Chapter 332 – Tower of Heroes
The s.p.a.ce inside Heavens Scar had been one of the main battlefields during the last grand war between humans and demons. Countless experts on both sides had fallen, buried alongside tens of millions of soldiers. Those who had died during that war had carried heavy grievances to their graves, and therefore it was easy for them to turn into evil spirits.
Bai Xiaosheng hadn’t led the group very far when the saw a long army barracks. Flags fluttered and dense distribution of weapons could be seen all over the camp, where a great number of soldiers were training.
“Alert! Those are soldier spirits of those who died in the grand war. Their attacks are very strong, everyone must be careful,” Bai Xiaosheng hastily warned.
Twuuu… Suddenly, a long horn sound resounded. From the camp, a group of soldiers marched out at a neat and uniform pace.
Those soldier spirits were dressed exactly like how they were during their lifetime, but their armor and weapons were old and rusted. Also, their bodies were either skeletons or zombie-like.
Approaching the players, the soldiers didn’t attack. Instead, they stopped a little distance away and arranged into a phalanx, the kind of preparation made when two armies met.
“Who goes there? State your name!” Once the soldiers finished arranging into formation, a soldier stepped out and shouted towards the players.
“Everyone hold, wait for my order,” Bai Xiaosheng adjured. He then dismounted and took two steps forward. “We are explorers of Xuanhuang Ancient Country’s Imperial Capital going on thrilling adventures.”
“They’re from Xuanhuang Ancient Country… uwahhh…” the soldiers shouted upon hearing Bai Xiaosheng’s answer and actually started crying.
“What the?” The players dumbly glanced at each other.
“Citizens of Xuanhuang Ancient Country? Perhaps His Majesty the King finally remembers us?” A clamor arose in the phalanx of soldiers behind, but their strict conduct of military discipline held them back from leaving their positions.
At this moment, the door to the camp opened, and a helmeted general leading a huge troop thunderously galloped out.
“You lot are from Xuanhuang Ancient Country?” The general looked mighty on a skeletal horse, holding a heavenly painted halberd and dressed in full-body armor.
“That is correct,” replied Bai Xiaosheng.
“Xuanhuang Ancient Country, heh, Xuanhuang Ancient Country… How long has it been… I actually got to see people from Xuanhuang Ancient Country again.” The general chuckled and swung his halberd. “Take this!”
Bang! A green light burst out from the halberd, turning into a long green dragon that headed for Bai Xiaosheng with a domineering momentum.
“What is the meaning of this, General?” Bai Xiaosheng yelled while quickly moving his feet. At the same time, he swung the dagger in his hand, slas.h.i.+ng out numerous light blades during a second. The cold light blades collided with the dragon, causing a huge explosion.
Puff! Spraying a mouthful of blood, Bai Xiaosheng flew backward and fell with a heavy thud. His health dropped to a sliver in one swoop.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh… Several white lights flashed, quickly healing Bai Xiaosheng.
“Not bad, you can actually receive my strike. Again!” The spirit general spurred his horse and raised his halberd again.
“Here I come!” Jiangdong’s LittleOverlord jumped off his mount. Raising a similar halberd, he lowered his body and swept at the horse’s legs.
Clang! Blocking Jiangdong’s LittleOverlord halberd with his own, the general slightly spun up his weapon before striking it down. The two halberds crossed with a metallic screech, and Jiangdong’s LittleOverlord repeatedly staggered back several steps and fell on his b.u.t.t.
“General, we’re all people of Xuanhuang Ancient Country. Everything can be resolved with proper talk.” Bai Xiaosheng crawled back up with difficulty. Rubbing his body that had almost fallen apart from the fall, he rushed forward.
Bai Xiaosheng had done his research on Heavens Scar. Humans or monsters, as long as they were direct survivors from the grand war thousands of years ago, possessed power that the current players couldn’t resist at all, not to mention that the other party still had several thousands of soldiers. Bai Xiaosheng just hoped his mission would go smoothly as much as possible and avoided fighting wherever he could.
“It’s because we’re all people of Xuanhuang Ancient Country that I want to test your power. If you don’t have what it takes, just return to where you came from; no need to keep going further and deliver your lives.”
These words didn’t only fall into the players’ ears, it also stirred their hearts. They exchanged glances at the implications of this.
“General, can you tell us what kind of danger lies inside?” Bai Xiaosheng tried to probe for more information.
“What kind of danger? Heh, everything in there is danger.” The general grinned. A stark white skeleton’s grin made people’s hair stand on end. “We have surviving demonic creatures, evil wraiths that spurned reincarnation after their deaths, and some thick-skinned fellows who have lived for thousands of years but refuse to die yet. If you can’t defeat even me, best not to proceed, because you’ll die anyway.”
“There are actually living people from several thousand years ago?!” The players were appalled.
Everyone had prepared themselves for existences like demonic creatures and evil wraiths which were very common in an ancient battlefield. However, upon hearing that there were still some old monstrous fellows that had survived all these thousands of years, even Bai Xiaosheng cursed in his heart.
“Besides, there’s a death altar in there where the souls of those who die here will reincarnate. Heh, that altar was once used to offer sacrifices to the G.o.d of Darkness. Anyone reincarnating there will become a slave of the G.o.d of Darkness for eternity.”
“What?!!” Powerful existences were one thing, but this altar was on an entirely different level. The first was shocking, but the second simply made the players want to run away. Becoming the Darkness G.o.d’s slave after death? Maybe NPCs wouldn’t mind, but no player could tolerate such a thing.
“That dangerous?” A few players began to hesitate.
“I didn’t know that this mission would get so dangerous. Originally, I thought that Heavens Scar was a place hosting all sorts of treasures, so I gathered you guys not only to help with my mission but also to increase your strength while we’re at it. However, since we now know how dangerous this is, I won’t force you to stay. Friends who want to leave, please feel free to do so,” Bai Xiaosheng turned to tell the players.
“Master of the All-Knowing Sect, please tell us about your mission. If it’s worth the price, I’ll risk my life to help you,” a player spoke up after some silence.
“Alright, since you’ve given me face and followed me here, I won’t hide anymore. My mission is to claim a main city that was lost here during the last grand war, the Hero City.”
“What?! A main city?!”
An uproar broke out amongst the players. Every player, even the most unambitious, like lifestyle players, knew very well what a main city meant. If a guild had a main city, they could directly set it up as their base and skip the trouble of upgrading it. The value was simply incalculable.
The two announcements regarding Storm City and Sky City to the whole server had made all the guild masters go crazy with envy, hating that they couldn’t just find their locations and deploy troops to besiege them. Now that an ownerless main city was right in front of them, every guild master was actively working their brains.
“Some people can’t resist it, it seems,” HeadofG.o.d swept a cold glance and whispered to Fatty.
“It’s no surprise. Wealth tempts the human heart, not to mention something like this,” Fatty remarked in a cold voice. “In my opinion, Uncle shouldn’t have called these people here. While they’re strong, most of them are guild masters. Any ambitious person won’t sit still doing nothing when they know about an unowned main city.”
“He was only acting out of a kind heart that wanted everyone to benefit. In the future when the majority of players flood into the Imperial Capital and Heavens Scar is open to the public, this place will be crowded,” DukeGarrison a.n.a.lyzed.
Bai Xiaosheng only smiled as he quietly waited for the players to make their choices. Ten-something minutes later, the sounds of discussion stopped, and none of the players chose to leave.
Having expected this outcome, Bai Xiaosheng nodded with a smile and offered some words of formality before turning to the skeletal general for discussion.
“Looks like Uncle has already prepared for something like this. What an old fox.” Purple Bell laughed cheerfully upon seeing Bai Xiaosheng’s calm and all-knowing manner.
The talk went smoothly. After the general knew that Bai Xiaosheng had come for Sky City, he was very excited. When seeing Bai Xiaosheng discreetly take out an object, he was even more excited and even offered to let his troops escort Bai Xiaosheng inside.
Bai Xiaosheng politely turned down the general’s goodwill and only asked him about the situation inside before setting out again.
“Uncle, let me see,” Fatty leaned close to Bai Xiaosheng and whispered.
“What?” Bai Xiaosheng was on full alert.
“Show me whatever you showed that silly bean general,” said the shameless Fatty.
“No way!” Bai Xiaosheng flatly refused.
“Good, Uncle, you’re very good. I risk my life to help you with your mission, yet you’re still hiding things from me.” Fatty pretended to be angry.
“Heh, fine, I’ll let you see. This is the reason why I’m not worried that they can steal my city.” Bai Xiaosheng flashed a black mini-tower in front of Fatty before stowing it quickly.
“Oh, is that the same as the Holy Spirit Island, the control center of Hero City?” It suddenly dawned on Fatty.
“Hmm? I don’t know what the Holy Spirit Island is, but you’re correct, the tower is the control center of Hero City.” Bai Xiaosheng said to Fatty via private chat. “This tower is called the Tower of Heroes. It must be put into its original place before Hero City is considered claimed. And, the person who controls the tower will be the new city lord.”
HeadofG.o.d had joined the chat as well. The trio blabbered while walking.
“To tell you the truth, the Tower of Heroes still has another function, that is to summon the human soldiers inside Heavens Scar. Regardless alive or skeletal, as long as they are human warriors that still want to fight for the human race, I can gather them under my authority,” A hint of smugness could be seen in Bai Xiaosheng’s expression.
“That formidable?” Fatty and HeadofG.o.d were stunned.
“Heh, you know how many human soldiers are there in the entire Heavens Scar? Although it’s been several thousand years, I dare say there are no less than a million of all forms in total. Of course, I’m unable to a.s.semble that many at once, but thirty to fifty thousand is still possible. At that time, we can let those soldiers attack first and come out in the very last moment.”
“No wonder you don’t care about the others’ ambitions.” Fatty understood.