Chapter 438: Who Can Build a Human Paradise on Frozen Soil?

Unfortunately, however diligent one may be, there is a limit, so Ji Ming's smile soon couldn't be held.

Because Lao Deng really can't change his dog‑like habit of eating that thing, he opened his mouth with a nonsensical line.

"I must admit, although I have only known the Divine Chosen for just over a month, in my heart I feel the Divine Chosen has already been a long‑time old friend of mine."

After saying that, he smiled and turned his head to add another line.

"Right?"

Ji Ming: To the ox demon, a guest's repayment!

"…Hmm, I think I am."

"Look, the Divine Chosen is a very clever gentleman..."

As a result, Lao Deng, having gotten the benefit, showed no sign of stopping; what followed was a series of unabashed, awkward flattery, making it seem as if everyone's relationship were truly close.

To be honest, although Ji Ming wanted to punch him, he could guess in the silence what the Sun King was trying to do.

Although in theory I should be considered a member of the Ai Li Nuo faction, Ai Li Nuo's status is special, so I definitely cannot become king.

Therefore, regarding the throne, my status as a "Divine Chosen" is essentially that of a free agent, still a contender that can be contested.

So…

Kids, fresh and juicy, sweet and soft, the little Divine Chosen!

Just now, I, your father, publicly gave a very~~~high appraisal; do you know what I mean?

And fearing that his foolish children wouldn't understand, the Sun King even grabbed Ji Ming, as if he were his own son, and introduced him one by one to the offspring present.

Of course, the main introductions were still those who had already successfully passed the tribulation.

Although not every prince or princess stays in the Royal Capital, most go out for experience or farm in their fiefs to boost their records.

But the situation changes dramatically, the future is bleak, and those close to power get the advantage; tonight, as many as four attended the banquet.

Besides Fiya herself and the guaranteed Prince Philip, there was another prince and a princess.

"Divine Chosen Sir, actually I'm very interested in the Holy Light doctrine; whenever you have time in the future, could I ask you to explain it to me in detail?"

This Prince Ti Ta was clearly a martial‑arts enthusiast; his physique was truly like an "iron tower", his formal wear barely contained his muscles.

Thus, Ji Ming, who wasn't particularly tall to begin with, could only look up at him, thinking that with such prestige he wouldn't need anything else; just stepping into the Holy Light Knights' camp would get him accepted on the spot—does this thing still need me to teach you?

But since he had spoken up, all he could say is that he'll probably continue lecturing on the Sacred Mountain; if you have time, you can come over and listen a bit.

And the seemingly scholarly Princess Ma Lun spoke much more eloquently, directly stating she had already audited the Divine Chosen Sir's lectures, then opened her mouth with a burst of praise similar to her father's.

Besides that, she pressed the familiarity, saying she had also attended the Saint Valentin Magic Academy, making her a half‑alumnus of the Divine Chosen Sir, and that they could sit together when alumni gatherings are held.

It sounded indeed pleasant, but Ji Ming's expression grew increasingly odd.

After all, given the Saint Institute's relatively diverse atmosphere, its alumni association… could it really be about "doing something"?

What domestic contrast, ha people, cut it!

And after saying "cut" and actually cutting, after a brief small talk with the crowd, Ji Ming, under the pretext that he has class tomorrow morning and needs to go home tonight to prepare materials, fled the venue that could at any moment start a flexible group poker game.

For tonight's Qixia City, announcing the birth of a new candidate was already the biggest event, so as the moon gradually set, the vast Royal Capital sank into the silence of deep night.

But tens of thousands of kilometers away, heavy snow swirled, bone‑chilling winds blew, and the harsh sounds of battle still rang incessantly.

This is the bitterly cold northern region of Shen Lin Wang Guo, the junction of endless hills and an endless prairie.

Even in a fantasy world, stars and axial tilt exist, so while Guanghui Capital gradually entered midsummer, this place had just entered winter.

Precisely because of this, in the southeast, Hui Guang Kingdom and the Wolf King Court are still seizing this precious recovery opportunity, farming extensively and preparing troops.

Here, Shen Lin Wang Guo has taken advantage of the winter lull to passionately clash with its northern neighbor, Beimosi Khanate.

Strictly speaking, wars between Shen Lin and Beimosi are no longer rare; to suppress each other, they fight at least once a year.

The reason they can sustain these clashes is simple: their internal self‑perceptions conflict with each other.

Shen Lin Wang Guo, needless to say, as a nation cultivated by Little Lion as an otherworldly Han‑Tang, but whose founder died young having only taught "what is barbarism", has always loved expansion.

The reason for Beimosi Khanate is even simpler: one word—poor.

Heaven's conscience, reality is not Civilization VI; one can use the Lafu Monastery, Aurora Dance, and Saint Basil Cathedral as magical bonuses to turn the frozen soil into a land of food, drink, and productivity that explodes gold coins.

As a place that can only warm for a few days each year, yet when cold can turn an entire tribe into a cluster of ice sculptures, this vast prairie, not even worthy of a name, is truly impoverished.

Thus, for the past several hundred—no, it can be traced back to when the Saint Tree Kingdom had not yet become a house‑breaker, there was no "civilization" here.

Only exiled orcs, humans, and demi‑humans forced to live here formed countless chaotic tribes, constantly fighting and raiding each other for belly space.

Originally this prairie, more like a wasteland, would have continued to lie abandoned as a "no‑news" place, becoming the most inconspicuous backdrop beyond the civilized world.

However, the massive calamity five hundred years ago that completely devastated the Saint Tree Kingdom and gave rise to three human kingdoms also granted a region a version bonus.

Indeed, it was this nameless prairie.

Good news, good news: the summer that could only last a few days can now last a month!!!

But don't underestimate this brief month; after all, when you're stuck in a valley, any direction is upward, a tenfold improvement, okay.

Nevertheless, the bonus is a bonus; this prairie‑people's Warring States period hasn't ended, only the number of tribes and war intensity have increased.

But as the world's great trend dictates, unity eventually splits and splits eventually reunites; this prairie finally welcomed the destined one eighty years ago.

It was a lion named Xi Li De Ge, a mighty Lionfolk with a great golden bloodline, wielding thunder and lightning, a true Lion‑Heart King.

He led his tribe in alliances and campaigns, forcing several large tribes that had previously been hostile to unite against him, as formidable as the historic Nahar on Earth.

Yet in some realms he even surpassed the Nahar; at least he did not lose the most crucial battle, instead achieving a feat akin to the Overlord's massive defeat of 400,000 Qin troops at Julu.

…by the way, an ancestor of a certain warhorse maiden also suffered defeat in several battles centered here, which forced her to flee in disarray into the Deep Forest.

Having crushed this most terrifying wave of enemies, Chief Xi Li De Ge's path to prairie unification became a smooth road.

But his ambition clearly went beyond that; a month‑long summer is too short, and he feels his people need more land.

Moreover, Xi Li De Ge's abilities truly match his ambition, because the first thing he did was not to march troops south, but to give the prairie a name.

Perhaps because it's too harsh, in the prairie legends that appeared at unknown times, people say this prairie once had an owner.

It was sometimes a maiden with skin as delicate as goat's milk, sometimes a steed with muscles as hard as stone.

Sometimes it is wind, sometimes it is snow, sometimes it is an endless fertile pasture; He is the soaring eagle that roams the grasslands; He is called Ga'er Kuo.

【Don't ask, this really doesn't exist】

Whether He exists or not is not important; what matters is that He indeed bestowed faith and hope upon the poor people of the grasslands; this is a simple idea.

So Xi Li De Ge gave this name to the grasslands, and also gave every son and daughter of the grasslands the power to defend the grasslands.

——Exactly, he is cultivating identity.

He indeed succeeded; otherwise, even Ke Li Si Ting, who harbors some hatred of extermination against him, would willingly use the title 「Ga'er Kuo Grassland」.

And after establishing a shared identity and narrative among the tribes, Xi Li De Ge's next step was therefore a natural progression.

Over forty years ago, he proclaimed the establishment of the Beimosi Khanate on the highest peak of the grasslands and self-appointed himself as khan.

Of course, just like before, whether the title "Bei Mo Si" or the word "khan", both are drawn from legendary tales.

「Bei Mo Si」 is the name of a powerful celestial tribe from ancient times in grassland legend, while 「khan」 is the folk fantasy term for the nonexistent supreme ruler of the grasslands。

Exactly, Xi Li De Ge thus completed his entire narrative:

We are in the embrace of the Mother Goddess, under the leadership of the Great Khan, we have built the legendary celestial tribe; this is the land bestowed by the gods, we are the gods' chosen!

Brothers, there's nothing to say, maga!

……Not right, it should be, msga!

makesteppe(grassland)greatagain!

But having presented such a grand narrative, what else did this "young" Bei Mo Si Ke Han do?

The answer is that he erected a stone wall in the Khan's court that was as long as five hundred meters and tens of meters high, inviting all the tribes of the grasslands to come and inscribe their names.

Moreover, whether you are a mighty Golden Lionfolk or an ignorant goblin, even if you are merely a sand rat that knows nothing but hopping and digging burrows,

As long as you can carve characters, the moment the engraving is completed, you will become a member of the Beimosi Khanate.

——Exactly, let's all msga together!

The records of Sunlight City certainly do not contain such detailed accounts, so when Ji Ming happened to see this Secret History of Bei Mo Si in the library of the Magic Academy and turned to this passage, he was dumbfounded.

"Little boss, this won't be my one hundred and fortieth? This move is too awesome, holy cow, literally both literary and martial!"

【I can guarantee it's not, how could a normal person possibly let the savior start in frozen soil?】

……

【Don't say I'm not normal!】

But originally, because some grassland tribes fled to the Deep Forest, it already caused the Deep Forest people to become increasingly wary of this Golden Lion to their north.

Now this thing actually can still cause such a big commotion, directly giving the Deep Forest people a shock.

As everyone knows, a startled house cat only hisses and scratches people, but if a tiger is startled, then……

The First Northern Border Master Challenge, begins!

To be honest, this is not the Deep Forest people's first war against the grassland peoples, after all, who gave them an ancestor king of Huaxia origin?

When Little Lion discovered that the northernmost edge of his territory was actually a grassland, the PTSD in his blood flared up on the spot, he bluntly said this child must not be kept, he will surely become a disaster in the future!

This is also one of the reasons he enfeoffed most of his subordinates' military merit titles in the north, besides the land here being suitable for development, also because he needed to guard against a southern advance from the grasslands.

However, his early death at a young age was too detrimental; losing the ruler's decisive push, the northern border nobles directly lost their desire to seize this barren land.

It was merely stationing troops at the border, like playing soccer—sometimes defending at home, sometimes attacking away, engaging in intense exchanges of opinion with the major grassland tribes at high intensity.

So when they accepted those several defeated tribes, although they also knew Xi Li De Ge was awesome, they never expected him to be this awesome.

After all, the Deep Forest army, having been careless and rash, simply marched straight into the grassland people's encirclement, being pulled by the terrifying cavalry archery vortex into the depths of death.

One battle, shocking the court and populace.

Also, the twenty-third Lionheart King, already old and gray, hastily convened his ministers to discuss this matter; the conclusion was that the enemy is not simple, further investigation and reporting needed.

Unfortunately, reality is not an RTS game; you can't just press F2 and click the headquarters to instantly pull all troops back.

Everyone has their own lives and their own ideas, such as those border army commanders who deeply feel humiliated and cannot wait to take revenge.

They disregarded the royal order and launched an unauthorized sortie, leading ten thousand elite cavalry through the wind and snow all over the sky, hoping to surprise the Bei Mo Si Ke Han's royal camp, which had leaned southward considerably due to the emperor's personal campaign.

However……

bro, they thought they were Huo Qubing.

What the several-hundred-li rush brought was not heavenly reinforcements, but heavenly stuffed pastries; this sneaky maneuver is really too much of a side dish, letting the grassland folks have their fill.

Thus the First Northern Border Master Challenge ended in a great total victory for the Beimosi Khanate, and the corpses of the Deep Forest people were even piled up into a towering monument resembling a city wall.

Second battle, the court and populace fell silent.

This is absolutely the Deep Forest's greatest shame since its founding, and they fought not against the enlightened civilization but against a bunch of damned savages!

As everyone knows, the defeated must be punished; one must find a big enough head to take the blame.

So who is the lucky one who, upon dying, will neither break unity nor fail to shoulder the blame completely?

Beastman noble who defected over: "Brothers, why are you all looking at the little brother?"

Exactly, this is Ke Li Si Ting's complete origin story.