“Huh, what’s that smell? It’s so fragrant!”

Xia Tian, whose beautiful dream had turned into a nightmare, was startled awake from his "Havoc in Heaven" vision by an extremely peculiar fragrance.

When he got up and found the source of the scent, he discovered that outside his window, in the garden pond of the lord’s manor, eight snow-white lotus flowers were slowly blooming under the bright moonlight. The first wisp of their fragrance, upon entering his nostrils, made his consciousness feel as if it were wandering, ascending to the heavens.

Xia Tian, as if sensing something, walked out of his room and began practicing the “Five Animal Frolics” by the pond.

Unlike before, this time there was no trace of tigers, bears, monkeys, or deer in his movements. Instead, every action was natural and effortless, as if an ordinary person was simply stretching their muscles and limbs.

However, every inch of his body—muscles, skin, and even blood—was being continuously refined and strengthened through these seemingly gentle movements!

“You have practiced the ‘Five Animal Frolics.’ Physique +0.6, Spirit +0.8.”

“Your actual mastery of the ‘Five Animal Frolics’ has increased from ‘Expert’ to ‘Grandmaster’ level.”

“You have condensed a new trait: ‘Cultivation Prodigy’!”

A series of messages appeared in Xia Tian’s mind.

After slowly concluding his practice, Xia Tian’s eyes were filled with pleasant surprise.

He noticed that the color of his name in his attribute panel had changed from “green” to “blue”!

“Xia Tian (Blue)”

“Level: Eighth Rank”

“Physique: 7.2”

“Spirit: 7.5”

“Talent: Not acquired”

“Traits: Well-read and Knowledgeable (Extensive knowledge, memory superior to ordinary people), Cultivation Prodigy (Cultivation progress faster than ordinary people, a certain chance of significantly increasing realm during ‘enlightenment’ state)”

“Skills: Five Animal Frolics (Grandmaster), Jade Ring Step · Mandarin Duck Kicks (Proficient)”

“Blue, I’m a ‘talent’ now too!”

Xia Tian’s face broke into a relieved smile.

It was the stimulation of Da Niu becoming a blue-level talent that had prompted him to fully dedicate himself to practicing the “Five Animal Frolics.”

Now, he too had become a talent recognized by the “Earth Will,” and had even condensed the rather excellent trait of “Cultivation Prodigy”!

It was safe to say he was completely satisfied.

Speaking of which, Xia Tian felt that his cultivation aptitude was indeed good; even Wu Song had specifically praised him when first teaching him “Jade Ring Step · Mandarin Duck Kicks.”

However, even so, he had previously hit a bit of a bottleneck. While his physique successfully reached the eighth rank yesterday, the “Five Animal Frolics” had not broken through to the master level alongside it. But after this recent practice, it had unexpectedly bypassed the master level and directly reached grandmaster.

And there was no doubt that this should be attributed to the Merit of these lotus flowers before him!

“Fragrant White Lotus (Silver)”

“Type: Exotic Species”

“Traits: Spirit Refreshment (The fragrance emitted by the Fragrant White Lotus can refresh one’s mind and accelerate thought activity); Divine Contemplation (The fragrance from the first bloom of the flowers or consuming mature lotus seeds offers a chance to enter a state of enlightenment).”

“Description: Every ‘Heaven and Earth Exotic Species’ possesses rare rule characteristics. In the early stages, before more powerful beings from the myriad realms descend upon the Eternal Land, this is the best opportunity to acquire them!”

“Good heavens, Fragrant White Lotus…”

Upon seeing the information about the lotus, Xia Tian almost blurted out a certain name.

However, although it was an exotic species, because its initial name was only represented by the incomplete “gray” color, Xia Tian hadn’t held too much expectation.

But the attributes of the cultivated lotus flowers were enough to make him overjoyed.

Especially the “Divine Contemplation” ability and his new “Cultivation Prodigy” trait were a “match made in heaven,” ensuring his future cultivation speed would be incredibly fast.

But that was for later. Today’s main event was the “Hero Competition Challenge”…

“Ding! The ‘Historical Hero Competition Challenge’ has officially begun.”

“All territories, with activated ‘Bonds,’ can consume luck to enter a temporarily generated ‘Secret Realm’ to participate in the challenge. Rewards will be granted upon completion of the challenge.”

“Note: All territories can compete for ‘Lower-tier, Mid-tier Potential Silver Heroes’; only territories that have upgraded to ‘Medium Villages’ can compete for ‘Upper-tier, Top-tier Potential Silver Heroes.’”

“Territories ranking in the top one ten-thousandth overall can compete for ‘Lower-tier, Mid-tier Potential Golden Heroes’; territories ranking in the top one hundred-thousandth overall can participate in the ‘Competition Challenge’ for ‘Upper-tier, Top-tier Potential Golden Heroes.’”

At dawn, the Earth Will’s message appeared in the minds of all human lords with a sense of “grand bell and drum.”

“Haha, it’s finally started! I can’t wait!”

“No way, why can my territory only recruit Silver Heroes? Does that mean my territory isn’t even in the top one ten-thousandth? How is that possible? I started with a god-tier talent like ‘Generation’s Chosen’!”

“Tsk, as if everyone isn’t a ‘god-tier talent.’ If everyone has extraordinary talent, it’s like no one has a golden finger. In the end, it still comes down to the lord’s own ability!”

“Only the top one ten-thousandth of territories can recruit Golden Historical Heroes. This is too unfair. The Earth Will should treat every human equally! Everyone unite and protest, protest!”

The “Regional Channel” also began to scroll frantically.

“Only the top one hundred-thousandth can access Upper-tier and Top-tier Golden Heroes. That’s a bit of a high requirement!”

Even Xia Tian was somewhat surprised.

Although all Earthlings had the qualification to become lords, considering that a large number of elderly, children, and women had voluntarily given up their “lord status” on the first day and teleported to their closest relatives’ territories, the total number of remaining lords was likely less than five billion.

This meant that the number of territories eligible to recruit Upper-tier and Top-tier Golden Heroes might be less than fifty thousand.

Xia Tian felt that his own territory’s initial development was quite good, but with everyone starting with “god-tier” talents, he couldn’t definitively say that he was absolutely within the top fifty thousand!

“Your territory has currently established bonds with three Golden Historical Heroes and two Silver Historical Heroes who are about to descend… Would you like to view them?”

At this moment, Xia Tian perceived the information given by the Earth Will.

“Three Golden, two Silver? Let’s see!”

If there were Golden Heroes, it definitely meant his territory was in the top one ten-thousandth, at least ensuring a baseline!

“Golden Heroes: Hua Tuo, Li Guang, Gao Shun.”

“Silver Heroes: Zhou Tong, Li Hong.”

“Indeed, the divine physician Hua Tuo is among them!”

Xia Tian’s face broke into a smile upon seeing the first name.

His Grandmaster-level “Five Animal Frolics” was enough to create a “bond” with this divine physician from the Three Kingdoms era.

And Gao Shun, as expected, also had a “bond” with the territory.

Moreover, what slightly surprised Xia Tian was that Gao Shun was also among the Golden Heroes!

If ranked according to true history, Gao Shun was clearly some distance from the standard of a Golden Hero who could leave a “heavy mark” in historical records.

But since it was based on the “Eternal Land” rule standards, the grade of heroes was clearly influenced by “popularity.” As a hero from the Three Kingdoms era with special popularity, the training instructor of the Camp of the Stalwarts, Golden was considered normal.

Only the third Golden Hero.

Who could tell him why the famous Flying General Li Guang appeared in his territory’s bonded hero list?