XMTL

Among the hundred and twenty new soldiers in Joyous River Village, there wasn’t even a single S-Rank Innate Ability, not to mention people with Special Innate Abilities.

Cheng Yang finding someone like Liu Wei could be considered to be a miracle. Although Liu Wei’s Innate Ability couldn’t be ranked on the traditional scale, it clearly eclipsed even his SS-Rank Innate Ability.

After everyone had performed a class change ceremony, Liu Hau leveled up the village.

Once he did, several new building options appeared. Fortunately, there was a road between this village and Phoenix Village. Otherwise, the human resources needed to transport all the materials required for expanding the village would outnumber those that gathered them.

---

When Cheng Yang finally left his room, Liu Wei was waiting for him in the courtyard.

Liu Wei was definitely an abnormally lucky person. Thanks to her status, she was able to practice at six-times speed in Cheng Yang’s house from the very first day she became a Professional. As such, she had already filled up 14% of her experience bar.

In other words, she would level up in just eight days.

“Good morning Liu Wei. How was your training last night? Most people find it hard to sit still for four hours when they first try to train. Were you able to manage all right?” Cheng Yang asked with a smile.

After yesterday’s events, Cheng Yang felt that Liu Wei was still reserved around him. Although he didn’t expect them to become close, as his first bodyguard, they at least shouldn’t be strangers.

She’d gone through a lot over the last few days. Perhaps once they’d spent more time together, she’d be less defensive towards him. But for now, she still treated their relationship as a formal one.

“Thank you for your concern, my Lord. In my opinion, even though it’s difficult, I should still be grateful for the opportunity to train. There are millions around the world hoping to have this opportunity but can’t get it. In that sense, this servant of yours is quite lucky.”

Cheng Yang smiled. “What a bleak point of view. Although, that could be considered a good thing. We’re going to visit Cloud City again today. Wash up and eat some breakfast, then we’ll go.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Liu Wei responded, following him outside.

Washing up in Phoenix Village amounted to splashing yourself with water from the river that ran through the walls. You could even wash your mouth with the river water. After the gods transformed the world, the water quality skyrocketed so that even dirty river water was drinkable. The only pity was that there wasn’t a single fish in sight.

While Liu Wei was bathing, Cheng Yang visited the Territory Altar as, by now, all of the primary class change statues should have been upgraded.

---

Mage Statue
Phoenix Village
Pinnacle-Grade
260/650

Research

• Body Strengthening Mana Flow (Pinnacle-Grade): Increase HP by 20% | Cost: 2000 | Time: 72 hours
• Extra Mana Node (Pinnacle-Grade): Increase Mana by 20% | Cost: 2000 | Time: 72 hours
• Ambient Mana Gathering (Pinnacle-Grade): Increase Magic Attack by 20% | Cost: 2000 | Time: 72 hours
• Passive Ironskin (Pinnacle-Grade): Increase Physical Defense by 20% | Cost: 2000 | Time: 72 hours
• Mental State Training (Pinnacle-Grade): Increase Magic Defense by 20% | Cost: 2000 | Time: 72 hours

Skills

• Wind Bondage (Low-Grade): Binds a target for a set amount of time | Duration: 2 sec | Cost: 25 MP | Cast Time: 3 sec | Level Needed: Standard Grade Apprentice | Price: 100 Experience Fragments
• Stone-Skin (Low-Grade): Use Mana to turn a target’s skin to stone, reducing damage taken by 40% | Duration: 1 minute | Cost: 50 Mana | Level Needed: Pinnacle-Grade Apprentice | Price: 600 Experience Fragments

Unique Subclasses

• Cryomancer [Cheng Yang]

---

Pinnacle-Grade class change statues were something of a road mark for territory development. The four-fold increase in research costs broke several struggling villages that were never able to reach the Pinnacle-Grade.

It also took far longer for the research to complete. Each one took three days, so it would be a minimum of fifteen days before the class change statues could be leveled up again.

With the time and Experience Fragment cost increasing every level led some people to speculate that a different fee would be added later. They reasoned that since the top-level villages never had problems with getting Experience Fragments, the gods would add another condition to make it harder on them.

Their proof was that once a village reached High-Grade, a lot of the restrictions around who could pay for improvements were lifted. It became possible for the Experience Fragments ordinary soldiers had to be used directly instead of laundering them all through the Lord. With the encouragement of built-in benefits, more and more people donated their money to the territory.

However, this was only an inference that was never proven.

Cheng Yang checked the number of available slots and was astounded to find that the total number of possible soldiers had been raised to 2240. And that was without counting Priests.

Over the next few days, Phoenix Village would experience a significant increase in personnel.

When they performed their class change ceremonies, Cheng Yang would have to decide whether to absorb them into the army or allow them to be mercenaries.

Mercenaries were a low maintenance way to bolster a territory’s combat capabilities, but they had too much freedom for Cheng Yang’s liking. Although mercenaries would inherently care about the prosperity of the territory, it would never be their primary goal. Cheng Yang decided that, at least for now, he wouldn’t allow anyone to be a mercenary.

His goal was simple: maintain absolute control over Phoenix Village and then gain control over the entire area, establishing the Phoenix Empire.

Having finished ruminating, Cheng Yang opened up the system pane for the Cryomancer so that he could learn the new skill he had unlocked.

---

• Frost Aegis (Low-Grade): Create a floating hoplon out of ice with a durability equal to 80% of the caster’s Magic Attack which automatically blocks one attack every second | Max Shields: 1 | Cost: 25 Mana | Duration: 1 minute | Level Needed: Pinnacle-Grade Apprentice | Price: 1200 Experience Fragments

---

As expected, it was better than the new skill for normal mages, but it was far more expensive. However, Cheng Yang used almost that many Experience Fragments everyday training, so he didn’t even blink when he saw the price.

In an instant, he learned the skill.

Reaching the level of Pinnacle-Grade Apprentice made most mages into decent all-rounders. They had an offensive spell, a defensive spell, and a crowd control spell. As someone with a unique subclass, Cheng Yang also received an area of effect offensive spell.

Although Cheng Yang had completed one of the territory’s level up requirements, there was still a long way to go before he’d meet the rest of them. After all, it was harsh enough to require powerful soldiers in addition to vast wealth.

In the entire territory, Cheng Yang was the only one even close to reaching the Specialist level. And even he would need around forty days without a fortuitous opportunity.

Cheng Yang then upgraded the main damage attribute for each class. A decision that cost the territory a whopping eight thousand Experience Fragments. Fortunately, clearing the Blood-Soaked Church so many times in the past two days provided the village with ample funds. Otherwise, there was no way Cheng Yang could afford the expense.

After handling that, Cheng Yang asked a nearby Imperial Guard member is Lau Hui had returned yet. Not too long later, the guard relayed the message, and Lau Hui came to find him.

“You wanted to see me, my Lord?”

Cheng Yang glared at him. “Where did you go yesterday? I’ve been told no one saw you for over ten hours.”

Lau Hui averted his eyes and fidgeted under Cheng Yang’s harsh gaze. “Well, I was just a little careless and went too far from the village while hunting.”

Cheng Yang snorted. “Next time you lie to me, at least look me in the eyes. If you don’t, it makes it too obvious. Now, tell me. What’s actually happening?”

Lau Hui broke. “I’m sorry, Yoko! I was worried about what my soldiers would say if they knew I found something weird again. They suffered so much last time that I wanted to forget I found anything.”

Hearing that, Cheng Yang forgave his friend. Although he had gained a lot from the Mystery Gate, one of Lau Hui’s soldiers had discovered it at the price of their life.

But, what had Lau Hui found this time? It couldn’t be another Mystery Gate, right? They weren’t particularly rare phenomena, but that was just too lucky! Moreover, they both would have been found by Lau Hui.

“What happened last time was unfortunate, but it ended up benefitting the territory greatly. If you don’t tell me what happened and I miss out on something good, I’ll hold you accountable.” Cheng Yang started to pressure Lau Hui.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

After leaving the Barracks, Cheng Yang brought Liu Wei into the forest to hunt monsters.

As time passed, Liu Wei’s grasp on the rhythm of battle tightened. Now, her only weakness was that her Innate Abilities couldn’t save her if there were more than one monster since they had a two-second cooldown.

Cheng Yang intended to find Liu Wei some equipment that would boost her healing skills. A few pieces of jewelry should do the trick. Once he became a High-Grade Alchemist, Liu Wei would then be able to increase her healing to the point where she could even kill people at the same level with S-Rank Innate Abilities.

After a long night, Liu Wei earned over five hundred Experience Fragments. It wasn’t much compared to Cheng Yang, who had gotten triple that but, most soldiers would receive less than sixty each day.

When they returned, Cheng Yang lent Liu Wei one hundred thousand Experience Fragments. With her abilities, the training costs for thirty-two times speed were within reach.

Since Yu Kai and Liu Hau wouldn’t be able to stay in Phoenix Village anymore, Yu Kai’s spot in Cheng Yang’s Meditation Hall was given to Liu Wei. It would be a waste otherwise, and Liu Wei needed the 39% bonus more than anyone else.

---

By the time Cheng Yang had finished training, Liu Hau had upgraded all of the class change statues in Joyous River Village to Standard-Grade. As such, Liu Hau had returned to Phoenix Village to select a batch of new recruits.

Of course, it was impossible for the soldiers Liu Hau had to escort them to the village on their own, so Liu Hau was waiting for a few of the generals to get back.

Originally Liu Hau was going to wait until all three generals still in Phoneix Village to get back from hunting, but in the end, he couldn’t wait long enough for Lau Hui to get back.

Liu Hau was anxious to return. While training in Phoenix Village, he had finally leveled up! And once he returned to Joyous River Village, he would be able to level up again!

“Old Lee, should I find a time to bug our Lord to find a few more Territory Altars? That way, you, too, can level up as I will. Otherwise, you’ll always be stuck at the same level as the normal soldiers.”

Despite Liu Hau’s taunting, Old Lee remained calm. “General Liu, I’m sure out Lord has foreseen these things. There’s no need for us to ruin his arrangements. If there are more Territory Altars near here, our Lord will go out and conquer them. If there aren’t, pestering him wouldn’t make new ones appear, it would just lower his opinion of us.”

“Well, aren’t you shrewd.” Liu Hau scolded.

Old Lee smiled bitterly. “Shrewd? For noticing what? That everything we have right now is thanks to our Lord? That he reunited me with my family? I have no regrets and wish to serve our Lord for the rest of my life. I trust him to ask for help if he needs it. Otherwise, it is my place to follow.”

Old Lee’s words touched Zhao Chuan and Liu Hau. Especially Zhao Chuan. After all, Cheng Yang had personally rescued him from the ruins of Huimin.

However, as Cheng Yang’s best friend, Liu Hau didn’t want Old Lee to idolize Cheng Yang too much.

“Old Lee, there’s no need to be so serious. I’m sure our Lord would agree. By the way, please don’t call me General Liu anymore. You’re older than me, so it’s a little awkward. Just call me Young Liu.”

Old Lee paused for a moment before smiling. “Of course, if I’m too formal all the time, I’ll make the atmosphere awkward.”

Liu Hau laughed when he heard that. “Hey, hey, hey. After I become a High-Grade Warrior tonight, want me to go clear the Hard Difficulty and get you two some nice equipment?”

Zhao Chuan looked at Liu Hau with scorn. “Stop bragging. Are you saying you’ll be able to clear the Hard Difficulty alone? What’s more, our Lord is already clearing the Nightmare Difficulty. Even the guards are, and any extra equipment they get is passed on to us generals. Are you saying you can find something better?”

“Damn, there’s no way to please you, huh? How the hell am I supposed to compare to those inhuman machines?”

When Liu Hau had learned that the Imperial Guards leveled up alongside Cheng Yang, he had been incomparably jealous. He knew very well that no matter how hard he trained, he couldn’t catch up to his best friend. But, now, there was a whole squadron of soldiers that would always be stronger than him.

Ignoring Liu Hau’s outburst, Zhao Chuan continued talking. “Do you think the Lord knows where other instance dungeon entrances are? There’s only the single entrance to the Blood-Soaked Cathedral, and the number of runs each day is too few.”

“There have to be, right? Like the instance dungeon in Cloud City?” Liu Hau said.

“It has a high drop rate, but without our Lord there, we’d get crushed.” Zhao Chuan retorted.

“Don’t worry about that. After tomorrow, me and Yu Kai will both be High-Grade Apprentices. There’ll also be a handful of Standard-Grade Apprentices, so it should be fine.” Liu Hau declared confidently. “And if that’s not enough, we’ll only have to wait a few more days for a whole legion of Standard-Grade soldiers to appear. I refuse to believe we won’t be able to conquer the instance dungeon by then. We would probably be able to send out several teams even.”

“That might work, but one thing is certain.” Old Lee suddenly interjected. “It won’t be long before the forces controlling Cloud City find The Forgotten Grave, and once they do, a conflict between them and us is inevitable.”

“Conflict? Who here is afraid of a little conflict?” Liu Hau said with passion. “Once we level up, if the Phoenix Village army decided to raze the city, it would be as easy as taking a shit.”

Old Lee just shook his head. “Young Liu, if our Lord wanted to destroy the leaders of Cloud City, he would have just done it by now. He’s powerful enough to do so on his own.”

Hearing that, Liu Hau calmed down. It was impossible to refute Old Lee’s words, so he decided to trust his best friend’s judgment.

They walked as they talked and killed any monster they encountered. Although the road between the two villages was safe, occasionally, a monster would rush out of the forest.

An hour later, they arrived at their destination.

Joyous River village was serenely quiet. Only the occasional twang of a bowstring or crackling Magic Missile reminded the citizens that the peaceful world they used to live in was gone.

Most of the soldiers were training in Meditation Halls, so only Chen Chao was there to greet Liu Hau’s group.

After briefing Liu Hau on the general state of the village since he had left, Chen Chao took the newly selected civilians to perform their class change ceremonies.

Liu Hau approached the Territory Altar as well, but with a different purpose. After taking a few minutes to calm himself down, Liu Hau activated Divine Blessing.

After a few seconds, Liu Hau leveled up and became the second person in the Phoenix Village metropolitan area to become a High-Grade Apprentice. Not counting the Imperial Guard, of course.

Liu Hau brandished his weapon with renewed vigor. Even if a tiger appeared right in front of him, Liu Hau was confident that he could cleave it to pieces in a single strike! Although, if there were still any tigers hiding around here after the apocalypse, who knew what kind of crazy monster it had become.

“Zhao Chuan, since you still haven’t leveled up, why don’t you let me tour you around the mountains so you can get some Experience Fragments?” Liu Hau asked.

“No thank you.” Zhao Chaun said without hesitation. “You might be a few levels higher than me, but you’ll be just as useless if a big horde attacks us. Since its dark out right now, there’s a higher chance of you messing up, so I’m going to play it safe. I’ll hunt during the day with my soldiers tomorrow.”

Liu Hau clicked his tongue but didn’t press the issue.

Around the same time as those two were arguing, the last civilian had officially become a soldier.

Since ordinary people were able to receive Experience Fragments now, the process had become far more streamlined. Instead of the village official personally overseeing each ceremony, the soldiers that had leveled up yesterday passed on their debt to the new ones who conducted the ceremony on their own.

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

During the journey, Cheng Yang focused on helping Liu Wei grow. Whenever a monster slipped through the soldiers, he directed her to use Smite on it.

Liu Wei’s skill was surprisingly lowkey and well suited to assassination. The only sign was a twitch of her lips and the sudden creation of a corpse.

Although she was still a Low-Grade Apprentice, the benefits of Liu Wei’s Innate Abilities were beginning to show themselves. If it were any other person, it would be considered impressive if they were able to get even three kills during their first fight. However, even an outstanding genius would lose some Health in the process. Liu Wei, on the other hand, was completely different. Her fighting style could be described as passing through a thousand flowers without the petals touching her skin. [1]

Fortunately, it wasn’t an area of effect skill. Otherwise, Cheng Yang would have no choice but to believe it was a bug.

Cheng Yang felt that if the growth of a Priests healing power increased at higher levels, Liu Wei would be unmatched on Earth. Thankfully, although it was an absurd ability, it had its limits. After all, so long as Liu Wei wasn’t a match for her opponent, she was an F-Rank super-trash.

Since Liu Wei and Cheng Yang were at the rear of the procession, no one noticed that the large number of monsters that suddenly died were killed by Liu Wei.

Liu Hau and Old Lee were a short distance ahead of them, walking side by side.

“General Lee, doesn’t it look like our Lord is trying to seduce Liu Wei? I’ve never seen him so close to a woman before. What are your thoughts?” Liu Hau glanced at Cheng Yang and snickered.

Old Lee just shook his head, “Maybe if you weren’t gossiping so much, you’d already have leveled up! You ask me this nearly every day, and what is the result every time? Stop thinking so much and work harder to kill monsters.”

“Wouldn’t they be an interesting couple? The school idol gets together with a geeky loser turned superhero?” Liu Hau asked, ignoring Old Lee’s complaints.

Liu Hau wasn’t the only one gossiping about Cheng Yang’s relationship status. Most of the soldiers couldn’t help but notice how quickly their usually cold and stoic leader had warmed up to Liu Wei. Had her stunning looks conquered the Ice King?

Cheng Yang couldn’t hear any of that, but even if he knew, he would laugh it off. A leader’s public image mattered in the old world, but in a world where leadership was decided by strength, what harm would a little gossip do?

Since Cheng Yang had cleared the path they were taking earlier, the group didn’t run into any sizeable hordes.

The journey was a smooth one, and they covered the thirty-kilometer distance in five hours. If the soldiers didn’t need to worry about protecting civilians while also carrying wood, their journey would have ended even sooner. Without the fear of monsters keeping them moving, most of the civilians that were in the convoy wouldn’t have been able to handle the pace.

When they arrived at Silkworm Mountain, it was dusk. Cheng Yang immediately ordered for Yu Kai to build the wooden wall and had everyone else settle themselves.

Cheng Yang had brought over nearly four hundred units of wood, so, once the wall was built, Yu Kai constructed several Low-Grade Meditation Halls.

Once the process of creating an army for Silkworm Mountain started, Cheng Yang took the rest of the procession with him and left the village.

Silkworm Mountain was in a far inferior position in comparison to Joyous River Village. Without the convenience of a road, it would take several hours for Yu Kai to receive help in the case of an emergency. For a long time to come, Silkworm Mountain wouldn’t be able to develop independently. It would have to rely on daily deliveries of vital supplies from Phoenix Village.

Back in Phoenix Village, Cheng Yang left the army to its own devices and surveyed the loot he’d gained that day.

Cheng Yang earned nearly 7,000 Experience Fragments from his Imperial Guard clearing the Blood-Soaked Cathedral, so he wouldn’t have to worry about money any time soon. As for raw resources, Cheng Yang was worried about the inflow of wood and stone.

Wood was comparatively easier to get after Cheng Yang raised the price at which the village would buy it. Once he did, dozens of soldiers purchased logging tools and began cutting down trees with great enthusiasm.

Yesterday, the village purchased seven hundred cubic meters of wood but needed to send four hundred to Joyous River Village. Today, Phoenix Village purchased nine hundred units of wood. Even after deducting the wood shipped to Silkworm Mountain, the total remaining amount exceeded eight hundred units.

Stone, on the other hand, was exceedingly scarce. Unlike lumber, which could be found everywhere in the post-apocalyptic landscape, stone could only be mined from quarries. Of which, only two had been found in the vicinity of Phoenix Village so far. Each site was only big enough for ten or so people to work comfortably at a time, so the stone Phoenix Village purchased over the last two days barely amounted to four hundred units. Although this rate of production would be enough to create buildings, it was only a drop in the bucket for the real use of stone: roads.

Cheng Yang approached the Territory Altar so as to build the Barracks. The Trial Hall was, without question, the most useful of the new buildings but, without an official position in the military, it couldn’t be used. As such, Cheng Yang needed to follow the rules of this world and build the Barracks first.

A moment later, the Inner Village was flooded with light as a massive building was conjured into existence. The Barracks were an imposing collection of buildings enclosed by a wall some distance south of the Territory Altar built in the ancient Chinese style.

Similar to the Imperial Guard Pavilion, the Barracks was considered a restricted zone. Only officials of a certain rank and members of the military were allowed to enter.

Cheng Yang walked through the gate and took a closer look around the Barracks.

This was his first time actually going into a Barracks pavilion. In his previous life, Cheng Yang was an adventurer, so he denied entry. He only knew the general layout because soldiers would often brag about the facilities.

The Barracks were Low-Grade, so they only covered an area of 40,000 square meters. Although the several football fields worth of space seemed like a lot, it would be split between Phoenix Village’s hundreds of soldiers.

On the left were rows of large lodges, dining facilities, and a bathhouse. In total, there were fifteen lodges in three rows. Each one had two floors and could fit a hundred people.

On the right were training grounds for all five classes. Their appearance was radically different from a modern training ground. Strength and stamina training wouldn’t affect someone anymore, so there weren’t any areas for exercising or a track to run on. Instead, everything was geared towards increasing an individual’s combat skills.

There was a target range to practice ranged attacks and a sparring arena where it was impossible to kill someone, but the true jewel of the training grounds were the automated training dummies. They took the forms of several different types of opponents and could be used to hone one’s reaction time in mock battles.

In the center of the Barracks was an administrative office. It was the core of the facility and was the tallest building in Phoenix Village to date, standing three stories tall. It contained offices and living quarters for military officials. The first floor was dominated by a massive war room where soldiers could raise their ranks, and officers could induct new soldiers into the military.

Surrounding the whole area was a wall made from a low stone base with a wooden fence built on top.

As the Lord of the village, Cheng Yang couldn’t enlist as a soldier, so, unfortunately, the only building he could use was the administrative one in the center.

Unlike a certain Ming emperor, Cheng Yang couldn’t just declare himself general and enter the army. Now, in both lives, Cheng Yang was forbidden to use the state of the art training facilities. In Cheng Yang’s opinion, it was bullshit.

The administrative center was empty when Cheng Yang arrived but, once Lau Hui returned from hunting, Cheng Yang intended to appoint him as Chief Administrative Officer. As a person with a straightforward and down to earth personality, Lau Hui was well suited to the position.

Cheng Yang entered the war room and opened the Barracks’ status pane.

---

Barracks (Low-Grade)
A facility for the residence and training of an army. While housed here, soldiers gain a bonus to their training speed and the speed at which skills level up increases when using the training facilities. These bonuses increase proportionally with the operating rate up to a maximum of twice the standard bonuses.

Accommodations: 1500 soldiers
Training Bonus: 13%
Skill Proficiency Bonus: 130%
Operation Bonus: 0%

---

Cheng Yang knew the actual properties of the Barracks already from his past life. What he was really interested in was the operating rate.

Right now, High-Grade Meditation Halls were superior to training in the Barracks. However, as the number and quality of the soldiers increased, the operating rate would increase. Once it reached its peak, the Barracks would be on equal footing with Standard-Grade Meditation Halls.

And that was only as a Low-Grade Barracks. Once you add in the numbers factor, the Barracks was perhaps the single most significant investment Cheng Yang could make in regards to raising the army’s strength.

[1] Apparently this idiom usually means “a man who sleeps around but doesn’t get tied down” so I’m not sure if this is an innuendo or not

Last Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

Similar to Joyous River Village, the newly founded Silkworm Mountain didn’t bestow its soldiers with an Innate Ability.

It wasn’t that rare for a territory to do so if it was a Territory Altar deep in the wilderness. But, if it was one of the starting territories near the safe zones, finding a territory that bestowed an Innate Ability was nearly impossible.

Cheng Yang sighed when he looked at the brambly clearing around the Territory Altar. When he claimed Joyous River Village, the gods had kindly built a road for him, but they weren’t so generous this time. Getting civilians and materials to the village was going to be a massive logistics problem.

Without a road, Silkworm Mountain’s development would lag behind the other two territories under Cheng Yang’s control.

Cheng Yang forced himself to stop dwelling on the issue. It was enough to have three territories! Be content!

Cheng Yang then went back and brought Yu Kai and the others to the clearing.

Just like everyone had expected, Cheng Yang made Yu Kai the Governer of the village. As for the Vice-Governor, it was one of Yu Kai’s former Vice-Captains, Liu Chengen, a Warrior with an S-Rank Innate Ability.

Cheng Yang directed Yu Kai and his soldiers to guard the village while he returned to Phoenix Village alone.

In the future, Cheng Yang would need to send another group of soldiers to Silkworm Mountain to deliver wood and civilians. Without both, Yu Kai’s group would constantly be on edge without a wall, and the army wouldn’t expand. But, even if Cheng Yang mobilized the entire Phoenix Village army, he wasn’t sure that there would be enough soldiers for a successful journey.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a better option, so Cheng Yang would have to rely on the Imperial Guard to protect the village until the army returned.

Cheng Yang’s journey home went smoothly, and he only needed forty minutes to traverse the thirty-kilometer distance.

It was noon when Cheng Yang arrived.

At the moment, most of the soldiers had gathered in the Inner Village for lunch, which saved Cheng Yang from the trouble of trying to gather his forces.

Just as Cheng Yang was about to call out to them, Old Lee ran up and grabbed Cheng Yang’s arms. “You’ve really picked up a treasure this time, my Lord!” He said while laughing excitedly.

“What treasure?” Cheng Yang asked.

“That young lady you brought back from Cloud City. This morning when I was looking for people that had an aptitude for the Priest class, Pang Sun asked me to examine her friend. When I did, I found that she was suitable for the class, so since she was your guest, I immediately performed her class change ceremony.”

Cheng Yang cut him off, “I’m busy right now, so get to the point.”

Old Lee smiled. “My Lord, that girl’s Innate Abilities are heaven-defying. There’s no point in me explaining them. You need to check them for yourself.”

Cheng Yang doubted it was important enough to delay his plans, but he trusted Old Lee enough to check anyways. As such, he immediately walked over to the Territory Altar and checked Liu Wei’s status pane.

---

Liu Wei
Phoenix Village Soldier
Class: Priest
Level: Low-Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age	19	Life Span	110
HP	34.6	MP	43.2
Physical Attack	1	Magic Attack	8.6
Physical Defense	1.7	Magic Defense	1.4
Attack Speed	1	Movement Speed	3

Innate Abilities

• Gods Apostle (Special Ability): As the Gods Apostle you have access to the unique skill Smite. This skill allows you to target an individual with the higher of the Physical Attack or Magic Attack that is lower than the amount healed by your Healing Light skill with the Gods’ wrath. There is a percentage chance based on the difference to instantly kill the individual.
• Absolute Luck (Special Ability): All effects have a 100% activation rate
• Movement speed is increased by 200%

Skills

• Meditation (Low Grade): Meditate to absorb experience fragments and level up
• Healing Light (Low Grade): Send a ray of holy light down to heal a target| Heal: 22.9 | Cost: 5 MP | Cast Time: 1 sec | Proficiency: 0%
• Smite (Unique): Call upon the gods to kill your enemies | Cost: 10 MP | Cooldown: 2 sec

Equipment

• Infinite Knot Pendant: Status symbol of the priest | Used to cast healing spells

---

“What the fuck is this!” Cheng Yang couldn’t help but swear after seeing Liu Wei’s Innate Abilities.

In terms of her actual attributes, Liu Wei was weak, but she did have two Special Innate Abilities. Although Special Innate Abilities are always versatile, neither of Liu Wei’s Innate Abilities were particularly well suited to the Priest class.

Although Absolute Luck was powerful, Priests didn’t have many skills with optional effects. As for the Smite skill, it was an instant death skill, so its chances of activating were probably low. Since that was the case, as a Priest, her Mana would be better spent healing others.

However, since she had both skills, it created a shameless combination.

A scene played out in Cheng Yang’s mind. A powerful warlord confronted a beautiful woman on a field, then she said, “It is the gods’ will that you die.” and the warlord’s heart stopped. How fucking cool would that be!?

As long as Liu Wei raised her level high enough, she would be unstoppable! She would become Phoenix Village’s secret weapon! If she stayed in Phoenix Village, of course.

“My Lord, isn’t Miss Liu special?” Old Lee asked with a knowing smile after watching Cheng Yang’s reaction.

After hearing the question, Cheng Yang sunk into deep contemplation before giving his opinion. “I don’t think this combo is as good as it looks. Since Smite only works on enemies at the same level as you, if she runs into someone even a single level higher than her, she’ll be powerless, especially since she doesn’t have a single normal Innate Ability. In the end, she’s nothing but the world’s only person with an F-Rank Innate Ability.”

Old Lee was stunned, and although he wanted to refute Cheng Yang’s words, he couldn’t.

“Of course,” Cheng Yang continued, “that would only be if she didn’t have Phoenix Village backing her. As long as we’re willing to invest everything we can into power leveling her, she’ll become a powerful card we can play. She’ll also be able to attack some higher level monsters thanks to the research bonuses applied by Priest statue. By the way, how many people know about her Innate Abilities?”

“Just me, Liu Wei, and maybe Pang Sun. When I saw her status pane, I decided to keep it a secret until you came back and asked Liu Wei to do the same.” Old Lee replied.

Cheng Yang nodded with satisfaction. “That’s good. We need to handle this carefully since she won’t be useful to us until she levels up a few times. If an enemy of the village finds out about her abilities, she’ll definitely become a target for assassination.”

“Don’t worry. Even if someone held a knife to my neck, I wouldn’t tell them a thing.”

“That’s good to hear, but you’re my right-hand man. In the future, which bastard would dare to threaten you like that.”

Old Lee gently smiled when he realized how much Cheng Yang trusted him.

“By the way, which brigade did you assign Liu Wei to?” Cheng Yang asked.

“I haven’t given her an assignment yet.” Old Lee sighed, “I was hoping you would be willing to make her a part of your elite guards. That would allow you to accelerate her growth and protect her secrets. If we allow ordinary soldiers to get to close to her, there’s no guarantee someone won’t find out.”

He had the same idea, so Cheng Yang agreed to follow through with Old Lee’s proposal.

“Shall I call Miss Liu over?” Old Lee asked.

During the expedition to Silkworm Mountain, there were bound to be several large scale battles. If Liu Wei participated, she would be able to adapt to the life of a soldier quickly. As such, Cheng Yang ordered Old Lee to bring Liu Wei before him.

Shortly after, Liu Wei’s charming voice caressed Cheng Yang’s ears. “What can I do for you, my Lord?”

Cheng Yang smiled. “There’s no need to be nervous. You’re one of my soldiers now. I’ve called you here because the army is going to be transporting supplies to the newest village I’ve captured, and I want you by my side. I want you to become a powerful fighter as soon as possible.”

“I am at your disposal, my Lord.” Liu Wei was vividly aware of her situation. Since Cheng Yang was willing to treat her well, she was determined not to become a simple tool.

Cheng Yang nodded. Then, without drawing attention to Liu Wei, he organized the army to prepare for the journey.

After the expedition was underway, Cheng Yang summoned Liu Wei to his side. “Liu Wei, are you aware of what your Innate Abilities represent?”

“I do, my Lord. I actually used to play games like this in the old world. My Innate Abilities have incredible potential, but if I can’t level up fast enough, the only use will be clearing out cannon fodder.” Liu Wei answered.

Cheng Yang was impressed. It seemed like Liu Wei wasn’t a delicate flower. If she hadn’t died so early on in his past life, she would undoubtedly have become a prominent figure in the area.

“From now on, stick close by my side, okay?” Cheng Yang said directly.

If Cheng Yang had said this before the apocalypse, a mob of Liu Wei’s admirers would have rushed forward to beat him to a pulp. Even Liu Wei would have ridiculed him. But now, Liu Wei didn’t even laugh. She even found his words somewhat endearing.

Although Liu Wei wasn’t sure if this was a proposal from Cheng Yang, she didn’t think he was the kind of person to abuse his power to take advantage of women. Everything she had witnessed since entering Phoenix Village indicated that he was a morally upright person.

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Regardless of the specifics of its effects, Cheng Yang planned to use the Statue Lifting Stone to increase the number of people who could perform a class change ceremony.

Cheng Yang was somewhat unwilling to leave the instance. Although the Statue Lifting Stone was a great item, it didn’t live up to his expectations for obtaining the first clear of the Nightmare Difficulty. Of course, that was only when he compared to getting a secondary class from the Normal Difficulty.

After joining up with his group, Cheng Yang left the instance.

Since it would be a good source of equipment, Cheng Yang intended to send members of the Imperial Guard into the Nightmare Difficulty every day. It would also speed up the rate at which the territory accrued Experience Fragments significantly.

Since they would be able to run the dungeon ten times a day, it would increase the daily income of the village by at least fifteen thousand Experience Fragments.

After organizing that, Cheng Yang used the Statue Lifting Stone on the Preist class change statue.

A moment later, the number of people who could become Priests increased to thirty. This total was the combined effect of the Statue Lifting Stone and Old Lee’s Innate Ability.

Since there were fifteen new slots open, Cheng Yang needed to find suitable candidates to fill them. Even with nearly a hundred thousand civilians, it would be a difficult task to find that many people who were fit to become Priests.

This time, however, Cheng Yang would pass the responsibility to Old Lee since he also had the authority to check people’s aptitude.

By now, the various army units in Phoenix Village had gradually entered a combat groove, and the division of labor among the Professionals had become apparent. Every day the soldiers were able to earn up to sixty Experience Fragments. Then, to double their training speed, the army personnel would save some of their earnings.

The only impediment to their progress was the increased number of Standard-Grade monsters. The only hordes left nearby were those with hundreds of members which acted as a barrier for the village’s growth.

One way to fix the problem was for Cheng Yang to go out and cull hordes to an acceptable size. The only other solution would be to increase the number of Standard-Grade soldiers. That way, the five brigades would be able to defeat the hordes without Cheng Yang’s help.

The group that performed their class change ceremonies on the day of the apocalypse was on the verge of reaching Standard Grade. Liu As for the rest of the soldiers, they would level up a few days later. In particular, thanks to Cheng Yang’s investments, his best friends and Old Lee would level up by tomorrow. Since there wasn’t a way for Cheng Yang to affect how fast the majority of the army leveled up, so whenever he had the chance, he’d try and thin the hordes surrounding the village.

Cheng Yang’s schedule for today included claiming the Territory Altar North of the Cloud City. It was the last territory near Cloud City, so if Cheng Yang wanted more satellite villages, he would have to explore the farther away areas.

This time, Cheng Yang would only bring Yu Kai and his soldiers. Even though they would miss their designated training time slot, no one complained. After seeing what happened to Liu Hau, everyone could tell Cheng Yang intended to make Yu Kai the Governor of the new village.

Before leaving, Cheng Yang filled his Spacial Ring with potions, leaving him with just over a hundred thousand Experience Fragments. Although he had earned quite a few yesterday, buying a Spacial Ring had negated his effort.

Shortly after that, the group departed from the North Gate towards Cloud City.

As they passed through the city, the group stopped to clear The Forgotten Grave since it was nearby. Since Cheng Yang’s strength had improved by leaps and bounds, it was a short detour.

As the group continued their journey North, they began to encounter refugees. Although there were still a lot of refugees around, their numbers, in general, had decreased.

Their situation had experienced a slight change.

Monsters started forming hordes a few days ago, and since newly spawned monsters weren’t killed fast enough, Cloud City had reached its limit for the number of monsters in a single area. This meant that the spawn rate had decreased, making it easier for the refugees to move around.

Also, ordinary people could obtain Experience Fragments when they killed monsters now. So, as long as a refugee was able to get ten, they could perform a class change ceremony in the safe zone.

Thus, some of the braver or more desperate refugees were banding together to hunt monsters. Unfortunately, their only option was to use numbers to beat a single monster to death with their bare hands, so casualties were unavoidable. It was a dangerous process, but the rewards were more than worth it.

Moreover, Yuan Jianzhe tacitly approved of these people performing class change ceremonies. At the very least, by ignoring the people who did it, he was telling civilians that as long as they were brave enough, the military would allow them to obtain power. People who were able to accomplish the task of earning ten Experience Fragments were even fought over by the various militias in the safe zone.

It was hard for most to refuse an olive branch from established powers, but there would always be people who refused to be controlled by others. Those few ambitious people would form teams with each other to hunt monsters.

These independent teams would eventually grow in size by accumulating Experience Fragments among them and then pooling them to allow a new member to perform a class change ceremony.

Soon, the number of Professionals in Cloud City would reach unimaginable levels.

As always, when Cheng Yang met a group of refugees, he told them to wait where they were. Once he finished his business in the North, he would come back for them.

When the group arrived at the northern bridge, they found a massive horde of monsters guarding it. But this time, the main monster wasn’t something tricky like the Skull Spotted Spiders. Instead, it was just a group of Mephits.

This made Cheng Yang happy. Without warning the others, he dashed into the horde. He was facing hundreds of monsters on his own, but his Petal Blizzard skill made it seem like he was harvesting wheat.

A little over ten minutes later, the battle was over. All that remained was a pile of bloody corpses and a pristine scroll.

When Cheng Yang opened the scroll’s system pane, he realized it was a potion recipe.

---

Magic Amplification Potion (Recipe)
With just a few simple ingredients and a disregard for the side effects of taking too many, even novice mages can be useful in a war!

Requirements: High-Grade Alchemist
Effect: Increase Magic Attack by 2 for five minutes

---

It was a good recipe. Someone else had obtained it in Cheng Yang’s past life, and the potion itself went on to become one of the most sought after items in the area around Cloud City.

Now that Cheng Yang had it, the potion would reach even greater heights! Which idiot allowed him to get so overpowered? If he combined his Alchemy Talent and Perfect Medicinal Body, each potion would increase his Magic Attack by eight points! That was more than a Purple Silver stave!

Cheng Yang started laughing. With this as a hidden ace, even if he ran into a Mature monster, he’d be able to win.

Once he calmed down, Cheng Yang tried to learn the recipe, but he failed.

Cheng Yang slapped his forehead. In his excitement, he had overlooked the fact that he didn’t meet the requirements to learn the recipe.

What a shame, if it just needed him to become a Standard-Grade Alchemist, he would be able to learn the recipe in four or five days. As for reaching the High-Grade level, Cheng Yang would need to wait at least another week or two after that. He would have to wait quite some time before he would be able to use Magic Amplification Potions.

Cheng Yang put the scroll into his Spacial Ring and order the group to keep moving. As they walked through the forest, the same scene from the day before played on repeat. Every couple hundred meters, Cheng Yang’s group would encounter a horde with a few hundred monsters.

The general procedure would be for Cheng Yang to use Sacrificial Blood Cloud. Then, the five lucky individuals would decimate the monsters. If the horde was too big, Cheng Yang would deal with it on his own. Although it slowed them down, it was far safer.

Two hours later, with the help of knowledge from his previous life, Cheng Yang arrived at the approximate location of the Territory Altar. Once he did, Cheng Yang separated from the group and approached the guardian horde alone.

A few minutes later, Cheng Yang stared down the monsters surrounding the Territory Altar. Since the horde wasn’t any stronger than the one guarding the other territory, Cheng Yang didn’t bother thinking up a plan. He was able to use the same tactic as yesterday without even feeling pressured.

An hour later, Cheng Yang placed his hand on the Territory Altar and claimed it.

Watching the class change statues force their way out of the ground, Cheng Yang’s was filled with pride. The world was vast, but who else was capable of capturing three Territory Altars before the end of the second week of the apocalypse.

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Watching Xue Yu and the Boss enter a deadlock again, the rest of the party sighed in relief.

The battle after that was very smooth. Every time Xue Yu’s Health dropped to a low point, Zheng Yue healed her. Everything was proceeding in the direction Cheng Yang had predicted.

Ahn Sumin decided against summoning another dire wolf earlier since the Boss’s aggro would be disrupted, which could affect the battle. Now, however, was the perfect time for his summons to enter the fray.

A short time later, Cheng Yang reduced the Boss’s Health to below seven hundred. In just three more rounds of attacks, it would be dead.

Suddenly, the Boss’s eyes turned red and filled with an insatiable madness.

Cheng Yang’s eyes widened as his body instinctively moved between the Boss and Zheng Yue. “Back off! Get ready to heal!”

The rest of the group responded swiftly, especially Xue Yu. The moment she heard Cheng Yang’s voice, she sprang backward.

“Die…” The Boss croaked. Cracks appeared all over its body and out of those cracks, leaked pulsing, blood-red clouds which spread out in all directions.

It blew forwards, eroding the very ground beneath it. The first to be engulfed was Ahn Sumin’s dire wolf. It’s skin melted away instantly, and before it could scream, the bloody clouds turned its vocal cords to dust. A moment later, it was dead.

Although Xue Yu was fast, the clouds were faster. She only escaped a few meters before the clouds engulfed her as well. She cried out in pain but continued to stagger forwards as the clouds dissolved her flesh.

Cheng Yang and the others weren’t spared. The bloody clouds swept past them, slowly eroding their bodies but at a much slower pace than the dire wolf or Xue Yu.

At the time, Xue Yu had taken at least five hundred points of damage. Although she’d chugged a Health Recovery potions when she started retreating, it wasn’t enough. Now she only had a few tens of Health points left before she became a corpse.

“Heal Xue Yu!” Cheng Yang shouted. Zheng Yue popped out from behind him and sent a ray of healing light towards Xue Yu.

The healing spell and the potion took effect at the same time that the bloody clouds started to dissipate. This allowed Xue Yu’s Health to increase to enter a safe range. Now, even if the Boss attacked her, she would survive the first couple hits.

After being healed, Xue Yu powered through the pain and rushed the Boss with her sword. After driving them back, the Boss had finally stepped outside the doors of the cathedral. If Xue Yu wasn’t able to stop it, the Boss would start attacking Cheng Yang and Zheng Yue.

Before Xue Yu could reach the Boss, an icicle flew past her head and hit the Boss in the chest. The menacing creature stopped moving, and it fell flat on its back.

Everyone in the group other than Cheng Yang was stunned. Didn’t that guy have a seven hundred Health left? Even if they’re estimates were off, it still should have had a few hundred Health points. How did Cheng Yang’s Icicle Blast kill it?

Cheng Yang lowered his stave with a smile. “Yall may not know, but the Boss just made a gamble with its life on the line. It used a powerful area of effect attack that dealt damage proportional to the amount of Health it sacrifices. This damage is cumulative among multiple people, so luckily, Xue Yu didn’t die since the dire wolf did. It went all-in on this move, foolishly hoping to kill all of use but only leaving itself with a single Health point. Thus, I sealed its fate with one attack.”

Zheng Yue suddenly understood why Cheng Yang leaped in front of her when the Boss attacked. She didn’t have a large Health pool, so if the Boss’s attack was more potent than Cheng Yang expected, there was a chance she would have died. After all, Cheng Yang lost nearly a hundred Health even after the attack hit two people.

“My Lord, isn’t that skill overpowered?” Xue Yu asked, her heart still beating quickly, “If the Boss used that skill at the start of the fight, we all would have died in an instant.”

“Thankfully, that’s not possible.” Cheng Yang said, “The prerequisite for using that skill is having less than ten percent of your total Health. More importantly, a Boss in the Nightmare Difficulty shouldn’t even have that skill. I must be because we’re doing the first clear.”

Cheng Yang was lucky that he had heard of this skill before. Although he never tried to clear the Hell Difficulty, he’d heard about the Boss’s trump card from others who had. So, when he saw the Boss’s eyes turn red, he reacted instinctively.

If not for his timely warning, Xue Yu would have been in front of the dire wolf and taken more than enough damage to die without leaving a corpse.

Now that the battle was over, even though there were some tight spots, everyone felt that the result was satisfactory. They had successfully obtained the first clear of the Nightmare Difficulty.

Of course, in return for the difficulty, the rewards for the Nightmare Difficulty first clear were incomparable to those for the Normal Difficulty one. Although Cheng Yang had no way of knowing what grade of equipment the Boss dropped, there were rumors in his past life that it was Red Gold quality.

Looking at the silvery-white staff that the Boss dropped. Cheng Yang smiled. It seemed like his bone stave would finally be replaced with something better.

Although Cheng Yang thought like that, he’d only had his current stave for seven days or so. If anyone from his past life saw the rate at which his equipment quality increased, their eyes would be red with envy.

Cheng Yang picked up the loot and checked its system pane.

---

Mithral Stave of the Future Archmage
Forged from the magical metal Mithral, this stave was gifted to a talented young mage who later reached the pinnacle of magic.

Grade: Red Gold
Class: Mage
Requirements: High Grade Apprentice
Durability: 120/120
Effect: Increase Magic Attack by 10
Effect: Increases the level of the Magic Missile skill by 1

---

It was a god-like piece of equipment!

Cheng Yang wasn’t impressed by the bonus to his Magic Attack attribute since a plus ten was to be expected from equipment of this grade. But the other effect it had was incredible. Raising the level of the Magic Missile skill was the same thing as adding a 10% damage increase.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t benefit Cheng Yang in the slightest. Since he was a Cryomancer, he didn’t have the Magic Missile skill. Although Icicle Blast was a better skill, it meant he wouldn’t be able to utilize the stave’s best effect.

Even unique subclasses had their downsides! The dungeons probably only dropped generic equipment, so the only way he could find equipment suitable for his class would be to find materials and have a Blacksmith make it for him.

Even with that depressing disadvantage, the stave Cheng Yang picked up was still a weapon worthy of his use. If a ranked list of all the equipment on Earth existed, it would be at the very top.

Cheng Yang put his old stave into his Spacial Ring, then equipped his new one. Once he left the instance, he would give his old one away to one of the Mages in his territory.

“My Lord, since we’ve vanquished our foe, should we return?” Xue Yu jubilantly said as she finished healing her wounds.

“Not yet. There’s no way someone else cleared this difficulty before us, so there should be something good inside the cathedral. Wait here. I’ll go fetch it.”

Cheng Yang entered the cathedral on his own. It looked more or less the same as it did in the lower difficulties. The only significant change was that the walls were painted with blood.

There was a chest on the pulpit, and inside was an ordinary-looking object. Rather than something valuable, it seemed to be just a cracked piece of stone.

Cheng Yang knew what the rewards were for getting the first clear on the lower level difficulties of the Blood-Soaked Cathedral, but he had no clue what the object in front of him was.

When he picked it up, Cheng Yang immediately checked the objects system pane.

---

Statue Lifting Stone (Priest)

Double any one attribute of a Priest class change statue.

---

After reading the description, Cheng Yang’s mind was filled with questions. When he used the stone, would it double the current attribute value? Or would it double the base attribute value? What would happen after the statue leveled up again?

If it was the former, it would be better to wait since the bonus would be more valuable later. But if it was the latter, it wouldn’t matter when he used it.

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The strength of Cheng Yang’s party was incomparable to a typical group. Without even considering their levels, every member had a full set of Black Iron equipment and one or two pieces of Green Bronze equipment. If the Imperial Guard were able to leave Phoenix Village, Cheng Yang had absolute confidence that his current party would be able to raze Cloud City.

“Get rid of the other Mephits first. Then we can make a plan for the Boss.” Cheng Yang ordered.

No one objected since the strongest monsters in the area – Pinnacle-Grade Immature monsters – didn’t pose a challenge for them. When they were still High-Grade Apprentices, they were able to defeat monsters at that level on their own.

The ensuing battles confirmed that fact. Cheng Yang’s group efficiently resolved each fight. Even Pinnacle-Grade monsters were killed in a single round of attacks.

In less than ten minutes, they cleared all of the courtyards. Along the way, they picked up two pieces of Purple Silver equipment.

First clears were the best for loot, and the Nightmare Difficulty was no exception.

---

Necklace of the Unknown Sage
The sage sat quietly as the world burned around her, her knowledge useless and dry. Even up until the moment she was murdered, the sage remained silent.

Grade: Purple Silver
Class: Unrestricted
Requirements: Low Grade Apprentice
Durability: 100/100
Effect: Increase Magic Attack by 4

---

Nessaf’s Bow
The bow of a Wood Elf assassin. It was designed to fire off powerful arrows one after another into a target’s back.

Grade: Purple Silver
Class: Ranger
Requirements: Low Grade Apprentice
Durability: 100/100
Effect: Increase Physical Attack by 6

---

Naturally, Cheng Yang took the Necklace of the Unknown Sage so that he could increase his damage by two points. As for the bow, it went to Hayashi Airi, the only Ranger in the group. The bonus it granted was three points better than her Black Iron equipment, so it was a powerful piece of equipment.

Cheng Yang gazed up at the cathedral in front of him and felt his heart freeze.

In his previous life, Cheng Yang had the opportunity to enter the Nightmare Difficulty. Although he was just a helper at the time, he fully understood the power of a Mature Greater Mephit. What’s more, the Greater Mephit was a Boss.

“Xue Yu, will you be able to withstand the Boss’s attacks?” Cheng Yang asked quietly.

“I have a base Physical Defense of twenty-nine, and when Zheng Yue uses Shield of Faith, it will raise to thirty points five. If I add in my armor, my Physical Defense is thirty-two point five, so the Boss can deal a maximum of forty-eight point five damage with each attack. With my Health, I’ll be able to tank twelve attacks, but that’s only when I get hit. Even though the Boss is a Mature monster, with my fighting skills, it’ll be hard for it to get past my shield. So, if we also consider our healing options, I’ll be fine.” Xue Yu said.

Cheng Yang listened and nodded his head. If Xue Yu said so, he trusted her.

Alright, in that case, after Ahn Sumin lures the Boss out with his dire wolf, use Shield Bash to stun it. I’ll keep Hibernation Chill in reserve in case something happens. This is going to be a hard battle.” Cheng Yang commanded, “Ahn Sumin, summon your wolf now and then wait for the skill’s cooldown to finish. Only then should we start the fight.”

Ahn Sumin nodded, then swung his staff into the air, summoning a dire wolf. The powerful Pinnacle-Grade beast appeared out of thin air. It was bigger than the wolves other Summoners had.

At the same time, Zheng Yue cast Angelic Inspiration on Ahn Sumin. As for Cheng Yang and the others, Zheng Yue buffed them in previous battles. Since the spell lasted for ten minutes, there was still some time left before the effects expired.

A minute after the dire wolf was summoned, Ahn Sumin directed it to open the door of the cathedral. Once it did, a furious cry could be heard from within as tremors shook the area.

“Get ready to fight!” Cheng Yang shouted. As he said that, a three meter tall Greater Mephit charged out of the cathedral.

Xue Yu dashed forwards, lifted her shield above her head, and hurtled towards the Boss like a meteor.

Although the Greater Mephit was formidable, it couldn’t react to Xue Yu’s boosted speed and was bashed. It’s powerful movements dulled as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.

Everyone sprang into action, including the dire wolf that was bait, and attacked the Boss. At the same time, a glowing yellow film covered Xue Yu as Zheng Yue cast Shield of Faith.

That round of attack reduced the Boss’s Health by over two hundred points.

Once the stun effect was lifted, the Boss was furious. Ignoring the other targets around it, it raised its spear to skewer Xue Yu.

Xue Yu was ready for the blow and thrust her shield forwards at an angle. Once the spear made contact, she swayed, peculiarly rolling her shield. With a grating screech, Xue Yu deflected the spear into the ground while keeping her stance firm.

What she did wasn’t a skill. It was a pure combat technique. The future of shields in combat revolved around dispersing the force behind an enemy’s blows. Without that technique, it would be impossible to tank for a party. Unskilled Warriors would end up flying through the air if powerful attacks hit them. A Warrior like that was useless in a fight.

After it failed to hit Xue Yu, the Boss lifted the spear in its other hand and thrust it towards Xue Yu’s other shoulder. It would seem that Xue Yu’s Shield Bash had angered the Boss since it even ignored the aggro ability of the summoned dire wolf. As for the ones doing damage, the Boss completely ignored them.

Xue Yu was slower than the Boss, and her shield didn’t entirely cover her shoulder. Although the attack looked easy to block, Xue Yu’s current stance didn’t allow her arm to move correctly. She was powerless to escape the spear’s tip.

Xue Yu grit her teeth in pain as the spear pierced her flesh. Although the spear was wickedly sharp, the god’s rules prevented Xue Yu’s arm from breaking.

At the same time, the rest of the group’s attacks hit the Boss. Xue Yu also counterattacked despite the pain, snaking her sword under the Boss’s ribcage. This four-way pincer attack dealt almost three hundred damage.

Hitting Xue Yu appeased the Boss’s anger, so its next set of attacks rained down on Ahn Sumin’s dire wolf.

Taking advantage of the opening, Zheng Yue healed Xue Yu then spent his time re-applying Angelic Inspiration on the rest of the party.

At the same time that the party reduced the Boss’s Heath by a quarter, it’s furious flurry of attacks killed the dire wolf. With the summon’s death, the Boss switched to target the next highest source of aggro: Cheng Yang.

Xue Yu’s combat experience allowed her to notice the Boss’s intention the moment it looked at Cheng Yang. Dashed in front of the Boss, she drew a bloody line across its waist with her sword.

Even after suffering that attack, the Boss’s intention didn’t change. Leaning forward, it prepared to bypass Xue Yu and attack Cheng Yang.

How could Xue Yu just let the Boss run past her? As someone summoned from the Imperial Guard Pavilion, she was naturally a combat prodigy. Every time the Greater Mephit tried to move forward, she would block it with her body and sword.

Taking advantage of her brilliant entanglement, Cheng Yang and the others attacked.

Unable to escape Xue Yu, the Boss understood one thing: “Unless I deal with this tenacious bastard, I won’t be able to deal with those annoying flies in the back.”

This time, when it lifted its spear, it seemed to gain an indescribable amount of weight and was covered with a golden sheen. It silently shot forwards, ready to split Xue Yu’s forehead.

As soon as Xue Yu saw the attack, she realized the Boss was using a skill, and although she wanted to dodge it completely, she was too deeply intertwined with the Boss to do so. All she could do was use her shield to cover her head and prepare to receive the blow.

When the spear met the shield, it rang out with the sound of a majestic gong that rang in the party’s ears for a long time.

At the same time, Xue Yu’s muscles froze up, and her eyes glazed over. The Boss’s attack was a special one that carried a stun effect!

The Greater Mephit sneered down at Xue Yu. Then, it used its other spear to bat her across the pavilion, as if it were sweeping away garbage.

Without Xue Yu holding the line, the Boss would be able to leave the restrictive doorway to the cathedral. The collapse of their defensive line didn’t mean they were defeated, but it would be much harder to stop the Boss from attacking the squishier members of the party.

It was at that moment that Cheng Yang finished casting a spell. With a chilling crack, the Boss was enveloped in an ice-cold blast of air; it’s sneer freezing onto its face.

During those two precious seconds when the Boss was frozen, every member of the party used their most lethal attacks.

Xue Yu woke up and used Shield Bash to reach the Boss before it was able to wake up. Although she wasn’t close enough to land the skill, she reestablished the defensive line.

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Cheng Yang put the ring on his finger and used his consciousness to probe it. Suddenly, he felt an independent space open up inside the ring. It was rather small, so it couldn’t fit bulky items, but it was suitable for storing potions.

Since Space Rings didn’t provide any Attribute bonuses, it wasn’t considered equipment. As such, it wouldn’t take up one of Cheng Yang’s ring equipment slots.

Seeing Cheng Yang put on the ring and prepare to leave, the Grocery manager couldn’t help but say: “My Lord, are you sure you don’t need anything else? My store has-“

“Not at the moment. The next time I have the opportunity to visit your shop, I will.” Cheng Yang smiled backward at the manager before walking out.

Then, Cheng Yang began training.

The thirty-two times training speed Cheng Yang unlocked earlier was gratifying for him. It was the highest training bonus he could obtain for a long time to come since the next level up required a million Experience Fragments to unlock.

Once Cheng Yang finished training, his experience bar was 13.1% full. As long as he was able to maintain this speed, Cheng Yang would level up in forty days.

In his previous life, the highest level human was still an Apprentice, but in under two months, Cheng Yang would surpass that and reach the second stage of evolution. Progressing that quickly gave him an advantage you can only imagine.

Once the sun rose, Cheng Yang left his house and started new research for the Mage statue. For the four primary class change statues, there was only one research topic remaining. Once that research finished, the statues would reach Pinnacle Grade, and there would be explosive growth in the number of Professionals in Phoenix Village. Cheng Yang didn’t forget to start new research for the Priest statue as well.

When he was done, Cheng Yang prepared to enter the Blood-Soaked Cathedral.

With his current combat strength, Cheng Yang no longer felt pressured by the Hard Difficulty instance, so he set his sights on the Nightmare Difficulty. Obtaining the prizes from the first clear of the Nightmare Difficulty was one of the fundamental reasons Cheng Yang chose to use Divine Grace instead of waiting to level up.

Someone in his past life had managed to clear Nightmare Difficulty of the Blood-Soaked Cathedral before, so Cheng Yang knew that the Boss at the end was a Low-Grade Mature monster.

Although the Boss was a Mature monster, that wasn’t why Nightmare Difficulty used the word “nightmare.” Although Cheng Yang had been referring to the strongest monster in an instance dungeon as a Boss, only those at the end of Nightmare Difficulty instances or higher were truly Boss monsters. In other words, in a Nightmare Difficulty instance, Boss wasn’t just a title; it was a rank similar to Elite.

According to the divisions created in his past life, the Boss title granted to the boss of a Nightmare Difficulty instance was only the lowest rank possible. Even so, the title raised the monsters Health by 1000% and both defense attributes by 100%. Although its damage didn’t increase, its survivability truly warranted calling it a boss monster.

To defeat a Boss, a party would need sustainable damage output instead of high damage output, putting a focus on defense and healing. Having a Priest was especially useful since the Boss would eventually kill the Warriors if they relied on potions for healing unless that Warrior could carry hundreds of potions.

A normal Low-Grade Mature monster would have a Health of 480, so a Boss would have 4,800, and its Physical and Mental Defense would be raised from 16 to 32.

In Cheng Yang’s past life, the hardest difficulty anyone had cleared was Nightmare. As for the Hell Difficulty, although people attempted it, no one had beaten it. Almost everyone was hunted down by the Boss, with the rare few being able to escape by hiding until the timer ran out.

If it was just the Health that increased, a party could still torture the Boss to death, but since the defense doubled as well, High-Grade humans wouldn’t even deal damage. Even normal Pinnacle-Grade humans would only deal single digit damage to the Boss. Killing it would be nearly impossible.

Cheng Yang started thinking about clearing the Nightmare Difficulty a long time ago, but he wasn’t strong enough, and no one in the village was able to help him. Now that he was Pinnacle-Grade, the situation changed.

Cheng Yang now dealt a staggering 130 damage, so the amount of damage the Boss would take would be considerable. As long as there were two people at his level in the dungeon, they would only need twenty-five rounds of attacking to kill the Boss.

However, during those rounds, the party would have to withstand the attacks of a monster that dealt 80 damage. Even Pinnacle-Grade Warriors equipped with Purple Silver equipment would find it hard to survive more than eight direct attacks.

To survive the fight, everyone involved would need to drink a Standard Grade Health Recovery potion after every attack.

Buying enough potions for a whole part would be expensive but acceptable as long as they cleared the instance. However, that was only assuming the fight went exactly as planned. Once a Boss started using skills, even the most prepared party would quickly crumble.

So, Cheng Yang planned to bring a Priest. Not only would this increase their damage output, but it would also secure their lives in a crisis.

Cheng Yang summoned the head Priest in the Imperial Guard, someone with an SS-Rank Innate Ability and the obvious choice. At the same time, Xue Yu and the other Elite Imperial Guards were summoned to make clearing the instance as smooth as possible.

Cheng Yang summoned the Elite Imperial Guard a few days ago and gave them some Experience Fragments yesterday, so they already knew their class’ advanced skills. Now Cheng Yang just needed to pay for the advanced Priest skill.

---

• Shield Bash (Low-Grade): Triples the users speed and stuns a target with less than twice the user’s Physical Attack | Range: 25 m | Stun Time: 1 sec| Cooldown: 1 min | Level Needed: Standard Grade Apprentice | Price: 100 Experience Fragments

• Spectral Arrows (Low-Grade): Increases damage by condensing the users will onto each arrow, adding a second, spectral arrowhead | Buff: 10% | Duration: 1 min | Cost: 30 MP | Cooldown: 90 sec | Level Needed: Standard Grade Apprentice | Price: 100 Experience Fragments

• Shield of Faith (Low-Grade): Call upon the gods to defend an ally by increasing their defense attributes | Buff: 5% | Duration: 1 min | Cost: 20 MP | Cooldown: 30 sec | Level Needed: Standard Grade Apprentice | Price: 100 Experience Fragments

• Dire Wolves (Low-Grade): All summoned wolves are now Dire Wolves with a 10% stat increase compared to normal Wolves | Passive Skill | Level Needed: Standard Grade Apprentice | Price: 100 Experience Fragments

---

Without a doubt, those four skills were incredibly useful and would play a key role in enhancing the combat effectiveness of their party.

The only dissatisfying skill was the Priest’s Shield of Faith. Of course, the unhappy person would be the Priest, not the rest of the team. Not being able to do damage would continue to be every Priest’s sore spot and a source of apprehension.

On the other hand, Priests would be in even higher demand, especially the ones from Phoenix Village. They would be able to buff damage, buff defense, and heal. What more could you need? Priests with high-level skills would become the core of every party.

Cheng Yang didn’t care about Priests being unable to attack since he only cared about their ability to strengthen a team. That was definitely better than just dealing damage. After all, there were only a few Priests in the village, so even if they could do damage, it wouldn’t help much.

Once the people he summoned arrived, Cheng Yang visited the Alchemy Tower to buy recovery potions. Then, he walked over to the entrance to the Blood-Soaked Cathedral.

Cheng Yang opened the status pane and without hesitation, selected Nightmare Difficulty.

As soon as they entered the instance, everyone felt an indescribable sense of awe. Endless red clouds covered the sky, releasing bloody rain onto the ground below.

The only difference between the Normal and Hard difficulties was that the sky was a little darker, but now the entire atmosphere had changed. Although the name hinted that this would be the case, it was still quite shocking.

Cheng Yang wasn’t surprised since he knew that in the Hell Difficulty, it was even worse. The entire instance was painted red with rivers of blood flowing through the area.

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On the way back, Cheng Yang’s claims were verified. With the horde gather around the Joyous River Territory Altar destroyed, monsters should have started spawning again. However, no matter how long he spent on the road, nothing attacked him.

When he reached the point where the Xiang River intersected the road, to his surprise, Cheng Yang found a bridge.

The single-arch stone bridge stretched right across the kilometer wide river. It could be considered a miracle. With humanity’s current technology level, it was absolutely impossible to make a bridge like that out of stone, but it seemed that the laws of physics didn’t restrict the gods.

Cheng Yang didn’t like to worry about things like that, so he crossed the bridge and continued on his journey.

Compared to the rough forest he had traveled through earlier, Cheng Yang moved much faster across the smoothly paved cobblestone. He was able to run back to Phoenix Village in just a few minutes.

It was about five in the afternoon when Cheng Yang returned. Just in time for a group of soldiers to finish their training and leave the safety of the village gates. It was likely that they were going out to hunt monsters.

Seeing Cheng Yang arrive, Lau Hui ran over to him.

“My Lord, why are you back so soon? Where are the others?” Since Cheng Yang usually didn’t come back until after dark, Lau Hui was concerned.

“We found another Territory Altar and occupied it. Right now, the others are defending the new village until I can bring back wood and human resources. They need to build a fence before they can come back.”

Lau Hui pointed to the road behind Cheng Yang, “Then does that path lead to the new village? We were wondering what that was and assumed the gods created it, but it turns out our Lord was the one to build it.” Lau Hui was overjoyed.

Cheng Yan ignored the question and said: “Don’t go out to farm monsters yet. I need all of the Warriors and Summoners to be wood porters. Try and get some from the other teams too so we can complete the task in one trip.”

Lau Hui nodded and sent some soldiers to fetch the wood. Since there weren’t any materials warehouses in Phoenix Village, the Loggers piled up all the logs next to the Territory Altar.

After the soldiers left, Cheng Yang went to the Outer Village. He needed to find eighty normal people to go with him to Joyous River Village. Since the class change statues in the new village hadn’t been used yet, Cheng Yang was eager to expand the number of forces under his command.

The selection process wasn’t very complicated. Cheng Yang gave priority to young people. Although a person’s age wouldn’t affect their stats after becoming Professionals, experience from his past life proved that the youth was a factor in receiving a good Innate Ability.

Cheng Yang decided not to let the other two people he brought back from Cloud City perform a class change ceremony today. He was going to wait until they could become soldiers for Phoenix Village. Zhou Jie would be a valuable asset, so Cheng Yang wouldn’t allow her to perform a class change ceremony anywhere else. As for Liu Wei, since she was Pang Sun’s best friend, naturally, she would want to stay in Phoenix Village.

Once Cheng Yang gathered eighty civilians, he walked over to the East Gate and found Lau Hui waiting there with a crowd of people. There were at least three hundred soldiers, with every two people carrying a log. The total amount of wood was easily four hundred units — more than enough for Joyous River Village’s early development.

With a shout from Cheng Yang, the procession set off.

Along the way, the soldiers were shocked by the lack of monsters. In their minds, the world outside the walls was a wasteland filled with monsters and danger. Aside from Cheng Yang, no one dares to walk around outside the walls alone. After all, even when they were in large teams, they still needed to be careful.

Right now, though, there wasn’t even a shadow of a monster to be found. It was all very unusual.

Even if they were curious, the soldiers kept their questions to themselves, except for Lau Hui. He didn’t hold back and asked Cheng Yang directly.

After Cheng Yang finished his explanation, Lau Hui was able to understand.

Suddenly, Lau Hui gasped. “My Lord, if we paved the entire world, wouldn’t we defeat the monsters once and for all!”

Cheng Yang glanced over at his friend. His imagination was praiseworthy, but unfortunately, his assumption was wrong. Regardless of whether the gods would allow that to happen after the Professionals realized the benefits of killing monsters, there wouldn’t be a single person willing to eliminate them.

It took the group nearly an hour to reach Joyous River Village.

When they arrived, Liu Hau and the other soldiers Cheng Yang left behind were scattered around the area, killing monsters. With more than thirty experience soldiers defending the village, anything that spawned was immediately ganged up on and slain.

Cheng Yang ordered the soldiers following him to set the wood on the ground next to the Territory Altar. Then, Liu Hau built the village wall.

A moment later, the village was surrounded by a thick, solid wall that gave everyone a strong sense of security. This was especially true for normal people. The uneasiness they felt during the journey to the village went away.

With that, Cheng Yang finished his job. Chen Chao would be able to take care of the rest as long as Cheng Yang left her in charge of the eighty civilians he brought.

Cheng Yang didn’t ask for much from Chen Chao. He left the Vice Governor with a thousand Experience Fragments and the duty to both protect the territory and perform class change ceremonies for the eighty normal people Cheng Yang brought.

Cheng Yang even explicitly forbid Chen Chao from further developing the village since there were bound to be large hordes in the surrounding area. If a horde in the thousands attacked the village right now, the monsters would raze it.

By the time Cheng Yang returned to Phoenix Village, it was already dark. So, he left the soldiers to their own devices and went to alchemize potions on the courtyard in his house. With the help of his new furnace, he was able to concoct thirty-five potions.

He then packed the potions into a bag and sold them to the Alchemy Tower manager at the agreed price, earning 1440 Experience Fragments.

All in all, Cheng Yang’s harvests for today were rich. Without even mentioning the new village or his Purple Silver equipment, he’d earned nearly ten thousand Experience Fragments. It was normal for someone who waged so many wars in one day to be rewarded. Especially the one he waged to captured Joyous River Village, he felt so badass.

Although Cheng Yang had a total of 110,000 Experience Fragments, it didn’t satisfy his greed. As soon as he finished selling the potions, he left Phoenix Village.

Cheng Yang moved with purpose and only fought hordes with five hundred monsters or more. Those hordes didn’t present much of a challenge to Cheng Yang, but the story would be different if a group of ordinary soldiers ran into one. Only after Cheng Yang cleared out the large hordes like this one would the soldiers of Phoenix Village be able to level up safely.

That night, Cheng Yang killed over three thousand monsters. In exchange, he consumed tens of potions. But compared to the number of Experience Fragments he earned, the cost was negligible.

In fact, if Cheng Yang were to distribute his Experience Fragments to others in the territory, it would be enough for ten people to unlock sixteen times training speed. Unfortunately, there weren’t ten people that could afford to pay for sixteen times training speed even if they could use it. Unless Cheng Yang were willing to subsidize their costs, it would be meaningless.

Would Cheng Yang be willing to subsidize anyone? Obviously not. Although Cheng Yang wanted to help people, he would only do so if it wasn’t a detriment to his interests. As it was now, it would be impossible for him to pay for everyone’s training fees even if he used all of the Experience Fragments he had.

Thus, after careful consideration, Cheng Yang decided to splurge a little and spend ten thousand Experience Fragments to buy a Spacial Ring.

The utility of a Spacial Ring went without saying, not having to carry things physically would allow an individual to fight without being weighed down. Not to mention the fact that they would also be able to take far more with them.

Cheng Yang immediately went inside the Grocery, the first time he had done so since he was reborn.

Compared to the other shops in the village, the Grocery was by far the loneliest. Not because the items inside were useless, but instead, they were too good. Except for the food, none of the things inside was something regular soldiers could afford.

“My Lord, what do you need to buy? My humble store has a wide variety of goods, so I’m confident that I can meet your needs.” When the manager saw Cheng Yang walk in, a warm smile filled his face.

“I need a Spacial Ring.”

When the manager heard that, his grin grew wider. “How big of a Spacial Ring do you need my Lord? My store supplies rings with a space as small as a cubic meter and as vast as a hundred cubic meters.”

“Just give me the smallest one.”

For a moment, there was a gleam of disappointment in the manager’s eyes. “My Lord, surely a single cubic meter of space is too little for you. May I recommend you purchase the ten cubic meter version? It’s only a hundred thousand Experience Fragments. Besides, if you buy a smaller ring now, won’t it just go to waste when you get a bigger one in the future?”

Cheng Yang scoffed. “Don’t worry about that. I already know that you can pay to have an existing ring’s space extended instead of buying a new one. So, not only is the smallest one, not a waste, there’s no reason for me to buy a bigger one at the moment. Bring it to me quickly.”

He met someone knowledgeable! Even though the manager’s heart mourned the loss, he still promptly brought out Cheng Yang’s ring. After all, ten thousand Experience Fragments was still something.

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In reality, Cheng Yang wasn’t sure how he would deal with his friends. Right now, they held four of the village’s general positions, but that was only a temporary solution until he found more qualified individuals.

In the future, if they grew into the role, Cheng Yang wouldn’t mind leaving them in their current positions. However, if they proved to be incompetent when it came to war, it was better to make them Governors.

Even so, Cheng Yang was going to make Liu Hau a Governor now. Not because his best friend was talented at managing internal affairs but because Cheng Yang wanted him to level up as quickly as possible. Lau Hui’s Vice-Governor could do the actual work.

Having made his decision, Cheng Yang quickly returned to the place he had left the rest of the group.

Having been forced to wait for two hours, Liu Hau and the others were feeling impatient. If not for their trust in Cheng Yang’s abilities, they would have already tried to follow him.

The moment Cheng Yang walked out of the forest, the whole group came to meet him.

“My Lord, you were gone for hours! Did you manage to find it?” Liu Hau asked.

“Everything’s settled. I’ll take you there now.” Cheng Yang walked back into the forest without explaining himself further.

The group looked at each other and then followed.

It only took them a few minutes to reach the corpse-filled clearing three kilometers away.

“My Lord, is that the altar you were talking about?” Liu Hau couldn’t help but ask, “Does that mean this is a village?”

“That’s right, welcome to Joyous River Village. Its Phoenix Village’s first subsidiary village and you, Koko, will be its first Governor. Think of it as being the Lord of a subsidiary village. Are you satisfied with that arrangement?” Cheng Yang asked.

“Me? As the Governor?” Liu Hau asked in disbelief, “Give me a break! I’m not cut out to be some administrator. Keeping track of all those bits of data and organizing chores would drive me insane!”

“You’ll only be a figurehead. ” Cheng Yang had expected Liu Hau to say that and immediately assured him. “In the future, your Vice-Governor will be the one responsible for managing the village. You know who I’m talking about, right?”

Liu Hau turned his head to look at the woman standing behind him, Chen Chao.

“Did you mean me?” Chen Chao looked around and saw that she was the only person Liu Hau had brought from the people he controlled. It wasn’t something Cheng Yang had told Liu Hau to do but rather was a coincidence and a test. After all, if Liu Hau hadn’t trusted Chen Chao enough to ask her to come with him on this mission, the Vice-Governor position would go to someone else.

After seeing Cheng Yang confirm her suspicious with a nod, Chen Chao started to ramble. “My Lord, this is… I managed a small business before the apocalypse, but this is a whole village, and as Phoenix Village’s first subsidiary village it’s very important that its governed properly and I’m afraid-“

“What are you worried about? This is something the Lord arranged for you.” Liu Hau encouraged, “My Lord, since you’ve recognized her talent, why don’t you just give her the position of Governor? I’ve only been with her for a few days, but she’s a very trustworthy person, and although she’s a little less passionate than a young person, she’s the perfect choice for running a village.”

“I won’t be changing my mind, so don’t shy away from the position of Governor.” Cheng Yang replied, “There’s a lot of benefits to being a Governor. As soon as you become the Governor, you’ll be able to level up, and when the village becomes a town, you’ll get another opportunity. Since we don’t have many high-level fighters, this is something I won’t let you refuse.”

Liu Hau listened to Cheng Yang with a solemn expression. He had the chance to get stronger, but he would also become responsible for people’s lives. “…Yoko, why don’t you give the position to Yu Kai? He thinks things through more than I do, and in terms of balance, he’s better than me.”

“Don’t worry about that. All of the generals will get the chance to become a Governor. Right now, it’s about whether you can seize this moment.”

Liu Hau thought for a moment. “Alright, I’ll accept it. Is there some kind of inauguration?”

Cheng Yang nodded and then laid his bare hands on the Territory Altar behind him. After a few moments of fiddling around, Liu Hau became the Governor.

At the same time, a voice whispered to Liu Hau’s souls: “Congratulations. Governor Liu Hau has successfully taken office, opening the way to the village’s bright future. As the Governor of the world’s first subsidiary village, the gods have prepared a gift for you. A road will automatically be built, connecting Phoenix Village and Joyous River Village.”

Although Cheng Yang heard a slightly different message than Liu Hau, the general idea was the same.

Shortly after, near the south side of the village, trees began toppling over. When they hit the ground, their bark fell off in strips, and the wood started rotting at a visible pace. Each tree quickly decayed, turning into a mush that sank into the solidifying dirt. The group watched as a road thirty meters wide willed itself into existence.

It was as big as a two-way eight-lane highway!

Cheng Yang could barely hold back his joy. He knew full well that if Phoenix Village had to foot the bill, the price would be unimaginable. Just the raw materials would be enough to make anyone go crazy!

Once road building was unlocked, every three square meters built would cost the Lord a unit of stone. Thus, taking into account that the distance between the two villages was at least thirty kilometers, it took over 300,000 units of stone to create. It would take over a year for a thousand Miners to gather that much.

As for actually building the road, the Lord would need only press a button once the required materials were prepared, and the project would finish in an instant.

“My Lord, I didn’t expect that we’d be the first to get a second village!” Liu Hau said, looking at the new road, “It’s going to be so much easier than I thought for the two villages to keep in touch.”

Cheng Yang was all smiles. “Koko, this road means a lot more than that. Roads like this represent absolute safety for travelers exchanging goods between stations because the god’s rules protect them. Monsters won’t spawn near them, and almost all monsters avoid them.”

“so, in the future, even ordinary people will be able to travel between villages freely?”

“That’s right. Although there’s still some danger, compared to before, it’s a thousand times better. No, ten thousand times better.”

“My Lord, can we build a road to Tianfu City? That way, we can reach the city without any incidents.”

Cheng Yang knew that Tianfu was Liu Hau’s hometown, which meant his mother and sister lived there. Unfortunately, there was no way for Cheng Yang to fulfill his friend’s request.

“You’d better give up on that idea.” Cheng Yang said softly, “If we wanted to build a road that long the amount of stone needed would be astronomical. Even if we used the cheapest ten-meter wide option, the distance between us and Tianfu is over 1,500 kilometers away. It will be faster for us to focus on gathering our strength and then fight our way there.”

“But didn’t we make this road without needing to do much?”

Cheng Yang smiled sadly, “This was a reward from the gods, we wouldn’t be able to build it ourselves even if we tried.”

“Argh! Those damn rules.” Liu Hau sighed.

After that, Cheng Yang appointed Chen Chao to the Vice-Governor position.

When he was finished, Cheng Yang opened the Territory Altar’s system pane. There were two main differences when compared to the one in Phoenix Village: there was a new Permissions tab and the Divine Grace button had been replaced with a Divine Blessing button. Other than that, Joyous River Village was also missing something crucial that Phoenix Village had: an Innate Ability that it could give its soldiers.

The permissions tab would allow Cheng Yang to limit the authority of the Governor and Vice-Governor.

After setting the permissions of Liu Hao and Cai Tiancheng, Cheng Yang stepped onto the road and headed towards Phoenix Village.

Without wood and manpower, Joyous River Village would never develop. So, the first thing Cheng Yang needed to do was send some civilians carrying wood to the village to perform class change ceremonies. After that, the vilalge would become more or less self sufficient.

The rest of his group would have to stay behind and defend the village from any monsters that spawned. Since there wasn’t a wall yet, it was possible for the monsters to destroy the Territory Altar, turning Cheng Yang’s first subsidiary village into a shadow of the past.

As for Liu Hau’s usage of Divine Blessing, he had decided to wait a few days. Since he would reach the Standard Grade soon using his own efforts, he could maximize the value of Divine Blessing if he used it to become a High-Grade Apprentice.

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