Mist Lord

The bonfire party under the night sky has finally come to an end.

Hanbao had already fallen into a deep sleep in Xia Yuan's arms. After eating more than a dozen Mist Sprout Crystals, the dog seemed to be advancing again, growing really fast.

Back at the lord's cabin, Satir had successfully reached five stars, her strength receiving a slight boost. To awaken the Elf King's bloodline within her and attempt to break through to the fourth tier of Wind Whisperer, she first needed to reach the third tier limit.

One level away.

Going from five stars to five and a half stars requires a full 150 mist bud crystals, which is simply unaffordable at the moment.

Furthermore, at the third tier, each increase in combat level requires a certain amount of combat experience. Continuous advancement, like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, may not necessarily be a good thing.

.........

Silent all night.

When the warm sun slowly rose again from the depths of the mist, Mingguang Village had already taken on a different appearance.

The original simple wooden fence has been upgraded to a tall and thick wooden city wall, and the simple gate has been upgraded to a tall gate tower, where people can fight, shoot arrows, throw stones, and set up large repeating crossbows.

The arrow towers were seamlessly integrated into the wooden city walls, becoming another excellent firing position and providing crossfire cover.

Inside the wooden city walls, three buildings—a basic blacksmith shop, a woodworking workshop, and a hall of heroes—were completed one after another, adding a touch of life to the once-empty core area. At Xia Yuan's behest, Zhang Tie's family moved into the blacksmith shop, and Wang Er's family moved into the woodworking workshop, each responsible for the daily operation of their respective shops.

Everything seemed to be in good order.

On the northern edge of the territory, a fog lighthouse over nine meters high stands prominently, capable of monitoring the activity in the northern forest fog zone at all times.

"very nice!"

This feeling of creating something from nothing reminded Xia Yuan of the early days of his business. The first thing he did upon waking was to rush to the Hall of Heroes, located next to the Black Stone Altar, to begin his first hero recruitment, without even bothering to practice his skills.

[Choose one of three heroes to start with.]

1. The renowned King of Spearmen (Rare)

2. A once-legendary seafarer (Rare)

3. The undead general who was betrayed by the monarch (Epic, current strength Tier 3)

Hero quality is divided into Rare → Legendary → Epic, with growth caps corresponding to Tier 3, Tier 4 and Tier 5 respectively, and the difference between them is enormous.

Getting an epic-quality hero on your first recruitment is definitely incredibly lucky.

"Okay, okay, is it finally my turn?"

Xia Yuan would be lying if he said he wasn't envious of Song Jing's initial draw of a Tier 3 unit. Now, he's finally had his moment of good luck and doesn't have to envy others anymore.

Of course, no matter how powerful a hero is, there is only one hero, and they are still completely incomparable to third-tier units.

But we won once, didn't we?

"Choose three!"

Although the potential of epic heroes cannot be realized immediately, the top two rare-quality heroes only have a power ceiling of Tier 3, which cannot exceed that of the Undead General. So what is there to hesitate about?

[Select Confirm]

As the black vortex appeared, a chilling and bone-chilling aura of slaughter swept over him, causing Xia Yuan to shiver and his face to turn slightly pale.

What a terrifying existence this is!

"Snap! Snap!"

Emerging from the black vortex was a skeletal general nearly two meters tall, wielding a bone shield in one hand and a bone greatsword in the other. His entire body was covered from head to toe in jet-black armor, with only two eye sockets emitting a ghostly blue light visible.

"Black Armor, greetings to my lord!"

The Skeleton General leaned on his sword, knelt on one knee, and clasped his right fist heavily in front of his chest, bowing to Xia Yuan.

[Name]: Black Armor

[Quality]: Epic

[Unit Type]: Skeleton Warrior

[Equipment]: Bone Shield, Bone Greatsword, Black Cloud Pattern Armor

[Rank]: Third Rank

[Combat Strength Assessment]: ★★★★★☆

[Evaluation]: A general betrayed by his monarch, he was resurrected from the ashes of his burial ground. Endless years eroded his memories of his past life, and he returned to the world only under the name of Black Armor, still steadfastly upholding his loyal duty.

The hero's growth path is somewhat similar to that of a lord; they cannot quickly increase their combat level by consuming Mist Sprout Crystals, but rather need to continuously break through through cultivation.

Unlike lords, heroes' growth potential is limited by their quality.

Lords are actually not much different. In theory, lords can continue to cultivate indefinitely, but due to differences in each person's innate talent, comprehension, and aptitude, they will also encounter a ceiling that they cannot break through.

They are essentially the same.

"General, please rise!"

Suppressing his excitement and discomfort, Xia Yuan quickly stepped forward to help the man in black armor up, and said with a smile, "The territory will soon be welcoming the novice trial. With the general here, we can rest easy."

"..."

The only response to Xia Yuan was silence, and silence is the most loyal guardian.

Xia Yuan smiled awkwardly and told Satir to take the black-armored dog to familiarize themselves with the territory first. He then went to the sword and shield dog training camp and recruited 10 stray sword and shield dogs for the day, giving each of them a Mist Sprout Crystal.

First, upgrade everyone from half a star to one star, otherwise they won't even be considered cannon fodder.

There's no way to improve further.

After all that effort, he had used up all the Mist Sprout Crystals he had.

As I passed the blacksmith's shop, I could faintly hear the clanging of hammers striking metal. The blacksmith's shop had only been completed late last night, and Zhang Tie and his two sons had already been working through the night to forge arrows, and they were still busy until now.

Wang Er next door is also working hard to make new barricades.

In yesterday's battle, if it weren't for that row of barricades blocking the way, the casualties among the sword-and-shield dogs would have been even greater.

Everyone is contributing their own strength.

.........

"Woof woof~~~"

After Xia Yuan finished his usual training and hurriedly ate breakfast, Han Bao finally woke up. As expected, he had grown even bigger, now almost the size of an adult mongrel.

[Name]: Hanbao

[Race]: A native dog with a trace of ancient celestial dog blood.

[Rank]: Second Rank

Combat Level: ★★★☆

[Talent Skills]: Scent Tracking Lv1, Tengu Roar Lv1

[Note]: Growth can be accelerated by consuming Mist Sprout Crystals, continuously awakening bloodlines and breaking through ranks.

Good guy!

After a good night's sleep, he leveled up three times, reaching the second-tier cap and catching up with Blade & Shield No. 1. Next time he sleeps, he'll probably be heading towards the third tier.

It's true what they say, some dogs are better than others; the real dog should be thrown away.

Fortunately, Blade & Shield No. 1 is straightforward, otherwise he would have gotten Yu Yu sooner or later.

After his combat level increased, Hanbao awakened a new talent inheritance—the Roar of the Tengu, which is similar to a sonic attack and can intimidate low-level monsters with the power of his bloodline.

"I wonder if it can even deal with scorpion flies..."

Yesterday's battle, if Satir hadn't been held back by the scorpion flies, would have greatly reduced casualties. We can't afford to repeat that mistake today.

"You little rascal, those nasty flies today are all thanks to you."

"Woof woof~~~"

The silly-looking creature scratched its ear with its paw, a hint of fighting spirit burning in its adorable eyes. Although it didn't quite understand, it knew that whether it could get its hands on the Mist Sprout Crystals depended on those monsters.

.........

"Does the general have any suggestions regarding future preparations?"

The formal novice trial wouldn't start until noon, leaving half a day for adjustment and preparation. Seeing that Hei Jia had returned from his stroll, Xia Yuan humbly asked for his advice.

"I will obey my lord's orders."

"..."

Xia Yuan was quite helpless. It seemed that Hei Jia's memories had really been erased and it would be difficult to rely on him in the short term. He could only use him as a top-notch bodyguard.

"Does Master want to challenge the Hell difficulty level?"

Satir was very perceptive and stepped in at the right time to ease the awkwardness.

"I definitely want to, but I also need to be realistic about my abilities. If the chances of winning aren't high, then I'll choose the hard mode."

According to the Lord's Handbook, the novice trial is divided into three difficulty levels: normal, hard, and hell, which will plant 1, 2, and 3 Mist Fairy Grass respectively.

The size of monsters at each level is also recorded, so you need to act according to your abilities.

Most new lords can succeed by completing the normal mode, but in the hard mode, they need to at least draw a second-tier unit and have other means, otherwise they will likely fail.

The final hell mode is basically only challenged by lords who have drawn tier 3 units.

Xia Yuan had his reasons for daring to consider this idea. In terms of troop types, just 15 elite swordsmen and shieldmen already surpassed those lords who had drawn second-tier troops, plus an additional 12 wandering swordsmen and shieldmen to support them.

In terms of experts, Satir, Black Armor, and Hanbao are roughly equivalent to three third-tier experts.

They also used wooden city walls, as well as methods such as using ground thorns, brambles, and vines.

Taking everything into account, unless Yunyang City provides Song with too much additional support, Xia Yuan's overall combat strength is not inferior to Song Jing's.

Since we've already gained the upper hand, why not go for it again?