Name: Qin Shujian
Identity: Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain
Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold
Stage: Martial Entry-Level Ten (You are within the Liangshan Stronghold's territory, Stage +2)
Faction Level: Level One Faction
Cultivated Techniques: Bodyforge Manual Level Eight (+) (Will-Directed Power, Peak Blood and Qi, Bronze Skin, Iron Bones, Abundant Marrow) (Mortal Tier High-Grade), Black Tiger Blade Technique (One With The Heavens) (Mortal Tier Mid-Grade), Eternal Youth Technique Level Seven (Unending Vitality, Prolonged Lifespan) (Mortal Tier Low-Grade), Seven-Flower Leaf Penetrating Palm (+) (Beginner) (Mortal Tier Low-Grade), Five Elements Eight Trigram Move (+) (Pinnacle) (Mortal Tier Low-Grade)
Life Value: 3
Equipment: Ninth-grade Lethal Weapon Tiger Head Blade, Ninth-grade Armor Tiger Hide Clothing Set (Tiger Hide Coat, Tiger Hide Trousers, Tiger Hide Belt, Tiger Hide Boots)
Qin Shujian looked at his attributes.
His gaze landed on the tab that reflected his stage, "Martial Entry-Level Ten?"
The Bodyforge Manual Level Nine had already boosted his strength to Martial Entry-Level Nine.
He also had a boost of +2.
Yet his stage remained at Martial Entry-Level Ten.
This told Qin Shujian that Martial Entry-Level Ten was a current bottleneck to his strength. He needed to transform once again if he wanted to achieve a breakthrough.
After all, the boost he got from being within the territory only applied to levels within a stage and didn't allow him to advance past a significant stage.
Also, the Bodyforge Manual had turned from Mortal Tier Mid-Grade to Mortal Tier High-Grade when it reached level nine.
That being so, the Bodyforge Manual was now the highest grade technique he had in his arsenal. It even surpassed the Mortal Tier Mid-Grade Black Tiger Blade Technique.
The Eternal Youth Technique had also become Mortal Tier Mid-Grade when it reached Level Six.
As for his Life Value, the four-digit number returned to the single-digit it was before: zero.
However, Qin Shujian was not discouraged.
"My current abilities have reached Martial Entry-Level Nine. They even reached Martial Entry-Level Ten with the boost I get in the territory. There should be no one left in Liangshan who can be a match for me," Qin Shujian had a glimmer in his eyes when he thought about this.
"Even though a 50-mile radius is quite considerable for the Liangshan Stronghold of the past, it is too small for the current Liangshan Stronghold."
"How can I breed a true dragon with such a shallow pond?"
…
The next day, at the peak of Liangshan.
This was the first time Qin Shujian was standing at the peak of Liangshan and looking down on the entirety of Liangshan's territory.
Looking down, Qin Shujian noticed a field of greenery.
He had been in this world for a long time. However, this was the first time he was looking at this world from a naturalistic perspective.
As his stage leveled up, every aspect of his physical body had undergone a frightening transformation.
That included his visual acuity.
An area with a radius of 50 miles was not large, but it was not too small either.
With Qin Shujian's visual acuity, he could clearly see a few villages in the area, situated far away from each other.
At this moment, Zhang Tieniu and Wang Tiezhu were standing with Qin Shujian at the peak of Liangshan.
The two of them were NPCs, who had been born as Mountain Bandits on Liangshan.
Qin Shujian saw them as his closest aides.
"Do you know what those villages are for?" Qin Shujian did not look back. His gaze remained fixed on the village in the distance.
"Those are local villages in the territory of Liangshan. They will present us with offerings every year to guarantee peace for their villages," Wang Tiezhu thought for a moment, then continued, "We will also occasionally head to the villages to purchase supplies."
Qin Shujian reached an understanding when he heard Wang Tiezhu.
According to Wang Tiezhu's explanation, the villages pay a certain amount of money to the Liangshan Stronghold every year. Simultaneously, the Liangshan Stronghold provided these villages with a certain level of protection and prevented them from being attacked by other factions.
More importantly, the Liangshan territory was desolate.
The Mountain Bandits of the Liangshan Stronghold needed a certain amount of rations every day. They went through a considerable amount of food as time passed.
The stronghold bore a certain amount of risk when they headed out to purchase food.
They might also stand to lose if they headed to other strongholds for money.
Since that was the case, occasionally striking up deals with these villages might be the most stable way of resolving the issue.
Of course, Wang Tiezhu described it as "purchasing supplies."
Whether or not it was done through force was another story.
However, from Qin Shujian's perspective, the Liangshan Stronghold in the past would not have pushed the villages in their territory too far.
Killing off the source of their supplies was something that only a fool would do.
Now that he had gained a better understanding of the Liangshan territory, Qin Shujian turned back and looked at the two Mountain Bandits, then said in a low voice, "I'll give you three days to find out about the Messy Stone Forest. I need to know about the exact strength of the three factions in the area."
"If the conditions allow for it, I want you two to investigate all of the factions that border the Liangshan territory."
"Stronghold Chieftain, could it be that you want to…" Wang Tiezhu seemed to have thought about something as he looked at Qin Shujian in disbelief.
There was a look of shock in his eyes, but there was also an insuppressible look of joy.
The leveling up of the faction really had increased the Mountain Bandits' level of intelligence.
In the past, Wang Tiezhu would never have thought too much about the orders.
However, currently, Qin Shujian had only provided an outline for his plan, yet Wang Tiezhu could grasp the most important points.
Qin Shujian said calmly, "A territory of only 50 miles is just too small. This place can only fit Wu Sheng, as well as a small and weak Liangshan Stronghold."
"However, now, it can no longer fit the Liangshan Stronghold. It is no longer enough for us," Qin Shujian had already thought about this when he got the Mountain Bandits to investigate the surrounding areas.
However, the threat of the Starter Village hadn't been resolved back then. Also, while he had not been weak in the past, he couldn't have been classified as strong either.
Now, Qin Shujian could eradicate a starter village and all of the players within it.
His strength had reached the peak of the Martial Entry Stage.
Qin Shujian thought that he now had the right to reach the Liangshan Stronghold's arms out of this mere 50 miles of territory.
The Liger Plains, Messy Stone Forest, Unending Mountain Range, Xining Rebellion, and Undying Plain.
Qin Shujian felt that it was easiest to start with the Messy Stone Forest.
That was because, from the word "Rebellion" of the Xining Rebellion, Qin Shujian thought that it might implicate themselves with too many negative things.
As for the other areas, Qin Shujian felt that he didn't understand them enough.
In the past, Zhang Tieniu had investigated the Messy Stone Forest and gathered partial intelligence about the Mountain Thieves. That caused him to make up his mind to strike the Messy Stone Forest first.
One had to eat one mouthful at a time, and Qin Shujian had to take one step at a time.
All of the players within the radius of his territory had been eradicated.
His overall strength, as well as his individual abilities, had reached its upper limit within a short time.
Qin Shujian thought that he had accomplished a decent early game.
This game, as long as he didn't play it recklessly, he was confident he could win.
As for his wish since the start, Qin Shujian was witnessing it being realized one step at a time.
As long as he permanently walked in front of the players, he would never have to worry that the players would pose a threat to him.
If he wanted to achieve that, other than relying on the bug that was his Life Value, he also had to rely on the many Mountain Bandits of the Liangshan Stronghold to harvest a large amount of Life Value for him.