3 Village Site Selection

After more than ten minutes, they arrived at the bank of a river. It was a river over twenty meters wide, the water calm and clear, allowing them to see fish and garnet stones at the bottom. On both banks stretched barren wilderness.

Zhan Xiaobai gazed around, silently admiring the view. “To develop a village, water is essential. This area is flat, the land vast and open—perfect for cultivating farmland.”

This location had been chosen by Sword Tyrant, who also believed the broad, open land was ideal for establishing a village base.

Ah Fei asked, “But how will we defend the village?”

Sword Tyrant was surprised. “This place is all wasteland, at most some wild beasts. What enemies could there be?”

Ah Fei quickly replied, “Of course there are enemies. Don’t be fooled by how desolate it looks now. I often check the forums, and some experts from the beta say that once a village is established, NPC thugs, bandits, and marauders will appear nearby. Plus, there’s the threat from other players’ factions. Defense is absolutely necessary. Early villages don’t have walls, their defenses are weak, and they can be easily overrun. We must choose a site with natural defensive advantages, so we can develop in peace. Right, Big Brother? You took part in the beta, surely you have experience.”

Zhan Xiaobai grinned and nodded. He had participated in the beta, so he did have some experience.

Sword Tyrant gave an awkward laugh. “I didn’t think that through. I just thought this place was open, and building a big city wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t consider defense. Let's pick a new spot.”

Zhan Xiaobai shook his head. “No need. Let’s settle here. Developing farmland will require vast tracts of land, and here for dozens of miles around, it’s all wilderness—a perfect place for a village. As for defense, it depends on how quickly we develop. As long as we grow fast and raise soldiers, we can easily hold this land. We’ll be the ones attacking others, not fearing attacks ourselves. Besides, we can’t afford to waste too much time carefully choosing a location. This will do.”

Zhan Xiaobai made his decision, and the others had no objections.

About three miles from the riverbank, Zhan Xiaobai took out the “Blueprint for Small Village Construction” and unrolled it.

In an instant, the blueprint transformed into a small courtyard made of earth—the Village Chief’s Administrative Hall. Here, the chief could conduct administration, collect taxes, recruit villagers, set respawn points, and more. The administrative hall could house ten villagers.

Excited, Zhan Xiaobai and his companions rushed inside, shouting with joy—they finally had a place to live, and were saying farewell to their days of wandering the wilds. Old Village Chief Li Asan was moved to tears. “Back to the village, I, Li Asan, have returned!”

Flanking the courtyard were living quarters; in the center was the yard, and at the back stood the main hall.

In the hall, Zhan Xiaobai sat in the chief’s seat, his smile crooked with delight. The other five took seats on either side.

The system’s lovely assistant Xiao Zhao announced, “Please confirm the name of your village!”

Zhan Xiaobai quickly composed himself. “Xiaobai Village!”

“China Region System Message: Player Xiaobai has established the first village in the entire system—Xiaobai Village. Location: Xiliang. This is hereby announced to all, and Xiaobai Village is granted the title ‘Number One Village Under Heaven.’”

Three seconds later.

“China Region System Message: Player Silent Sword has established the second village in the system—Silent Village. Location: Central Plains. This is hereby announced to all, and Silent Village is granted the title ‘Second Village Under Heaven.’”

One minute later.

“China Region System Message: Player Xiao Ye has established the third village in the system—Xiao Ye Village. Location: Shu. This is hereby announced to all, and Xiao Ye Village is granted the title ‘Third Village Under Heaven.’”

Sweat trickled down Zhan Xiaobai’s back. Xiaobai Village had only managed to register three seconds ahead—almost lost the title of Number One Village Under Heaven. He couldn’t celebrate too soon; talents abound in the world, and before long, his status might be challenged. He needed to stay alert.

Zhan Xiaobai straightened up, asking the others to sit properly—though in truth, only Ah Fei and Spring and Autumn Young Hero were lively; Sword Tyrant was always composed and rarely showed exaggerated expressions, while Autumn Water was rather shy.

“Our village is officially established, but this is only the first step. Right now, aside from a small courtyard, we have nothing. How should we develop our little village? Any suggestions?”

When it came to development, everyone was lost; none of them had experience growing a village. The path ahead was unknown. Ah Fei suggested checking the forums for advice from beta players. Zhan Xiaobai immediately vetoed this idea, since there was no real village-building experience shared online. Those few veteran players who had built villages were unwilling to post their strategies.

As he watched them, Zhan Xiaobai thought to himself, “Looks like we’re all novices. We’ll have to rely on ourselves.”

NPC Old Village Chief Li Asan, seeing no one could come up with an idea, calmly said, “Master, I have a suggestion.”

Zhan Xiaobai replied, “Please speak.”

Li Asan said, “The first priority is to recruit farmers and build residential huts. Each hut can house ten farmers; only with huts can we attract them to settle here. The maximum population for the small village is one hundred, so we only need to build nine huts—the chief’s hall houses ten. The second priority is to build a fence, to enclose a village several miles in size. Wild beasts often roam nearby; only a fence can keep them out. Once these two tasks are done, other matters can wait.”

“Let’s do that!” Zhan Xiaobai stood up. He had some experience recruiting farmers from the beta, so he knew how to proceed. In the center of the courtyard was a large jade stone—the foundation of the village. Only through the jade could farmers be recruited. If the jade was destroyed, the village would fall.

He entered the names of himself, Sword Tyrant, Ah Fei, Spring and Autumn Young Hero, Autumn Water, and Li Asan into the jade. He was the chief; Li Asan became deputy chief for administration (only Li Asan could hold this post, as the others lacked sufficient reputation), and the rest became official villagers of Xiaobai Village.

Thus, six villager slots were filled, leaving four open for farmers.

Zhan Xiaobai then activated the farmer recruitment function.

The six of them stood around the jade stone for a long while, waiting, but no farmers appeared.

Zhan Xiaobai rubbed his nose. Was the recruitment process wrong? This should be it. Had the official launch changed the mechanics?

Li Asan coughed. “Recruiting farmers might take some time, Master. I suggest we get to work in the meantime.”

Zhan Xiaobai agreed. No point waiting. He rolled up his sleeves and shouted, “Let’s get to work! Autumn Water, help Old Li to the hall for rest and tend his wounds. The rest of you, come with me to cut branches for the fence and mark out the village!”

“Alright!” “Let’s go, build the fence!” “Excitement for revolution, riches and romance both within reach!”

The group charged out of the courtyard, chopping thorny branches in the wilderness, and began to build a low fence encircling the administrative hall. The small village didn’t need much space—about twenty hectares (one hectare equals fifteen mu, or ten thousand square meters).

Half the land would be for NPC farmers to cultivate; the rest for houses, a marketplace, and so forth. The village didn’t require much land.

Though not difficult, the work left the four of them exhausted.

During construction, Sword Tyrant took charge. “Here, here... No, Ah Fei, your section of the fence needs to be straight and neat, don’t make it crooked! Otherwise, it’ll look terrible.”

Ah Fei looked again and again. “It’s not crooked, it’s perfectly straight.”

His “straight—decimeter precision” and Sword Tyrant’s “straight—centimeter precision” differed greatly, and the two argued.

Zhan Xiaobai came over for a close look; Ah Fei’s fence was indeed crooked and didn’t line up with Sword Tyrant’s. Surprised, he asked, “Sword Tyrant, your eye is so sharp! What do you do for a living?”

Sword Tyrant laughed. “I graduated in construction engineering—now a real estate contractor, often supervising projects. Building a fence is child’s play.”

“Wow, a local tycoon!”

“So that’s why you’re here playing online games?”

“My greatest wish is to build a castle, but I’ve never had the capital. Then I saw the promotion for this game, ‘Rise of Cities in the Three Kingdoms,’ and felt inspired, so I came to fulfill my dream. Didn’t expect the opportunity would really come. Xiaobai, when we build a big city in the future, let me plan and supervise, I guarantee it’ll be the most magnificent city.”

“Deal!” Zhan Xiaobai readily agreed. Having a builder with real-world experience was too good to pass up.

The four worked until nightfall, finally finishing the circle of fencing, enclosing the chief’s hall at the village center.

Fence: can withstand attacks from beasts below level five. One section equals five meters. Durability is one hundred. Regular maintenance is needed, or it will deteriorate and beasts could sneak in.

The remaining task was to build four open wooden gates in each cardinal direction. But that would have to wait until tomorrow—it was too late. Sword Tyrant and Autumn Water logged off. Zhan Xiaobai, Ah Fei, and Spring and Autumn Young Hero were idlers, spending all their time in the virtual world, so they were in no hurry to log off, and instead gathered in the administrative hall to plan the village’s future.

“Master, Master!” Li Asan, leaning on his cane, rushed into the hall, calling out in excitement.

Zhan Xiaobai asked, “What’s wrong? Why the panic?”

Li Asan replied urgently, “Farmers, farmers have appeared!”

Zhan Xiaobai leapt from his seat as if jolted by electricity, overjoyed. The beloved farmers they had waited so long for had finally arrived.