157: Chapter 157 Silver Tier 3

Winter descended, and the pure white snow covered the entire world, leaving a vast expanse of white everywhere.

This was the second time Lister had seen snow fall since coming to this world; the first time was the Ironthorn Territory Cold Wave.

Compared to the devastation of the Cold Wave, the power of winter was much smaller, but it was still incredibly cold, completely incomparable to the time before winter's arrival.

After many days of construction and development, the Iron Thorn Territory Branch had already gotten onto the right track.

With the mountains, forests, and lakes acting as natural barriers, the town at the core of the territory's base gradually took shape.

The indigenous people who had all been previously incorporated as Serfs totaled over a thousand, providing a much-needed boost to the territory's population needs.

Through Lister's leadership over the past few days, the indigenous people and the purchased Slaves truly realized that the gap between lords was even greater than the gap between humans and dogs.

They could swear to the gods they believed in that a lord who cared so much for his Serfs had never existed before and would never exist in the future.

Lister was not aware of their thoughts; otherwise, he would have certainly been modest, for who knows what the future holds.

As the white snowflakes drifted down, Lister, who had woken up early, went to the newly built training grounds to practice.

Lister did not make Christina get up early to train like him; after all, she was still a child, and the cultivation of Wizardry was different from that of a knight.

While the cultivation of Wizardry also required hard work and familiarity with magic, it relied more on talent and insight.

For example, someone whose talent barely allowed them to step through the door of Wizardry would likely not achieve significant results even after long periods of hard work.

But a highly talented person might suddenly gain an insight on a certain day, at a certain hour, or at a certain moment, and even if they didn't practice much normally, they could quickly become stronger.

This was the reality for Mages and Wizards; there was no fairness to speak of, as the length of your future path was almost predestined the moment you stepped through the door.

Of course, this did not mean that diligent cultivation was unimportant, especially if you had great talent and worked hard.

Then your achievements would likely be even higher, as while effort might not always bring rewards, it would create many more possibilities for success.

Shua! Shua! Shua!

Accompanied by the piercing sound of breaking air, Lister's figure flashed back and forth in the snowy white world, the long spear in his hand like a swimming dragon, dancing freely between heaven and earth.

With every thrust, the surrounding snow was vibrated into dust by the intense energy fluctuations emanating from the spear tip, completely dissipating into the air.

Within a ten-meter radius around him, a vacuum zone was formed where almost no snow could be seen; the moment the spear tip thrust out, space itself rippled slightly.

With a roar, something like a Storm Dragon formed of ice and snow swept across a hundred meters of land and air, leaving behind a scene of devastation.

“Whew, finally silver third tier.”

Lister let out a long breath of hot air tinged with energy, and the snowflakes it touched melted instantly.

Since he advanced to Silver Knight, his cultivation speed had not slowed down; instead, it remained steady and fast, even showing a slight increase.

Not only that, while his knight realm improved, his Flame Cross Slash skill had also successfully broken through to the mastery realm.

It could be said that during this period after arriving at the Iron Thorn Territory Branch, his rate of improvement was the fastest among all the knights.

If there was a regret, it was that his Spearmanship had not yet reached mastery, but he already had a vague feeling that he only needed an opportunity for his Spearmanship to step into the mastery realm.

Besides his own improvement, the progress of Red and the other knights during this time had also been significant.

As for Locke and the others far away in the Ironthorn Territory, he had also learned of their recent cultivation progress through divination.

Red had reached Silver Sixth Rank, Locke had reached Silver Rank 2, and Spartacus, like him, had reached silver third tier, which pleasantly surprised him.

Among them, the one with the greatest improvement was Sejin, who had successfully advanced to Silver Knight.

Consequently, his current forces, excluding himself, now had a total of four Silver Knights, which was definitely considered a very deterrent force in the Western Frontier Territory.

Besides these Silver Knights, the other Bronze rank knights had also made breakthroughs to varying degrees.

Among them, the one who broke through the fastest was still Aier, who reached Bronze Rank 7.

This breakthrough speed had completely surpassed that of many veteran knights who had followed Lister for a long time, such as Dewey, which could be said to be quite unreasonable.

Overall, after coming to the Iron Thorn Territory Branch, Lister's forces had experienced an explosive increase in strength.

However, while the quality had improved, the quantity was still lacking, so he had been busy with the matter of increasing the population during this time.

His method for increasing the population was to steal—no, incorporate—the masterless indigenous people from those Pioneer Territories that did not yet have lords into his own territory.

According to his instructions, the knights and Soldiers sent out to find indigenous people would first distribute large amounts of food and resources to gain their favor.

Then, through speeches that “painted a big cake,” they gave them a new hope for their future lives.

Thus, with the added pressure of winter, even if those indigenous people still had reservations, they chose a future where they might survive over one where they would likely freeze to death.

Therefore, a large number of indigenous people had been pouring into the Iron Thorn Territory Branch from all directions during this time.

And when they arrived here, they found that what those knights and Soldiers had said was not a lie at all; they could even receive wages.

This unimaginable luxury had become a complete reality under Lister's leadership.

If the weather hadn't been too cold and unsuitable for ordinary people to travel long distances, the good reputation of Lister and the Iron Thorn Territory Branch would have spread long ago.

It could be said that Lister had now completely become a god in the hearts of these Serfs, holding a higher status than the gods they originally believed in.

After finishing his morning practice, Lister called Red over and instructed, “Red, it's winter now. I feel like there might be some unusual movement from the magical beasts in the Tianping Mountain Range and the Blackwood Forest recently.”

“After breakfast, immediately gather half of the knights. We will go on a patrol to intimidate them.”

“As you command.” Red replied respectfully.

“Kuro, you can't escape!”

A wild shout rang out in the snowy world, filled with a terrifying bloodlust.

Accompanied by the rapid “clatter clatter” of horse hooves, a large number of men dressed in animal skin coats and holding giant axes drove their warhorses to chase after several figures on horseback ahead.

This was Art Mack, the military commander of the Black Snake Tribe, one of the tribal forces on the outskirts of the Western Frontier.

His body was exceptionally burly; even sitting on horseback, one could feel his sturdiness, and the warhorse beneath him seemed a size too small.

At this moment, his unrestrained laughter was like a death-knell from hell, constantly haunting the figures fleeing ahead.

Facing the pursuit of Art and his men, Kuro Jacob, the youngest son of the Black Snake Tribe leader, was filled with terror, his mind momentarily blank.

Although it was mid-winter, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and fear made his heart pound violently.

Everything had happened far too quickly!

So fast that not a single person—not him, his father, mother, or siblings—had time to react.

By the time he did react, he was the only one left alive, and all of this was because—

Art had betrayed them!

At a banquet a day ago, Art had suddenly led his personal guards to revolt.

He first killed Kuro's father, the leader, with a single stroke, then his shocked mother and siblings.

Kuro had barely managed to escape the tribe under the cover of the Leader's Personal Guards.

But Art had no intention of letting him go, chasing him with his personal guards for an entire night without giving up.

Riding on his horse, Kuro desperately wanted to turn back and ask, “Art, why did you rebel?”

Clearly, in his memory, Art had been so fond of him and so loyal to his father.

But the Art at the banquet last night was like a demon from hell, so strange and bloodthirsty.

Kuro didn't understand why a person could have such a massive change, to the point where they didn't seem like the same person at all.

Were his previous memories all just a dream?

He asked himself, but that was clearly impossible; reality was reality.

Though the whistling of the cold wind was piercing in his ears, the bloodthirsty shouts coming from behind clearly drowned it out.

Kuro knew that Art's desire to kill him had reached an extreme, just like a magical beast or wild animal that had discovered its prey and would not stop until it was caught.

Therefore, even though he had a hundred questions in his heart, he didn't dare slow his horse down to ask, nor did he even dare to look back.

He was afraid that the moment he turned to see Art, his anger fueled by hatred would cause him to stop and fight recklessly.

Even if the outcome of such an action was certain, once a person loses their reason, what would they care about?

While suppressing the anger in his heart, he had only one thought in his mind: to escape from Art's pursuit.

Only by surviving could he avenge his father, mother, and siblings; otherwise, why bother running?

But while his will to live was strong, Art's desire to kill him was equally intense.

To cut the grass without removing the roots is to invite it to grow again when the spring breeze blows!

As a military commander, Art understood this principle very well, so no matter the cost, he had to kill Kuro.

Even if it meant making a deal with a demon.

The moment the thought arose in his mind, Art's pupils were instantly filled with crimson, and killing intent surged through his mind like a tide.

“Kill!”

Accompanied by the sound of the wind whistling past his ears, a low shout erupted from Art's mouth, and his sturdy body instantly swelled in size.

The Snake Totem on his back beneath his animal skin coat was instantly filled with a dense blood-Red light, and a large amount of Red energy surged out, spreading throughout his body.

With a “shua” sound, Art suddenly swung his war axe, and a blood-Red slash filled with explosive energy particles shot toward Kuro and the others ahead.

The ground it passed over was overturned by the escaping energy fluctuations, and booming sounds echoed in the air.

In an instant, the energy slash appeared behind Kuro.

Kuro, who had the strength of a Low-Tier Bronze knight, couldn't react at all; just as he was about to be hit.

The old guard captain who had been protecting him suddenly leaped behind him, his giant axe swinging forward with a roar.

With a “boom,” the blood-Red energy slash exploded, and half of the old guard captain's body was ravaged by the rampaging energy shockwave, as if it had been scorched by fire.

“Grandpa Pierce!” Kuro shouted in shock, his pupils dilating, the thick bloodshot veins in his eyes clearly visible.

“Don't stop, run!” Pierce shouted, sweeping his axe toward the ground, sending several small stones flying to strike Kuro's warhorse.

Hiss—!

In pain, the warhorse let out a shrill neigh and galloped forward.

Seeing this, the other guards wanted to help Pierce, but they were driven back by Pierce's shout and could only follow behind Kuro.

“Pierce, you're seeking death!”

All of this happened so fast that Art couldn't stop it in time and could only roar in fury.

Looking at Art, who was riding toward him like a demon god, Pierce let out a great shout, and an identical Black Totem on his back lit up with a piercing black light.

Burning his entire life force, Pierce obtained a powerful strength bestowed by the totem.

Even if this power lasted for only a short time, it was enough to create more time for Kuro and the others to escape.

Boom!

With a loud sound of metal clashing, Art and Pierce engaged in battle.

Art knew very well that if he didn't kill Pierce, he wouldn't be able to take a single step forward in pursuit.

Having gained the power of the totem, Pierce was like a god of war, every strike accompanied by immense force, constantly pushing back the attacking Art.

But even so, Pierce did not gain any real advantage, at most causing Art some insignificant wounds.

The battle did not last long; with the “puchi” sound of spraying blood, the Black Snake Tribe's famous guard captain, Pierce, was struck by Art's giant axe, which slashed down diagonally from his left shoulder.

With a “thud,” Pierce's heavy and sturdy body fell heavily into the cold snow, his dark Red blood staining the pure white ground.

“Humph! A stubborn old fool who doesn't know his place.”

A disdainful sneer came from Art's mouth; without a second look at Pierce, he loudly ordered, “Everyone, continue the chase with me.”

“Leader Art, further ahead is the boundary of the Pedan Kingdom's Western Frontier Territory. If we intrude like this, isn't it—”

The warrior beside him didn't finish, but anyone could hear the meaning in his words.

Glancing at him indifferently, Art said coldly, “Do you think I'm afraid of those useless second-generation lords of the kingdom?”

“No, your subordinate wouldn't dare,” the warrior said in fear.

With a cold snort, Art didn't bother to argue with him further and gave a few loud instructions.

Amidst the falling snow, the group once again set off in pursuit of Kuro and the others.