Chapter 58: Castle Advancement! Seven-Star Corpse Exploders Enter Mass Production!

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Castle Advancement! Seven-Star Corpse Exploders Enter Mass Production!

[Fountain of Life (Legendary · Territory Core Building)]

[Daily Production: Water of Life ×10.]

[Special Effect: Can be used to upgrade territory buildings, including Resource Plots, barracks, city walls, and more.]

"How much did it produce today?"

John turned his attention to Sylvie.

At his question, Sylvie’s eyes curved into a smile.

"I waited beside the spring for a while, and it triggered a production critical."

"Combined with your 10,000× Acceleration ability, My Lord, it produced fifteen drops of Water of Life in a single day."

John was pleased with the result and immediately gave an order.

"Upgrade these four Epic-grade Resource Plots first."

[Consumed: Water of Life ×10.]

Ten drops of emerald-green liquid floated out of the glowing orb in midair, transforming into a streak of green light that shot toward the first rice field.

In the distance, a faint humming could be heard as the Resource Plot was enveloped in green light and began to grow and transform.

John glanced at the fountain.

Five drops remained, which wasn’t enough to upgrade another building, so he decided to leave them for now.

After thinking for a moment, he decided not to do anything else with them.

"We have all the materials now. Let’s upgrade the castle first."

...

When they returned to the plaza in front of the main castle, John immediately noticed the difference.

Previously, the castle he had built was made entirely of stone.

It was gray, bulky, and massive, resembling an enormous stone fortress.

But after its advancement, the entire castle had undergone a complete transformation.

The irregularly shaped boulders had been replaced with neatly arranged blue-gray ashlar blocks.

Exquisite stone carvings had been engraved into their surfaces.

The exterior walls were no longer bare and featureless. Instead, they now featured rows of neatly arranged pointed-arch windows, carved stone stringcourses, and gargoyles lining the eaves.

Not only had the castle become considerably more refined in appearance, but its overall size had also increased.

The main tower alone was more than ten meters taller than before.

[Ding——]

[System Notification: Your Lord Castle has successfully advanced from a Rampart Tier Castle to a Vanguard Tier Castle!]

[Consumed: All Basic Resources ×100,000, Spatial Stone ×1, Heart of Thorns ×1.]

[Two Core Technologies Unlocked:]

[Core Technology 1: Bidirectional Portal]

[Core Technology 2: Basic City Wall]

John walked around the castle with satisfaction.

Aside from the previously previewed virtual city walls now becoming fully constructed structures, he also noticed something new.

Dark purple thorns had somehow begun growing along the base of the previously bare stone walls.

Each vine was as thick as a forearm, covered in black spikes more than half a foot long.

They spread all the way around the castle walls, forming a natural defensive barrier of thorns.

Meanwhile, in the very center of the castle plaza...

A massive arched portal had appeared.

Its frame was made of dark silver metal, while a swirling mass of silvery-gray mist filled the space within.

[Bidirectional Portal (Bound)]

[Description: Establishes a transportation hub within your territory, creating a two-way connection with the Lord’s Legion Space. Ordinary units can travel rapidly between the territory and Legion Space through the portal, allowing for rapid battlefield reinforcements and territorial defense.]

Standing in the plaza and looking at everything around him, John nodded with satisfaction.

He took out the Crossbow Tower blueprint he had previously seized from the Third Division’s leader and handed it to Gru, who had been following close behind.

"Take this. Build as many as possible along the city walls."

Gru was already accustomed to his Lord producing all kinds of unexpected items, so he accepted it respectfully.

"Yes, My Lord! I’ll arrange the workers immediately!"

"One more thing."

John suddenly remembered something.

"Set aside a group of natives to clear an area beside the castle. I’m going to build a Twilight Tavern there."

"Once the tavern is completed, prioritize using tomorrow’s Water of Life to upgrade it. After that, assign a squad of Dragon Knights to remain stationed inside permanently."

Gru hurriedly committed every instruction to memory.

After finishing these arrangements, John headed straight toward the barracks district on the other side of the territory.

Beside the original barracks, two new altars had already risen from the ground under the effect of 10,000× Acceleration.

The moment construction was completed, the familiar aura of death spread over them, turning both structures dark purple.

The one on the left had a round, grotesque undead creature carved above its entrance. Its entire body was covered in bandages, and its belly was unnaturally swollen.

The one on the right featured a relief of a skeletal archer holding a longbow.

[Seven-Star Barracks · Corpse Pit (Undead Conversion Complete)]

[Unlocked Unit: Corpse Exploder.]

[Six-Star Barracks · Sharpshooter Hall (Undead Conversion Complete)]

[Unlocked Unit: Sharpshooter.]

"Train 2,000 of each."

BOOM——

Two bursts of light erupted simultaneously from the structures on either side.

On the left, a massive column of gray-white bone ash suddenly erupted from the bottom of the Seven-Star Corpse Pit.

Ghostly green soul flames crawled up its walls, while the entire barracks emitted a deep, grinding sound, like countless bones rubbing against one another.

One after another, pale hands gripped the stone rim of the pit.

Bloated skeletons began hauling themselves out, one after another.

On the right, a dull, throbbing sound came from within the bone-crystal walls of the Sharpshooter Hall.

Dark green mist poured out through its arched entrance, spreading along the ground.

Wherever it passed, a thin layer of grayish-white, frost-like residue formed across the stone pavement.

Within the mist, hunched figures slowly emerged.

They retained their original facial features from life, but their bodies were wrapped in gray-black burial shrouds. Each carried an enormous bone storage sack on its back.

As the units continued emerging, John first approached the Sharpshooter that had finished training the fastest and opened its status panel.

[Unit: Sharpshooter]

[Star Rating: Six-Star (Mid-Tier)]

[Level: Lv1]

[Health: 900]

[Attack: 1,500]

[Defense: 100]

[Trait: Undead Body (Immune to mental magic, immune to pain, and unaffected by fatigue.)]

[Skill 1: Piercing Arrow (Lv1 · Active): Fires a piercing arrow that deals damage equal to 150% of Attack to all enemies in a straight line. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]

[Skill 2: Weak Point Snipe (Lv1 · Active): Marks a target, increasing the critical hit chance of all attacks against that target by 50% for the next 8 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds.]

[Skill 3: Arrow Rain (Lv1 · Active): Fires a dense barrage of arrows into a designated area for 3 seconds, dealing damage equal to 80% of Attack per second to all enemies within the area. Cooldown: 25 seconds.]

[Description: In life, most were hunters, scouts, and sharpshooters from various tribes.]

After examining the panel, John nodded.

A six-star Sharpshooter. A versatile ranged unit.

It had single-target burst damage, AoE attacks, and a marking ability that increased the damage potential of its allies.

Combined with his Cloudpiercer Bow Legion Equipment, which granted Sharpshooter units a 35% Attack bonus, this legion’s offensive power would be nothing to scoff at.

He turned his attention to the other side.

[Unit: Corpse Exploder]

[Star Rating: Seven-Star (Mid-Tier)]

[Level: Lv1]

[Health: 2,000]

[Attack: 1,200]

[Defense: 400]

[Trait: Undead Body (Immune to mental magic, immune to pain, and unaffected by fatigue.)]

[Skill 1: Corpse Storage (Lv1 · Passive): Automatically collects corpses within a 20-meter radius, storing up to 10 at a time. The Star Rating and Level of stored corpses directly affect the power of subsequent explosions.]

[Skill 2: Corpse Detonation (Lv1 · Active): Throws corpses stored inside its body toward a designated area, causing a massive explosion upon impact. Explosion damage scales with the Star Rating and Level of the thrown corpses. Cooldown: 15 seconds.]

[Skill 3: Stealth Movement (Lv1 · Passive): When not attacking, the Corpse Exploder continuously remains invisible, but its Movement Speed is reduced by 15%. It immediately becomes visible once it attacks.]

[Description: In life, most were corpse collectors, grave robbers, and battlefield scavengers from various tribes.]