Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme-Chapter 995 - 610: Advancing to Tier 2

This is the strategic value of Gongshu Ling, even among Legendary Heroes, she stands at the pinnacle, clearly surpassing the previous Gongsun Yang.

But what Xu Yang valued most was not these.

It was...

Xu Yang bent down, looking at Gongshu Ling who was shorter than his waist, and asked with a light chuckle, "Can I take a look?"

"Take a look?"

"Look at what!"

Gongshu Ling, who had just received a Spirit Stone and was smiling broadly, became instantly alert upon hearing this and immediately guarded her mechanical arm, as she realized Xu Yang’s gaze was fixated on it.

Xu Yang didn’t mind, and said with a light laugh, "I just want to take a look. I have some understanding of Mechanical Techniques and would like to discuss them with you."

Hearing this, Gongshu Ling was also a bit surprised: "You understand Mechanical Techniques?"

Xu Yang smiled: "A little bit, just a little bit!"

Of course, this was an understatement; his understanding was far from "a little."

Devoted to deducing the Heavenly Mechanics Methods, he had diligently studied various laws and arts, not only delving into the four main streams of Pills, Talismans, Tools, Formations, but also Puppet Mechanisms, reaching the realm of peak transcendence. If not for the world’s laws prohibiting it, he could have changed his profession to Mechanical Master or Puppet Master in a minute.

Hearing him say this, Gongshu Ling let down her guard and reluctantly handed over the gigantic mechanical arm: "Just a look, be careful, don’t break it!"

After saying this, she finally pulled her small hand out of the mechanical arm.

Xu Yang took the arm and saw its attribute information.

Overbearing Mechanism Hand (Exclusive)

Equipment Order: Second Order (Legendary)

Equipment Attributes: 80 Blunt, 60 Piercing, 70 Fire, 80 Explosive, 50 Poison, Physical Strength +10, Intelligence +10, Construction +10, Crafting +10, Logistics +10, 20 Physical Strength Requirement, Mechanical Weapons Master.

Equipment Special Effect: Overbearing Mechanism (This is a powerful creation of the Gongshu Family, the epitome of the domineering mechanism technique, which can transform into four forms of earth, wind, fire, and water. Earth as a mechanism arm with astounding strength able to move mountains, Wind as a crossbow that can fire arrows with incredible speed, Fire as a Fire Dragon Cannon capable of launching cannonballs, Water as a Cloud Water Fan that can produce poisonous winds and even pour down toxic rain.)

Equipment Special Skill: Gongshu’s Dragon (Activates the hidden fifth form of the Overbearing Mechanism Hand, transforming into the Mechanical Beast Gongshu’s Dragon, which can simultaneously use weapons of earth, wind, fire, and water types. Using it consumes 300 Spirit Stones, cool down time 72 hours.)

Equipment Introduction: Overbearing Mechanism Hand, the emblem of the Gongshu Family Master (Exclusive equipment for Gongshu Ling; other users will have attribute bonuses halved and the effects of Overbearing Mechanism and Gongshu’s Dragon will be lost and unusable.)

...

Admiring the attributes and actual construction of the Overbearing Mechanism Hand, even Xu Yang couldn’t help but praise, "Indeed ingenious!"

"Of course!"

Upon hearing this, Gongshu Ling quickly snatched back the mechanism hand, and with an air of pride, she said, "This is our Gongshu Family’s creation, second only to Mechanical City, the emblem of the Family Master, the crystal of our heart’s blood. How could it not be ingenious, how could it not be extraordinary."

"Ha!"

Xu Yang laughed and, without agreeing or disagreeing, changed the subject: "How did you come to be at the Sky-reaching Tower?"

"It’s all because of that tyrant!"

Upon hearing this, a fierce look appeared on Gongshu Ling’s face, and the Overbearing Mechanism Hand creaked ominously: "That tyrant was treacherous and untrustworthy. My Gongshu Family built a tomb for him, but he sought to silence us by killing, sending many Qi Refiners and armies to attack our Gongshu Mechanism City. This forced the Family Master to take drastic measures, leaving only a few of us brothers and sisters to escape. Still, we were hunted by those Qi Refiners, and when our lives were hanging by a thread, we were guided to the Sky-reaching Tower..."

"Qi Refiners?"

Xu Yang muttered thoughtfully.

Judging by Gongshu Ling’s performance and the introduction of Gongshu Mechanism City, their strength was no weaker than his now.

And yet they were still defeated by the Qin Army, indicating that "Qi Refiners" were no ordinary foes, perhaps involving high-level cultivators.

This also indirectly showed something: although the defenses built by Gongshu Mechanism Skill were formidable, they were not invincible. As long as one’s strength was sufficient, even a Mechanical City could be forcefully breached.

Therefore, while strengthening the city’s defenses is necessary, the enhancement of strength must not be neglected.

Xu Yang had reached a point where he could no longer progress; to advance further, he either had to seek a Breakthrough Method, or obtain the rewards for the Newcomer King and the Dual Crown King, and then complete the tasks required to ascend to a Second Rank Lord.

The former was a matter of chance, not worth contemplating at the moment.

As for the latter…

Xu Yang glanced at the Newcomer List and the Reputation List, finding that his ranking had jumped to the top of the Newcomer List and one hundredth on the Reputation List.

The first was completely understandable; in this battle, he had defeated the enemy forces, slain the legendary fierce general Gongsun Yang along with numerous Epic Heroes, and, with the subsequent spoils of war, acquired two Second-Order Divine Artifacts and the arrival of the legendary hero Gongshu Ling. It was only natural for him to top the Newcomer List.

The Reputation List was a similar case. Although there were a hundred people ahead, they only temporarily led due to their years of accumulation and potential. With his capabilities, surpassing them would be effortless, and if nothing unexpected occurred, the rewards for the Dual Crown King would be securely his.

Hence, planning for advancement was the next step.

Despite the constant warfare of recent times, it was child’s play in the grand scheme of things, barely worthy of notice. Even those of the Eighth or Ninth Order would find it difficult to determine the direction of this world.

At a minimum, becoming a Lord of the "Earth Immortal" at the Tenth Order, or reaching the Eleventh Order of Heavenly Immortal, could possibly unveil the truth behind the Sky-reaching Tower and the Ten Thousand Demon Abyss.

Xu Yang had reached the limits of his progress. Once he received the Dual Crown King reward, he must immediately advance.

In fact, he could already undertake the advancement task.

Because advancement in this world differed from the norm, where once you broke through, it was a personal matter. Here, a Lord’s advancement was a joint breakthrough with his territory, unrelated to the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill or the like. Completing the task was all that was needed to advance.

After constructing the Taiping Temple, Xu Yang had received his advancement task.

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However, this advancement task…

Advanced Task

Lord Culture: Yellow Turban!

Lord Rank: First-Order!

Advancement Direction: Power of Yellow Heaven (Possess 100,000 Yellow Turban troops, have 10 Yellow Turban Training Grounds, possess 1,000 Yellow Turban Warriors, conquer 5 Han Dynasty Lord Territories. Upon completion, receive the Power of Yellow Heaven advancement. After advancement, Lord’s Physical Strength growth +5, recruitment amount of Yellow Turban Warriors from Taiping Temple doubled, and the Yellow Turban Warriors and related troops unlock the Sixth Rank power—Divine Power.)

Advancement Direction: Yellow Heaven Technique (Possess 200,000 Yellow Turban troops, have 20 Yellow Turban Training Grounds, possess 2,000 Yellow Turban Mages, conquer 20 Han Dynasty Lord Territories. Upon completion, receive the Yellow Heaven Technique advancement. After advancement, Lord’s Physical Strength growth +2, Intelligence growth +5, recruitment amount of Yellow Turban Mages from Taiping Temple doubled, and the Yellow Turban Mages and related troops unlock the Sixth Rank power—Taoism.)

Advancement Direction: Taiping Yellow Heaven (Possess 1,000,000 Yellow Turban troops, have 100 Yellow Turban Training Grounds, possess 10,000 Yellow Turban Warriors and Mages, conquer 100 Han Dynasty Lord Territories. Upon completion, receive the Taiping Yellow Heaven advancement. After advancement, Lord’s Physical Strength, Intelligence, Charm growth +5, recruitment amount of all Yellow Turban troop types including Special Troops doubled, and simultaneously unlock Divine Power Rank and Taoism Rank.)

Task Introduction: Bid the Great Han Farewell!

...

Beauty has layers, and society has its strata, making differences in all things inevitable.

This advancement task was no different, with varying levels of difficulty. The tougher the challenge, the greater the reward, shaping a Lord’s growth and future.

Why, after defeating so many opponents and acquiring so many Special Troops and Epic Legendary Heroes, was Xu Yang still ranked just at a hundred on the Reputation List? Could there truly be so many geniuses in the world to rival this ’cheat-mode player’?

Of course not; it was just that these people had intentionally chosen ’level suppression,’ purposely avoiding advancement to strengthen their foundation and aim to complete the highest difficulty and most rewarding advancement task. This included the direct descendants of major forces.

Thus, they could temporarily surpass Xu Yang.

But it was only temporary. Xu Yang, too, aimed for a perfect advancement, yet had no intention of wasting time suppressing his level.

What to do?

Quite simple, fight!

Warfare, slaughtering, plundering—these were the quickest paths of development in this world.

So...