"Well, Brother Su and everyone else, I'll see you all again soon," Ram said with a casual wave. Without waiting for much of a response, he opened the Lord's panel and selected the return option to head back to his territory.
Su Xing and the others called out, urging him to stay a bit longer to celebrate their victory with a small party. Ram politely declined with a faint smile.
"Maybe next ti," he said, though his real reason was twofold: he felt he hadn't contributed enough to join in the celebrations, and he couldn't stand seeing Su Xing's smug face for even a second longer.
The next mont, his body shimred and vanished, reappearing inside his Housing Plant, next to the Sylvan Soul Tree.
The familiar, calming presence of the Housing plant enveloped him as he took a deep breath. Around him, the vibrant greenery and warm glow of the surrounding spiritual trees seed to welco him back.
Compared to the barren landscape when Ram first unlocked his territory, the area had transford dramatically.
Although there was no sun over his space, but there is still strong sunlight passing through the space barrier over the top, these towering trees stretched hundreds of ters into the sky, their thick canopies providing ample shade and shelter.
These massive trees had grown from the stumps left behind from the broken stumps he found when he unlocked the territory, regrown fueled by Ram's careful use of Life Energy.
Among the roots of these trees were nurous bulbous plants, their shape resembling oversized onions, housing thousands of caven.
If one were to look down from above, they would see the unmistakable signs of structured life: groups of caven diligently farming under the guidance of Half-Drows.
The fields were neatly divided, and the Half-Drows, using their inherited mories and newfound roles as overseers, ensured that everything was running efficiently.
The caven themselves were no longer the dull-eyed, frail beings they had once been. Now, each one moved with purpose, their eyes gleaming with vitality.
Their once-thin fras had filled out, and their stronger, more resilient bodies were a testant to the effects of the vitality mushrooms and spirit mushrooms Ram had generously distributed among them.
For Ram, creating those mushrooms was almost effortless. Just a single point of Life Energy was enough to grow hundreds of Tier 1 spiritual plants like these.
When he realized the potential of housing plans to generate source power, from caven—he had decided to invest so Life Energy to grow and share them to increase the efficiency by improving their spirit attribute.
The results had been imdiate and remarkable. Upon consuming the mushrooms for the first ti, each caveman experienced a noticeable improvent in both their physique and spirit attributes.
However, he knew their transformation wasn't complete. "Even with their spirits improved," Ram muttered, "they still lack knowledge. Strength alone won't make them useful in the long run."
This was where the Half-Drows that evolved from caven played a critical role. Using their inherited mories, they taught the caven essential skills—everything from planting crops to understanding simple defensive tactics.
This symbiotic relationship not only improved the efficiency of resource collection but also created a more cohesive and productive community.
Ram crossed his arms, looking at the bustling territory with satisfaction.
"At this rate, they'll soon be self-sufficient," he mused. "And with their increased productivity, the Source Power I can collect from them will multiply exponentially."
Korrin and others also appeared nearby, and he turned to them. "Alright, everyone, you know the drill. Focus on your training." Everyone gave him a small nod before floating off to practice leaving him alone.
As his companions dispersed, Ram finally allowed himself to relax. Sitting cross-legged on the soft grass, he opened the Lord System Log to check the Divine Spirit prompts that had popped up during the battle.
A glowing interface flickered in front of him, displaying the notifications that had piled up.
He scrolled through the ssages. Mostly, they consist of battle reports about Korrin and others, detailing the damage inflicted, the number of kills, and the source power collected from these kills.
Skimming the highlights, what caught his interest was the last prompt:
[ System Prompt:
Your soldiers killed a total of 14 Tier 3, 84 Tier 2 Lizardn, 6 Tier 3, and 143 Tier 2 Hemophagic Murlocs
]
[ System Prompt:
Total Source Power Collected - 54 points
]
"Hmmm... 54 points?" Ram muttered, frowning as he reviewed the prompts. Despite the significant number of enemies his forces had defeated—14 Tier 3 and over 200 Tier 2 creatures—the source power he earned felt ager compared to his expectations.
"Even after all that effort, I barely earned enough points, and just transferring them cost 100 points. What a loss."
He sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. However, as he thought about it, a faint smile crept across his face. "Still, the amount of information I gained by observing those high-level Lords fight each other... it's invaluable. I can't put a price on that."
Ram leaned back against the Sylvan Soul Tree, closing his eyes as he shifted his perspective, connecting with the tree's vast spiritual network.
His consciousness descended to the roots, where the true bounty of the recent battle lay: not just source power but the countless souls of the fallen soldiers absorbed by the Sylvan Soul Tree.
In his mind's eye, the roots extended endlessly, glowing with faint lights—thousands of small soul fragnts clustered like fireflies beneath the massive presence of a single, radiant soul: the remnant of Ignara.
Focusing his thoughts on the smaller lights, he noticed the distinct forms of various souls bound to the tree's roots.
There were hundreds of Goat-kin, Lizardn, and Murlocs, their flickering lights representing their lingering essence.
Most of these souls were from Tier 2 and Tier 3 creatures, their strength evident in the density of their glow.
Among the countless small lights, however, 17 stood out. Slightly larger and brighter, they pulsed with a stronger presence—likely belonging to Tier 4 creatures.
Examining them closely, Ram could identify their shapes more clearly: 11 of them were Murlocs, 4 Goat-kin, and two Lizard-n.
In their faint, spectral forms, each soul seemingly more potent than the others scattered around them.
"Hmm..." Ram muttered, focusing on the glowing orbs. "Tier 4 Murlocs... Their combat abilities weren't particularly impressive, but their resilience and water-based affinity could be useful."
"Huh?" Observing those souls closely, he found that all of these murlocs seed damaged to various degrees, not as complete as the other souls of Lizardn and Goat-kin.
"Interesting, is this due to being already corrupted, thankfully the absorbed souls didn't bring any unknown energy with them." Ram murmured.
"Perhaps I can utilize these Tier 4 souls in a more direct way. Either for creating new spirit creatures or for strengthening the ones I already have." As his thoughts lingered, a subtle ripple of energy radiated from the tree, as though it was reacting to his interest.
"I previously used the sa ability on so caven to fortify their souls with Ignara's soul power, which in turn converted them into complete Half Drows; it should be feasible," he said, his gaze briefly returning to the grand, radiant light of Ignara's remnant.
Compared to the smaller souls, Ignara's essence was many tis overwhelming in both size and intensity. But the only problem now is how to combine or whether to use more caven as experints.
"Well, there is always plenty of caven he can use to verify the possibilities. One thing at a ti," Ram decided, leaving the issue for when he was about to use the Sylvan Spirit Rebirth next ti, he shifted his consciousness back to his own body and thought about other issues.
"Most of those Lords, are ahead of their own soldiers. Each of their own personal strength makes a massive difference in a battle." Through careful observation, he also found so of his shortcomings in his own approach.
"I can't just sit back and let my troops fight for like I imagined before." He clenched his fists, recalling the fierce combat prowess displayed by so of the Lords. "It's clear now: this isn't just a ga of who has the strongest army. The Lord's own strength is critical."
Su Xing was the exception, of course. He had wealth and powerful parents to back him up, allowing him to lean on his overpowered subordinates and artifacts. "But not everyone can afford to rely on luxuries like that," Ram muttered, shaking his head.
Su Xing's casual ntion of skill proficiency levels beyond perfection (Level 5) had been an eye-opener, which prompted him to reconsider many of his existing plans.
According to Su Xing, there were so techniques that can allow users to tap into a stronger power, reaching such a level required extraordinary dedication, hours of practice, and, most importantly, a strong comprehension ability.
"No wonder those Lords seed so fluid in battle," Ram realized. "They've probably honed their techniques far beyond what I thought was possible. I need to step up my ga."
And reaching this step seed to be one of the important perquisites to successfully breakthrough to Tier 5.
"Well, it might be a huge problem for others to improve their proficiency, but for it's just spending more spiritual power..." He quickly opened his own skill panel to check them again carefully, mostly the immortal techniques he learned, but there was no change on it.
Ram beca confused as he checked it further, not finding any clues, he simply shook his head, "Well it might need so special conditions or requirents that I might not know yet."
Reviews
All reviews (0)