Chapter 34 - 31: Taking Stock of the Spoils

Chapter 34: Chapter 31: Taking Stock of the Spoils

Inside the lakeside manor.

Xia Wanyin excitedly told her sister about her experiences in the game.

"Oh? This newcomer actually got a Hero Altar Blueprint?"

The black-haired woman sounded surprised, but she quickly regained her composure. "His luck is pretty good. Many high-level Lords are searching for that blueprint but have no way of getting it, yet he just happened to stumble upon one."

"But he got it from a Demon statue, so he must have paid a steep price in Attributes. The loss outweighs the gain."

"In the early stages of the game, every single point of an Attribute is precious."

"Even if the Hero Altar is important, it’s a mid to late-game structure. Trading early-game Attributes for late-game development isn’t really worth it."

Little did she know, Shen Xing hadn’t paid any price at all to obtain the blueprint.

If he’d actually been asked to sacrifice his Attributes, he would have refused a hundred times over.

The woman pondered for a moment, then shook her head and asked, "Wanyin, did you use that Essence of Light I gave you today?"

"I did! Not only did Guang successfully break through to Elite Three-Star, but he also awakened a Talent Skill."

Xia Wanyin replied excitedly, though a guilty look soon appeared on her face. "Lingyin, I heard that this kind of Elemental Essence, the ones compatible with a specific Soldier Type, is very expensive. Many times more than a normal Soul..."

"It’s nothing."

The black-haired woman said nonchalantly, "If not for the one-item-per-day transfer limit, I would have already boosted all your soldier types to Elite Three-Star and figured out a way to bring you to my territory."

"By the way, Wanyin."

Xia Lingyin seemed to recall something. "A Three-Star Foggy Void Realm recently appeared near Han City. Someone discovered a tall tower inside it, which might be some kind of large-scale ruin."

"A lot of Lords have rushed over there, and I need to go check it out too. I won’t be able to look after you for a while."

Xia Wanyin nodded obediently. "Go ahead, Lingyin. I’ll take good care of myself."

...

...

At dusk, as night gradually fell, the entire Land of Mist grew even darker.

It was worth noting that although this world was shrouded in thick Fog, it still had a day and night cycle.

During the day, the thick Fog was a pale, grayish-white.

But at night, it was pure black. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

At this moment, a speck of light flickered like a moving flame in the endless Fog, steadily approaching the territory.

The Level 3 Campfire blazed brightly, illuminating an area dozens of meters wide.

A group of Beastmen carrying door panels and roof beams, along with a few Skeleton Soldiers, stepped into the light of the Campfire.

Dahou, who was in charge of guarding the territory, saw this and was startled. "You went looting without me?"

"What do you mean, looting?" Blood Roar retorted. "The Lord said this is called ’making rational use of every resource’!"

Dahou had a realization. So there was such an elegant way to put it.

He’d learned something new again.

Shen Xing smiled. "We brought back a lot of materials this time. Everyone is going to be busy."

"First, process all this wood into standard Wood."

"Also, take those stone bricks and start paving a path from the village entrance all the way to the Campfire."

Next, Shen Xing opened his [Lord’s Backpack] and dumped out the materials inside.

In an instant, a massive amount of building materials piled up into a small mountain.

The Beastmen got busy as well, some chopping wood, others laying the path.

’Next, it’s time to take stock of the loot.’

Shen Xing wheeled himself to the center of the territory, a hint of anticipation rising in his heart.

The rewards from this expedition had been quite substantial.

Besides nearly two hundred [Soul Stones] and a few complete Souls, there were also Food, Skill Books, Gemstones, and more.

The most valuable among them were the three items and three blueprints that dropped after killing the Inferior Demon.

’I’ll check them one by one.’

With a thought, Shen Xing took a black book out of his backpack. A ghostly green Fireball was printed on its cover.

[Hellfire Ball]

[Quality: Blue (Excellent)]

[Type: Skill Book]

[Skill Consumption: Consumes a portion of Spiritual Power and Life Force to summon a Hellfire Ball, dealing splash damage to enemies in a 3m x 3m area. The maximum damage and range of the Fireball are determined by the Spirit Attribute.]

[Learning Conditions: Spirit 10]

...

’It’s actually a Group Attack Magic?’ Shen Xing’s interest was piqued.

He had seen that Inferior Demon use this Skill before, and its power was astonishing.

Although it was interrupted before it could be fully cast, its power was surely nothing to scoff at.

And so, without a second thought, he chose to learn it.

In an instant, the Skill Book gradually vanished, turning into countless green specks of light that drilled into the space between his eyebrows.

All sorts of memories about the Control and condensation of Hellfire flashed through his mind.

A moment later, Shen Xing opened his eyes, a ghostly green flame igniting within his pupils.

Then, he raised his right hand and extended his index finger.

"HISS~"

A wisp of green flame ignited, flickering gently in the air.

’So cool. If I could pull this off in the real world, wouldn’t I make all the housewives faint?’ Shen Xing thought cheerfully.

After admiring his handiwork for a moment, he began to inspect the second item.

With a flash of light, a vial of murky red liquid appeared in his hand.

When he had picked it up, the drop of blood had automatically been stored in a special glass vial, which was likely one of the game’s built-in system functions.

[Inferior Demon Essence Blood]

[Quality: Purple (Rare)]

[Item Effect: This blood can be fused with oneself or a territory’s Soldier Type, granting them a partial Inferior Demon bloodline. Upon successful fusion, All Attributes will increase by 30%, Skill forms will change, and there is a certain probability of awakening new Skills.]

[Note 1: The Inferior Demon Essence Blood contains a violent, negative power. There is a certain risk of the body exploding during fusion.]

[Note 2: After a successful fusion, the user will possess an Inferior Demon bloodline and will be suppressed when encountering high-level Demons.]

...

’Fusing with a bloodline can even change Skill forms.’ Shen Xing was a little surprised.

The Effect of this blood was incredibly powerful. Just the 30% increase to All Attributes was comparable to the bonus from three star-level promotions.

But as always, risks came with rewards.

Not only was there a risk of your body exploding during the fusion process, but even if you succeeded, you would later be suppressed by high-level Demons.

Shen Xing definitely wasn’t going to use it on himself.

He had read related posts on the forums about players using strange items in the game that changed their character’s body shape.

As a result, their real-world bodies changed along with them.

There had been some strange news reports recently. For example, a mysterious bat-like creature appeared late at night in a certain residential complex, flying to the windows of women living alone to steal their personal belongings.

There was also a story about a naked middle-aged man clinging to the wall of a twenty-third-floor apartment. He had supposedly grown a gecko’s tail, but unfortunately, he fell to his death.

Before Shen Xing had started this game, he had assumed these were all just fabricated news stories.

Now it seemed those damn players were responsible for all of it.

He had no desire to turn into one of those ugly, dark Inferior Demons!

However... it was said that a group of players from Japan were paying high prices for something called ’Ancient God’s Mucus’ to make their bodies grow numerous tentacles.

Aside from being able to hold more weapons, it also had... other uses...

Ahem, he was getting sidetracked.

So, this drop of [Inferior Demon Essence Blood] should either be fused with one of his Soldier Types, sold on the Trading Section, or traded for other items.

His gaze swept over the still-busy Beastmen, and for a moment, he was undecided.

In fact, Shen Xing most wanted Hellish Roar to fuse with this drop of blood.

This Beastman’s combat Power was very strong. He had even comprehended entirely new Skill forms and ways of exerting force, showing immense Potential.

But alas, as a Beastman, his bloodline limited his upper ceiling and base Attributes.

Compared to that Great Tree Knight, for instance, even if Hellish Roar was raised to Level 9 and his Potential was increased to Boss One-Star, his Attributes would still be a large chunk lower than his opponent’s.

This was the influence of bloodlines. Creatures of powerful Races, even with only Elite Level Potential, had greater combat strength than Bosses of some weaker Races.

If he fused with this [Inferior Demon Essence Blood], it would definitely allow Hellish Roar to make up for a large part of that gap.

But he was also worried that Hellish Roar wouldn’t be able to withstand the fusion process and would explode and die, in which case the loss would far outweigh the gain.

After a moment of deliberation, Shen Xing decided to look up some related information on the forums later before making a decision.

’Time to check the next piece of loot.’

He opened his right hand, and a floating sphere of light appeared out of thin air. At its center was the phantom of a hunched Inferior Demon.

This was one of the most important spoils of this expedition: the [Inferior Demon Nest (Elite ★)].

Like other Unit Nests, it could be used to mass-recruit Elite One-Star Inferior Demons.

However, the required resources were also quite outrageous.

A single Inferior Demon required 50 Soul Stones, 50 Vinar Silver Coins, and a special material called [Hellfire Seed].

’The cost to recruit these things is a bit high.’

’And according to guides on the forums, Inferior Demons, a type of Hell Species, don’t eat normal Food. They need to be fed Broken Souls periodically.’

’Otherwise, they’ll fall into a weakened State from not eating for a long time, and their combat power will be greatly reduced.’

Of course, despite these drawbacks, Inferior Demons were still a very powerful Soldier Type.

They had a certain Flying Ability, as well as abilities like Hellfire Ball, self-destruction, and so on. Their lethality and destructive power were both quite terrifying.

If he could form an Inferior Demon Legion, it would be like having a mobile bombing squadron.

It was said that later on, they could even evolve into higher-level Inferior Demons, with their combat power increasing exponentially.

’I’ll hold onto this Unit Nest for now. I’ll see if I can get my hands on some Hellfire Seeds later.’

’Or I could check the Trading Section to see if there’s a more suitable Unit Nest for me.’