Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

The upgrade process lasted a full half hour.

As the last ripple swept across the land, the system announcement sounded again:

[Regional Announcement: The region upgrade is complete! Current level cap: 199. All resources, monsters, and dungeons have been upgraded. Welcome back to the game!]

Upgrading does not mean that there are no monsters below level 99 in the competition area—low-level monsters still exist, but their activity area has been greatly compressed, freeing up a lot of space for the newly established high-level areas.

"Tsk." Wu Zhan had a pained yet happy expression on his face. "We're in for a lot of work now. Just re-exploring the terrain and dungeons will take at least a few months."

"No rush, let's take it slow," Liu Nian said. "We'll discuss the regional issues after the Pharaoh match."

Since the meeting wasn't over yet, Liu Nian simply rode the little fire dragon and took Wu Zhan for a long tour of the competition area.

Starting from Azure Town, passing through the Novice Forest, and heading south along Rusty Water Canyon, from the ruins of Ironjaw Fortress to Cloud Peak City, from the sinking crater of the City of Stained Gold to the underground glowing lake of Dark Nest. At each stop, Wu Zhan would take out a map and mark the newly appeared resource points and danger zones one by one.

As the two flew over these familiar yet unfamiliar places, they were filled with mixed emotions.

Six months ago, this was their starting village. They struggled to survive on this land; now, they ride fire dragons, overlooking the land, with a guild of over 60,000 players standing behind them…

It was already midnight when the two returned to Longcheng.

Since the Heart of Terra was acquired, Dragon City has been as bright as day.

Just as the two returned to their room to rest, Wang Mian's tired voice popped up in the three-person chat channel.

"The war council is over."

Liu Nian put down his water glass: "What do you mean?"

"The overall strategy is set: clear the outer perimeter first, then attack the main city. Take twenty days to eliminate all Pharaoh's forces except for the main city, and after twenty days, regardless of the extent of the elimination, launch a general offensive."

Wu Zhan frowned: "Is twenty days enough? The Pharaoh's soldiers are everywhere. Although the Pharaoh currently only has four cities, who can guarantee that new cities won't pop up elsewhere in the next few days?"

"We can't delay any longer." Wang Mian's voice carried a hint of helplessness. "We must reserve the remaining ten days to prepare for the attack on the Pharaoh's main city. This is a compromise reached after repeated debates among everyone—it can't be any shorter, otherwise we won't be able to finish the outer defenses; it can't be any longer, otherwise who knows what new variables might arise on the Pharaoh's side."

"What about our guild's mission?" Liu Nian asked.

"I've taken the mission to attack the Forgotten Forest," Wang Mian said. "There are three reasons: First, it's a complete city. Whether we occupy it, develop it together, or sell it to someone else, we're guaranteed to make a profit. Second, attacking it won't be too difficult for our guild—the most troublesome thing about the Forgotten Forest is the poisonous fog and the undead that constantly spawn from it, and we have many Abe Bee players, most of whom are skilled in purification spells, which are perfect for countering the poisonous fog. Third—"

He paused.

"Third, Skylock suggested besieging the city and attacking its reinforcements. We don't need to rush to take the city, but rather create pressure on its outskirts to lure the scattered undead forces back to reinforce, and then devour them one by one. The Forgotten Forest's geographical location is perfect for this kind of battle—there's only one canyon leading there, and the route for reinforcements is obvious."

Liu Nian and Wu Zhan both nodded in agreement. Wang Mian's choice was spot on.

"So our guild only needs to focus on attacking this city, and the rest is none of our business?" Liu Nian asked.

"That's right, as long as we can take over the Forgotten Forest within twenty days."

Liu Nian and Wu Zhan exchanged a glance, thinking that this shouldn't be too difficult.

"And..." Wang Mian continued, "Sgelock made another request. He hopes that our floating city can participate in the final attack on the Pharaoh's capital city."

"That's no problem," Liu Nian said. "I've said that before."

"As I said, the floating cities can participate in the war." Wang Mian smiled, "but I added a condition—using the floating cities consumes a lot of energy, and the alliance needs to provide fuel, either magic crystals or high-level energy crystals."

Wu Zhan's eyes lit up: "What did they say?"

"Skeller agreed on the spot. The Supreme Guild could provide one-third of the fuel, and the remaining two-thirds would be shared by other guilds, large and small. No one objected."

Wu Zhan slapped his thigh, looking admiringly at him: "You're such a clever kid! If I were asked to go, I wouldn't have thought of asking for any benefits... I just stupidly agreed."

Liu Nian glanced at Wu Zhan. "Why does it feel like you've included me in your insults?"

"What about the trade alliance?" Liu Nian asked again.

"It's too late today, the trade meeting will be held tomorrow. Today we only finalized the framework, the specific terms still need to be discussed." Wang Mian's voice carried a hint of fatigue. "Alright, I need to go to sleep. There's another tough battle ahead tomorrow."

"Thank you for your hard work," Liu Nian said.

"Of course." Wang Mian logged off.

Liu Nian turned off the channel and looked at Wu Zhan.

"This time, we'll mainly rely on you guys to conquer the Forgotten Forest."

Wu Zhan looked Liu Nian up and down suspiciously.

"Something's off about your expression. Are you planning something bad?"

Liu Nian smiled.

He did not deny it.

He was indeed about to do something bad.

He wanted to make Night Owl and his Shadow Hand guild the star of this great battle!

A few days later, at the Savage Fortress.

The city streets were usually bustling with players of all races, their cries of vendors, arguments, and the clanging of weapons creating a rough, noisy atmosphere. But today, the atmosphere was clearly different—a tense, oppressive feeling permeated the air, like the calm before a storm.

Lin Yan emerged from the tavern, his face ashen.

She just had another argument.

To be precise, he had a fight with several orc players from the Bloodhowl guild.

The cause was simple: she walked into the tavern, and before she even sat down, she heard a kobold player at the next table making sarcastic remarks.

"Hey, isn't this the snakeman? Why haven't you left the Savage Fortress yet?" The kobold's voice was shrill and vulgar, and it was no use pretending not to hear it.

"They're part of the Shadow Hand now, they're something else, a newly minted top ten guild, why would they bother with you?"

"I heard that the Shadow Hand is going to pledge allegiance to the Pharaoh. These snake people will be their accomplices. We'd better be careful," another orc chimed in, deliberately speaking loudly.

"Hmph, the first people I'll kill when the time comes are you cold-blooded reptiles." A third voice rang out, filled with undisguised killing intent.

Lin Yan's fists clenched until her knuckles turned white, her emerald vertical pupils blazing with fury, and her scales stood on end like shattered armor. She endured it—the first time, the second time, the third time.

The fourth time, she simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Say it again?" She slammed her hand on the table and stood up.