"Not bad. An Elite Level evolution Soul, and a treasure that grants Flying Ability."
Shen Xing nodded in satisfaction. ’The Plague Priests from Sickness Village are probably furious right now.’
’They sent that vulture to intercept me, but they never expected my combat power to be so terrifying. I killed it and even hauled its corpse away. Talk about suffering a double loss.’
Then, Shen Xing turned to Hellish Roar, who was standing to the side, and took out the glowing Soul.
"Here, absorb this. Let’s see if you can break through again."
This incident also made Shen Xing realize his own strength was far from enough.
’I have to convert all my resources into combat power, level up as fast as possible, and then find a way to wipe out that village.’
’Otherwise, with it being so close to my territory, it will always be a huge security risk.’
"Thank you, Boss. Your grace... I will never forget it!"
Hellish Roar solemnly accepted the Soul, his eyes filled with intense gratitude and loyalty.
The other Beastman Infantry looked on, their faces full of envy, practically drooling.
"If you all work hard, there will be plenty of opportunities to get stronger in the future."
Shen Xing looked at the Beastmen and said solemnly, "The territory is in its initial stages, so everyone needs to work a bit harder and fight with all you’ve got."
"Every bit of effort you put in now will become real Soul Stones and Souls in the future."
"Once the territory becomes large and powerful, all of you will be founding members. Every one of you will be able to advance to Elite, or even Leader."
The Beastmen, who weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, didn’t fully understand, but they were captivated by the wonderful future their Lord described. A collective light of anticipation shone in their eyes.
They secretly resolved in their hearts, ’I have to do my best, even if things are a little tough and tiring right now.’
’When the territory is powerful, the Boss will be sure to promote me.’
’The good days are still ahead!’
Meanwhile, Hellish Roar had already pressed the Soul into his chest.
In an instant, an intense red light erupted.
His body immediately began to grow taller. The muscles in his limbs and on his back swelled, then rapidly condensed and hardened.
The greatest change was to the Beastman Shoulder Armor on his shoulders.
The leathery surface rapidly faded, shifting to a dark, metallic sheen. In the very center of the shoulder guard, a wolf’s head totem appeared.
[Evolution successful! ’Hellish Roar’s’ Potential has increased to Elite★★!]
[Attribute increases from this evolution: Power +11, Spirit +6, Agility +8, Constitution +8]
[Equipment: Beastman Shoulder Armor → Berserker Shoulder Armor (Blue)]
[Awakened Skill: Earth-Shattering Strike]
...
Shen Xing felt a sense of satisfaction as he looked at Hellish Roar, who now stood a towering 1.9 meters tall and wore Black Iron shoulder armor.
’This was a pretty significant upgrade. He didn’t just get new equipment, he also activated a new skill.’
He opened the panel to check its attributes.
[Berserker Shoulder Armor]
[Quality: Blue (Excellent)]
[Shoulder Protection: 23-27]
[Bonus Effect: Fury (Killing an enemy increases Attack Speed and movement speed by 10%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts for 30 seconds.)]
...
[Earth-Shattering Strike]
[Skill Effect: Focus all Power into your hands to deliver an ultimate axe strike, dealing massive damage to surrounding enemies and knocking them back.
The higher the user’s Power, the greater the damage and the larger the area of effect.
Cooldown: 45 seconds]
...
’Oh? Stacking attack and movement speed on kills... It can go up to 50%?’
’This shoulder armor is pretty incredible.’
After all, Hellish Roar’s build was focused on agility bursts. With full stacks, this Blue shoulder armor would take his destructive power to the next level.
As for [Earth-Shattering Strike], its extremely high area-of-effect damage combined with a knockback effect was also excellent.
Just then, an idea suddenly popped into Shen Xing’s head.
’Hellish Roar’s [Earth-Shattering Strike] skill scales its damage and area of effect with Power.’
’So, could I combine it with the feather I just got to boost the skill’s power even more?’
’If he uses it from dozens of meters in the air, the added gravitational acceleration would definitely make it more powerful than using it on the ground!’
"Hellish Roar, come help me test something."
Shen Xing handed him [Hope’s Feather] and explained how to use it, along with his idea.
Hellish Roar stood still for a few seconds, processing the information, and gradually understood what his Lord meant.
Then, he gripped the Feather in his hand and took a deep breath.
WHOOSH...
A gentle wind swept by, and the Beastman shot into the air, gradually ascending to a height of over ten meters.
"Boss, I’m flying!"
Hellish Roar shouted excitedly, waving his arms.
He even performed a few difficult maneuvers mid-air, thoroughly enjoying the thrill of flight.
After doing a few spins in the air, he remembered the Lord’s instructions and quickly raised his Steel-Cutting Double-Bladed Axe.
HSSSS!
He took a deep breath, focusing all his strength into his arms. His muscles swelled as if being inflated with air.
Then, he fiercely activated the [Earth-Shattering Strike] skill!
Like a burning Meteorite falling from the sky, he descended upon the ground at extreme speed.
BOOM!!!
A massive shockwave swept out, sending dust flying everywhere. The entire territory shook violently.
When the dust settled, a shallow crater over ten meters in diameter was revealed.
Hellish Roar was half-squatting in the center, still holding his striking pose!
The other Beastmen stared at the scene, completely stunned.
Shen Xing’s eyes also shone with excitement. The combination of the Feather and Earth-Shattering Strike was truly powerful.
A typical Two-Star Elite would never have survived that last attack; they would have been instantly killed.
Even a Three-Star Elite would likely suffer heavy injuries.
And this was an area-of-effect skill, with such a massive range.
One could just imagine it: in the middle of a battle, Hellish Roar suddenly flies into the air and unleashes a wave of heavenly justice upon the enemy.
The sight would be absolutely spectacular!
"Alright, go fill in the ground, and then take care of that vulture."
Shen Xing continued to give orders, "Keep the feathers and the beak. See if we can make something out of them."
"As you command, Boss!"
Hellish Roar excitedly got to his feet and led the other Beastmen to get busy.
At that moment, a sudden noise came from a small wooden cabin in the center of the territory.
BANG!
The wooden door opened, and a huge figure emerged from within.
A gray Warg walked out with its head lowered, its steps unsteady. Its fur was still stained with blood.
A tall Beastman was straddling its back, an excited smile on his face.
"Boss, this Warg is almost completely tamed! It’s very obedient now!"
Shen Xing nodded. "Good work. Continue training with it to build up your rapport."
"From now on, it’s yours."
Hearing this last sentence, the Warg trembled, a deep fear showing in its eyes.
But Blood Roar was already nodding excitedly. Without another word, he rode the Warg and began to tear around the village.
Afterward, Shen Xing opened his inventory as usual and took stock of his remaining resources.
[Soul Stone] x73
[Vinar Silver Coins] x85
[Broken Soul] x31
...
"I’ve stockpiled quite a few resources again."
Shen Xing muttered to himself, "I need to plan this out. Should I upgrade my Soldier Types first, or construct and upgrade buildings?"
After upgrading the [Campfire] to Level 2 yesterday, he had unlocked two new buildings: Walls and Spiked Barricades.
He opened the crafting interface to check their attributes.
[Wall]
[Level: 1]
[Introduction: A section of wall 5 meters long, 3 meters high, and 2 meters wide can be built within the Campfire’s range. Effectively resists attacks from Tier One monsters.]
[Construction Materials: Soul Stone x15, Vinar Silver Coins x10]
[Construction Time: 4 hours 36 minutes]
[Note: Walls can be built in curves. Demolishing returns 50% of the construction materials.]
...
[Spiked Barricade]
[Level: 1]
[Introduction: A 2-meter-wide row of spiked barricades can be placed on the ground within the Campfire’s range. Hinders the charge of small monsters and deals piercing damage.]
[Construction Materials: Soul Stone x3, Vinar Silver Coins x2]
[Construction Time: 30 minutes]
[Note: Spiked Barricades can be placed freely. Cannot be stacked. Effect is diminished against large units.]
...
"These walls are so expensive. One section costs that much? I can’t afford to build them at all right now." Shen Xing winced at the cost.
With his territory’s current size, the maximum area illuminated by the firelight was about 50 meters in diameter, which meant a circumference of 157 meters.
He would need to build over thirty sections of wall to completely enclose the village.
The resources he had on hand weren’t even enough for a fraction of that.
Of course, the walls were also extremely useful, as they could effectively resist the attacks of Tier One monsters.
With them, he wouldn’t have to worry about being ambushed from the rear by monsters like before, greatly increasing his security.
’I’ll build the walls later. For now, I’ll use these Soul Stones to raise my units’ levels.’
Shen Xing made his decision. He then synthesized the Broken Souls in his inventory into three complete Dim Souls.
Since these Dim Souls could only be used to increase the star rating of normal-grade Soldier Types, Hellish Roar and Blood Roar naturally couldn’t use them.
So he randomly called over two Beastman Infantry and distributed the Souls to them.
Fortunately, all three Souls were successfully absorbed.
The territory gained a new normal Three-Star and a new normal Two-Star Beastman Infantry.
Shen Xing named these two Beastmen Dahou and Erhou.
He would continue naming them in this sequence from now on.
After they had absorbed the Souls, he spent another 46 [Soul Stones] to raise the Level of all his units, including the Warg, to Level 4.
Absorbing the Soul Stones took a full three to four hours.
By the time he was done with all this, it was already late at night.
Shen Xing gave Hellish Roar an extra 5 Soul Stones, telling him to work overtime tonight absorbing them and try to reach Level 5 as soon as possible.
These Beastmen were full of energy anyway; they could go for days without sleep and be fine.
As for him, the Lord, not only did he have to sit in a wheelchair every day and have these Beastmen carry him out to explore...
...he also had to use [Sacrificial Evolution] to enhance his Soldier Types’ strength and rationally allocate resources. It was incredibly draining to get through a day.
’Sigh, being a Lord is just too exhausting.’
He took off his glasses, and his vision shifted from the Fog-shrouded village back to his cramped rental apartment.
"Good. Today was another fruitful day."
"When I log on tomorrow, I’ll be able to use [Sacrificial Evolution] again to raise Hellish Roar to Elite Three-Star."
A flicker of anticipation rose in Shen Xing’s heart at the thought, and his stomach began to rumble.
He pushed his wheelchair, preparing to go to the kitchen and cook a bag of frozen dumplings.
He grabbed the doorknob with his right hand and gave it a casual pull.
CRACK—
With a crisp snap, he had ripped the entire doorknob clean off, and a few screws clattered to the floor.