Chapter 50: Strengthening Power
The players had successfully defended Hexi Village with their own strength, which was an immensely fulfilling feat in itself, worthy of admiration for their perseverance and heroism!
Even if there had been no quest rewards, it still would have been an exceptional gaming experience, enough for players to rush back to the forum and brag wildly.
The gaming experience had been maxed out!
Moreover, the rewards were so abundant!
Far beyond expectations!
Truly a surprise!
Hang Yu was being very generous this time!
The territory's reserve of Essence totaled just over 60,000.
Simply the direct Essence expenditure alone exceeded 24,000!
This was several times more than the total Essence loss caused by player deaths.
As the saying went, "Take from the people, use for the people," and using this opportunity to boost players' levels and strength, while simultaneously issuing a large amount of Contribution Points, allowed players to suddenly become wealthy.
The higher the players' levels were, the greater the profits generated from each "harvest."
The more Contribution Points players held, the stronger their purchasing power became, creating even more value!
Although for now, players could only use Contribution Points to trade with NPCs or purchase territory value-added services, in the future, the free circulation of Contribution Points would be further opened up, fully turning them into currency.
After Hang Yu issued the rewards, he immediately returned to the main base.
When he opened his personal information panel, an important notification popped up before him.
【Ding, you have obtained a “Lesser Abyssal Nightmare Source Fragment.” Would you like to assimilate it immediately? Yes/No!】
"Yes!"
【Ding, Assimilation successful. You have gained +3 Talent Points!】
Xu Feng had been a Lesser Pollution Source, so after defeating him, Hang Yu obtained a Lesser Abyssal Nightmare Source Fragment. After assimilating it, he immediately gained 3 Talent Points.
The Snake-Tailed Flame Chicken had contributed one Talent Point.
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull had contributed one Talent Point.
The corrupted Xu Feng had contributed three Talent Points in one go.
Hang Yu had now accumulated five Talent Points, just enough to activate a Lord Talent, which was a significant milestone for both himself and his territory.
【You are about to activate the ‘Lord’s Aura.’ Activating this Talent will consume 5 Talent Points. Confirm activation? Yes/No!】
There were only two Tier-One Lord Talents.
They were: Lord’s Aura and Pioneer’s Heart.
Hang Yu decided to first activate the Lord’s Aura, as this Talent could boost the strength of his troops.
【Lord’s Aura】: A Tier-One Lord Talent. You can exert influence over all Retainers and units within a 300-kilometer radius centered on the Lord Core, enhancing their HP, MP, and all attributes by 15% for two hours. This effect can only be applied once per target each day.
Lord Talents were also known as Territory Skills.
They generally either boosted territory production or strengthened troop capabilities.
As the Lord grew, the Talents would continue to strengthen, playing increasingly vital roles.
Territory Skills were originally a blessing for every subject of the land, but based on the principle of "pluck every passing goose," unless absolutely necessary, Hang Yu did not intend to provide the Calamity Army with free blessings!
Lord’s Aura was a powerful buff.
Packaging it as a paid service could also recycle a considerable amount of Contribution Points and would become a stable, long-term source of income.
There was still close to 40,000 Essence remaining.
The "fields of leeks" were growing more and more lush.
Hang Yu had countless ways to creatively harvest the players, and obtaining Essence was no longer particularly difficult, so there was no need to be stingy.
【Essence -3000!】
【Your “Qi Gathering Slash” has been cultivated to maximum level. You have gained a permanent increase of 10 Strength Attribute Points.】
【Essence -6000!】
【Your “Taiping Lightning Spell” has been upgraded to maximum level. You have gained a permanent increase of 15 Spirit Attribute Points!】
Hang Yu spent 9,000 Essence to max out two new skills, not only greatly enhancing their power but also gaining permanent attribute increases, thus further strengthening his overall personal capabilities.
First, he strengthened himself.
Then, he began upgrading the Personal Guard Corps.
Although the main force of the territory was players, cultivating a reserve force was still very necessary.
The Eight Personal Guards were the Lord's facade.
At this stage, they were responsible for managing the armed forces of the players, and in the future, they would be assigned many important tasks, so of course, they had to be nurtured properly.
Among the eight Personal Guards, Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, and Zhao Liu were all at Level 5, while the other four were at Level 4.
The highest player level had already reached Level 6.
How could the Lord's Personal Guards have lower levels than the players?
So Hang Yu decided to upgrade them all to Level 6 in one go.
Level 4 to Level 5 required 700 EXP; Level 5 to Level 6 required 1200 EXP; this upgrade alone consumed 12,400 Essence Points.
Next was upgrading their skills.
【Essence Reserve -1000, you have upgraded “Abyss Warrior: Li Si’s” Iron Armor Skill to Level 9!】
【Essence Reserve -1000, you have upgraded “Abyss Monk: Zhao Liu’s” Healing Spell to Level 9!】
【……】
【Essence Reserve -2000, you have upgraded “Abyss Warrior: Zhang San’s” Iron Armor Skill to maximum level!】
【Essence Reserve -2000, you have upgraded “Abyss Warlock: Wang Wu’s” Flame Arrow Curse to maximum level!】
【……】
Another nearly 10,000 Essence points spent.
The reserves were now running low.
Hang Yu still needed 10,000–18,000 Essence as a backup and couldn't afford to spend it all.
After this round of upgrades, all eight Personal Guards had their skills trained to at least Level 9.
Zhang San and Wang Wu even reached maximum skill levels and received permanent attribute enhancements.
The strength improvement from this could be described as immediate.
All the warriors had the Skeletal Wild Bull Set.
Now that their skills had been honed to this level, their strength was no weaker than same-level elite monsters.
Zhang San and Wang Wu could even defeat most same-level elite monsters in solo battles.
The cost of cultivating high-tier units really was huge!
Fortunately, the regular army corps were only supplementary to the Calamity Army.
Although the territory needed a force that was absolutely obedient and disciplined, quality was obviously more important than quantity.
"Almost there!"
"The territory has established its foothold!"
"It's time for me to move on to the next strategic step!"
Hang Yu planned to focus more actively on generating income and increasing population, while launching further map expansion and core Nightmare Pollution Source raids, so he could leave the newbie zone as soon as possible.
The core pollution source of this area was Ma Yuanyi.
According to the basic knowledge Hang Yu had learned at the Lord Academy, Lords of the Stars and Abyssal Corruptions were absolutely hostile toward each other.
Now that the territory had been exposed, even if he didn’t attack, Ma Yuanyi would soon come to cause trouble.
The reason only Xu Feng was sent this time was not just to test the strength of the Lord of the Stars,
but mainly because Ma Yuanyi, as a core pollution source, was heavily restricted.
Unless the Day of Ultimate Darkness arrived, he couldn't move freely; even if he wanted to strike personally, he lacked the means.
Instead of passively waiting for the enemy to attack, it was better to adopt a more proactive strategy.
Hang Yu decided to issue a task, sending players to investigate the core pollution area.
This could prepare for future battles, while also letting the death-seeking players charge ahead, fueling the territory’s development.
Oh right.
There was also He Ting Town.
As a former town, there was a possibility that a Fate Crystal Stone might appear there.
Moreover, over seventy percent of this map had yet to be explored.
There were likely still many elite monsters in those areas, so encouraging players to explore could uncover more Nightmare Pollution Sources, thus earning more Talent Points.
Hang Yu was already Level 10.
As long as he activated the remaining Lord Talent, he could break through his cultivation and become a Tier-Two Lord.
This growth speed was enough to break the all-time human Lord record in the Stars!