster existed in this world? And what did Chéng Yáng mean by Health? Level? Magic Resistance? Damage? Weren’t those terms only used in video games?

The wolf howled in pain as it got back up. Even with a broken leg it was able to run at the same speed as before, rapidly closing the distance between it and the group. Without flinching Chéng Yáng sent out a final Magic Missile which caught the monster in the chest.

The wolf fell to the ground and was still. The fight had ended.

Faint blurry shard of light flew out of the monster’s body and into the sky. Some of which floated over to Chéng Yáng. These were Soul Fragments, the condensed form of a monster’s power, experience, and memories.

In addition to being used as currency, Soul Fragments were able to accelerate a Player’s growth. When using your Core Skill, if you had a large amount of Soul Fragments you could absorb the energy stored inside to vastly decrease the time needed to level up. You would also need to absorb a large number of Soul Fragments when leveling up or upgrading a Skill.

Even for non-Lords there was value in gathering Soul Fragments to use as currency. Every Safe Zone and Settlement would gain access to six NPC shops: a Smithy, a Silversmithy, an Apothecary, a Grocery, a Boutique, and an Artisanery. They offered vital services but only in exchange for Soul Fragments.

Chéng Yáng was pleased to see the number of Soul Fragments he had increase but it was a pity he was too far from his Settlement for it to obtain some Soul Fragments as well.

Although monsters had started to spawn Chéng Yáng wasn’t too concerned. At most he would have to fight two or three at once and while he might be injured, as a Player, so long as his Health was above zero he would be fine.

As the group continued Chéng Yáng killed another Venom-Fanged Gray Wolf and a Razor-Tailed Fox. As a result, his Mana was reduced to half its maximum capacity so he decided to rest for a moment and Meditate.

Mana and Health both passively recovered one point every minute but using your Core Skill greatly increased that rate. The recovery efficacy of your Core Skill increased when you leveled up, so as a Standard-Grade Apprentice Chéng Yáng was able to recover his lost Mana in just twenty seconds.

Once he was finished the group started moving again. The rest of their journey went smoothly since the spawn rate was still low, but right as the Settlement came into sight, a trio of Hunter Stalkers, monsters with claws like swords, ambushed the group. Despite their numbers, Chéng Yáng was able to easily dispatch them while protecting Niú Bīng and the others by taking a little damage. Low-Grade Immature monsters were helpless before Chéng Yáng who was a level higher.

Monsters had started to gather around the walls but luckily the area surrounding the north gate was clear. With a final burst of energy, the group rushed through the massive doors. Only once the doors had shut were they able to let out a sigh of relief.

Chéng Yáng was never in any danger since he could just run if a group of monsters too big for him to handle appeared, but if that were to happen, he’d have no choice but to carry Niú Bīng and leave the other two, including his girlfriend, to die. As a result, the journey was quite nerve-wracking for him.

Seeing that his benefactor had returned, Lǐ Wànshān ran over to Chéng Yáng. After Chéng Yáng left he had become the de facto leader. Despite that, all he did was try to keep everyone calm. Lǐ Wànshān was a sensible man and didn’t want to disrupt any plans Chéng Yáng had or threaten his position as leader.

“Mr. Chéng, soon after you left more than twenty wild beasts started to prowl outside the walls, attacking it occasionally. The walls seem sturdy but I’m worried they won’t be able to last if we leave the creatures out there. What do we do? If I became a Player would I be able to kill them all?”

“Those are the monsters I told you would spawn. Don’t worry about the walls for now. As for your other concern, you’re right. In the future, after you become a Player, clearing monsters away from the wall will become one of your daily duties.”

“Does that mean we can become Players now?”

“That’s right, our next step is to have everyone here perform a Transcendence Ceremony. For now, I’ll farm the monsters surrounding the settlement so we can afford the fees.”

While explaining his plan, Chéng Yáng Meditated to restore his Mana. When he was finished, he climbed up onto the wall’s alure to kill the monsters below.

Every two to three attacks, Chéng Yáng would kill a monster gaining Soul Fragments both for himself and for the Settlement.

A Low-Grade Immature monster would drop a single Soul Fragment and had a twenty-percent change to drop a second. As a result, after killing four monsters and getting a lucky second drop on one of them, Chéng Yáng had a total of twelve Soul Fragments.

For a Settlement, Soul Fragment drops were doubled! This meant Phoenix Village had a total of ten Soul Fragments in its coffers.

With his goal amount reached, Chéng Yáng jumped down from the wall and walked over to Yú Kǎi.

“Kǎizǐ, you’re up first. Once you become a Player go up on the wall and hunt monsters.”

“Huh? Why me? Why not someone like Liú Hào who has played this kind of game before?”

“Liú Hào is more suitable to become a Knight and wouldn’t be able to safely attack the monsters. You’re talent fits the Ranger Class which can attack from afar with arrows, so you’re the better choice.”

The Yú Kǎi in Chéng Yáng’s memories had a C-Rank innate ability that increased his Attack Range by twenty percent and Attack Damage by ten percent. Its rank wasn’t high but it had great synergy with the Ranger Class. Attack Range was also a rare Hidden Attribute, putting the value of his Innate Ability on par with most A-Rank Innate Abilities.

With Chéng Yáng’s guidance, Yú Kǎi pressed his palm to the Ranger Class Statue and used the Settlement’s Soul Fragments to perform his Transcendence Ceremony. Once the light show was over, he emerged with a bow in his hands and a quiver of arrows on his waist.

Using the Territory Altar system pane Citizens tab Chéng Yáng took a look at Yú Kǎi’s stats.

---

Yú Kǎi

Phoenix Village Citizen
Class: Ranger
Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	20	Life Span	110
Health	30	Mana	20
Attack Damage	6.5	Ability Power	1
Attack Resistance	1	Magic Resistance	1
Attack Speed	1	Movement Speed	1.1

Innate Abilities

• Attack Damage is increased by 30%
• Attack Range is increased by 30%
• Movement Speed is increased by 10%

Skill

Origin Return (Core Skill)
Adopt a seiza and circulate your energy to recover and advance

Reinforced Arrow (Low-Grade)
Fill an arrow with your Mana, reinforcing its structure.

Damage: 8	Cost: 4 Mana
Range: 39 m	Cooldown: 3 sec

Equipment

Wooden Bow (Two-Handed)
A simple wooden bow strung with the sinew of an unknown animal

Damage: 6.5	Cooldown: 1.5 sec
Range: 39 m

Magic Quiver (Quiver)
A soft quiver with silk embroidery. It hides the secrets of creation magic within it. Produces one arrow every minute.

Capacity: 60

---

Chéng Yáng was baffled when he saw Yú Kǎi’s Innate Ability. Why did it increase to S-Rank? He had attributed the increase in quality of his Innate Ability as a quirk of his regression, but obviously that didn’t apply to Yú Kǎi.

His best guess was that maybe the quality of an Innate Ability was somehow tied to how soon someone became a Player? It was a good hypothesis but the Liú Hào from his previous life was a clear exception and he could think of a few others.

Regardless of the reason, Yú Kǎi’s S-Rank Innate Ability took a burden off of Chéng Yáng’s heart. With the combination of his Innate Ability and the bonus provided by the Settlement, Yú Kǎi would be invincible within his level. Ranger’s were the strongest Class for PVP, so if not for the difference in fighting experience, even the Standard-Grade Chéng Yáng would lose to him in a duel!

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Chéng Yáng also heard that familiar voice, but he paid it no mind.

Instead he curiously surveyed the now flattened Phoenix Mountain. Nearly a square kilometer of trees had disappeared centered around what used to be the summit. Not even the holes where the roots would have been remained.

Just a little over a hundred meters away the Territory Altar and surrounding statues had been completely unearthed. Seeing that both the altar and statues were exactly the same as his memories, Chéng Yáng smiled.

“Come with me!” Chéng Yáng gleefully shouted as he rushed towards the statues.

It wasn’t until Chéng Yáng was only a few meters from the Territory Altar that Yú Kǎi and Liú Hào snapped out of their shock and followed him.

Seeing Chéng Yáng’s confidence inspired Lǐ Wànshān, causing him and the remaining workers, to chase after Chéng Yáng as well.

As soon as Chéng Yáng arrived at the Territory Altar he pulled up the system pane and bought the maximum number of Wall Segments for a Low-Grade Village.

At that moment, several of the transport trucks by the road dissolved along with their cargo. As they did a wall appeared around the Territory Altar section by section, quickly completing a loop. When the wall passed over the river it added a wooden grate underneath allowing it to flow through the territory.

Seeing this the others were even more shocked than when Phoenix Mountain disappeared. They had never seen something so mystical before.

“Mr. Chéng, what the hell is going on?”

Lǐ Wànshān was older and more stable than the others so he was the first to recover from his shock.

“Right now I’m short on time and can’t give you a thorough explanation.” Chéng Yáng replied, “For now lets just say the earthquake from before affected the entire world and destroyed human civilization. In addition, it caused our world to become a video game. You can think of it as advanced VR if that helps. Soon monsters will start spawning and unless you use one of these statues to perform a Transcendence Ceremony and become a Player, you’ll be helpless to fight back when they attack you and unlike in a game, when you die you won’t respawn.”

Chéng Yáng then fired a Magic Missile into the ground to demonstrate, throwing dirt into the air.

This shocked Lǐ Wànshān who was a veteran gamer. He simply couldn’t believe Chéng Yáng’s words, they were absurd! Even so, there was no scientific explanation for the things he’d seen, so Lǐ Wànshān tentatively accepted it as the truth.

“Yángzǐ, does that mean I can become a Player?” Liú Hào excitedly interjected.

“Naturally, but you’ll need to wait a bit. I need to hunt monsters to pay for the Transcendence Ceremony but before I can do that, I need to go pick up Niú Bīng.”

Lǐ Wànshān hesitated for a moment before stepping in front of Chéng Yáng’s path. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by.

“Mr. Chéng,” He said respectfully, “Would it be possible to allow me and my employee’s to become Players as well?”

Chéng Yáng smirked in his heart. As expected, he’d found his first group of followers.

“I’ll allow it,” Chéng Yáng announced to the anxious men, “But understand one thing. This is my Settlement. Those are my Class Statues. If you want to use them you need to pledge your loyalty to me. I won’t ask anything terrible of you but my rules must be obeyed.”

Perhaps it was his calm attitude, but there was something about Chéng Yáng that made those present submit to him. Thus, when they heard this fantastical domain belonged to him, they naturally accepted it.

They didn’t know it yet but even if they tried to sneakily use the Class Statues they wouldn’t be able to since they didn’t have Chéng Yáng’s permission. This was one of the tools given to Lord’s to control others.

“Yángzǐ, what should we do now? Should we follow you to rescue Niú Bīng?” Liú Hào asked, his dark and gloomy face revealing how aimless he felt.

It wasn’t just Liú Hào, the others seemed distressed as well. The day’s events had greatly unsettled them especially after hearing that the event was global.

The world they knew was gone, so what would they do now?

“Stay here for now, the walls will keep you safe.” Chéng Yáng shot down his friend, “I’ve already become a Player so I have the power to escort Niú Bīng here but until you become one you’ll only be a burden. In another seven or eight minutes monsters will start to spawn and I need to get to Niú Bīng before they do. He should have been close when the earthquake hit, so I’ll be able to get to him in time.”

Chéng Yáng moved to leave the Settlement, going to the northern gate and using his authority as the Lord to open it as he sprinted past. Once he left the gate automatically shut again. As the Lord of Phoenix Village Chéng Yáng was in complete control of every building within the Settlement.

Chéng Yáng followed the road north praying that Niú Bīng would be alright.

He ran more than twice as fast as a normal person in a dead sprint, but unlike humans, Players could maintain their top speed indefinitely. In just three minutes he had traveled over two kilometers, completely blowing away every previous speed record from before the apocalypse.

At this point he saw a group of three people next to an overturned taxi, and one of them was Niú Bīng!

“Yángzǐ! What are you doing here? Are you okay?What about the others? Where were you during the earthquake?”

Niú Bīng rattled off concerns when he saw that Chéng Yáng was running towards him.

“Come with me if you want to live. I don’t have time to explain but its dangerous to be out in the open like this.” Chéng Yáng said, grabbed Niú Bīng ‘s hand, dragging him away.

“Wait! I can’t leave Páng Shān!” Niú Bīng shouted, struggling to break Chéng Yáng’s grip.

Chéng Yáng looked over at the other two people and saw a pretty girl about his age. Was this the girl that Yú Kǎi had mentioned?

“She can come but she needs to keep up.” Chéng Yáng didn’t particularly care if she lived or died, but he wouldn’t intentionally abandon someone his friend cared about.

“Let’s go with him Páng Shān,” Niú Bīng said, seeing that his girlfriend was about to argue with Chéng Yáng, “My friend wouldn’t lie about a life or death matter.”

For a while now Niú Bīng had had an ominous feeling that the earthquake hadn’t been so simple, so when Chéng Yáng said there was danger, he wholeheartedly believed him.

At this point Chéng Yáng rushed towards Phoenix Village followed by Niú Bīng and Páng Shān. Of course, Chéng Yáng had significantly reduced his speed so they could keep up.

The taxi driver didn’t know any of them but hearing the urgency in Chéng Yáng’s voice he couldn’t help but fear for his life. People are social creatures and in the absence of certainty they would follow the crowd. Seeing that everyone else was running the taxi driver followed after them without thinking. Even if it wasn’t a conscious choice, it was a wise decision.

---

A chilly breeze whistled through the ruins of Xiāngyáng.

With the immediate danger of the earthquake gone, those that had survived began to search for their loved ones.

At this point even those with only half a brain had realized that it hadn’t been a normal earthquake since only a cosmic event like a solar flare would be able to disable so many electronics at once. Even so no one knew what to do next.

Moreover, there was a lot of tension after the announcement made by the Gods’ messenger. No one knew what it meant but since everyone had heard it, there must have been something to it.

The messenger had said humanity was being given a chance to evolve, but what did that mean? Would they have to fight each other? If so wouldn’t martial artists rule the world?

Since no one knew what the message had meant they focused more on the immediate future. Until the government had stabilized enough to help them, they would be on their own.

As most people suspected, the Xiāngyáng municipal government was currently struggling to muster a response. Without electronics their ability to gather and control others was extremely limited. Luckily the paramilitary police had assembled for a training drill earlier that day and were ready to deploy. Starting with the area surrounding the city hall, the paramilitary police did their best to stabilize the city.

The local People’s Liberation Army branch was also hard at work scouting the city. Military personnel were quite paranoid and would never consider an event like this to be so simple and benign. To them only one part of the Gods’ message mattered: Evolution!

Evolution meant fighting and killing, but what did they need to fight? What would this evolution look like? Why even evolve at all? The government desperately wanted the answers to these questions, and it wasn’t just them! Ambitious groups around the world were searching for the key to evolution.

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