Ghost Recruit

It felt good to be rich, but the thought that he no longer had as many soldiers made him feel incredibly terrible.

Those hundreds of soldiers had died a horrible death. How good would it be if he could strengthen their souls?

Unfortunately, there was no 'if'.

I should prioritize strengthening and upgrading the soldiers. I can't afford such deaths and wastage anymore, Zhang Yang grimly thought.

The black hill demon soul could promote four elites to captains, while the deer lord demon soul could promote up to 10. Including Wu Yuan, the quasi-hero, the village would have 15 powerful soldiers. Even if they encountered enemies like the deer lord at full strength again, they could still defeat it in one go.

But if Wu Yuan entered the hero trial and there wasn't anyone strong enough to oversee the village, wouldn't it spell disaster when a powerful demon attacked?

That's right! One mustn't be too selfish. One must also learn to look at the overall situation and unify the deployment of troops. If I am destined to be a village farmer, why wasn't I murdered by that deer lord who had the amazing ability to summon a powerful Abyssal Ghost? If it had a few captains under its command, it wouldn't have been killed and lose all of its success, right? As the village chief, it was too foolish to take the charge and break through enemy lines.

Zhang Yang muttered to himself, constantly firming up his confidence. He was afraid that he would rashly use the deer lord demon soul on himself. This dilemma was truly inhumane and torturous.

Anyway, I should cultivate one with a magical class first.

After taking a firm stance, Zhang Yang began to inspect the characteristics and differences of the three types of soldiers, namely Village Mage, Village Priest, and Village Imp.

Yes, cultivating a Village Mage or Village Priest required a new recruit, while a Village Imp required 5 perfect demon souls.

Cultivating a Village Imp also requires 1000 energy points, but with a success rate of 100 percent.

I've made up my mind. I'll cultivate a Village Imp.

Due to the scarcity of new recruits, Zhang Yang made an instant decision. After consuming 5 perfect green wolf demon souls, a ball of darkness rose up into the air and in just five seconds, a Village Imp was cultivated.

All of a sudden, the surrounding temperature dipped by more than 10 degrees Celsius. However, Zhang Yang didn't see the Village Imp anywhere. He could only inspect it through the attribute panel.

[Village Imp (Owner: Zhang Yang)

Level: 1 (Ghost Recruit)

Status: Fully bound to the Village Building Order.

Able to communicate through the Village Building Order.

Talent: Invisibility

Note: Can only appear at night due to its low level.

Talent: Yin Energy (Passive)

Talent: Intangibility

Skill: Possess (Level 1)

Skill: Confusion (Level 1)]

What a weakling, but its Intangibility talent sure is great, especially for exploration or something.

Zhang Yang was very satisfied because since it was a recruit, it also meant that it could be upgraded in the future.

Village Chief, may I use this as a place to settle down?

At that moment, a line of text suddenly appeared before Zhang Yang's eyes, but this time, it was the Village Imp talking to him.

"You mean this Tree Demon Tower?" Zhang Yang probed.

Yes, Village Chief. Because I'm currently too weak and can only show up at night. Many fighters in the village can inflict great damage on me, so until you build a place for me to live, this is the only place where I can seek shelter.

"Will your presence have any effect on the Tree Demon Tower?" Zhang Yang cautiously asked. The importance of the Tree Demon Tower was unquestionable, so he had to find out the truth.

No, Village Chief, it will not. My natural Yin energy can feed and nourish the Tree Demon Tower, and thus maintain its effective time. Otherwise, this Level 2 Tree Demon Tower will only last for 20 years before it starts to deteriorate. My presence can extend its life by at least 10 years, and this is assuming that I haven't leveled up.

"Oh? In that case, you can live in this Tree Demon Tower for the time being. By the way, how do you level up?" Zhang Yang continued to ask. He wasn't worried about this Village Imp being dishonest because from the moment it was cultivated, it was destined to live and die with the Village.

Village Chief, as an Abyssal Ghost, there are several ways for me to become stronger. The most effective way is for me to receive incense offerings, followed by the gain of Yin energy, then, devouring and plundering, and finally, cultivating on my own. For now, I can only cultivate myself.

In addition, Village Chief, if you can provide me with some imperfect souls to devour, I will become stronger even faster. But this method has great hidden dangers. I may gradually turn tyrannical and even endanger or destroy the village if my strength increases too greatly in a short period. So I don't recommend you to do so.

Upon hearing its words, Zhang Yang quickly dismissed the idea of using imperfect demon souls to raise the level of the imp. Then, he curiously asked, "What is your name?"

Village Chief, among the Abyssal Ghosts, only generals are given names. I am just a shapeless recruit. I cannot have a name; that would become a burden to me.

Zhang Yang nodded. He was originally thinking of giving this imp a name.

"Well then, you will stay here temporarily; don't come out to scare people at night. After you have a good rest, search the bottom of this village to find valuable things like ores."

As you wish, Village Chief.

After the imp's message faded away, Zhang Yang thought about it. He headed out to relieve Wu Yuan and others of their guard duty, got them to clean up the battlefield, and recover from injuries, etc. He had decided to upgrade the Village Building Order immediately as that was his priority.

He had learned that the Village Building Order had Gray, White, Black, and Blue qualities. He speculated that there were also Green and Gold qualities at the higher level.

Zhang Yang's current Village Building Order was White and he needed to complete a village building mission to upgrade it to at least Blue.

He opened the village panel, selected the Imperfect Village Building Order dropped by the deer lord, and immediately, several pieces of information emerged.

[Use an Imperfect Village Building Order to upgrade the quality and level of the Village Building Order. Currently, you have only 1 x Imperfect Village Building Order (Black). There is a 45 percent success rate of upgrading the Village Building Order in your possession.

Note: If you kill the enemy in its village, you will receive a higher success rate, and vice versa.

Note: Due to the increase in level of the Village Building Order, you can use 1,000 energy points to increase the chance of success by 5 percent.

Use a Deer Civilization Code Drawing Fragment to increase the success rate by 10 percent.]

Interesting. I'm thankful for the great fortune I just made; otherwise, I wouldn't have any money to upgrade at all.

Zhang Yang sighed. If he used the Deer Civilization Code Drawing, he would need to pay 9,000 energy points. But if he didn't use it, he would need 11,000 energy points for the upgrade.

I'd better keep this Civilization Code Drawing, just in case there's a chance to invade another deer demon civilization in the future.

Zhang Yang chuckled. Anyway, the last thing he lacked was energy points now.

Upgrade.

Buzz!

The Imperfect Village Building Order in his hand instantly disappeared, and white rays of light emanated from the village. Soon after, more white rays of light converged, expanding the village to a full square kilometer.

This is ridiculous; a Black Village Building Order sure is different!

Several more messages were mapped on the fly.

[Your Village Building Order is being upgraded to (Black) and requires 82 hours. The initial village area will be expanded to one square kilometer. The village is entitled to have two finished buildings (Level 5). Please spend 3000 energy points to select (Click to select/reject)

A Deer Civilization Code Drawing Fragment has been detected. After using it, you will randomly obtain one of the basic buildings of the deer civilization. Do you want to use it?

Building list: