Ding Dong: "Hey guys, have you cleared out all the beasts in the wilds yet? The first phase is ending in a few days. If you haven't, you'll get pincered by monsters and beasts!"
Zhang Lv: "Cleared them out a long time ago. I've been so bored just sitting in my territory these last few days!"
Ji Wanjing: "I'm done too. I'm teaching my subjects how to play mahjong and planning to host a tournament!"
Zhang Lv: "You can even do that?"
Ding Dong: "You didn't know? I've already hosted a few. It's just that the Beastmen are a bit stupid, so playing with them is no fun!"
Zhang Lv: "Uh... -_-||! Now I remember, my subjects don't have hands, so they can't play mahjong. So annoying! ╰_╯!"
Ding Dong: "I've told you they're Birdmen, but you're so stubborn, insisting they're Angels. What kind of Angel doesn't have hands?"
Zhang Lv: "Bullshit! My subjects ARE Angels!!! They just haven't finished evolving."
Zhang Lv: "And another thing, you bastard, I'm not done with you yet!"
Zhang Lv: "You said your territory had beast-eared girls, but when I went over to check, they were all burly and thick-waisted! It made me lose my appetite for days!!!"
...
Lin Yu: "I'm so envious you guys have subjects with innate combat abilities. Unlike me, I can only take my few tamed wolves to sneak around looking for treasure chests. I don't dare try to clear out the beasts in the wilds."
Ding Dong: "Ah, Younger Brother Lin, don't worry. I mean, you have defense towers in your territory. Just be cautious when the time comes, and you should be able to pass the first phase with no problem."
Zhang Lv: "Right! Right! Right! Younger Brother Lin, when the time comes, just have your wolves kite the attacking monsters around in circles and let your defense towers hit them. It'll definitely work."
Ji Wanjing: "It's true. I heard the monsters in the first phase's evaluation are all a bit stupid. Zhang the Second's dumb plan will absolutely work!"
Zhang Lv: "You bastard! Are you trying to say I'm stupid?"
Lin Yu: "Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll give some serious thought to my strategy."
Ji Wanjing: "Who's the fool calling names?"
Zhang Lv: "The fool is calling you names!"
Zhang Lv: "??? Wait, something's not right!"
Ji Wanjing: "Hahaha, what a dummy!"
...
Lin Yu watched the regional channel's conversation go off the rails. Shrugging, as he was used to it, he continued to lurk and read the gossip, occasionally surfacing to say a few words and offer his own opinion.
Over the past few days, he had become quite familiar with the active members of the chat group.
Most of them were scions of wealthy families from Longhu City. They had all entered the Lord Contest with various treasures, and their Lord's Hearts and Talents were at least Blue-grade from the start.
According to their conversations, there was even someone with a Gold-grade Lord's Heart and Talent among this year's contestants. However, they never mentioned a name. Judging by their guarded language, the person likely had a powerful background.
In the chat group, Lin Yu's persona was that of a lucky commoner who had chanced upon a Blue-grade Lord's Heart. He had defense towers but no barracks, and for exploration and combat, he relied entirely on a few wolves he had been fortunate enough to tame.
Since he posed no threat, showed some potential, and was reasonably respectful toward them, this group of rich kids had accepted him as one of their own—a sort of hype man. This allowed him to gather information he couldn't have found otherwise, as well as some juicy gossip (which was an excellent cure for boredom).
After the people in the chat group logged off one by one to sleep, Lin Yu withdrew his consciousness as well.
Looking at the information about his territory within his Lord's Heart, he let out a resigned sigh.
'Sigh... It's so boring! I want to fight, but I'm not even given the chance.'
Thanks to the World Tree's "Vigorous Growth" trait, the tree had already turned the entire ten-square-kilometer novice continent into his territory yesterday. By today, it had even created land from the void, adding over another square kilometer.
Now, the entire continent belonged to him. Under the effects of his territory's "Nature's Sovereign" trait, all the beasts on the novice continent had become part of his domain.
Yesterday, Lin Yu had led his beast pack to scour every inch of the novice continent, collecting all the treasure chests. However, most of them were Green-grade, with the best being only a few Blue-grade chests.
With no Gold-grade treasure chests, Lin Yu naturally didn't run into any more powerful Guardians on par with the Blazing Flame Guardian Brules.
This allowed Lin Yu to easily command his beast pack to eliminate the Treasure Box Guards. (Chests of White-grade and above all have their own guards.)
The previous Gold-grade treasure chest had yielded a building blueprint—[Beast's Nest].
[Name]: Beast's Nest
[Category]: Natural Wonder
[Grade]: Legendary (Gold)
[Prosperity]: 3200
[Description]: A large nest built specifically for beasts. It can house various beast species, which will become subjects of the territory.
[Effect 1]: Beast-type resident capacity +1000, beast reproduction speed +100%, beast growth speed +200%, beast cultivation speed +100%, beast attraction +500%.
[Effect 2]: Adds a new subject type: Fauna.
After the Beast's Nest was built, the beast pack within the territory was finally more than just friendly wild monsters or minions.
Before, it was still possible for the beasts under Lin Yu's command to desert in the middle of a battle.
Afterward, they followed his orders to the letter.
Moreover, they could now level up by killing hostile units (this applied to beasts of White grade or higher).
After clearing out all the Treasure Box Guards, Lin Yu had about twenty level-10 beasts in his territory, Phantom included.
Unfortunately, it seemed the first phase had a level 10 cap. Once they reached it, they could no longer gain any more experience points, no matter what they did.
Yun Qihao: "Hey bosses, I found a Gold-grade treasure chest in a cave! Is there anything I should be careful about?"
A message flashed across the regional chat channel. Seeing the familiar keywords, Lin Yu immediately perked up and paid close attention.
Ding Dong: "Gold-grade treasure chest? Go see if there's a Divine Hall nearby. If there is... tsk tsk~~"
Yun Qihao: "How did you know there would be a Divine Hall?"
Yun Qihao: "I actually did see a Divine Hall on the way here, but I didn't dare go in."
Yun Qihao: "Is something wrong? Don't scare me, boss!"
Ding Dong: "Do you know which god is worshipped in that Divine Hall?"
Yun Qihao: "How would I know? I was too scared to go in."
Lin Yu: "There should be a stone tablet near the Divine Hall. The information you need is on it. Go look for it!"
Yun Qihao: "Thanks, boss, I'll go look now."
Lin Yu grew anxious watching the exchange and couldn't resist chiming in.
Ding Dong: "Oh? Younger Brother Lin, did you find a Gold-grade treasure chest too?"
Lin Yu: "Sigh, don't even talk about it. There was a Guardian by that Divine Hall. After I read the tablet, I didn't dare go pay my respects. I knew it would be useless even if I got the chest, so I just left."
Ding Dong: "You didn't try to defeat the Guardian? You can get the chest that way, too."
Lin Yu: "Brother Ding, you know my situation. I've only got a few wolves under my command. How could I possibly dare to challenge a high-level BOSS?"
Ding Dong: "Right, do you remember which god your Divine Hall belonged to?"
Lin Yu: "I think it was called the God of Wild Hunting."
Ding Dong: "Tsk tsk... You're lucky you didn't go worship. The God of Wild Hunting is on our empire's blacklist of hostile deities."
Ding Dong: "If you'd become his believer, you'd be arrested for sure the moment you got out."
Lin Yu: "It's that much of a setup?"
Ding Dong: "Heh! The Lord Contest is full of traps!
...
Yun Qihao: "Bosses, I found it! It's the Divine Hall of the Goddess of Wisdom and War."
A short while later, Yun Qihao found the stone tablet and hurried to reply in the chat group.
Ding Dong: "You lucky bastard!! She's one of our empire's primary allied deities."
Ding Dong: "Yun Qihao, you've hit the jackpot!"
Ding Dong: "You can go into the Divine Hall to pay your respects, become her believer, and then go get that treasure chest without a worry!"
Yun Qihao: "Boss, you're not messing with me, are you? I'm really putting my trust in you! If I get arrested when I get out, my whole family will have no one left to depend on."
Ding Dong: "Relax, trust me, it'll be fine. Just don't forget to look out for your little bros here when you make it big."
Watching Ding Dong's tone in the chat shift from arrogant to fawning, Lin Yu shook his head and smiled.
'A person's fortunes are truly unpredictable,' he thought. 'One moment you're a nobody, the next you're a god.'
Of course, that was also part of the Lord Contest's appeal.
With that, Lin Yu focused his consciousness back on the regional chat channel.
Lin Yu: "Boss, same here! Since I was the one who provided the info, don't forget your little bro when you make it big!"
...