201 You Must Construct Additional Pylons
"An unnamed force? Why is this force taking in the entire Ma Clan? System, I need you to verify something. What is this unnamed force?"
Ding
\u003cAn unnamed force is a hidden force that has yet to establish its name or its clan properly. Ambitious heroes can establish their own forces if you leave them alone for too long.\u003e
"I see. So, how many recruitable heroes remain on this continent?"
\u003c26, excluding you and the other hero lords.\u003e
"How many hero lords are there now?"
\u003cYou don't have permission to access this information.\u003e
"Ugh, you're stinky. Can you display their names and their whereabouts?"
\u003cYou don't have permission to access this information.\u003e
"Please cooperate with me, system. What do I need to do to get that permission?"
\u003cYou must construct additional pylons to upgrade the system permission.\u003e
Liu Bian sighed. He would need ten corpses of 6th-stage cultivators or a corpse of a 7th-stage expert to construct an undead tower, aka the PYLON, where his undead warriors could hide and get stronger. These towers also increased the maximum number of his undead warriors that Liu Bian could control.
"How many pylons do I need?"
\u003cFive. Currently, you only have three.\u003e
"So, I need two more. Is there any suitable location nearby?"
Liu Bian couldn't simply build his undead towers anywhere. A tower had to be in a cursed environment, where haunting spirits gathered.
\u003cYes.\u003e
Another system screen appeared before Liu Bian. It revealed the map of Aves Continent, which resembled an ancient Chinese Country during the Pre-Three Kingdom Period.
Currently, Liu Bian was in the northwest area, where the Eastern Han Period's people would have called it "Liang Province".
Liu Bian followed the highlighted area, which was located 10 kilometers south of Xuan City. The map flashed the name of the area as…
Siren City
Liu Bian grinned. He nodded, "It's near the Xuan City. I guess I'll visit that city after the auction."
…
After giving Ma Ping essence cores, the system prompted Cao Mao with quest messages again.
Ding
\u003cQuest Reminder!\u003e
\u003cYou have completed the first condition - Form an alliance with a 7th-stage expert and his/her clan.\u003e
\u003cYou have completed the fourth condition - Form an alliance with an antagonist clan.\u003e
\u003cYou have completed the fifth condition - Form an alliance with a neutral character's clan.\u003e
\u003cWill you complete Campaign Quest#1 with the completed conditions now?\u003e
Finally, Cao Mao managed to acquire more allies for the first campaign chain quest. Although it was a pity that he couldn't complete all five conditions, it was better than having only an antagonist clan as his allies.
'Yes. Complete it!'
Ding
\u003cYou have completed the Campaign Quest #1.\u003e
\u003cYour Sponsor will help you in the next Hell Tribulation.\u003e
\u003c10,000 Liters of Life Essence has been added to your dantian.\u003e
\u003cYou have received the Campaign Quest #2.\u003e
…
Liu Bian Campaign Quest #2 – You Must Construct Additional Pylons!
Quest Description
If you think that you can assassinate Liu Bian by using Ma Moxi, you're doomed to fail. You won't get past the imperial bodyguards and the nascent soul elders who are working for the emperor. As it stands, you and Ma Moxi will die before even getting a chance to see the necromancy skill of Liu Bian.
You should therefore concentrate on your preparations for the hunt. Your ultimate goal is to weaken or destroy the imperial armies, so that you can get close to the crown prince. To do that, you will need a powerful army of your own.
Your next objective is to establish a pylon tower, aka your new headquarters, for your faction, so it can be used for your future operations against Liu Bian and his men. You must have a city or a fortress under your control before you can proceed to the next quest.
A pylon tower automatically provides life Qi and one element Qi of your choice to everyone within the radius of 10 kilometers. The closer one is to the pylon, the denser the Qi concentration. You can use it to attract followers, establish a sect, train your soldiers, or enhance your yin slaves' power.
The first one is free, so you can test the effects for yourself. Your sponsor guarantees that you will want to build more of these towers.
Complete Conditions
1. Capture a city or build one.
2. Build a headquarters for your future army, country, sect, guild, or clan.
3. Move all your allies and subordinates there.
Note 1: The blueprint of the headquarters can be bought from the system shop.
Note 2: The first pylon doesn't require resources to build. As long as you designate a proper location, it will be automatically built.
Note 3: There is only one blueprint. After the start of the headquarters auto-construction, the blueprint will disappear.
Failure Conditions – Either the blueprint or your headquarters is destroyed.
Quest Rewards
1. Unlock more building blueprints in the system shop.
2. Unlock resource warehouses.
2. 100,000 Liters of Life Essence will be added to your dantian.
Failure Penalty
1. You will lose one of the Heavenly Fate Fragments.
2. Liu Bian will receive a quest to hunt you down.
…
Cao Mao had a wry smile on his face. The hunt quest had suddenly turned into a base-building quest, which diverted from his wuxia novel knowledge.
But when Cao Mao remembered that Liu Bian had a kingdom-building system as his cheat, he believed that it was a prank of his system sponsor again.
'So, you want me to fight the crown prince fair and square this time? Do you want me to start a war or something?'
Ding
\u003cThe system always gives you freedom. You can build your base at Xuan City, you can build your base at the Siren City, or you can build your base at a god-forsaken place if you want to.\u003e
Cao Mao rolled his eyes. He felt like he went back in time when his Asian parents had forced him to get a Ph.D. However, they had always boasted to their friends about giving their children the freedom of choice to graduate with a Ph.D. from any faculty from the top university of their country.
'Oh well, the failure condition is not a problem as long as I don't flash that blueprint around. I'll just keep it in the system shop-'
Ding
\u003cAs the blueprint is free, you have bought the headquarters blueprint.\u003e
Cao Mao rolled his eyes.
'Fine. I'll just store it in my system inventory-'
\u003cKey items cannot be stored in the system inventory.\u003e
'…'
\u003cThe blueprint has been transferred to your sleeve cloth.\u003e
\u003cThe blueprint cannot be stored in any form of spatial containers or the system inventory.\u003e
'\u0026$%@!!'
Once again, Cao Mao got trolled by the system. It forcefully shoved a key item to him and told him not to ruin it. Now, he had to protect the blueprint scroll in his clothes.
Still, Cao Mao was optimistic. As long as he kept it under his clothes, nobody should pay attention to the blueprint scroll.
Ding
\u003cThe blueprint scroll has the aura of an immortal-grade treasure. Please be careful when you're carrying it around with you.\u003e
\u003cEvery 24 hours, the blueprint scroll will release an intense light and random gas with element Qi. You can keep the blueprint scroll with you to cultivate all element Qi this way.\u003e
\u003cAdditional warning, if someone steals the scroll from you, the quest will automatically fail.\u003e
\u003cGood luck!\u003e
"…"
It was at this moment Cao Mao knew... he was screwed.
The system had shoved a hot potato into his hands, and he needed to dispose of it ASAP. Otherwise, many experts and their ancestors would chase after him for the treasure.
But before that Cao Mao had something else to deal with. It was the issue of the Ma Clan's migration. After all, he had to convince Ma Ping to make him willing to work with demons.
Cao Mao turned to Ma Ping and informed him about the changes.
"Grandfather, I have several emergency requests and questions."
Ma Ping smiled, "Sure. If it's something I can do, I'll help you. What questions do you have?"
"First of all, do you hate demons?"
"Hahaha! Actually, not really. Demons, beastmen, and monsters are honest creatures. They follow their instinct, and they are true to their nature. Some of them can be nasty, but ironically they are a lot better than us, human cultivators."
After being crippled for a long time, Ma Ping had experienced many faces of his friends and colleagues. Those that Ma Ping had believed to be trustworthy had backstabbed him without hesitation. Those whom he had treated as enemies had naturally taken advantage of him.
Human cultivators might even be worse than bloodthirsty demons. At least demons, beastmen, or monsters banded together as one to fight common enemies, but humans preyed upon each other whenever they had the chance.
Cao Mao took several deep breaths as he was about to make the boldest move.
"I have a confession."
"Yes?" Ma Ping was still smiling. He stroked his white beard.
"I have an orc bloodline. I also have a dozen orc children. One of them is even an Oni."
"…"
"Most of my wives at my base are either human-turned-vampires or human-turned-succubi. One of them is the princess of the Wei Clan. Ju Chen has evolved into a vampire queen, but Ju Shoufen is a human."
"…"
"I know that this sounds fishy, but I need you and your family to move to my city as soon as possible. This is my first request."
"…"
"My second request, I need you to protect my children and my wives while I'm trying to build something in Siren City."
"… Okay, Miaomiao. Give me a moment to digest all the information."
Ma Ping was smiling, but his curving mouth became stiff. He doubted if working for Cao Mao was still the right choice.
"So you're saying, you're a demon."
"Not exactly. I just got this orc bloodline from a random dao god, and every demon I've encountered so far has treated me like one."
"Okay. I understand. But you said you have orc children… have they grown up yet?"
"No."
"How old are they?"
"
Only a few months old."
"I see."
Ma Ping heaved a sigh of relief. Orcs naturally grew fast, and they could reach adulthood within two to three years. Once they could breed, they would start ravishing random female creatures, including monster beasts, animals, demons, or humans. All of their offspring would come out as male orcs unless they mated with all-female races, such as succubi or dryads.
However, those orcs in the past had grown up in a natural environment, so they had been uneducated and wild.
Ma Ping had an inspiration. If he could train Cao Mao's children and teach them about morals, he might create an orc platoon, which might be more powerful than wild orcs.
With an orc army, Ma Ping might even be able to rebel against the imperial clan to get his revenge.
"I have a few conditions, Miaomiao."
"Yes?"
"You'll leave the education of all your orc children to me.?Let me warn you right now, but I won't allow them to act freely. Is that alright with you?"
"I have no problem with that! Actually, please take care of my children!" Cao Mao clapped his hands and grinned.
He was afraid of his children as well since orcs were known to be lustful beasts. They might even ravish their mothers if Cao Mao was not careful. With Ma Ping as their mentor and guardian, these potential horny orcs had a good chance of growing into decent adults in the future.
…
With Ma Ping's approval, the Ma clansmen gathered once more. Even Pang Lingming returned from his errands for this important meeting.
While they were discussing the new movement and Cao Mao's secrets, the troublemaker also consulted with the system.
'If I give my blueprint to my yin slave, will it count as failure?'
\u003cNo. Your yin slaves are regarded as your assets. However, if you give it to one of the Ma Clan's members, the quest will fail.\u003e
'I see.'
With the confirmation, Cao Mao was free to entrust the scroll to one of his yin slaves. He handed the blueprint to Ju Shoufen for the time being since she was strongest among the group.
"What's this?" Ju Shoufen accepted the blueprint even though she had no idea what it was.
"A blueprint."
"For what?"
"You'll know when we go back to Siren City. For now, please keep this safe. Oh, it can't be stored in a spatial ring, so you have to be careful with it."
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