Absolute Death Game-Chapter 517 - 15 The Rise of the Qingyang Empire
Indeed worthy of a boss-level Dragon Clan member, Red Night's loot was many times richer than the Little Red Dragon we encountered before, even dropping two pieces of Dark Gold-level equipment. Besides the Dragon Head and the Dragon Ball that Xiao Buli kept, all the other items were auctioned off on the spot.
He Suoju was now in high spirits because he hadn't bid on the loot from the Little Red Dragon, so now his points were far ahead of the others, allowing him to easily win a piece of Dark Gold-level weaponry. The person who regretfully won a green-named equipment earlier was jumping up and down in frustration.
Thanks to the generous loot, most people present got the equipment they desired. Even those who missed out on the auctioned equipment could still go for the gear distributed from the earlier Dragon Hunting, because Xiao Buli had said it would all be auctioned. So, players who liked the Fire Resistance Equipment and had fewer points were attentive. Once the loot auction was complete, they managed to win this equipment with very few points. Almost everyone got something, with each person acquiring at least one piece, leaving everyone beaming with joy.
Xiao Buli, however, didn't participate in the auction. With the information provided by the GM's scepter and a team that worked smoothly together, Dark Gold-level equipment was no longer an inaccessible dream for him, something he could obtain slowly over time.
Xiao Buli instructed Han Wenhuan and Gu Shaobang to handle these post-event tasks while he found a secluded spot. Carrying the Dragon Head and wielding the GM's scepter, he headed straight for the Dragon Pillar in Zhongzhou City.
After completing the hardest part of the nation-building, the subsequent procedures turned out to be much easier than Xiao Buli had imagined.
With a whoosh, Xiao Buli appeared not far outside of Zhongzhou City. After killing several Minor Monsters that saw him, he entered the city and approached the Dragon Pillar.
After a formal dialogue with the Guardian of the Dragon Pillar and following the prompts, he submitted the Dragon Head. The Guardian then took the Dragon Head and went inside.
Before long, that huge and fierce Dragon Head was suspended high above the Dragon Pillar, and suddenly a system notification rang in his ear.
System Notification: Successfully submitted the Dragon Head. You have been granted the authority to establish a country. Please name your country.
Is it really that simple? Is the country considered successfully established just like that? Xiao Buli was slightly surprised. It was indeed easy to establish a country, much to his astonishment, considering the bureaucracy and paperwork he was used to in real life. He remembered helping a friend obtain a company license, facing an endless stream of procedures one day after another and never being told all the requirements at once. That experience had frustrated him for over half a month, nearly leading to a confrontation with the clerk.
If only real life could be as streamlined and convenient as game programming, how great would that be? But he also knew these thoughts were just wishful thinking.
Without doubt, the country's name would naturally be Qingyang Empire. This name had been carried over by their Guild, after all, Qingyang Studio had been involved in many games which made the name a good promotional tool. If players in Jiuzhou Domination heard of this name, perhaps Qingyang's well-established reputation might attract them.
Xiao Buli, hands making a shade over his eyes, looked up at the Dragon Pillar with nine pillars lined up, each likely representing an attribute of the Dragon Clan. It was already adorned with many ornaments.
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Because Xiao Buli submitted the head of an Elite Red Dragon, it was placed at a higher position on the Dragon Pillar. Flanking his Dragon Head were two others, each hanging on its respective pillar. Further down, one or two smaller Dragon Heads adorned each pillar, about thirteen or fourteen in total, which seemed to be from ordinary dragons. If he had submitted the head of the Little Red Dragon he had hunted earlier, it would probably have been placed there.
The other two Dragon Heads alongside the one he submitted were a Gold Dragon and an Azure Dragon. Xiao Buli wasn't quite clear about their attributes since he mainly researched the Fire Element Dragon Clan, paying little attention to the others.
Underneath the dragon's head was a plaque with the country's name. Beneath the Golden Dragon Head hung a plaque for Qilin Hall, and beneath the Azure Dragon Head, one read Awesome Empire. He was familiar with these two countries, as he'd had interactions with them before. Considering the strength of these two countries, Xiao Buli planned to talk to them next to see if they could resolve matters without resorting to violence. Although his plan was to unify the continent, his strategy was not solely reliant on brute force—if it were, there would be no end to the violence.
For smaller nations, Xiao Buli planned to conquer a few to warn the others and persuade them to align with him. As for the major powers, he intended to form strategic alliances and convince them with a combination of emotion and reason. As long as they accepted his leadership, there would be no other losses. However, Xiao Buli was not very optimistic about this—after all, they were dominant powers in their regions, and it might not be that simple. But he had a backup plan: to pledge allegiance to one of them. By merging two forces, the third would be much easier to handle. Either way, once someone unified the continent, the system would reset the game, so the means didn't matter as much as the end goal.
Xiao Buli studied the three Dragon Heads for a while, then took note of the names of the smaller nations below.
He reflected that although obtaining the Dragon Head may have involved some trickery, at least in terms of presence, his country was not inferior to the other two powers.
"So these three nations are currently the highest-level ones?" he casually chatted with the Guardian who had come out.
The Guardian of the Dragon Pillar shook his head and pointed toward the sky with his hand.
Xiao Buli was puzzled. What did that mean? At the same time, he looked up, and what he saw startled him.
Because Xiao Buli was standing close to the Dragon Pillar, it was a case of "too close to see." Although he had looked up for a long time, his gaze had been fixed around the Dragon Head he stood under, never really looking further up. Now, following the Guardian's hint, he craned his neck back to nearly a 90-degree angle, and that's when he clearly saw at the very top of the tall Dragon Pillar, a gigantic head was hanging—about five or six times the size of their Red Dragon Head.
The Dragon Head was so immense that it couldn't hang from the pillar and had to be inserted at the very top. It was the ferocious head of a Black Dragon, and although its eyes were forever closed, it still gave off a bone-chilling vibe to anyone who saw it.
Looking further down the Dragon Head, he saw four big characters on a plaque: Ancestral Dragon Empire.
The Ancestral Dragon had formed an empire? Xiao Buli was startled by the sight and even more so by the size of the Dragon Head they had submitted!
"What rank is that largest Dragon Head?" Xiao Buli suppressed his surprise and asked the Guardian.
The Guardian of the Dragon Pillar explained, "They submitted the Dragon Head of an Ancient Black Dragon, of the Dark Gold grade."
A Dark Gold Ancient Black Dragon had been taken down? Just how powerful was the Ancestral Dragon? Xiao Buli, who had been full of confidence, felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.
No, that wasn't right. Xiao Buli quickly came to a realization. That Black Dragon was unlikely killed by the Ancestral Dragon through sheer strength. Even though they had already sent a large force into the game, hunting a dragon wasn't something that could be accomplished by sheer numbers. It required a team of experts. Otherwise, much like himself, who had made ample preparations, it was improbable for them to kill a dragon of that level in such a short time without the System facilitating it in some way.
Through his recent discoveries, Xiao Buli could imagine the relationship between the System and the Ancestral Dragon. Not to mention other aspects, just the fact that their leader, General Huo, had died thirty years ago was already unexplainable. The projections of General Huo that continued to appear within the Ancestral Dragon, whether they were the remnants of General Huo's entry into the game or had merged with his Heart Demon, or perhaps they were merely a false projection employed by the System in its scheme of invasion, any of these possibilities indicated a complex relationship between the Ancestral Dragon and the game.
However, there was one thing that perplexed Xiao Buli. If uniting the continent was a condition reset by the System, then why did it help the Ancestral Dragon establish such a powerful empire?
The System didn't want a unified human kingdom, did it?
That's it—Xiao Buli understood the System's logic with his many years of experience. The System allowed the Ancestral Dragon to become a dominator-level state not to unite the continent but to prevent other nations from uniting it.
With an absolute power like the Ancestral Dragon there as a barrier, it was undoubtedly an obstacle for any nation trying to unite the continent. As long as other nations existed, should the Ancestral Dragon maintain a stance of neither expanding nor invading, this multination stalemate would continue indefinitely, effectively preventing any possibility of continental unity.
What to do now? Although Xiao Buli was experienced in establishing empires within games, he had only ever faced gaming guilds or rich second-generation players powered by real money. Even so, his guild had its setbacks, and he couldn't forget the transfer of his guild in "Jiuzhou Domination," feeling a tightness in his chest even after all this time.
Now, he was up against a powerful secret organization backed by the System, and even with his GM Scepter, the odds seemed slim.
But no matter how difficult the task, it still had to be completed. Xiao Buli always enjoyed challenging difficulties, so he quickly weighed the situation and integrated a battle strategy in his mind. Looking up at the Dragon Head atop the pillar, Xiao Buli resolved inwardly.
"Can't delay any longer, I must start recruiting soldiers and buying horses immediately. In this war, I must come out victorious."
With that thought, Xiao Buli didn't look back and left the Dragon Pillar. He found a secluded spot and used the GM Scepter to teleport away. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian ). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
