084 Generous Rewards!

"I'll gift you those three battlefield myths!"

Having successfully beheaded the enemy commander, Morning Wind was entirely capable of hunting down three more warlords. Yet, feeling lazy and in high spirits, he decided to leave them as a parting gift. Had it not been for their presence, Morning Wind would have found it nearly impossible to take down the high-level warlord. Those three battlefield myths held negligible value to him anyway, so whether he kept them mattered little.

Yang Fan and his three companions had been dreading that Morning Wind might seek vengeance after slaying the high-level warlord, never expecting that he would simply walk away. To leave behind three battlefield myths without a second thought—this fellow was genuinely magnanimous.

"Xiaofan, the man just dismantled a heavy magitech cannon and executed a high-level warlord. In his eyes, battlefield myths are utterly worthless and beneath his notice, so he just tossed them our way!" Elemental Shaman Wang Hao found this reaction entirely unsurprising. Someone like Morning Wind, who could slay legendary beast gods, charge out of a main city single-handedly, and decapitate high-level warlords, would never care about such meager contributions. They had already received generous contributions just by assisting in the slaying of the high-level warlord; killing those three warlords would have yielded even more.

"Duan Chenfeng is truly magnificent! Xixi, you need to take notes. If you were even half as formidable as Duan Chenfeng, we'd all be basking in your glory!" Milk Knight Li Wangyi seized the opportunity to take a jab at Yu Jiexi. While others excelled brilliantly as Fury Warriors, Yu Jiexi seemed capable of nothing beyond outputting damage.

Upon departing, Morning Wind immediately retreated into the main city for safety. Without even checking the global contribution rankings, he knew his contribution score was indisputably the highest, soaring far above Outland in second place. With such a massive influx of contributions, there was no telling what rank his military title would reach! He wondered if he might leap straight to the pinnacle rank of Grand Marshal.

"Brilliant! A successful commander-beheading; it seems nothing can stump you!" Wang Xiaodie sent a voice message to Morning Wind. She had never imagined that Morning Wind, who had delayed logging in for so long, would actually claim the world's number one contribution value. Just how strong was this guy, really? Wang Xiaodie found herself completely unable to fathom his limits.

From her current perspective, this perhaps aligned with what Morning Wind often referred to as using one's brain. Indeed, Morning Wind did not undertake many actions, but every single one of them was earth-shattering. Efficiency, intellect, and capability—the traits Morning Wind displayed during this siege event truly opened Wang Xiaodie's eyes.

"A world-class expert ought to boast this level of contribution. Look at the frontline members of our team; aside from you, who failed to break into the global top one hundred?" Morning Wind had just reviewed the global contribution rankings: Morning Wind was first, Outland second, Stein eighteenth, Yin forty-second, Gwen forty-fifth, Shadow Corner sixty-fifth, and Wenge ninety-third. Wang Xiaodie ranked at two thousand three hundred and eighty-fifth—far too distant to be relevant. Even Data Emperor ranked fifty-second, placing higher than several frontline members.

Wang Xiaodie checked the contribution rankings and confirmed that the frontline members indeed occupied the top one hundred positions, leaving her trailing far behind. She genuinely struggled to understand why such a vast disparity existed; was it simply a matter of strength?

Noticing Wang Xiaodie's silence, Morning Wind offered a reminder, "Beauty, I've told you before that survival in this team relies on the mind. Remaining complacent makes it utterly impossible to keep up here. The moment one person makes a sprint, everyone else follows suit—and they sprint with extraordinary intelligence. Everyone made extensive plans upon learning of the Horde siege, preparing numerous items with the sole objective of rapidly surging their contributions to break into the global top one hundred. Yet you seemed to have prepared nothing at all, merely following the studio's personnel to grind contributions. You should consider yourself lucky just to have sneaked into the top ten thousand."

"I didn't see you preparing anything either!" Wang Xiaodie retorted, unconvinced. Morning Wind hadn't completed any quests prior to the Horde siege; he had slept when the siege preparations began, and he had logged in exceptionally late when the siege actually commenced. Was that what he called preparation?

Morning Wind shrugged and chuckled, "Don't be foolish, beauty! Could I have secured world first without preparation? I had prepared for this event long in advance. That's why, when the event actually kicked off, I didn't need to scramble with preparations; I merely conserved my stamina so I could focus on hunting high-yield bosses."

"Furthermore, the most crucial element in any event is adaptability. The emergence of the legendary beast god, the heavy magitech cannon, and the final execution of the commander—none of those were things I anticipated, yet I pulled them off and stayed a step ahead of everyone else. That's why my contribution score is the highest." Mere preparation was never enough; one had to possess the wit to adapt on the fly. Morning Wind commanded a diverse array of skills and possessed top-tier gear, allowing him to slaughter foes without impediment, while his adaptability remained exceptional. Of course, having his Shapeshifter alt—which allowed him to transform into a dark dragon—was a primary factor.

Morning Wind and Data Emperor had laid their groundwork well in advance. Morning Wind had deployed scouts to track the locations of the five major guilds' main forces for a retaliatory strike, while Data Emperor had compiled intelligence on various enemy heroes and primed himself to provide optimal support. The two of them had prepared so exhaustively that they felt as though they hadn't even exhausted all their tricks. It seemed the Chinese server could hardly contain them anymore; perhaps they would have to take their rivalry to the global stage to find a real challenge.

Wang Xiaodie understood; this was the true gap between them. Initially, she had assumed Morning Wind had done nothing, failing to realize he had arranged everything beforehand, which was why he could sleep so peacefully. She had always believed she was well-prepared, but compared to Morning Wind and his peers, she had accomplished practically nothing. Relying on sheer force of will wasn't enough; using one's brain was mandatory within the team. Wang Xiaodie realized she desperately needed to broaden her horizons.

The Horde siege concluded with the Alliance successfully defending the main city. The list of the top one hundred contributors in the Chinese server was released, accompanied by several supplementary lists. System notifications for Morning Wind began popping up in rapid succession.

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have gained 4,783,332 contribution points. Your Alliance Badge has been upgraded from Level 1 "Private" to Level 10 "Major," unlocking additional effects. Please visit the Alliance Military District to claim them.

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have earned the commendation of an NPC hero. Your Alliance Badge has been upgraded from Level 10 "Major" to Level 11 "Commander," unlocking additional effects. Please visit the Alliance Military District to claim them.

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have earned the commendation of the Alliance Grand Marshal. Your Alliance Badge has been upgraded from Level 11 "Commander" to Level 12 "Warmaster," unlocking additional effects. Please visit the Alliance Military District to claim them.

Normally, Alliance Badge military ranks could only be upgraded to Level 10 Major through contribution points alone; any progression beyond that required truly exceptional feats. For instance, achieving two battlefield myths could grant one rank increase, but nothing short of creating a victory opportunity and executing the enemy commander could secure the subsequent promotion to Level 12 Warmaster. In the Chinese server, Morning Wind alone had both forged the path to victory and decapitated the commander, making him the sole player in the entire national server to attain the rank of Warmaster.

Across all global players, only three individuals had their military ranks elevated to Warmaster. Morning Wind was one of them; the other two were Outland from the German server and "Departed Serpent," the Mexican server player who had slain the legendary beast god. The Alliance possessed a total of fourteen military ranks, but Level 12 essentially served as the ceiling for players, rendering any further promotion nearly impossible.

Aside from his military rank promotion, Morning Wind received numerous other system prompts.

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have gained 1,345,677,345 experience points and leveled up to Level 42.

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have slain two enemy heroes and earned the class reward [Banner of Death].

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have forged a victory opportunity for the Alliance, earning the reward of "2 Talent Points."

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have forged a victory opportunity, executed an enemy high-level warlord, and created a battlefield myth, earning the class reward [Empowered Intercept].

Four more reward prompts followed. Due to the overwhelming number of players, the system bypassed the need for manual collection, distributing the rewards directly. The experience points instantly propelled Morning Wind to Level 42, though he was far from being the world first, ranking fifty-fifth globally due to the sheer number of zealous leveling fanatics. While warfare events yielded massive amounts of experience, the requirements for leveling up grew exponentially steeper. Following this event, battlefield quests would officially open, ushering in the era of troop deployment.

[Banner of Death]: Banner Skill. Plant a Banner of Death at your location, increasing the critical strike damage of all party or raid members within a 40-meter radius by 40% for 10 seconds. Your own critical strike damage is additionally increased by 10%. Cooldown: 2 minutes. (Replaces Banner of Skulls)

The Banner of Skulls in God Mode only increased critical strike damage by 20%, whereas the Banner of Death directly boosted it by 50%. One could easily imagine how much more formidable Morning Wind's battle banner was compared to those of other warriors. Morning Wind was exceedingly fond of this skill, as it made his God Mode even more devastating.

The achievement of forging a victory opportunity rewarded Morning Wind with 2 talent points. Players typically gained only 1 talent point every ten levels, capping their natural acquisition at 6 points. Morning Wind had previously purchased three talent point scrolls from the otherworldly planar merchant, though he had allocated them toward the skills Resurgence and Avatar. Combined with the 2 points gained from advancing from Level 20 to 40, plus the new reward, his total reached 4 points. No one ever complained about having too many talent points; every player coveted them, desperate to acquire hundreds more if possible.

[Empowered Intercept]: Pursuit Skill. Charge toward an enemy, slamming them with your shield or weapon to inflict 150% attack damage and forcefully silence them for 4 seconds. Range: 8 to 25 meters. Cooldown: 25 seconds. Cost: None.

This was an enhanced version of Intercept. The original Intercept inflicted a 2-second stun, but triggering that stun required striking the enemy's head or back directly with a shield or weapon, demanding high skill execution. Consequently, landing a stun via Intercept was exceedingly difficult and virtually nonexistent in the realm of top-tier players. Empowered Intercept converted the forced silence into a passive effect, which was unquestionably superior to a stun. Furthermore, since both Intercept and Shockwave inflicted stun effects, relying solely on them would trigger diminishing returns on crowd control, severely degrading their efficacy.

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, you have placed among the top ten most distinguished players in the Chinese server. You may visit the Alliance Armory to select one item as a reward (maximum reward quality: Epic).

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, your contribution ranked first in the Chinese server. You may visit the Alliance Armory to select one item as a reward (maximum reward quality: Legendary).

System: For your outstanding performance during the Horde siege event, your contribution ranked first globally. You may visit the Alliance Armory to select one item as a reward (maximum reward quality: Legendary).

With that, the system notifications ceased, leaving Morning Wind with an immensely lucrative haul of rewards. Only players who claimed the "first" rank could secure Legendary-grade equipment. Having clinched both the Chinese server first and the global first, Morning Wind earned two separate opportunities to select Legendary gear.

The rarity of Legendary equipment was self-evident, accessible exclusively to the top-ranking players. Across the global rankings, only the top three players were granted the opportunity to acquire Legendary gear. Rather than rushing immediately to the Alliance Armory to make his selections, Morning Wind decided to first seek out the Grand Marshal to update his Alliance Badge and inspect the unique properties conferred by the "Warmaster" military rank.