Chapter 200: Hymn of Glory, Blacksmith Upgrade!

A sacred aura descended upon Assam.

Cao Xing could feel the aura on the knight growing rapidly.

Before long, a powerful momentum erupted from his body!

A system notification appeared.

[Your territory member: Assam has accepted the blessing of the Lady of the Lake, successfully advancing to a Tier 3 Leader-level creature, all attributes increased by 30%, learned new skill: Hymn of Glory]

[Hymn of Glory: After activating this skill, for the next 100 seconds, all attacks deal an additional 50% Light-attribute damage. Each attack also inflicts one of five negative status effects on the enemy in sequence: Armor -20%, Attack Power -20%, Movement Speed -20%, Attack Speed -20%, Hit Rate -20%. When a single enemy is afflicted with all 5 negative status effects simultaneously, all effects will detonate, dealing 150% Light-attribute damage. Skill cooldown: 10 minutes]

"Holy crap!"

Seeing the attributes of [Hymn of Glory], Cao Xing exclaimed in surprise.

He was stunned on the spot.

Every five attacks, it deals 150% explosive damage, plus an additional 50% Light-attribute attack.

This is equivalent to multiplying Assam's damage output several times over!

The most crucial part is that this skill is a continuous state.

In other words, it is highly likely to receive the bonus from [Eternal Power] and become permanent!

"Isn't that too overpowered?" Cao Xing sighed endlessly.

With this skill, Assam's damage output might very well match or even surpass Andrew!

At this moment, the Lady of the Lake continued: "You have already passed three of the five trials."

"There are two final trials remaining: Generosity and Valor."

"However, these two virtues cannot be proven through words; they can only be proven through actions."

"Therefore, next, please help 5 people who are truly in need to prove that you possess the virtue of Generosity."

"Then, alone, slay a ferocious beast one tier stronger than you to prove that you possess the virtue of Valor."

The Lady of the Lake looked at Cao Xing.

"As the lord of this knight, you may assist him in completing this task."

"Of course, you may also choose to end it here."

The next moment, a system notification appeared.

[Do you accept the trial quest from the Lady of the Lake?]

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing sighed.

"This trial of the Lady of the Lake is really troublesome…"

It took quite a lot of effort to complete the first three trials.

Now, for the last two trials, he actually has to go do quests.

However, Cao Xing also knew this was normal.

After all, this concerns a complete Legendary weapon, which is even more powerful than the broken Magdale in his hands.

Come to think of it—

The difficulty of the prerequisite quest just to unlock this knight trial was off the charts.

First, it required the tongue of at least a Leader-level Snow Demon.

This single requirement alone would stump countless people!

Then the second difficulty.

It was to catch the King Salmon.

It required at least a Gold-quality fishing rod, as well as sufficient strength.

After all, the King Salmon's strength in the water was truly terrifying, and it could also erupt a highly destructive water jet.

If it weren't for Qinong, a powerhouse of unknown strength, being nearby, they could only watch helplessly as the King Salmon broke free, and they might even have been wiped out.

The third difficulty was to release the King Salmon.

This was also a trial that greatly tested one's heart.

Under normal circumstances, if Cao Xing hadn't known in advance, he would never have let this King Salmon go.

And Cao Xing, through a series of coincidences, had successfully unlocked this knight trial.

Now, through Assam's efforts, he had passed the first three trials.

Having reached this point, Cao Xing certainly wouldn't give up.

So, he clicked accept directly.

At the same time, a system notification appeared.

[Successfully accepted quest: The Five Virtues Trial of the Lady of the Lake]

[Trials of Compassion, Honor, and Wisdom completed. Remaining: Trials of Generosity and Valor not completed.]

[Trial of Generosity: Help 5 people who are truly in need. Current progress: 0/5]

[Trial of Valor: Have Knight Assam slay a creature of the same tier that is more than 10 levels higher than him alone. Current progress: 0/1]

Seeing the quest notification, Cao Xing pondered for a moment.

"Help 5 people in need, and slay a Leader-level creature that is 10 levels higher than Assam?"

These two trial tasks could be considered difficult, or simple.

After all, with Cao Xing's various blessings, Assam should have the strength to challenge enemies above his tier.

The difficulty lies in how to find a suitable opponent.

And this [Trial of Generosity], helping 5 people who are truly in need.

How the hell was Cao Xing supposed to know who was truly in need of help?

But at this point, he could only take it one step at a time.

Meanwhile.

The alluring Lady of the Lake said softly: "Once you have completed the remaining two trials, you may come to Snowfall Lake again to summon me, and I will grant you the Legendary weapon: Arondight."

"Good luck…"

After speaking, she sank back into the lake water.

Leaving the group looking at each other in bewilderment.

Assam, having advanced to a Leader, walked back and stood respectfully beside Cao Xing.

Cao Xing praised: "Assam, well done."

The others also offered their encouragement to Assam.

Assam said humbly: "It was the encouragement of my Lord that gave me the strong confidence to pass these two trials."

At this moment, Qinong said from the side: "Lord Cao Xing, the knights chosen by the Lady of the Lake throughout history have all gone on to become famous throughout the entire Ice Crystal Kingdom in the near future."

"And as the lord of this knight, I have a premonition that it won't be long before I hear your name again."

He looked at Cao Xing with a hint of emotion on his face.

Cao Xing smiled, "Your Excellency Qinong, you jest."

"It is getting late now, you should return quickly to take care of your wife."

From setting out to Snowfall Lake to fish in the morning until the end of the trials, they had spent nearly seven hours.

There was only a little over an hour left before dark.

Qinong nodded and said: "You are right, Lord Cao Xing. I shall return to take care of my wife now."

"With this Golden Salmon you gave me today, my wife should be able to recover her strength."

"Afterwards, I will take her to the Eternal Frost Main City, and we will likely settle there."

"If Lord Cao Xing ever comes to the Eternal Frost Main City in the future, you can come looking for me. This old man will definitely share a drink with you."

Hearing this, Cao Xing nodded: "Good, I also look forward to the day we meet again, Your Excellency Qinong."

After saying this, both parties went their separate ways.

Watching Qinong's aged back.

Cao Xing always had a premonition that one day in the future, they might meet again.

After Qinong disappeared from their view.

Cao Xing glanced at the temperature and the countdown above his head.

[Current temperature: -53℃]

[Countdown to nightfall: 1 hour 13 minutes…]

Cao Xing chuckled: "Let's go, it's getting dark, we should head back."

"Understood! My Lord!"

The group marched imposingly towards the territory.

As for the beasts on Snowfall Lake, they had long since been scared away by the commotion of the Lady of the Lake appearing.

This caused Cao Xing's plan to slaughter some beasts for an extra meal tonight to fall through.

However, his harvest today was already quite astonishing!

On the way, Cao Xing was summarizing the day's events.

First, the biggest harvest was naturally the [Mad King's Fishing Rod] in his hand.

As an Epic-grade item, its value is almost immeasurable!

This was also the third Epic item Cao Xing had obtained.

Then, there was that nearly 12kg [Golden Salmon], which had already been slaughtered and butchered into fish meat by Cao Xing.

A total of 11 pieces of [Golden Salmon Meat] were obtained.

It sounds like very little, but if sold in 100g portions, it could sell for a full 110 servings.

However, the price of this thing is too high.

It is estimated that there are not many Survivors in the entire District 174 who can afford it.

After that, there were 11 Silver Salmon, weighing about 92kg.

In total, 87 pieces of [Silver Salmon Meat] were butchered, which is a full 870 servings.

Worth at least 170,000 Ice Dragon Marks!

The remaining Blue-quality and Green-quality fish meat were also quite good.

Together, they could probably sell for tens of thousands of Ice Dragon Marks.

In other words, these fish catches alone were worth at least two Gold Treasure Chests.

Liu Muxue, following behind, also knew how great their harvest was this time.

She said with some excitement: "Axing, are we going to trade in the market when we go back this time?"

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xing smiled and said: "Let's wait until tomorrow."

"There are only over 30,000 people in District 174 right now, and they probably don't have many good things on hand."

"After the districts merge tomorrow, there will be people from 10 districts together."

"With at least hundreds of thousands of people, this batch of goods in my hands might sell for an even higher price."

Hearing Cao Xing's analysis, Liu Muxue also felt it made a lot of sense.

Then she nodded: "Mm-hmm!"

In the midst of their conversation, the group had returned to the territory.

As night fell, the territory residents who were out gathering resources were returning one after another.

The resident Cao Yi had been waiting here early and reported: "My Lord."

"Today, we have collected a total of 8,764 units of wood, 6,122 units of stone, 1,754 units of coal, 1,024 units of iron, and 433 units of copper."

Cao Xing nodded: "Not bad. Are the resources in these mining spots around our territory still sufficient?"

"Reporting to you, my Lord, the medium-sized iron mine and the small copper mine near the territory have been exhausted. There is only one medium-sized coal mine left, which can be mined for another two days."

"In the near future, we may need to find new resource points or suspend mining operations."

Cao Xing pondered for a moment after hearing this.

He had not expected the resource points near the territory to be exhausted so quickly.

Before new resource points refresh, they would have to search further afield.

He did, however, know the location of one resource point.

It was that Moleman mine he had discovered earlier.

It contained abundant precious mineral deposits, [Mithril], [Magic Power Crystal], and so on.

However, it was quite far from the territory, a full seven kilometers away.

At such a distance, it was impossible to lay down railway tracks.

"However, tomorrow is the seventh day of the official period, and a new batch of resource points will refresh."

"Let's see the situation of the refreshed resource points before deciding whether or not to mine that cave."

Consequently, Cao Xing nodded and said, "Alright, I understand."

"Tomorrow, a new batch of resource points will appear near our territory. When that happens, let Kantor and Kandaer go investigate them first."

"Then I will decide where to arrange for you to collect resources."

Hearing this, the territory resident Cao Yi nodded respectfully.

"As you command, my Lord."

Although the matter of refreshing resource points was somewhat beyond their scope of understanding.

They had already experienced it once when the novice protection period ended.

Therefore, Cao Yi was not particularly surprised.

Meanwhile, Kantor and Kandaer also walked over.

They were each carrying a cloth bag on their horse backs.

Seeing Cao Xing, the two said excitedly.

"Mighty Lord, you have returned!"

"This is our harvest from killing Ice Nest Monsters over the past two days. Please take a look."

After the two Centaurs finished speaking, they placed the bags on their backs directly onto the ground.

Cao Xing immediately saw a large pile of Ice Dragon Marks and other materials inside.

[Obtained: Ice Dragon Mark * 8921]

[Obtained: glacier shard * 4723]

[Obtained: Ice Dragon Horn (Small) * 4]

[Obtained: Ice Dragon Horn (Medium) * 1]

…

"Well done, Kantor, Kandaer."

A smile appeared on the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

Today's harvest was quite good.

His reserves of Ice Dragon Marks had once again exceeded 70,000.

Cao Xing thought to himself, "If I trade another wave tomorrow, my Ice Dragon Marks might exceed 300,000, and then I can exchange for the remaining two Golden Treasure Chests!"

"Next, I'll save up another 300,000 Ice Dragon Marks so that Muxue can also open three Golden Treasure Chests, haha!"

Cao Xing thought happily.

Then, he let the two Centaurs continue their patrol.

At this moment, a system notification appeared.

[Your territory member: Harold Iceberg has been forging wholeheartedly. Through unremitting efforts, he has finally comprehended more advanced forging techniques and has learned a new skill: Advanced Forging Mastery]

…

At this moment, a look of surprise appeared in Cao Xing's eyes!

"Wow, Harold has become an Advanced Blacksmith so quickly?"

"It hasn't even been a week since he joined my territory; I've really struck gold this time!"

Cao Xing was incredibly excited and then rushed impatiently into the [Blacksmith Shop].

Meanwhile.

Harold seemed to have a premonition that Cao Xing would come; he was waiting silently by the forging table with a joyful smile on his face.

"My Lord, you have arrived."

Cao Xing smiled and said, "Yes."

"Congratulations, Harold."

"You have an astonishing talent for forging."

Harold quickly shook his head and said humbly, "Harold is slow-witted; it is thanks to the Lord's help that I have been able to comprehend new forging techniques so quickly."

Cao Xing laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Then he began to check Harold's attributes.

[Seeker: Harold Iceberg]

[Race: Dwarf Clan]

[Level: 15 (Tier 2 Common Creature)]

[HP: 4140/4140]

[Attack Power: 252~277]

[Skills: Frost Hammer, Iceberg Heavy Strike, Advanced Forging Mastery (Possesses rich forging experience, can craft Rare quality equipment, and increases forging speed by 30% and forging success rate by 10%)]

[Talent: Artisan (When forging equipment, success rate increases by 10%)]

…

"Good, good, good! It actually added another 10% forging speed and 10% forging success rate!"

Cao Xing sighed with admiration.

Because with this, Harold could ensure a higher success rate when crafting Purple equipment.

Furthermore, Cao Xing still remembered the note on Assam's golden weapon, the [King's Warblade].

It allowed an Advanced Blacksmith to remove the [Flash Gold Gem] and [Earth Gem] from it and inlay them into a new weapon.

Although he didn't know the specific quality of these two gems, their attributes were definitely not weak.

"Very good, Assam is already level 25 and will soon reach level 30."

"Then he can equip the broken legendary weapon, Magdale, and the King's Warblade will be retired."

"As for those two gems, Harold can remove them and use them again!"

Cao Xing thought with satisfaction.

At this time, Harold continued to report, "My Lord, for the past two days, I have basically been forging that type of large scythe."

"Of the 8 sets of materials you gave me, a total of 5 were successful, and the remaining 3 failed."

"I am very sorry!"

He said apologetically.

After all, three failures meant the loss of three sets of Rare quality materials.

This also included a large amount of Refined Iron and a small amount of Mithril.

The loss was still quite significant.

If it were an average blacksmith, these three sets of materials alone would be enough to bankrupt them.

Fortunately, Cao Xing was wealthy and could let Harold squander them.

Cao Xing did not mind, "Don't worry about it, Harold."

"Giving up a few materials in exchange for accelerating your breakthrough to a higher level is well worth it."

"Besides, didn't you still succeed with 5 sets?"

Encouraged by Cao Xing, a gentle smile also appeared on Harold's face.

Then he said gratefully, "Thank you for your support, my Lord."

"Shall I give you these five scythes first?"

"I am personally quite satisfied with these scythes."

Hearing this, Cao Xing became interested.

Then, he followed Harold to the side of the storage chest.

As the storage chest was opened, Cao Xing saw five scythes lying inside, pitch-black all over and emitting a faint black aura!

Including the handle and the large hook claw at the front, the length already exceeded 1.7 meters.

Especially the sharp hook claw at the tip, which faintly shimmered with a cold glint, and its design looked very ferocious.

Cao Xing directly collected these five scythes.

[Obtained: Soul Eater Scythe (Purple) * 5]

He glanced at the attributes.

[Soul Eater Scythe (Purple)]

[Quality: Rare]

[Level: Level 30+]

[Attack Power: 542~594]

[Attached Effect 1: Strength +80, Agility +50]

[Attached Effect 2: Cutting Blade (When attacking, increases attack power by 20% and adds a Crippling effect)]

[Attached Effect 3: Soul Suppression (When attacking Spirit-type enemies, deals an additional 50% damage)]

(Equipment Introduction: A scythe made from the large hook claws of a Soul Eater, with a bit of Mithril added; it has a significant suppressing effect on Spirit-type enemies.)

…

After reading the attributes of this scythe, a look of joy appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"Not bad, not bad!"

"No wonder Harold was also satisfied with these scythes."

The attributes of the [Soul Eater Scythe] were strong enough, and the level was high enough.

The most critical point was that this scythe also had a characteristic that could suppress Spirit-type enemies!

…

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