“Grar!”
A deafening roar suddenly shook the city, spreading fear throughout Samarkand.
“What’s that?!”
The civilians stared at the silhouette flitting across the sky in fright.
“Governor, let’s go and take a look!”
The Samarkand governor rushed out of his manor upon hearing his aide’s exclamation. What he saw astonished him.
Ink-black clouds descended from the sky like a tsunami. Devastating lightning covered the sky, and black lotuses drifted with the wind. Vultures and crows circled in the sky, cawing loudly.
Despite the lack of wings, a young man dressed in silver-black armor was flying in the sky on a white jade-like lion.
When the Samarkand governor met eyes with the young man, he had an uncanny feeling that he was standing before a lofty deity. The other party looked upon the world with cold, impassive eyes as if nothing was worthy of his attention.
Hu!A furious wind blew.
Sinister snickers echoed from the shadows as snow began to fall on the city.
Bam!
Four heavy feet stamped the ground. The young man and his white lion mount had landed in the Samarkand governor’s manor.
Without any hesitation, the Samarkand governor kneeled with his aides and greeted, “Pardon my lack of hospitality. I was unaware of milord’s arrival.”
He had no idea what the other party was.
A high shaman? A legendary warrior? Or… a demi-god?
Regardless, I shouldn’t offend someone who makes such an entrance.
“Oh?” Shu Yichao leaped off his white lion and walked to the kneeling Persians, not standing on ceremony at all. “Where did you get that lion from?”
It’s a lion!
Shu Yichao’s eyes nearly bulged when he received the Persians’ gift.
This is a godsend gift! With this, I can finally summon one of the two strongest, late-game, undead troops—terracotta warriors.
Indeed, he received a notification the moment he received the lion.
Name: Terracotta Warrior
Damage
Ranged Damage: 95-115 (Armor break, Consecutive shots, Superior)
Melee Damage: 175-185 (Armor break, Cleave, Superior)
Defense
Armor: 140 (Superior)
Magic Resistance: 60 (Average)
Speed
On Foot: 80 (Very Fast)
Mount: 450 (Fast)
Morale: Fixed
Discipline: High
Recruitment Cost: A lion, a set of jade armor, 91,356 qian
Maintenance Cost: 8941 qian, 9443 yin energy
Abilities:
Critical Strike: There is a set probability that the unit may deal 2x damage.
Fear: There is a set probability that the unit may lower the enemy’s morale.
Reincarnation: There is a set probability that the unit may revive at death.
Gigantification: The unit can transform into a Colossal Terracotta Warrior. The unit is unable to fly in this form.
Overall Review: Beautiful! Fatal! Impeccable! What screams ‘POWER!’ more than these terracotta warriors? Don’t complain to me about the recruitment and maintenance costs! Just close your eyes and press the ‘Recruit’ button!
Shu Yichao was overjoyed.
It has finally been unlocked! What’s there to hesitate?
Recruit! I’ll recruit it! I’ll do it even if I have to sell my possessions and sleep on the streets!
Shu Yichao didn’t hesitate to recruit a terracotta warrior. That was a late-game undead player’s core force!
In his early days of playing Beacons of the Otherworld’s campaigns, he was once completely crushed by a handful of AI terracotta warriors. Despite his rain of arrows, his forest of spears, and his cavalrymen stampede, he was still decimated by the terracotta warriors’ charge.
He had to fire up his city’s production to the max, dispatch a steady stream of troops, and bombard the terracotta warriors with all kinds of spells before he finally wore them down and cleared that campaign stage.
His only regret was that he only had one lion, which meant that he could only recruit a single terracotta warrior…
That’s unacceptable! Don’t you know my goal is to build up an army of terracotta warriors?!
So, Shu Yichao rushed to Samarkand to enquire about the whereabouts of the other lions.
“!!!”
The Samarkand governor was stunned.
That accent… is this the Tang army?
How did they get here so fast?! Did they fly over?!
Wait, that isn’t the main point now! What’s more important is this young general before me…
The Samarkand governor kept his head lowered, not daring to look Shu Yichao in the eye.
There were two light halos behind Shu Yichao, one big and one small, emanating an imposing brilliance that pulsated and blazed. On top of that, he was shrouded in white clouds…
He looked almost like the deities depicted in paintings!
Are the rumors true? Is the Anxi Protectorate-General the incarnation of a Buddha? Not even the high shaman had been as imposing as this!
The Samarkand governor was confused.
Shu Yichao had only snatched over the terracotta warrior’s armor and mount. The halos and the clouds were merely the visual effects of the terracotta warrior’s mountain-patterned armor.
Back when Beacons of the Otherworld first released the undead race, it was flamed all over the internet for its lack of creativity and copying.
You’re putting liches, vampires, and bone dragons in a Chinese high fantasy game? Can you have some shame, please? Surely you can do better than that!
The overwhelming negative publicity forced the Beacons of the Otherworld’s developers to make last-minute changes to the undead troops. They outright copied the terracotta warriors painted in the Mogao Caves’ murals.
Perhaps because they were in too much of a rush, they didn’t balance the troops either.
It was far-fetched to claim that terracotta warriors were undead, but none of the undead players complained about that. The terracotta warrior troop was strong and its design was cool, and that was all the players really cared about.
As for why the lions were suddenly able to fly after becoming the terracotta warrior’s mount… Well… It’s a special feature of the game.
“Oi, I’m asking you a question.” Shu Yichao was displeased by the Samarkand governor’s silence. “Are you mute?”
“N-no, I’m not.” The Samarkand governor stuttered. He anxiously glanced at the aide who proposed gifting the lion and urged, “Y-y-you! Hurry up and explain things to milord!”
“YES!”
The terrified aide revealed everything he knew.
Soon, Shu Yichao learned the lion’s origin. “Sindhu? That sounds right…”
The African lions are more famous, but there are lions in Central Asia and Northern India too. Good, I found my next target.
The Uyghurs and the Tibetans, I’ll spare you for now.
Just then, a loud exclamation echoed outside the manor.
“That’s right, it’s right there. Come with me!”
The Samarkand governor’s face darkened. Despite being the governor, he wasn’t the one who called the shots. The Abbasid Caliphate had stationed a thousand troops in Samarkand’s inner city, and they constantly surveyed the city, ready to quell any signs of rebellions.
This is bad.
The Samarkand governor did harbor thoughts of rebellion, but he wasn’t planning to do so at this juncture. He hadn’t even rallied his people together yet!
I and my aides would be dead meat if the Abbasid troops barged in right now!
“Bam!”
The manor’s gates burst open, and hundreds of Abbasid troops, armed with gleaming scimitars, charged in.
“The Tang army is here, right?”
“Those pegasus cavalrymen are carrying Tang flags!”
“Those damned Mawalis must be colluding with the Tangs!” (T/N: In this era, Mawalis are used to refer to converted non-Arab Muslims.)
“Kill them all!!!”
The Samarkand governor and his aides tried to climb to their feet and flee, but their legs had turned jelly under Shu Yichao’s intimidation. They couldn’t move no matter how hard they tried.
“Oh?” Shu Yichao turned to look at the roaring Abbasid troops. “There are red dots here?”
Padah!
When the Abbasid troops saw Shu Yichao, they inadvertently dropped their weapons.
True God above, what is this entity appearing before us? A beautiful angel wearing imposing black-silver armor, glowing under a beautiful halo and shrouded in clouds…
Who is this man?!
The Abbasid troops had lost half their morale before the battle even began.
Caw! Caw caw!
The vultures and crows in the sky excitedly flapped their wings, dropping black feathers.
Faced with the onslaught of the Abbasid soldiers, Shu Yichao retrieved a metal whip hanging on his waist. This whip could be wielded as a dull weapon when folded, but it could also be utilized like a long-ranged weapon unfolded.
As long as Shu Yichao swung it fast enough…
Pah!
With an explosive crack, a cloud of black flashed toward the dazed Abbasid soldiers.
Black metal bits tore right through the Abbasid soldiers’ armor and bodies, smashing through their bones. They collapsed to the ground as lumps of meat, leaving behind a terrible blood stench in the air.
In a single strike, the enemies were all reduced to corpses!
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter