39: Chapter 39 The Heart of a Lord, Level 3 Territory

With a single strike of the hammer, the city gate that Raymond had spent a fortune to build was smashed to pieces.

The power of this hammer strike did not stop there.

The earth trembled violently as the residual force of the Ground-Pounding Hammer propagated through the ground and the city walls.

The city wall looked as though it had been hit head-on by a massive cannonball, covered in countless shocking, massive cracks. The nearest section of the wall collapsed directly, shattered by the sheer force.

A vast number of cracks also spread across the ground beneath their feet.

“What kind of freakish hero is this? What kind of freakish hero is this?!”

Raymond was going completely mad.

He had never expected that while Zhong Yue possessed terrifying defense, he also had such breathtaking, mountain-lifting strength.

Now that the city gate was breached, that freakish hero was walking into the city, and the territory was in imminent danger.

“Kunta, quick, stop him!”

“Everyone else, charge! Get up there, all of you!”

“Drive him back! Kill him!”

Raymond roared desperately.

Caring about nothing else, he immediately ordered his heroes and troops to charge forward.

Kunta was an alien hero under Raymond's command. He was a stone golem known for his defensive capabilities, and he was the solid fortress Raymond trusted the most.

However, this stone golem with astonishing defense was incredibly fragile before Zhong Yue. As the long-handled giant hammer fell, his body was instantly shattered into pieces, and the other heroes and troops were as fragile as paper.

Tier 3 attributes, Perfect-grade, and a full set of Rare-grade equipment.

It was no exaggeration to say that Zhong Yue was invincible at this moment. There was no unit in Raymond's territory that could threaten him. In the entire First Source Sea, the only ones who could truly suppress him were those Tier 3 Epic-grade heroes.

Even if a Tier 2 Epic-grade or Tier 3 Perfect-grade hero came, who was stronger would only be known after a fight.

Raymond was just an ordinary lord. There were very few Rare-grade entities in his territory, let alone Perfect-grade ones, and they were all Tier 2. Before Lin Xiao's army, they were undoubtedly powerless.

While Zhong Yue went on a killing spree in the front, Tu Lie in the back had long been unable to hold himself back. Upon receiving Lin Xiao's signal, he immediately roared and leaped onto the city wall.

Wielding his mountain-splitting axe, he began to slaughter everyone in sight.

Tu Lie moved as if through an empty field. Defensive buildings collapsed one after another, and not a single person could withstand even a single blow from him.

With a light leap, Lin Xiao also arrived atop the city wall.

He did not make any further moves.

“It's over.”

There was no hard struggle, nor any deadlock. From the moment they entered this territory, it had been an overwhelming onslaught, easily crushing Raymond's army and defenses.

“I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this!”

Raymond's eyes were completely bloodshot.

He had already replaced several waves of his army.

With a population of 10,000 in a Rank 2 territory, excluding the slots for common citizens, Raymond's army only numbered a few hundred in total.

Once the defense System collapsed, this handful of people was completely insufficient to stop the slaughter.

Raymond could only continuously use Hero Tokens and troop talismans to replenish his army. However, the massive number of casualties in such a short time caused the army's loyalty to plummet. The surviving heroes and troops lost all morale and stopped obeying his orders.

Even for the newly summoned heroes and troops, their loyalty was not high either.

When heroes and troops were summoned, they would receive information about the territory and be influenced by the loyalty of the other heroes and troops, leading to a scattered military spirit and low morale.

This was also why many lords with deep foundations would grow weaker the more they fought.

Raymond did not care about all that. He would rather send his subordinates to their deaths and waste Hero Tokens and troop talismans than let Lin Xiao benefit. He even wanted to send his common citizens up to die.

Swoosh!

A streak of arrow light pierced through the air, impaling the chest of the hidden Raymond and ending his madness.

[Battle ended. You have won this invasion battle. Beginning settlement.]

[You have obtained a War Chest (Gold).]

[You have slain the hostile lord. You have obtained the item 'Raymond's Legacy'.]

[Do you wish to destroy the opponent's territory?]

The System prompt rang in Lin Xiao's ears.

Destroying another person's territory offered a chance to obtain a blueprint of a certain building within that territory, a certain resource point, or even a piece of land.

If not destroyed, nothing would be gained.

The territory would be devoured by the Chaos Source Sea on its own.

“Destroy territory.”

Lin Xiao did not hesitate. What a joke, why would he refuse something obtained for free?

As for not rushing to make a choice and instead plundering Raymond's territory first?

How many resources could a lord like Raymond possibly have? At most, they could mine some ore or bring back some basic resources. It was too much of a waste of time and made little sense.

For Lin Xiao, seizing the time to enhance his own territory's strength was the absolute priority.

[Territory destruction countdown: 30, 29, 28...]

At this point, the invasion was over, and the space-time fluctuations had calmed down. It was now possible to choose to return to the territory.

“Return to territory.”

As soon as he spoke, Lin Xiao and the others instantly vanished from the spot, returning to where they had started.

[You have obtained a building blueprint: Heavy Turret (Rare)]

The 30-second countdown quickly ended, and the loot automatically entered his inventory.

“Not bad luck.”

Lin Xiao nodded. That Heavy Turret was undoubtedly the most valuable defensive building in Raymond's territory, and its power was extremely formidable. Although it posed no threat to Zhong Yue, it was still a significant threat to the Black Armor Soldierss.

If Lin Xiao hadn't destroyed it in advance and instead let it fire at will, perhaps a few Black Armor Soldierss would have fallen.

He hadn't expected to luckily obtain it through the random selection.

[You have obtained a Lords Heart.]

“Finally got it.”

Hearing the System prompt, Lin Xiao's spirits instantly lifted. Aside from revenge, wasn't his primary purpose in invading Raymond to obtain this Lords Heart?

Raymond was also a Tier 2 lord. By killing him and destroying his territory, one could obtain a Lords Heart.

It was worth mentioning that the Lords Heart was not some sort of physical item. Strictly speaking, it was a form of proof and qualification required to upgrade to a higher Rank territory.

Once this proof and qualification were obtained, killing more lords in the future would not result in duplicate drops.

Therefore, there was no possibility of suppressing one's Rank to farm multiple Lords Hearts.

“Everything is ready. Upgrade to Rank 3 territory immediately!”

Lin Xiao opened the territory panel, found the upgrade button that had appeared, and pressed it hard.

Without a single shred of hesitation.

Not rushing to upgrade, and instead using the cultivation resources at hand to properly raise the strength of his heroes and troops, and only upgrading to a Rank 3 territory after gaining more power?

Lin Xiao scoffed at such an idea.

Using cultivation resources now would be a true waste.

After all, most of the troops in the territory would face additional resistance if they continued to Cultivate, making their cultivation yield half the result with twice the effort.

It was too wasteful.

It was far better to immediately upgrade to a Rank 3 territory. Once the upper limit was unlocked, they would no longer encounter any extra resistance during cultivation. The same cultivation resources would make them even stronger, allowing Lin Xiao to quickly establish a firm foothold among Rank 3 lords. Then, he could sustain war with war, secure more investments from the Jinshi Chamber of Commerce and the Lord Association, and rise rapidly.

This was the most correct choice.