Mist Lord

The Misty Lighthouse, located on the northern edge of the territory, has not yet been upgraded, but its nine-meter-high tower remains the tallest building in the territory.

It looks quite spectacular from a distance.

Entering the lighthouse, we climbed the steps to reach the top attic. Since it was daytime, the massive fog lights were not lit, but a small window protruded out, offering a view of the northern woods.

"It's truly spectacular."

This was Xia Yuan's first time standing atop the lighthouse, gazing into the distance. Layers upon layers of mist stretched out, dreamlike and seemingly endless. The further out he went, the thicker the mist became, until it merged with the sky, indistinguishable from it.

The northern forests are shrouded in mist, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Occasionally, the mist surges, which is most likely the work of mist monsters hunting, or monsters hunting mist monsters.

Monsters like goblins, kobolds, and gnolls don't know how to farm; to survive, they basically have to hunt fog monsters.

It's fortunate that the mist monsters and the demonized creatures have a love-hate relationship, otherwise the lords' situation would be even more difficult.

"Snap!"

In that short time, Satir had already carried the gargoyle to the top of the lighthouse, placed it on the spire, and made it blend perfectly into the lighthouse.

At the moment of fusion, the gargoyle's eyes flashed red, scanning the area within a one-kilometer radius.

This will be its patrol area from now on.

Although they cannot actively enter the forest within a one-kilometer radius, they can still kill any mist monsters that cross the border, including demonic creatures, and loyally protect the safety of the North.

Let's go!

After leaving the Misty Lighthouse, Xia Yuan handed over three hundred Misty Sprout Crystals to Satir to help her upgrade from six stars to six and a half stars.

With a major battle imminent, the only option is to do everything possible to enhance one's own strength.

This trip to Yunyang City yielded a total of 800 Mist Sprout Crystals, which I must quickly convert into territory combat power. Blade & Shield Number One will also receive a reward later.

"Thank you for the gift, Master!"

When Satir received the mist crystal, she felt its weight.

"My lord!"

As the two were about to return to the city, they ran into Black Armor and his men returning from clearing out the mist monsters. The skeleton warriors were carrying off the corpses of gray mist rats and gray mist wolves, clearly having reaped a rich harvest.

There were even three Grey Widow corpses among them, indicating that the intensity of the battle was not low.

I counted the number of skeleton warriors, and sure enough, one was missing.

As the territory continues to expand outwards, the number and strength of the fog monsters encountered will only increase. This is just a clearing operation after the fog has been dispelled, not an active entry into the fog zone for combat.

Territories at level 4 and above often establish dedicated border patrol forces to deal with potential cross-border attacks from mist monsters, demonic creatures, and other threats.

Although Mingguang Village is only at level 3, it has been planning and implementing according to this standard for a long time.

"How's it going? Is everything alright?"

Xia Yuan casually dismembered the corpses, distributing the Mist Sprout Crystals to Black Armor as he saw fit, while the remaining materials and meat were to be taken back to the territory for distribution. Mainly, the skeleton warriors didn't eat that stuff anyway.

"It's alright, better than the sword-and-shield dogs. I heard there were quite a few casualties over there."

"..."

Xia Yuan never expected that in just half a day, Hei Jia would become so cunning, even learning to speak ill of his rivals to their faces.

Could it be that one is influenced by one's surroundings?

He glanced subconsciously at the newly recruited skeleton warriors.

In this cleanup operation, the skeleton warriors are responsible for clearing the western and northern parts of the territory, while the sword-and-shield dogs are responsible for the southern and eastern parts. Theoretically, their tasks should be equivalent.

In comparison, with mountains to the west and forests to the north, the skeleton warriors' side is in more danger.

However, the greater casualties were suffered by the sword-and-shield dogs.

The reason for this is that the strength of the sword and shield dogs varies. In addition to the soldier sword and shield dogs that serve as the backbone, there are also cannon fodder-level wandering sword and shield dogs.

But the sword-and-shield dogs are all very competitive; regardless of whether they can win or not, they always fight head-on.

The casualties would naturally be considerable.

Xia Yuan did not intend to intervene; this was a hurdle that the Blade & Shield Dog had to overcome on its path to evolution.

"Oh, right, here, take this. You can decide how to use it."

Xia Yuan took out the two warhorse corpses he had just acquired, which meant that his territory would soon have two more Tier 3 Skeleton Knights, and his strength would be slightly boosted once again.

It's all thanks to Pei Ye.

.........

At noon, the sword-and-shield dogs returned to camp for lunch, and sure enough, they were all injured, some even having to be carried back on stretchers.

"Let's not go out to clear out the fog monsters this afternoon."

"My sword and shield!"

Blade & Shield No. 1 immediately panicked, thinking that their master looked down on them because of their serious injuries.

That's not what I meant.

Xia Yuan quickly explained, "There's another fierce battle tomorrow. This afternoon, you'll learn how to operate the ballista from Satir. This is crucial to the success or failure of tomorrow's battle; it's a heavy responsibility."

Although they had half-elf archers, they didn't forget about the ballista, a deadly weapon.

"My sword and shield!"

Sword and Shield No. 1's expression softened slightly, and he then said that some of the soldiers could stay behind to learn how to operate the ballista, while the rest would continue to carry out the clearing mission.

He didn't want to lose to those skeletons so inexplicably.

"Alright!"

Seeing this, Xia Yuan stopped insisting and handed Blade & Shield No. 1 125 Mist Sprout Crystals. These Mist Sprout Crystals were enough to help Blade & Shield No. 1 break through from three stars to four stars.

"My sword and shield!"

However, Blade & Shield One arrogantly refused, showing a strong sense of not accepting charity.

"This doesn't break the previous agreement; it's an extra reward for the powerful members of the territory. Satie and Elua already have it, so you can leave it as is."

Xia Yuan was also exhausted; it felt like he was being coaxed a child.

"My sword and shield!"

Hearing that it was an extra compliment for a strong person, Blade & Shield Number One reluctantly accepted it, and the moment he turned around, he could hardly contain his pride.

.........

Night fell quickly.

After a busy day, Xia Yuan was finally able to enjoy a proper dinner in the lord's courtyard.

During the day, since it wasn't mealtime at Suiyexuan, I only had some tea and pastries.

A plate of pork belly, a dish of scrambled eggs, a braised fish, a plate of braised dishes, two plates of seasonal vegetables, and a bowl of vegetable and tofu soup—that's all you need.

It can't compare to living in one's hometown, but in the Misty Continent, it's already considered a luxury.

Even for a lord like Xia Yuan, it would be difficult to meet such a standard every meal. Putting aside other things, fresh pork and live fish are not always available, and one has to go into the city to buy them if one wants to eat them.

Especially at this stage, with everything in need of rebuilding, even the supply of fresh vegetables cannot be guaranteed.

"Sit down and eat with us!"

Xia Yuan looked at Satir, who was standing guard at the door.

The food was plentiful, but it tasted bland and unappetizing if he ate it all by himself.

"Master, this is inappropriate."

"That's an order!"

Although she had broken through to the fourth rank, Satir still adhered to her slave status and remained well-behaved. Even when seated at the table, she was cautious, only picking at the vegetables in front of her.

"What, don't elves eat meat?"

"..."

Satir blushed deeply, wishing she could disappear under the table.

In the Misty Continent, perhaps due to the suppression of the world's rules, long-lived species like elves and dwarves only live for two to three hundred years. They certainly live much longer than humans, but they are far from being immortal.

In terms of food culture, there are actually no special requirements; the first priority is to make sure you're full.

.........

After dinner, Xia Yuan, accompanied by Satir, inspected the territory again.

As the territory expands rapidly, its borders also grow longer, making it impossible to simply stay within the core area as before.

Skeleton warriors living in the Burial Grounds guard the west, gargoyles are in the north, and sword-and-shield dogs are still responsible for night patrols in the south and east.

Even the gatehouse guard duty is handled by the sword-and-shield dogs.

Once the half-elf archers are integrated into the ranks, they can also guard the arrow towers and share the night watch duties.

On the way back from the patrol, when passing by the Blade & Shield Dog training camp, Blade & Shield Number One was still leading the Blade & Shield Dogs who had not gone out on patrol to practice. They were all sweating profusely, but not one of them complained of being tired or suffering.

It's clear that they were also spurred on by the daytime results.

The sword-and-shield dogs even stated that they would rather starve to death than eat the monster meat that the skeletons had killed.

They'll come and eat the meat themselves!

Xia Yuan felt somewhat ashamed upon seeing this. He had been busy these past few days and hadn't been practicing his skills as usual. In terms of perseverance and dedication alone, he had fallen behind the sword-and-shield dogs.

He had barely returned to his bedroom when Wang Xiaohua came in carrying a basin of water for washing his feet, saying in a cheerful voice, "Master, time for a foot bath!"

His face instantly darkened.