Lin Feng walked to the counter, took out all the parchment from his backpack, and spread them out on the counter.

The terrain, monster distribution, and dangerous areas of each floor were clearly marked.

On the last few sheets of parchment, the complete past from Mordred's memory fragments and the last words of the cultivator Anselm carved on the stone tablet were recorded in neat handwriting.

Selina lowered her head and flipped through the pages one by one.

Her expression changed from calm to focused, and from focused to solemn.

When she turned to the map of the fourth floor, her finger paused for a moment at the location of the White Bone Platform before she continued flipping through.

After reading the last line of text, she remained silent for a long time before gently putting down the parchment and looking up at Lin Feng.

“This intelligence is of high value. The detailed terrain maps from the first to the fourth floor are the first-hand data the Guild has obtained on the Lucky Town Dungeon, filling a large gap.”

“The past of Mordred and Anselm further reveals the entire process of the Black Tide's erosion of the world of Elderland, which is of great significance to our understanding of the nature of the Black Tide.”

She flipped open an account book and did a quick calculation, then said, “A total of one thousand eight hundred Contribution Points, plus eighteen white energy crystals.”

Lin Feng nodded. One thousand eight hundred points, plus the previous one thousand, meant his current Contribution Points were close to three thousand.

Selina took out eighteen white energy crystals from under the counter, put them in a small cloth bag, and pushed it toward Lin Feng.

Lin Feng took the cloth bag, weighed it, and put it into his bundle.

“How many Contribution Points are needed for a Gold-rank team?” Lin Feng asked.

“Three thousand points,” Selina replied.

“A Gold-rank team can enter the third floor of the Adventurers Guild, where Intermediate Class Change Books are for sale.”

Lin Feng nodded. He was still two hundred short; he would have to leave that to Zhao Hu and the others.

He turned and walked out of the Adventurers Guild.

The sunlight shone from the east, dyeing the stone-paved road of the Commercial Street a warm yellow.

The shops had all opened their doors—those selling cloth, iron, and medicine—and shouts of peddling rose and fell one after another.

A few children chased a dog as they rushed out of an alley; he stepped aside to let them pass and continued forward.

Leaving the commercial district and passing through the residential area, the north gate of Lucky Town appeared in his field of vision.

The north gate was open, and two guards stood by the door, their halberds vertical. Seeing him, they hurriedly straightened their bodies and saluted.

Lin Feng stood at the north gate and looked back at Lucky Town.

The roof of the Council Hall shimmered with a grey light in the sun, and the flag of the Adventurers Guild fluttered in the wind.

Cooking smoke rose lazily from the residential area, and the hustle and bustle of the commercial district drifted out from the streets and alleys.

He turned back and looked toward the northwest; Zhenyue City was two hundred and sixty li away.

At his current speed, he could maintain ten meters per second for a long time while consuming very little stamina.

If there were no delays on the road, he could arrive in about three and a half hours.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, stepped out of the north gate, and set foot on the road leading to Zhenyue City.

...

Lin Feng maintained a steady speed, his footsteps firm and powerful. Each step was not large, but the frequency was extremely high.

His whole person was like an arrow released from a bowstring, galloping across the Golden Ear Plain.

The Wildfire Spear swayed gently on his back, its tip tearing through the air and making a faint humming sound.

The wind whistled past his ears, making the corners of his clothes flutter loudly.

Ten meters per second—this was the speed he could maintain for a long time while consuming very little stamina.

Neither fast nor slow, it was just enough to allow him to reach Zhenyue City, two hundred and sixty li away, within three and a half hours.

The scenery on both sides of the road retreated rapidly. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The waves of grass on the Golden Ear Plain were stretched into blurry golden lines.

The ruined walls of abandoned villages flashed by, and dried-up riverbeds stayed in his vision for only a single breath before being left behind.

As he traveled swiftly, he organized the distribution of forces around Zhenyue City in his mind.

Part of this intelligence came from the Lords Assembly, and part was found in the archives of the Rongcheng Nightmare Affairs Bureau.

Traveling alone now, it was the perfect time to piece these fragments together.

The core of Great Xia's power in the South Pole Region was Zhenyue City.

A city-level territory, along with several surrounding county-level territories, constituted the entire map of Great Xia in the South Pole Region.

The range of influence radiated about four hundred and fifty li north to south and one thousand two hundred li east to west—neither too large nor too small.

To the north were the spheres of influence of the Baixiang Kingdom and Sakura Country; to the south was the vast ocean; and to the west was the territory of the Tieba Kingdom.

To the southeast of Zhenyue City was originally Ningyuan County.

That county was destroyed in a double Nightmare Tide. Its level twenty-five Earth Warrior lord died in battle, and none of the more than six thousand people in the city were spared.

Now, only a Dungeon entrance remained in that land, and the location of Lucky Town happened to fill that power vacuum.

Two hundred and seventy ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) li to the northeast of Zhenyue City was Linshan County.

It was a county primarily focused on forestry and hunting, rich in high-grade furs and rare timber, and its relationship with Zhenyue City had always been good.

Five hundred and fifty li to the northwest was Huangtu County. The soil was barren, but there were rich mineral resources underground.

It was Great Xia's most important mineral base in the South Pole Region, and the ore sold to Zhenyue City every year accounted for the bulk of their military equipment consumption.

Five hundred and forty li to the southwest was Baishi County, famous for its stone and building materials. The Quarry there was a hundred meters deep, producing stone with a hard texture.

These three counties, along with the destroyed Ningyuan County, were originally all of Great Xia's county-level forces in the South Pole Region.

Now that Ningyuan County was gone, Lucky Town filled its place.

And to the east of Zhenyue City, about three hundred and fifty li away, there was also a newly established county-level territory, Xinyue County, whose lord was none other than Jiang Zhaoyue.

Although Xinyue County was established not long ago, Jiang Zhaoyue herself was quite strong, and with the support of the Yuehua Guild, its development momentum was very fast.

The extension of Zhenyue City's influence was clearly biased toward the west.

Linshan County was to the northeast—close, but that was to the east.

Huangtu County and Baishi County were both to the west, both at a distance of over five hundred li.

The vast area of at least five hundred li in between was under the direct control of Zhenyue City.

Within this range, countless villages and towns were scattered: Hongmu Town, Panshi Town, Tiemen Town, Heishi Town... Most of these territories were managed by the Rongcheng Nightmare Affairs Bureau and other local branches, but all were under the influence of Zhenyue City.

village-level and town-level territories had to pay a certain percentage of resources to Zhenyue City every month as a "protection fee" from a city-level territory to its subordinates.

But county-level territories did not need to; that was the rule. county-level territories possessed greater autonomy and were only responsible to the Great Xia Main City, not needing to bow to city-level territories.

Fenghuo County had not paid resources to Zhenyue City before for a simple reason: at that time, Fenghuo County was not within Zhenyue City's sphere of influence.

That land used to be the sphere of influence of Qingshi County. After Qingshi County was destroyed, Hundred Ghosts County stood in the middle, and Zhenyue City's hand could not reach over.

By the time Lin Feng annexed Hundred Ghosts County and was promoted to a county-level lord, Fenghuo County had already become an independent county-level territory, so naturally, there was even less need to pay anything to Zhenyue City.

Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Feng's mouth curled up slightly.

On the distant horizon, the silhouette of Zhenyue City had not yet appeared.

But he knew that at this speed, in another three hours, that towering city would appear before him.

The wind was still blowing, and the road was still extending. Lin Feng's footsteps did not stop.

(Some readers asked for a map, so I made one.)