Chapter 112 - 87: A Pillow for a Drowsy Head, Must Seize It

Chapter 112: Chapter 87: A Pillow for a Drowsy Head, Must Seize It

Shen Xing guessed that the altar Hellish Roar had discovered was very likely the Holy Altar Xia Wanyin had mentioned.

A trace of excitement stirred in his heart.

After all, according to her, this type of altar, much like the demon statues, could yield special treasures through sacrifice.

Plus, there was a chance to obtain the seed of an ancient tree.

He had obtained his first golden building, the [Hero Altar], from a demon statue.

This Holy Altar might also grant him something good.

"Hellish Roar, if I let you take Blood Roar and Dahou, what are your chances of taking that Divine Hall?" Shen Xing asked.

The Beastman thought for a moment, the blue pattern on his brow once again glowing with wisdom. "Lord, it should be about ninety percent."

"And if I give you an Inferior Demon Squad as well?"

"Then it should be a certainty."

"And if... I give you a hundred-strong squad of Elite Orcs on top of that?"

Hellish Roar’s whole body trembled. "I would have a hundred and thirty percent certainty!"

"Excellent." Shen Xing laughed. "Once I’ve assembled a Beastman Legion, we will choose a day to attack that Divine Hall!"

"As you command!" the Beastman responded respectfully.

Shen Xing shifted his gaze to the Hero, Reina, beside him. "Tell me what you found today."

The red-haired woman collected her thoughts and began, "Today, I ventured deep into the mountain range you mentioned and sensed a very strong Fire Element aura in a valley."

"Following the aura, I found a hidden cave."

"The cave was very deep and hot, as if it led straight to the center of the earth."

"In the deepest part, we saw a river of flowing lava, and a Giant Sword suspended above it, radiating a terrifying pressure."

"There were also large numbers of Hell Creatures inside: Inferior Demons, Flaming Bats, and Hellish Imps."

"We engaged this swarm of monsters, but there were too many of them, so we had to retreat for now."

She held out her fair palm, upon which two emerald-green Fire Seeds appeared. "I picked these up at the edge of the lava river."

"Hellfire Seeds..." Shen Xing recognized them. They were the key items used to recruit Inferior Demons.

He pressed, "Are there a lot of these Fire Seeds there?"

Reina thought for a moment, then nodded lightly. "Yes, quite a lot."

Shen Xing’s heart stirred. ’I was just planning to recruit more Inferior Demons to strengthen my bombing squad.’

This was a case of perfect timing.

For now, the places these two great commanders had discovered were both very important.

The Divine Hall to the west likely contained a Holy Altar.

Deep within the mountain cave to the north, there was a Greatsword plunged into lava, along with a large quantity of Hellfire Seeds.

’I have to take them. I have to take them all!’

’Since they’ve appeared near my territory, they’re meant for me!’

’Let me develop for another two days, and I’ll claim it all.’

"You’ve worked hard. Go and rest now. There’s freshly baked bread in the territory."

Shen Xing’s expression was calm as he continued, "And Hellish Roar, you’ve been managing things well. The territory is kept spotless because you have people clean it every day."

Hellish Roar was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Lord, actually... I haven’t assigned anyone to clean the territory."

"You haven’t?" Shen Xing was puzzled. "Then why is the territory so clean every day?"

"To be honest, I find it very strange as well."

Hellish Roar chose his words carefully, his voice low. "During the day, the territory is a mess, with stone chips and dust kicked up everywhere from the Beastmen’s training."

"But by the next day, all traces of it are gone."

"That includes the granary the Horned Eagle got into yesterday. The Food was scattered everywhere."

"But when I took some Beastmen to go clean it up, we found it had already been tidied. Even the different types of Food had been sorted and put away properly."

Shen Xing’s brows furrowed slightly. He also sensed something was off. "How long has this been happening?"

Hellish Roar thought for a moment. "About a week or so."

Shen Xing fell silent. "I understand. You two go and rest for now."

"Yes!"

The two of them took their leave.

Afterward, Shen Xing remained in the territory for a while longer, absorbing a few Soul Stones.

It wasn’t until 11:30 PM that he took off his glasses and logged out of the game.

He pushed his wheelchair to the window and gazed out at Jiang City, shrouded in a curtain of rain.

Then he opened the [Trading Section] and listed the advancement treasure he had, the [Shattered Eye].

Naturally, he requested Extraordinary Level Advancement Materials for other Soldier Types, such as a Damaged Demon Horn, a Giant Wolf’s Claw, Soul Fire, and so on.

After browsing the forums for a while longer, he drifted off into a light sleep.

At four in the morning, his phone alarm suddenly went off.

Shen Xing’s eyes snapped open.

Without hesitation, he put on his glasses, his consciousness logging into the game.

His vision switched in an instant. Orange-red light illuminated the entire territory.

He scanned his surroundings, his gaze as sharp as a hawk’s, sweeping over every corner.

’I’d like to see who’s making mischief in my territory.’

However... after a thorough patrol, he saw that nothing in the territory had changed.

The pile of wheat bran flakes he had deliberately scattered in the southwest corner of the territory was still just as messy as before.

’Did I overthink this?’ Shen Xing wondered.

’No, the new residences built today have been touched.’

He looked at the row of wooden houses, which were clean enough to have been washed, and a glint flashed in his eyes. ’Sure enough, there’s something in my territory.’

Shen Xing’s interest was piqued. He decided he had to find this thing.

Just then, a red dot suddenly began to flash in the upper-left corner of his minimap.

The Eye of True Sight he had secretly placed on the outskirts of his territory during his daytime patrol had found a target!

Shen Xing instantly activated [Hope’s Feather], and his entire body shot into the air.

From tens of meters up, he used his excellent vantage point to spot a pitch-black figure.

The dark figure was at the edge of the territory, wriggling forward in an extremely bizarre manner.

Seemingly aware that it had been exposed, it suddenly accelerated, rushing toward the dense Fog like a phantom.

BOOM!

In the area by the village entrance, a powerful aura surged.

A Green-skinned Beastman, beating the giant bat wings on his back, charged to the edge of the Fog at top speed.

But he was a step too slow; the figure had already slipped into the Fog.

Hellish Roar was just about to light his Horse Lantern and charge into the Fog in pursuit when Shen Xing stopped him.

"Come back."

The Beastman immediately halted, beat his wings, and flew over to Shen Xing.

"Lord, that aura was unfamiliar, but not very strong," Hellish Roar asked in a low voice. "Should I go and capture it?"

Shen Xing shook his head. "No need. It’s enough to confirm its existence."

He could tell that this unknown creature held no malice toward him or his territory.

Otherwise, it would have made a move in the past few days.

But... as for why it liked to come into his territory and clean up for him, that he couldn’t quite figure out.

’Could it be... some kind of weird hobby?’

After a moment’s thought, Shen Xing stopped dwelling on it and turned to say, "Alright, you can go back to resting. Don’t worry about it too much."

Although Hellish Roar was a bit confused, he still nodded. "As you command."

He returned to his giant rock, sat cross-legged, and began absorbing Soul Stones.

Shen Xing also took off his glasses and went back to sleep.

The night was deep and dark.

The territory was quiet, broken only by the occasional earth-shaking snores of the Beastmen.

Just before dawn, Hellish Roar heard a faint splash from the southern part of the territory.

He felt a stir of restlessness and couldn’t resist the urge to go investigate.

But remembering the Lord’s instructions, he calmed himself down again.

The next day, which was Shen Xing’s twenty-first day in the game.

After logging back into the game, he immediately found Hellish Roar, preparing to use [Sacrificial Evolution] to help him transform again.

After all, the Beastman was already a Three-Star Boss Level creature.

The next advancement would be to the legendary Leader Level.

This was also a crucial transformation, several times more important than advancing from Elite to Boss, and the difficulty naturally increased exponentially.

Leader... only the head of an army, the commander of a legion, was worthy of such a title.

According to the guides on the forums, Soldier Types with this level of Potential possessed extremely strong learning abilities and exclusive Leader-level Skills.

The Effects of these Leader-level Skills could even rival Hero Exclusive Skills, capable of turning the tide of an entire battle.

More importantly, a Leader also possessed independent battlefield command abilities.

As the saying goes, an army of a thousand is easy to find, but a single general is hard to come by.

Even Tier Three Expert Lords might already have Heroic Level units in their territories. But even they couldn’t necessarily cultivate a true Leader-Level Soldier Type.

’Let’s see if I can raise him directly to Leader Level.’

Shen Xing opened his [Sacrificial Evolution] Talent and activated it on Hellish Roar.

BUZZ...

As a red light flashed, a familiar notification appeared.

[This Soldier Type is Level 11 (Tier Two Extraordinary). Its Potential has reached its level limit. Forcing an evolution carries a certain risk of the body exploding.]

...

As expected, just like at Tier One, he needed to reach Level 19—the Full Level for Tier Two—to evolve further.

And at Tier Two Extraordinary, the number of Soul Stones required to gain one level had already reached 30, a number that would increase with each subsequent level.

Fortunately, after breaking through to Tier Two, his rate of absorbing Soul Stones had also increased severalfold due to the significant boost in his Constitution.

Shen Xing muttered to himself, "It’s only been three days since Hellish Roar broke through, and he’s already gained two levels while also going out to explore. That speed is already quite impressive."

"By my estimates, he should be able to reach the Tier Two Full Level in another ten days to half a month."

"At that time, I can have him advance to Leader."

The Hero Altar could resurrect Hellish Roar, so it wouldn’t be a disaster even if he failed the advancement and his body exploded. Still, the risk was ultimately too great.

Besides, he didn’t know what materials would be required to resurrect a Tier Two Extraordinary unit.

To be safe, Shen Xing decided against forcing the advancement.

Of course, he couldn’t let his daily use of [Sacrificial Evolution] go to waste.

After some thought, he decided to give the opportunity to Reina.

After all, she was one of the only two Extraordinary Level powerhouses in the territory, making her the most cost-effective choice for an upgrade.

Shen Xing pushed his wheelchair to a clearing in the southern part of the territory and found Reina practicing with her sword.