Building a Perfect Territory in the Mist

Chapter 35: Chapter 32: Frost Gem, Soldier Type Gemstone Function

Shen Xing stored the [Inferior Demon Nest] in his inventory. All that was left to check were two blueprints and a gemstone.

One of them was an unexpected find Hellish Roar had dug up from the basement in Sickness Village.

[Large Beast Trap Blueprint]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: Allows for crafting Large Beast Traps. They inflict piercing damage on and cripple enemies who step on them.]

[Materials Required: Black Iron*3, Soul Stone*1]

...

"This blueprint is pretty good, and the materials aren’t too demanding. I can mass-produce these."

Shen Xing immediately clicked to learn it.

Next, he took out the most valuable, Gold-quality blueprint.

[Hero Altar Blueprint]

[Quality: Gold]

[Land Area: 32 square meters]

[Building Effect: Allows for the construction of a Hero Altar within the territory, which can resurrect fallen combat units.]

(Note: Only units with a Potential of ’Boss Level ★’ or higher can be resurrected at the altar. The more powerful the target for resurrection, the more materials are required.)

[Construction Materials: Soul Stone*3000, Vinar Silver Coins*3000, Black Crystal*1000, Mithril*100, Radiant Gemstone*1]

...

"So it really is an altar for resurrecting units."

"But this altar has its limits. Only Boss Level units and above are eligible for resurrection, and it also consumes a hefty amount of materials."

For Shen Xing, who possessed the [Sacrificial Evolution] Talent, raising a unit to Boss Level wasn’t difficult.

However, the materials required to build this altar were outrageous. He had never even heard of many of them and had no way of gathering them in a short amount of time.

But that was fine. As long as he had the blueprint in hand, he could always build it later.

After checking the two blueprints, only the last gemstone remained.

Shen Xing opened his right hand. With a flash of blue light, a powerful, cold aura burst forth.

Immediately after, a gemstone the size of a pigeon’s egg, looking as if it were carved from pure crystal, appeared in his palm.

[Frost Gem]

[Quality: Purple (Rare)]

[Effect: When placed in a Unit Nest, it increases the Ice Attribute Attack Power of all units of the same type by 10% and their Ice Attribute resistance by 10%.]

...

’Huh? It’s a gemstone meant for a Unit Nest? I thought this was for embedding in equipment!’

Shen Xing’s heart stirred as he instantly realized the value of this gemstone.

After all, this was a treasure that could increase the attributes of all units of the same type!

If used on a territory’s main soldier type, it would be equivalent to raising their overall strength by a huge margin.

After looking it up on the forums, he finally figured out the game’s gemstone system.

When a Unit Nest was upgraded to Elite ★, it would unlock one gemstone slot.

Upgrading it further to Boss ★ would unlock a second slot, and so on.

Players could give their units specific enhancements by embedding different gemstones.

For example, for Shen Xing’s Beastman Barracks, he could look for a ’Power Gemstone’ or a ’Stone Gemstone’ to increase their burst damage and defense.

As for Xu Jiayi’s Archer Barracks, she could embed a ’Sharp Gemstone’ or a ’Gale Gemstone’ to improve their accuracy and shooting speed.

And just like equipment, gemstones increased in quality from Green, to Blue, to Purple, and finally to Gold.

The higher the quality, the greater the attribute boost.

Of course, for Novice Lords, this wasn’t something they needed to consider for the time being.

After all, they had trouble just raising a single unit to Elite ★, let alone upgrading a nest to the Elite Level.

CLAP! CLAP!

Having finished taking stock of his spoils, Shen Xing clapped his hands and wheeled himself toward the edge of his territory.

Then, he spent 60 Soul Stones and 60 Silver Coins to build another six [Arrow Towers] in his territory.

[Construction in progress. Estimated time: 07 hours 24 minutes...]

His territory now had a total of eight Arrow Towers, with two on each side: north, south, east, and west.

There was no helping it. Without walls for protection, his territory was like a maiden tied to a table to any monster—vulnerable from any direction they chose to approach from.

Er... I’m referring to an attack, of course.

But the cost of walls was too high.

The Level 3 Campfire had a maximum illuminated diameter of 80 meters, giving it a circumference of about 250 meters. This meant he would need to build 50 segments of wall to fully enclose it.

In total, that would cost over six hundred Soul Stones.

He couldn’t afford it even if he bankrupted his entire territory.

So, he could only build a few Arrow Towers for now to serve as outposts.

’Sigh, I still don’t have enough resources. I’m too poor.’

’I need to make money, earn more Soul Stones. Otherwise, how will I achieve my great kemonomimi... I mean, my great cause as a Lord.’

Just as Shen Xing was sighing to himself, his phone vibrated gently in his pocket.

He knew without looking that it was a group chat message from their discussion group.

After all, Shen Xing didn’t have any other friends who would contact him out of the blue.

Loves Playing with Coriander: "Shen Xing, Jiayi, did you guys get the text?"

Starfire: "What text?"

Loves Playing with Coriander: "It’s from Zhou Zheng. He said there’s been a change of plans for the ’Foggy Void Realm’ at Bright Moon Bay Park, and he wants us to go to Times Mansion in downtown Jiang City tomorrow morning."

Shen Xing and Xu Jiayi were both a little surprised. They checked their phone inboxes and confirmed they had indeed received the message.

I Eat and Eat: "A change of plans? Does that mean he’s not giving us the spots he promised?"

A few days ago, when they encountered that Abomination at the mall, Zhou Zheng had promised to take them to the Foggy Void Realm.

At the time, however, he had just said it casually, and the three of them hadn’t paid it much mind.

But after going back and searching the forums, they realized that this ’Foggy Void Realm’ was actually quite important.

And since the one in Jiang City was a low-level Secret Realm, it contained many resources that were incredibly rare and valuable for Novice Lords.

Besides the Advancement Materials needed for units to break through to Tier Two Extraordinary Level, there were also Legion Secret Treasures, special Recruitment Scrolls, building blueprints, and more.

Although Shen Xing and the others hadn’t reached the Tier One level cap yet, they still needed to prepare for what came next.

When the time came, once Hellish Roar or Blood Roar reached max level, they could break through directly to Tier Two Extraordinary. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Loves Playing with Coriander: "I don’t know either, but when I was lurking... I mean, gathering information in the local city section of the forum, I did see some related discussions."

"It seems like a lot of players want to participate in the ’Foggy Void Realm’ this time, so the spots are limited."

"But I doubt he’d go back on his word, since Zhou Zheng promised us himself. Something must have come up."

Xu Jiayi and Shen Xing were silent for a moment.

Shen Xing replied, "Then let’s go check it out together tomorrow."

Xu Jiayi replied with an emoji of a rabbit nodding.

Loves Playing with Coriander: "Alright, same as usual then. I’ll drive over and pick you guys up."

After the chat ended, Shen Xing wheeled himself to the window, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

’Times Mansion... I think that place is the activity center for Jiang City’s Pioneers.’

’So that means we might run into other players tomorrow...’

’Why would Zhou Zheng ask us to go there?’

By now, it was late at night.

A crescent moon hung high in the sky, its gentle light pouring down like liquid mercury.

The countless lights of the city spread out like stars in the night, and police cars and fire trucks sped along the roads.

’I shouldn’t overthink it. I’ll find out when I go there tomorrow.’

Shen Xing pulled his thoughts back and held out his right hand. A thick mist surged from the Fog Flower.

When the mist dissipated, a fruit that was blood-red all over, its surface covered with vein-like patterns, was revealed.

It was the [Blood Fruit], which could enhance recovery ability.

For the past few days, he had been materializing one fruit from the game to eat each day.

Besides the Blood Fruit, he had also eaten the Brain Fruit which increased Spiritual Power, the Bone Fruit which increased bone density, and the Flesh Fruit which increased Constitution... he had tried them all.

Combined with his level-ups, the effects were quite noticeable.

Shen Xing could clearly feel that he had more stamina than before, and his mind was sharper.

CRUNCH.

After finishing the Blood Fruit, Shen Xing first went to the mirror to look at himself.

His complexion seemed much better than before, and his upper body was noticeably more built.

’But... why only my upper body?’

’If I keep getting stronger like this, am I going to turn into some top-heavy, muscle-bound freak with a strong upper body and scrawny legs?’

Shen Xing imagined the scene and couldn’t help but cringe.

Just then, his gaze shifted to the side of the room, where a pair of crutches leaned against the wall, covered in dust.

’Should I... try to stand up?’

He hadn’t used them in many years.

After all, he could only exert strength with his upper body, which wasn’t enough to support his weight.

With a flicker of hope, Shen Xing wheeled himself over to the wall.

He placed the crutches under his arms and grabbed the handgrips.

"Up!"

He strained his body, and the muscles in his arms suddenly tensed!

Relying on brute strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, he forced himself up from the wheelchair.

"I’m standing!"

At that moment, Shen Xing supported himself, his face filled with excitement.

Although he was relying on his upper body strength and his legs were still numb, this was a good sign.

Just as he was about to move the crutches and take a couple of steps around the room, his body suddenly went limp. The crutches lost their balance, and he fell sideways to the ground.

"Damn it."

Shen Xing lay on the floor. Fortunately, thanks to his enhanced Constitution, he wasn’t injured.

’As expected, the enhancements from the game can only strengthen my physique; they can’t completely repair my necrotic nerves.’

’But that’s okay. At least it’s a good start.’

’One day, I will definitely stand on my own two feet again!’

He clenched his fists, a hopeful light shining in his eyes.

Then, he pushed himself up with his arms and easily got back onto his bed.

The night flowed on like water.

But in the Land of Mist, a dark undercurrent was stirring.

Not far from the territory, a young man with brown hair was holding a monocular telescope, peering through the layers of Fog at the territory ahead.

Reflected in the lens was a blazing Campfire and a group of busy Beastmen.

"Heh heh..."

The corner of the brown-haired youth’s mouth curled into a slight arc. "Found you."

...

...

「The next day.」

Morning sunlight streamed through the window lattice, quickly warming the temperature in the rental apartment.

"Oh, the great Northeast~ it is my homeland~"

The ringtone woke Shen Xing up. He answered groggily, and Qin Lang’s voice came through the phone.

He had already picked up Xu Jiayi and was now on his way to get him.

Shen Xing checked the time. It was only 8:30 in the morning. ’That guy sure is early,’ he thought.

Shen Xing hung up, went to the bathroom to quickly wash up, and then wheeled himself downstairs.

By the roadside, Qin Lang, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and Xu Jiayi, wearing pink rabbit pajamas, were waiting by the green belt.

After they greeted each other, Qin Lang put the wheelchair in the front passenger seat and then helped Shen Xing into the back seat.

The silver Lexus sped down the road, the scenery outside the window flying past.

The three of them listened to music while chatting about what had happened in the game and their progress over the past few days.

Soon, they arrived in downtown Jiang City and parked in an open-air lot.

Before them stood a magnificent skyscraper, nearly two hundred meters tall.

They passed through the security booth by the road and registered their identities.

Qin Lang pushed Shen Xing, and together with Xu Jiayi, they arrived at the skyscraper’s entrance.

However, there was no receptionist here, only a sealed glass door.

Just then, a message automatically popped up on the doorframe, indicating that facial recognition was required.

"BEEP! Identity confirmed. Welcome!"

Before they could even react, the facial recognition scan was complete.

The glass doors slid open automatically, revealing a spacious lobby.

"What the hell? When did my information get registered?" Qin Lang asked, completely bewildered.

"It’s normal. All of us players who have come into contact with that game are priority subjects for the authorities," Shen Xing said calmly. "All of our information was probably uploaded a long time ago."

"Right. In this age of big data, it’s not like individuals have any real privacy anyway," Qin Lang nodded in realization, then seemed to remember something else. "Looks like I’ll have to move some of my... ’study materials’ into a secure folder when I get back. I’d rather not have other people know what I’m looking at."

The three of them chatted as they entered the lobby.

The moment they stepped inside, they were stunned by the sight before them.

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