Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

Ou Yun sighed helplessly, walked up to the ball of light, and stretched out his hand.

The moment my fingertips touched the surface of the ball of light, a gentle warmth flowed in from my fingertips and spread down my arm to my whole body.

The feeling wasn't like being electrocuted, but more like being enveloped in warm water—like soaking in a hot spring.

Immediately afterwards, a line of semi-transparent text popped up in front of him:

[You have used the Abyss Holy Spring. Please select the attribute you wish to enhance.]

[Constitution/Strength/Agility/Mental Strength/Perception]

Oh, that's quite detailed.

After thinking for a moment, Ou Yun chose mental strength.

His physique and strength have increased considerably through medicine and fruit consumption, and his agility is taken care of by Leng Ruolan, so he doesn't need to worry about it. But his mental strength—

He had never even heard of this before, and always felt it was some kind of extraordinary term.

However, he still feels lingering fear from the last time he was ambushed by the Abyss Scorpion in the Ring Valley.

If we can improve our mental resistance, we won't be so passive when encountering enemies who use mental attacks in the future.

[Mental Strength +10% (Permanent)]

[Current mental strength: Far exceeding the level of ordinary humans.]

"That's a pretty thoughtful comment."

Ou Yun withdrew his hand and gave a safe gesture to the onlookers, "Come on, one person, one turn, choose the attribute you need to strengthen the most."

Without a second's hesitation, Leng Ruolan chose Agility—her fighting style relied on speed and explosiveness, and an additional 10% Agility would be like adding wings to a tiger.

After she finished using the spring, she ran back and forth on the pebble beach by the river bend—so fast that she left a trail of afterimages in her wake.

Chen Hao chose Perception.

The attribute he needs most when observing energy fluctuations and analyzing data—

After using the spring, he stared at the river bend for a while, then said to Leng, who was next to him, "I can see the direction of the undercurrent at the bottom of the river, and there are many strangely shaped crabs."

Leng Ruolan said "Oh," and then said, "I'll go grab some to eat."

After saying that, it disappeared in a whoosh.

Ou Yun: "I've really shown you how to allocate attribute points."

*

The three people used it all, but the spring was still there, sparkling and lovely.

Ou Yun thought to himself, "Is this thing only us few can use?"

They do have a few allies they know well, wouldn't it be a waste not to use them?

So he immediately summoned Alexander and a few others, as well as Hassan and the others—

These people have an unspoken rule: they won't come unless the Dragon Kingdom's big brother calls them, since the big brother always has many important things to do!

When Alexander and Hassan arrived, Chen Hao told them about it—

The six people were immediately startled.

"Holy crap?!"

"Directly boosts attributes?!"

"Brother, I'm illiterate, you're just trying to scam me with these tonics."

"Now I understand why my older brother is always so bold..."

"It's not just during normal times."

"No way, is this for real...? I feel like I'm living in a dream..."

"Big Brother of the Heavenly Dragon Kingdom!"

The group hesitated, stammering, as if they wanted to say something but couldn't.

Leng Ruolan: "Come here and add attributes."

"Yes, sir!"

*

As expected, things turned out to be pretty much as Ou Yun had predicted.

These people are already hardcore allies, so I can at least get some benefits from them.

5% – not much, but not insignificant either.

Alexander chose strength.

His hammer was already heavy enough, but with an additional 5% power, it felt like he was swinging a piece of paper.

He then proceeded to show each of the three Xiong Guo members in turn—

He also casually moved a rock about half a person's height next to him to the other side of the river.

"From now on, this rock is my personal stool, and nobody can take it from me!"

Maxim: "It provides shelter from the sand and wind."

Ivan: "You've been with Brother Dragon for so long, and look at you, so naive and unsophisticated."

Then Maxim chose the physique option.

The reason is simple and unpretentious.

"I want to live a few more years."

He received high praise from Team Cold: "Not bad, very energetic."

Ivan chose mental strength.

Still, nobody knows what mental power can do.

But seeing that his older brother had made the choice, he made the same choice.

You can't go wrong by following your older brother!

The others, although present, were not qualified.

Allen, Douglas, Marcus, and their two teammates were not eligible to use the fountain, but they watched the entire attribute boosting event from the sidelines.

Surprisingly, instead of being disappointed, they became even more determined to perform well and strive to participate in the next battle.

"Take me with you next time you fight a lord. I can build you a temporary shelter—the kind that can withstand a head-on hit using engineering mechanics."

Marcus's eyes gleamed with a kind of ignited light.

Leng Ruolan nodded, thinking that she might as well take advantage of the situation, "Okay, you can be an engineer then."

*

At night, the area around the campfire was twice as lively as usual.

New and old members sat together, eating barbecue and drinking mead, chatting about the customs and traditions of their respective hometowns.

Marcus told Alexander a story about a bizarre client he encountered when he was a construction engineer, and Alexander laughed so hard he almost spat out his drink.

The festivities continued until late at night.

As the campfire gradually died down, Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan returned to the watchtower.

There was no alcohol this time, only two glasses of chilled fruit juice—the ice cellar still had plenty of ice.

"Leaving tomorrow?"

"Right, the plateau to the west."

"Has the person been chosen?"

"You and me."

"What, want to duo queue?"

"Oh, no, not at all—"

Ou Yun thought for a moment, "Douglas, he knows the terrain well, he'd be a scout. Alexander could be the main firepower provider. And Marcus, he said he can build temporary bunkers on the battlefield, I want to see if that's true."

Ou Yun leaned against the pillar of the watchtower, "Add Nanbei and Hongdou, and six people and two cats, that should be enough."

Following Ou Yun's lead, Leng Ruolan mentally went through the process as well and felt it was about right. She then asked, "Why, isn't Green Bean going?"

"Green Bean is now considered the second-in-command of the lynx pack. When North and South are not around, it is in charge of leading the patrols."

Ou Yun laughed.

"Besides, this guy has been getting fiercer lately. Last time he almost scared Marcus away when he came to surrender. It's more useful to have him guard the camp than to take him out."

Leng Ruolan checked it again, and was about to say yes, when she suddenly remembered something, "Wait a minute, where's Brother Chen?"

"Chen should stay behind. He has too many things to deal with—samples of the Abyss Crystal, growth data of the man-eating flower, analysis of the debris after the Forest Lord's collapse, and he also needs to keep an eye on Marcus's design drawings."

Ou Yun sighed with regret.

"Furthermore, the communication relay station isn't finished yet. Otherwise, if we lose contact with the camp due to the increased latency after entering the plateau, it will be a real problem..."