After marching for about four hours, the sun slid from directly overhead to the west.

The view ahead suddenly opened up, and the silhouette of Zhenyue City appeared seven li away, its blue-gray walls looming faintly in the twilight.

Scattered around the city walls were some spontaneously established villages, with low houses and smoke rising from their chimneys.

These villages were all within ten li of Zhenyue City. Since no new national destiny territories could be established within ten li of a city-level territory, they were not officially recognized by the system as formal territories, but merely spontaneously gathered settlements.

Those villages beyond the ten-li mark had all surrendered to Beacon Fire Territory last time.

The Awakened in the villages heard the commotion and ran out of their houses one after another.

Some were holding rice bowls, some were shirtless, and some were still clutching half a piece of flatbread in their hands.

They stood by the roadside, craning their necks to watch the army in black armor advancing from «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the south.

"Holy shit, whose army is this? It's a sea of black, looks terrifying." A shirtless man swallowed hard.

Beside him, an older man squinted for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"That is the Great Qin Elite Soldiers from Beacon Fire Territory! Black armor, battle halberds, Qin Crossbow—I've seen them on the Dream Net! The one leading them—Lin Feng! The Lord of Beacon Fire Territory!"

"Is that the same Lin Feng who took five county cities from the orcs in a single day and night?" The shirtless man's voice wavered.

"No shit! Who else could it be?"

"What is he planning to do? Where is he going?"

"I heard the undead are causing trouble in Annan Country; they're probably going to reinforce them." The older man analyzed.

A young man carrying a bow stared at the phalanx of Great Qin Elite Soldiers, his eyes fixed: "Look at those soldiers, over two thousand of them, moving in perfect unison, not even a single cough—is this even a unit that humans can train?"

The army continued to advance, and the sounds of discussion gradually faded behind them.

Six minutes later, the gates of Zhenyue City were in sight.

Outside the city gate, Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan stood at the very front, with two rows of Zhenyue City garrison troops lined up behind him, numbering about two hundred. They were all wearing uniform leather armor, with long blades at their waists, standing perfectly straight.

Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan wore a suit of dark purple battle armor. He held no weapon, his hands clasped behind his back, his back straight, with a thin face and a short beard.

As the phalanx of Great Qin Elite Soldiers advanced from the distance, the gaze of the garrison troops shifted from calm to focused, from focused to solemn, and from solemn to an indescribable sense of shock.

The two thousand five hundred black-armored soldiers marched in perfect unison, the angles of their battle halberds were uniform, and even their breathing seemed to be in the same rhythm.

Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan strode forward to meet them, cupped his hands, and smiled: "Lord Lin, you've had a long journey! The three purple equipment items have already arrived and are inside the city. Please, follow me."

Lin Feng returned the salute: "Deputy City Lord Zhao, you are too kind."

He turned to look at the phalanx behind him, then turned back: "The main army will rest outside the city. I will take a few people into the city; we won't cause any trouble for Zhenyue City."

Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan waved his hand, his tone straightforward: "Lord Lin, what are you saying? It's only two thousand people; Zhenyue City can certainly accommodate them."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the silent, iron-like black-armored phalanx, and sighed: "Great Qin Elite Soldiers, truly worthy of their reputation."

Lin Feng didn't say much more, nodding: "Then I shall impose on you."

He turned and beckoned to Jiang Yelan and Jiang Zhaoyue, and the two walked over from the front of the formation, standing by his side.

Feng Qingyan and Feng Qingshuang also followed, one with an excited expression, the other expressionless, with Su Yurou following behind.

"Those coming into the city, follow me. The main army will rest in place, commanded by Meng Yi."

Meng Yi pressed his right fist to his chest and said in a deep voice: "Understood."

Lin Feng, leading Jiang Zhaoyue, Jiang Yelan, and the others, followed Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan toward the south gate of Zhenyue City.

Behind them, the phalanx of Great Qin Elite Soldiers began to change formation, shifting from a marching column to a circular defensive formation.

At the city gate, the garrison troops automatically cleared a path, watching as these few figures walked into the city gate.

...

Lin Feng and his group followed Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan into the Council Hall of Zhenyue City.

The hall was smaller than the one at Hangu Pass, but more exquisitely decorated.

On the wall hung a huge map of the South Pole Region, on the table were celadon tea sets, and in the corner stood a bronze incense burner, with agarwood burning inside, smoke curling upwards.

Lu Dingchuan was not there, and the main seat was empty; he was still holding down the fort at Osaka Castle, specifically having Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan handle the reception.

Everyone took their seats. Deputy City Lord Zhao Tieshan didn't waste words, walking directly to the main seat, picking up a dark red wooden box from the table, and handing it to Lin Feng with both hands, his tone crisp.

"Lord Lin, these are the three purple equipment items sent by Annan Country. Director Zhou asked me to pass them on, saying they were all selected according to your requirements."

Lin Feng stood up to take the wooden box, which felt heavy in his hands. He placed the box on the single table in front of him, not in a hurry to open it.

The eyes of Jiang Yelan, Jiang Zhaoyue, Feng Qingyan, and Su Yurou all turned over at once.

Jiang Yelan remained cold-faced, but her fingers gripping the shadow moon blade tightened slightly.

Jiang Zhaoyue turned slightly, her gaze falling on the wooden box, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

Feng Qingyan sat next to Jiang Zhaoyue, almost leaning entirely onto the table, muttering: "Open it, open it, hurry up and open it..."

Lin Feng glanced at everyone's expressions, smiled, and reached out to open the wooden box.

Three purple equipment items lay quietly in the black velvet lining.

On the far left was a belt with a dark brown leather strap, a dark silver buckle, and an embedded deep blue gemstone, with fine runes engraved around the gemstone.

In the middle was also a belt, but the style was completely different: a silver-white strap, a golden buckle, with intricate and exquisite patterns, looking like a court accessory rather than battlefield equipment.

On the far right was a leather armor, entirely dark black, with a matte texture on the surface that absorbed most of the light, barely reflecting anything.

Lin Feng first picked up the leather armor on the far right and unfolded it with both hands. The leather was soft yet tough, and touching it felt like a thin layer of ice, cool to the touch.

With a thought, the attribute panel unfolded before his eyes.

【 shadow strike leather armor (Purple) 】

Type: Leather Armor · Chest

Equipment Requirement: agility ≥ 30

Base Attributes: constitution +4, Defense +70

Special Effect 1 · Shadow Affinity (Passive): Damage +10% when attacking from behind, movement speed +10% in shadow or nighttime environments.

Special Effect 2 · Afterimage (Passive): When taking fatal damage, there is a 50% chance to turn into an afterimage, negating the damage and teleporting 5 meters backward; can be triggered every 120 seconds.

Lin Feng nodded, carefully placed the leather armor on the table, and picked up the dark brown belt on the left. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The leather was thick, and the deep blue gemstone on the buckle flickered slightly under the light, like a half-closed eye.