91: God's invitation and the value of ants

The establishment of the Great Qin Empire was like a heavy hammer smashing into a calm lake, causing ripples everywhere.

On the World Channel, the SSS-tier Lords who had been observing were forced to take sides.

Some chose to embrace Great Qin, seeking protection.

Others, sensing danger, began to secretly conspire, attempting to form an alliance that could contend with it.

For a time, the entire First Sequence Battlefield was rife with undercurrents; beneath the facade of peace, the drama of alliances and rivalries had already begun.

Lin Feng was oblivious to all of this.

He was just waiting.

Waiting for those self-important prey to walk right into his trap.

“Ding.”

A soft sound, and a private message popped up.

The sender's ID was none other than the currently most prominent Great Qin · First Emperor.

Great Qin · First Emperor: “Heaven's Choice, I have noticed you.”

“To be able to emerge from the brutal District 8888, you are qualified to stand by my side.”

“Join my Great Qin, and I will grant you the title of ‘Lord of Wu’an,’ second only to me and above all others. How about it?”

His tone was not an invitation, but rather an imperial decree from a throne, filled with the condescension of bestowing a reward.

Lin Feng could even imagine the arrogant, disdainful face on the other side of the screen.

He did not reply.

He simply, unhurriedly, maneuvered his Holy Phoenix into a more comfortable position.

Golden sunlight spilled onto its burning wings, reflecting a sacred and brilliant radiance.

After a long while, he slowly typed out a reply.

“I am above all others.”

Click, send.

On the other end, Xianyang Plain.

Inside a massive city cast entirely from black iron, the First Emperor, clad in a black dragon robe, watched the seven short words, and the smile on his face froze inch by inch.

Beside him, the Lord with the ID Li Si bowed and asked, “Your Majesty, how did that Heaven's Choice reply?”

The First Emperor’s face darkened, and he slammed his hand on the armrest of his throne.

“Arrogant!”

The murderous intent in his eyes almost materialized, but was then forcibly suppressed.

During peacetime, war could not be declared.

He took a deep breath, and his fingertip heavily tapped the screen.

Great Qin · First Emperor: “An innocent man is guilty only for possessing a treasure. A single person’s empire is too easy to collapse. I hope that in seven days, you will still be as resolute as you are now.”

After sending this threat, he immediately screenshotted the chat log and threw it into the Great Qin Empire’s guild channel, attaching a cold comment.

“This man is stubborn and ignorant of fate. Once the peacetime ends, he will be the first soul sacrificed beneath the iron hooves of my Great Qin.”

Inside the guild, the newly promoted “Grand Generals” immediately became agitated, eagerly requesting to fight, clamoring to make Heaven's Choice understand his place.

Lin Feng was completely indifferent to all of this.

He closed the private chat, extended a finger, and pressed the “Create Guild” button.

Guild Name…

He pondered for a moment and typed two characters.

Celestial Court.

Simple, direct, and arrogant enough.

Immediately after, he wrote only five words in the guild recruitment announcement.

“Celestial Court, only recruits monsters.”

As soon as this unconventional announcement was released, it immediately caused a stir on the World Channel.

One Punch, One Sobbing Monster: “Celestial Court? Holy crap, this name is even more arrogant than First Emperor!”

White Whore in the Waves: “Only recruits monsters? What does that mean? Does he think SSS-tier aren't even worthy of being called monsters?”

Saint Hall · Caesar: “Just a clown seeking attention.”

Most people dismissed it as a joke.

Under the soaring prestige of the Great Qin Empire, a guild established by a lone commander was like a candle in a storm, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

Lin Feng never expected to recruit anyone with that announcement.

What he wanted were not those sycophantic mediocrities.

But truly unique… kindred spirits.

Time passed.

Night, quietly fell.

System Announcement: “There are 10 minutes remaining until the Void Demon invasion. All Lords, please prepare your defenses!”

World Channel Friendly Reminder: “This invasion includes Corrosion Swarm and Heavy Armored Cave Demons. Please pay attention to anti-air and ground armor-piercing unit configurations!”

As soon as the announcement was made, the World Channel was instantly filled with lamentations.

I Just Want to Farm: “We’re doomed, we’re doomed! My arrow towers can’t even pierce wild boar hide, how am I supposed to fight heavy armored demons?!”

Cute Bunny: “Wuwuwu… who can save me? My fortress is on a lonely little hill, with no one around, I’m so scared!”

Panic spread like a plague.

Even the Lords who had joined large guilds were equally worried.

Their defenses were far from complete, and facing the “high-intensity” demons specifically emphasized by the system, no one felt confident.

Just then.

Lin Feng’s ID, once again, lit up on the World Channel.

No lengthy discourse, no recruitmentdeclaration.

He simply shared a five-second, looping video.

The scene was aOverlooking from an extremely high altitude.

A ferocious giant dragon, composed entirely of burning volcanic rock, was circling above a simulated mountain range.

It simply, lazily, opened its mouth.

A dark red, lava-like dragon's breath, like a scorching plow, furrowed the earth.

Rocks were silent, vegetation turned to ash.

The next second, the outline of the entire mountain began to melt, twist, and finally completely collapse, turning into a crimson lava lake bubbling with poisonous gas.

Below the video, a line of small text was added.

Heaven's Choice: “Celestial Court Guildstation, seeking development. Sincerely recruiting neighbors, to share a piece of tranquility. Requirements: Must have special units, special defensive towers, be able to survive and not die easily. Regular tribute payment grants protection.”

This message caused the entire World Channel to fall silent.

Dead silence.

After ten seconds of dead silence, there was an explosion of incredulous exclamations, like a volcanic eruption!

One Punch, One Sobbing Monster: “I… I didn’t see wrong, did I? What kind of dragon is that? One breath, and it melted a mountain?!”

White Whore in the Waves: “Is this seriously a player’s unit? This isn’t a World BOSS? This isn’t scientific!”

I Just Want to Farm: “Neighbors… he means, as long as I move my fortress next to his, and regularly offer him tribute, I can get his protection?! Holy crap! Big shot, my coordinates are XXX, YYY, please take me! I’ll be your ox and horse!”

Troll: “You’re thinking too much, if you don’t have anything useful, why would he look at you?!”

The tide of opinion on the World Channel instantly reversed.

All the previous contempt and mockery towards Heaven's Choice seemed so pale and ridiculous at this moment.

What Great Qin Empire, what Saint Hall Knights, they wouldn't offer sanctuary when danger struck.

This was true power!

Lin Feng’s guild application list instantly exploded, with the number exceeding five digits in just one minute.

He glanced at it; most were useless individuals who didn't even have A-tier talents.

He wasn't interested in these opportunists.

What he wanted were “monsters.”

“Monsters” that could bring about a qualitative change in his fusion.

“Ding.”

Another private message notification.

This time, the sender’s ID was just one character.

Yi.

Yi: “Interesting. Can your dragon withstand one of my arrows?”

Lin Feng looked at the message, and a slight curve finally appeared on his lips.

The fish had taken the bait.

He replied with three words.

“Come, try it.”