Mist Lord

Chapter 71 Two-Star Vanguard, Alliance Earthquake

Two days ago, Black Armor proposed to Xia Yuan that he wanted to use the Undead Contract to transform the corpse of a two-legged dragon into an undead mount.

A necromancer pact can only be signed once.

The skeleton warhorse that the black-armored rider rode before was just a temporary mount. How could it compare to the two-legged flying dragon?

Xia Yuan was somewhat troubled.

This is a wyvern! Even if it's just a corpse, it's incredibly valuable. He hasn't accomplished anything in battle, so how dare he ask Pei Ye for anything?

Unexpectedly, Pei Ye was generous and, upon receiving the news, offered a two-legged wyvern corpse as a gift.

As expected, this move also provoked dissatisfaction from other participating lords.

Xia Yuan is a newcomer, not even a subordinate lord, with no soldiers under his command and no merits to speak of. How could he possibly secure such a rich spoil of war?

There were more than just one or two people who coveted the corpse of the wyvern.

Fortunately, with the battle of the barbican, Serandis made a great contribution as the root mage, and the previous dissatisfaction and criticism were dispelled.

This extraordinary feat is far beyond what a two-legged wyvern corpse could compensate for.

Sure enough, after completing the mission of protecting Serandis, Black Armor couldn't wait to ride the bone dragon and lead a group of eagle warriors to chase after the fleeing bone-winged bats.

You can be as extravagant as you want.

The pursuit lasted for a day and a night.

The orc lord eventually escaped into the misty zone, and they were unable to capture him.

This is also expected.

This was because the pursuit from Suyab City was extremely restrained, only targeting the unfortunate ones who lagged behind.

Gnawing away layer by layer.

Instead, it was not mentioned that because of a great victory, they directly attacked the enemy's central army.

Do you really think level 8 lords are made of clay?

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He's bound to be surrounded by a group of fourth-tier powerhouses; one wrong move and he could face disaster again.

Of course, there's no need to take that risk.

As for why they launched a pursuit, firstly, the Yanxia Alliance and the orcs are mortal enemies, so if they had the chance, they would kill as many as possible.

The enemy has already reached our doorstep, we can't just do nothing, can we?

More importantly, from the perspective of Suyab City, they are using the chase to rack up trial evaluation points.

The level 7/8 territory trials will also select trial champions. And compared to the minor skirmishes of level 1/2, the gray fog rewards from the level 7/8 territory trials, even for just one-star champions, are enough to make any great lord envious.

Although Suyab faced a difficult situation in the early stages, as the defender, it not only repelled the enemy's attack but also inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, launching a very impressive defensive counterattack.

At this rate, there's a good chance they'll be able to compete for the Trial Elite title.

How could I possibly miss it?

While pursuing the enemy, the main camp in Suyab was also busy with the aftermath of the war, providing timely medical treatment to the wounded and properly collecting the remains of the dead.

Next, it's time to take stock of the spoils.

Although there are no mist bud crystals, the weapons and armor dropped by enemies are still a considerable fortune.

The key is that those wounded and captured orcs are all high-quality soldiers and slaves.

Bone-winged bats, centaurs, orc berserkers, even wyverns—who wouldn't covet them?

According to the rules, Suyab will not keep all the spoils of war, but will distribute a considerable portion of them to the lords who participated in the war based on their merits.

There are no benefits at all, so who will be willing to risk their lives for the sect leader in the future?

Although Suyab suffered heavy casualties in this battle, the orcs' unexpected choice to launch a full-scale attack resulted in thousands of orcs being captured.

Such a victory might not be seen even once every few years.

With such a large amount of vested interest involved, a power struggle, both overt and covert, is inevitable.

Xia Yuan, however, did not participate in it.

After the war ended, he returned to his secluded courtyard to rest quietly.

Whether it's Serandis, Black Armor, or even Satir, they have all proven themselves in this brutal battle and made significant contributions.

If one's actions are already too high-profile and attract attention, then one should be even less inclined to actively compete for anything else.

After all, he's still just a newcomer.

Most importantly, given Xia Yuan's demonstrated potential and the crucial role he played in this battle, it's unlikely that either Pei Ye or Pei Shuang would allow him to suffer a loss.

What is rightfully his will be actively fought for, so there is no need for him to show his face in public.

Making a fortune quietly is the best approach.

Amidst all the commotion, July 29th arrived quietly, marking the final day of the trial.

"These are your spoils. See, if there's anything else you want, feel free to ask."

Two days of bickering had left Pei Shuang somewhat exhausted, but her spirits were high. The arguments they'd had during those bickering—

After a moment of blushing and embarrassment, things returned to normal once everything was settled.

"Thanks!"

Xia Yuan took the spoils distribution list, which mainly consisted of three high-quality warhorse carcasses and a full 35 bone-winged bats. Although it was slightly less than expected, it was still not bad.

After all, he suffered no casualties.

The other vassal lords fared much worse; after the battle, they lost more than half of their troops.

It is only right that they receive more compensation.

Moreover, they had previously obtained the corpse of a wyvern. It is said that even a great lord like Chu Qianxun argued fiercely over those two wounded and captured wyverns.

The most valuable thing is that through this battle, Xia Yuan repaid Pei Ye a huge favor, which is truly precious.

The two were chatting when they suddenly received a notification from the gray fog—

[Congratulations to Pei Ye, Level 8 Lord of the Yanxia Alliance, for defeating the invading enemy as the defender and earning a two-star commendation in this Level 7/8 Territory Civilization Trial. Yanxia Alliance reputation +500...]

"It's done!"

After reading the gray fog's prompt, Xia Yuan and Pei Shuang exchanged a smile.

This is great news!

Once you reach the level 7 or 8 territory, the number of lords decreases, and multiple factions participate in the annual trials. It is extremely difficult to become a trial champion.

In the past two years, the Mengke region has suffered a complete crop failure during the scorching summer.

Unexpectedly, Pei Ye was not only the only big shot in the alliance to obtain the Trial Pacesetter title, but also an unexpected two-star Trial Pacesetter. How could he not be excited?

The announcement will surely shake the entire alliance and significantly boost the reputation of the Suizaki faction within the alliance.

Wouldn't that be double happiness?

"It seems the Vice Alliance Leader got drunk tonight."

Xia Yuan joked with a smile.

"That's not necessarily true. My sister is known for being able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, and she's no less capable than a man."

Pei Shuang, however, looked on with admiration.

Yunyang City, City Lord's Mansion.

"A two-star model soldier? That's quite a pleasant surprise."

As the leader of the alliance, Tang Ce was naturally happy to see the alliance's great lords put on a better show.

Otherwise, it would be too hard for him to support himself alone.

Tang Ce remained curious as to how Suiye City, as the defender, managed to capture a two-star trial soldier. There was only one possibility for this: the enemy was genuinely attacking the city, not just putting on a show.

How did Suyab turn the tide and win?

Fortunately, Tang Ce was not in a hurry. The fifty Xuanjia cavalrymen he sent to Suyab City were not only real support, but also openly planted spies.

The details of the battle will be reported in detail afterwards.

Lieyang City.

In contrast to the thrilling events in Suyab City, Lieyang City, which also chose to defend, appeared rather calm in this round of civilization trials.

The invading enemy only looted the surrounding villages and towns and launched a probing attack on Lieyang City.

After that, all was well.

There was no loss, so of course there was no chance of becoming a trial pacesetter.

Zhu Xiaotian has always sought stability.

Unexpectedly, Suyab City performed so impressively this time, completely overshadowing them.

"That's interesting."

Zhu Xiaotian glanced at Li Mingyu, who was sitting at the lower end of the table, and the latter's expression became somewhat serious.

"It's good to have pressure, otherwise things have been too smooth before—"

As the Rookie of the Year five years ago, Li Mingyu started as a Tier 3 unit, and his brilliance has only grown stronger in both the alliance and the faction.

They have even begun to quietly vie for the right to speak among their respective factions.

Although Zhu Xiaotian saw through Li Mingyu's ambition, he remained inactive. It wasn't until Xia Yuan's sudden emergence caused Li Mingyu to suffer repeated setbacks that Zhu Xiaotian seized the opportunity to suppress Li Mingyu's influence within the faction.

Everything went smoothly and naturally, and no one could find fault with the gift.

"That's what you call prudent!"

Zhu Xiaotian smiled, picked up his wine glass, and drank it all in one gulp.