The news of the impending arrival of the magical dragons caused a lively buzz across Xia Wang City. Upon learning that Yinzi was planning to carefully consider potential contract holders in advance, many people scrambled for opportunities to stand out.
As a dragon, Yinzi had always been popular. However, in the past, people maintained a certain level of fear and didn’t dare get too close. Now, though, Yinzi primarily relied on flying to move around. The reason? The moment it landed, it would be immediately surrounded by enthusiastic crowds.
This overwhelming enthusiasm left Yinzi somewhat at a loss. The “martial contest to select a contract holder” idea was put on hold for now. Yinzi had already tried to engage a few humans, but every single one was effortlessly defeated by a swipe of the dragon’s claws, leaving Yinzi somewhat disappointed.
When Shu Bao heard about it, he comforted Yinzi, saying that forming a contract required not only strength but also fate. Moreover, it wasn’t even certain yet whether the dragons would decide to settle in Xia Wang. There was no need to rush.
Yinzi nodded and lowered its massive head, seeking comfort. After all, it had accidentally stepped on and injured a few people in recent days while trying to evade pursuit and was still somewhat startled by the experience.
Shu Bao patted Yinzi’s head. “It’s okay. Big feet aren’t your fault.”
Yinzi gave a couple of low growls in response, indicating it understood. With a comforting pat, all its worries seemed to vanish.
Though the “meal ticket” search was temporarily on hold, Xia Wang City remained bustling. In fact, the citizens spontaneously organized a magical martial arts tournament. While they understood that the contest wouldn’t directly determine the contracts, they still wanted to showcase their strength when the magical dragons arrived.
The tournament was set to last a month, and Shu Bao was invited to the opening ceremony. Watching the bold and spirited magicians and knights, Shu Bao even sponsored a prize for the final champion: a magical necklace with five attributes—storage, energy gathering, defense, flight, and invisibility—making it equally suitable for magicians and knights.
The announcement of this prize further heightened the excitement. Devout believers were eager to obtain a necklace handcrafted by the revered deity, while non-believers simply saw it as an incredibly valuable treasure. Besides, there were plenty of other prizes as well.
The two high priests, upon learning that the prize wasn’t a beast-hide skirt, lost interest and did not participate. Instead, they focused on maintaining the tournament’s rules and order.
This wasn’t the first time such a magical martial arts tournament had been held, so it went smoothly. However, the population of Xia Wang City surged dramatically, with participants coming not only from within the city but also from other towns. Of course, there were even more people simply here to watch the excitement.
Shu Bao occasionally joined Rain Girl, riding the big white cat to perch atop the city walls and watch the dazzling battles below. The combat was so engaging that it was easy to spend the entire morning captivated.
When they tired of watching, Shu Bao could hop onto Feng Shou’s back and run wild outside the city. Feng Shou’s strength had grown even greater than before. Unlike in the past, it no longer relied on the undead legion—it was a formidable force all on its own.
Of course, at night, the silhouette of the general was still ever-present on Feng Shou’s back. Despite Shu Bao, the high priests, and others forming bonds with the undead steed, that shadow had not faded over time but had grown clearer. Feng Shou was the general’s warhorse. Even with new companions, it never forgot its former master.
Feng Shou was no longer just of sovereign-level strength. At its peak, it could summon an undead legion numbering in the tens of thousands. If it wished, Feng Shou alone could capture a medium-sized city. In the Chaotic World, this undead army had reached the status of a deity-level force.
As night fell, Xia Wang City’s citizens began their well-practiced defensive preparations. Recently, the beast hordes had started to stir again. If nothing unexpected happened, there would be a siege in the next day or two. Considering the long period of quiet, this beast tide was bound to be massive.
Shu Bao arrived at the city walls, accompanied by Tesla and T33674. Not long ago, they had collaborated on decoding and modifying a batch of Mechanoid weapons, which they had just distributed to the high priests and others, planning to test their effectiveness during the upcoming defense.
Shu Bao’s arrival sparked a lot of discussion. Not only the newer residents of Xia Wang, but even the old members of the Xia Wang Tribe, who had followed Shu Bao step by step since the beginning, rarely saw Shu Bao intervene in a defense battle.
When the tribe was first established, before the base had any magicians, they had witnessed the deity transform into a humanoid form and easily deal with some of the magical beasts they couldn’t handle. However, as the base developed, the deity rarely participated in defense battles, mostly remaining in his fluffy form. The once majestic appearance of the deity had nearly become a dream.
Today, however, the deity was on high alert, clearly preparing to participate in the defense. This excited the Xia Wang tribe. Of course, the new weapons in hand also piqued their curiosity. Would these strange-looking things be more effective than magic?
The new residents of Xia Wang City never thought that a mouse could contribute anything meaningful to the defense. The bizarre-looking weapons didn’t seem as powerful as a magic staff. The only difference between believers and non-believers was probably the level of enthusiasm they showed when facing Shu Bao. As for the defense, they still believed they had to rely on themselves.
Shu Bao’s arrival created quite a buzz before the defense battle began. People discussed their views on this deity. Since everyone lived in Xia Wang City, most people held a positive attitude toward Shu Bao—whether in admiration, respect, or simply affection, after all, this was the deity of the tribe.
However, there was a small minority who were dissatisfied with having a mouse as a deity, especially after seeing the powerful deities of other cities. They found it somewhat embarrassing to consider a mouse as the tribal deity. Moreover, Xia Wang City already had plenty of powerful magical beasts—Yinzi was one, and Feng Shou, the big white cat, and even the magical beasts they had acquired later were all stronger than a mouse.
However, since Shu Bao was rarely seen in the city and the high priests and other original residents held deep faith in Shu Bao, their dissatisfaction was suppressed and seldom voiced.
But now, things were different. With the magical martial arts tournament ongoing and a large-scale beast tide approaching, Xia Wang City’s population had sharply increased. Under these circumstances, the appearance of the mouse attracted considerable attention.
When outsiders asked why there was a mouse on the city wall, some felt embarrassed to tell the truth. Especially after speaking honestly, the looks of surprise and confusion from the others were like a sharp jab.
As time passed, more and more people gathered on the city walls, and discussions about Shu Bao grew more intense. Amid this complex atmosphere, the Chaotic World descended.
No matter how many times it happened, the overwhelming sense of oppression that spread with the arrival of the Chaotic World still made people uncomfortable, and the discussions began to quiet down. However, the calm was quickly broken by a new wave of noise.
The massive horde of magical beasts, which had been lurking for a while, finally detected the scent of living humans and began charging toward Xia Wang City. The beasts were bizarre in appearance, each possessing different abilities—some flew through the air, others ran on the ground—filling the skies and the earth, like a tide sweeping toward the city.
With the first blast from a magic cannon, the bright magical rune disk lit up, and in the dense horde of beasts outside the city, it exploded, causing a mass of casualties among the creatures. However, for such a massive beast tide, this attack was barely a scratch.
The bloodshot-eyed beasts and the people on the city walls began their battle. On the walls, some used bows and arrows, others used tools, while others wielded magic. There were all kinds of methods, with no particular form or restriction.
Soon, the first wave of magical beasts rushed to the base of the city walls. People riding flying magical beasts quickly descended and engaged in combat with the monsters. Whenever they were overpowered, they would retreat inside the protective shields to avoid further danger. Of course, some reacted too slowly and were devoured by the beasts.
Shu Bao watched the situation below with a sharp pang of regret. The ones who had died or were gravely injured were all former residents that Shu Bao had hoped for! Seeing the beasts already closing in, Shu Bao immediately gave the order to attack.
The high priests and others aimed their various weapons at the chaotic battle below and began attacking indiscriminately. The dazzling light from their attacks instantly drew the attention of those around them. When they saw their companions being caught in the indiscriminate fire, they were immediately filled with rage.
Some who had long harbored discontent charged forward, wanting to seize the mouse that was giving the chaotic orders!
However, their attacks couldn’t match the speed of the beams of light. Before they could even reach Shu Bao, the light beams had already exploded below, expanding outward like ripples on water. A large area was covered, trapping both the magical beasts and their teammates within it.
On the walls, some people urgently shouted their companions’ names, while others, filled with fury, tried to attack Shu Bao. However, they were quickly stopped by the loyal original inhabitants, until one of the space mages, taking advantage of the chaos, teleported directly to Shu Bao’s side.
With a furious expression, the spatial mage reached out and grabbed Shu Bao. Shu Bao, who had been observing the results of the battle, was suddenly interrupted. The mouse immediately began kicking its short legs, trying to escape, struggling for a moment.
When it couldn’t break free, Shu Bao curiously turned around and saw a face full of anger and unfamiliarity.
The mouse blinked, then, in a calming manner, said, “Don’t worry, it’ll be your turn soon.”
The spatial mage, who had hesitated before, was now furious. He believed that this mouse deity was indeed as useless and malicious as others had said!
He gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength to grip the mouse, intending to deal with this unreliable and embarrassing deity. Although he was a magician, he had never slacked off on his physical training, and his grip was strong enough to crush stones.
However, after struggling for a while, the mouse in his hand remained completely unharmed, even laughing out loud.
“Don’t scratch me! Hahaha!” Shu Bao exclaimed, feeling that the new residents were so enthusiastic, even breaking through layers of defense just to give him a full-body massage. “It’s time to focus on the task at hand! Hahaha, we’ll talk about the massage later!”
The spatial mage: “….”
Suddenly, his shoulder was gently tapped. Startled, the spatial mage turned around to find the most prominent spatial mage of Xia Wang City: Ru Su, who was also the leader of the most famous space merchant caravan in the city.
Ru Su pointed toward the battlefield below. “Look down there and put the deity down. I’m not as patient as the high priests.”
As a merchant, Ru Su was well-liked in Xia Wang City and he had a reputation for being easygoing. But now, his expression was cold, his eyes filled with murderous intent. It seemed like if the spatial mage didn’t release Shu Bao, Ru Su would immediately go into battle.
The spatial mage instinctively loosened his grip and the fluffy creature in his palm immediately jumped out. Following the movement of the mouse, he noticed that the high priests and others were also watching him. Although they still wore their usual warm smiles, their smiles didn’t reach their eyes.
It wasn’t just the high priests. Many of Xia Wang City’s most famous geniuses and oldest residents were also watching him. Every gaze was cold and unfamiliar, sending a chill down his spine.
