The territory was closest to Zhou Yan and also the weakest. Its four city walls each had only five defensive towers, all of which were ordinary [Arrow Towers] and [Catapults].
The opposing territory's soldiers were decent, and their leader was confident enough to station tens of thousands of them outside the city walls to intercept Zhou Yan's forces.
This was the first lord Zhou Yan had encountered who dared to position his army outside his territory. It was a display of considerable courage.
The quality of these troops appeared to be quite good, suggesting at least an A-grade barracks.
It was a pity for this lord, however, as encountering Zhou Yan meant his defeat was all but certain.
Zhou Yan led his army towards the territory. The enemy's defensive towers were prepared, and their archers were ready. As Zhou Yan and his forces approached, the defensive towers began their assault.
The enemy lord, seeing that no attacks were coming from the other three directions, had redeployed all defenses to this single wall. Twenty defensive towers unleashed a barrage of arrows and stones upon Zhou Yan's advancing ranks.
Zhou Yan, employing his usual tactic, returned fire, decimating the defenders on the city walls and inflicting heavy casualties on the army positioned outside.
Witnessing this, the enemy lord was stunned. He quickly halted the defensive towers' assault, his face ashen. He knew these opponents were formidable and his territory was likely lost.
Indeed, as Zhou Yan flew into the enemy territory, he unleashed his skills, slaughtering the inhabitants within. He then opened the main gates, and after the enemy outside the walls had been eliminated, Zhou Yan's army surged into the territory, advancing towards the lord's crystal.
Despite the enemy lord's valiant resistance, he could not save his territory.
With the shattering of the crystal, the territory vanished in a flash of light.
Zhou Yan, ready for the next challenge, set his sights on the subsequent territory.
The battles continued until dusk. Starting at two o'clock, Zhou Yan had conquered seven territories, with most of his time spent on travel.
In the evening, Yin Lihua provided Zhou Yan with a summary of the day's achievements. Over a hundred territories had been eliminated. Zhou Yan checked his points, which had soared to nearly fifty thousand. Plundering the spoils of victory was indeed the fastest way to accumulate points.
As for Soul Coin earnings, Zhou Yan's accumulated wealth had reached approximately one trillion.
He hadn't expected such a bountiful harvest today and was overjoyed.
With more Soul Coins, he could afford to spend lavishly.
Consequently, Zhou Yan expended a significant portion of his Soul Coins to raise the levels of all residents and soldiers in his territory below level 60 to level 60.
He then upgraded all generals and officials of Centurion rank and above to level 99.
Even after these upgrades, he still possessed over six hundred billion Soul Coins. He then proceeded to raise the levels of all soldiers to level 70.
This brought the minimum level of everyone in his territory to 70, with all military officers and officials at level 99.
The remaining level difference, they could achieve through dungeon Soul Coin gains.
After these upgrades, his Soul Coins were reduced to just over two hundred billion.
The Mid-Autumn Festival event had truly made him rich beyond measure.
He was certain he wasn't the only one enjoying such immense gains; powerful lords must have reaped even greater rewards.
The third day of the Mid-Autumn Festival event (the event lasted a total of five days, previously corrected).
As dawn broke, after everyone had eaten breakfast, Yin Lihua delivered astonishing news to Zhou Yan.
"Lord, I've noticed the map seems to have shrunk," Yin Lihua informed Zhou Yan.
"What do you mean?" Zhou Yan was curious as to how she knew.
"Yesterday, we were still quite far from that giant Mid-Autumn Rabbit. Even after a night's travel, we should still be far away. But today, I see we can reach it in just half a day's journey."
Yin Lihua explained her discovery to Zhou Yan, which greatly surprised him.
"This isn't necessarily a good thing for us. A smaller map increases the probability of encountering stronger lords. We must deploy reconnaissance aircraft diligently," Zhou Yan stated.
Yin Lihua readily agreed. She also mentioned that due to the territory's continuous movement, they had likely eliminated over a dozen unfortunate lords overnight.
This was all within Zhou Yan's expectations and held no surprises.
With three days remaining, including today, he hoped to earn more Soul Coins in this period, aiming to raise the minimum level of his entire territory to 80.
Once they reached level 80, further leveling could be accomplished solely through dungeon runs.
In the future, he would only focus on raising soldier levels to 80.
Following reconnaissance, their probes detected monsters nearby. Moreover, today's monsters were significantly stronger than yesterday's; there wasn't a single ordinary quality monster, with the weakest being elite quality.
Their minimum level was 60, interspersed with numerous Bosses of Leader rank and above.
The monsters' levels and quality had increased. At this rate, tomorrow and the day after, their levels would continue to rise.
This would truly test the strength of a lord's soldiers.
Zhou Yan's Soul Coin count continued to climb throughout the night. As long as the territory remained stationary, all monsters and lords within its vicinity would face devastating attacks.
Zhou Yan resumed his monster slaying. Half an hour later, he encountered a Gold-quality Mid-Autumn Rabbit.
This Mid-Autumn Rabbit moved at twice the speed of its Silver-quality counterpart. Without considerable strength, even killing it would be a difficult task.
Ultimately, it succumbed to Zhou Yan's "Thunderstorm Strike."
[Killed Gold Mid-Autumn Rabbit, +50 points.]
"50 points, not bad!" Zhou Yan remarked casually.
Without swift movement or wide-area attack capabilities, hunting these Mid-Autumn Rabbits would indeed be a considerable effort.
Two hours later, Yin Lihua informed Zhou Yan, "Lord, a reconnaissance aircraft has been destroyed, about a hundred kilometers from here."
"Oh, finally a worthy opponent," Zhou Yan mused, sensing that the territory responsible was likely very powerful.
After two days of effortless victories, they had finally encountered a formidable adversary.
"This is the last image transmitted by that reconnaissance aircraft. Take a look, the situation seems rather grim." Yin Lihua sent the image to Zhou Yan.
Upon opening it, he saw a territory shrouded in dark clouds, exuding an ominous aura.
The territory was immense. Judging by its scale, its level was at least 80. This was indeed a formidable domain, and Zhou Yan suspected that his fifty thousand troops would suffer heavy losses if they attacked it.
This was not the most critical point, however. The reconnaissance aircraft had been destroyed by a flock of flying magical beasts. The enemy territory, it seemed, was raising a legion of giant, crow-like flying magical beasts.
"That place is about a hundred kilometers away, still relatively distant. There's no need to engage with a territory like that."
Zhou Yan understood clearly that fighting such a territory would be a Pyrrhic victory. It was far more advantageous to prey on lower-level territories and seize points from them.
(Author: My apologies, the Mid-Autumn Festival event is five days long, which has now been corrected. Thank you for pointing out the bug.)