Nie Yan tragically discovered that no matter where he went within the First Military Academy, he inevitably drew a lot of attention. Murmurs constantly reached his ears.
Although frustrated, he felt helpless.
Since the challenge had been scheduled for one month later, Nie Yan had not yet decided whether to accept it. He still couldn’t quite figure out War God Leisu’s intentions. If Leisu truly wanted to challenge him, why set the date a month from now instead of immediately? What Nie Yan didn’t know was that Leisu was currently undergoing intense, high-intensity training and absolutely dared not confront Nie Yan in the short term. If the students of the First Military Academy learned of this situation, one could only wonder what their reactions would be.
Nie Yan continued attending classes as usual. Life at the academy remained almost undisturbed.
That evening, when Nie Yan logged into the game, he helped Bull Man Tribe acquire fifty-six flying mounts. Once the injuries of these flying mounts fully healed, the Bull Man Tribe’s total number of flying mounts would reach around a hundred.
Actively preparing for war, the Bull Man Tribe rallied hundreds of thousands of allied players and hundreds of catapults, advancing toward Kolte City with an earth-shaking momentum. The mountains and plains were swarmed with the Bull Man Tribe’s allied forces—a truly overwhelming sight.
Kolte City had more than twenty guilds, at least ten of which had been acquired by the Mone Financial Group, giving them control of more than 70% of the city’s strongholds. When these guilds gathered together, they formed a force that could not be underestimated.
Three hundred plus Frost Iron Siege Catapults and over a hundred Ballistic Catapults from the Bull Man Tribe slowly advanced onto the plains, a sight truly terrifying.
Seeing the massive scale of Bull Man Tribe’s forces approaching, each guild in Kolte City panicked and quickly mobilized their troops for defense.
The dark clouds of war loomed over Kolte City.
The Mone Financial Group was gathering forces to launch an attack on Carol City, planning to strike Bull Man Tribe hard. However, their preparations were not yet complete when Bull Man Tribe acted first, catching them completely off guard.
Saro Fortress in Kolte City was the stronghold of the Long Zhi Guild, the second largest guild in the city. This fortress occupied a crucial passageway to Carol City, so the Mone Financial Group spent a large amount of gold to upgrade its defenses. The twenty-yard-high walls exuded immense pressure.
Inside the fortress walls, approximately seventy to eighty thousand players guarded the stronghold. Additionally, three teleportation arrays had been set up within the fortress. Once battle commenced, more than ten guilds from Kolte City could immediately dispatch over a hundred thousand reinforcements. On the city walls, five cannons had been installed. However, compared to goblin arcane cannons, these arcane cannons were significantly inferior in firepower and too few in number, practically negligible compared to Bull Man Tribe’s catapult forces.
Over a hundred Ballistic Catapults slowly approached the walls of Saro Fortress. The arcane cannons atop the fortress walls began firing, launching a few scattered shells that destroyed two Ballistic Catapults. Many shells missed their mark, landing harmlessly on the ground.
The over a hundred Ballistic Catapults lined up in a row outside the fortress, completing their setup. Players next to the catapults loaded massive stones onto them.
Nie Yan stood atop a nearby hill on the plains, gazing down at the vast expanse of Bull Man Tribe’s forces. In the distance, Saro Fortress did not seem an insurmountable challenge. A surge of ambition filled his heart. The conquest of the entire Grilan Empire would begin from this very fortress, Saro!
“Begin the attack!”
At Nie Yan’s command, over a hundred massive stones soared into the air, flying toward Saro Fortress in the distance. With a whistling sound, they crashed down. Inside the fortress, chaos erupted, stones flew everywhere, part of the city wall collapsed with a deafening boom, and those five arcane cannons were smashed into dust so thoroughly that not even ashes remained.
Saro Fortress trembled and groaned under the bombardment of Ballistic Catapults. After several volleys, the city walls collapsed into ruins.
The entire fortress was like a girl stripped of her clothes, completely exposed before the Bull Man Tribe players.
Under Nie Yan’s command, they did not immediately charge forward but instead used the catapults as support, advancing steadily and minimizing casualties as much as possible.
Players inside Saro Fortress were repeatedly bombarded by Iron Siege Catapults until they were almost completely wiped out.
This was an unquestionable, overwhelming victory. Nie Yan didn’t even need to personally intervene. He believed Bull Man Tribe’s forces would reduce all of Kolte City’s strongholds to ruins in a very short time.
Bull Man Tribe had essentially declared total war against the Mone Financial Group. One could only wonder how the Mone Financial Group would respond next—they certainly wouldn’t sit idly by and accept defeat.
While monitoring the battle situation, Nie Yan also studied improvements for the Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow. He had already instructed his slave, Delfinia, to duplicate the crossbow modification blueprint, then took one copy and learned from it.
He asked Bull Man Tribe’s players to gather some metal materials and began modifying the Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow.
The Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow was exquisitely crafted, entirely made of metal, extremely sturdy, and exuding a visually striking sense of power. Its only drawback was its weight; it required significant strength to lift, and those without sufficient strength couldn’t even budge it.
According to the blueprints, Nie Yan made some subtle modifications, replacing the middle section of the crossbow with Pali alloy, known for its superior elasticity. Pali alloy was extremely rare. Bull Man Tribe’s guild warehouse only had two or three pieces. Additionally, the steel wires used in the crossbow also needed replacement.
Nie Yan meticulously handled each task. His mechanical and forging skills had reached the master level, making these tasks second nature to him.
After capturing Saro Fortress, Bull Man Tribe’s players continued advancing toward the next stronghold, with Nie Yan following behind the main force, fully focused on modifying the mounted crossbow.
Roughly five to six hours later, the Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow underwent significant changes in appearance. Its front end became a spindle shape, the curved bow body brimming with elasticity. Its flexibility was slightly higher than before, but once tightened, its hardness increased dramatically. Moreover, thanks to the use of Pali alloy, the crossbow’s weight was significantly reduced, making it much more convenient to handle than before.
The Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow, with its imposing appearance, delivered a visually stunning impact.
To fully complete the crossbow modification, at least another five to six hours were needed, along with some rare metal materials. Although ordinary materials could serve as substitutes, the modification needed to be completed in one go. It had to be done right the first time; otherwise, future modifications would require considerable effort.
Nie Yan instructed Guo Huai to send people to search the markets for those metals.
He wondered what attributes the modified crossbow would possess.
Looking at the unfinished crossbow, he suddenly thought—if the crossbow could be modified, why not the bolts as well?
Ordinary crossbow bolts caused limited damage. If he could create some powerful bolts, the attack effectiveness could be significantly enhanced.
Nie Yan began crafting arrows using Pali alloy, melting and forging them.
He considered several designs. The first was a triangular cone-shaped bolt with a blood groove, causing a bleeding effect upon impact. The second resembled a bone spur, equipped with a mechanism that, once embedded in flesh, would create a hooking effect, making removal impossible. The third was a pointed spindle shape, with the arrowhead filled with poison, creating a powerful toxic effect.
Besides these three types of bolts, more varieties could be created later when new ideas emerged.
With these ideas in mind, Nie Yan began crafting. For him, creating these bolts was not particularly laborious; he could easily bring these concepts to life.
Unfortunately, these three types of bolts could not be fully combined into one; otherwise, their effectiveness couldn’t be guaranteed, and they would become overly complicated and cumbersome. Therefore, they had to be processed separately, with different bolts used for different situations.
After a while, a triangular cone-shaped bolt was completed. Nie Yan engraved numerous runes onto it, significantly enhancing its destructive power.
System: You have invented a new type of bolt. Please name it.
Nie Yan thought for a moment and decided to name it “Bleeding Bolt.”
System: You have successfully crafted a Bleeding Bolt. Your forging, mechanical, and alchemy skills have each gained 580 points of proficiency.
He examined the Bleeding Bolt’s attributes.
Bleeding Bolt: Attack +800, 30% chance of causing bleeding, lasting for five minutes.
The Bleeding Bolt’s effect was extremely powerful, especially the five-minute duration of the bleeding effect, which was astonishing.
Nie Yan hadn’t expected the blood groove design to have such a significant impact, and the attack power was also impressive.
In addition to the Bleeding Bolt, Nie Yan also crafted the other two types of bolts, naming them Bone Spike Bolt and Poisoned Bolt. These names didn’t need to be overly refined—practicality was the key. Nie Yan instructed Guo Huai to gather a large amount of metal, and he continuously crafted bolts, one after another.
The Bone Spike Bolt, once embedded in an enemy, caused a crippling effect, while the Poisoned Bolt inflicted toxic damage.
Nie Yan crafted approximately 120 Bleeding Bolts, over 200 Bone Spike Bolts, and more than 100 Poisoned Bolts.
Crafting these bolts took about three hours. As long as he had the techniques and materials, he could produce even more in his spare time.
Nie Yan gathered all the bolts, placed them into quivers, and stored them in his backpack. Once he successfully completed the modification of the Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow, his long-range combat capabilities would receive a significant boost.
As Nie Yan was crafting the bolts, Bull Man Tribe had already captured eleven cities in succession, leaving the guilds of Kolte City utterly defeated and frustrated. Upon seeing Bull Man Tribe’s forces approaching, they wished their parents had given them a few more legs to run faster.
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