Days had gone by, and the Luo Ze Empire sent fewer and fewer troops around Qinghe Volcano, while Wansheng Country dispatched increasingly more troops to the same location.
After several days of patrolling, Yang Yu and his squad had only caught a Luo Ze Empire's Scout squad, filling the last bit of Experience needed before reaching one hundred Level.
He had thought it would be just another ordinary upgrade, but the familiar System electronic prompt unexpectedly sounded in Yang Yu's ears:
"Congratulations to the player for reaching one hundred Level.
Release the confetti! Release the confetti!
Welcome to the second half of the journey, the 'Overload Level' stage.
Stage Reward: Receive free attribute points +100, Skill Points +100.
101-120 Level, basic growth attributes increase by 100%, each Level's free attribute points and Skill Points gained become 50 points.
121-140 Level, basic growth attributes increase by 200%, each Level's free attribute points and Skill Points gained become 100 points.
181-200 Level, basic growth attributes increase by 500%, each Level's free attribute points and Skill Points gained become 250 points.
Although he didn't know what 'Overload Level' was, getting Free Attribute Points and Skill Points for nothing smelled pretty good to Yang Yu.
Besides, as the Levels went higher, the acquired Skill Points and free attribute points also began to increase proportionally, which undoubtedly was a great thing.
After one hundred Level, it seemed he finally had a bit of a Level advantage.
The Experience Value required for leveling up had increased way too much, hadn't it?
He glanced at the panel: 164/1,000,000...
It was directly twice as much as the Experience from ninety-nine to one hundred Level; he was dumbfounded on the spot.
By the way, Bai Jin's Level had also reached one hundred at the same time as Yang Yu, Iyas was at ninety-eight, Lotcar at ninety-six, and He Meng at ninety-two.
The Experience required for Bai Jin's upgrade had also seen a dramatic increase, turning into 1 million.
Previously, the Experience Bai Jin needed to level up was just a tad more than Yang Yu, but now it had uniformly become 1 million.
Yang Yu immediately thought that after entering the 'Overload Level,' the Experience needed to level up was the same for different characters.
Whether this was the case or not, he would have to wait for the others to also reach one hundred Level.
Bai Jin and the others' attributes had also become quite high without him noticing.
If he had not chosen to form a squad before, he did not know how he would have made it this far.
Well, the bridge would straighten when it came to the ship's bow.
What he could do, was continuously adjust his strategy and bear the consequences that came after.
If he had chosen another path at the start, he would have certainly struggled to survive just as now, seeking strategies.
Continuing the search, they saw no more of Luo Ze Empire's troops; thus, Yang Yu, following General Dongmu's request, began to gather troops, preparing for the siege to reclaim the cities around Qinghe Volcano.
On the Sailuomen Plain, Yang Yu had taken part in countless sieges, making him quite experienced.
Siege warfare to him was nearly effortless.
To Yang Yu's surprise, the Striped Guardian Clan also came to help.
The first city Yang Yu's troops were about to assault was the former homeland of the Striped Guardians, so it made sense for them to lend a hand.
Upon seeing the Stripe Guardians, Yang Yu casually brought up the topic of the Warm Fire Stone from the Blazing Fire Clan.
However, what Yang Yu did not expect was that before the Stripe Guardians arrived, they had already handed over all the Warm Fire Stones to General Dongmu, including to the Blazing Fire Clan.
But, the Stripe Guardians brought more than just bad news.
One of the Stripe Guardians perched on a tree spoke to Yang Yu:
"General Dongmu said that General Potato should no longer dwell on that Warm Fire Stone.
The Blazing Fire Clan has already promised the Emperor that if General Potato can help them reclaim Qinghe Volcano,
then the Blazing Fire Clan will personally extract the Racial Essence from the Warm Fire Stones as a token of gratitude for General Potato.
Please, General, focus your attention on conquering the city."
Since General Dongmu had spoken, Yang Yu did not press further.
Covertly using the Racial Essence of the Blazing Fire Clan involved the risk of being exposed and blamed.
Yang Yu just hoped to take advantage of his position to gather a large number of Warm Fire Stones, to stealthily take a few under the pretext of healing and see what would happen if he used a specific Level Limit Upgrade Sugar.
Of course, afterwards, Yang Yu planned to admit he could not resist the temptation and had used a few.
Yang Yu had even thought up his apology early in the morning, promising to fight even harder to compensate for the loss to the Blazing Fire Clan.
Now that the Blazing Fire Clan had spoken directly, it also saved Yang Yu the trouble of overcomplicating things.
Being able to receive the Racial Essence through legitimate means, there was no need for any fancy tricks and best to set them aside.
"Then it's up to you guys next.
Your clan's abilities have been witnessed by me at Sailuomen.
For the minimal losses in conquering the city, we must rely on your strength."
The members of the Striped Guardian Clan humbly said, "General Potato's strength is truly reassuring; if the General were one of our clan, we would want to recommend the General as our next Clan Leader."
"Even so, I don't wish to remain within your clan, the free life suits me better."
Having chatted casually with the Stripe Guardians, Yang Yu and his team quickly completed assembling the troops.
In unceasing combat, Yang Yu's troops had mastered the Guerrilla Technique quite proficiently, but Yang Yu did not want them to learn one thing and forget another.
To ensure absolute victory, Yang Yu spent an entire day drilling the assembled troops, selecting some for defensive training, and only then initiated the strategy for surrounding cities of Qinghe Volcano.
Meanwhile, the soldiers of Luo Ze stationed at Qinghe Volcano were having an especially tough time.
On the one hand, it was because it had been a long time since other troops had come to their occupied city for resupply; on the other hand, the orders from above were extremely vague.
One moment they were told to absolutely not leave the city and defend it at all costs; the next, they were allowed to send out scouts to gather intelligence, depending on the situation...
The indecision from above also affected the Morale of Luo Ze's soldiers significantly; they were desperate to know what the Emperor and the higher-ups had decided and what reasons guided those decisions.
It seemed, however, that their own high command was also busy and overwhelmed.
Qinghe Volcano was one of the crucial strategic points for attacking the heartland of Wansheng Country, but not the most important, and under the current circumstances, precisely controlling each point was very challenging. The most update n0vels are published on NoveI★Fire.net
The decision-making was handed over to each officer in charge of defending the cities.
These officers prayed day and night for the Empire to swiftly conquer Sailuomen Plain and then use them as the focal point.
But they would not live to see that day.
Yang Yu's troops and those led by General Dongmu began a lightning-fast sweep from both the east and west sides of Qinghe Volcano, removing one Luo Ze stronghold after another.