Chapter Thirty-Nine: Witness the Power of True Wealth!

"Now, let me tell you this: I, Noya Lawrence, First-Class White Knight and Guardian of the Kingdom, officially summon you to join my unit. During this time, you will receive all the rights and privileges of a royal soldier." After recovering sufficiently, Noya wasted no time in issuing a call to arms.

"War summons—undebatable!" Mu Rongxun looked at the woman's resolute expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, said nothing.

For he had already received the mission.

[War Summons: The royal city of Ailran is being ravaged by the Blood Clan. Outside the city, the Undead Legion is gathering; the horns of war have sounded. You are forcibly conscripted and automatically join the kingdom’s side!]

[Mission Reward: Slay Blood Thralls and Blood Clan members. Different ranks grant different levels of merit, which can be exchanged for items at the quartermaster and contribute to your performance rating.]

[Survival Mission Update: You may return to the Eden of the Arcane Tower only after the war ends. No time limit!]

What?

Seeing that both the war world and the survival mission had changed, Mu Rongxun felt a surge of emotion within him. At first, he only needed to wait for time to pass to return to the Arcane Tower Eden, but now he would have to wait until the war concluded!

Once war begins, no one can predict what might happen.

"Keep up!" Noya stowed the potions into her storage gear and strode out of the small shop.

Mu Rongxun first swept most of the remaining potions from the shelves, then shut the door firmly before following after her.

"This time, the Blood Clan is coming in force. I don’t know how they bypassed the defenses and came straight for the capital. Do what you must to survive!" Noya sighed, regret flickering in her heart. She shouldn’t have dragged someone into this on impulse.

[Merit Leaderboard Unlocked: Those with the highest merit will be listed. After settlement, top ranks will receive exclusive rewards!]

[First: Blood Butcher, Merit 22]

[Second: Tudora, Merit 19]

[Third… Merit…]

…

A phantom leaderboard appeared in the air, visible to every player who looked up. But at this moment, Mu Rongxun had no time to spare for it.

For the Blood Thralls, wreaking havoc in the sky, had already spotted them, shrieking with excitement as they swooped down.

"Where are the city guards? Where are the Nightstalkers? Where have the White Knights gone?" Noya shouted in fury, her grief mounting as she watched the surrounding civilians slaughtered. But with so many Blood Thralls and true Blood Clan members, she could not hope to manage it all.

Mu Rongxun remained silent. He suspected it was connected to the encroaching Undead Legion the mission had mentioned, but he couldn’t explain how he knew this, so he said nothing.

Taking advantage of the Blood Thralls' dive, when they couldn’t easily change direction, he drew his Tang blade and, with a decisive stroke, sliced one cleanly in half.

Noya, meanwhile, picked up Lanor’s battle-axe from the ground, weighing it in her hand. Finding it similar in heft to a knight’s greatsword, she quickly adjusted and wielded it with ease. As a White Knight, she was no stranger to battle-axes.

With such a weapon in hand, she no longer needed to rely on acrobatics to engage in close combat. The axe spun, hacked, even flew through the air—each time dispatching a Blood Thrall with ruthless efficiency. Even ordinary Blood Clan could not withstand her assault for long.

Though fighting at full strength exhausted her quickly—and without her mithril armor, she was vulnerable and inevitably took wounds—she relied on the potions at her disposal, determined to outlast the monsters in a battle of attrition.

Their fearless slaughter soon drew the attention of the rampaging Blood Clan nearby, who abandoned their other prey to converge on the two of them.

While he could do little against the more formidable Blood Clan, Mu Rongxun dispatched Blood Thralls two or three at a time with his blade—though it took five to count as a single merit point.

Amid the fray, Mu Rongxun experimented by channeling his inner force into his blade, increasing his attack power—just as he had used psychic energy in his previous world. Here, he had an extra option: whether or not to activate his innate talent.

He had thought his talent only caused odd effects when crafting items, but now realized it could be applied in combat as well. Testing it, he found that with his talent activated, his damage increased by thirty percent.

With such a clear advantage, there was no reason to hold back.

With the talent’s boost, what once required two or three strikes now needed only one, or at most a follow-up to finish the job.

Though this consumed his energy rapidly, his efficiency soared. As he slew his foes, Mu Rongxun made time to store the corpses of Blood Thralls—and even those slain by Noya—in his Primal Glove, feeding it their remains.

Unbeknownst to him, with each kill, wisps of blood-red energy from the fallen Blood Clan seeped into his body—another of his talents quietly at work.

Before long, their rampage caught the attention of a powerful Blood Clan member.

"A Commander-level Blood!" Noya called out, and, without hesitation, charged to meet the threat.

Of the two, only she had the ability to confront a Commander head-on; she had no choice.

This left Mu Rongxun to face the mounting pressure alone. With no alternative, he resorted to his black cuisine—healing ramen—which, upon first use, boosted one of his attributes. In the current situation, even a single attribute increase was immense.

And that was not all. He used everything at his disposal: Dragon’s Might for strength, Earth’s Guard for defense, Wind Whisperer for speed—piling them on himself with reckless abandon. Had Modo been present, he’d never have been allowed to use these treasures so freely.

Noya, too, acted in much the same way. With the aid of numerous potions, her strength—already greater than an ordinary Blood—now allowed her to overpower the minor Commander in direct combat. Any Blood Clan who tried to help were cut down on the spot by her axe.

As the slaughter continued, Mu Rongxun felt his health and energy rising with each kill—a sensation both clear and exhilarating. He knew it was the effect of the gluttonous beast’s power now manifesting.

Soon, however, his growth plateaued; from that point on, his health and energy no longer increased but simply replenished what was spent, granting him remarkable endurance.

With the combined support of potions and a suit of inner armor, the Blood Clan could do little against him. Instead, he used the opportunity to collect more bodies for his Primal Glove.

He soon discovered it had its limits: thirteen slots, only one of which contained a gem, the rest empty. Each slot held only one thing, and the sole gemstone, which had absorbed a ghoul’s power, could store up to fifty corpses at a time.