Mist Lord

It wasn't just Song Jing who was seeing black before his eyes; all the lords of the three major factions were stunned.

The orc lord was shocked, never expecting that the newcomer would be defeated by a human in his first month of trials, and by Lord Yanxia, ​​who always preferred a passive, defensive approach. Even among the newcomers of recent years, Sokgar from their tribe was considered the best.

Who exactly is this Xia Yuan?

The Lord of Yingzhou was even more devastated. Although they had also produced a trial champion, they ranked last. Crucially, the highly anticipated rookie king, Murakami Sosuke, had suffered a devastating loss. How could the ever-arrogant Lord of Yingzhou accept this?

Seeing that Xia Yuan, a man from Yanxia, ​​was ranked above two orc lords made him even more defensive.

This is a blatant humiliation.

"Murakami-kun was definitely killed by Xia Yuan. Revenge! We must get revenge!!!"

"A blood debt must be repaid in blood; the people of Yanxia must be taught a lesson!!!"

The defeated lords of Yingzhou were eager to regain their dignity and clamored for the alliance to use the extremely precious Revenge Scroll to launch a devastating revenge against Xia Yuan.

The alliance responded quickly, agreeing to the demands and immediately initiating the retaliation process.

From the perspective of the Yingzhou Alliance's higher-ups, retaliation is merely a means; the real goal is to nip Xia Yuan, this rising star of the Yanxia Alliance, in the bud.

The news immediately prompted many level 3 lords to volunteer for the mission of retaliation.

Why is it a level 3 lord?

This is because the Revenge Roll is not only rare, but also has extremely strict rules for its use.

1. The victim is a member of this alliance, and revenge must be initiated within three days.

2. Avenger's territory level ≤ Victim's territory level + 1

3. The expeditionary force is limited to troops from one's own territory; external aid is not allowed, not even slave soldiers.

4. The size of the dispatched troops shall be ≤ 50% of the maximum population of the victim's territory.

5. If revenge fails, the Avengers' territory will be forcibly destroyed as compensation to the target of revenge.

6. Only one revenge attack can be launched against the same target at most.

Based on these stringent regulations, the most suitable person to act as an avenger is a level 3 lord. Ideally, they should be able to lead 80 level 3 troops to flatten and crush Xia Yuan's territory in one fell swoop.

But that's obviously unrealistic.

The level 3 lords are all veterans from last year. If they really had level 3 troops, they would have already upgraded to level 4 or even level 5.

Therefore, the only option is to choose a level 3 lord with powerful tier 2 troops, preferably suitable for offense, and lead 80 tier 2 troops to launch a war of revenge.

Even a mere level 2 lord like Liang Xiayuan couldn't withstand such a massive retaliation.

Victory is certain!!!

.........

"Did I misjudge again?"

Even Tang Ce, the alliance leader who is usually calm in the face of trouble, felt a little embarrassed at this moment.

Besides not expecting Xia Yuan to choose to attack, I was even more surprised that Xia Yuan's offensive was so well fought, even managing to overpower the two orc lords. How could that be?

With those weird second-tier units, sword and shield dogs?

Recalling Xia Yuan's series of blunders during the previous sweep, Tang Ce vaguely guessed that the heroes Xia Yuan had recruited were not only fourth-tier, but also likely proficient in military strategy. Otherwise, they couldn't have achieved unexpected victories every time.

"This kid is not only lucky, but also calm and collected. He's definitely a talent."

Although surprised, Tang Ce wasn't truly angry. From the alliance's perspective, this was a tremendous boon, greatly boosting the prestige of the Yanxia Alliance and uniting its members. Other factions would kill for this.

Even if it were a fourth-tier bronze gargoyle, he would be willing to give it to Xia Yuan as a reward.

He had already paved the way for Song Jing; if he didn't get it, it was because Song Jing lacked ability, and he couldn't blame anyone else.

"Li Mingyu's matter should end here."

Tang Ce could not allow Li Mingyu to stifle a rising star of the alliance because of a personal grudge. Especially since Xia Yuan hadn't actually done anything wrong in this matter; it was just that the young man had acted a little too impulsively.

Who hasn't been young?

It seems that Zhu Xiaotian didn't want to escalate the situation further and cause trouble for himself.

.........

"What kind of stroke of luck did Xia Yuan have? What incredible fortune did he get?"

Li Mingyu was naturally furious, but mixed with that fury was a hint of indescribable panic.

He was a little scared.

Xia Yuan's ability to steal the spotlight once or twice could be attributed to luck, but to do it every time is truly extraordinary.

There must be some hidden cards he doesn't know about.

Otherwise, with that clown-like sword-and-shield dog, it would have been impossible to achieve such a brilliant record.

Li Mingyu even suspected that the sword-and-shield dog might be bait deliberately thrown out by Xia Yuan, and that the real target was some powerful Tier 3 unit.

His deep cunning impressed even him.

"Let's leave this matter here..."

Just as Tang Ce had predicted, before he could even speak, Zhu Xiaotian chose to settle things quietly, saying, "If this continues, it will be too ugly and damage the faction's reputation."

Xia Yuan, who has won the championship one after another, is not so easy to smear. It may even backfire. Who is more stupid than whom?

"clear!"

Li Mingyu didn't refute, obediently yielding. He wasn't concerned about factional reputation, but rather realized that after this incident, Xia Yuan would definitely attract the attention of a level 7, or even a level 8, Grand Lord.

For example, the Lord of Suyab who has been quietly spreading rumors recently.

With a powerful backer, it's no longer possible to use such underhanded tactics against Xia Yuan.

Of course, Li Mingyu wouldn't let it go so easily.

However, this merely shifts the suppression of Xia Yuan from overt to covert, from short-term to long-term, patiently lying in wait for the right opportunity. Once the opportunity arises, they will not hesitate to deliver a devastating blow to Xia Yuan.

That's good too. Let Xia Yuan climb high first, and then step into the abyss. That should be really satisfying, right?

Li Mingyu is not a magnanimous person at heart.

.........

"The conditions we previously proposed for Xia Yuan may need to be revised."

In the tea room on the top floor of Suiye Pavilion, Pei Ye's expression was unusually serious.

With Xia Yuan's renewed rise to prominence, she's no longer the only one eyeing him; the Flowing Cloud Clan will likely be very interested as well. Even the Flowing Cloud City Lord and Vice Alliance Leader Qin Ming might personally intervene.

It should be noted that Qin Ming still has one vacant slot for a subordinate territory.

Ironically, it wasn't Pei Ye herself who truly wanted to recruit Xia Yuan, but rather his younger sister, Pei Shuang. To acquire such talent, a higher price was naturally required. The previous so-called protection was utterly insignificant after this incident.

Pei Ye even felt a little regretful.

If I had known Xia Yuan was this amazing, I should have signed him before the trial. Not only would the cost have been lower, but I wouldn't be worried about someone stealing my thunder halfway through. There's a saying, "It's better to offer help in times of need than to add flowers to brocade."

"Then, shall I arrange for someone to send a message to Xia Yuan in the newbie group tonight?"

Sitting at the lower end of the table, Chu Qianxun naturally wouldn't offer any rash opinions. She was indeed quite interested in someone as talented as Xia Yuan and wanted to recruit him, but she knew she couldn't compete with Pei Shuang.

Who can blame them for having such a wonderful older sister?

"Yes, you need to have a good attitude and show genuine sincerity!"

.........

"They've really made quite a splash."

In contrast to the astonishment of the outside world, Xia Yuan himself remained extremely calm, his expression even somewhat solemn. He was no three-year-old child; he deeply understood the principle that the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind, especially in this man-eating, misty continent.

Being feared early on is not necessarily a good thing.

But the fog mechanism doesn't allow him to keep a low profile; he can only keep climbing under immense pressure. Forget about falling behind; even a slight pause to rest could lead to being crushed by those who come after him.

We dared not stop for even a moment.

Fortunately, being high-profile has its advantages; at least Gray Fog actually gave out prizes.

[Congratulations on achieving an S+ rating and winning the first three-star trial star for a new lord, plus 300 merit points, 1 bronze chest, and 1 chance to win one of three prizes.]

[His rank has been raised to Baron First Class]

The reward itself isn't very high, since it's awarded every month.

The reason why this selection has attracted so much attention is that this is likely the first and only Level 1/2 territory trial that the rookie kings of each faction will participate in.

By next month, most of the rookie champions will have advanced to level 3 and entered another track.

That's why it attracts so much attention.