novelraw Chapter 277 - 29: Death, Sacrifice, Realization, Promotion (Part 2)
Chapter 277 - 29: Death, Sacrifice, Realization, Promotion (Part 2)
If it weren’t for the incredibly fast Extraordinary Dragon Cavalry under his command, who could swiftly reinforce any threatened location, the casualty rate for his soldiers on this march would have been far higher.
However, amidst the bad news, Qin Feng also received an unexpected piece of good news.
His two previously quiet units, the Desert Demon Wolves and the Ratman Heroic Spirit Warriors, suddenly began to frequently trigger system notifications indicating they could be promoted to Extraordinary Soldiers.
What was even more surprising was that many of these Desert Demon Wolves and Ratman Heroic Spirit Warriors awakened on their own and became Extraordinary Soldiers, all without Qin Feng having to spend a single extra Gold Coin.
Astonishment flashed in Qin Feng’s eyes, and he fell into thought.
’What?’
’Could it be... ’
’...that the prerequisites for promoting an ordinary soldier to an Extraordinary Soldier, besides having sufficient Combat Skills and weapon proficiency, also include being tempered in a high-pressure combat environment where comrades are constantly sacrificed?’
’And I’ve been protecting my Divine Chosen Soldiers too well, always having them fight in one-sided battles with zero casualties.’
’Is that why they’ve never met the conditions for promotion to Extraordinary Soldiers...’
’Or...’
’...it’s just a coincidence.’
’Their promotion threshold was just reached at this exact time, and it just so happens to coincide with encountering these Extraordinary Realm Void Creatures...’
As these thoughts churned in his mind, Qin Feng’s Divine Chosen Army suddenly encountered a powerful force of Void Creatures.
It was a Void army led by an Extraordinary Level Void Boss.
Their formation was terrifying.
More than ten thousand ordinary Void Creatures formed the vanguard, with over a thousand Extraordinary Realm Void Creatures reinforcing them from the rear. They menacingly blocked the path ahead.
When it rains, it pours. A creature spawn point inside the Death Zone activated right behind the Divine Chosen Army.
The newly spawned enemies to the rear and the Void Creatures to the front immediately coordinated, catching Qin Feng’s forces in a pincer movement.
The battle erupted without warning.
The Tier Zero soldiers, who served as basic combat units, didn’t even have a chance to breathe in this brutal meat grinder of a battle. They were instantly torn to shreds and annihilated by the Extraordinary Level Void Creatures, so quickly that the heaven-defying healing effect of the Evil Aura couldn’t even trigger.
More alarmingly, several of Qin Feng’s Ordinary Level Extraordinary Heroes—those who had taken a shortcut to their rank through "War Merit Enfeoffment"—made a momentary error and were trapped by a group of Extraordinary Level Void Creatures. The enemy focused their attacks, and the heroes fell on the spot in a flash.
Fortunately, with the powerful Extraordinary Dragon Cavalry Legion as the core combat force, supported by numerous other Extraordinary Soldiers and Ordinary Level Extraordinary Heroes, the tide of this perilous battle was turned. Both waves of Void Creatures were completely wiped out.
The rewards for this victory were also extremely generous. The defeated enemies not only converted into a large number of Unit Promotion Cards but also dropped various personal treasures that could be equipped to directly boost a hero’s power.
However, compared to these tangible yet incremental gains in strength, Qin Feng’s attention was completely captivated by the flood of Unit Promotion messages scrolling through his system notifications.
The number of promotions this time was several times greater than during the previous ambushes.
Understanding dawned on him, and he muttered to himself.
’Alright.’
’Now I’m certain.’
’If you want ordinary units that have reached Zero-star (Red) combat power to touch Extraordinary Power, you have to throw them into truly dangerous, high-pressure battles. They need to comprehend the essence of power in a life-or-death struggle.’
’This principle doesn’t just apply to me.’
’It also applies to the other Lord Players.’
’And the Native Powers.’
’Take, for instance, most Native Powers who don’t have the backing of a Destiny Hero. During the King’s War Event, they have to constantly attack and defend cities. Normally, the number of their Extraordinary Soldiers would dwindle with every battle, as their training rate could never keep up with their losses.’
’But thanks to this game mechanic—the more dangerous the battle, the faster the growth...’
’...they can cultivate large numbers of new Extraordinary Soldiers after several major campaigns.’
’That way, they aren’t so crippled that they lose their right to participate in the war.’
However, Qin Feng’s situation was slightly different.
He possessed the special and powerful "Survival of the Fittest" Talent.
As long as a single soldier of a certain type reached the Extraordinary Level, all other soldiers of that same type would immediately benefit from the heaven-defying "Rapid Promotion" effect, sparing them from having to individually endure a brutal trial of life and death.
Unfortunately, Arthas was no longer considered one of his Divine Chosen Soldiers. He was now classified as a family member of a "Native Creature" and thus could not benefit from the "Survival of the Fittest" Talent Effect.
That was why, despite having previously used "Land of Corruption" to summon Extraordinary Level Undead Soldiers, he couldn’t enable the rest of his Undead Soldiers to rapidly develop into Extraordinary units.
Qin Feng had to constantly maintain his "Divine Descent" state.
Only then could those undead skeletons use the shared Riding and Cutting talent to transform into Extraordinary Level Undead Soldiers.
Now that he had fully grasped the key to promoting units to the Extraordinary Level, Qin Feng no longer hesitated. He stopped agonizing over the casualties suffered during the march.
He immediately regrouped his forces and continued to lead his million-strong army in a steady advance toward the Royal City of the Gulad Empire.
However, the Lord Players who had decided to follow Qin Feng and coast on his success were being broken by one wave of Void Creatures after another.
"Dammit!"
"This is insane!"
"These Void Creatures are just like cockroaches!"
"There’s no end to them!"
"Forget it!"
"I’m outta here!"
"Good luck, everyone!"
"Good luck my ass! I brought twelve Extraordinary Soldiers in total, and ten of them died in just a few days. I’m out, I’m out!"
"Sigh!"
"I’m out too!"
"This isn’t a battle mortals are meant to fight..."
In the end, only two people had followed Qin Feng all the way to the Gulad Imperial Capital: Su Mumu and MC.
The reason was simple: they had been riding Winged Dragon Beasts the entire way, soaring high in the sky. They didn’t have to worry about being ambushed by Void Creatures that suddenly appeared.
As a result, they never had to worry about their Extraordinary Soldiers taking losses.
However, as soon as Su Mumu landed, her gaze swept over Qin Feng’s Divine Chosen army. Her eyes filled with surprise, and she couldn’t help but ask:
"Huh?"
"How did your Sub-human units suddenly get so many newly promoted Extraordinary Soldiers?"
"I don’t remember seeing this many on the way here, did I?"
"I remember the vast majority were the original Extraordinary Soldiers from the Gulad Empire and the Minotaur Kingdom..."
Hearing this, Qin Feng didn’t hide anything. He shared the key piece of intelligence he had discovered—that "high-pressure combat significantly increases the efficiency of producing Extraordinary Soldiers"—in detail with Su Mumu and MC. He even included the specifics of his recent Unit Promotions.
Both of them looked astonished.
"Huh?"
"Really?"
"We really had no idea about that!"
Afterward, Su Mumu and MC took turns adding their own observations. As they explained, Qin Feng slowly pieced together the cause and effect, and began to understand the full picture.
The other Lord Players lacked Qin Feng’s formidable personal strength, the overall combat power of their legions was far inferior to his, and they didn’t have his heaven-defying Evil Aura Talent.
Therefore, their casualty rate in every battle was astonishingly high.
More importantly, to protect their precious Extraordinary Soldiers, they would intentionally send large numbers of ordinary soldiers to the front lines as cannon fodder, forcing these common units into high-pressure battles day after day.
As a result, these Lord Players never realized that the very reason their ordinary soldiers were being promoted to Extraordinary Soldiers so quickly was this seemingly cruel "cannon fodder" strategy.
If they, like Qin Feng, could have found "Native Undead Soldiers" whose losses were completely negligible, and had then protected their own Divine Chosen Soldiers so well that they often achieved heaven-defying, zero-casualty victories...
...someone would have probably discovered this secret long ago.
Then, through word of mouth from people like MC and Hungry Wolf...
...it would have reached the ears of a then-clueless Qin Feng.
...