Chapter 83 - 69: Hero Tavern, the Black Moon Knight’s Transformation

Chapter 83: Chapter 69: Hero Tavern, the Black Moon Knight’s Transformation

The Black Moon Knight radiated an intense black light as it underwent an evolution.

Bathed in the light, its pitted and dented armor repaired itself at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, it became smooth and gleaming, as if freshly forged.

Not only that, but black spikes sprouted from the armor’s joints and shoulders, giving it a more menacing appearance.

As all the black light receded, a system notification appeared.

[Advancement successful! Your territory’s Soldier Type: ’Black Moon Knight’ has had its Potential increased to Elite★★★.]

[+10% to All Attributes from this evolution.]

[Equipment: Damaged Black Moon Knight Armor (Blue) → Black Moon Knight Captain’s Armor (Purple)]

[Skill Activated: Evil Light Slash]

...

"This new look is pretty cool."

Shen Xing looked at the transformed Black Moon Knight and its gleaming suit of armor, and couldn’t help but feel a little envious.

After all, what man didn’t dream of being a Knight as a child?

’Never mind what kind of Knight.’

Shaking off his reverie, he checked the new Skill’s Attributes.

[Evil Light Slash: Concentrate the Power of Black Moon into your weapon to unleash a crescent slash of light, dealing Shadow Damage to all enemies within a (Agility * 0.5 meter) radius and applying the ’Lunar Eclipse’ Effect for 10 seconds (reduces armor by 30%).

For every 100 points of agility, the number of Slashes increases by 1.

Cooldown: 35 seconds]

(Note: Did you think a single strike was my limit?)

...

’A very strong AoE skill, and the number of Slashes even increases with agility.’

’Looks like I’ll have to use Sacrificial Evolution to increase its Attributes in the future.’

Pleased, Shen Xing took out the [Demon Shadow Sword] and handed it to the Knight.

"I bestow this weapon upon you. From this day forward, your name is Hei."

The Black Moon Knight took the weapon, and a hoarse voice emerged from beneath its faceplate, "Yes... Lord..."

After two evolutions, Hei seemed to speak more fluently than before.

"Alright, now take the other Knights and go practice your coordination," Shen Xing ordered.

"As... you... command..."

Hei respectfully turned and led the Black Moon Knights toward a nearby open space.

CLOMP... CLOMP...

Shen Xing watched their stalwart figures depart, satisfied.

This Black Moon Knight Order would become another ace squad, second only to the Inferior Demon Bombing Corps.

’Next item.’

Shen Xing opened his right hand, and a floating orb of light slowly materialized—the mysterious building reward from the Anomaly Handling Bureau.

[Mysterious Building - Hero Tavern]

[Quality: Purple (Rare)]

[Can be placed directly in your territory. Requires an open area of at least 142 square meters.]

[Building Effect: Can periodically activate a ’Hero Recruitment Call,’ sending a summons to all neutral units within a radius (Lord’s Level * km) around the territory. There is a chance to attract special talents to your service.

If a nearby neutral unit answers the summons, it will be teleported directly into the tavern, where the Lord can select desirable candidates to join the territory.]

[Cooldown: 72 hours]

(Note: Welcome to my tavern! Find a seat by the hearth and stay a while!)

...

"Huh? It can actually recruit nearby neutral creatures? This thing is amazing!"

Shen Xing was overjoyed.

With the [Hero Tavern], he now had a steady source of population, plus a chance to recruit special talents.

These special talents referred to individuals with unique skills, such as Blacksmiths, chefs, trap Experts, and so on.

For most Novice Lords, Soldier Types could be continuously recruited from their lairs.

As long as they had enough materials and could afford the upkeep, they could have as many as they wanted.

But special talents like these were a matter of luck, not something one could simply seek out.

You either had to use an extremely rare Recruitment Scroll, or try your luck in the Land of Mist, hoping to find such a person and trick them into coming back to your territory.

’Something this good has to be built immediately!’

He immediately pushed his wheelchair over to the bluestone path.

Then, he selected an empty plot of land across from the residences to begin construction.

The orb of light in his hand slowly rose, spinning faster and faster in the air, revealing the building within.

The building grew larger and larger, gradually forming into a massive, ethereal projection that slowly descended to the ground.

BOOM...

With a dull thud, a quaint, two-story building in a medieval style appeared on the empty plot.

Ajar oak doors, intricately carved windows, and the scent of wine wafting through the air.

The moment it landed, the tavern became the largest building in the entire territory.

’Nice, it has the right vibe. I’ll have to see if I can brew my own alcohol later. That way, the Soldier Types will have a place to unwind after a battle.’

Shen Xing thought cheerfully, then opened the building’s interface and activated the "Recruit" function.

[You have successfully initiated ’Hero Recruitment’. Duration: 24 hours...]

...

’24 hours... I wonder if there are any wandering neutral creatures nearby willing to accept a summons from a Novice Lord like me.’

’The chances feel pretty slim.’

After all, the tavern’s maximum recruitment range was tied to the Lord’s Level.

The higher the Lord’s Level, the larger the range.

He was only Level 6, so he could only summon neutral creatures from within a six-kilometer radius.

’Oh well, I’ll just leave it to fate. It’d be great to recruit someone, but it’s no big loss if I don’t.’

Shen Xing quickly put it out of his mind.

Next, he checked the remaining resources in his inventory.

’I still have over two thousand Soul Stones left. Resources are plentiful.’

’In that case, I’ll start by building a wall in a hundred-meter diameter around the Campfire.’

Of course, Shen Xing wasn’t going to build the wall at the Campfire’s maximum range.

After all, the Campfire could be upgraded, and the range of its light would continue to expand.

So he just needed to build a wall that met the territory’s current needs, protecting the important buildings and providing a safe shelter for his people.

This way, excluding the four city gates, Shen Xing would only need to build 62 sections of wall, for a total cost of 930 Soul Stones.

No sooner said than done. He immediately pushed his wheelchair to the edge of the territory and opened the construction interface.

Ethereal images of wall sections flashed before his eyes, moving along with his gaze.

CLANG! CLANG!

A large amount of materials was consumed.

Soon, a ring of stone wall foundations encircled the territory at a hundred-meter radius.

[Construction in progress. Estimated time remaining: 8 hours, 24 minutes...]

...

’Not bad. The territory will look completely different tomorrow.’

Shen Xing clapped his hands in satisfaction.

At this point, all the loot from the Foggy Void Realm, including the ranking rewards, had been put to use.

The entire territory had undergone an unprecedented upgrade.

Not only had the territory’s infrastructure entered a new phase, but the strength of his Soldier Types had also skyrocketed.

’Next, once the Advancement Materials are successfully matched, I’ll officially have an Extraordinary Level Soldier Type.’

Shen Xing thought with great anticipation, feeling that life was full of hope.

Next, he used his daily [Sacrificial Evolution] to raise an Inferior Demon to Elite★★.

Then he crafted some Tripwires and hunting traps, setting them up strategically around the territory.

After finishing all this, Grand Lord Shen took off his glasses, his day’s work complete.

"Whew... A Lord’s life is tough."

He let out a soft breath and slowly pushed himself up from his bed.

Unlike other players, he didn’t need to carry a Horse Lantern deep into the Fog every day, battling wits and brawn with monsters just to obtain a few Soul Fragments.

Then they had to synthesize those fragments, gambling on a sixty or seventy percent success rate.

All he had to do was stay in his territory and use [Sacrificial Evolution] once a day to make his Soldier Types stronger and stronger.

But Shen Xing had it tough too, alright?

He had to build the territory and allocate resources to his Soldier Types.

He even had to decide which Soldier Type to use his daily [Sacrificial Evolution] on to increase its Potential.

Sigh. He was so exhausted, having worried himself sick over the territory.

And so, Grand Lord Shen decided to reward himself by ordering a bubble tea.

After making his selection, he proceeded to the payment screen.

It loaded for a moment, and then a notification popped up.

[Insufficient funds. Payment failed...]

’What the hell? Am I so broke I can’t even afford a 6 RMB lemonade?’

In disbelief, Shen Xing opened his banking app and checked his balance. Only 4.86 RMB remained!

’Whoa, where’d all my money go?’

He glanced at his transaction history and understood. ’Okay... I guess my spending was a little out of control this month.’

Before, Shen Xing had always cooked his own meals to save money.

But after starting to play Mist Reincarnation, he’d been ordering takeout every day, occasionally treating himself to a bubble tea.

His main sources of income were taking power-leveling jobs online and some government subsidies.

After deducting rent and utilities, he was only left with a few hundred RMB for living expenses.

’Sigh. In the game, I may be a Grand Lord who commands a hundred great generals and has assets in the tens of millions,’

’but in reality, I still have to worry about what I’m going to eat tomorrow.’

Shen Xing sighed, though he wasn’t too concerned.

After all, he still had over a thousand contribution points on his other card, which could be exchanged for over a hundred thousand RMB.

It was just a bit of a hassle, as he’d have to go to the Player Association to handle some paperwork.

’Forget it, I’ll just borrow two hundred RMB from Qin Lang to tide me over for now.’

Shen Xing figured two hundred RMB should be enough to last him a week.

Just as he was about to open Green Bubble, he noticed a dozen or so new messages in his inbox.

He opened them and saw they were all templated partnership offers from various corporations and conglomerates.

The content was mostly the same: praising Shen Xing’s outstanding performance and limitless Potential in the tournament, inviting him to partner with them, and so on, all accompanied by a long list of sponsorship benefits.

When Shen Xing saw the contents of the list, his eyes went wide.

These major corporations really spared no expense.

If he signed with them, he would receive a guaranteed annual salary of 70 to 200 million RMB.

It also came with a private villa, a personal butler, maids, and other services.

They even offered to provide a variable monthly supply of resources like Soul Stones and Souls, based on Shen Xing’s performance.

He had to admit, he was tempted.

Signing with one of these companies would be like reaching the heavens in a single step.

Not only would his real life improve dramatically, but his progress in the game would also receive a huge boost.

But he also considered that after signing with one of these companies, he would lose his freedom.

Plus, it would be difficult to keep his hidden Talent, [Sacrificial Evolution], a secret.

After some consideration, Shen Xing reluctantly gave up on the idea.