Beep!

Wind Fantasy sent me a message via the forums: "Little Cheat, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Are you dumb!? What did you agitate my father for? I only just managed to lure him into the game, and you just had to pop out of nowhere and p.i.s.s him off! Wuuuuuuuu, two days of painstaking effort wasted just like that! You dumba.s.s…"

I couldn"t help but laugh before I replied: "I"m sorry, I really couldn"t hold back any longer. I just couldn"t stand him acting like a stubborn stick in the mud! That… Don"t worry, I"ll definitely do everything I can do to defend Dawn City. Even if the enemy is the Northern Alliance, I"ll still give it my best shot! I definitely won"t let your dad turn his nose up at me!"

Lin Yixin probably didn"t know how to respond to that statement, so she sent me a smiley emoticon instead. A few words were attached to the emoticon: "Alright then. I"m going to go grind! You should be busy too, right!?"

I immediately replied: "Yiyi, I miss you…"

After a few minutes, she finally sent me another smiley emoticon with this message attached to it: "Oh okay, I got it. Hehe…"

Lin Yixin didn"t respond to my declaration of love, darn it. She actually didn"t give me a proper response...

……

I grumpily closed the forums page and proceeded to connect to the server. It was time to enter the game!

Wooos.h.!.+

I appeared in a bright and gleaming Sky City. White clouds drifted through the sky and the city itself seemed to be peaceful and quiet.

The plaza next to the eastern gate was filled with players who had set up stalls. There were players selling metal, herbs, and food ingredients all over the place. There were also quite a few people selling the equipment that they had forged. Many players had advanced their professions considerably at this stage of the game. There were even people who could forge Level 140 1-star Outstanding Purple Gold–grade equipment, and those sold like hotcakes once they hit the market.

I realized that I didn"t have anything to do in Sky City, so I teleported over to Dark Moon City.

Light flashed and I appeared in the city lord"s hall. As I strode out of the gate, I summoned the Armored Ice Qilin Horse and flipped onto its back. After that, I started roaming around the city.

Beep!

I immediately received a message from Gui Guzi: "Boss Broken Halberd, you"ve finally come online."

"Yeah, what"s up?" I asked.

"Nothing much. We"re just organizing an activity for all our riders. All members of the Dragonlight Cavalry are in attendance and we plan to cross the borders and check out that territory under Wind City"s jurisdiction, Dawn City. I heard that you were squabbling with someone on the forums just ten minutes ago, so I was wondering if you wanted to come along with us. We should familiarize ourselves with the terrain around Dawn City. We won"t get the chance to once the Nation Wars begin."

"Yeah, I know. I"ll be there in a minute. Where are you guys right now?"

"We have gathered about 1.5 kilometers north of Dark Moon City. All 2000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen are here and Boss Eve is also here on her super Dragonlight boss horse. We currently have 2001 riders altogether and you"ll be the 2002th! Haha!"

"I"ll be right there!"

In any case, I wasn"t in a hurry to gain levels, so I decided to join them on this little trip. Gui Guzi was right. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. We definitely had to familiarize ourselves with the terrain around Dawn City to gain the advantage in the upcoming Nation Wars. If we just barged in w.i.l.l.y-nilly, I would really be the person that Lin Xiao had described. A silly youth who was all brawn and no brains, someone who fought on pa.s.sion and emotions alone.

I spurred the Ice Qilin Horse forward and it gave long whinny as it shot out of the city gates. Since I was Level 159, 99.9% of the players around me couldn"t see my level or ID. However, when everyone saw my horse sweep pa.s.s them, there were more than a few players who recognized me as the legendary Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. After all, many of the screenshots in the reports on the battle of Immortality City had captured my image, so it was impossible for people not to recognize me.

I covered the distance of 1.5 kilometers in a flash.

Fallen leaves littered the ground, and the game had finally entered the fall season. As I trotted into a forest of maple trees with fiery red leaves, I could hear the faint neighing sounds of the Dragonlight Armored Horses in the distance. When I ventured in a little deeper, I soon saw a distant clearing in the vast forest. A huge group of Dragonlight Cavalrymen had a.s.sembled in a tight and neat formation in that clearing, and it was as if they were waiting for my arrival.

Gui Guzi, Li Chengfeng, Chaos Moon, Heaven"s Rain, Diamond Dust, High Fighting Spirits, Xu Yang, and Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun were geared for war. They struck fierce figures as they sat astride their Dragonlight Armored Horses, looking like commanders about to perform a military review for all the world to see.

He Yi brandished her Blade of the Earthen Soul as she sat on the king of the Dragonlight Armored Horses, which possessed three of those deadly draconic horns. She stood at the head of the formation and was currently facing the rest of them as she cheerfully talked to them.

Everyone"s eyes were filled with determination and vigor and our Dragonlight Cavalry looked extremely powerful and awe-inspiring now that they had lined up in formation.

"Lu Chen is here!" Chaos Moon said with a laugh.

Everyone immediately straightened their backs as they saw me enter the clearing. Li Chengfeng rested a hand on the handle of his sword and shouted, "Okay, let the vice leader hear our battle cry!"

After he shouted those words, Li Chengfeng suddenly unsheathed his sharp sword, which caused a chain reaction among the crowd. Metal rasped against metal as all the Dragonlight Cavalrymen unsheathed their weapons. Everyone raised their weapons high in the air as they yelled, "Vice leader, Lin Xiao said that you definitely wouldn"t be able to defend Dawn City, so we swear that we will use our blood and honor to defend its dignity! Even if it costs us our lives, we will definitely get Lin Xiao to bow his head toward us in shame!"

Joy leapt through my heart. These were truly comrades who would stick with me through h.e.l.l and high water!

I spurred the Armored Ice Qilin Horse forward as I pulled the Cyan Netherworld Sword out of my sheath and raised it high in the air. I shouted, "Remember, we don"t do any of this for money or personal gain. We will defend Dawn City for our honor! To defend our homeland! To defend the dignity of all Chinese players! Let"s work hard, brothers and sisters! We"ll make sure that the Dragonlight Cavalry"s name will shake the world during this Nation War! Everyone will know our name once this war is done!"

Everyone started to laugh loudly as they sheathed their blades.

……

My Ice Qilin Horse trekked forward and I saw that Gui Guzi, Heaven"s Rain, High Fighting Spirits and the rest had swapped to the Dragonblade sets. Their armor looked extremely powerful and the only difference between them were their s.h.i.+elds, necklaces and rings. Of course, those played a huge role in determining a player"s strength. For example, Gui Guzi"s s.h.i.+eld was an Outstanding Earth-grade s.h.i.+eld and it boosted his HP and Defense to a whole nother level compared to Heaven"s Rain and Diamond Dust.

Li Chengfeng, on the other hand, was wearing a set of deep blue armor. I shot him a glance. "Chengfeng, that armor looks pretty nice! Where"d you get it from?"

"Heh!" Li Chengfeng chuckled. "I got it from killing skeletons in the barrens around the Dragon Domain. It"s called the Frost Dracolich armor set, and its overall set effect is stronger than the Dragonblade set"s."

"Hmmm, not bad. Not bad!"

High Fighting Spirits steered his horse toward us. He brandished the Dragonlight Shatter in his hand as he let out a hearty laugh. "Lu Chen, you"re way too OP! To think that you"d actually dare to b.u.t.t heads with Beauty Lin"s dad! Aren"t you afraid that he"ll make life difficult for you once he becomes your father-in-law?"

An awkward expression appeared on my face, and I didn"t quite know how to respond to that.

Chaos Moon rapped her sword against High Fighting Spirits" helmet as she yelled, "You dumba.s.s! You"re the one who is being OP here! How dare you say that in front of guild leader Eve!? You really are all brawn and no brain, you oaf!"

He Yi giggled before she replied, "It"s nothing. He"s just cracking a joke. Besides, Lu Chen hasn"t married Beauty Lin yet. There"s nothing to be anxious about…"

I coughed to interrupt this taboo topic and said, "Okay, let"s head out, everyone! It"s about time we started making our way to Dawn City. Even though the Dragonlight Armored Horses move very fast, we"ll still need at least an hour to get there. I don"t want anyone to cause any trouble while we"re on the road. Maintain a tight formation and don"t disturb any of the players who are grinding in the areas that we pa.s.s through. The Dragonlight Cavalry"s mission today is to scout the terrain, not bully people with our power!"

"Yes!" everyone echoed with a nod of their heads.

……

After I had given my command, I spurred the Armored Ice Qilin Horse forward, and He Yi followed right behind me. It wasn"t surprising as He Yi and I both had the strongest and fastest mounts among all the riders present today.

The thunderous sound of hooves echoed out from behind us, causing the birds in the forest to scatter into the air in fear. The entire maple tree forest seemed to be trembling as we galloped through it.

I felt my blood heat up at the sight behind me. Hot d.a.m.n, just 2000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen already looked so imposing. If we had 10000 of them, wouldn"t we be able to trample these mountains flat? However, it was practically impossible to get any more Dragonlight Armored Horses, so the chances of us forming any new troops of Dragonlight Cavalry were practically zero.

Two thousand riders thundered through the forests of Dragonbone Mountain Range as we crossed Wind City"s territory"s borders. After we had galloped at full speed for nearly an hour, we finally entered a valley. As we rode down from the top of the hill, we could see a majestic-looking city that s.h.i.+mmered with golden light in the middle of the valley. Just as we had expected, Dawn City"s terrain was quite suited for defense. There was enough s.p.a.ce for at least a hundred million players to fight in this s.p.a.cious valley, and the mountainous terrain in the valley was perfect for ambushes and fast-paced engagements like flanking. Cavalry troops would be invincible in the areas surrounding these hills.

The road continued to wind into the distance and it eventually stretched into a bunch of mountains which formed what looked like a dragon swimming in the air. That was the Dragonbone Mountain Range. The road eventually led to a place called Windy Trail. This was the place which would eventually lead to the eight main cities of the Northern Alliance. This also meant that it would be the major flashpoint of this conflict. The moment the Nation Wars version was patched in, the barrier around the Windy Trail would disappear and the border system would be cancelled. That was when the battle would truly begin.

……

Li Chengfeng raised his sword high in the air as he rushed forward with a troop of Dragonlight Cavalrymen. Meanwhile, He Yi and I remained on top of the hill as we continued to survey the terrain.

We had our fair share of both brave warriors and cunning fighters among the melee players of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. Gui Guzi, High Fighting Spirits, and Xu Yang were our best fighters when it came to the hot-blooded types, while Li Chengfeng, Chaos Moon, and He Yi were the best fighters among our coolheaded combatants. But there was only one player among them who was a general that was skilled in both tactics and fighting, and that was Li Chengfeng. He had the skills of a super-elite player and a calm mind, so he was the type who would catch any mistakes his opponent made while not giving them a single opening.

"This Dawn Valley is really big…" He Yi said with a giggle. As she stared into the distance, she continued. "We definitely need to stuff the head of the Windy Trail with a lot of troops so that we can obstruct the enemy"s advance. We also need to line the hills on both sides of the trail with archers and mages. Let"s greet the players of the Northern Alliance with a baptism of fire."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, the moment they enter flat ground, we can use our cavalry troops to charge through their lines and carve up their formation. Whatever it is, we"ll need to do our best to whittle away at their strength before they can gather all of their troops. We should get the profession-based players in our subguilds to make as many catapults as we can. Ballistae and catapults will be very effective when we finally have to defend the city proper."

"I got it!"

A gentle smile appeared on He Yi"s face as she spurred her Dragonlight Spirit Beast forward. She laughed. "Let"s go over and check out what the Windy Trail looks like too!"

"Alright."

Two horses charged forward under the rays of morning light and our armor seemed to be plated in gold as it gleamed in the sun.