Chapter 121 - 98: My Legion is Invincible
Chapter 121: Chapter 98: My Legion is Invincible
From then on, the Third Legion participated in eight to nine matches daily. The fighting was generally easy, as the Training Camp restored victors to peak condition, making consecutive battles no problem. Furthermore, with virtually no casualties, there was no need to wait for Phantom to spend points on resurrections.
(After watching several consecutive landslide victories, Lin Yu grew bored and returned to his territory to study, leaving Phantom to keep watch each day. Who else could he leave? Phantom was one of only two people in the territory with authority over combat.)
During the battles, they discovered that most Human Lords employed a classic composition: Warriors, Mages, Priests, Archers, and Knights. This setup was versatile—capable of offense and defense, fighting at close or long range, launching surprise attacks, and enduring wars of attrition.
However, the skill of the commanders leading these armies was inconsistent, likely because most lords had not yet unlocked their Technology Tree.
Since there was no place for a territory’s heroes to study military strategy, their only way to learn how to lead troops—aside from innate talent—was to be taught directly by their lords.
This was a test of each lord’s theoretical knowledge (the "Lord" major at university did cover related subjects) and their heroes’ aptitude for learning.
Moreover, most lords’ armies were composed mainly of Excellent and Outstanding-grade soldiers, with a few Legendary-grade soldiers mixed in to serve as an elite vanguard—the tip of the spear for breaking through enemy lines.
However, this vanguard was incapable of breaking through the defenses of the Steel-backed Porcupines.
Consequently, once their vanguard failed to break through and their strategy fell apart, many commanders, lacking a backup plan, descended into chaos. The Third Legion would then easily secure victory.
After a winning streak lasting about ten days, culminating in a hundred victories, Lin Yu returned to the Eternal Battlefield’s Recruit Training Camp.
[Your legion has achieved 100 consecutive victories!]
[Your legion will be promoted to the Tier 2 matchmaking queue.]
[Please enter the Training Camp promptly and join the Excellent-tier matchmaking queue at the registration office.]
[Please enter the Training Camp promptly to claim your promotion reward.]
Having received the system notifications, Lin Yu immediately dropped what he was doing and headed to the Eternal Battlefield’s Recruit Training Camp.
He had already learned about this Eternal Battlefield mechanic from the chat group, so he was well aware of the benefits of a promotion.
The Eternal Battlefield, much like the Cosmic Arena, was separate from the Lord Tournament. However, the tournament’s organizers were apparently quite formidable, as they had cordoned off a part of these domains for their own participants to compete in.
However, by achieving certain milestones in the Eternal Battlefield and Cosmic Arena, one could qualify for their higher tiers, which were entirely separate from the Lord Tournament.
However, the Tier 2 matchmaking queue would only allow lords to enter in the third stage. If he wanted to qualify for the next level of the Eternal Battlefield during *this* stage, he would have to try much harder.
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[World Chat Channel (788211)]
[Masters of Cuiwei Star]
Lin Yu: "Guys, I made it to the Tier 2 matchmaking queue!"
Lin Yu: "Finally caught up to the rest of you."
Yun Qihao: "Congratulations! Another one of our members has made it!"
Ding Dong: "Damn, Younger Brother Lin, you’re a beast! I’m almost there myself, should get promoted by tomorrow!"
Lin Yu: "You can do it, Brother Ding!!"
Lin Yu: "Hoping some of Lord Yun’s good luck rubs off on me! I need a good reward!!"
...
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While on his way, Lin Yu posted a bit in the chat group before eagerly entering the lounge.
At a convenient registration terminal in the lounge, he signed his legion up for the Excellent-tier matchmaking queue, then selected the option to claim his reward.
[Congratulations! You have obtained official qualification to participate in the Eternal Battlefield (Third Stage).]
[Randomly selecting one of your combat unit types for an upgrade.]
[You have been presented with three options. Please select one for the upgrade.]
Steel-backed Porcupine — [Rapid Charge]: Rapidly channels internal energy to its back, allowing for the continuous firing of back spikes. (New Ability)
Withered Messenger — [Life Link]: Extends a life link. When linked to an allied unit, it transfers its own life force to heal them. When linked to an enemy unit, it siphons their life force to heal itself. Initial link range: 100 meters. The link breaks if the distance exceeds 1,000 meters. (Erosion of Life Upgrade)
Shadow Reaper — [Backstab]: Attacking an enemy from behind deals an additional 100% attack damage. (New Ability)
Of the three upgrade options, Lin Yu chose [Life Link]. It compensated for his legion’s lack of a healer and also extended the link’s range, making it a comprehensive upgrade to the original Erosion of Life.
In the days that followed, the quality of the Third Legion’s opponents improved considerably. At the very least, the enemy soldiers were of a higher grade, and army compositions were no longer limited to the standard Warrior, Mage, Priest, Archer, and Knight lineup.
After another 100-win streak, Lin Yu’s Third Legion successfully advanced to the Tier 3 matchmaking queue.
[Congratulations! You have obtained official qualification to participate in the Eternal Battlefield.]
[Congratulations! You have received the building blueprint: "Eternal Battlefield Teleportation Array".]
[Randomly selecting one of your combat unit types for an upgrade.]
[You have been presented with three options. Please select one for the upgrade.]
Steel-backed Porcupine — [Counter Spike]: Back spikes grown by absorbing damage no longer scatter randomly. Instead, they home in on the attacker, launching a direct counterattack that ignores distance. (New Ability)
Withered Messenger — [Advent of Panic]: When a significant amount of fear is generated within the Withered Messenger’s sensory range (a 1,000-meter radius), the Withered Messenger can instantly teleport to that location. (New Ability)
Spiny Porcupine — [Range Increase]: Doubles the range of the Spiny Porcupine’s spike attack. (New Ability)
Lin Yu chose to enhance the Withered Messenger again, selecting [Advent of Panic]. This granted the Withered Messenger added mobility, meaning it no longer had to fear being kited by ranged attackers.
After his promotion to the Tier 3 matchmaking queue, Lin Yu found that the pool of potential opponents had suddenly become much smaller.
Most of them turned out to be acquaintances from his private chat group.
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[World Chat Channel (788211)]
[Cuiwei Star Masters Group]
Ding Dong: "Hey, Younger Brother Lin, you around?"
Lin Yu: "What is it?"
Ding Dong: "Guess what I just saw?"
Lin Yu: "What?"
Ding Dong: "You brat, when did you hit Tier 3?"
Ding Dong: "I just got matched against your Pig Team."
Lin Yu: "Pig Team??"
Ding Dong: "You don’t know?"
Ding Dong: "You really don’t ever check the public channels?"
Zhang Lv: "What’s going on? What happened?"
Ding Dong: "Sigh, I guess I’m the only one bored enough to read the public channels every day..."
Ding Dong: "Younger Brother Lin’s legion is famous on the public channels. No one has managed to defeat it yet."
Ding Dong: "His legion is supposedly led by a squad of Porcupine-men, followed by a squad of regular porcupines. Both are ranged units."
Ding Dong: "Anyone who runs into them gets riddled with spikes right away. The weaker players are defeated on the spot. For the stronger ones, their melee units can try to engage the Porcupine-men, while their ranged units trade fire with the porcupines."
Ding Dong: "But his Porcupine-men are supposedly super tough—melee can’t hurt them, ranged attacks can’t pierce their defense. If you try to kite them, you suddenly find yourself unable to move for some reason. All you can do is watch helplessly as your army gets pincushioned to death."
Ding Dong: "It’s such a disgusting strategy that videos of fights against him are all over the public channels. Hence the nickname: the Pig Team."
Lin Yu: "..."
Ding Dong: "As it happens, I’m experimenting with a new legion composition today. Let’s see how my Shadow Team fares against your Pig Team."
...
The Third Legion, which was in the Training Camp, had already been teleported to the battlefield. The arena was a shattered mountain range, strewn with rubble and massive boulders.
Ding Dong: "Ha, this terrain is perfect. It’s just right for my legion to shine."
Ding Dong: "I’ve started a stream. Everyone can come watch my Shadow Team and Younger Brother Lin’s Pig Team."
Ding Dong: "[Livestream Link]"
Lin Yu remained silent in the chat, clicking on Ding Dong’s stream link as well.
The livestream showed a vast, shattered mountain range. A gentle wind swept through the peaks, and the empty landscape appeared stark and desolate.
Zhang Jing: "Ding the Ninth, where are your troops? We didn’t tune in for the scenery."
Yun Qihao: "Yeah, where are your soldiers?"
Ding Dong: "They’re right there on the screen. Look closer."
Lin Yu peered at the screen and finally noticed faint, translucent figures moving within the shadows cast by the rocks.
Zhang Jing: "So that’s why they’re called the Shadow Team. I thought it’d be a bunch of Shadow Mages, but it’s a squad of stealthed assassins."
Zhang Jing: "So, Younger Brother Lin? Think your legion can handle a sneaky little knife in the dark?"
Lin Yu: "They’ll be fine."
Lin Yu answered vaguely, not offering a definite opinion.
Just then, Ding Dong, apparently dissatisfied with Zhang Jing’s comment, spoke up in the private chat to clarify.
Ding Dong: "My assassins aren’t your run-of-the-mill kind. Regular assassins just use optical invisibility. Mine are Shadow Assassins. They can walk through shadows, and you can’t hit what you can’t see."
Ding Dong: "What’s more, Shadow Assassins attack from *within* the shadows, and attacking doesn’t break their stealth."
Ding Dong: "They don’t become visible when they attack, and if they’re not visible, they can’t be harmed."
Ding Dong: "It’s a perfect loop!"
Ding Dong: "Watch this!"
On the stream, Lin Yu’s legion advanced in its usual formation: the two types of porcupines led the charge, the Shadow Reapers and Highly Poisonous Bees fanned out on the flanks, and the Withered Messengers brought up the rear.
At that moment, Ding Dong’s Shadow Assassins made contact with the porcupines. The assassins, hidden in the shadows, launched their attack on the Steel-backed Porcupines that had moved into the shadows cast by the boulders.
After taking damage, the Steel-backed Porcupines immediately looked around but couldn’t find a single enemy attacking them.
"SQUEAL~ SQUEAL~"
To protect their vital areas, the Steel-backed Porcupines all curled into balls and huddled together, resembling hedgehogs as they passively endured the enemy’s assault.
Every so often, a Steel-backed Porcupine would finish charging and unleash a volley of back spikes, but they all shot into empty space.
Seeing that things were going poorly, the Spiny Porcupines trailing behind all beat a hasty retreat to huddle with the Withered Messengers, leaving the Steel-backed Porcupines alone to bear the brunt of the enemy’s attack.
Ding Dong: "Younger Brother Lin, I gotta say, your porcupines are impressive. Their Defense Power is insanely high. My assassins are wailing on them, and not a single one has died yet."
Ding Dong: "But it’s useless, no matter how high their defense is. My Shadow Assassins’ attacks ignore a portion of defense, so it’s only a matter of time before they kill them."
Ding Dong: "So? Pretty amazing legion, isn’t it!"
Ding Dong: "As long as there’s a shadow, my legion is invincible! Hahaha~~"