Chapter 271: Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers, A Fiercely Competitive Leaderboard! (6000)

Yao Yiming gasped, unable to help but feel surprised by Cao Xing's ambition.

But he quickly realized the situation.

After all, the rewards this time were extremely generous.

The second-place prize not only included 4 blueprints and a Gold Treasure Chest, but also a selectable Gold-tier weapon, plus a Tier 2 Boss-level Dragon Blood Warrior Recruitment Scroll!

Even for Cao Xing, this would be of great help.

Cao Xing said directly, "The second-place spot will likely be taken by Jiang Qingyun, and he and I are rivals."

"Therefore, I want to use your territory, activate the Ice Dragon Horn, and snatch the second-place reward."

In District 17 right now, the first-place spot is effectively Cao Xing's.

The second-place spot is effectively Jiang Qingyun's.

This guy's points have already surpassed Qiu Yating's, so the probability of him taking second place is very high.

Rather than letting Jiang Qingyun obtain these rewards to boost his strength,

it would be better to snatch all these rewards first and use them to improve myself.

After hearing this, Yao Yiming replied, "Great Lord Cao Xing, I would be very happy to help you."

"However, the rules for gaining points on this leaderboard state that we only get points if members of our own territory kill those Ice Nests and Ice Nest Monsters."

"With our current strength, we might not be able to deal with that many monsters…"

Even Yao Ying, who was standing nearby, nodded her little head repeatedly.

The points leaderboard had been open for a few days, and everyone knew that using the Ice Dragon Horn would spawn a terrifying number of Ice Nests, which an average territory simply couldn't handle.

Cao Xing smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about that. In a while, I will place some items around your territory."

"With the power of these items, you should be able to withstand the Ice Dragon Horn challenge."

"Items?"

A look of confusion appeared in Yao Yiming's eyes.

Cao Xing nodded, then waved his hand casually.

A large crossbow with a stabilization stand, measuring 1.2 meters in length, appeared out of thin air in front of everyone.

"This is… a crossbow?" Yao Yiming asked, filled with shock and suspicion.

"That's right. Take a look at its attributes first."

Upon hearing this, Yao Yiming tentatively took a look, as did his younger sister, Yao Ying, beside him.

And when the siblings saw the attributes of the [Destroyer Crossbow], their eyes were filled with extreme shock!

"Oh my god, there's actually such a powerful crossbow! I feel like one shot from this could pierce straight through my territory!"

Yao Ying also said excitedly, "That's right, Brother! The attack power of this crossbow is so high!"

"With just one, it can significantly strengthen the territory's power. It only takes two shots to kill those Boss-level monsters!"

After listening to Yao Ying's analysis, Yao Yiming understood the power of this crossbow even more clearly, and the surprise in his eyes grew even stronger!

Then, as if remembering something, he hesitated and said, "However, Great Lord Cao Xing, although this crossbow is very strong…"

"But if there's only one, there's still no way to deal with a challenge of the Ice Dragon Horn's intensity, right?"

"After all, my territory's strength is too weak… I can't deal with too many ordinary Ice Nest Monsters."

Cao Xing smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I have many more of these crossbows."

"I will place a circle of them around your territory, and then you just need to send people to operate them."

Upon hearing this, the Yao siblings were even more shocked.

He actually had more than one of such powerful crossbows!

In that case, maybe they really could withstand the Ice Dragon Horn challenge?

Cao Xing added, "However, after these crossbows fire an arrow, someone needs to reload them from behind and adjust the direction of the attack. How much manpower does your territory have?"

Upon hearing this, a thoughtful look appeared in Yao Yiming's eyes.

Then he replied, "Great Lord Cao Xing, the manpower in my territory, including the staff, combat personnel, and our family, totals 59 people."

"Is that enough?"

Upon hearing this number, Cao Xing pondered it silently in his heart.

"It's just about enough. Your territory's area isn't large, so 59 crossbows are enough to defend it 360 degrees without any blind spots."

Because the rules for obtaining points stipulated that they could only be earned if members of the current territory made the kills.

Furthermore, residents of other territories could not operate the defensive tools of another territory.

For example, arrow towers, watchtowers, and so on, could not be operated.

Therefore, even if Cao Xing called more people over, it would be useless.

Hearing this, a look of delight appeared on the Yao siblings' faces once again.

Yao Yiming agreed directly, "Then I have no problem with that, Great Lord Cao Xing."

"Good, then let's discuss the specific tactics."

The two of them quickly worked out the specific details for dealing with the Ice Dragon challenge.

Next was the distribution of the spoils.

Cao Xing said directly, "The second-place reward is very high. Besides the Boss-level Recruitment Scroll that I need, you can choose a few other items."

Hearing this, the Yao siblings exchanged glances.

He waved his hand and said, "Great Lord Cao Xing, that won't be necessary. As long as we can help you, that's enough. We don't need any rewards."

"Including those Ice Dragon Marks and other materials obtained from the battle, I will have people collect them and send them over to you."

His cute younger sister standing beside him also said, "Yeah, that's right! Great Lord Cao Xing has already given us a lot of help, and this time he even gave me so many secret medicines."

Cao Xing pondered for a moment after hearing this, but he did not agree.

"How about this: the four construction blueprints are similar to the first-place reward. Duplicate blueprints are of no use to me, so I'll give these to you."

"As for the Gold Treasure Chest and the Gold weapon, you can choose one."

"The remaining Recruitment Scroll and the 70,000 Ice Dragon Marks will belong to me."

"Don't refuse. Who knows, we might have opportunities to cooperate in the future."

Yao Yiming pondered for a moment, "Well… alright then… let's do as Great Lord Cao Xing says."

A smile appeared on Cao Xing's face, "Then go ahead and choose. Do you want the Gold Treasure Chest or the weapon?"

Before Yao Yiming could answer, Yao Ying, standing beside him, spoke up first, "Great Lord Cao Xing, we want the treasure chest!"

"I haven't opened a Gold Treasure Chest before!"

Cao Xing readily agreed, "Alright, no problem."

"Thank you, handsome Great Lord Cao Xing!"

A joyful smile appeared on Yao Ying's pretty face.

Beside her, Yao Yiming looked at his eccentric younger sister with a wry smile.

Now that everything had been discussed, it was time to start taking action.

Cao Xing checked the time.

[Time until nightfall: 1 hour 17 minutes…]

"It's past 4 PM now. The Ice Dragon Horn challenge lasts for 6 hours, which means if we use it now, this wave of the challenge will end around 11 PM tonight."

Then, he looked at the current leaderboard again.

[District 17 Points Leaderboard]

[1st Place: Cao Xing, 1507 points]

[2nd Place: Jiang Qingyun, 987 points]

[3rd Place: Qiu Yating, 832 points]

[4th Place: Wu Xinghu, 773 points]

[5th Place: Chen Feng, 764 points]

[6th Place: Zhou Bo, 694 points]

…

"Oh? This Jiang Qingyun is rushing up pretty fast."

During this time, Jiang Qingyun had used another [Ice Dragon Horn (Small)], increasing his points significantly again, and he was on the verge of breaking through one thousand.

Meanwhile, Qiu Yating's momentum had slowed down.

In the chat channel, after constant discussions among the Survivors,

the top two spots this time had basically been decided.

The first-place spot was defaultly Cao Xing, the second-place spot was Jiang Qingyun, and the third-place spot was currently fiercely contested and had not yet been determined.

…

At this moment, at the Wangjiang Pavilion Legion headquarters.

Jiang Qingyun had just led a man in black to kill a Boss-level Ice Nest Monster, and a satisfied smile was on his face.

"Very good, that added another 5 points to my score."

"In this leaderboard challenge, if I can't get first place, getting second place is not bad either."

"This Cao Xing is indeed very strong; losing to him is nothing to be ashamed of."

"And the fact that we can withstand his pressure and take second place already proves our strength."

"In the last few days, Wangjiang Pavilion's reputation has started to recover, and more and more people are joining our legion."

After all, Cao Xing was just too monstrous; this was widely acknowledged.

A smile appeared at the corner of Jiang Qingyun's mouth.

Then he took a few mysterious people dressed in black and came outside the territory.

A large number of Wangjiang Pavilion Survivors were standing there.

Everyone looked at Jiang Qingyun and the few mysterious people beside him with excited expressions.

They didn't know where Jiang Qingyun had found these powerhouses.

But it was these few who, when they faced a massive monster raid, had crushed the Boss and Leader-level monsters inside with an overwhelming attitude!

And with them around, all the approaching Ice Nest Monsters were easily dealt with, so there was no need to worry about the territory's safety at all.

Jiang Qingyun said with a faint smile, "Everyone, today's battle was hard work, but it is precisely because of your efforts that we have achieved such excellent results."

"Wangjiang Pavilion will remember your contributions!"

Below, those Survivors were immediately extremely excited!

"Boss Jiang Qingyun, it wasn't hard work for us; we also gained a lot of benefits from the battle!"

"That's right! In these few Ice Dragon Horn challenges, many of us have leveled up by three or four levels, and most of the brothers have already reached Level 20, which is a full five or six levels ahead of those ordinary Survivors!"

"Haha, now Wangjiang Pavilion is defaultly considered the strongest legion in District 17. Even if that Cao Xing suppresses us, he can't stop our development trend!"

"That's right, this detestable Cao Xing even wanted to suppress us by not trading supplies with us. Heh, even without his arrows, we can easily deal with Ice Nest Monsters!"

"Boss Jiang Qingyun is the strongest; he has already reached Level 25. That's a Tier 3 powerhouse!"

Facing the praises of the territory members, a faint smile remained on the corner of Jiang Qingyun's mouth.

He said modestly, "Brothers of Wangjiang Pavilion, I couldn't have reached where I am today without your help."

"But now, we must be prepared. In a while, we will continue to use the Ice Dragon Horn to push for the leaderboard. There are only three days left; we cannot lower our guard!"

Jiang Qingyun continued, "I know that many brothers have reached Level 20 and need an Intermediate Heart of Strength to break through."

"Therefore, after tonight's battle, I will pay out of my own pocket to exchange for 5 Intermediate Hearts of Strength at the Dragon Store to help you break through!"

Hearing this, those Survivors below were immediately invigorated!

Just as Jiang Qingyun said, their levels were all stuck at Level 20.

And since most of them spent their days fighting and defending in the territory without going out to explore, this led to them having no way to obtain Intermediate Hearts of Strength.

To redeem them at the Dragon Shop, a single one costs 10,000 Ice Dragon Marks.

Aside from Cao Xing, this is a staggering amount, even for those legion commanders.

Now, Jiang Qingyun has flat-out offered to redeem them on their behalf!

Even if it were only five, it would be enough to get them excited!

"Long live Boss Jiang Qingyun!"

"Boss, we will support you forever!"

Watching the excited Survivors.

Jiang Qingyun waved his hand, suppressing their frenzied emotions.

At the same time, a smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth.

In truth, he had another idea in mind: not only did he want to maintain his second-place standing, but if possible, Jiang Qingyun also wanted to make a dash for first place!

To ruthlessly drag Cao Xing down!

He did not believe for a second in this so-called default first place.

With those mysterious and powerful men in black in his territory, he had the confidence to do it!

"Just you wait, Cao Xing. This time, I will drag you down and crush you beneath my feet!"

Without hesitation, Jiang Qingyun used the [Ice Dragon Horn (Small)] in his hand.

The familiar regional announcement sounded.

Regional Announcement: "Attention Survivors, Survivor Lord 'Jiang Qingyun' has used…"

…

At that moment, because of this regional announcement, the chat channel erupted into heated discussion once again.

"Damn, Jiang Qingyun used another Small Ice Dragon Horn. That's the second time today, right? The strength of Wangjiang Pavilion truly shouldn't be underestimated!"

"Yeah, it feels like ever since the blizzard, Jiang Qingyun's Wangjiang Pavilion has been on steroids, soaring all the way up!"

"Do you think Jiang Qingyun is trying to make a dash for first place and snatch the position from Great Lord Cao Xing?"

"It's possible. Great Lord Cao Xing's points haven't seen a significant increase in several days."

At this point, a Survivor from District 174 chimed in: "Forget it. Jiang Qingyun is only using a few Small Ice Dragon Horns."

"Great Lord Cao Xing gets over a thousand points from using a single Medium Ice Dragon Horn. How could he possibly take that spot?"

"That's right. Great Lord Cao Xing hasn't made a move in a few days; he's probably cooking up something big!"

District 174 was a region under Cao Xing's special care. Nearly ninety percent of the Survivors were his loyal supporters.

If he were to establish a legion now, a massive number of Survivors would definitely join. He could instantly become the largest organization in all of District 17!

However, someone from Wangjiang Pavilion spoke up mysteriously in the chat channel: "Heh… that's not necessarily true. Your Great Lord Cao Xing is only slightly stronger than us Survivors; compared to the natives of this world, the gap is just too massive."

"Don't think that your meager points mean you're safe."

Faced with this person's snide remarks, everyone was confused.

Not long after Jiang Qingyun used the Ice Dragon Horn, a second and third regional announcement appeared.

"Attention Survivors, Survivor Lord 'Qiu Yating' has used…"

"Attention Survivors, Survivor Lord 'Wu Xinghu' has used…"

…

One stone stirred up a thousand waves. After Qiu Yating and Wu Xinghu used their Ice Dragon Horns one after another, several powerful legion commanders from other districts began their challenges.

Among them were even a few names that had never appeared on the chat channel before!

This left the remaining nearly 200,000 Survivors in District 17 stunned.

Yan Shi: "Damn, what's going on? Why is everyone starting?"

Zhan Wei: "Yeah, it's absurd. So many hidden big shots have popped out all of a sudden!"

Hu Ruiguang: "Damn, I think I saw a familiar name. One of the big shots is my first love! I'm going to go hug his leg right now!"

Another group of Survivors analyzed: "After today, there are only two days left on the points leaderboard. For those looking to compete for the rankings, this is the final stage, so they've all started their sprint!"

"And those big shots who suddenly popped out probably gained some opportunities from their development over the past few days or from interacting with the natives of this world, which is why they suddenly have the strength to handle the Ice Dragon Horn challenge."

"I see. I thought the leaderboard was basically set in stone. With so many unfamiliar experts appearing all of a sudden, it looks like the competition is going to be fierce!"

"The next few days should be quite exciting!"

"Yeah, but that has nothing to do with us. We'll just sit back and watch the show."

…

…

Meanwhile, outside Yao Yiming's territory, 59 [Destroyer Crossbows (Purple)] had been arranged in a circle around the perimeter.

Behind each crossbow, Cao Xing had placed a large crate containing 100 specialized bolts.

The stabilization device beneath the crossbows could rotate 360 degrees, allowing for essentially omnidirectional firepower coverage.

Cao Xing hadn't seen the discussion on the chat channel, but even if he had, he wouldn't have been anxious.

As previously mentioned, while everyone else could only use Small Ice Dragon Horns, his single Medium Ice Dragon Horn would put him leagues ahead of them.

Right now, his main goal was simply to figure out a way for Yao Yiming to secure second place.

After all, Yao Yiming only had a few dozen points, placing him well outside the top 10,000, which was a massive gap compared to the current top ten on the leaderboard.

Therefore, if he wanted to get him onto the leaderboard in a short amount of time, he had to use a Medium Ice Dragon Horn.

Cao Xing began to think, calculating the power and range of these [Destroyer Crossbows].

"The maximum range of the Destroyer Crossbow is 680 meters, and a Tier 2 Ice Nest has a durability of 4,000 to 6,000. Two bolts are enough to destroy an Ice Nest outright."

"And the Ice Nests descend within a one-kilometer radius of the territory."

"If operated well, we can destroy them the instant they descend, before they have a chance to hatch any monsters."

"While that might be a bit wasteful, it's also the safest method."

Cao Xing quickly shared this idea with Yao Yiming. After listening to Cao Xing's analysis, Yao Yiming replied, "I can give it a try."

At the same time, he felt a surge of pressure. He hadn't even challenged a Small Ice Dragon Horn yet, and now he was jumping straight to a Medium one. It was like trying to run before he had even learned to walk!

Cao Xing nodded. If it really didn't work out, they still had so many powerful beings here. Relying on their collective strength, they would be more than capable of handling the Medium Ice Dragon Horn challenge.

After all, with everyone at Tier 4, equipped with powerful buffs, and boasting super-high armor, even if they just stood there and let the Ice Nest Monsters attack them, the health lost would likely be less than what Cao Xing could recover.

Plus, they had Andrew's [Thorns Aura]; just walking through a crowd of monsters would be enough to reflect damage and kill a large swath of them.

At the very least, Yao Yiming and his group didn't need to worry about their safety.

Meanwhile, under Yao Yiming's orders, the Arctic People throughout the territory, along with some Imperial Soldiers, including his parents and younger sister, all came outside the territory.

They each took their place in front of a [Destroyer Crossbow], familiarizing themselves with its operation and adjusting the angles.

A few minutes later, Yao Yiming, clutching the [Ice Dragon Horn (Medium)] Cao Xing had given him, shouted, "Is everyone ready?"

Hearing his voice, the Arctic People and the combat personnel on the field straightened up and nodded, saying, "We are ready, Lord!"

Yao Ying said playfully, "Hurry up, brother! I can't wait to control these crossbows and blast those Ice Nest Monsters to pieces!"

"Xiaoying, be serious. The upcoming challenge is going to be very difficult."

Yao Ying replied, "Brother, you're so annoying! Isn't Great Lord Cao Xing here with us? What are you worried about?"

Yao Yiming was left speechless. He looked apologetically at Cao Xing beside him and said, "Sorry, Great Lord Cao Xing, my sister is just like that."

Cao Xing smiled and waved his hand, "It's fine. Let's start the challenge."

"I'll keep an eye on things here for an hour. If there are no issues, I'll head back to my own territory to start my own Horn challenge."

Yao Yiming nodded solemnly. He immediately used the horn in his hand, and a resounding dragon roar echoed across the sky!

Regional Announcement: "Attention Survivors, Survivor Lord 'Yao Yiming' has used [Ice Dragon Horn (Medium)]…"

…

Many people had just started their Ice Dragon Horn challenges, but without exception, they were all Small ones. Although many people had improved their strength over the past few days, they weren't confident enough to use a Medium Ice Dragon Horn. One could only imagine how shocking this regional announcement was to them.

At that moment, the chat channel instantly exploded!

"Holy crap! He used a Medium Ice Dragon Horn right off the bat. Isn't that a difficulty level only Great Lord Cao Xing dares to challenge? Who is this Yao Yiming big shot?"

"Brothers, I checked his ID. It seems he's also from District 174, the same district as Great Lord Cao Xing."

"Terrifying! It turns out our District 174 has so many hidden big shots; it really is full of hidden talents!"

"Indeed. Based on Great Lord Cao Xing's previous progress, this Medium Ice Dragon Horn should net at least 800 points! This Yao Yiming could charge into the top five in one go!"

"Haha, the competition for this leaderboard is getting more and more exciting!"

The Survivors were ignited by this sudden turn of events and began to watch the leaderboard rankings closely.

Meanwhile, after using the Medium Ice Dragon Horn, Yao Yiming stood ready. The next second, over a dozen meteors streaked across the sky and slammed down near his territory!

"Boom! Rumble!" Violent tremors erupted. The sudden appearance of so many Ice Nests truly stunned everyone on the scene.

The Arctic People exclaimed, "Great Mother Earth, so much of the Ice Dragon's power has descended!" "How terrifying!"

These Arctic People were somewhat fearful. After all, before this, they might not have seen this many Ice Nests in an entire day!

At that moment, Yao Yiming snapped back to reality and quickly ordered, "Dad! Xiaoying, fire! Ansos, Kewa… fire immediately!"

…

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