novelraw Chapter 559: A Proper Farming and Developing Strategy
Chapter 559: A Proper Farming and Developing Strategy
"Neigh!"
Warhorses neighed and armaments clashed. It was a bustling morning, and an even more beautiful beginning.
Under the effect of the Mage Tower's mana shield, the interior of Liwei Fort was as warm as spring, and a new season of crops was being planted. Outside, however, the world was freezing cold with heavy snow falling. A white frost mist still covered the land, and even though the power of the Great Frost had decreased by 50%, it was still a hellscape.
But from Li Wei on down, no one felt this was a bad thing. If they didn't take this opportunity to head out to farm and develop, when else would they wait for?
"Li Wei, Hathaway, be careful."
Li Yue, holding her son and daughter, came to see Li Wei and the others off. From now on, Liwei Fort and Hathaway Fort would be left in her charge.
"I don't know why, but I suddenly have a feeling that we are making history. Li Wei, stepping out of this city gate, we might be able to change the situation on this Dimension-Ascending Continent."
Hathaway suddenly spoke. Her Inspiration had also been successfully pushed to 24 points now. As a 3rd-Tier Spellcaster, this was quite excellent. And with high Inspiration, there was always a vague premonition regarding the trend of events in the near future; this was the origin of Witches.
They were too spiritually attuned.
"Perhaps."Li Wei smiled faintly and rubbed the head of his eight-year-old son. As of today, he had been away from Earth for 26 years. In terms of foundation and strength, he had indeed accumulated quite well.
But this was not an excuse for him to slack off or be lazy, because sailing against the current means you will be pushed back if you do not advance.
He could sense that the father and son pair of Duke Will, and the couple of William and his wife—their enigmatic maneuvering and scheming, hidden beneath layers of dark curtains and filled with dense calculations, would leave him terror-stricken even if he didn't know the specifics.
When thousand-year-old foxes really schemed for something, it was absolutely not something a 56-year-old young man like him could resist.
The only solution was to accelerate, accelerate, continuously grow stronger, and accelerate again, until he could arm-wrestle with any faction.
"My Lord, everything is ready. We can set out at any time!"
Jocelyn, He Yibo, A Su, and Hunt came over to ask for instructions. Besides their everyday armor, they had added a layer of fur both inside and outside, making them look exceptionally bloated and round.
But this was an excellent method to resist the Great Frost.
Speaking of which, they had to thank Adai. Over the past eight years, the number of 5-Star and 6-Star Magical Creatures it hunted wasn't actually that many, but it caught various small Magical Creatures nest by nest.
Snow Rats, Snow Rabbits, Snow Foxes, Snow Wolves, and various Magical Creatures that quickly adapted to Frost Mana. These creatures were very miraculous. They wouldn't go extinct due to rapid climate changes, but could adapt quickly.
When the Great Frost came, they were called Snow Rabbits and Snow Foxes; when intense heat waves came, they were called Fire Rabbits and Fire Foxes. In short, when it came to Nature Magic, they were the true experts.
Therefore, it was natural to use their pelts to make armor liners and coats.
However, such equipment was only useful when the Great Frost had dropped by half. If the Great Frost erupted repeatedly, they could still easily freeze to death.
"Entire army, move out!"
At Li Wei's command, the massive steel portcullis of Liwei Fort's city gate slowly rose. Jocelyn, holding a spear and riding a 5-Star Warhorse, led the charge out. Yes, even the warhorses had warm coats.
Duan Bowen followed closely behind holding the Blazing War Standard. He was also a Chiliarch, but he had only one task: to carry the standard!
This 5-Star quality Blazing War Standard was of the same tier as Alowell's Legion War Flag from back then, capable of storing up to twelve full-army Legion Skills.
It was very badass.
Normally, ordinary fortresses like Fierzway Fortress or Siyuan Keep could be taken in a single charge.
An iron torrent on land was no joke.
Of course, if they encountered an aerial legion, like Gryphon Knights or Wyvern Knights, then it would be useless.
Soon, the Blazing Legion charged out of Liwei Fort and immediately rushed frantically upstream along the frozen Ness River.
Adai transformed into a hundred-meter fierce bird, anchoring the formation ten thousand meters in the sky. Now that the Ness River was frozen, there were almost no conventional forces that could threaten the Blazing Legion. But if the Great Frost suddenly intensified locally, it would be fatal.
So Adai acted as a bodyguard; it could now influence local frost as well.
Following closely behind was the Ice Legion, similarly carrying a 5-Star War Standard capable of storing twelve full-army Legion Skills.
The Ice Legion didn't travel along the riverbed, but walked along the main road.
There was a broad avenue from Liwei Fort to Fierzway Fortress. Even if some places were narrow, they had long been widened by the Supply and Engineering Battalion nine years ago.
These roads were very important.
They concerned the passage of the large army.
And the duo of Thomas and Zhao Xuanxuan would also showcase their full abilities next, clearing paths through mountains and building bridges over water—simply brilliant!
After the Ice Legion passed, Hathaway, Tucker, and A Su led the Ranger Legion trailing at the very back. Among them, Hathaway and Tucker, as War Mages, could also handle sudden outbreaks of the Great Frost, serving the same function as Adai.
This was the normal marching order.
And the abnormal marching order, of course, was the Guard Legion led by Li Wei.
They weren't afraid of the Great Frost; in their peak state, they feared nothing, with their explosive 75% Magic Immunity Effect, and they liked to avoid taking the usual path.
Even if the mountain ridges were steep, covered in ice, and extremely dangerous, there was absolutely no problem.
They didn't need formations or military arrays. With a 'whoosh', they plunged into the mountains, and soon they were nowhere to be seen.
Even the fifty newly joined 3rd-Tier Night Rangers were not the least bit afraid.
Although they weren't considered qualified scouts, the Ranger profession was naturally good at this.
With an average of +18 Perception, where in the vast world could they not go?
Li Wei led the team from the front. As long as they didn't leave a five-kilometer radius from him in a straight line, the legion's buffs would not expire.
The other members of the Guard Legion spread out all over the mountains and plains in squads of five like herding sheep.
In a word: casting a wide net to catch big fish.
No scout could remain indifferent under this kind of intensive search.
Especially led by Li Wei, a top-tier scout with +26 Perception. Once the slightest rustle of wind or grass, or the slightest trace was discovered, there was no other way but to run. Oh, flying wouldn't work either!
As for what if they couldn't catch any big fish? It didn't matter. Grinding Destiny Grids and Experience—let's go, brothers!
Within Li Wei's Guard Legion, there were two combat routes: one was Ranger + Perception + Pure Ranged; the other was Warrior + Blood Burning + Perception + Melee.
The former were Archers, while the latter were much more complex: sword and shield, heavy shield spearmen, heavy greatswords—focusing on flexibility and adaptability. Their motto was: if the environment is complex, we are even more complex.
So grinding these Destiny Grids was actually quite difficult.
Do not pass up any opportunity to grind Destiny Grids!
On this side, Li Wei led the Guard Legion in a dragnet search across every mountain and canyon.
On the other side, the Blazing Legion had already arrived at Fierzway Fortress, but it had long since been emptied of people. The Frost Duke was no longer there, and no one knew where he had taken his Ice Legion. Over the past eight years, he had truly accumulated enough dividends of the era. According to the news occasionally brought back by Adai, it had seen this Ice Legion fighting and slaughtering 7-Star, or even 8-Star Ice Creatures more than once.
It could only be said that everyone was working hard to develop; no one was staying in place.
And how many more trump cards like this did Tyrant William have?
He was a King who had lived for a thousand years.
The Blazing Legion quickly stationed themselves in Fierzway Fortress.
Soon, the Ice Legion and the Ranger Legion also arrived and stationed themselves one after another. Although they were out farming the wilds, logistics and support could not be relaxed. Building small bridgeheads in this weather was a bit extravagant, but what if they merely opened up a spacious main road?
Heading north from Fierzway Fortress, there were no suitable roads on either side of the Ness River because the terrain caused the Ness River to carve the mountains on both sides into towering cliffs.
Occasionally, there would even be massive waterfalls with huge drops, making navigation impossible.
Therefore, carving out an extra road became very important.
"Roar!"
Thomas let out a loud roar, transforming into a Stone Giant over thirty meters tall. Compared to ten years ago, he was not only taller but also more robust.
His first Profession Card had been enhanced to Triple Rare, and his second and third Profession Cards were enhanced to Double Rare. His Destiny Grids were all maxed at 200. At the same time, because he primarily added to Dullness, the effect was quite considerable. His Dullness had now reached 38 points!
With such strength, it was basically guaranteed that today's Thomas could no longer be hacked down by that 4th-Tier Warrior from back then. He even had enough capability to put up a fight if he encountered something like that Ancient Imperial Magic Zombie.
Because his Stonemason and Miner professional Destiny Grids were both maxed out at 200, the resulting Destiny Resonance even formed a new layer of Heavy Stone Armor on the exterior of his Stone Giant transformation!
Two massive fists, like super-giant iron hammers, unleashed a barrage of frantic attacks on the mountain peak blocking the way ahead. The earth shook and the mountains trembled. Then, Zhao Xuanxuan similarly wielded her Great Iron Hammer, unleashing frantic attacks. After five or six such continuous rounds, taking less than ten minutes in total, a mountain ridge hundreds of meters high blocking the way collapsed with a crash, and all the rocks were smashed into fragments of various sizes.
Of course, the two of them were also exhausted and reverted to their original forms.
Next, the soldiers of the Ice Legion and the artisans of the Supply and Engineering Battalion quickly stepped forward to collect these seemingly useless but actually very useful stones. In just less than half a day, a broad main road, over a thousand meters wide, was formed.
Afterward, Thomas and Zhao Xuanxuan continued to clear the path. In fact, as long as they didn't encounter those hundreds-of-meters-high mountain ridges, they could mostly just go around them.
But the newly opened road had to guarantee the passage of ten warhorses riding side by side.
As for whether the road surface was flat or not, there weren't strict demands, because even for a 4-Star Warhorse, relying on the master's superb horsemanship, it could easily gallop across at high speeds.
That's right, this road would pierce through the entire Locke Mountains, leading directly to the Dusong Plains in the north.
This was originally Falcon Karl's grand plan.
Once it was opened up, Liwei Fort could make a fortune just from collecting tolls.
Not to mention the other strategic advantages.
Yes, this was how Li Wei liked it: even when farming the wilds, one had to be steady and secure.
Just like this, the Blazing Legion provided strategic suppression advantages from the rear. Whoever dared to charge forward would be directly suppressed by twelve Legion Skills with an effective attack range of one kilometer; whoever they hit would die.
And the Ice Legion became the road construction engineering legion.
On average, the daily road construction progress could easily reach ten kilometers.
As for Li Wei, he was leading the Guard Legion darting around the periphery of this road—