Chapter 24

Cheng Yang then checked the upgrade status of several professional statues. By noon, he chose to upgrade another project. Now, except for the archer statue, which still had two attribute categories left to upgrade, the warrior, mage, and summoner statues all had only one attribute left to upgrade. The territory upgrade was getting closer and closer.

As for the priest statue, it originally had six upgrade categories, and now only one had been upgraded. To reach level 2, it would still need one or two days. Fortunately, the priest statue was not the main professional statue of the territory, so it would not affect the territory upgrade.

Although most of the battles today took place more than a kilometer away from Luofeng Village, many monsters still spawned around the village and were killed by the group led by Yu Kai. Therefore, the territory's spiritual energy value of Luofeng Village had accumulated to over a hundred points. Actually, this number should have been higher, but the upgrade at noon consumed 400 points of spiritual energy, and the recent new professional conversions cost another 500 points, leaving insufficient points for a comprehensive upgrade of the professional statues.

Cheng Yang chose to upgrade the archer's magical energy enhancement.

At this moment, Li Wanshan quickly walked up to Cheng Yang. Seeing no one around, he whispered, "Village Chief, why didn't you agree to let me deal with Hu Bing earlier? This guy used to be the mayor of Huimin Town and is quite eloquent. If he starts spreading rumors behind our backs, it could cause us a lot of trouble."

Cheng Yang looked at him and smiled, "Old Li, you don't know what the future holds, so you think not killing him is a favor. But how do you know that in the apocalypse, living without ability is worse than dying, it's just that many people lack the courage to die. For Hu Bing, I plan to keep him in Luofeng Village but not let him convert to a profession. In my eyes, he is a good negative example. As long as he lives in Luofeng Village, he can serve as a warning to others."

Li Wanshan was momentarily stunned, then suddenly realized, "You're right, Village Chief. As long as Hu Bing lives a miserable life in Luofeng Village, others will naturally take it as a lesson."

Cheng Yang nodded and said, "I'm glad you understand. In the future, keep an eye on this guy. He still has some relatives and friends in that group, including his brother Hu Yang. For now, we won't let him or his close ones convert to professions. I want to see how long they can hold out."

"Yes, Village Chief," Li Wanshan immediately replied.

Cheng Yang said, "Old Li, don't call me Village Chief, it sounds strange."

Li Wanshan said seriously, "That won't do. Rules must be followed. If you want to achieve something in the apocalypse, you must pay attention to the details. I may not have much influence now, but I will stick to what I should do. I also think the title 'Village Chief' isn't good, but since you are the owner of Luofeng Village, it's acceptable. When Luofeng Village upgrades to a town or city, we can change the title."

Li Wanshan's words made Cheng Yang think of the future. After the apocalypse had passed for half a year, humans seemed to have returned to ancient times. Except for the territories occupied by the original government, where the management titles were still the same, the rest of the territories used ancient titles like lords, city lords, and generals. Some lords even used ancient nobility systems in their territories.

After a moment of thought, Cheng Yang said, "What you said makes sense, but changing the title 'Village Chief' is too troublesome. In the future, just call me Lord. In my attribute panel, I am the Lord of Luofeng Village. I think the title 'Lord' will become widespread."

Li Wanshan didn't mind this and was actually quite happy that his suggestion was adopted.

"Old Li, I'm young, and although I know more than you, I still lack experience in handling interpersonal relationships. In the future, you will need to take more responsibility for Luofeng Village. Of course, as long as you are loyal to Luofeng Village, I won't let you down," Cheng Yang said calmly.

Li Wanshan nodded and said, "Thank you, Lord, I know what to do."

Cheng Yang sighed, thinking that in his previous life, Li Wanshan probably died at the beginning of the apocalypse. Otherwise, such an adaptable person would surely have found a way to survive. Moreover, since he was also in Xiangcheng City, if he had survived, Cheng Yang would have known his name.

To quickly gather enough spiritual energy for the territory upgrade, Cheng Yang left the walled gate after dinner.

According to his plan, each of the five teams was responsible for two hours of night clearing. Since it was still early in the apocalypse, no mid-level first-stage monsters would appear, and each team had sixteen combatants, which was enough to handle any crisis.

Actually, Luofeng Village had another fast source of spiritual energy, the Blood Church dungeon. At its current level, although the normal difficulty could only be opened five times a day, it could still provide over a thousand points of spiritual energy to Baiyun City. However, besides the late-stage first-stage monster, there were two mid-stage first-stage monsters in the dungeon. Without a mid-level apprentice combatant leading the team, it was difficult to pass the dungeon without damage.

To wait for another mid-level apprentice combatant to appear in Luofeng Village would take a long time. However, Cheng Yang had a plan. Once the newly converted priests mastered their skills, they could team up with others to enter the Blood Church. With the priests supporting them, five combatants could easily kill a mid-stage first-stage monster.

Tonight, Cheng Yang sent out the five teams, partly to train the priests.

By midnight, the total spiritual energy value of Luofeng Village had reached over 500 points, with nearly half coming from the new converts repaying their conversion debts. Cheng Yang immediately upgraded the attributes of all the professional statues except the priest. This was the last attribute needed for the statues to reach level 2.

By tomorrow morning, the four main professional statues of Luofeng Village would be upgraded to level 2, and the number of people they could convert would increase, meeting the population requirement for the territory upgrade.

At this moment, Cheng Yang's combat power had changed again. After a day and a night of fighting, his Magic Missile had finally reached level 2, significantly enhancing his combat power.

Magic Missile Level 2 (Concentrate inner magic power to attack distant targets, causing 110% magic damage, attack range 30 meters. No special effects. Spell consumption: 5 magic points. Proficiency: 0%).

Although the magic damage only increased by 10%, it could deal more damage to the target, equivalent to equipping a withered wooden staff.

The next morning, Cheng Yang's four hours of training time finally ended. This night, he consumed 80 points of spiritual energy, finally reaching 5.4% progress in his mid-level magic apprentice training.

He now had 882 points of spiritual energy left, getting closer to the 1000-point goal.

The newly converted combatants had gained a preliminary understanding of their skills and combat methods after a night of fighting, but their training results were not satisfactory. Since all the spiritual energy they earned went to the territory, they did not get the double training bonus.

On the other hand, Yu Kai and others earned more spiritual energy, allowing them to enjoy four hours of double training time and still have some left over. After all, they had worked hard all day.

Cheng Yang checked the upgrade progress of the professional statues and found that it would take another hour to complete. With no choice, he decided to lead the team through the Blood Church dungeon again. The monster spawn rate outside was gradually decreasing. Yesterday, they only earned about 1500 points of spiritual energy, while the night before, they earned over 1000 points. Cheng Yang had to focus on the dungeon.

Since they had already completed the first run of the Blood Church dungeon, Cheng Yang no longer needed to be secretive. He led the same team through it again. This time, he explained the team configuration and killing techniques in detail, especially for the final Inferior Demon leader. If they couldn't act quickly, they might die instantly.

Yu Kai and others knew this might be the last time Cheng Yang would lead them through the normal difficulty of the dungeon. The next time, they would have to lead the team themselves. For their own safety, they paid close attention.

Actually, it was still risky for Yu Kai and others to lead the team into the dungeon. The final boss was manageable, but the mid-stage first-stage monsters in the first two stages were the most troublesome.

Fortunately, the mid-stage first-stage monsters' attack power was not too strong, and they couldn't break through the doors of the rooms in the dungeon. With a priest and two warriors defending together, they could hold out.

This time, it only took about half an hour for the team to clear the dungeon. However, the rewards were much less than before. The priest statue mold was gone, and the quality of the equipment was much lower. They killed three high-level monsters but only got three pieces of common equipment, which made Yu Kai and others complain about the dungeon being too stingy.

Cheng Yang was already very satisfied, as the average drop rate of the dungeon was only two pieces of common equipment per run. Getting three pieces was already good luck, and if they got black iron equipment, it would be a stroke of luck.

Cheng Yang only took one piece of equipment, a hat that increased magic points by 8. Fortunately, the hat looked normal; otherwise, he wouldn't know if he could wear it.

The remaining two pieces of equipment were a pair of shoes that increased leg defense and a hunting bow, both only increasing 1 attribute point. The shoes were given to Li Wanshan, and the hunting bow naturally went to Yu Kai.

Of course, the benefits they gained were not limited to this. After this battle, Cheng Yang's spiritual energy value finally broke the 1000-point mark, reaching 1005 points. This meant he could now use four times the training speed, which was far beyond the reach of other combatants at this stage.

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