Mist Lord

After Hei Jia led his troops out of the city, Xia Yuan didn't rest either.

The first priority was to treat the wounded, feeding the injured sword-and-shield dogs, half-elves, and skeleton warriors with Mist Sprout Crystals; every life saved was a life saved.

The Bonewing Bats truly lived up to their reputation as top-tier Tier 2 units. Despite the brief engagement, they still managed to kill 7 half-elf archers, 3 skeleton warriors, and a total of 12 sword-and-shield hounds.

Even more people were injured.

The half-elf who made the greatest contribution also suffered the most casualties in this battle, which shows that the bone-winged bats were extremely vengeful.

"Ann~I~~Ballard~~"

When a valiant warrior cried out for his lord even in his dying moments, it would be a lie to say Xia Yuan wasn't moved. But as the lord himself, he could only bury that weakness deep within his heart forever.

He always seemed so calm and composed in front of his people.

After treating the wounded, Xia Yuan busied himself with dealing with the bone-winged bats. The dead ones were dissected on the spot, yielding a pile of rare materials such as bat bone wings, bat fangs, and bat venom sacs.

As for bat meat, it cannot be eaten because it carries a large number of viruses, and it was all fed to the thorny vines that also made great contributions this time.

Even the bones that break off can be thrown into burial grounds to be used as nutrients.

They didn't waste a single bit.

As for the bone-winged bats that were only injured and could be treated, they were chained up and locked in slave camps to see if they could be re-tamed.

Despite their crushing defeat in this battle, the Bone-Winged Bats are actually quite powerful.

This battle was just too obviously targeted, and the defeat was too humiliating. Any other new lord, like Song Jing, would probably have died a terrible death.

The heavy infantrymen in their armored armor were nothing more than a few lumps of iron in front of the swarm of bone-winged bats.

It's very difficult to resist.

.........

"Elua!"

"Owner!"

"You will also lead a small squad into the misty region to pursue the fleeing enemy lord. Also, tell Black Armor that if things become unbearable once you venture deeper into the misty region, turn back immediately. Safety first."

Xia Yuan didn't want to risk his main force by pursuing the enemy.

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh, and remember to bring Hanbao along!"

Nakamura Teppei was so sneaky; he came with such a large army, seemingly capable of crushing his opponents, yet he never showed himself. Xia Yuan had a premonition that the pursuit wouldn't go very smoothly.

.........

"Master, what should we do with the assassin?"

After the shadow assassin was subdued, he removed his black mask, revealing a young woman in her early twenties. She was very uncooperative, remaining silent no matter what questions she was asked.

Name: Celia

[Class]: Shadow Assassin

[Talent]: Bat Affinity (C+)

[Rank]: Fourth Rank

[Main Skills]: Stealth lv2, Shadow Strike lv2, Short Blade Mastery lv2, Poison Extraction lv2

Combat Level: ★★★★★★☆

[Evaluation]: A hybrid with a trace of Dark Elf blood, naturally drawn to bats, who become its companions. There is potential for it to advance into a Shadow Assassin in the future.

"Celia, right?"

"..."

"You wouldn't want all the skeletal bats that could still be saved to be executed, would you?"

Xia Yuan hadn't expected that Celia, a shadow assassin, would have a natural affinity for bats. No wonder those bone-winged bats were so cooperative, almost completing a perfect assassination.

"!!!"

Celia looked up abruptly, a flicker of emotion crossing her purple eyes, but she ultimately remained silent.

"As you should know, I didn't provoke your former lord, Nakamura Teppei. He came here on his own initiative to avenge someone unrelated to me. I was merely acting in self-defense, is that correct?"

"..."

Celia bit her lip, remaining silent.

"Nakamura Teppei is doomed, and his territory will be forcibly destroyed under the rules of the Gray Fog. Your loyalty to Nakamura Teppei will become meaningless."

Xia Yuan continued his attempt to break down Celia's psychological defenses, "Swear a soul oath to the God of Shadows, pledge allegiance to me, and you will regain your freedom and continue to care for those bone-winged bats. How about it?"

Betrayal? I can't do that.

Celia finally spoke, but she still refused to compromise.

"As you wish, lock him up for now!"

A hint of disappointment flashed in Xia Yuan's eyes. It seemed he had overestimated his charm.

Although Celia can use shadows to move stealthily, she cannot become shadow itself and escape at will. Once locked in the iron cage, she will never be able to fly away again.

But keeping them locked up like this isn't a good idea.

Judging from Celia's attitude, Xia Yuan would never dare to keep her by his side without signing a slave contract; who knows what extreme things she might do?

Safety first.

But Xia Yuan was reluctant to sell Celia Adam, a soldier slave.

This is a fourth-level expert.

On the contrary, the masked warriors who had been locked up in the slave camp were also unwilling to submit, and Xia Yuan was preparing to take them to Yunyang City to sell them.

.........

Frost Town.

Inside the lord's manor, Pei Shuang seemed somewhat absent-minded. She was worried about whether Xia Yuan could withstand the revenge from the Yingzhou Alliance. If he failed, her sister's investment would all be wasted.

She didn't expect Xia Yuan to do anything for her.

Although Xia Yuan is indeed very outstanding.

Pei Shuang hopes that with the addition of Xia Yuan, a rising star, the reputation of the Broken Leaf faction in the alliance can be restored, so as to share some of the pressure with her sister.

Despite her domineering style within the alliance, which even the alliance leader seems to fear, the Small Leaf faction is actually the weakest of the three major factions in the alliance.

Ultimately, it's because people don't believe that their sister, a woman, can lead a faction well. Every year, the top new talents are given priority to join the Blazing Sun faction or the Flowing Cloud faction.

Xia Yuan offended Li Mingyu of the Blazing Sun faction, which gave the Broken Leaf faction a chance to take advantage of the situation.

However, this also led to a falling out with the Lieyang faction.

If Xia Yuan cannot rise quickly after paying such a huge price, then this investment will be a complete loss, and Pei Shuang is naturally uneasy about it.

When she learned that Xia Yuan was being targeted by the Avengers, she also hinted to her sister not to rush into agreeing.

Ultimately, they couldn't stop it.

The fact that the older sister gambled heavily on Xia Yuan is a clear sign that she was backed into a corner.

Pei Shuang knew that her sister had always placed high hopes on her. She herself had been trying to adapt to this cruel world, but unfortunately, her talent was limited, and she could never be as independent as her sister.

Not everyone is suited to be a team leader.

"Xia Yuan, please don't let me down."

Just as she was waiting anxiously, gray mist text finally popped up in front of Pei Shuang's eyes.

[Congratulations to Xia Yuan, the new lord of the Yanxia Alliance, for successfully annihilating Nakamura Teppei, the lord of the Yingzhou Alliance who came seeking revenge. Yanxia Alliance reputation +100 points, Yingzhou Alliance reputation -100 points]

"Yay!"

With her heart finally at ease, Pei Shuang couldn't help but smile brightly.

.........

Suyab.

Pei Ye picked up the now-cold teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

It smells so good!!!

Xia Yuan didn't disappoint her; she made the right bet.

When they met yesterday, she actually had similar concerns as Pei Shuang, but she saw that Xia Yuan was confident from beginning to end, and the soldiers and supplies he asked for seemed to be very targeted.

That's when I decided to take the gamble.

When it comes to investing, the core thing is investing in people.

After this battle, Xia Yuan's reputation within the alliance has truly soared. Even if he can't compare to Song Jing, the holy son of a sect, he's certainly not inferior.

With Xia Yuan as a living advertisement, recruiting people for the subsequent factions will be much smoother.

"But that's not enough."

Pei Ye's ambitions were undoubtedly enormous; she wasn't looking for a rising star, but rather a pillar of the Lieyang system like Li Mingyu. Xia Yuan, at present, was clearly far from being capable of shouldering such a responsibility.

She had originally pinned her hopes on her younger sister, Pei Shuang, but things never quite turned out the way they should.

We have to wait a while longer!

.........

"Snap!"

Li Mingyu from Zhaixing City crushed the teacup in his hand, his face terribly gloomy.

Originally, his hatred for Xia Yuan wasn't that great, but because he couldn't kill him no matter what, and Xia Yuan kept jumping around in front of him, it gradually turned into a demon in his heart.

Especially after that incident, while outwardly the fighting has stopped, behind the scenes it's already a fight to the death.

How can I not be angry?

"We still need to upgrade our territory to level 7 as soon as possible..."

The previous humiliation was ultimately due to insufficient strength. If he were already a level 7 lord, let alone the alliance leader, at least the vice alliance leader Zhu Xiaotian would definitely not be able to force him to submit.

Factions are ultimately just an umbrella that shelters you from the wind and rain; if you want to be truly free, the root of the problem lies in the hand that holds that umbrella.

Just wait and see!