35: Chapter 35: Territory Teleportation Array! Cross-server players are scrambling to join!

The figure of the Black Rock Lord scrambling to escape was still visible on the shared view in the territory channel.

The players' laughter nearly blew the walls of the Dawn Territory down.

Lin Chen withdrew his gaze and tapped his fingertips lightly on the Lord's Scepter.

The Demon Lord Core was embedded at the top of the scepter, with black mist swirling, and an endless stream of abyssal energy surged into his body.

[System Prompt: Dawn Territory has unlocked the "Territory Teleportation Array" function. Do you wish to consume 5000 Magic Crystals and 1000 Rare Materials to activate the Primary Teleportation Array?]

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed: "Activate."

[System Prompt: Primary Territory Teleportation Array under construction. Countdown: 3 minutes.]

The ground shook. In the center of the main city plaza, a circle of stone arrays engraved with abyssal runes slowly emerged.

Black magic crystals were embedded in the rune nodes, emitting a faint glow.

"What's that? A new building?"

King of Hardcore Gamer 888 rushed out of the mine carrying a pickaxe, with half a magic crystal still hanging on it.

Strong Guy patted his shoulder: "Didn't you see the system prompt? It's a teleportation array! No more running until your legs break to cross maps from now on!"

Rookie Pecking King squatted at the edge of the teleportation array and reached out to poke a rune.

Zzzzt! A faint electric current shot up his fingertip. He instantly pulled his hand back, wincing: "Damn! This thing is electrified!"

Archer Xiao La Ji leaned over and teased with a smile: "That's what you get for being handsy. This is a teleportation array, not your bed at home!"

Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

[System Prompt: Primary Territory Teleportation Array construction complete! You can bind 10 surrounding Tier 3 territories and 1 Tier 2 territory, unlocking cross-server temporary teleportation permissions (lasting 24 hours).]

A red system announcement directly flooded the entire server.

[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to Dawn Territory for unlocking cross-server teleportation permissions. Within 24 hours, all players can temporarily teleport to Dawn Territory!]

[Server-wide Announcement: Dawn Territory has opened "Cross-server Recruitment for Residency." Meet the contribution requirements to settle permanently!]

The players exploded instantly.

The server-wide public chat was instantly flooded.

"Dawn Territory? Is that the territory that wiped out the Epic-level demon tide?"

"Cross-server teleportation? I want to go check it out! I heard they have magic crystal equipment there!"

"Are there any big shots willing to carry me? I'm a total newbie, please let me cling to your thigh!"

Lin Chen opened the territory permission panel and made quick adjustments.

"Cross-server players entering must accept territory rules: malicious PK is prohibited, and contributions from mining and monster hunting will be calculated uniformly."

The Skeleton Steward bowed and replied: "Lord, it has been synchronized to the teleportation array verification system."

The first cross-server player instantly appeared in the teleportation array.

It was a petite mage wearing a coarse cloth robe, ID: "Newbie Mage Little Dumpling".

As soon as she stood steady, she was startled by the scene before her.

The towering Tier 2 main city walls, the smoking Abyssal Magic Crystal Mine, the bustling players, and the elven archers patrolling on the city walls.

"This... is this a territory? Not a main city?"

Little Dumpling widened her eyes, barely able to hold onto the wooden staff in her hand.

Strong Guy walked over carrying a magic crystal battle axe and grinned: "Welcome to Dawn. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me!"

"Thank you, Big Shot!" Little Dumpling quickly thanked him, "I heard there's magic crystal equipment here, is that true?"

"Would that be fake?" Strong Guy patted the magic crystal heavy armor on his body, "See this? The Lord made it, stats are maxed out!"

[System Prompt: Cross-server player "Newbie Mage Little Dumpling" has moved into Dawn Territory and obtained temporary resident status.]

Immediately after, the second, the third, the tenth...

The light of the teleportation array flickered continuously as cross-server players poured in like a tide.

In just ten minutes, the number of players in Dawn Territory soared from two thousand to five thousand.

"Stop shoving! Don't step on my feet!"

"Who stole my teleportation spot? I just clicked confirm!"

"Dawn Territory is way too rich! Can you even pick up Tier 3 materials off the ground?"

Lin Chen stood at the top of the tower, watching the surging number of players, and opened the Lord's panel.

[Territory Player Count: 5218 / 2500 (Temporary Status)]

[Current Recruit Limit for Permanent Residents: 1000 (Abyssal Conqueror title bonus)]

His eyes turned cold, and he issued an order to the territory channel: "Activate the permanent resident recruitment assessment. It will consist of three categories: mining efficiency, monster hunting points, and defense contribution. The top 1000 will unlock permanent residency rights!"

[System Prompt: Dawn Territory permanent resident assessment has started! Assessment duration: 24 hours, assessment leaderboard updates in real-time.]

The players exploded instantly.

"Assessment? I like it! Let strength do the talking!"

"1000 spots? Charge! I'm going to settle down permanently!"

King of Hardcore Gamer 888 threw his pickaxe onto the ground: "Mining is my specialty! I've reserved one of these spots!"

Rookie Pecking King, however, had a worried look on his face and grabbed Archer Xiao La Ji's arm: "It's over. I'm bad at mining and bad at monster hunting. I'll definitely be at the bottom of this assessment!"

Archer Xiao La Ji patted his shoulder: "What are you afraid of? Come with me to the East Gate to grind monsters; points go up fast there!"

Lin Chen didn't stay idle; he opened the Abyssal Shop and exchanged for ten sets of "Intermediate Magic Crystal Forging Blueprints."

[System Prompt: Consumed 2000 Magic Crystals to exchange for 10 Intermediate Magic Crystal Forging Blueprints.]

He threw the blueprints to the skeleton craftsmen in the forging area: "Forge the intermediate magic crystal equipment with full effort. Prioritize supply to the top 100 on the assessment leaderboard."

"As you command, Lord!"

The skeleton craftsmen immediately got to work, and the firelight from the forging furnaces illuminated half the territory.

Just then, the light of the teleportation array suddenly became blinding.

A figure clad in golden armor walked out slowly.

ID: "Iron-Blooded God of War", with the title "Thunder Territory Lord" above his head, Level 7.

Behind him followed five hundred players clad in heavy armor, well-equipped and aggressive.

Iron-Blooded God of War swept a glance over the Dawn Territory with disdain in his eyes and said to the players beside him: "This is Dawn Territory? It looks just so-so. To be able to win against an Epic-level demon tide, isn't it just luck?"

He intentionally activated the server-wide loudspeaker, and his voice spread throughout the entire Dawn Territory.

The players exploded instantly.

"Iron-Blooded God of War? The Lord of Thunder Territory? Daring to come to our turf and act arrogant?"

"Is a Level 7 Lord something special? Our Lord took down an Epic-level BOSS at Level 6!"

Strong Guy immediately led the heavy armor squad to surround them, holding his magic crystal battle axe horizontally: "This is Dawn Territory, watch your mouth!"

Iron-Blooded God of War sneered and waved his hand.

[System Prompt: Thunder Territory Lord Iron-Blooded God of War has initiated a "Territory Challenge" against Dawn Territory Lord Lin Chen. Challenge content: Mine Dispute, do you accept?]

Lin Chen leaped down from the tower and landed in front of Iron-Blooded God of War, less than ten meters away.

He planted the Lord's Scepter on the ground, surrounded by black mist.

Iron-Blooded God of War looked at Lin Chen, the corners of his mouth curling up: "Lin Chen, I heard you have an Epic-level magic crystal mine? Dare to compete? Whoever can mine the most magic crystals from the mine within one hour gets the mine!"

"Are you worthy?"

Lin Chen said indifferently.

This one sentence made Iron-Blooded God of War's face turn livid instantly.

The players behind him immediately erupted.

"The Lord has been insulted! Take him down!"

"Daring to snatch our mine? Tired of living!"

Newbie Mage Little Dumpling gripped her staff tightly and muttered: "This Iron-Blooded God of War, did he get water in his brain?"

Rookie Pecking King leaned over and added with a smile: "Not just water, I'm afraid his brain was chewed on by an abyssal monster!"

Iron-Blooded God of War shouted angrily: "Lin Chen! Do you dare to accept? If not, just obediently hand over the mine!"

Lin Chen's eyes turned cold, and he raised his hand to open the challenge panel.

"Accepted. But I'm changing the rules."

"Within one hour, not only will we compete on mining, but also on defending the mine. Your people will mine, my people will defend. Whoever can mine until the end gets the mine."

Iron-Blooded God of War's eyes flickered, then he sneered: "Fine! Let's do it your way! I want to see if your people can actually defend it!"

[System Prompt: Dawn Territory Lord Lin Chen and Thunder Territory Lord Iron-Blooded God of War have reached an agreement for the Mine Dispute. Match duration: 1 hour. Match area: Abyssal Magic Crystal Mine.]

[System Prompt: The match begins!]

Iron-Blooded God of War waved his hand: "Everyone, enter the mine and start mining! Heavy armor squad, cover them!"

Five hundred Thunder players yelled and charged toward the mine.

Strong Guy immediately roared: "Dawn heavy armor squad, follow me! Hold the mine entrance! Archer squad, get on the city walls, provide long-range support!"

Three hundred Dawn heavy-armored players instantly set up a shield wall at the mine entrance.

Elven archers and player archers climbed onto the watchtowers beside the mine one after another.

Lin Chen stood at the highest point of the mine and opened the skill panel.

"Activate Hardcore Grinding Aura, covering the mine area!"

[System Prompt: Hardcore Grinding Aura activated. Friendly unit mining speed +100%, defense speed +50%, duration 1 hour.]

A terrifying pressure surged toward them.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

The Dawn players felt a surge of heat throughout their bodies; their mining speed instantly doubled, and the reaction time of the shield warriors also significantly improved.

"Holy crap! Lord Big Shot activated the aura again! Our mining speed is absolutely taking off!"

The pickaxe in King of Hardcore Gamer 888's hands moved so fast it left only afterimages; with every swing, three magic crystals dropped to the ground.

In contrast, the mining speed of the Thunder players was pitifully slow.

One Thunder miner player complained while digging, "Why is this ore so hard? I only get one crystal per hit! How are they digging so fast?"

A teammate beside him said helplessly, "They have aura buffs; we just can't compare!"

Iron-Blooded God of War's expression grew increasingly grim as he looked at the leaderboard.

[Mining Leaderboard: 1. King of Hardcore Gamer 888 (Dawn): 1200 crystals; 2. Iron-Blooded Miner 001 (Thunder): 300 crystals]

The gap was a full fourfold!

He gritted his teeth and ordered the mage squad behind him, "Use magic to attack their shield wall! Break through their defense line and rush in to mine!"

"Understood!"

Fifty Thunder mages immediately conjured fireballs and ice shards, hurling them at Dawn's shield wall.

-150! -120! -180!

The health bars of the Dawn shield warriors instantly dropped a chunk.

"Healers! Heal me!"

A shield warrior player roared.

Two priest players immediately raised their hands; white light descended, and the health bars were instantly filled.

Strong Guy swung his magic crystal battle-axe and threw an axe fragment at the Thunder mage squad.

-500! Critical Hit!

A Thunder mage collapsed on the spot.

"You dare attack us? Counter-attack!"

Archer Xiao La Ji drew back his magic crystal longbow and fired an arrow that pierced through the shoulders of two Thunder miners.

-300! -300!

The battle for the mine instantly escalated into a chaotic brawl.

Lin Chen looked at the time; twenty minutes had already passed.

He raised his hand and summoned fifty Tier 3 Skeleton Soldiers.

[System Prompt: Lord Lin Chen has summoned Tier 3 Skeleton Soldier ×50 to assist in guarding the mine]

Wielding bone swords, the Skeleton Soldiers charged into the Thunder players' ranks, slashing and hacking.

The Thunder players' formation was instantly thrown into disarray.

"Skeleton Soldiers! It's those Skeleton Soldiers again!"

Iron-Blooded God of War let out a furious roar, raising a golden longsword to slash at a Skeleton Soldier.

-1000!

A Skeleton Soldier was instantly shattered into pieces.

However, the Skeleton Soldiers were endless, charging forward wave after wave, stubbornly entangling Iron-Blooded God of War.

"Lord Big Shot, I've mined 1,500 crystals!"

The voice of King of Hardcore Gamer 888 came from deep within the mine.

[System Prompt: Player King of Hardcore Gamer 888's mining count has exceeded 1,500 crystals; obtained the title 'Mine Pioneer', mining speed +50%]

The players instantly went wild.

"Hardcore King is awesome! This mining speed is practically like using a cheat!"

"Follow the Hardcore King and you'll be eating big meals every day!"

Rookie Pecking King and Archer Xiao La Ji guarded the flanks of the mine, killing mobs while farming points.

Rookie Pecking King slashed down a Thunder player and said with a smile, "These assessment points are rising way too fast!"

Archer Xiao La Ji shot down a fireball and complained, "These Thunder mages are even weaker than Abyssal Demon Spiders!"

Time ticked away bit by bit.

Forty minutes had passed.

[Mining Leaderboard: 1. King of Hardcore Gamer 888 (Dawn): 4000 crystals; 2. Iron-Blooded Miner 001 (Thunder): 800 crystals]

[Mine Guarding Points: Dawn Territory 12,000 points; Thunder Territory 3,000 points]

Iron-Blooded God of War looked at the leaderboard, his face ashen.

He knew he was bound to lose.

But he was unwilling to accept it; gritting his teeth, he pulled a red token from his backpack.

[System Prompt: Thunder Lord Iron-Blooded God of War has used a 'Berserk Token'; all Thunder players' attributes +100% for 10 minutes]

The Thunder players' eyes instantly turned red as they charged like madmen toward Dawn's shield wall.

"Charge! Break the shield wall!"

"If we can't mine them, we'll steal theirs!"

Strong Guy's health bar instantly hit rock bottom.

"Not good! They've gone berserk!"

He roared into the territory channel, "Lord Big Shot, support!"

Lin Chen was already prepared.

He raised his hand and activated the Abyssal Summoning Order once more.

"Abyssal Demon General, to battle!"

Pitch-black light exploded as the five-meter-tall Abyssal Demon General reappeared at the mine.

He brandished a giant axe and roared toward the sky.

A terrifying pressure washed over everyone.

The berserk Thunder players instantly halted their steps, their eyes filled with fear.

Iron-Blooded God of War's pupils contracted sharply.

"Epic-grade! Another Epic-grade unit!"

The Abyssal Demon General took a step forward and performed a Sweep with his giant axe.

Boom!

A pitch-black axe energy slashed toward the Thunder players' ranks.

-2000! -2000! -2000!

A sea of damage numbers floated up as dozens of Thunder players were instantly killed.

"Run!"

"We can't win! There's no way to win!"

The Thunder players instantly broke ranks and fled toward the teleportation array.

Iron-Blooded God of War watched his collapsing forces and knew the situation was hopeless.

He gritted his teeth and said to Lin Chen, "I concede! You won the battle for the mine!"

Lin Chen said indifferently, "Remember, you cannot take what belongs to Dawn Territory. If you dare come again, it won't be as simple as losing a match."

His face pale, Iron-Blooded God of War nodded and turned to lead the remaining players away through the teleportation array in a sorry state.

[System Prompt: The battle for the mine has ended; Dawn Territory is victorious!]

[System Prompt: Thunder Territory has paid compensation to Dawn Territory: Magic Crystal ×10,000, Tier 3 Equipment ×50, Territory Reputation ×5,000]

[System Prompt: Lord Lin Chen's level has increased to Level 7!]

The light of leveling up erupted from within Lin Chen's body.

His attributes surged once again.

[Lord: Lin Chen]

[Level: 7]

[Health Points: 90,000]

[Attack Power: 6,000]

[Defense Power: 5,000]

[Skills: Territory Amplification (High-rank), Summon Skeleton Legion (Tier 4), Broke-the-Liver Aura (God-grade), Abyssal Control (Unlocked)]

The players instantly erupted in excitement.

"We won! We won again!"

"Lord Big Shot leveled up! A Level 7 Lord! First in the entire server!"

"Ten thousand magic crystals in compensation! Fifty pieces of Tier 3 gear! This is a massive profit!"

King of Hardcore Gamer 888 rushed out of the mine holding a pile of magic crystals, shouting excitedly, "Lord Big Shot, I mined 5,000 crystals! I'm first place!"

Lin Chen nodded to him, "Very good. Your reward is an Intermediate Magic Crystal Pickaxe, and your permanent residency rights are now unlocked."

[System Prompt: Player King of Hardcore Gamer 888 has obtained an Intermediate Magic Crystal Pickaxe and unlocked permanent residency rights in Dawn Territory]

King of Hardcore Gamer 888 jumped for joy, "Thank you, Lord Big Shot! I'm sticking with you for the rest of my life!"

Lin Chen opened the assessment leaderboard and ordered through the territory channel, "The assessment is over. The top 1,000 players have unlocked permanent residency rights! All participants are rewarded with 500 Territory Contribution!"

[System Prompt: The list of permanent residents for Dawn Territory has been generated; 1,000 players have unlocked permanent residency rights]

The players instantly boiled with excitement.

"I made the list! I'm a permanent resident now!"

"Thank you, Lord Big Shot! Being with Dawn is just too wonderful!"

The newbie mage Little Dumpling looked at her ranking on the leaderboard, her eyes welling with tears of excitement, "I'm 999th! I almost got eliminated!"

Rookie Pecking King patted her shoulder, "Congratulations! From now on, we're one family!"

Lin Chen threw all the Tier 3 equipment paid by Thunder Territory into the territory warehouse and invested the ten thousand magic crystals into upgrading the Magic Crystal Mine.

[System Prompt: Consumed Magic Crystal ×10,000; Abyssal Magic Crystal Mine has been upgraded to Intermediate!]

[Intermediate Abyssal Magic Crystal Mine: Produces Magic Crystal ×5 per second; unlocks Advanced Magic Crystal Forging and Abyssal Demonic Creature Capturing functions]

The scale of the mine instantly doubled.

The runes at the entrance of the mine became even more brilliant.

Lin Chen stood atop the tower, overlooking his bustling territory.

The cross-server players were either mining, forging, or farming mobs; it was a scene of thriving prosperity.

He opened the territory panel, his gaze firm as he watched the territory's strength steadily rise.

Iron-Blooded God of War's provocation was just the beginning.

In this world of the struggle for supremacy in the All Heavens, there were still countless Lords and countless threats.

To gain a firm foothold in the All Heavens, he had to continue to grind and continue to grow stronger.