BEEP!
The elevator doors opened. Shen Xing pushed his wheelchair along the familiar path to the breakfast stall at the entrance.
The aroma of steamed buns and fried dough sticks filled the air. Several customers were already seated at the tables by the stall.
Shen Xing found a table for himself and ordered a bowl of hot dry noodles.
While eating breakfast, he opened his phone and logged into the ’Hua Country Pioneer Forum’.
To his surprise, however, the forum had been updated last night.
Besides the five familiar sections, a [Regional Section] had been added.
He clicked on it and saw a flood of posts scroll past.
"Brothers in Jiang City, anyone have extra Soul Stones? I’m buying at 500 a piece, unlimited quantity!"
"It’s over... This forum is actually real. I thought that police officer was lying to me. It’s all over!"
"The Jiang City Pioneer Trade Association was founded today. Anyone interested can come to Times Mansion, Building B..."
"Big news! A large-scale Fog has appeared in Bright Moon Bay Park. A powerful Pioneer is suspected to have died violently there. Everyone stay away!"
"Newbie looking for a carry! I’m a freshman at Donghu Academy, got a One-Star Mummy soldier type. Pic of me attached.
...
After scanning the posts, Shen Xing more or less understood.
This section was basically the equivalent of the "local city" feature on a short-video app. Pioneers from Jiang City would automatically be added, allowing them to chat and trade.
’That’s pretty convenient.’
Compared to the previous public forum, where everyone was from all over the place, the information had been too chaotic.
But now, he just had to enter the regional section to learn about special events happening in Jiang City.
Plus, if people needed things from each other, they could trade within the city.
After studying it for a bit and reading a few newbie guides, Shen Xing closed the forum.
He paid the seven yuan for his hot dry noodles and pushed his wheelchair back to his rented apartment.
He went to his bedroom area, placed a cup of water on the desk, and put the glasses back on.
In an instant, his vision swam and shifted.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing beside the Campfire in his territory.
The flames blazed, radiating waves of warmth.
Looking around, he saw that the entire village had undergone significant changes.
The Campfire, originally less than a meter in diameter, had now expanded to one and a half meters.
The area illuminated by its light had also expanded severalfold, growing from a 20-meter diameter to at least 50 meters.
More of the black earth was revealed. This was all his territory, where he could construct more buildings.
And on the path at the village entrance, two diamond-shaped Arrow Towers, each about four meters in Height and of an Ancient design, stood tall and imposing.
The arrow slits at the top glowed faintly, looking quite deadly.
"Not bad. The territory is getting stronger and stronger."
Shen Xing watched everything with satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment swelling in his heart.
It was like building a city with his own hands, watching it slowly rise from a small village.
"Boss, you’re back!"
Hellish Roar came over with a group of Beastman Infantry, all looking to be in high spirits.
"Mm, did anything happen in the territory last night?" Shen Xing asked.
"Two waves of monsters launched a surprise attack in the middle of the night, trying to destroy our Campfire, but they all fell to the Beastmen’s axes!" Hellish Roar said proudly.
"That’s right! Beastmen are strong! We chopped them all to pieces!" Blood Roar chimed in.
Then, they handed over all of last night’s spoils, including the sharpened Bone Arrows.
[Acquired: Soul Stone*16]
[Acquired: Broken Soul*8]
[Acquired: Vinar Silver Coins*15]
[Acquired: Crude Bone Arrow*26]
With a wave of his hand, Shen Xing stored all the materials in his inventory, pleased.
This feeling of waking up to a fresh pile of resources was great.
"Hellish Roar, step forward."
He glanced at his Talent bar, which had finished its cooldown, and said in a deep voice, "Prepare for a glorious evolution!"
Hellish Roar shuddered, seemingly realizing what was about to happen, and immediately stepped forward.
Under his expectant gaze, Shen Xing slowly raised his right hand.
[Use Talent Ability: Sacrificial Evolution to raise ’Hellish Roar’s’ Potential to (Elite ★)?]
[This will sacrifice 10 ’Agility’]
"Yes."
When Shen Xing confirmed his choice, that familiar power descended from the heavens once more and entered his body.
But after searching for a moment, the power quietly withdrew, transforming into a ball of red light that settled on Hellish Roar.
The mohawked Beastman instantly stiffened. His skin began to glow red, and a dangerous aura started to emanate from him.
At the same time, a system prompt appeared before his eyes.
[Please select Hellish Roar’s evolution path]
[1: Beastman Hunter (Highly flexible, possesses some Stealth Ability)]
[2: Beastman Fighter (High Agility, possesses powerful burst capability)]
...
’Hm? Two evolution paths?’
Shen Xing stared at the descriptions, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Clearly, this was a crucial choice that would determine Hellish Roar’s future development.
The first was highly flexible with a Stealth Ability—essentially, the Assassin route.
The other was a high-Agility, high-burst route.
Both had their pros and cons, and both were significant upgrades.
After a moment of deliberation, Shen Xing chose the second option.
The territory was still in its early stages and needed a powerful frontline fighter.
As for Assassins, those were something that Tier Three or Tier Four Lords would train in the mid-game.
Meanwhile, enveloped in the red light, Hellish Roar’s body began to rapidly transform.
The muscles in his arms no longer bulged but became tighter and more condensed, as if his skin concealed plates of steel.
His body also shot up in height, growing from 1.7 meters to over 1.8 meters tall!
The Iron Axe in his hand was also changing rapidly. Its black head turned the color of tungsten steel, the handle lengthened to 1.2 meters, and its single blade became a double blade.
[Evolution successful! ’Hellish Roar’s’ Potential has been raised to Elite ★. His class has been upgraded to Beastman Fighter!]
[Attribute bonuses from this evolution: All Attributes +10%, Agility an additional +10]
[Weapon: ’Beastman Iron Axe (Green)’ → ’Steel-Cutting Double-Bladed Axe (Blue)’]
[Awakened Skills: Blade Storm!]
...
When the light faded, the newly transformed Hellish Roar stepped forward.
His physique was lean and powerful, his muscles defined and streamlined, his entire body brimming with explosive power.
The other Beastmen stared, their eyes wide. Blood Roar’s jaw was hanging open, and he was practically drooling.
Beastmen by nature worshipped strength, especially those with impressive physiques.
So, when they saw the transformed Hellish Roar, they were like rookies in the bodybuilding world seeing a Mr. Olympia champion for the first time, wanting nothing more than to rush over and study him up close.
"Boss, I feel so full of power!" Hellish Roar exclaimed, raising his War Axe high, his face alight with unconcealable excitement.
Shen Xing nodded, offered a word of praise, and then glanced at the newly activated skill.
[Blade Storm: Swing your weapon and spin at high speed, dealing continuous cutting damage to enemies within a 2-meter radius.
You can move while spinning. The higher your Agility Attribute, the faster the rotation and the longer the duration.
Cooldown: 120 seconds]
...
’A very powerful skill. Not only is it an AoE, but its power and duration also increase with the Agility Attribute.’
’Most importantly, he can move while using it.’
’You could just imagine it: if Hellish Roar activated this skill and stood in the middle of a monster horde, he’d be a moving meat grinder.’
Next, he opened the Soldier Type panel to check the Detailed Attributes.
[Beastman Fighter: Hellish Roar]
[Detailed Attributes: Click to view]
...
’These Attributes... they’re at least four or five times higher than when I first summoned him.’
’And his Agility Attribute is almost double his Power. That’s insane.’
Shen Xing was amazed. Hellish Roar’s upgrade was massive. He had chosen correctly!
With his Soldier Type’s strength upgraded, it was time to begin today’s exploration of the Fog.
But before that, he planned to use the [Warg Recruitment Scroll].
He hadn’t recruited it immediately yesterday because he wanted to save some Food. After all, a creature like that would need to eat once summoned.
Resources were tight in the early stages, so he had to be frugal.
Just as he took out the Scroll to begin the summoning, the sound of dense footsteps once again came from deep within the Fog.
[Your territory is about to be attacked. Please prepare...]
Gazing at the churning Fog, Shen Xing sighed. "You shouldn’t have come."
...