Chapter 135 - 102: Top 100 Lord Ranking, Prominent Figures

Chapter 135: Chapter 102: Top 100 Lord Ranking, Prominent Figures

"Are you sure... it sacrifices Life Force?"

Shen Xing frowned, typed a few words into the chat box, and sent them.

"Yeah," Loves Playing with Coriander replied. "I only found out how this game’s Knights are different from traditional ones after I changed my class."

"They still have the ability to charge into battle and protect their teammates."

"But no matter what Skills you use, you have to pay a certain price."

"And it’s not just the Sacrificial Knight class. There are also Suffering Warriors, Torture Assassins, Bone-Breaking Shooters, and so on."

"Warriors build up a pain value to increase their Attack Power and attack speed. The more pain they’re in, the stronger they become. Some players will even enhance their Power by pulling out all their fingernails or breaking their fingers before a fight."

"Every time a Torture Assassin strikes, they have to cut themselves. By the end of a single battle, they might have cut themselves hundreds of times before they even finish off the enemy."

"Every time a Bone-Breaking Shooter fires an arrow, one of their bones will randomly break, which in turn increases the Attack Power of their next shot."

"Although these injuries aren’t fatal and can be healed by resting at a Campfire for a bit, the pain is real."

Shen Xing felt a strange sense of unease after listening to the description.

’These class designs are so twisted, aren’t they?’

’Increasing your combat power by torturing your own body... isn’t that just absurd?’

’It’s a good thing I didn’t change my class. Otherwise, with my Constitution, I’d probably end up killing myself in a big fight before I even took down the enemy.’

"Qin Lang, are you sure that sacrificing your Life Force to use Skills won’t have any effect on your body?"

Shen Xing was a little worried. After all, this game was synchronized with reality.

It was just like how he had eaten a piece of bread in the game just now and felt full in real life.

’Perhaps this Sacrificial Knight class has some hidden, unseen dangers.’

Loves Playing with Coriander replied, "What kind of effect could there be? At most, it just consumes a bit of Life Force. I get it all back after a night’s sleep."

"I’ve tried it out over the past few days. You can quickly replenish your Life Force by eating Blood Fruits. There’s no problem at all."

"Alright, I’m done chatting with you two psychos. I’m going to keep climbing the ranks!"

"Top one thousand, here I come!"

The guy eagerly ended the chat to continue his grand undertaking of climbing the leaderboard.

Shen Xing, however, stared at the text on the screen, his brow slightly furrowed.

He felt that many aspects of this game’s design were a bit strange. Every class had to pay some sort of price to unleash its full power.

Whether it was their own Life Force, pain, emotions, or even a part of their body.

In short, it could be summed up in one sentence: Obtaining power requires a price.

It sounded like an equivalent exchange.

But Shen Xing felt it was more like something else—a sacrifice.

Obtaining immense power by sacrificing something precious from oneself.

’Come to think of it, when I first started the game and awakened [Sacrificial Evolution], I also had to sacrifice certain Attributes to help my Soldier Types advance.’

’Later, during my explorations, both the Demon statues and the Holy Altars required sacrifices to obtain rewards.’

’It feels like this game is inseparable from sacrifice at every turn. What exactly is this hinting at?’

Thoughts swirled in Shen Xing’s eyes. He felt as if he was on the verge of touching upon something deeper.

But he had too little information right now to piece together the full picture.

’Forget it. I won’t think about this for now. I’ll go check the forums.’

He shook his head, cutting off his train of thought.

Then, he opened his phone and logged into the Hua Country Pioneer Forums.

Numerous popular posts immediately flashed across the screen.

"B-level abnormal Energy reaction detected in Fengyuan City District! An Extraordinary Level monster has appeared! Any bros want to team up?"

"Great news! The genius from Zhenyuan City, Yang Suofeng, has climbed another thirteen spots and officially broken into the top fifty!"

"Wu Wen of Celestial Gate City has broken into the top twenty and is now pushing for the top ten! He’s about to become Hua Country’s first Lord in the top ten!"

"Detailed Information and Combat Power Analysis of Hua Country’s Top 100 Genius Lords, Continuously Updated — by Wudu Bai Xiaosheng"

"The number of newcomers in the Land of Mist continues to rise, surpassing ten thousand in less than a day!"

...

...

As expected, most of the posts on the forums were discussions about the current global newcomer rankings.

Shen Xing took a moment to look it up. The game launched a major expansion pack about every ten years.

Each time a new expansion launched, a newcomer ranking would be opened simultaneously.

Furthermore, most of the Lords who ranked high on the list later became major figures who commanded respect in their own right and held significant influence worldwide.

Therefore, the opening of the rankings always attracted a great deal of attention from many parties.

Shen Xing scanned the page, then clicked on the post titled "Detailed Information and Combat Power Analysis of the Top 100 Lords" to take a look.

The original poster’s name was Wudu Bai Xiaosheng. He seemed to be an officially verified celebrity on the forums, with over a thousand posts.

He began the post with a line of poetry: "The great river flows east, washing away all heroes of the past; to find the true heroes, one must look to the present."

"Hello everyone, I’m Wudu Bai Xiaosheng, and I’m back to give you all an update on the prodigies of Hua Country on this year’s leaderboard."

"Let’s see what outstanding newcomers we have this time!"

Line by line, he listed the detailed information of the top 100 Lords within Hua Country.

First up was the highest-ranked player from Hua Country, Wu Wen from Celestial Gate City.

He had already climbed to 15th place. It was said that he already had more than two Extraordinary Level Soldier Types under his command and was pushing for the top ten.

The second was a player named Hu Wei from Zhenyuan City, currently ranked 21st, who also had two Extraordinary Level Soldier Types.

The third...

Then, all the way down to the ninth person on the list, which was Shen Xing.

However, it only noted that he was currently ranked 95th, with his specific details and intel listed as "still under verification."

The comments under this section were the liveliest.

Donut: "This Shen Xing at 95th should be from our Jiang City. He took first place in the Foggy Void Realm a few days ago."

Aurora-chan: "Bullshit! Our Shui City has a Shen Xing too, and he’s had Extraordinary Level Soldier Types for a while now. He’s way stronger than the one you’re talking about."

Maiden Orange Juice: "Stop arguing, everyone. He’s the Shen Xing from our Mo City. I have him as a friend, and he just admitted it to me himself."

...

Shen Xing read these comments, feeling a bit odd.

’I can’t believe there are so many other players named Shen Xing.’

’But on second thought, it makes sense. There are tons of people with the same name across the country. It’s perfectly normal for there to be a few Shen Xings.’

But he figured this wouldn’t last long. This Wudu Bai Xiaosheng seemed to have very strong intelligence-gathering capabilities and would probably figure out his true identity soon.

’It doesn’t really matter. The moment I decided to compete for a spot on the leaderboard, I gave up on the idea of hiding.’

He browsed the forums a little longer, then switched to the trade channel to check the matching progress for his item.

Two days ago, he had listed the Advancement Material [Shattered Eye].

The current State showed that it was still matching, but it should be done soon.

Next, he spent 1,000 contribution points to buy a Level 4 Horse Lantern.

Although his territory already had two Horse Lanterns, it still wasn’t enough.

The number of great generals under his command was growing, and they were all valuable talents he could put to good use.

Preparing more Horse Lanterns would allow them to explore separately, which would not only speed up the territory’s development but also share Shen Xing’s workload.

Later on, he could delegate most of the work to Hellish Roar and the others, leaving him free to be a hands-off manager.

After taking care of these things, Shen Xing returned to his bedroom to rest.

...

...

Meanwhile, in a conference room on the ninth floor of the Jiang City Player Association.

"Zhou Zheng, this Shen Xing at 95th place... he should be that little guy who took first in the Foggy Void Realm a few days ago, right?"

The kindly-faced Elder Wang asked, sitting upright in a rattan chair and pointing at the list on the screen.

"It should be him," Zhou Zheng nodded. "Although other cities also have Pioneers named Shen Xing, none of them have his recent momentum."

"Besides, after the Foggy Void Realm event ended, he received quite a few rewards. His strength was bound to have surged."

"Not bad. To think that after so many years, our Jiang City has produced another newcomer in the top one hundred."

Elder Wang nodded in satisfaction, then his voice grew serious. "However, we need to pay attention to his personal safety."

"In past years, talented players like this who make it into the top hundred have always been prime targets for other countries. Assassination, intimidation, coercion, bribery... they’ll stop at nothing."

His usual kind smile gradually faded, replaced by a cold glint in his eyes. "Next, I’ll give you a special operations team and a list."

"On it are the names of suspected foreign ’hunting dogs’ who have infiltrated Jiang City in recent years."

"Let’s take this opportunity to round them all up in one fell swoop."

Zhou Zheng’s expression turned serious. He quickly flicked away the cigarette in his mouth and said solemnly, "I guarantee I will complete the mission!"

After a pause, he added, "By the way, Vice Director Wang, Shen Xing moved into the residential complex specially built for Pioneers a few days ago, so we shouldn’t have to worry too much about his safety."

"Since he’s made it into the top hundred this time, do you think we could apply to just give him the house as a sign of encouragement?"

Elder Wang glanced at him, his kind smile returning. "Heh... you rascal. Always using the group’s resources to do favors."

"Last time was the same. You actually gave all three of them rewards at the first-place standard. The other cities had quite a few complaints about that."

Zhou Zheng laughed and said, "I gave it to them in the group’s name. I didn’t take any of the credit for myself."

"Alright, it’s just a house." Elder Wang waved his hand dismissively. "I’ll file a report with the higher-ups later to apply for it. It should get approved. Just make sure you do a good job on this mission."

"Thank you, Vice Director Wang! I guarantee a successful completion of the mission!"

Zhou Zheng stood up from his chair, walked straight out of the conference room, and closed the door behind him.

Elder Wang sat back in his chair alone, his eyes flashing with contemplation.

A moment later, he took a black instrument out of his pocket.

The radar display on it showed a bright red dot not far away.

’An A-level abnormal Energy reaction has appeared in the city center, and it’s in the sky.’

He frowned slightly and muttered in a low voice, "A disaster of this level, if not contained, will cause at least tens of thousands of casualties."

’All the Expert Level powerhouses in Jiang City are currently on other missions. I’ll have to handle this myself.’

He slowly stood up, preparing to leave the conference room.

Just then, as if sensing something, he quickly fumbled around in his pockets.

"Wait a minute, where’s my Tier Three Mad Dragon Shadow Scroll?"

...

...

Meanwhile, inside a lakeside manor.

A young girl in a white dress and white socks leaned against her bed, her face full of joy. "Wow! Shen Xing actually made it into the top hundred! That’s amazing!"

"My sister said he could only make it into the top thousand at best. If she found out, she’d definitely get a huge shock!"

After a pause, the girl in the white dress shook her head and said, "Still, I’d better not tell my sister that this Shen Xing is my friend from the game."

"It would be bad if I accidentally revealed his territory’s location and caused trouble for him."

At this thought, the girl in the white dress cut off that line of thinking, then clenched her fist and said, "I have to work hard too! I can’t let him leave me too far behind."

"Mhm, I’ll set a small goal for myself: break into the top five hundred."

...

...

「Meanwhile, in the Land of Mist.」

A Level 5 Campfire blazed, illuminating a territory with a chaotic architectural style.

There were no city walls. Various Arrow Towers and residences were interspersed with no planning whatsoever, built practically wherever the Lord felt like building them.

However, the Arrow Towers in this territory were all high-level, capable of dealing effective damage to even Tier Two Extraordinary Level monsters.

As for ordinary monsters, it was one shot, one kill.

The monsters that charged out of the Fog were turned into pincushions by the Arrow Towers before they could even get close.

And in the center of the territory, a tall, slender woman with a slightly bulging abdomen stood silently.

In front of her, a group of Archers in leather armor, carrying Longbows on their backs, stood in neat formation.

Beside them were dozens of Stone Giants, each two to three meters tall, resembling massive boulders.

However, all of these Soldier Types looked at the woman with a trace of fear in their eyes.

"Begin. After Devouring two more, you will be able to advance to a Two-Star Boss," the tall woman said to the Archer captain at the very front.