CHAPTER 197: CHAPTER 81: IS THERE REALLY SUCH A THING AS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT_2

At that time, his mirror image will have someone wielding a spiritual sword, someone wielding a war hammer, someone wielding a spiritual long halberd, and someone wielding a battle axe, to fully utilize the capabilities of a Close Combat Grandmaster.

After contemplating his future development path for a while, Lin Rui refocused on the present. He first summoned the Water Elemental Warrior, as there hadn’t been any significant change in his attribute values recently, so the Water Elemental Warrior was still the Leviathan Long wielding a giant battle axe.

Then Lin Rui placed "Phase Blade" under the Goddess Pendulum, following the same strengthening process as "Ghostly Shadows," he adjusted resources in the market, completing the enhancement smoothly.

At this point, "Phase Blade" had transformed into "Ice Blade Frost Splendor."

[Super-Tier Skill: Ice Blade Frost Splendor lv1: Instantly forms a frost blade from any angle to launch an attack against the enemy. The frost blade leaves a path of frost in its wake, dealing damage and reducing the movement speed of enemies in the path by 12%. Targets hit by the frost blade will also leave a path of frost when moving. Three layers of the path can be detonated to knock opponents back, forming a swirling Frost Dance; within 2 seconds, frost shards will continuously attack the target, inflicting damage equal to the stack count times 30% of the frost blade’s damage. The base damage of the frost blade is (120 Spiritual Damage + 120 True Damage) * 1.75. Spiritual energy cost is 120 points, with a cooldown of 5 seconds. (Note: Frost blade is not a targeted skill and cannot lock onto a target.)]

This skill is incredible! If the opponent lacks Overlord Body, or a trait like Lin Rui’s that makes him immune to control, they’d hardly stand a chance against Lin Rui! And even if the opponent has Overlord Body, they can’t even get close to Lin Rui. Lin Rui could stand at a distance, using his mirror image to unleash this offensive in front of the enemy.

Such a powerful Mage will become the nightmare of all enemy forces during Plane Wars! They are also the strongest hero to protect the territory against terrifying onslaughts.

Closing the attribute panel, Lin Rui, slightly reluctant, leaned on the Goddess Pendulum. After the beginner protection period ends and the Divine Spirit leaves, he can no longer enhance with such abandon, without any worry of failure even if there’s a 1% success probability. In the future, he will truly have to gamble on probability.

Lin Rui was not deep in thought for long before Lusen hobbled over, wailing to Lin Rui: "Lord, I beg you, please do something about that sand sculpture woman, Audrey. I’ve had a terrible day."

This amusing scene dispelled the sentiment in Lin Rui’s heart, and he laughed as he said, "Remember this for the future, when you sit in quiet meditation, reflect on your own mistakes, and don’t discuss others’ faults during idle chats."

"Ouch, ouch, I’ve remembered, Lord. I’ll be more careful in the future when speaking ill of her. Please give me a few needles; I need to go prepare by the bonfire. Other Explorer Lords have brought a large troop over, and I need to join the excitement."

Lin Rui waved his hand, and a row of luminescent blue ice needles pierced into Lusen’s waist, adrenaline surged, and he immediately became lively, joyfully saying, "Lord, shall I take you there as well?"

"Sure."

The bonfire was set up by the lakeside of the territory, with a field of radiant Golden Pansies to the east, two windmill mills spinning to the south, a majestic family manor on a high slope to the north, and a shimmering lake with rippling waves to the west—truly a breathtaking view.

In the middle, on the flat grassy ground, was a large bonfire surrounded by ten smaller ones.

Time was nearing nightfall, and the inhabitants from the lumberyard, quarry, and hunter’s lodge outside the territory had returned to assist in chopping wood and transporting food.

The head chef of the tavern, Roberta, was preparing ingredients for a barbecue, accompanied by a few Half-Elves and over a dozen territorial maidens.

After midnight tonight, they will face a terrifying onslaught, so to prepare for this millennium-like major event, Lin Rui decided to hold a bonfire party to boost morale, and at midnight, the soldiers could proceed directly from the bonfire site to the battlefield.

Besides the inhabitants of the territory, there were a few strangers by the bonfire.

Upon seeing Lin Rui, these people gathered around, and a middle-aged man with a leading presence said, "Hello, sir. We are the Explorer Lords surrounding your area."

Lin Rui nodded amicably and asked, "How is it? Have all your soldiers completed their advancement?"

"We’ve completed it; others are still advancing. Thank you so much for your help, it’s just incredible. All of our soldiers successfully advanced, without a single casualty."

"Yes, thank you so much, sir. If we advanced on our own, we might have seen 99% of our soldiers die, succeeding in advancing only one or two would be a stroke of luck. The difference is almost a hundredfold now."

Lin Rui smiled faintly and said, "No need to thank me; mutual aid is how it should be. How confident are you in withstanding the terrifying onslaught?"

The leading middle-aged man sighed and said, "We are also giving it our all. At this point, we have no alternative but to fight to the death."

A youth with acne in the crowd spoke nervously, "Sir, can we... stay a little while in your territory to use your territory’s trait to restore our soldiers’ life value? Then... then we’ll go back."

Lin Rui looked at him and asked curiously, "Why are you nervous?"

The other explorers laughed loudly, and a female explorer said, "Sir, he fell in love at first sight with Miss Audrey from your territory. He just wants an excuse to stay in your territory a bit longer."

Lin Rui glanced over at the bonfire, where the comically titled young woman sat proudly lecturing the Black Mage Hei Qi with the Dragon Roar Sword. With the Dragon Roar Sword, she joyfully flaunted might borrowed from another’s power, completely overpowering Hei Qi.

To prepare for the impending terrifying onslaught, everyone in the territory was fully committed; she too donned all her equipment, being a charm system apostle, all her equipment held great aesthetic appeal.

A mesmerizing beauty’s three essentials—black silk, long hair, and a pencil skirt—all present on her!

Moreover, this woman had an exceptional sense of style. Many women look overly provocative when wearing black silk with high heels, and worse, some descend into a reminiscent of a spoilt girl who didn’t graduate high school.

This is because their sense of style isn’t up to par, their entire outfit tends towards seductive, thus appearing excessively vulgar.

This woman, however, was different. She perfectly understood what pure desire aesthetics mean, pairing purity above and desire below, wearing a pure black knit sweater up top, a pencil skirt, alluring black silk stockings, paired with a pair of sassy black round-toe ankle boots. Over it all was the black apprentice robe Lin Rui just retrieved from a treasure chest, resembling a fitted black trench coat.

This ensemble made her appear both pure and appealingly foxy, or fierce at first glance. When she wasn’t talking, she unquestionably resembled a mighty, cold Black Element overlord beneath a black trench coat.

The young man’s face instantly flushed, hurriedly waving his hands, "No, no, no... I... I... I didn’t fall in love at first sight."

The crowd laughed, "Right, there’s no such thing as love at first sight; it’s just that she wore a pencil skirt that day!"

Lin Rui smiled, "Do you want me to call her over for you? She’s actually quite fond of making friends."

The young man turned crimson right to his neck, hurriedly waving his hands, "No... no need, really no need. Sir, I’m not worthy of her. A Heroic Spirit Level troop, she, alone, could wipe out my entire territory."

Lin Rui chuckled without pushing the matter, taking his leave to walk towards the bonfire.

The territory’s soldiers had already gathered, with Terion organizing the late-night guard and patrol deployments. After midnight, the safe zones in the territory would be removed, and the territory itself would have to bear the burden of its defensive security.

Thus, the territory must proactively plan outposts and patrol routes to prevent monsters... or certain individuals from attacking the territory.

A thorough deployment can eliminate all dangers beyond the territory’s borders.