The orange-yellow light dispersed the Fog in a ten-meter radius, illuminating the massive wolf corpse on the ground.
Blood dripped from Hellish Roar’s War Axe. His foot rested on the loot dropped by the black wolf, and his presence radiated a murderous aura.
"Help the wounded up. Give them first aid," Shen Xing ordered in a low voice from his wheelchair.
The Beastmen who could still move quickly sprang into action, helping their injured comrades up and administering emergency treatment.
This battle had been quite difficult; after all, the Level difference was significant.
If any other player had been here, even if they had managed to win, their soldiers would have suffered heavy losses.
But Shen Xing had used [Void Hand], coordinating with Hellish Roar’s flanking attack to deliver a fatal blow.
To take down this black wolf at the cost of only two injured Beastmen was an excellent result.
At the same time, Shen Xing’s gaze returned to the loot on the ground.
Besides a pile of Soul Stones, there was also a Scroll glowing with a dim green light.
He had a Beastman Infantry go over and retrieve the items.
[Acquired: Soul Stone*5]
[Acquired: Warg Recruitment Scroll (Ordinary ★★)]
...
’A Two-Star Recruitment Scroll? And for a beast, at that. Sounds good.’
Shen Xing was satisfied. He prepared to have the Beastmen carry the black wolf’s corpse back.
It was loot, after all. The wolf meat could be used to supplement their Food, the pelt for warmth, and the other materials might also be useful.
When he looked away from the body and back at the Black Iron Ore Vein, it now displayed a [Capturable] State.
[Capture the small Black Iron Ore Vein?]
"Yes."
The mine entrance flashed with light, and a notification appeared.
[Capture successful! You can now dispatch workers to mine Black Iron here.]
...
Once the capture was complete, Shen Xing directed the Beastman Squad into the mine.
The space inside wasn’t large and was filled with the foul stench of a wild animal. Rusted pickaxes and minecarts were scattered across the ground.
He took everything he could, stuffing all of it into his inventory. It might be useful later.
They advanced a dozen or so meters down the narrow tunnel and reached the end.
Just then, Shen Xing’s gaze fell on a corner of the mine, and his eyes lit up.
A pile of junk was heaped there. Although most of it had rotted away, there seemed to be some good things left.
He rummaged through it, putting everything usable into his inventory.
[Acquired: Bone Fruit*1]
[Acquired: Black Iron*74]
[Acquired: Level 1 Arrow Tower Blueprint*1]
[Acquired: Phantom Clone Scroll (Blue)*1]
[Acquired: Mechanical Crossbow (Blue)*1]
[Acquired: Arrows*12]
...
Looking at the pile of loot notifications flashing before him, Shen Xing was secretly pleased.
But when he saw that the oil in his Horse Lantern was nearly gone, he had to suppress his excitement and return to his territory first.
The eerie green light cut through the Fog, like a submarine deep in the ocean—silent and lonely.
「A dozen or so minutes later.」
At the edge of the dilapidated village, a few figures emerged from the Fog and stepped into the firelight.
The warm firelight brought waves of warmth, making them relax subconsciously.
’We’re back.’
Shen Xing first scanned the inside of the village. Seeing that nothing had changed since he left, he relaxed a little.
’Looks like no monsters attacked the village while we were out exploring.’
At that moment, the five Green-skinned Orcs left on guard duty were sprawled by the Campfire, snoring loud enough to shake the heavens.
Shen Xing was speechless. ’I’m out there risking life and limb, and they’re here in the territory, sleeping soundly.’
But that was the nature of Beastmen. Besides, this was a group of newly recruited Beastmen, with the intelligence of three-year-old children.
THUD!
Hellish Roar slammed the enormous wolf corpse onto the ground, startling the Beastmen sleeping by the Campfire awake.
"Bosh... Bosh... you’re... back..."
They scrambled up from the ground, staggered over, and lined up.
When these Beastmen saw the wolf corpse on the ground, their pupils dilated, and drool began to uncontrollably leak from the corners of their mouths.
Even the few Beastmen by Shen Xing’s side grew restless, the sound of them swallowing their spit echoing constantly.
Beastmen were naturally carnivorous creatures; eating meat allowed them to rapidly recover their stamina and injuries.
The Food the system had rewarded them with before was all coarse flatbread, which didn’t suit these guys’ tastes at all.
Now, seeing fresh, bloody meat was like a goblin seeing a naked Saintess.
"What are you all staring at? Afraid you won’t get your share?" Shen Xing shot them a speechless look.
Facing their Lord’s gaze, the group of Beastmen foolishly lowered their heads and sheepishly scratched them.
"Get to it. Butcher the wolf corpse and distribute the meat," he ordered. "Don’t ruin the pelt. Be careful."
Hearing this, the Beastmen’s eyes lit up. "Praise the Boss!"
As soon as he finished speaking, seven or eight Beastmen pounced on the wolf corpse and started hacking away at it.
Meanwhile, Shen Xing wheeled himself over to the Campfire, ready to take stock of his loot.
This expedition had been very fruitful.
Next, it was time to process this loot and increase his strength.
Same as always, first a count of the items.
[Soul Stone]*61
[Vinar Silver Coins]*58
[Broken Soul]*25
[Complete Dim Soul]*1
...
’Sixty-one Soul Stones. Not only is that enough to get all the Beastman Infantry to Level 3, but there’ll be some left over for building upgrades.’
To survive in the Land of Mist, buildings were just as important as soldier types; he had to focus on both.
For example, the territory’s core structure, the [Campfire]. Upgrading it would not only expand the radius of its light but also unlock more buildings.
And then there was the [Beastman Barracks]. After upgrading it to ’Ordinary ★★’, the recruited Beastmen would all be Two-Star, saving a ton of resources.
’I’ll upgrade the Campfire first. The current territory is just too small.’
Shen Xing made his decision and opened the building interface.
[Consume Soul Stone*5 to upgrade ’Campfire’ to Level 2?]
"Yes."
[Upgrade in progress. Estimated time: 2 hours 32 minutes...]
With a flash of light, 5 Soul Stones were deducted from his inventory.
The black base of the Campfire before him began to expand, and the flames burned even more vigorously.
’Two and a half hours? That’s not too long.’
He then took out 20 [Broken Soul] from his inventory and clicked to combine them.
VMM...
Two clusters of shattered light points gradually converged, forming two complete orbs of light.
With that, Shen Xing now had 3 [Complete Dim Soul] in his possession, which meant three chances to raise a unit’s star-rank.
’My [Sacrificial Evolution] will be ready to use again in a few hours.’
’I’ll save this chance for Hellish Roar. He’s already reached ’Ordinary Three-Star,’ so the next step is advancing to [Elite ★].’
’According to what I’ve read on the forums, the jump from Ordinary Level to Elite Level is huge.’
’As for these three Complete Souls... I’ll focus them on one Beastman and see if I can stack up another Three-Star unit.’
With a plan in mind, Shen Xing looked at a nearby Beastman who was clutching his shoulder.
"You, come here."
The chosen Beastman Infantry immediately walked over.
"Bosh..." He tried to praise him like Hellish Roar did, but his words were still a bit slurred.
Shen Xing didn’t waste words, directly placing two [Dim Soul] into his hands.
The Beastman’s pupils widened, and he said in pleasant surprise, "Fank... Bosh..."
"Alright, alright, just absorb them," Shen Xing cut him off.
The Beastman nodded foolishly, then raised his fan-like hands and slammed the Souls into his own chest.
As the orbs of light merged with him, his aura surged in a short amount of time.
His muscles began to bulge, and his body grew taller.
Miraculously, even the wound on his shoulder began to heal rapidly, scabbing over until only a few scars remained after a moment.
[Advancement successful! The Potential of one of your ’Beastman Infantry’ has been raised to ’Ordinary ★★’!]
[Attribute gain from this evolution: Power+4, Spirit+2, Agility+3, Constitution+4]
...
This success was expected; after all, the Success Rate for breaking through from One-Star to Two-Star was a full 85%.
If he had failed that, his luck would have to be abysmal.
However, when the Beastman tried to fuse with the second Soul, something unexpected happened.
His body trembled, and the rising aura came to an abrupt halt.
"Bosh... I... failed..." The Beastman lowered his head in dejection, not daring to look his Lord in the eye.
Shen Xing was a little taken aback, but he didn’t mind.
The probability of breaking through from Two-Star to Three-Star was 70%. Hellish Roar had already succeeded once before, so it was normal for this Beastman Infantry to fail.
"It’s fine. Try again." He took out the last Complete Soul and handed it over.
The Beastman Infantry looked up, his eyes filled with intense gratitude.
"Fank... Bosh... Beastman... will... succeed!"
He took a deep breath and once again slammed the Soul into his chest!
His aura soared, his muscles bulged wildly, and the Stone Axe in his hand transformed into an Iron Axe.
[Advancement successful! Potential has been raised to ’Ordinary ★★★’!]
[New Skill learned: Heavy Strike]
[Heavy Strike: Concentrate all your Power to deliver a heavy blow, dealing massive damage to a single enemy. 35% chance to deal double damage, 15% chance to deal triple damage. Cooldown: 25 seconds.]
...
’Heavy Strike, a burst damage Skill?’ Shen Xing mused.
Just as the Talent’s introduction described, [Sacrificial Evolution] would alter a soldier’s evolutionary path based on the Attributes one sacrificed.
That was why Hellish Roar had activated [Gale Step] and followed an agility-based path.
This Beastman Infantry was a pure Power-type soldier, which was why it activated a burst-oriented Skill like this.
But in terms of combat power, Hellish Roar was far stronger than this Beastman Infantry.
After all, he had received an additional 10 agility, making him almost twice as fast as others of the same tier.
"Boss... I feel... full of power!"
The evolved Three-Star Beastman’s face was flushed with excitement, and his speech had become much clearer.
"Very good." Shen Xing smiled with satisfaction. "From now on, your name is Blood Roar."
"Blood Roar..." the Beastman repeated softly, then nodded excitedly. "I like this name! Thank you, Boss!"
After dealing with the Souls, Shen Xing turned his attention to the other loot in his inventory. This time, it was an ancient parchment.
On it, the outline of a tower was sketched in black lines.
[Arrow Tower Blueprint]
[Level: 1]
[Land Area: 13 square meters]
[Attack Frequency: 1.5s/attack]
[Attack Range: 100 meters]
[Effect: Can automatically fire arrows, dealing piercing damage to Tier One creatures.]
[Construction requirements: Soul Stone*10, Vinar Silver Coins*10]
[Note: An Arrow Tower with auto-attack capabilities can be built in the Fog without being eroded.]
...