To it, possessing wisdom is not a fortunate thing.

Wise men often need to bear many troubles, especially as a king.

Even as the king of dirty and stupid goblins, it must shoulder the heavy responsibility of clan reproduction.

Once again, the vast primitive grass hut became quiet.

The whole Goblin Tribe had only occasional cries of pain and groans, besides the nauseating sound of teeth grinding and swallowing saliva.

...

Afternoon, a little past two forty.

Zong Shen woke up slowly at Luna's call.

The warm bed made him feel very comfortable, like the warm embrace of a young girl.

Someone once said, leaving the winter bed is like leaving a woman's thighs—requiring profound determination.

Seeing Zong Shen open his eyes, looking empty, with no intention of getting up.

Luna sat obediently by the bedside, gently stroking his face.

During this time, Zong Shen had never shaved his beard.

His cheeks and chin grew dense stubble.

These stubbles barely half a centimeter long, feeling like hard bristles.

Making him appear even more manly.

"Ha..."

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Zong Shen yawned lazily, grabbing Luna's small hand.

He sat up in bed; thanks to the Magic Energy Thermal Ball, the room was very warm.

Outside the windows on both sides of the room were completely wet.

The temperature difference inside and outside highlighted, melting the thin layer of ice outside the windows.

It looked just like it had just rained.

"Luna, you and Wenresa should go to the living area to pick up people now."

"In a bit, place the Magic Energy Thermal Balls on the cargo holds of the two Burden-Bearer Mechas."

"Inform Doris to do the same."

"If her Heat Balls are insufficient, let Hoy lend his to her first."

Zong Shen gently rubbed Luna's delicate hand back and said with a shallow smile.

"Okay, my lord, I'll do it right away."

Luna also showed a gentle smile and leaned her face close.

Lightly kissed Zong Shen's cheek with her full red lips.

This kiss, full of love, was like a startling swan momentarily vanishing.

The warmth on the cheek remained, yet Luna had already withdrawn swiftly and gracefully.

Before the snow intensifies, this should be the last collective hunting action for the Frosty Snow Beast.

When the snow accumulates to such a degree that even Burden-Bearer Mechas cannot clear it effectively, large-scale group outings will become a luxury.

Regarding the third phase of Frosty Winter—about the Frosty Winter Treasure Chest and Icefield Monsters with points—Zong Shen has other arrangements, needing to wait for climate changes after the third phase begins to decide.

This round of challenges made him quite vexed; compared to facing the harsh weather, he would rather tackle the massive Burrow Monster Swarm.

Burrow Challenge and Frosty Winter Challenge hold entirely different meanings.

The former centers on combat, requiring Lords to bravely face the Burrow Monster Swarm like a black tide when gathered.

Even though the Burrow Monsters have been weakened to varying degrees, the swarm's oppressive presence still ensures chills.

The Burrow Challenge lasts an entire seven days; during this period, the challenge's intensity increases step by step, turning it into a grand group-fighting feast.

High-intensity combat and killing sharpen swords into the best grindstone.

Indeed, after the Burrow Challenge, surviving Lords have all grown significantly.

This growth is comprehensive and all-around; everyone began to familiarize themselves with this strange world and the cruel fights and battles.

Blood-shed combat was like a cold deep pool, pressing everyone's heads into tempering fire, amidst painful cries and boiling fear, turning everyone sharp and tough.

However, the Frosty Winter Challenge does not focus on combat; the climate changes aim more to challenge Lords' physical limits, with Frosty Snow Beasts and Frosty Winter Treasure Chests being a form of embellishment and incentive.

Purely climatic challenges are like a pool of stagnant water; only by adding some other elements can people become more active.

Besides these superficial features, for most ordinary Lords, this challenge is actually more lenient than the Burrow Challenge.

Because it established basic survival points, even if you stay put in your territory, with enough luck and not being attacked, you can win a big sum of points painlessly.

The four-day survival points total several thousand points, knowing that in the previous round, due to the pyramid-like strength structure, most Lords were unlikely to gain this many points.

After all, not everyone can be like Zong Shen, cutting and killing.

They're mostly passively countering, being in a situation with very poor initiative.

This is the biggest gap between aggressive-type Lords and ordinary Lords.

This challenge evidently more amicable to the ordinary Lords who comprise the vast majority.

Despite Zong Shen, an aggressive-type Lord, having robust strength, his efficiency in gaining points is greatly affected, unable to be like in the Burrow Challenge where the monster swarms outside seemed like walking points; as long as you have enough strength, they would comply with your every wish.

This, perhaps, is the essential difference between these two challenges.

As still said, the Lord System doesn't aim to enact a major massacre or mass extinction.

Its purpose is still to nurture Lords, allowing everyone to grow rapidly.

Zong Shen sat on the bed for a while, using thought to relax his mood.

Then, he decisively turned over off the bed and began to put on the battle armor one by one.

He fastened the inner buttons of the Bear Skin Coat one by one and then draped the thick [Benedict's Charging Cloak], which he never quite warmed to, even during the Frosty Winter Period.

Not only because it's too bulky but also its size doesn't conform to an ordinary person's standard.

With Zong Shen's height of 178 cm without shoes, plus War Boots, Battle Armor, and Battle Helmet augmenting his stature, he could reach over 180 cm when fully armed.

Even at this height, once draped with the Charging Cloak, its hems still dip to the ground.

It even extended dozens of centimeters behind Zong Shen's feet, like the foot wrap of a king.

Yet, this cloak is not the ceremonial mantle of a king attending grand events.

Thus, it implies that the original owner of this cloak was at least an over 220 cm tall giant. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Such cumbersome sluggishness gave Zong Shen discomfort.

Nevertheless, for the attribute gain and warmth it provided, he opted to maintain the status quo.

After fully dressed, Zong Shen swiftly descended the stairs and walked straight out of the Lord's Small Tower.

It was already a little past three in the afternoon, with the rain and snow turning into a moderate snow.

The accumulated snow on the ground collapsed, turning into irregular melting ice.

These semi-melt collapsed ice chunks were not hard, at least more fragile than the thick ice solidified by freezing rain at the base layer.

Zong Shen, with his Rabbit Fur Boots, each landing step crushed the melting ice, leaving behind foot imprints several centimeters deep.

The ground became increasingly slippery, like a bread with soft upper and hard lower layers.

The melting ice also had a thickness of over ten centimeters, its existence significantly reduced the effect of the Anti-Slip Chain Spike.

The mere few-centimeter-long metal spikes couldn't penetrate the rigid ice layers.

And those loose melting ice couldn't offer much friction.

As Zong Shen walked, large sheets of ice were often stirred up.

"This damn weather..."

"Really annoying!"

Zong Shen could distinctly perceive the changes underfoot.

This compelled him to proceed cautiously.

By the time he came to the open space outside the Lord's Courtyard, Luna and Wenresa were each operating a snow-clearing version of the Burden-Bearer Mecha, loaded with warriors, waiting for his command.

The storm persisted; this time, the cargo holds of each Burden-Bearer Mecha housed a [Magic Energy Thermal Ball].

Zong Shen hoped to use this measure to enhance battle endurance.