The World Online

When Ouyang Shuo walked out of the portal, a system notification rang beside his ear.

“System notification: The Battle of Muye has ended. Historical figures from Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty will now be generated into the game’s progress. Players are now free to explore this.”

After that, another system notification quickly followed, and it shocked the entire world.

“World notice: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for becoming the first marquis in the world. The title of Lianzhou Marquis is specially granted to the player. The player is rewarded with 20,000 reputation points, and the capital city with jurisdiction over the player’s city will give them their rewards.”

Ouyang Shuo knew that Gaia would only reward the first 10 players that advanced to marquis with a special title. After the top 10, they would only get an ordinary title with no special title. Although the special title from Gaia had no extra benefits, it was still an honor that was enough to drive people crazy.

In the Alliance channel, Bai Hua and the others that had returned one step earlier than Ouyang Shuo congratulated him one by one.

“Oh my god, boss! You’re so cool! Another first in the world for you!” said Gong Chengshi with admiration.

“Wuyi Ge Ge, Lian Zhou Marquis by Gaia! You’re making us Lianzhou lords seem useless. Without prior knowledge, people will actually think that we are your vassals,” Mulan Hua complained about Gaia’s bias.

“Wuyi, when do you plan to raise your Shanhai City into Shanhai Prefecture? Please don’t go too far ahead of us,” said Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang jokingly.

“You two should work a little harder. I am sure that the two of you will have a chance if you work harder.” Both Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang were first class count. If they received massive gains in the next campaign scenario, there would be a very great chance for them.

“Thank you, but I still want to thank you for your help us in this campaign scenario,” said the smiling Bai Hua. She was clearly satisfied with the rewards from this campaign. Bai Hua knew that although Zhang Liao was way better than Lin Yi, Ouyang Shuo still asked Zhang Liao to help her. Hence, she really appreciated his help a lot.

“Yeah! There will always be achievements if we follow our alliance lord!” said Xunlong Dianxue.

“All hail our alliance lord!” said Gong Chengshi playfully.

Among all of them, only Feng Qiuhuang did not show much interest.

During the campaign, Ouyang Shuo had already informed Feng Qiuhuang about the information that Wufu divulged, and they had an in-depth discussion already. When Feng Qiuhuang learned about this news, she felt abandoned and extremely helpless for a moment.

Fortunately, Ouyang Shuo was there to calm her down. He told her that no matter what, she was still the lord of Fallen Phoenix Town and this was an unchangeable fact. Even if her clan members did not trust her anymore, if someone had to leave, it would definitely be her clan members and not her.

For this matter, Feng Qiuhuang was not fighting alone, as she had Shanhai Alliance’s full support.

With the comfort of Ouyang Shuo, Feng Qiuhuang managed to calm her emotions down. She had decided that after this campaign, she would confront her clan members. If they could not have a mutual trust, there was no need for them to be together anymore.

After a small celebration, Ouyang Shuo closed the alliance channel. He said that he was busy as an excuse.

A total of 3,000 men followed Ouyang Shuo into the campaign, and only 2,500 of them came back alive. The division that suffered the heaviest lost was naturally the mountain barbarian heavy infantries. They were the ones who stood firmly on the frontlines and fought directly with the enemies. Although they had the upper hand, in order to achieve something, one would always have to pay a price.

In the end, 300 were killed among the 1,000 heavy infantries.

Considering the special characteristics of these mountain barbarians, Ouyang Shuo ordered the Military Affairs Department to recruit the barbarians from Qiushui Town and Friendship Town into the Mixed Regiment. Whereas for the City Defense Division, they would recruit locals.

This move was actually Ouyang Shuo’s decision to declare the classifications of his army. Field operations like the Mixed Regiment and Vanguard Unit belonged in the first rank and had a higher position than the City Defense Division. The second rank included all parts of the City Defense Division, while the third rank belonged to the those like reserve army and the Langshan defense army that had no proper organization.

In the future, when the time was right, salary and equipment would also be dispatched according to the classification of Shanhai City’s army. Those who were in the first rank would have priority access to these supplies.

Then, Ouyang Shuo ordered all the army divisions to return to their own camp. After that, he brought Jiang Shang and E’Lai back to his lord’s hall.

On the way, Ouyang Shuo pointed to the schools in the city and explained the situation to Jiang Shang. Then, he tried asking Jiang Shang, “Tai Gong wants to live in seclusion, and I am absolutely fine with that. If you don’t mind, why not settle down in the school of the city? They have a peaceful and harmonious academic environment there. It is a perfect place for Tai Gong. What do you think?”

Ouyang Shuo suggested this because first of all, he wanted Jiang Shang to lecture in these schools and cultivate talented pupils for him. Second and last of all, he did not want Jiang Shang to settle in the forest outside of the city, as that would cut off all chances for Ouyang Shuo to recruit him.

However, Jiang Shang did not show much interest in this matter. He kept quiet and expressed no opinion about Ouyang Shuo’s suggestion. Luckily, upon returning to the main map, the game system had automatically corrected these historical figures. Therefore, like Fan Zhongyan and the others, Jiang Shang now had a deeper understanding of the game. He no longer limited himself to his own era, so he now has a wider view of all things. The rise and fall of a kingdom now had less impact on him too.

Ouyang Shuo did not feel dejected too. He brought the duo to the lord’s hall and ordered the secretary to ask all the division heads to come here as there were important guests.

After greeting each other, Ouyang Shuo asked Fan Zhongyan to entertain Jiang Shang. He also ordered Fan Zhongyan to bring Jiang Shang around the schools for a walk before deciding where to settle down.

“General E’Lai, what kind of weapon do you like to most?” asked Ouyang Shuo.

E’Lai happily smiled and said, “Other than dagger axes and spears, I’ve never tried any other weapons before.”

His words surprised Ouyan Shuo. Then, he suddenly remembered that in history, Dian Wei had used a pair of steel halberds. A halberd was the combination of dagger ax and spear. Come to think of it, maybe E’Lai would have no problem using halberds.

He quickly turned to the Ge Hongliang and said, “Director Ge, go to the Armory Division and ask them to craft General E’Lai a pair of halberds. Also, ask them to specially make armor for the general. Seek his opinions on both armor and weapons, make sure that the general has no problems using them.”

“Yes, my lord!” said Ge Hong Liang.

For E’Lai, Ouyang Shuo had already made some arrangements for him. However, it must be postponed until the expansion of the territory’s army. Hence, for the moment, Ouyang Shuo arranged for E’Lai to stay in the army camps in the city so that he could get used to the environment.

After arranging the duo, Ouyang Shuo finally had the chance to take a look at the items that Di Xin had awarded to him. He first took out the damask pouch and poured out an incense pill to check its stats.

【Incense Pill】: The condensation of daily prayers to gods and demons, Increases the temples’ incense upon usage.

Immediately, Ouyang Shuo associated this item with the hidden structure, Mazu Temple, that was still sealed away. He needed incense pills to break the seal on Mazu Temple.

Then, Ouyang Shuo got up and headed outside of the hall. He took out the vessel to take a look at its stats.

【Name】: Shang Ding ( Platinum Class)

【Stats】: Divine Protection (Increases the defense of territory by 20%), Supremacy (Increases the majesty of the lord by 20%), Omnidirectional Suppression (Increases the combat prowess of army by 20%).

【Description】: This is a high end Shang dynasty Fan Ding. A symbol of power and might, it can be used for rituals.

Ouyang Shuo sucked in a deep breath upon seeing this. He had never thought that this Shang dynasty vessel would be a platinum class item that had such incredible stats. Especially the Omnidirectional Suppression; increasing neither the attack nor the defense of the army but all aspects instead.

Until now, in terms of every aspect, Shanhai City’s army was already leading and way ahead of all the armies in the other territories. This made Ouyang Shuo extremely excited and happy.

In his mind, he planned to build an altar in front of the temple of the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, to place the Shang dynasty vessel. Then, Ouyang Shuo put the vessel back into his inventory and headed over to the Mazu Temple in the north on his Qingfu warhorse.

The north gate’s drawbridge was now completely removed. A total of three stone arch bridges were also completed. Through the bridges, one could reach the north region, and if one looked ahead, he or she would be able to see the prosperity of the commercial streets.

The biggest theatres, taverns, and restaurants were all located in the commercial streets where there was a high level of competition. As for the woodworks and blacksmiths, they were no longer fit enough to remain in the commercial street. Instead, they were now placed in the inner circle of the commercial district.

The theatres had their own crews, as the game system generated all of them. According to Bing’er, the dramas played in the theatres were extremely good to watch. However, up until now, the poor Ouyang Shuo never had the chance to take a look at it.

The current commercial street included all sorts of service shops and became the place with the highest consumptions. Even in the night, the streets were still light up brightly, and high-density crowds still walk around it.

However, Ouyang Shuo naturally had no intention of taking a look and going shopping around the streets. He straightforwardly turned left and headed into the residential area.

Although quite some time had passed, the construction of residential areas that occupied the largest acres in the city had not even passed one-third of the progress. All the paths around the residential areas were layered with blue stones, and the paths separated the housing areas into different neighborhoods. In order to ease the management, the Administration Department had elected an individual as the head to represent a neighborhoods.

Mazu Temple was built on the riverbanks of the inner city river.

When Ouyang Shuo rushed to Mazhu Temple. The elite guards that followed him immediately blocked off all access to the temple, restricting people from entering. As for those who were inside the temples, the guards also nicely asked them to exit the temple.

This was not Ouyang Shuo trying to show off his power as the lord, but to keep the secret of the incense pills. These pills were not suitable to be seen by ordinary people.

Ouyang Shuo asked his guards to secure the temple entrance and headed inside himself. The Mazu Temple now had already expanded quite a numerous times. Its size was now five to six times its original size. The temple was also separated into three sections.

Ouyang Shuo walked to the front of the statue of Mazu and took out a pill. As expected, the system notification rang.

“System notification: Incense pills to break the seal of Mazu Temple have been detected on player Ouyang Shuo. Do you want to use it to lift the seal? Friendly tips: Maximum of one pill can only be used on the temple, repeated attempts will have no effects.”

“Yes, use it.”

The pill flew away from Ouyang Shuo’s palm and turned into a white ray. Then, it flew into the statue.

“System notification: After the enchantment of the pill, the power of the Mazu Temple has been greatly increased. Current progress of seal breaking is 60%.

Ouyang Shuo sighed. In the end, the seal could not be lifted away in one shot.