They had done what they had never dared imagine before.
Faced with an army of a hundred to two hundred thousand undead, they had actually won. They protected the village without suffering any damage, preserving the entirety of Xuanhuang Village. Having participated personally in a battle to defend their homeland, their victory brought a profound sense of pride—and an even deeper sense of belonging. Their blood now seemed to be fused with this land, inseparably.
Inseparable.
For countless generations, the people of Huaxia have harbored a powerful yearning and connection to the land.
Live on the earth. Rest in the earth in death!
To have been wounded, bled, grieved, and laughed on this land—such bonds are unbreakable.
And now, at this moment, those feelings surged so strongly.
"The calamity has passed, the fortune is stabilized. No more shackles remain. The foundation is strong indeed."
Master Lu looked up into the void. In his eyes, one could see streams of fortune energy (qi luck) converging in the air. Fish and dragons danced through the skies, emanating a majestic aura of rebirth. Their momentum was unstoppable. It was as though the roars of fish-dragons could be heard echoing through the sky.
This land had naturally given rise to its own fortune.
Everything was being renewed.
A sense of joy crept into every heart.
"Indeed. And it's all thanks to Brother Lu. Without your efforts in crafting talisman arrows, throwing spears, shields, ballistae, and other powerful weapons, we might not have been able to hold the village. Even if we had, the casualties would have been unimaginable. This time, Brother Lu deserves the highest credit."
Huang Chengyan, his pale face now regaining color, looked at Master Lu with deep admiration.
"I merely did my part," Master Lu said with a smile. "The one who truly provided the massive number of talisman arrows and ballistae was the Lord. Without such quantities, there's no way I alone could have crafted enough. What I made was but a drop in the bucket."
He sighed as he spoke.
The endless flow of talisman arrows, ballistae, and bolts had been produced at a terrifying speed. The first time he saw that endless stream of weapons being transported out, he had been deeply shocked.
In his heart, he suspected that Yi Tianxing must possess some mysterious treasure capable of rapidly producing vast quantities of military gear. That kind of ability was terrifying—especially for a growing force. It was an unparalleled strategic asset.
What defines a faction? Resources. Armaments. War potential.
Yi Tianxing had the power to instantly elevate his war potential. Other factions needed vast manpower and materials to create supplies, while here, all that was needed was raw materials—and the supplies would appear in endless waves. There wasn't even a visible chance of failure. This was a tremendous advantage. His bottom line was increasing ten, a hundred, even a thousand times faster than others.
With this trump card, Xuanhuang Village, or rather—Xuanhuang Town, was now among the very top tiers in potential.
This wasn't the village's first time at war. Though this had been the first major war, everything afterward was carried out in orderly fashion—clearing the battlefield, treating the wounded, quickly relocating to the Moonwell, and respectfully collecting the bodies of fallen heroes.
"The arrow towers have upgraded—now at Yellow Rank, Tier 5. The bolts inside are now powerful enough to directly kill enemies at the Fifth Layer of the Divine Sea Realm. Their attack range is now up to five hundred meters."
Yi Tianxing swept his gaze over the two arrow towers, nodding to himself.
Not only had their range and power increased, but the capacity of the bolt magazines had also soared. Now each tower could hold forty-five bolts, capable of firing either in a single devastating volley or one by one.
They could instantly seal off large swaths of sky and cover all vital points of an enemy.
This was a terrifying level of lethality.
Clearly, the battle had been a massive boon to the arrow towers. The skeletal warriors had provided rich nourishment, transforming into nutrients that enhanced the towers—allowing them to leap from Yellow Rank Tier 3 to Yellow Rank Tier 5, drastically boosting their might.
Yi Tianxing stepped onto the wall, gazing out across the village.
He looked at the white bones scattered across the land and felt a surge of pride.
Around him, soldiers and villagers all turned their eyes toward him as he reappeared atop the wall.
"Fellow soldiers, dear villagers, brothers and sisters—"
His voice rang out, carried with penetrating power across the sky over the village, echoing loud and clear.
All eyes naturally focused on him.
"Months ago, we descended into this new world with nothing—lost, hopeless. We, the human race, had fallen from the top of the food chain to the very bottom, facing all manner of ferocious beasts and monsters."
"But we did not yield. We did not despair. We did not fear. Through blood and toil, courage and hard work, we built a new home: Xuanhuang Village."
"For Xuanhuang Village, we have shed blood and sweat. And now, all our efforts have borne fruit. We have created our own homeland—a sacred land that none may violate. We are independent and self-reliant. We hunt beasts, reclaim land, build armies, and invent weapons. And now, we have evolved—from the verge of annihilation to repelling hundreds of thousands of undead!"
"At this moment, we can proudly say—we have the strength and the right to stand tall in this new world. No beast or monster can look down on us, treat us as mere prey, or kill us at will!"
"And from this day forth, we are no longer Xuanhuang Village. We are… Xuanhuang Town!!"
Yi Tianxing spoke slowly, recounting their journey—honoring the sacrifices of every villager and soldier, every drop of sweat and blood. And finally, it all culminated in a powerful shout:
"Xuanhuang Town!!"
"Xuanhuang Town! Xuanhuang Town!! —"
The villagers and soldiers roared in unison, eyes filled with fervor and memories, their cries erupting from the depths of their souls.
They had faced death and despair—and learned to cherish what they had.
This home was hard-won, purchased with blood. It belonged to each and every one of them. And now, from Xuanhuang Village, they had evolved into Xuanhuang Town.
The leap from village to town was enormous.
It heralded explosive development and growth. Everyone's fate and prosperity was now deeply tied to it.
This was a moment of celebration—a grand occasion.
The rise of Xuanhuang Town was unstoppable.
Joy surged in every heart.
To witness their home flourish—there was no greater emotion.
And now, all their feelings converged into three resounding words—Xuanhuang Town, echoing across the sky.
Yi Tianxing did not linger on the wall. He turned, holding Cai Yan's jade-like hand, and descended from the wall, returning to his residence.
The manor was now enveloped in a white divine light, radiating a mysterious aura.
Inside, he said, "Zhao Ji, go rest in your room. Playing the Phoenix Calls All Birds tune was still a bit too much for you. Rest well to quickly recover your energy. Don't be too frugal with the Heavenly Astral Pills—use them as needed."
After escorting Cai Yan back to her room, Yi Tianxing entered the Fate Space with a single thought.
Once inside, he saw that everything had changed drastically.
It was much larger than before. The Fate Pool, which had previously been three meters in diameter and nine feet deep, had now expanded to nine meters across and nine meters deep. The entire Fate Space now covered fifteen to sixteen meters in size—a dramatic increase.
At the center of the Fate Pool, the once illusory Fate Spring had become far more tangible.
Now, the previously gray pool water was being sucked into the spring, like a bottomless vortex. The water rapidly receded, visibly draining into the spring.
The Fate Spirit—a fish-dragon—did nothing to stop it. On the contrary, it circled the spring joyfully, filled with excitement.
Yi Tianxing stood quietly by the Fate Pool, watching as the last drop of water disappeared into the spring. At that moment, the spring, which had been rotating counter-clockwise, suddenly reversed—now spinning clockwise.
From the spring, a stream of pure white water gushed forth.
This was no ordinary water, but a refined form of fortune energy—pure and immaculate. As it pooled, the Fate Pool rapidly refilled. The white water surged like a fountain, quickly growing in volume. Within moments, the once-dry pool once again shimmered with white liquid.
"This is the transformation of fortune. When we were a village, the fortune was gray. Now that we are a town, it has become white. This is not just a shift in quantity, but a leap in quality. With this change, I can feel the shackles on my cultivation loosening."
Watching the white fortune water fill the pool, a deep joy welled up in Yi Tianxing's heart.
Of course, fortune didn't evolve without loss.
To convert gray fortune water into white, the ratio was ten to one—ten drops of gray to produce one of white. Now, the pool only held about one-tenth of its original volume, barely forming a shallow layer at the bottom.