This Twisted Three Kingdoms Game Is Brutally Insane
Chapter 272 ·Golden Light Guardian Art
Chapter 272: Golden Light Guardian Art! The Calamity Army Advances!
Azure Dragon Guard Zhang San entered the hall to report.
“My Lord!”
“General Wen requests an audience!”
Hang Yu had already guessed why Wen Ping had come.
Ever since returning from the Land of the Stars, because the territory had no external threats for the time being, this great defensive general had not been dispatched elsewhere. He had spent the past two days cultivating within the territory, and it seemed he had finally achieved results.
“Let him in.”
Hang Yu withdrew his attention from the battlefield at Bowang.
Wen Ping entered the Core Hall clad in heavy armor, his face brimming with excitement.
Holding his helmet in one hand and a book in the other, he knelt on one knee before Hang Yu and respectfully raised the book with both hands.
“My Lord, please examine this!”
“Zhongye, have you finally completed it?”
Wen Ping replied, “I was fortunate enough not to disappoint Your Lordship's cultivation and support!”
Hang Yu picked up the manual.
It was a blue-quality Skill Book.
【Skill Book: Golden Light Guardian Art】, Blue-Quality Cultivation Art... Requirements to use: Total Attributes above 2,500, Maximum HP above 4,500, consumes 3 million Abyssal Essence.
After Zhang Zhongjing had created the Medicine King's Alchemy Canon, another citizen of the territory had successfully created a cultivation art with the support of the territory's powerful resources and Starsea facilities.
As usual, after creating the cultivation art,
Wen Ping had consumed a tremendous amount of Essence and used a Blue Blank Manual to produce a cultivation art Skill Book.
Blank Manuals truly were wonderful items!
Although Blue Blank Manuals were rather expensive, they saved an enormous amount of time.
Hang Yu decided to purchase another batch from Bei Chen Guang later.
The Golden Light Guardian Art was a cultivation art completely different from any of the existing ones.
This was obvious from its cultivation requirements.
Although it was also a blue-quality cultivation art, Blazing Tyrant Saber emphasized the Strength attribute.
Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear emphasized Agility.
Zhang Zhongjing's Medicine King's Alchemy Canon emphasized Will.
Jia Xu's Extreme Yin Demonic Canon emphasized Spirit.
Wen Ping's Golden Light Guardian Art, however, focused on Vitality.
This cultivation art demanded an exceptionally high amount of Health.
That was rather interesting.
Without hesitation, Hang Yu immediately spent 2.1 million Essence and used the Skill Book.
The reason he only spent 2.1 million Essence, instead of the required 3 million, was because he had already learned part of the techniques within the Golden Light Guardian Art, thus lowering the cultivation threshold.
In an instant, Hang Yu clearly felt the immense Abyssal Essence enveloping his entire body.
Countless insights, countless experiences, and countless memories surged into his mind.
Every cell, every inch of flesh, underwent corresponding transformations under the tempering of the Essence.
【Golden Light Guardian Art】, Blue-Quality Cultivation Art, Current Skill Level 1. Permanent HP +1000, Permanent Mana +500, Permanent Strength +100, Cooldown of all lower-tier skills -20%, Mana Cost of all skills -20%, Effect of all lower-tier skills +15%!
“Excellent! Excellent! Even better than I expected!”
As Hang Yu digested the insights and experiences flooding into his mind, he commented, “This is an outstanding cultivation art. It is sufficient to strengthen the territory's foundation and make a significant contribution to its future development!”
Receiving the Lord's praise, Wen Ping hurriedly replied, “If not for Your Lordship's unwavering support regardless of cost or sacrifice, even if this subordinate spent another fifty or eighty years, I fear I still would not have been able to create such a cultivation art!”
Within the Wan City region, the only person worthy of being called a Grandmaster was Jia Xu.
After all, Jia Xu had created two powerful cultivation arts.
Every other faction, including Zhang Xiu, lacked the ability to independently develop cultivation arts.
Yet Wen Ping had now accomplished it.
For any cultivator, this was a milestone of monumental significance.
It meant he was now qualified to found his own cultivation school!
Or allow the Wen Clan to become a cultivation family whose name would endure for generations!
Even someone as composed as Wen Ping could hardly suppress the ecstasy and sense of accomplishment in his heart.
As a result, his respect and loyalty toward the Lord rose to an even higher level.
Over the years, the Wen Clan had indeed created quite a few combat techniques.
However, their foundation had never been sufficient to develop an entire cultivation art.
The main reason Wen Ping succeeded was because he utilized facilities such as the territory's Enlightenment Tower and Skill Tower, along with over ten million Essence, while integrating numerous territory skills to complete the entire system.
For example, the extremely popular player skill, Army Breaker Charge.
Or the newly added blue secret technique, Golden Skin Iron Bones.
These skills had all been incorporated into the Golden Light Guardian Art.
Having already mastered the cultivation art, Hang Yu naturally understood all of its techniques.
Aside from Golden Skin Iron Bones, which remained an independent secret technique, the complete cultivation art contained three upper-tier blue-quality techniques.
They were: Golden Light Giant Shield, Three Armies Barrier, and Earth Shield!
Each of these three highest-level techniques excelled in different areas, while also forming its own skill tree.
For example, the lower-tier skills beneath Golden Light Giant Shield included Great Shield Barrier, Rebounding Force, Savage Shield Strike, Shock Shield Strike, and Army Breaker Charge.
Golden Light Giant Shield integrated all of these skills together.
Its manifestation in battle was to transform the shield in the user's hand into a gigantic shield.
Not only did this massive shield possess tremendous defensive power, it could also be used for reflection, critical strikes, shockwaves, and charges.
As for Three Armies Barrier and Earth Shield, they were improved versions created by combining Wen Ping's signature blue skills,
Three Armies Armor and Guardian Earth, with several other skills.
The former was an incredible team-support skill that shared defensive power.
The latter was a large-scale defensive skill.
After being refined through enlightenment, both techniques had undergone significant improvements compared to their original forms.
Now, after being successfully integrated into a cultivation art, their effects had naturally become even more powerful under the systematic enhancement.
After Wen Ping obtained Overlord aptitude, his strength had officially entered the ranks of Abyss Overlords.
Now that he had also developed a cultivation art perfectly suited to himself, his overall combat strength had undoubtedly undergone another qualitative leap.
After all, even when using the exact same cultivation art or skill, the results produced by Wen Ping were fundamentally different from those of everyone else.
If Hang Yu used the Golden Light Guardian Art, its power and effects might even surpass Wen Ping's.
However, that was only because Hang Yu's attributes were monstrously high.
To him, it was merely a blue cultivation art.
Outstanding, yes, but nothing particularly extraordinary.
For Wen Ping, however, the situation was entirely different.
He possessed an exceptionally powerful talent enhancement.
For example, his Fate Talent, Shield Famous General, greatly amplified the effects of shield-related skills.
Under such circumstances, the Golden Light Guardian Art was more effective for him than almost any other blue cultivation art.
The same principle applied to Jia Xu and Zhang Zhongjing as well.
“Tell Wenhe and Zhongjing to prepare themselves.”
Hang Yu said to Wen Ping, “We're making a trip to Old Wan.”
Wen Ping immediately reacted.
“To Old Wan? Could it be...”
Hang Yu nodded slightly.
To capture Old Wan City and prepare to recruit Dian Wei, the Calamity Army alone would not be enough.
The territory itself naturally had to take action as well.
There were several reasons why Hang Yu had allowed the Calamity Army to take the lead.
But the primary reason, of course, was to harvest the leeks.
“Yes!”
Wen Ping became excited once again.
The Wan City region had been suppressed by Demonized Dian Wei for far too long.
To them, Old Wan was no different from hell itself.
Yet now, under the leadership of the Lord before him, even this so-called hell had become a place they could seize with ease.
Once again, Wen Ping felt fortunate for the choice he had made.
To have the honor of following this Lord was not only an opportunity to accomplish great achievements, but also an enormous blessing for both himself and the Wen Clan.
In such a short period, he had received repeated cultivation.
His aptitude had been improved.
He had been assisted in creating a cultivation art.
Wen Ping felt that he had already received far too many blessings.
He had been worrying about how he could repay them, so he would not miss any opportunity to distinguish himself or earn merit.
After Wen Ping departed to make preparations, Hang Yu once again turned his attention toward Bowang.
He discovered that the Calamity Army, led by the five Legion Commanders, had already concluded the first round of their fierce battle against Cao Ang and the Wan City Abyssal army.
The disparity in strength was enormous.
The Calamity Army's vanguard consisted of just over two thousand elite members from the five great legions.
Meanwhile, Cao Ang commanded over a thousand highly mobile cavalry, along with four to five thousand Tier-3 Elite Abyssal troops.
Cao Ang himself had already reached a level of strength close to that of Skeleton Gan Ning.
On top of that, there were four additional Corrupted Souls who had all reached Tier-3 Commander level.
The advantage was simply overwhelming!
The Calamity Army got utterly crushed yet again!
They were mercilessly overwhelmed and wiped out to the last man.
Among them, more than a hundred players had already reached Tier-3, while the rest were generally elite players of at least Level 15.
A complete party wipe of such a force naturally produced an impressive amount of Essence.
The battle, however, was far from over.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Cao Ang immediately launched an assault on Bowang, attempting to corrupt the city once again in one decisive push.
As for the Calamity Army, although they had suffered a disastrous defeat in the opening battle and experienced another total wipe, their morale had not been affected in the slightest.
Their resistance only became fiercer.
To the Calamity Army, death simply wasn't a problem.
They had successfully killed Cao Anmin in the first round, while also eliminating several hundred Abyssal troops.
To them, that was already a profitable exchange.
Moreover, they had successfully lured Cao Ang into launching an attack.
That was an even greater piece of good news!
The legion had gathered 4,500 players at Bowang.
Although their overall strength still lagged far behind the Abyssal army, they possessed the advantage of fighting beside a respawn point, supported by city walls, barriers, arrow towers, and Spell Towers.
The Calamity Army was confident that through a prolonged war of attrition, they could eventually consume the Abyssal army before them.
The fiercer Cao Ang's offensive became, the more brutally the Calamity Army was beaten.
Yet the players only grew more excited, more exhilarated.
One after another, they charged forward like rabid wolves, launching endless waves of human-sea assaults against Cao Ang's Abyssal army.
As a result, Hang Yu's Essence income reached astonishing levels.
【Player "Sword God of Shilipo" has died. Abyssal Essence +40,000...】
【Player "Shredded Underpants" has died. Abyssal Essence +23,000...】
【Player "Warrior Like the Wind" has died. Abyssal Essence +40,000...】
【Player "Toasting the Moon" has died. Abyssal Essence +60,000...】
【...】
Hang Yu was extremely satisfied.
Up to this point alone, the battle had already yielded approximately eighty million Essence.
That amount alone was nearly enough to cover all the Essence expenditures generated by this mission.
Yet the campaign to purify Old Wan had only just begun.
Hang Yu estimated that by the time Old Wan was captured, after deducting all expenditures and losses, the territory would still earn a net profit of at least three to four hundred million Essence.
Given the territory's current scale, maintaining a reserve of eighty million to one hundred fifty million Essence was already enough to keep the territory operating smoothly even under relatively extreme circumstances.
In the future, as more and more players leveled up, the next batch of twenty thousand recruits arrived, and the territory's population increased,
Hang Yu would raise the territory's Essence reserve according to actual circumstances.
For now, however, there was absolutely no need.
The territory's Essence reserves always remained at their peak.
Whatever amount of Essence was earned, was immediately spent.
Although Essence was the territory's most important resource, it was also the only resource that could not be traded at all.
Its value only existed when invested into oneself or the territory's citizens.
It had to be said, the players truly had an unmatched talent for getting themselves killed.
Although the greatest source of income came from the several thousand elite players led by the five great legions, that certainly did not mean the remaining eight or nine thousand ordinary players were unimportant.
These ordinary players also produced a substantial amount of Essence.
Not only did they frequently die while adventuring, exploring, and hunting, they had also mastered every conceivable method of courting death.
Whenever they had nothing else to do, they even enjoyed fighting each other in PvP.
Individually, their Essence production wasn't particularly high.
But when multiplied across thousands of players, it became an enormous number.
Following Hang Yu's instructions, Xiao Ba issued daily quests and various other missions to players and even some territory citizens.
The rewards for these quests currently made up the largest portion of the territory's routine expenditures.
Yet these ordinary players' Essence production was sufficient to cover those costs entirely.
Not only could it cover them, there was even a considerable surplus.
That surplus was used for the logistics team's Essence exchanges, the cultivation of other territory citizens, and other daily expenditures.
This allowed Hang Yu to distribute more Cultivation Cards, Skill Cards, Enlightenment Cards, and similar items, maintaining a dynamic balance.
Simply put, the ordinary players' production was sufficient to sustain the territory's daily operations, while still generating surplus.
Meanwhile, the Essence produced by the elite forces led by the five great legions became almost entirely pure profit for the territory.
One could say that, while other Lords had to miserly hoard every bit of Essence,
Hang Yu's only complaint was: “I can't spend it fast enough. These nuclear-powered leeks grow far too quickly!”
However, he had long anticipated this situation and had already made preparations.
The very reason Hang Yu had established the Azure Dragon Guard was to pursue an elite-force strategy, madly absorbing the territory's excess Essence resources to forge an absolutely loyal super legion.
At this moment, all five hundred Azure Dragon Guards had uniformly reached Level 30!
Every single one of them had learned at least two ordinary blue-quality skills!
The eight original Dragon Guards had each mastered an entire cultivation art, and had learned at least two of the territory's five public blue secret techniques.
The Human Territory's current five secret techniques were: The Martial Saint's Three Strikes, Shadow Assassination, Golden Skin Iron Bones, Shrink the Earth to an Inch, and Hundred-Eyed Corpse King Transformation!
Hang Yu was currently planning to have the eight Dragon Guards cultivate a second cultivation art.
With such a foundation, they would already rival first-rate Commanders.
Hang Yu also planned to select another hundred Azure Dragon Guards
and systematically train them in cultivation arts such as Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear, Blazing Tyrant Saber, Medicine King's Alchemy Canon, Extreme Yin Demonic Canon, and Golden Light Guardian Art.
Any one of these cultivation arts, once fully mastered, would be enough to elevate even someone with mediocre talent and poor aptitude to the threshold of Abyss Commander-level combat power through the attribute bonuses and combat enhancements alone.
Furthermore, every Azure Dragon Guard had been lavishly cultivated.
Each possessed numerous skills, top-tier equipment in both quality and level, and the territory's best attribute training, more than enough to compensate for weaker innate aptitude.
In the future, among the five hundred Dragon Guards, aside from the original eight, the hundred elite Dragon Guards would also become a force not to be underestimated.
Because the Calamity Army produced such a tremendous amount of Essence, and because that amount would only continue increasing in the future, Hang Yu naturally had no intention of spending all of the excess Essence solely on the Azure Dragon Guard.
A portion of it would also be devoted to cultivating Hero Units, production teams, and the territory's vast population.
Viewed this way, there could never be too much Essence.
The more Essence the Calamity Army generated, the greater the benefits enjoyed by the territory's citizens, and the more prosperous and powerful the territory would become.
The reason Hang Yu could rule through benevolence, following the path of a true king, ultimately rested upon two core advantages.
The first, naturally, was that they were all human.
There were no barriers of identity or race, and Hang Yu's knowledge of history gave him deep insight into the true nature of the outstanding historical figures who appeared.
The second, of course, was that he could create enormous benefits and opportunities out of thin air benefits that no other Lord could possibly provide allowing the territory's citizens to obtain tangible rewards and genuine growth.
The former represented spiritual conquest and emotional recognition.
The latter represented an unbreakable bond of mutual interest.
Only by establishing his rule upon these two pillars could the foundation of his authority remain truly solid, ensuring that the territory's citizens remained wholeheartedly loyal.
Naturally, Hang Yu would continue to devote every effort to cultivating supreme figures blessed with great Fate, such as Jia Xu and Zhang Zhongjing.
At the same time, among the local natives, there were also many individuals possessing outstanding aptitude.
These people might not be Historical Refugees, might not possess Fate Rebirth, and might even have been natives born during the Abyssal Era itself.
Examples included Black Tiger Colonel Zhao Xian, Deng Hong, Zhou Ji, and others.
They too were worthy of cultivation.
Hang Yu did not continue watching the Calamity Army's battle.
Given their current advantages, defeating Cao Ang should not pose much of a problem.
Since there was little suspense, there was nothing particularly worth watching.
He would simply wait for the final result.
……
Meanwhile, on the Internet in the real world, the Calamity Army's campaign against Old Wan had attracted widespread attention.
Many major gaming livestream channels had practically transformed into live broadcasts of Twisted Three Kingdoms.
There was no helping it.
The game was simply too popular.
It had become the ultimate traffic magnet.
Whether in terms of story progression or the speed at which fresh content was produced, it was nothing short of astonishing.
“My god!”
“The Calamity Army got crushed again!”
“Even though they became stronger after winning the Corpse Lich Territory campaign, Old Wan is still far beyond them.”
“Cao Ang was already powerful to begin with.”
“Who would've thought that after becoming completely corrupted, he'd become even stronger?”
“This new mission is nowhere near as easy as most people imagined. It can even be said to be extremely difficult!”
“...”
A well-known gaming streamer was currently broadcasting the Twisted Three Kingdoms campaign.
To increase the appeal and competitiveness of his stream, he had specifically invited several veteran commentators and military experts.
Although Twisted Three Kingdoms still lacked real-time livestream functionality, the continuous battle reports, photos, and short videos posted on the forum were already more than enough to produce quality coverage.
“That's right!”
“The mission requires Old Wan to be captured within thirty hours.”
“At present, the maximum force the Calamity Army can gather is only about five thousand players, while Old Wan is estimated to contain nearly ten thousand Abyssal troops.”
“That means every player must, on average, deal with more than two Tier-3 Elite monsters while suffering severe suppression inside the core corruption zone.”
“The total number of Tier-3 players in the Calamity Army is only a little over two hundred.”
“The disparity in strength is simply enormous!”
The streamer asked, “So can this mission actually be completed?”
One of the commentators shook his head.
“I can only say that relying solely on the Calamity Army will be extremely difficult.”
“However, capturing Old Wan is an absolutely essential objective for the territory's development.”
“So even if the Calamity Army fails, I believe they can still inflict considerable attrition upon Old Wan within the limited time. Once the Lord and the regular army intervene, they'll be able to break the stalemate.”
“That makes sense!”
The streamer nodded.
“I have to say, the Calamity Army is incredibly lucky!”
“Cao Ang is the fiercest figure in Old Wan after Dian Wei.”
“If he had remained inside Old Wan instead of taking the initiative to attack, the situation would've been much worse.”
“But now he's voluntarily attacking.”
“He's practically delivering military merits to the Calamity Army!”
“No wonder all the closed beta veterans are so excited. If it were me, I'd throw myself into battle too and try to kill as many enemies as possible!”
“...”
Just as the streamer had said, Cao Ang's army launched a ferocious siege, causing the Calamity Army no small amount of suffering.
Yet the players only wished the storm would become even fiercer.
After all, fighting at Bowang was far preferable to fighting inside Old Wan.
If they failed to defeat this army at Bowang, they would have to face the exact same force again after entering Old Wan.
Even fighting on home ground, they already felt tremendous pressure.
It was difficult to imagine how terrifying the battle would become inside the heavily corrupted core zone, where the enemy would be defending Old Wan itself.
With the Calamity Army's current strength, they might not even be capable of posing a meaningful threat.
…………
The battle continued!
The game's official forum and all the major livestream channels continued providing updates.
After Cao Ang launched his assault on Bowang with overwhelming momentum, the Calamity Army's vanguard was completely wiped out.
Immediately after reviving, they regrouped outside the city and launched another head-on assault.
There was no suspense.
They suffered another total wipe.
However, despite being annihilated twice, the Abyssal army had clearly paid a price.
According to many military experts, the Calamity Army's suicidal charges had effectively worn down Cao Ang's troops' momentum, consumed part of their mobile forces and mana, and laid the foundation for eventual victory.
Next, the Calamity Army defended the city.
An exceptionally brutal siege battle unfolded.
After repeated struggles, the Calamity Army ultimately failed to hold the line.
Cao Ang successfully breached both the barrier and the city walls.
However, some experts believed this had actually been intentional.
The Calamity Army had deliberately chosen the right moment to lure the enemy deep inside.
After all, following the prolonged tug-of-war and intense combat, Cao Ang's army had already suffered heavy losses.
After entering Bowang, Cao Ang headed straight for the Blessing Point.
The Calamity Army immediately launched an even fiercer counteroffensive.
They fully exploited their undying ability.
Every time they died, they instantly resurrected beside the Blessing Point.
After wave upon wave of relentless attrition, the Old Wan army's numbers rapidly dwindled.
Once Cao Ang's remaining forces fell below two thousand, the balance of power gradually reached a critical point.
When the Abyssal army dropped below fifteen hundred, the Calamity Army finally began showing signs of reversing the battle.
Cao Ang repeatedly attempted to seize the Blessing Point, yet every attempt failed under the Calamity Army's desperate resistance.
As he watched the number of soldiers around him steadily decrease, he finally realized that this offensive could no longer succeed.
Retreat!
Cao Ang attempted to preserve what remained of his forces!
“Trying to run?”
“Hahaha!”
“Since you've come, then stay here!”
The players had long prepared for this counterattack.
Immediately, they surrounded him with overwhelming numerical superiority.
Cao Ang was simultaneously besieged by the five Legion Commanders, along with Lone Boat, Mad Blade Old Wang, Chimera Wraith, Salted Fish Thrust, Artist Faction Leader, and over a dozen of the Calamity Army's strongest experts!
This had been the Calamity Army's strategy all along!
Although none of them individually could survive even ten exchanges against Cao Ang, their combined strength was formidable indeed.
Furthermore, their teamwork was flawless, and every casualty was immediately replaced by another player.
Following an intense and thrilling Boss battle, the Calamity Army successfully defeated Cao Ang.
They then seized the opportunity to annihilate the remaining enemy forces.
Victory was theirs!
“Amazing! We won!”
“This deserves champagne!”
“The big shots were incredible this time!”
“This should be the first time the players have defeated an Overlord-Class Boss entirely through their own strength, right?”
“Hahaha! Incredible! Our Calamity Army has finally developed the bearing of a battle-hardened veteran force!”
Regardless of how the assault on Old Wan ultimately ended, at least in the Battle of Bowang, the Calamity Army's performance was beyond reproach.
Through sheer determination and unyielding perseverance, they had successfully held the line, successfully blocked the enemy, and even defeated an Overlord-Class Boss, setting an entirely new record!
At this moment, on the battlefield of Bowang, almost the entire city had been reduced to ruins.
Every Arrow Tower, Spell Tower, and city wall had been destroyed.
The battlefield was covered in countless craters, while glowing loot orbs were scattered everywhere.
The scene alone was enough to showjust how ferocious the battle had been.
“We won!”
“That was an absolutely exhilarating battle!”
“I died four times, but it felt incredible!”
“We defeated an Overlord-Class monster! It was difficult, but definitely not impossible!”
“Hurry up and collect the loot!”
“Then let's head straight for Old Wan!”
“...”
Under the direction of the various legions, the players began cleaning up the battlefield.
Both the number and quality of the enemies in this battle had been astonishing, so the resources produced throughout the fight were equally impressive.
Yet this battle had merely been the prologue.
The true test was only about to begin.
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