Chapter 8: A Crushing Victory

A tall figure stood in front of a wooden treasure box guarded by three wolves.

A champion-level Spirit Monster with a brutal smile on its face was entirely different from lesser Spirit Monsters, exuding an aura of ferocity that marked it as a dangerous being at a glance.

The three wolves seemed intimidated, but they quickly recovered and lunged at the champion-level Spirit Monster.

But times had changed, and he was no longer the one who could be easily injured. With a large hand, he grasped one of the lunging wolves and used it as a weapon to sweep the others aside.

The two other wolves were caught off guard and were flung away instantly.

Crack...

The difference in attributes between the wolves and the champion-level Spirit Monster was too great. The wolf used as a weapon had its head and spine brutally ripped out by the opponent.

Seeing this, the remaining two wolves whimpered and turned to flee, clearly their morale had collapsed.

But they wanted to escape, and the champion-level Spirit Monster wasn't about to let them go, immediately chasing after them, catching one by the tail, then smashing it forcefully onto the other fleeing wolf.

Then, naturally, he went up and crushed all their skulls in a matter of seconds.

[A crushing victory, you earned 46.5 experience (30+15+1.5)]

[You scoured the area and gained]

[Basic resources: 5 units of wood, 5 units of minerals, 5 units of food]

[Special Resources: 1 unit of mercury]

[Gold Coins ×30]

Qin Muye looked at the rewards, ten experience points per wolf, thirty for three, plus his own experience enhancement gave him an additional 16.5 points of experience, which was decent. However, counting decimals felt like "Lord Era" was being a bit too nitpicky.

The items were flaw free, but those were not the focus, the focus was on the wooden treasure box.

[You opened the wooden treasure box]

[You acquired]

[Gold Coins ×100]

[Building blueprints: Lumberyard]

[Basic Treasure: Standard Long Sword]

[Special Resources: 5 units of sulfur]

The harvest from the treasure box was quite good, especially since Qin Muye had the champion-level Spirit Monster open it, simply because it had 1 point of Luck which he did not have.

[Lumberyard Blueprints: Learn to build a lumberyard, requirements: 10 minerals, 50 wood]

...

[Standard Long Sword]

[Level: Basic]

[Attribute]

[Attack Power +2]

...

Qin Muye casually tossed the Standard Long Sword to the champion-level Spirit Monster, which picked it up, naturally increasing its Attack Power by 2 points on its attribute panel.

This Standard Long Sword wasn't anything exciting, but the real surprise was the lumberyard diagram, maybe with this building, he could start producing his own wood.

"Let's move on, keep hunting monsters, aiming to clear all the wild monsters today, and see if we can find some more building blueprints." Qin Muye directly learned the lumberyard blueprints without thinking of studying it further.

Currently, he didn't have the energy to study the building blueprints unless they were for the Spirit Monster Workshop. Unfortunately, he had already used those blueprints for the Spirit Monster Workshop.

However, there was still a chance. The Spirit Monster Workshop was only a Tier 1 Troop blueprint, not a precious item, and there would be opportunities in the future.

He had now made the Spirit Monster his development path, weak in strength but strong in potential.

"Yes, master," said the Champion Level Spirit Monster with the Standard Long Sword leading the way.

At that moment, Qin Muye was engrossed in pondering the Magic of the Magic Eye. His Magic Value was low and only sustained by the meditation he practiced during stops along the way, specifically for this Magic Scroll.

He had already learned quite a bit, but he always felt something was missing, like a release medium.

This made him think of the Magic Book in Heroic Unrivaled. This world had many similarities with the game Heroic Unrivaled, especially in terms of skills.

The sudden halt of the team made three Spirit Monsters gather around Qin Muye.

Stirred by this action, Qin Muye looked up just in time to see the Champion Level Spirit Monster at the front charging into a group of about ten Skeleton Soldiers with its sword.

With a sweep of its sword, the group of charging Skeleton Soldiers' heads exploded on the spot. The ten Skeleton Soldiers had no power to resist and were completely annihilated.

[A crushing victory, you gained 155 Experience]

[After looting, you obtained...]

He didn't check the Resources; they were all Tier 1 Spirit Monsters, dropping three types of Basic Resources plus Gold Coins — about 10 Experience, 10 Gold Coins, and 5 units of Basic Resources each. There were occasionally Special Resources.

Even so, he had gained quite a lot, far better than waiting to die in his territory before.

If this modified Champion Level Spirit Monster, which only had a lifespan of three days, were not bound to Tier 1, it would definitely be a Tier 2 Champion Level Troop.

Although classified as a Tier 1 Troop, its Attributes were genuinely of a Tier 2 Champion Level.

After these two battles, Qin Muye's experience bar had advanced by twenty percent, and he estimated that he would level up soon.

He was quite excited about this and eager to see what changes would come with the level up.

With the Champion Level Spirit Monster, they breezed along the way, and coupled with his previous explorations, which helped him remember many areas of Spirit Monsters, they did not waste much time.

As the experience bar filled up, Qin Muye smoothly advanced to Level 2.

[Your Level has increased to LV2]

[You have gained 1 Free Attribute Point]

[You can choose one Skill from the following three]

[1. Intermediate Enlightenment (gain an additional 15% Experience when obtaining Experience)]

[2. Basic Offense Skill (increase 10% melee attack damage)]

[3. Basic Pathfinding Skill (reduce terrain impact on mobility by 10%)]

Was there even a need to choose? He went straight for Intermediate Enlightenment.

Then, he immediately added the 1 Free Attribute Point to Knowledge. Since he had decided to leverage his strengths, it was natural not to add other Attributes.

"Too bad, Enlightenment can't stack," Qin Muye thought he would have both Basic and Intermediate Enlightenment skills, giving him a 20% Experience boost. Unfortunately, Intermediate Enlightenment completely replaced Basic Enlightenment, effectively reducing his Experience boost by 5%.

"Master, there seems to be a tree ahead," said the Champion Level Spirit Monster suddenly.

A tree? It's not like he hadn't seen one before. What could be worth noticing? Yet, Qin Muye still looked up, and indeed, it was worth a look.

The tree was not only large but also faintly bore a human face.

"Interesting, it seems your Luck is at play again. This reminds me of a certain adventure," Qin Muye narrowed his eyes, seemingly reminded of something.