Chapter 154 – Isrolya's Observations of the Territory

The prompt echoed in his ears, and Mu Someone was somewhat surprised.

This… he had never heard of it at all!

Taking another look at the conditions for the Heaven and Earth’s Blessing, oh, it made perfect sense why he hadn’t heard of it before.

「Prompt: You have obtained a permanent buff, Lord Charm +1 Rank, Tianyuan Territory Fame +1 Rank.」

In the depths of his mind, information flooded in.

Lord Charm could comprehensively enhance his own ‘affinity’, ‘dignity’, and so on. Whether it would make the already handsome Mu Someone even more handsome, he couldn’t say for sure, but…

This attribute could effectively boost the people’s morale in the territory and make it easier for the Lord to recruit wild Heroes, units, and the like.

“Seems rather useless?”

It did have its uses, but at this stage, Mu Someone rarely went out.

The effect brought by Territory Fame +1 Rank was quite pleasing, as it could effectively increase the absorption rate of refugees, especially significantly enhancing the attraction to talents.

The name Tianyuan would gradually spread far and wide.

“Not bad.”

“An unexpected delight.”

The Hero Festival had already ended, and at this moment, Tianyuan Territory was shrouded in night, but the City Lord’s Mansion and the rare buildings in the distance were all lit up, dispelling the darkness.

Mu Yuan and Dolai, one human and one slime, appeared beside the City Lord’s Mansion, in front of the Lord Altar.

Before them, the golden Secret Realm Gate symbolizing the Festival Grounds was slowly closing.

“Guji~?”

Dolai was asking about the pink-haired junior.

“Not in a hurry, wait a bit longer.”

The Daughter of Stars, Isloria, was not a Hero of the present world and would not follow them out of the Secret Realm.

Instead,

Buzz—

Streams of light from Heaven and Earth gathered, threads converging and intertwining, outlining a figure with full, graceful curves.

In an instant, the light of Heaven and Earth that had formed and shaped the body quietly dissipated, and Isloria, with her pink hair, had already appeared on the Altar, much like how units are recruited.

However, at this moment, she was not wearing that splendid purple dress nor the jingling accessories that covered her body. She was merely clad in extremely simple cloth trousers, with wooden clogs on her feet that could not conceal her jade-like, rounded toes.

Isn’t this power of Heaven and Earth a bit too stingy?

…

Tianyuan Territory was relatively simple, but of course, it wasn’t so lacking that suitable clothing couldn’t be found.

Soon, Isloria changed into a purple outfit and tied up her shoulder-length hair to appear more efficient.

The new employee was officially on duty.

However,

She hesitated to speak.

“You want to ask about the Time Maze City mission, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Don’t worry, your childhood… the companions from hundreds of years ago will definitely be saved.”

“But Wicked City is very dangerous.”

Isloria’s thoughts drifted back to hundreds of years ago… an era that might only feel like a few years or months to her.

At that time, her power was already considerable, at the Peak of the Elite Rank. Even so, after they accidentally entered Wicked City, they faced life-threatening dangers multiple times. There were terrifying undead creatures there, as well as curses everywhere.

Moreover now, her Rank and Realm had dropped to only Elite Rank 7, and no matter how limitless Tianyuan Lord’s potential might be, he was still just a novice Lord.

A Lord who had built his territory from scratch in just a few months, and was still very weak.

Rashly entering Wicked City would only lead to certain death.”So, we must be fully prepared, but you also need to believe our territory has the strength.”

…

Regarding whether they could rescue their former companions, Isloria remained rather pessimistic.

She decided to numb herself through work.

As a Hero newly recruited by the Lord, she ought to share the Lord’s burdens rather than bring trouble to the territory.

“Lord, please give me your orders. What tasks do you need me to carry out?”

Well, there were many.

However,

“First, let me show you around the territory and host a welcoming reception. We can discuss work matters tomorrow.”

Walking out from the Altar, the two headed south and soon passed by the unremarkable-looking ‘Domain Jammer.’

But Isloria, being a professional, wasn’t fooled by the building’s appearance and keenly detected faint, peculiar ripples.

“This is… a facility that can conceal the territory and prevent external spying? A very advanced and sophisticated facility!”

The Central Academy had similar facilities.

And this antenna-like structure in Tianyuan Territory seemed no worse than what she had seen at the Central Arcane College?

As expected of the Lord whom countless Heroes compete for, my Lord~!

“This structure is called a Domain Jammer. I see you understand some anti-divination techniques—can you enhance its interference capabilities?”

“This facility is somewhat different from what I’m familiar with, but given some time, I can set up external devices to boost its anti-surveillance abilities.”

After just two and a half seconds of thought, she lifted her proud swan-like neck and affirmed.

Truly a Hero who knows everything, with a main profession related to astrology.

This was one reason Mu Yuan had recruited her.

They continued forward, leaving the core area and entering the southern residential district, which best reflected a territory’s character.

However, Mu Someone had forgotten that the Hero Ceremony ended at midnight. Few civilians were still out in the southern residential area, though from the darkened cottages in the distance came faint “mmph-ahh” sounds, rising and falling like waves.

Mu Yuan: “…”

As long as I’m not embarrassed, I won’t be embarrassed.

Isloria’s face flushed slightly, but nothing was visible in the night. She pretended not to be awkward, surveying the surroundings with a professional gaze.

Soon, she immersed herself in observation.

To be fair, the presence of awkward sounds indicated that the people here were well-fed and spirited. Unlike some remote villages in the Eagle Kingdom, where disaster years left the populace struggling to survive.

Yet Tianyuan Territory, located at the outermost edge of the Taixuan Alliance and constantly battered by monster tides, showed no signs of battle scars here. The people lived and worked in peace.

It was a vibrant new territory.

In the early hours, though no civilians were visible, soldiers of the Garrison Legion still diligently carried out patrol duties.

A Halberdier led two Halberdiers and three Lancers, forming a squad that followed a set route. They stopped before Mu Yuan, clumsily saluted, and resumed their duties.

“That’s a Halberdier, right?”

She was slightly surprised—in just this short time, three squads had passed by, each with at least one Halberdier.

They seemed somewhat low in Rank, but after all, they were Halberdiers, destined to become experts capable of holding their own.This place was merely one of the patrol sectors in the southern part of Tianyuan Territory.

Tianyuan Territory… no, their own territory truly had impressive military strength.

Suddenly,

just as the two passed by an ancient tree, the tree opened its eyes, its branches rustling and swaying, as joyful as a child weighing thousands of pounds.

Mu Yuan knew this was the treant expressing its delight, welcoming him.

It just hadn’t learned to speak yet, but it already possessed considerable intelligence.

“This… could this be a treant guardian?”

Isloria exclaimed in surprise.

She had only read about treants in books, hearing they were active mainly in elven kingdoms and were exceptionally rare in the outside world.

Yet as they walked further, they encountered a second, third, and fourth treant greeting them unexpectedly.

Does the Lord perhaps have some elven bloodline?

“This area is the cultivation zone of Tianyuan Territory, currently growing only some relatively common Jade Crystal Rice. To the north, there’s another fertile plot where some rarer crops are cultivated,”

Mu Yuan explained.

Unfortunately, Isloria had no particular insights about crops—after all, she wasn’t all-knowing.

As they approached, a peculiar plant rooted in the center of the field suddenly bloomed, and from within flew out a tiny, barefoot spirit in a long dress, hovering mid-air.

It flitted about, giggling gleefully.

“Is that a flower fairy?”

“No, it’s a flora spirit!”

Isloria widened her eyes, glancing at her Lord with a questioning look.

“It is indeed a flora spirit,”

Mu Yuan nodded.

Flora spirits came in many varieties, and this one, having evolved from a flower fairy, still retained the fairy’s appearance. However, it could merge into any plant at will and travel freely among them.

In forested areas, a flora spirit could traverse several kilometers or even over a dozen in the blink of an eye.

This was an Elite One-Star unit.

An auxiliary type.

“Indeed, with flora spirits, flower fairies, and flower sprites around, the growth rate of the territory’s crops can be significantly enhanced. Hmm, later I’ll create a spreadsheet to compare and calculate which crops are more cost-effective to cultivate, though I’ll need current market data for various categories,”

she said.

Then she felt something was off.

Oh right, this is an Elite One-Star unit, and a particularly rare and precious flora spirit at that. Couldn’t you show a bit more enthusiasm when introducing it, Lord?

Don’t be so nonchalant, geez.

…

After touring the southern area, Isloria was somewhat surprised.

But upon second thought, the Tianyuan Lord was a man shrouded in golden radiance—it made sense for him to have some rare units.

Besides, it’s only Elite One-Star.

Her own ‘Daughter of Stars’ class, attained through awakening, self-created spells, and body modification, was rated as high as Elite Three-Star!

She was the true genius!

She was certain she could assist the Lord in propelling Tianyuan Territory into a phase of rapid development.

…

While Mu Yuan was strolling late at night, other territories were far from calm.

Lords who had successfully recruited heroes were overjoyed. It was from this moment that the name Tianyuan truly began to spread among countless lords, even reaching the ears of major figures.

Shocking, What Exceptional Qualities Does the Tianyuan Lord Possess to Attract Numerous Heroes Competing for His Favor!Passerby A expressed doubt, “Wait, isn’t the Hero Ceremony about lords competing for heroes? This news report must be wrong.”

Passerby B said, “It’s correct. I was there. The Tianyuan Lord is forever god-tier~!”

Passerby C: “Forever god-tier +1!”

However, the joys and sorrows between nations are not the same.

The Divine Radiance Empire suffered several setbacks in this ceremony. Since the Queen failed to recruit Princess Feixi, she had to settle for second-tier heroes. The Glory Lord, who had been persistently pursuing the Holy Light High Priest and whose compatible ‘Dawnlight Knight’ was recruited by Wuji, ultimately managed to enlist a hero two grades inferior.

For the higher-ups of the Divine Radiance Empire, these minor losses were still within tolerable limits.

But,

“Regardless of the reason, this Tianyuan Lord has demonstrated stronger competitiveness than the Cold Moon City Lord. He must not be allowed to remain! At the very least, we cannot allow a second Han Yue to emerge.”

“Investigate. I want to see complete information on the Tianyuan Lord within three days.”

…

“Not bad, not bad. He carries the same elegance I had in my youth. Truly worthy of being someone I’ve taken notice of.”

Somewhere on Blue Star, after listening to Liu Miumiu’s account, Liu Xiyue crossed his slender left leg over his right, shifting into a more comfortable sitting position.

Liu Miumiu: “…”

Even though you’re my sister, I still know that Tianyuan’s elegance clearly surpasses yours, okay!

Liu Xiyue pondered further, “This time, since Tianyuan has brought such great honor to our Taixuan, well, I really ought to help him secure some benefits from those old men.”

Next chapter before 12 o’clock

(End of chapter)