Mist Lord

The seemingly terrifying beast tide suffered heavy casualties before it even got close to the earthen city wall.

However, the beast tide was quite large, and many gray mist wolves, gray mist mantises, and even gray widows rushed to the foot of the city wall and charged towards the top of the city.

The Grey Mist Mantis and Grey Widow need no introduction; they are natural climbing experts.

Although the earthen city walls were tall, they were not enough to stop them from climbing upwards and revealing their ferocious fangs.

The gray mist wolves, however, should not be underestimated. With the help of their group, they stepped on each other to jump onto the city wall.

The sword-and-shield dogs guarding the city walls immediately faced a severe test.

Fortunately, the sword and shield dogs are no longer what they used to be. There are very few wandering sword and shield dogs in the team. Instead, second-tier soldier sword and shield dogs are the majority, and they are fully capable of fighting.

The militiamen operating the ballistae suffered, becoming the primary targets of the Gray Mist Mantises.

"kill!!!"

At the critical moment, the city gates suddenly swung open, and the black-armored warrior, accompanied by two skeleton knights and a horde of skeleton warriors, charged out, determined to wipe out the remaining enemy with the fastest speed and the most brutal methods.

The remnants of the beast tide, which had just begun to gather momentum, were immediately swept away and scattered, unable to pose any further threat.

"Pfft!"

Meanwhile, in the rear battlefield where few were paying attention, Celia swiftly killed a giant worm, its green slime spilling onto the ground. With a flash, using the shadows of the bone-winged bats in the air as cover, she vanished once more.

Then came the second one…

The remaining giant worm perished early on under the giant crossbow bolts of the bed crossbow.

The seemingly terrifying giant worms perished before even reaching the city wall. This indirectly reflects that Mingguang Village now possesses considerable high-end combat capabilities.

The war was also drawing to a close.

.........

Frost Town.

In her spare time, Pei Shuang couldn't help but ponder Xia Yuan.

Judging from the timing, today should be the day Xia Yuan faces the territory advancement trial. Judging from Xia Yuan's reaction that day, winning the trial shouldn't be a problem.

After all, Xia Yuan had won the revenge war with only thirty-odd half-elf archers supported by the alliance, so he must have many trump cards up his sleeve.

Pei Shuang was pondering something else.

After passing this trial, Xia Yuan will reach level 4, just one step away from her level 5. If he puts in a little more effort, won't he soon automatically sever his subordinate relationship with her?

That would be a huge loss for such an investment.

So far, Xia Yuan hasn't assisted her in even one civilization trial. Having such a dazzling subordinate lord as Xia Yuan is certainly a joy, but it also puts immense pressure on her.

If you don't want your investment to go down the drain, it's best to upgrade to level 6 lord as soon as possible.

But how easy is that?

It took more than a year to go from level 4 to level 5. Now that we've only just reached level 5, it's time to proceed cautiously and steadily; we can't afford to risk going any higher.

Moreover, due to the limitations of black crystal, it's not something that can be upgraded at will.

Do you really think level 6 lords are as common as cabbages?

Even within the entire alliance, a level 6 lord is a pillar of the alliance, someone who can be granted the position of steward.

"Perhaps, we can give Xia Yuan to my sister later?"

Thinking about it this way, Pei Shuang actually hoped that Xia Yuan could grow up faster and become her sister's right-hand man.

That way, I'll have helped my sister.

.........

"Pfft!"

As the last mist monster was slain on the spot, Xia Yuan immediately received a gray mist notification.

[Successfully quelled the beast tide and passed the territory advancement trial...]

Mingguang Village has been successfully promoted to a Level 4 territory, with +300 merit points and +2 bronze treasure chest.

[Congratulations on becoming the first new lord in the Yanxia Alliance to advance to a level 4 territory! Bonus rewards include 500 merit points, 1 Silver Treasure Chest, and one chance to draw one of three prizes.]

[The Tier 4 territory panel has been updated; please check it yourself...]

Upgrading to a level 4 territory definitely gives me more prestige; I finally received another silver treasure chest. Or perhaps, as Pei Shuang said before, the faster you upgrade, the richer the rewards.

"not bad!"

There were two bronze treasure chests, one was broken, and the other contained a precious talisman.

That's already pretty European.

The items that came out of the silver treasure chest were equally extraordinary, including even a mutated plant seedling.

[Devil Vine Seedling]: A legendary creature seedling in a dormant state. Its vines are tough, thorny, and contain a paralyzing toxin that can drain the life force of enemies. Natural forces can accelerate its growth and aid in its regeneration.

The item is valuable, but unfortunately, Xia Yuan is not a nature-type transcendent, making it difficult to unleash its true power. He can only store it in his storage space, keeping it dormant, rather than activating it.

[Choose one of the three awards]

1. Five sawing mantises (each can cut down an average of 200 trees per day)

2. 100 engineering ants (for building dams)

3-5 earthworms (each earthworm can roughly cultivate 50 mu of wasteland per day)

Choose option 3!

Sawfly mantises and engineer ants are certainly good, but from the perspective of territory needs, burrowing earthworms are the most suitable, just in time for the territory to begin a major reclamation.

With these five earthworms, we can roughly cultivate 250 acres of wasteland every day, which is almost as fast as the tractor back home. It's an amazing feat.

Combined with meticulous manual plowing, isn't it far superior to any oxen?

"brush!"

With flashes of white light, five giant earthworms, each over three meters long, dark brown in color, with rough and tough skin, appeared before Xia Yuan, capable of easily breaking through the soil.

"Master, what is this?"

Satir looked on with curiosity upon seeing the suddenly appearing earthworms, and the others also gathered around.

"This is a burrowing earthworm rewarded by the gray fog, a little expert in pioneering new land."

As Xia Yuan explained, he pointed to the western suburbs of the territory, "Go, loosen up the wasteland near the river first."

The streams that converge from the misty mountains meander and bring ample water to the western suburbs, which will also be the most fertile agricultural area in the territory, and should be given priority for reclamation.

Not all land is suitable for cultivation; before the construction of artificial irrigation canals, water shortage was the norm.

"Hiss~ Hiss~~~"

The earthworms seemed to understand what Xia Yuan said, nodding their silly nods and lining up to leave the village, quickly wriggling towards the western suburbs.

Upon reaching their destination, they burrowed into the soil and meticulously turned over the soil in a uniform manner.

"They're quite disciplined."

Xia Yuan smiled. Compared to oxen, earthworms have another advantage: they can not only turn over the surface soil, but also the deep soil nearly a meter deep, making land reclamation more effective.

As a variant of earthworm, it can even improve soil fertility.

A true game-changer for clearing new lands.

"Congratulations, sir! Obtaining this extraordinary insect is truly a divine blessing!"

Lu Chenggeng, the militia captain who had just taken on the land reclamation task yesterday, was all smiles at the moment.

Now we don't have to worry about the oxen for plowing.

"Congratulations are in order. However, now that the trial is over, it's time to officially put land reclamation on the agenda. With the help of the burrowing earthworms, I hope we can see the results of the reclamation as soon as possible."

With the territory reaching level 4, Xia Yuan felt a sense of urgency. "Just let me know if you need any support. I'll try my best to meet your needs."

Without achieving food self-sufficiency, we will ultimately be subject to others' control.

"I will certainly live up to your expectations, sir!"

These past two days, Lu Chenggeng has been pondering the matter of land reclamation and has already come up with a general plan in mind. Now that earthworms, a powerful tool for land reclamation, have been added, he no longer hesitates as before and has made a firm commitment.

"Great, that's the spirit we need!"

Xia Yuan smiled upon seeing this, "When we officially begin land reclamation, sword and shield dogs, skeleton warriors, and others can also help. Everyone can participate and build our home together."

"My sword and shield!"

Regardless of whether it understood or not, Blade & Shield No. 1 immediately expressed its support, saying that listening to its master was always the right thing to do.

As for the skeleton warriors, they were bored out of their minds spending all day in the Burial Grounds, so this was a good opportunity to stretch their muscles. Since they didn't know what fatigue was, they were perfect for labor.

So, when you calculate it that way, Mingguang Village actually has quite a few advantages.

No, after being upgraded to a level 4 territory, Mingguang Village should be renamed Mingguang Town.

Your rank has been raised again.