Chapter 35 – Newcomers of the Four Cities

Mu Yuan directly entered the White Cloud Province section, browsing through the status of his “competitors.”

However, most newcomers weren’t foolish either. In the past few days, some overly enthusiastic rookies had been flaunting their achievements on the forum, but in the last couple of days, such braggarts had almost disappeared, replaced by an increasing number of players lamenting their misfortunes.

“Today, I went to hunt a group of goblins, but unexpectedly fell into an ambush and lost two of my Generals. Damn it! The resource assessment is tomorrow—how am I supposed to survive? How?”

Below, a crowd of fellow players empathized with the misery.

Their sorrow seemed to seep through the forum.

“Same here! My General died so tragically.”

“Who isn’t in the same boat? Today, I went out to earn some ‘milk money’ for my troops, but ran into a level 7 Great Goblin. If it weren’t for my troops risking their lives to protect me, I might not have made it back. Even so, I still lost three Lancers. There’s no hope for tomorrow’s assessment. Ah, I might as well give up.”

“Ah, I envy you all for at least having troops to lose. I’m different—I only have a few soldiers to begin with. Tomorrow, I’ll just go to the Association to join the crowd and be the green leaves that complement the experts.”

“Yeah, yeah, my entire territory only has three goblins. I’m just there to make up the numbers.”

“Hey, the one above me, you’re not as unlucky as I am. My entire territory is down to its last Little Skeleton.”

Mu Yuan fell silent after reading, his lips twitching in disbelief.

Your fabrications are way too half-hearted.

However, among these lamenting players, a few seemed genuinely overwhelmed with grief. If it wasn’t due to their exceptional writing skills, then they must have truly suffered heavy losses.

Their main forces had been severely depleted.

But only a handful of them were in such dire straits.

As the lamenting players’ stories grew increasingly exaggerated, even the honest ones could tell something was off. The few who had genuinely suffered fell silent.

What the hell!

…

Tonight, the territory was once again exceptionally peaceful.

Watching Bone Three swiftly dispatch several gray wolves with a few clacks, Mu Yuan nodded slightly and closed his laptop.

Since he had a busy schedule tomorrow—not only the resource assessment but also taking the rare opportunity to venture out and purchase various supplies—Mu Yuan ate a Crimson Blood Fruit, did some light exercise, and went to bed early after washing up.

The night passed without incident.

The late night in Baijiang City was quiet and serene.

Only on the other side of the world, Skeleton Soldiers and Little Skeletons diligently patrolled the territory, swinging their Machetes to pierce through monster bodies, drawing splatters of crimson blood, and skillfully collecting the Soul Sand that emerged.

Some of the newer Little Skeletons were still a bit clueless and didn’t understand what Soul Sand collection meant. At such times, the veteran Skeleton Soldiers would tap their skulls and patiently teach them.

This tradition was passed down from skeleton to skeleton.

The next day, Mu Yuan woke up relatively early. Outside the window, the faint light of dawn was gradually breaking through the darkness that had enveloped the night, bringing hope for a new day.

“The resource assessment starts at 8:30 in the morning, conducted in batches. But I need to go earlier to gather some intelligence and formulate a suitable battle plan.”

“Besides, the Player Association will likely be much livelier than usual today. Maybe I can find more Little Skeleton and Slime Remnant Souls.”

Mu Yuan glanced at the territory’s situation.

The monsters had been quite enthusiastic last night, sending three waves in total. One group of minor monsters even dropped a Remnant Soul.He controlled his character to walk up to the dilapidated wooden hut temporarily designated as the warehouse and checked the existing inventory.

Aside from four rare-grade items, among the ordinary-grade items, the most valuable were the remnant souls. Among them, there were 2 three-star remnant soul statues and 6 ordinary random remnant souls.

Additionally, there were 525g of soul sand and several ordinary materials worth approximately 300–400g of soul sand.

Conclusion: He was still poor.

Setting aside the Shaman Heritage Stone and the two three-star remnant souls that could be sold, he was truly dirt poor. If he were to supply all his troop types for cultivation, 500g of soul sand would only last a little over a day.

Of course, troop types couldn’t cultivate 24 hours a day, and aside from top-tier spenders, it was unlikely anyone would supply soul sand to all their troop types.

Even top-tier spenders probably wouldn’t allocate too many resources to one- or two-star “cannon fodder.”

Mu Yuan was different. Given the opportunity, he wanted to supply them all. There was no cannon fodder in his ranks; every one of his troop types had promising futures.

But he also understood that the larger the army scale, the greater the daily soul sand consumption, and sustaining full supply indefinitely was unrealistic.

“It’s said that some powerful territories have miracle buildings that allow troop types to level up slowly without consuming soul sand. That’s precisely how great lords can train elite legions numbering in the tens or even hundreds of thousands.”

Thinking about it, he felt a flicker of anticipation.

Then he returned to the reality of his poverty.

After bidding farewell to Deadbone and instructing him to guard the home diligently, the great Lord Mu set out on his expedition. He scanned a code by the roadside to unlock an electric bicycle and rode straight to the Player Association in the city center.

Today, the Player Association was unusually bustling.

Some players arrived on foot, some took rideshare to the intersection, and many others drove in, heading directly into the association’s parking lot.

Outside, the streets were bustling with crowds, one office worker after another hurrying along, starting another day of relentless work. Busy and rushed, it was just the usual scene of a modern city.

Inside, luxury cars parked, and players drew circles in the air, summoning mighty, imposing warriors clad in armor.

The inside and outside were clearly two different worlds.

After all, the Xuan Nation’s authorities had regulations prohibiting the display of supernatural powers in front of ordinary people. But inside the association, everyone was either a player or someone aware of the supernatural. As long as they didn’t disturb others or damage public property, they could show off as much as they wanted.

The association even had practice grounds and training arenas available for free use by players. Here, players could conduct troop drills and witness their troop types’ strength in person.

Mu Yuan was a little tempted to try, but only a little.

How could he summon Deadbone in public? He was a low-key, ordinary player.

Besides, once he passed the lord trial, he’d likely have the chance to witness Deadbone’s power firsthand.

It wouldn’t be long.

…

Today, the association was packed with a continuous stream of players. Even those not planning to take the exam, especially newcomers, came to join the excitement.

After all, ordinary newcomers had already been relocated to safe zones and no longer faced survival pressure. Slacking off for a day or two wouldn’t hurt.

Consider it compensation for their nearly frayed nerves over the past few days.

Still, the number of players in the association was absurdly high—ten or twenty times more than a few days ago.

Was a newcomer resource assessment really worth this many people gathering?”Bro, didn’t you know? The assessment here today isn’t just for new players from our Baijiang City, but also newcomers from the three neighboring cities: Riverside City, Jiangbei City, and East Bright City.”

“It’s essentially a joint examination for all four cities, and it’s been this way every year.”

“The Association always allocates a certain number of benefit slots to White Cloud Province, and the provincial association then distributes these slots to various assessment sites. Our Baijiang assessment site is one of them. That means all newcomers from our Baijiang Four Cities—roughly several dozen to a hundred registered participants—are competing for these slots together.”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

The speaker was Frog-Selling Bro, though today he wasn’t wearing his frog costume but rather a formal suit, looking like he was about to sell insurance.

Wait, how does Frog-Selling Bro know so much?

Miss White Fox nearby was also greatly surprised. Weren’t they supposed to be struggling together? Liar!

Frog-Selling Bro chuckled, “I did fail—I had no confidence in defending my territory at all. But hehe, after becoming a player, I discovered that the daughter of my neighbor’s second uncle is also a player. Through her recommendation, I’m now interning at a top expert’s merchant guild.”

“So, I’ve come to know just a little bit more.”

Frog-Selling Bro grinned, his smile the envy of countless strugglers.

(End of Chapter)