Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 323: The Riverside Knights

Howling winds. Mountains sealed in snow.

A month had passed in the blink of an eye. True winter was asserting itself, punishing without mercy any living creature that dared underestimate it.

A rush of wings.

Adai — his wingspan now nearly three meters — came barreling out of the blizzard like a dark cloud and crashed straight into Li Wei's arms. Clearly deliberate.

He shook a sealed letter from Adai's talons. Adai didn't even bother exchanging a look with Li Wei before flying off again. He seemed to love this winter — bolting outside every day with wild enthusiasm, only returning once daily to the territory to pass messages, then vanishing entirely the rest of the time.

He'd stopped begging for food. Instead, he occasionally brought back a mutant river fish weighing fifteen to twenty kilograms.

"Little Wei, how are things on your end? The temperature seems to be dropping again — today's low might break minus 50. Remember to bundle up. Don't freeze yourself."

Opening the letter released Liang Yuzhi's voice alongside a miniature spiritual energy field. This Second Aunt of his was getting more and more liberal with her spiritual power. Was that really something to spend so casually?

"Everything's fine here. Yesterday another baby was born — the eighth this month. Wonderful, except the housing is getting a bit crowded."

"Food isn't an issue either. We've finished transporting the supplies from the small city base. And I've dealt with Nelson — removed him as Freeman Administrator. The boy has talent, but he's always scheming. The new Administrator is Linus. As the two major families in the territory, they can't be allowed to unite — they need to be rivals, to form competing factions.""Of course, I'm not exactly skilled at this sort of thing. But don't worry, I won't make a mess of it."

"Also, I doubled the Freemen's quarterly wages. If you ask me, Wei, you're good at everything except being too tight-fisted. How are the Freemen supposed to spend money if they don't have any?"

"And the Tavern should be finished next month — Three-Star, capacity for a hundred. But in practice we only get twenty mercenary recruitment slots per month, ranging from Three-Star to Five-Star. You might want to come back and recruit a batch. Second Aunt will make you pickled fish stew!"

The voice faded. The spiritual field dissipated. No need for Li Wei to eat the letter this time.

Second Aunt was clearly a little bored. And a little full of herself.

Could she help it? Over the past month, the Magic Ore Vein had been running continuously, producing another five units of magical energy — current total: 105 units.

In Li Wei's hands, that magical energy was useful for reinforcing materials. But in the hands of a Second-Order Casting Witch, it meant unlimited mana — a no-cooldown blue-fire gatling gun.

Magic Ore Vein + ample magical energy reserves + Second-Order Casting Witch = Third-Order Casting Witch.

That was the reality. Even a dual Five-Star threat wouldn't be a concern.

That was exactly why he and Liang Yuzhi had swapped positions.

The port camp could be abandoned if necessary. But if the territory fell, everything was lost.

Of course, Liang Yuzhi had also made clear that unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn't spend a single unit of magical energy. Every unit had to be treated as a strategic reserve.

Alice had been able to play so recklessly because she had the generous backing of a second-generation player. But after burning through all of that, Zhao Kewu was most likely spent — holding onto second place would already be a significant achievement.

The great Six-Star Lord tolerated certain behaviors. But not without limits.

Li Wei stood up and rubbed his hands together. Cold. With his Level 2 Life Awakening, even bundled in a padded coat, he couldn't stay outside for more than an hour. The howling white-out winds, the wind chill pushing past minus 50 — brutal.

"One more time."

He muttered to himself, then stepped off the top of the fifteen-meter bastion and dropped in free fall — like a leap of faith.

But there was no haystack waiting below. So when he fell to seven meters, he shot out a hand, caught a firing port, and killed his downward momentum. Then he was moving sideways — lightning-fast, traversing the wall, touching every firing port from top to bottom, left to right, until he'd covered them all.

This was Li Wei's daily training. Simple. Understated. Unglamorous.

The breach in the bastion's third floor had long since been repaired. Short of a Level 5 Stone Giant — or something as aberrant as Zhao Xuanxuan — this was an impenetrable defense.

He entered through a hidden door and could hear the clash of weapons and shouts from the first and second floors.

Training.

Mountains locked in snow, temperatures plunging, visibility near zero — going outside was suicide. But sitting around playing cards and chatting was out of the question. So training it was.

Participants included Thomas, Leon, Javier and his squad, and twenty young men selected from the local Freemen — ages ranging from ten to fifteen.

The local Freemen's resentment toward Li Wei hadn't disappeared, but fear had largely replaced it. Not that it mattered much.

Half a month ago, Liang Yuzhi had sent over a hundred newly integrated Freemen — the thin, meek, long-exploited natural persons from the base. With this group folded in, many problems would gradually resolve themselves.

Li Wei planned to select fifty of them for combat training within the next two weeks. By then, the number of combat-ready Freeman soldiers at this location would reach 100, with seventy more reserve troops capable of support roles.

With the solid bastion, dense crossbow coverage, and reliable commanders, even someone like Li Wei himself would find it no easy task to break in.

He knew exactly how he had done it the first time. So of course he knew how to prevent it.

During the quiet days, he and Thomas, Javier, and Leon had been analyzing, drilling, and running exercises — covering every blind spot, every detail worth noting.

All reserve troops participated in the exercises.

Li Wei went through everything personally — hands-on, thorough, walking them through every angle of attack and defense.

He couldn't build a fortress this well-designed himself. But he knew how to assault one, and how to hold one.

Worth noting: Javier, the former warehouse overseer, had real potential. Not just exceptional in combat — his tactical instincts were sharp, his decisions measured and decisive. He had a young man under him named Seth who was equally impressive.

The two of them hadn't just absorbed everything Li Wei taught — they'd built a three-dimensional attack-defense training framework from it. Remarkably capable.

The winter was genuinely not boring. Daily combat training. Daily attack-defense drills. Eventually even the One-Star reserve troops joined in.

Li Wei stepped back. Even Thomas and Leon couldn't get a word in. Javier and Seth — commander and deputy — ran the reserves so hard they were begging for mercy, muttering nonsense in their sleep at night.

To reward them, Li Wei took Thomas and Leon down to the river to fish. That was an experience in itself. Fortunately they had their unconventional method — using natural human blood as bait. One cast, one enormous fish.

Occasionally they'd hook a Level 4 mutant river creature, which meant a thrilling fight. Li Wei on lookout, Thomas pulling aggro, Leon dealing damage.

Leon could now hold a Level 4 mutant fish solo — and his technique had gotten so refined he was filleting it mid-fight.

Li Wei and Adai — who appeared from nowhere — competed shamelessly for the best cuts.

After the kill, they'd cook it on the spot. Life was good.

Time passed. The coldest stretch of winter faded.

Javier and Seth had finally whipped the reserve troops into proper shape.

When the ice began to thaw and spring was near, Li Wei, Thomas, and Leon formed a three-person assault team for a siege exercise — the three of them attacking, Javier defending.

The result was no surprise. Leon was "killed" in the first minute.

Thomas lasted until the third minute before shouting his surrender — the crossbow fire was too fierce, and he couldn't bear to sacrifice his Enchanted Tower Shield.

Li Wei, with his superior Perception and Agility, managed to circle outside for a full fifty minutes before finally conceding defeat.

In total, he had "killed" fifteen reserve troops who weren't yet smooth enough in their drills. After that, he couldn't accomplish anything more.

It was proven: with excellent command, coordinated teamwork, and a few supplementary mechanisms, even someone as capable as Li Wei was helpless against this bastion.

Back when he had taken it, he had done so by quietly eliminating the fortress commander first.

"That's enough. If the full score is 100, I'd give you 90. Javier — in the name of the Flame Baron, I hereby grant you the title of Riverside Knight and appoint you Commander of Riverside Fortress."

"As for Seth and the other eight Freeman soldiers — in recognition of your effort and loyalty, I hereby declare you Squires of the Riverside Knights. You will hold a rank above ordinary Freemen. You will each receive independent housing within the territory and corresponding allowances. Your wives and children will receive the same preferential treatment."

"You will also each receive a set of fine armor and weapons — heirlooms to pass down to your descendants."

After the exercise ended, Li Wei felt a genuine sense of satisfaction. On impulse, he had decided on these rewards for Javier and the others. Even the name "Riverside Knights" had come to him in the moment.

What he hadn't expected was how powerfully the title resonated — the sense of honor and motivation it inspired. Even the typically stoic Javier seemed moved.

After all, who didn't have a dream of knighthood?

Wait —

[Would you like to spend one Five-Star Universal Gold Card and 10,000 standard gold coins to establish the Riverside Knights?]

[Note: You already possess a territory with over 500 Freemen, hold the title of Flame Baron — which is about to be formally bound to your territory — and have established the precedent for a knightly order: you have defeated opponents at this location twice, and on the final occasion successfully killed the previous Lord. You therefore meet the conditions to establish a knightly order.]

[Note: The Universal Gold Card may be deferred. The next time you acquire a Universal Gold Card, it will be automatically deducted. Your current mission difficulty will increase by an additional 60%.]

[Note: Because Freemen cannot undertake most missions or accompany the Lord on various tasks, opportunities to gain titles are extremely limited. The Squire designation compensates for this limitation by providing attribute bonuses.]

[Note: The current Riverside Knight is a Level 1 title. A Freeman may only receive one title in their lifetime — once granted, it cannot be removed. Current effects: Life +20, Stamina +20, Strength +2, Agility +2, Defense +2. Maximum of five recipients. Can be enhanced using Five-Star Universal Gold Cards — each enhancement increases the level by one and adds one additional slot.]

—

Incredible.

This was possible?

Li Wei didn't hesitate. Even with mission difficulty jumping to 120%, he wasn't afraid.

"Confirm."

In an instant, his treasury was 10,000 standard gold coins lighter, and he had acquired a debt of one Five-Star Universal Gold Card.

What he hadn't expected was that this triggered a territory-wide announcement — brief, but unmistakable.

[Flame Baron Li Wei has established the Level 1 Riverside Knights at Riverside Fortress. Riverside Fortress has been formally incorporated into his territory.]

—

Li Wei was genuinely surprised. After a moment's thought, he drew his Enchanted Greatsword and called out to Javier: "Javier — do you swear to become a Riverside Knight, and to uphold the knightly code of — courage, fairness, protecting the weak, loyalty to your Lord, and never surrendering to corruption or despair?"

He was making it up as he went. Because Li Wei believed everyone needed a sense of ceremony.

Only ceremony could remind people that what they had was hard-won — that this was something worth aspiring to, worth following, worth protecting.

Not just a casual word, a system notification, and suddenly you're a Riverside Knight. This wasn't playing house.

Javier paused for a moment, then stepped forward and knelt on one knee to receive the investiture. Only then was he truly a Riverside Knight. When he saw the attribute bonuses, his eyes went wide. The way he looked at Li Wei shifted — from awe to something closer to reverence.

Li Wei was satisfied with the effect. This was the template for genuine loyalty.

"Javier — you'll be stationed here from now on. You should think about starting a family again. Five mu of land around Riverside Fortress belongs to you."

Li Wei had hesitated over this for a while. In the end, he made the decision.

"My Lord — I will build the territory's walls with my life and my sword."

"Good. Seth — do you swear to become a Riverside Knight?"

Li Wei decided to invest one more knight. A commander and a deputy — safer that way.

Seth was in his mid-twenties, less senior than Javier, but genuinely capable. Already a Three-Star professional. With him and Javier working together here, this fortress was secure.

Li Wei then appointed Thomas as the Lord's Garrison Supervisor — the title didn't matter much. What mattered was establishing a clear rule: Thomas wasn't suited to be the primary commander, so he was given oversight authority only. Supervisory, not executive. Any issues were to be reported to Li Wei afterward. Day-to-day operations deferred to Javier.

That would do for now.

As for Leon — he'd be heading back in a few days.

Next: it was time to formally apply for the Three-Star Tavern construction.