Chapter 4: The Ancient Battlefield of the City’s Founding

Seeing the look of hesitation on Lidas’s face, Li Bin sighed and said, “How about this—I'll bury the Amazon Camp's Summoning Stone here as well. I believe it won't be long before a new Amazon Camp is established. As your chieftain promised me, the new camp will become our source of troops and will safeguard this forest and the mines. I'll also entrust this responsibility to you—do you think you can handle it?”

Noting that Li Bin had made up his mind, Lidas nodded and asked, “Then, Master, do you have any instructions for the new settlement?”

“I have only two requests. First, I’ll allocate seventy percent of the settlement’s income to you for its development, but you must lay a solid foundation for me. Second, you are to oversee the safety of this forest and the valley; this may well become our final stronghold.”

“I understand, Master. I will manage everything here properly; please rest assured,” Lidas replied with certainty.

After leaving Lidas with the City Heart: Spider 3, the Amazon Camp Stone, the Everlasting Divine Vine, a cypress crow-summoning hut, and all the Barbarian troops, Li Bin, accompanied by the Graveyard Demon and the other heroes, crossed the valley and continued toward the far side of the mountains.

On the journey, Li Bin received most of the available information about the new continent. According to the records supplied by the Dark Guild, this was a newly developed land, with a total area of 237,000 square kilometers. There were 371 public settlements, 59 public towns, 13 public cities, and no public metropolises.

In addition, the continent held seven two-way teleportation gates, twenty-one one-way gates, and thirteen ports serving as exits from the continent.

However, how many mineral resources, how many tribes, or how many private cities owned by players and NPCs existed on this continent—such matters were beyond the reach of a newcomer like Li Bin.

In any case, after passing through the valley and heading south, Li Bin did not encounter any cities. Instead, he discovered several camps belonging to low-level Free units and an ancient Upgrade Tree.

When Li Bin found the Upgrade Tree, he was tempted to immediately raise his own level by one, but after some persuasion from Sanai and Reid, he gave up on the idea. Instead, he marked the tree’s location, planning to return for an upgrade when his level was higher.

Guided by a kobold tribe, Li Bin and his companions learned that there was an ancient battlefield not far ahead—a place that might serve as the site for Li Bin’s new city.

Following the directions given by the kobolds, Li Bin and his group traveled for three days before finally locating the ancient battlefield.

The battlefield spanned about thirty thousand square meters. Though now overgrown with weeds, the breeze would occasionally reveal countless scattered bones and earth stained dark red by blood. Unconscious spirits and will-o'-the-wisps floated across the field, and now and then a skeletal soldier would rise slowly, only to collapse again moments later.

“What do you all think?” Li Bin asked casually.

Sanai, his strategist, immediately offered his analysis: “There’s an abundance of negative energy here, the area is vast, and it’s less than two hundred kilometers from the settlement Lidas is building. This is a very suitable location for a city.”

“But this place is open on all sides—a plain surrounds us. Defense will be a challenge,” Reid interjected with a different view.

“That does make it ideal for commercial development,” Sanai countered. “As long as we’re strong enough, I doubt anyone would dare covet our city.”

Li Bin looked to Tordina and Dierdre; both nodded in agreement, indicating no objections.

Seeing this, Li Bin made his decision. He spoke solemnly: “Then we’ll build here.”

At his command, the Graveyard Demon halted at the edge of the ancient battlefield. Li Bin and his advisors circled the grounds, searching for the best spot for the city hall while discussing plans for constructing the city.

Following the advice of Sanai and the others, Li Bin decided to station the Graveyard Demon, now at a level-three settlement, beneath the ancient battlefield for the time being. This would create a two-tiered city structure and conceal part of his strength.

Moreover, according to the system, if Li Bin could not find the items required to upgrade the Graveyard Demon, having it stationed long-term beneath an undead city—and supplementing what each lacked—might eventually give it a chance to evolve into a town-level Graveyard Demon.

Soon, Li Bin found a suitable spot—a small hill on the western edge of the battlefield. As Sanai observed, this had once been a command post for one side during the ancient battle, and it was the site of the fiercest fighting.

The Graveyard Demon’s garrison was set on the southern, shaded side of the hill—the place with the densest lingering resentment in the entire battlefield.

The Graveyard Demon slowly moved to the chosen position. At Li Bin’s command, before it had even fully settled, it swiftly sank into the earth. Now, only the entrance within remained; everything else above ground crumbled into dust, blending with the soil.

At that moment, Li Bin received a system message: the Graveyard Demon’s mobility had been temporarily sealed, negative energy accumulation speed increased by fifty percent, and its internal area expanded by thirty percent.

Li Bin paid it no mind. He deployed four squads of will-o’-the-wisp slaves and a single will-o’-the-wisp leader from within the Graveyard Demon, ordering them to dig a pit thirteen meters in diameter at the top of the hill.

The wisp slaves worked quickly, and within an hour, the pit was complete. Li Bin himself took the City Heart: Undead 5, leapt into the pit, and placed the City Heart at its very center.

At that moment, Li Bin received another system notification: “You are establishing your own city. Although the City Heart in your possession can build a level-five town, you must still start from a level-one settlement. Furthermore, the highest level building and troop tier in your city may not exceed level seven.”

Li Bin showed no reaction to this prompt; he had long understood certain rules regarding City Hearts. He also knew that as long as the City Heart’s grade was high enough, even a level-one settlement could construct buildings up to the City Heart’s maximum level limit.

So he paid the system prompt no further mind and waited for the next notification.

Soon, he heard: “Please choose the city type to construct: Bone Castle type, which boosts skeleton attributes and production; Corrosive Domain type, which boosts corpse soldier attributes and production; Shadow Realm type, which boosts ghost attributes and production…”

Click to view image link: