Chapter 35: Forge and Refine
On the plain before the Aier Great Forest, a massive pit three kilometers in diameter had appeared. Due to the high temperature inside, the air seemed to distort, and magma-like fluid filled the lower part of the pit.
The elite Morning Radiance troops of the Elf Clan had suffered over half casualties here. The three Elf Elders commanding this force believed they would face a crushing defeat today, when suddenly, the enemy withdrew.
Looking down from above, one could see the two armies rapidly separating, one retreating toward the Aier Great Forest, the other toward the New Moon Fortress.
The battle began abruptly and ended even more suddenly. The Morning Radiance troops, with over half their numbers dead or wounded, fell back into the Aier Great Forest. Many years ago, this had actually been their border. The fortresses of New Moon, Ancient Tree, Moonlight, and Blazing Valley had originally belonged to the Chaos Legion. It was the Elf Clan that had rebuilt and renamed these fortifications.
Now, with the edge of the Aier Great Forest as the boundary, a final decisive battle was imminent between the two sides. If the Elf Clan won, the main defensive line behind the Chaos Legion would be breached.
The reason the Six-Tribe Alliance had not yet launched a full-scale assault on the Chaos Legion's main defensive line in the "Chimney Mountain" region was primarily that none of them wanted to provoke the Wolf Cavalry Legion.
Su Xiao's Wolf Cavalry Legion was different from the Six-Tribe Alliance's forces. The latter required stable supply lines from the rear, but the Wolf Cavalry Legion sustained itself through spoils of war. In fact, the current Wolf Cavalry Legion was supporting the entire Chaos Legion.
Therefore, capturing Chimney Mountain behind the Chaos Legion held no strategic value and would not affect the Wolf Cavalry Legion's supplies. Moreover, the Wolf Cavalry, having lost their homeland, would become an isolated force. What they might do then was anyone's guess.
The Northern Territory, Dwarf Clan, Barbarian Clan, and Lizard Clan all wanted to avoid this risk, so they were watching. As long as the Wolf Cavalry Legion was defeated, Chimney Mountain would cease to exist in a short time.
As for the most powerful Duoyin Empire, their reason for watching was simple: whether the Elf Clan won or the Wolf Cavalry Legion won, the Duoyin Empire would benefit. As for their alliance with the Elf Clan, such things didn't exist among these major powers.
The weather, rainy all morning, had cleared by noon. The air carried the unique fresh scent after rain.
The New Moon Fortress stood on the plain, its bloodstains and scorch marks washed clean by the rain. Wolf Cavalry soldiers stood guard on the walls.
Many Wolf Cavalry patrolled inside the fortress, and the arrival of the War Tree Men made the place especially lively. After days of fierce fighting, this was a rare moment of leisure.
Most of the Grey Orcs were on both sides of the inner river at the fortress center. Having not bathed in years, they were now washing in the dozen-meter-wide river. The slowly flowing water visibly turned black.
The Grey Orcs' collective bath wasn't because they loved cleanliness, but because Bubu Wang had recently received many "complaints" from the Dire Wolves. For the keen-nosed Dire Wolves, the Grey Orcs' smell was simply too strange, almost stinging their noses.
Hence the current scene: hundreds of thousands of Grey Orcs either soaking in the river scrubbing themselves or standing on the stone paths on both banks, carrying wooden buckets.
The most extreme was the Orc Hero, Wobor. He sat in a large iron barrel filled with water, with a fire burning beneath it.
At the fortress center stood a beautiful stone building with a pointed roof and vines climbing the walls, very much in the Elf Clan's architectural style.
Su Xiao was currently on the third floor of this stone building, reviewing the battle report Baha had compiled. After capturing the Ancient Tree Fortress earlier, he had left 50,000 Wolf Cavalry there to guard supplies. Now, those supplies had all been transported to the New Moon Fortress.
Apart from grain, there was a considerable amount of dried meat. Combined with previous stocks, this was enough to feed the Wolf Cavalry for about half a month. Food supply was temporarily not a concern.
Besides essential supplies, there were 920 units of dried fruit and 295 units of alcohol. The former was occasionally distributed to the Wolf Cavalry. As for alcohol, it was strictly forbidden unless after a major victory or before a decisive battle. Violators would be executed without mercy.
Currently, the New Moon Fortress housed a total of 500,000 Wolf Cavalry. Yes, Su Xiao had mobilized the reserve Wolf Cavalry units to supplement frontline strength.
Su Xiao intended to use these 500,000 Wolf Cavalry to break through the Aier Great Forest. If he could win, he would gain many benefits.
With the current forces, a direct assault on the Aier Great Forest would be costly. Even if successful, having 100,000 survivors out of 500,000 would be lucky. Forest terrain was the Elf Clan's home ground, and their forces were still substantial.
Sitting on a small wooden bed, Su Xiao reviewed his current titles: [Old Hunter], [Natural Resonance], [Uncrowned King], and [Sky-Sweeping Storm]. These four titles could not be touched.
The remaining titles could all be forged and refined. Among them, [Wanderer's Elegy (★★★)] had this attribute:
Title Effect 2: Can resist one Charm attribute judgment.
Su Xiao had once thought this ability useful. He knew his Charm attribute was a weakness, but after wearing [Wanderer's Elegy] for a while, he found it completely useless. It couldn't block Charm judgments at all.
This title ability had an intensity cap. Those who could subject Su Xiao to Charm judgments far exceeded this limit.
Su Xiao first needed to forge 10 three-star [No-Attribute Titles], which he had obtained in the Shadi World. Using 5 same-star titles for forging gave a 100% chance of obtaining a higher-star title. He had tested this many times.
Using 2 three-star titles for forging could also yield a four-star title, but Su Xiao hadn't done this. Anything less than 100% success rate felt unreliable to him. Even 99% could backfire.
Activating title forging, a disc appeared before Su Xiao. The disc was a dull metallic color, covered in magma-like patterns. At its five corners were recesses, with the largest at the center for the main title.
Ding, ding, ding~
Five three-star titles were set into the disc's periphery. The forging of unowned titles began. Forging three-star titles cost 50 Soul Coins each.
Su Xiao first forged 10 three-star titles, successfully obtaining 2 four-star [No-Attribute Titles].
Adding previous four-star titles, he now had 10. Obtaining these titles had been no easy feat. After seeing how Charm-type contractors acquired titles, he knew title acquisition wasn't his forte. If Charm wasn't enough, combat power would have to compensate.
Forging 10 four-star titles began, costing 100 Soul Coins each. When finished, Su Xiao obtained 2 five-star [No-Attribute Titles]. He now had 6 five-star titles.
War Lord · Main Title (★★★★★)
Elf Nemesis · Sub Title (★★★★★)
Elf's Tremor · Sub Title (★★★★★)
Blood Commander · Sub Title (★★★★★)
No-Attribute Title · Sub Title ×2 (★★★★★)
Su Xiao placed War Lord in the center of the forging disc, and the other 5 sub-titles in the five peripheral recesses.
[Proceed with this title forging? If so, consume 500 Soul Coins.]
The cost was high, but Su Xiao still had 806 Soul Coins. Before entering this world, he had earned a lot by selling potions. The benefits of Alchemy were gradually showing.
Title forging began. The fire patterns on the disc intensified. Energy from the five peripheral sub-titles was transformed by the forging disc and converged toward the central War Lord.
[Tip: To complete this title forging, 4 hours and 21 minutes are required.]
Nearly four and a half hours. This was not good news. During this time, his Wolf Cavalry would not receive War Lord's bonuses.
"Wobor."
"Here."
Wobor, guarding outside the first-floor door, immediately pushed it open. In battle, he was the vanguard; in peacetime, Su Xiao's guard. Though he felt Su Xiao didn't need his protection, he had to maintain appearances.
"Arrange tonight's meal. Make it lavish. At dinner, reward everyone with two cups of wine."
"Yes!"
Wobor strode away. There were no Grey Orcs who didn't love drinking.
Su Xiao did this deliberately, to show the Elf Clan. During these four hours, his side was at its weakest. The more so, the more he needed to display an unbridled attitude. Besides, given the Grey Orcs' constitution, this level of drinking wouldn't even make them tipsy.
Beyond this, Su Xiao had Baha stand guard at the edge of the Aier Great Forest. Baha could stay in an alternate space. If the enemy made a major move, he would immediately send word.
Inside the fortress, the Grey Orcs began preparing dinner from 1 PM. Its lavishness was evident. All kinds of rare ingredients captured from the four fortresses were brought out for tonight's meal.
The fortress's grim atmosphere lightened. The Grey Orcs enjoyed this rare leisure, their hearts full of anticipation for dinner.
As dusk fell, the fortress grew lively. Except for the tens of thousands of Wolf Cavalry on the walls, everyone else was inside, gathered around campfires or makeshift tables, laughing heartily with cups raised. It was rough but genuine.
Su Xiao stood by the window, shirtless, sitting cross-legged on a wooden chair, watching the lively scene outside.
[Tip: War Lord has been promoted to a six-star title.]
Su Xiao didn't check War Lord's attributes. Instead, he activated the seven-star title [Dream Chaser].
Title Effect: Sacrifice (Active). Can select any existing six-star title. Activating this ability consumes the Dream Chaser title, promoting the selected six-star title to seven-star, greatly enhancing its abilities (stronger than 90% of seven-star titles).
The [Dream Chaser] title disappeared. War Lord entered a dormant state, lasting about an hour. Then a prompt appeared.
[War Lord has been promoted to a seven-star title.]
After many battles, Su Xiao had finally elevated War Lord to seven stars. He chose to view its attributes.
[War Lord]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: ★★★★★★★
Title Effect 1: March Speed (Passive) — March speed increased by 69% (24% increase). Soldier stamina consumption during marches slightly reduced.
Title Effect 2: Lord's Authority (Passive) — All soldier-type units under the Hunter's command will trigger the following five enhancement effects when their numbers reach 500, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, and 300,000.