Battle Royale of the Sinners

The two finished consulting. Before Jia Xu left, Tong invited him into the clan as the cooldown had been reset.

Jia Xu was amazed when the system menu appeared in front of him. As a smart man, he figured out about all functions in a few minutes.

"I see. This is what you told me the other day in Ye."

"What do you think?"

"Clan chat is handy! This can make a difference in battles and management! We can relay information between cities in a day instead of waiting for months! My lord, I suggest you add two people in here when you have a chance."

"Who do you want to invite here?"

"Ju Shou, he's in Shangdang so he can communicate or report the intel from Luo Yang and other cities nearby. And there's a guy I haven't introduce my lord yet. His name is Xun Yu from the Xun family. I've put him as a deputy governor in Ye. I'm sure that we can drag his entire family to serve us if he knew about the clan and its function."

Now, it was Tong's turn to be surprised. As soon as Tong heard the name [Xun Yu], he was flabbergasted.

"You recruited Xun Yu in Ye?"

"Do you know him, my lord?"

"A-Ah, somewhat. He's a talented scholar, isn't he?"

"Indeed, he is thoughtful and eloquent. He's a good seed for a minister. Besides, all scholar with the Xun surname is always good at domestic management and stratagems. As long as my lord can tame this family, you won't have to worry about city management ever again!"

A wry smile appeared on Tong's face as he could not regain his composure yet. He was elated by Jia Xu's achievement.

'This is why Cao Cao loves talented people. They refer to each other. Now, if I can steal Cheng Yu, Xun You, and Guo Jia, Cao Cao will be powerless in the future, and I won't have to be afraid of Xiahou and Cao family!'

"My lord, can you increase my lifespans?"

Tong snapped back from his fantasy and smiled at the old fox.

Every mortal had a similar idea. The moment they realized that they could extend their lifespans, they would not hesitate to do it.

"Sure. I'll give you a thousand years. Will that be enough?"

Jia Xu laughed and bowed in delight, "Of course! Will I look youthful when I receive the lifespans?"

"I'm afraid not. My father still looks the same after I gave him lifespans."

"Ah, a pity. Well, a beggar can't choose. A thousand year is a really long time. Hahaha!"

…

Jia Xu continued asking Tong about the clan quest, clan chat, and about skills. In the clan assets, he noticed that there were shopping tickets that Tong had not used yet.

"What are these for?"

Reminded by Jia Xu, Tong also checked the items. The tickets were similar to what he had, which could be used to buy items from the system shop, but the color was different. Tong's shopping ticket was white, but the clan tickets were black.

'Clan shop?'

Tong checked the clan menu. The icon of the clan shop was still locked.

The moment Tong tried to press the shop, the automatic system gave Tong a warning.

<<Required Clan Level 2 to unlock the shop>>

'Clan Level?'

The icon in the clan menu showed that the current clan was level 1.

'What can I do to raise my clan level?'

There was an [Upgrade] option in the menu, but it also had a requirement.

<<Required 20 clan members and ten million lifespans for the expansion>>

Tong almost choked blood when he heard the system message.

'Ten fOOking million? Seriously!? Screw it, I won't upgrade it. What's the point of upgrading the clan anyway?'

"My lord?"

Jia Xu was reading Tong's expression. Because his face changed color a few times in a short period, Jia Xu thought that Tong was experiencing something unpleasant.

"Nothing. It's just that a function in the clan will be impossible for us."

<<Ding>>

<<Zhang Liao has joined the clan>>

As Jia Xu and Tong was chatting, Li Feihong succeeded in getting Zhang Liao into the clan.

Li Feihong: Peace!

Dong Bai: Great job!

Hua Shi: Atta boy!

"Hmm? Zhang Liao?" Jia Xu was confused by the message in his ears. It was his first time receiving a sudden announcement.

"A new member of the clan, just like you. He's a subordinate of Lu Bu, a cavalry general."

"Why not recruiting Lu Bu? Why a subordinate?"

"Actually, Zhang Liao is the brain behind the Ding Yuan's Force. Lu Bu is just a brute, and his temper is a bit … meh. Since he's best at fighting and nobody can match his strength, he gets the title of the grand general."

"I get the picture. A brute with no brain?"

"Something like that."

…

…

Meanwhile, at Jinyang.

Li Feihong was lobbying Zhang Liao and teaching him about the clan menu.

<<Ding>>

<<Zhang Tong has assigned 1,000 lifespans to you as a gift>>

Hearing the system message for the first time, Zhang Liao was stunned. The system panel in front of him also revealed that he had over a thousand years to live.

"Wow. Feihong, this secret colleague of yours is really generous," Muttered Zhang Liao, "But why me and not Fengxian? He should have the priority, right?"

Li Feihong shook his head, "Please don't let him know about this function and the benefits yet. Our foundation has not yet solidified in the northern region, so I'm afraid that Fengxian will fight with Tong for the right be the clan leader if he joins us now."

Zhang Liao sighed, "Ah, right. He's that kind of person. But what's the point of telling him now or later? Will it be different?"

"It will. Once Tong has firm control over the northern plains, Fengxian won't have the courage to stand on the same level as Tong because he doesn't have the same foundation and influences. For now, give Tong sometimes, so he can expand his force. We'll keep this a secret."

"Alright. Next year is Gao Shun, right?"

"Yes. We'll get Lu Bu in after Gao Shun."

<<Ding>>

Ding Yuan: Oh hey, Wenyuan.

Ding Yuan: You're in here first, but not Fengxian?

Ding Yuan had received the notification about Zhang Liao, so he sent clan messages to ask them.

Li Feihong: My lord, please keep this a secret from Fengxian.

Li Feihong: Or he'll throw a fit!

Ding Yuan: Ah, sure.

Ding Yuan: You two, come meet me later.

Ding Yuan: It's hard to chat like this.

Li Feihong: Yes, my lord.

Zhang Liao and Li Feihong glanced at each other. It seemed they had a lot of explanation to do.

As they were about to leave and visit their lord, Tong sent messages.

Zhang Tong: Feihong, Wenyuan, senior Ding Yuan, good timing.

Zhang Tong: Yuan Shao will invade Julu in spring, I need reinforcement from Jinyang.

Zhang Tong: And I also need to import your warhorses, coal, and iron ores.

Zhang Tong: My City ran out of resources, can you help me?

Zhang Tong: You can bring back spices, salt, and other food in return.

Zhang Tong: I got my create-food skill back.

Ding Yuan: I have no problem with the ores.

Ding Yuan: I'll have Feihong handle it.

Zhang Tong: Thank you XD

Zhang Tong: BTW, steel ingot research has been succeeded.

Zhang Tong: I'll need more ores to factorize steel weapons and armors.

Ding Yuan: What's steel?

Zhang Tong: A metal that is stronger and lighter than iron.

The chat continued as Tong and Ding Yuan was exchanging information and setting up a trading routine between the two cities.

Zhang Liao was amazed by the chat, "Feihong, have you always communicated like this last year?"

Li Feihong nodded, "Yes, convenient, right?"

"Indeed. Now I know why you've picked me first. Fengxian will never understand the value of this."

…

…

The sun had set.

Tong closed the chat menu and deeply exhaled. It was tiring to organize people and arrange a trade deal with partners.

Ding Yuan had been cooperating in a friendly manner. As he had received his 1,000 years of lifespans, the old governor of Jinyang was very happy to assist Tong in many ways.

With this, the reinforcement from Jinyang was guaranteed. Lu Bu would not be able to object this deployment as it was the direct order of Ding Yuan. Besides, Li Feihong and Zhang Liao had joined Tong's side, so refusing the order was not an option.

"Lu Bu will throw a fit again. I hope I don't have to duel with that brute another time."

"Are you done, Tong?"

While Tong was working, his two wives were practicing using their tentacle nearby.

Hua Shi could already summon Tong's tentacle from her back. Although the wiggling worm was still small, she could make it move around and absorb life essence now.

"Yeah, it's done."

Friday waved her hands, gesturing Tong to walk to her.

"Come here. Let me recheck your mutation."

Tong took off his shoes and showed them his feet. At this moment, his feet had green snake scales, which replaced his outer human skins.

Friday poked the snake scales with her fingers, and the skins sunk in as she pushed.

"It's still too soft. The scale layout is average, but the durability is still subpar. I'm going to need you to reinforce it again."

"Eh? I thought it was passable," Tong scratched his head.

"Considering this is your first couple months of training, it's passable. But if you want to use it on a battlefield, it's not ready yet. In the next fight, try not to use the Lamia Step unless you are running away from the battle."

"But I can run around in a crowded area now."

"That's still too early. Until your scales are hard enough to withstand sharp edge weapons, don't use it, or you will be too conscious of your feet and mess up something during the combat especially when you're up against elite historical figures like Guan Yu."

The Lamia Step that they were practicing had three stages of preparation before Tong could start learning its true form, conversion, transformation, and metamorphosis, which Tong was at the second level of the conversion stage.

On the first level, Tong required a demonic awakening, AKA awaken the [Soul of Sins], which he already awakened two souls. With this, he was qualified to practice the next level.

Friday was an exception to this rule. Since she was once a four-winged demoness and she had the devil-pact, she could use it again.

The next step was to convert his blood, DNA, skin tissues, muscles, bones, liver, and all parts of the body, so they would be compatible with the sudden transformation of the next stage. In this process, Tong had to turn his entire body skins into lamia snakeskins, which could release toxic and murky fluid from the scales.

The third level of the conversion stage was to master maneuvering the blood cells within the body to the point that it was a natural process of daily life, such as breathing or walking, which Tong had not reached this level yet.

Lastly, to breakthrough to the transformation stage, Tong had to awaken two more [Sins] to get the qualification of the transformation first stage, which would take a long time to complete.

Friday tapped Tong's soft snake skins, "Don't rush. This process of learning naturally takes years to complete. Turning your feet into these within a month is already good progress. It took me ten years to get breakthrough the conversion stage into the transformation stage, so you should take it easy."

"What stage are you now, Friday?"

"Transformation stage second level."

"Huh? Not metamorphosis? I thought you have mastered this already."

Friday smiled wryly at Tong, "To get to the metamorphosis stage, four wings aren't enough to break through. My mom said I needed six wings or higher to get there. Heck, I can't even transform my legs into a snake tail yet!"