Chapter 139 – Crane Mountain Village

Chapter 139 – Crane Mountain Village

Cheng Yang suddenly chuckled, “Alright, no need to explain. I was just joking with you. Even if the altar only saves three or four days, you still have to use it. As a subsidiary territory, the restrictions on using the False Divine Grace are even stricter than the Divine Grace in the central village. The level 1 Divine Grace in the central village can be used by anyone below the peak apprentice level. But the False Divine Grace is different – only those below the high apprentice level can utilize level 1 False Divine Grace. If you raise your strength to the high level, this False Divine Grace will become meaningless.”

Niu Bing said, “Even if we can’t use it, we can let others use it.”

Cheng Yang shook his head firmly, “You are the high-ranking members of Phoenix Village, the backbone of our forces. Your strength must be prioritized. Moreover, using the Divine Grace privilege now isn’t wasteful, as half of your original cultivation progress will be retained. This will help you reach peak apprentice level faster.”

After hearing this, Niu Bing and the other person understood Cheng Yang’s intentions and stopped arguing.

“Alright, let’s not discuss this further. After we take over this territory altar, I’ll appoint Liu Xiyue as the village chief,” Cheng Yang concluded.

Liu Xiyue thought for a moment and didn’t object.

Cheng Yang then arranged, “Old Niu, you wait here first. There are too many monsters, and you’re not suited for charging into battle.”

Niu Bing shook his head in frustration, “It’s fine, I knew I was just here to watch.” He wasn’t wrong – most of the battles along the way had been handled by Cheng Yang. Previously, Liu Xiyue had stayed back like him during fights, but now with her mutated white tiger, she had become a main combatant.

Cheng Yang didn’t comment, knowing that Niu Bing would soon have opportunities that would make many envious.

Cheng Yang charged into the demon beast horde, with Liu Xiyue following closely. With Cheng Yang’s ice spike skills clearing the way, waves of demon beasts fell. Any strong stragglers were quickly dealt with by Liu Xiyue.

Although this monster group was large, their strength was inferior to previous encounters, with the strongest only at late first-tier.

The slaughter lasted over ten minutes. After consuming numerous mana potions, all the demon beasts had been converted into Cheng Yang’s spiritual energy.

Cheng Yang then took over the territory named Crane Mountain Village and appointed Liu Xiyue as village chief.

Liu Xiyue immediately used the False Divine Grace privilege, instantly boosting her strength to high level. Her attack power surged to 41 points, giving her the ability to one-shot most peak first-tier demon beasts.

Originally, a high-level priest’s attack power was only 20 points. But with her silver-grade weapon, silver-grade and two bronze-grade accessories, plus the 14% attack bonus from the priest statue, her attack power broke through the 40-point barrier.

Liu Xiyue was undoubtedly the world’s top priest. Her Healing Light had reached level 3, capable of restoring three times her attack power in health. Combined with the statue’s Divine Grace attributes, her healing power approached 140 points. In the entire territory, only Cheng Yang could survive without her Healing Light, which could instantly restore anyone from near-death to full health.

After taking over the territory altar, Cheng Yang faced a dilemma – how to defend it. While he could leave it to the demon beasts, which wouldn’t destroy the altar but would prevent Crane Mountain Village’s development, he had promised to rescue refugees in Yicheng. Without the altar, they couldn’t survive. But could the newly-transformed combatants defend the altar if Cheng Yang’s group left?

Although the territory wouldn’t immediately face strong demon beasts, even a late first-tier monster would be catastrophic for newcomers. Even a 3-meter high level 1 wall wouldn’t stop such beasts.

After careful consideration, Cheng Yang decided to defend the territory. Leaving it unattended would mean losing over ten days of development time – a significant disadvantage in the apocalypse’s early stages. Having this territory in Yicheng would also expand Phoenix Village’s strategic depth.

Cheng Yang planned to have Niu Bing and Liu Xiyue stay the night, as the nearby demon beasts wouldn’t be too strong for them to handle.

After explaining his plan, both agreed, though Liu Xiyue wished to return to Phoenix Village. Cheng Yang assured them he’d return tomorrow with more people to gather materials for walls and upgrade the territory.

Niu Bing joked about bringing his girlfriend, prompting Cheng Yang to nearly spit blood at how quickly Niu Bing had adopted the “married couple” label after less than a month of dating.

The group then headed east toward Yicheng’s main city. Unlike Xiangcheng City, Yicheng had no deep chasms or blocked passages – just ordinary ruins without the overgrowth seen elsewhere.

Niu Bing asked about the lack of vegetation, to which Cheng Yang speculated it might be the gods’ way of giving humans better survival chances, as overgrown cities would make finding food difficult.

Discussing Yicheng’s survivors, Cheng Yang estimated 140,000-150,000 remained from the original 300,000 population. Without help, the death rate would continue rising. Niu Bing questioned how so many could survive without combat classes, but Cheng Yang explained that after the initial days, ordinary people could survive by hiding and scavenging food in the ruins, though cooked meals would be impossible.

Liu Xiyue worried about what would happen after one or two months, as even Xiangcheng’s main city forces couldn’t reach Yicheng in that time. Cheng Yang could only sigh, saying the survivors might starve or find other ways to survive under the gods’ control.

As they walked through the ruins, they saw signs of survivor activity. Unlike wild forests, the city ruins had fewer lone demon beasts and minimal new spawns. In the suburbs, they encountered monster groups only every few hundred meters, with strength similar to other ruined cities with main cities.

PS: Bonus chapter for 60 monthly votes completed. Thank you for your support. (To be continued…)