41: Chapter 41: Countdown to Battle, Mini-Graduation of Level 4 Territory

[Undead Forge upgrade complete.]

A notification sound drilled into Xu Qin's mind.

Then, the claw of a Skeleton Sand Rat scratched against his cheek.

"Chi chi chi!"

Xu Qin's eyelids twitched, but he didn't open them.

The Sand Rat increased the pressure of its claw, even adding a sense of rhythm.

"I know..."

Xu Qin muttered, barely prying his eyes open a slit.

Everything before him was blurry, with only the Sand Rat's hollow eye sockets facing him.

He shook his still-heavy head and patted the Sand Rat on the head. "Good job."

Then, yawning, he tapped on the two newly completed buildings.

[Bone Watchtower · Level 3]

Detection radius: 800 meters (originally 500 meters)

New feature: Global Overhead View (can switch to Bone Watchtower view at any time to overlook the territory and the surrounding 800-meter panorama)

Passive effect: Undead Vision +80%, night vision range +100 meters.

800 meters is enough.

From now on, anyone trying to sneak into the territory will be discovered before they even get close.

He looked at the Undead Forge again.

[Undead Forge · Level 3]

Material decomposition efficiency increased: Conversion ratio improved to 6:1 (originally 8:1).

Ore refining efficiency increased: Conversion ratio improved to 4:1 (originally 5:1).

"Very good, keep upgrading."

He muttered, tapping the upgrade buttons for both buildings.

[Bone Watchtower Level 3 → Level 4 upgrading, estimated time: 2 hours 59 minutes.]

[Undead Forge Level 3 → Level 4 upgrading, estimated time: 3 hours 29 minutes.]

"The Undead Forge will reach level four at midnight... I still have seven elite soul cores left, just enough to craft a set of equipment for the Bull Battle King."

"After crafting the Bull Battle King's equipment, I'll have four soul cores left, enough to craft another set of equipment for a hero. Let me see... It seems the few troop types that can be promoted are all melee-based."

"Very good, there's plenty of time. I can also craft a Bone Erosion set. After crafting the equipment, I'll still have one soul core left."

Xu Qin casually opened the combat log.

Tian Ming's formation icon was in the southeast, moving steadily, with red dots constantly disappearing around it.

The icons for the Bull Battle King and the Blade Guard were in the northeast, also advancing steadily.

Neither unit had encountered any tough opponents; everything was going smoothly.

"Alright."

Xu Qin scooped up the Sand Rat.

"Listen up, as soon as the Undead Forge reaches level 4, wake me up immediately."

The Sand Rat nodded its little head.

Xu Qin satisfyingly rubbed its bald skull and placed it on the bone board nearby.

He noticed that ever since the Graveyard reached level 4, the reactions of these undead had become increasingly vivid.

12:40 AM.

"Chi chi chi!!"

Xu Qin was scratched awake again.

He snapped his eyes open and sat up almost instantly.

He opened the panel to look.

[Undead Forge upgrade complete.]

"Good!"

He walked quickly to the Undead Forge and put the three-piece Bone Erosion set into his backpack.

Subsequently, he opened the manufacturing interface and clicked [Rock-Crushing Armor Set].

After putting the required materials into the furnace, three equipment icons appeared one after another in the production queue.

Xu Qin nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, next... continue catching up on sleep."

Returning to his floor mat, he said to the little Sand Rat on the bone board:

"Listen up, wake me up in four and a half hours..."

The Sand Rat nodded its little head.

This time, he slept very deeply.

5:10 AM.

"Chi chi! Chi chi chi!"

The sensation on his cheek was more familiar, and also more forceful.

This time, Xu Qin didn't linger in bed; he sat up abruptly and walked to the Undead Forge.

He collected the Rock-Crushing set and put in materials to start producing the Bone Erosion set.

Then, "Call me when Tian Ming arrives..."

After saying that, he lay back on the floor mat and continued to sleep.

When he was scratched awake again.

"Holy crap?"

The sun is out!

"What time did I sleep until?"

He subconsciously looked at the panel.

[Current time: 7:10 AM.]

[Novice protection period remaining: 49 minutes.]

Xu Qin was stunned for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

"Thank goodness, I didn't oversleep."

He patted his cheeks.

He had gotten up intermittently several times between these naps,

but overall, it was no different from getting up in the middle of the night,

and at least he had made up for the sleep he owed from working non-stop over the past two days.

His body felt truly comfortable, though his brain was still a bit numb.

But immediately after, he saw something that woke him up even more.

In the plaza, two dense crowds of undead were standing there.

On the left were the Bull Battle King and the Blade Guard; on the right was Tian Ming.

Behind the three heroes was the dense Undead Army.

Xu Qin's gaze swept across the two armies, finally landing on the three heroes.

He then walked quickly to the Bull Battle King and opened the attribute panel.

[Bull Battle King · Undead Bull Battle King · Hero]

Level: 12 (2850 / 8000)

Attack Power: 60 (Physical - Crushing / Melee)

Defense: 44

HP: 725 / 725

Level 12. He was Level 9 when he went out; he gained three levels.

He looked at the Blade Guard again.

[Blade Guard · Skeleton Sword Guard · Hero]

Level: 8 (3600 / 6000)

Attack Power: 38 (Physical - Slashing / Melee)

Defense: 24

"Not bad. You gained quite a bit of experience."

Xu Qin nodded, in a very good mood.

He switched back to his own Lord panel.

Level: 21 (42 / 2500).

Talent [War Gift]: Level 8 (Upgrade progress: 1893 / 2000).

It only needed 107 more points of progress to reach level 9.

"Soon I'll have ten times the drop rate..." Xu Qin grinned.

He walked to Tian Ming and opened Tian Ming's panel again.

Level 14, no change.

The time out was short, and they didn't encounter any major monsters, so the experience wasn't enough to level up.

Although the supplies didn't fill the carts, what they brought back wasn't a small amount either.

"You've all worked hard," Xu Qin said to the three heroes.

The three heads moved slightly in unison, acknowledging him.

Now was not the time for small talk.

There was only a little over half an hour left of the protection period.

The things that needed to be done next were very clear.

"Let's look at the buildings first."

Xu Qin turned and walked toward the core area of the territory.

Now, the territory's four core buildings and five functional buildings had all been upgraded to level 4.

It could be said that he had reached the "mini-graduation" point at level 4.

He first tapped on the Dark Altar.

[Dark Altar · Level 4]

Hero slots: 4 / 4 (1 new slot added).

Hero enhancement cap: Can upgrade hero skills to level 4.

Hero skill tree expansion: Unlocks the third selectable new skill.

Undead Law update: After a hero dies, the sacrifice requirement for the same-origin troop type is reduced to 150 (originally 200).

Seeing the Undead Law, Xu Qin's eyes lit up.

"Good, good, good."

"The number of resurrection tokens for fallen heroes has decreased."