Chapter 143 – Festival, Attributes, Seven Kingdoms

Mu Yuan perked up instantly, rising from the sofa and shifting from a reclining position to sitting with his elbows propped on the armrests. His fingers danced rapidly across his phone screen.

“Logically speaking, shouldn’t the Hero Festival have been scheduled to open two months later? Now it’s just one month away?”

“If the Lord Trials were moved up, doesn’t it make perfect sense for the Hero Festival to be advanced too?”

“Hurry up, hurry up! This old man is already itching with anticipation, can’t wait to recruit a hero!”

“Same here, I’ve even prepared the betrothal gifts!”

“Wait, so soon? This is really unfair to us new lords.”

But “new lords” only referred to the current batch, while newly promoted lords spanned up to five previous terms, holding a numerical advantage. The voices of new lords were soon drowned out in the forums, leaving them to vent their frustrations in various new lord chat groups.

They had completely missed the perfect timing!

However, not all newcomers shared the same sentiment. Mu Yuan didn’t feel rushed at all—in fact, he thought it was coming too slowly.

What he urgently needed now was a top-tier talent: scholarly, managerial, with research capabilities, teaching skills, and extensive knowledge. It would be even better if they were a jack-of-all-trades.

If this had been a few years later, the need might not have been so pressing.

Still,

“One hero is far from enough. Only with an entire team of talents could we truly cover all of Tianyuan Territory’s shortcomings.”

“The rules of the Hero Festival are still too rigid.”

Mu Yuan was fairly confident, but he didn’t dare let his guard down.

If it were a contest of martial prowess, to be honest, he had little confidence in competing against lords who had been developing for over two years—defeating veterans like Liu Cheng and Wang Wang didn’t mean he could triumph over the most outstanding lords from their cohort.

After all, he was still a rookie.

And it was said that the Hero Festival competition didn’t focus on combat strength?

Then there was a chance to compete on more equal terms.

In the White River Dragon Rise group chat, Tan Moumou chimed in, “Don’t panic. Competing for heroes relies on personal charm and special factors. We might still stand a chance against those veteran lords—who knows, a hero might see potential in you or me!”

In terms of potential, they were certainly no worse than any outstanding lord.

As for Tan Moumou, he had specially prepared a “money-throwing” strategy, though there was no need to flaunt that in the group chat.

…

“The Hero Festival is like a job fair, except there are far more seekers than opportunities, and heroes have high standards. So usually, it’s not us choosing heroes—it’s the heroes choosing us.”

“We need to showcase our strengths to the fullest to attract a hero’s attention. If we can successfully negotiate and win a hero’s favor, that’s a major victory.”

“The Hero Festival doesn’t involve martial competition, and fighting is prohibited inside the Secret Realm. Therefore…”

「According to materials released by the Star Gazing Association, this festival’s rules will be more detailed than the last. Based on each lord’s circumstances, a certain number and tier of tags will be generated.」

「For example, lords of first or second-level territories will receive the ‘Village Chief’ tag, while third or fourth-level lords will obtain the higher-tier ‘Town Chief’ tag.」

「Aside from a few universal tags that everyone receives, only outstanding lords will earn additional tags.」”Emblems representing wealth such as ‘Affluence’ and ‘Loaded’, emblems representing military units like ‘Mage Squad’, ‘Mage Team’, and ‘Mage Corps’—depending on the rare structures one possesses, various emblems will form. Some of these emblems hold strong appeal for Heroes, such as ‘Mansion’…”

“Outstanding personal traits of a Lord can also form emblems, like ‘Sword Heart’, ‘Sword Intent’, and ‘Great Master of Swordsmanship’. These emblems possess overwhelming attraction for specific Heroes, though most Lords find it difficult to attain them.”

“Some emblems not only fail to attract Heroes but may even cause aversion. For instance, ‘Goblin Nest’ and ‘Goblin Corps’—many female Heroes have explicitly expressed disgust toward goblins and will not join territories that harbor them.”

“Additionally…”

After reading the materials released by the Star Gazing Association, Mu Yuan began to understand.

This was equivalent to a job fair where companies showcase their advantages. However, for the Heroes—who are like industry elites, experts, and masters—most territories are merely ‘trash-tier small companies’ that they look down upon.

Many top-tier Heroes don’t find any territory appealing throughout the entire recruitment event.

“This year’s rules have slight changes compared to the previous session.”

“And with the Star Gazing Association’s materials, Lords can make some preparations in advance—though, of course… it’s mostly just last-minute cramming.”

But Lord Mu soon realized he had many areas where last-minute efforts were needed.

For example, Mansion! Mansion! And Mansion!

Only lifestyle structures of Rare grade or above can be considered Mansions, and Tianyuan Territory only has ‘Level 2 Cottages’.

He had to spend money!

Coincidentally, he still had over a hundred Soul Crystals saved up.

However, when Mu Yuan tried to splurge and purchase ‘Mansion-type’ Miracle Blueprints at a premium, he discovered the market had already been swept clean.

Rare-grade blueprints were already scarce, and with the Star Gazing Association’s announcement, not a single one remained.

The Taixuan Covenant Platform still had some available for exchange, but the exchange price had increased by 30%. Of course, even without the price hike, Lord Mu couldn’t afford them.

Was it his fault he was poor?!

“Forget it. Rather than trying to patch up weaknesses, it’s better to further enhance strengths. Strengths are what matter most!”

…

But for the vast majority of new Lords who neither have strengths nor are free from weaknesses, it felt somewhat hopeless. The forums were filled with lamentations.

“After reading the association’s materials, I feel like I might not be able to form a single additional emblem.”

“Be more confident—remove ‘feel like’ and ‘might’.”

“Seriously, what’s wrong with goblins?! I’m a female Lord with a territory full of goblins, and I don’t see anything wrong with it!”

“Really? I don’t believe it. Show us a photo.”

“Let me tell you from experience—emblems aren’t everything. Last session, there was an utterly ordinary guy who successfully matched with a widowed Heroine, proving everyone has a chance.”

“But of course, if you want to match with Advanced or top-tier Heroes, without a little extra something, it’s quite difficult. Besides winning a Hero’s favor, you also have to stand out in competition with other Lords. It’s really tough.”

“Last session, wasn’t there a very powerful Hero, ‘Death Chanter’, who was snatched away by a Lord from another country?”A lord suddenly spoke.

The entire regional chat channel abruptly fell silent.

Newcomers didn’t quite understand, but some veteran players who had thoroughly studied the history of the Eternal World did.

In the vast Eternal World, there were local forces that had rebuilt after the catastrophe, as well as chosen lords like them who had been invited by the world to descend, establish territories, and expand the frontiers of civilization.

However, the players selected by the world to descend and establish territories were far from just their Blue Star people.

Three hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, and one hundred thirty years ago, chosen lords from other worlds had entered the continent.

A semi-veteran lord familiar with history and the world’s structure said:

“The ceremonial secret realms aren’t just one; the secret realm space we’re about to enter is only open to Blue Star lords.

“Our ‘Taixuan Alliance’s’ biggest and most direct competitors are actually only the ‘Divine Radiance Empire’ established by the Star Glory Federation. If that were all, we wouldn’t be the least bit afraid, but…”

The semi-veteran lord changed his tone, “Our ‘Taixuan Alliance’ and the neighboring ‘Divine Radiance Empire’ also have considerable influence in the Eternal World, and together with the ‘Eternal Star Empire’, ‘Divine Wood Dynasty’, ‘Seven Cities Federation’, ‘Myriad Merchants Nation’, and ‘Western Desert Empire’, we’re known as the ‘Seven Great Destiny Nations’.

“It’s just that, due to our short time since descent, whether in terms of lord numbers, territory size, or various accumulations, we can’t compare to established great nations like Eternal Star.

“And these powerful nations might have a few top-tier new lords enter our ceremonial secret realm through special means to compete for the top heroes here.

“Last session’s ‘Death Chanter’ was successfully recruited by a lord from Eternal Star.

“There’s nothing to be done about being outmatched in skill, but the most dazzling lord of the last session was actually our Taixuan Alliance’s Cold Moon City Lord. She was even struggling to decide which powerful hero to recruit at the time.”

Actually,

top-tier heroes were either spirits of ancient empires revived and returned, or they were wild heroes scattered throughout the Eternal World from local empires, theoretically having no direct connection with their Xuan Nation lords.

Moreover, whether lords from other nations or Xuan Nation lords, they were all competitors in the ceremony.

In fact, for the vast majority of lords, Eternal Star and Divine Wood had no direct conflict with them—what they could compete for and potentially recruit were only the most ordinary heroes, while the high-end battlefield had always been accessible only to the most outstanding lords.

…

As soon as the Star Gazing Association released the news, new lords from various sessions started competing fiercely again.

Many village-level lords who were just one step away from becoming ‘Town Chiefs’ put in their utmost effort to make the final sprint.

Mu Yuan pondered:

“Despite constantly spending money before, it still took a month to upgrade Tianyuan Territory to level two. Now with only one month left, reaching level three to shed the ‘Village Chief’ title doesn’t seem that easy.”

The ‘Town Chief’ title wasn’t particularly impressive or competitive either.

It wasn’t worth disrupting his plans for.

Even with just his ‘Village Chief’ status, he was determined to be the most striking one in the crowd. He wanted to rely purely on his own charm to attract countless heroes to join him.

Evolution Points, fill me up!

However, since he wasn’t very clear about what attributes he could obtain, Mu Yuan decided to save up Evolution Points and wait for more specific rules to be announced before making his final push.

Soon, ten days passed in a flash.

Early in the morning, just after Mu Yuan finished his morning training, the voice of the world’s notification sounded in his ears.

「Ding!」”Prompt: Link to the special Secret Realm ‘Festival Grounds’?”

“Prompt: The Hero Festival has entered its preparation phase. The Lord may first enter the Festival Grounds to tour and review the festival rules. The official opening will commence in 20 days, at which time heroes awaiting recruitment will gradually appear.”

When he silently confirmed, beside the already opened gate of the Black Wasteland on the Lord Altar, a golden portal slowly materialized.

Faintly, one could glimpse the vast and prosperous scenery within.

Apologies again for the delay, didn’t expect the final few hundred words to require so much editing and revision. My brain just wouldn’t cooperate QAQ

(End of Chapter)