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In Cheng Yang's previous life, humanity began conquering Territory Altars two to three months after the apocalypse. These territories were only able to level up to Standard-Grade a few weeks before Cheng Yang died. The reason they were so slow was that on a good day, the territory would only earn 500 Experience Fragments. This was because the respawn rate was abysmal after three months, and all of the large monster hordes were cleared before establishing a village.
Cheng Yang confirmed that he met the requirements for military personnel, city development, and finances.
Once he did, Cheng Yang immediately chose to level up the village.
"Congratulations, your territory has become a High-Grade Village. Please check the Territory Altar system pane for more details." A familiar voice echoed deep within his soul as Cheng Yang viewed the territories stats.
Phoenix Territory
Level: High-Grade Village
Experience Fragments: 634
Owned Buildings
Warrior Statue (High Grade): Produces Warriors (260/260)
Mage Statue (High Grade): Produces Mages (260/260)
Ranger Statue (High Grade): Produces Rangers (260/260)
Summoner Statue (High Grade): Produces Summoners (260/260)
Priest Statue (Standard Grade): Produces Priests (15/15)
Ringed Wall (Low Grade): A circular wall with a radius of 650 meters.
Ringed Wall (Standard Grade): A circular wall with a radius of 1700 meters.
Meditation Hall (Low Grade): A buildings that improves the efficiency of the meditation skill by 13% (79)
Meditation Hall (Standard Grade): A buildings that improves the efficiency of the meditation skill by 26% (3)
Forge (Low Grade): Unlocks the forging of Bronze Green equipment and the Miner and Blacksmith Professions. Can buy or sell metal equipment from the NPC inside
Tailor(Low Grade): Unlocks weaving and the Tailor Profession. Can buy and sell clothes and cloth goods from the NPC inside
Lumber Mill (Low Grade): Unlocks logging and the Logger and Carpenter Professions. Can buy and sell wooden equipment and wood from the NPC inside
Silversmithy (Low Grade): Unlocks jewelry crafting and the Sculptor and Silversmith Professions. Can buy and sell jewelry and related equipment from the NPC inside
Alchemy Tower (Low Grade): Unlocks potion making and the Alchemist Profession. Can buy and sell potions and alchemical ingredients from the NPC inside
Grocery (Low Grade): Can buy and sell assorted goods and food from the NPC inside
Imperial Guard Pavilion (Low Grade): Allows the creation of the Imperial Guard and access to the NPC market
Available Buildings
Ringed Wall (High Grade): Build a third circular wall with a radius of 3390 meters around the Territory Altar and increase the stats of the first two rings of walls | Durability: 5000 per meter | Damage Reduction: 20 | Cost: 4 units of wood per meter
Meditation Hall (Low Grade): When inside improves the efficiency of the meditation skill by 13% | Occupancy: 6 | Durability: 650 | Damage Reduction: 3.9 | Cost: 10 units of wood
Meditation Hall (Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low Grade Meditation Hall, when inside improves the efficiency of the meditation skill by 26% | Occupancy: 6 | Durability: 1300 | Damage Reduction: 6.5 | Cost: 20 units of wood
Meditation Hall (High Grade): Upgrade for the Standard Grade Meditation Hall, when inside improves the efficiency of the meditation skill by 39% | Occupancy: 6 | Durability: 1300 | Damage Reduction: 6.5 | Cost: 40 units of wood
Forge (Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low-Grade Forge that expands the selection of items sold | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Tailor(Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low-Grade Tailor that expands the selection of items sold | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Lumber Mill (Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low-Grade Lumber Mill that expands the selection of items sold | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Silversmithy (Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low-Grade Silversmithy that expands the selection of items sold | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Alchemy Tower (Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low-Grade Alchemy Tower that expands the selection of items sold | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Grocery (Standard Grade): Upgrade for the Low-Grade Grocery that expands the selection of items sold | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Tavern (Low Grade): A bar and grill that serves all kinds of food and drinks. Provides access terminal for the global communication network. | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Adventurer's Guild (Low Grade): Allows individuals to register as adventurers and form parties for dungeon clearing. | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Barracks (Low Grade): Allows individuals to join the territories army as foot soldiers or leaders. Soldier's that train their skills here will learn faster. | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Trial Hall (Low Grade): A place for adventurers and soldiers to test their skills in instance dungeons. | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Quest Hall (Low Grade): A central location for people to post quests that adventurers can accept. | Cost: 500 units of wood and 100 units of stone
Attributes
Lord Innate Ability: All building attributes increased by 30%
Fast Soldiers: Grants 200% increase in movement speed as an innate ability
Upgrade Conditions
Maintain 1000 Professionals
Raise the level of all four class change statues to Pinnacle Grade
Raise the level of the Forge, Tailor, Lumber Mill, Silversmithy and Alchemy Tower
Build the Tavern, Barracks, Adventurers Guild, Trial Hall and Quest Hall
Have 3 Low-Grade Specialists, 20 Pinnacle-Grade Apprentices and 100 High-Grade Apprentices
100,000 Experience Fragments
Everything was the same as Cheng Yang expected it to be since the Phoenix Village from his past life was the same. If not for the difficulty in cultivating a high-level soldier, it would have leveled up again weeks before he died.
If the requirement only required a single individual to be at the Specialist level, most territories would be able to fulfill it. After all, the Territory's Lord since most would be at the Standard-Grade Apprentice level when they first used Divine Grace. However, since the requirement was that three people be at the specialist level, not a single territory had reached the Pinnacle-Grade Village level before Cheng Yang died.
As for the other conditions, compared to the fifth one, they simply weren't worth mentioning.
Even so, Cheng Yang wasn't worried. Establishing a firm foundation at Phoenix Village's current level was more important than quickly leveling up again.
"My Lord, can we build the Tavern first?" Zhao Chuan asked, "It's been days since I last had a good drink, and I need one."
Cheng Yang shook his head since he already had a long term plan.
First off, he could temporarily put off building the High-Grade wall. Since monsters below High-Grade Immature wouldn't even be able to damage the Standard-Grade walls, there wasn't a need to upgrade it yet.
He could also ignore the Adventurer's Guild and Trial Hall since every Professional was currently a part of the Phoenix Village militia. Until there was another influx of soldiers when the class change statues leveled up, there wasn't a reason to build them. The Quest Hall and Barracks, on the other hand, were absolutely essential.
As for the Tavern, it wasn't particularly noteworthy, but it was still more valuable than half of the new buildings.
Regardless, Cheng Yang couldn't build a single one of the new buildings without stone. Until he found a quarry, he could only build more Meditation Halls.
When Cheng Yang explained the root of the problem to his generals, they were felt helpless. It seemed they would need to wait a while longer before becoming salaried generals.
Then Yu Kai and the others left to focus on their responsibilities. After all, even though Cheng Yang had nearly died inside the Mystery Gate, for everyone else, it was just an ordinary afternoon. Thinking about his experiences, Cheng Yang let out a sigh of relief. Although he knew that it was impossible to make any achievements in this world without taking a risk, he was still glad to be alive.
When Cheng Yang looked at the Territory Altar in front of him, he was filled with melancholy. He had managed to create a miracle by producing a High-Grade Village in just ten days but was it enough to change his fate?
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Cheng Yang entered the Imperial Gaurd Pavilion without using Divine Grace to level up.
This was because Cheng Yang wanted to minimize the cost of recruiting the Imperial Guard since the hiring price was directly proportional to their level. If he were to use Divine Grace before hiring them, their level would rise alongside his, bringing the price up as well.
Although Cheng Yang was far richer than he was in his past life, his expenses were also much higher. Cheng Yang had more than 114,000 Experience Fragments, but reaching the maximum number of Imperial Guard members wasn't going to be cheap.
The cap had been raised to thirty from twenty when the village leveled up. So, subtracting the three Imperial Guard members he had already had, Cheng Yang needed to hire twenty-seven more.
The first thing Cheng Yang did when he arrived was check every NPC's list for a guard with an SS-Rank Innate Ability. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find any new ones aside from the two he hadn't hired last time. This just goes to show how rare individuals with that kind of talent were.
Unwilling to wait any longer, Cheng Yang hired as many Imperial Guard members as he could from the NPCs.
Without exception, all of the guards Cheng Yang hired has an S-Rank Innate Ability or better. Each one of which spawned as High-Grade Apprentices.
Of the twenty-seven open slots, Cheng Yang had filled four with Priests and filled the other twenty-three slots evenly with members of the four primary classes.
If not for the restrictions put in place by the Imperial Guard Palace limiting Cheng Yang to just four Priests, he definitely would have hired more.
When Cheng Yang was finished, the thirty-strong Imperial Guard gave him a unified salute, filling him with pride. These people would be the backbone of his territory!