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During the journey, Cheng Yang focused on helping Liu Wei grow. Whenever a monster slipped through the soldiers, he directed her to use Smite on it.

Liu Wei's skill was surprisingly lowkey and well suited to assassination. The only sign was a twitch of her lips and the sudden creation of a corpse.

Although she was still a Low-Grade Apprentice, the benefits of Liu Wei's Innate Abilities were beginning to show themselves. If it were any other person, it would be considered impressive if they were able to get even three kills during their first fight. However, even an outstanding genius would lose some Health in the process. Liu Wei, on the other hand, was completely different. Her fighting style could be described as passing through a thousand flowers without the petals touching her skin. [1]

Fortunately, it wasn't an area of effect skill. Otherwise, Cheng Yang would have no choice but to believe it was a bug.

Cheng Yang felt that if the growth of a Priests healing power increased at higher levels, Liu Wei would be unmatched on Earth. Thankfully, although it was an absurd ability, it had its limits. After all, so long as Liu Wei wasn't a match for her opponent, she was an F-Rank super-trash.

Since Liu Wei and Cheng Yang were at the rear of the procession, no one noticed that the large number of monsters that suddenly died were killed by Liu Wei.

Liu Hau and Old Lee were a short distance ahead of them, walking side by side.

"General Lee, doesn't it look like our Lord is trying to seduce Liu Wei? I've never seen him so close to a woman before. What are your thoughts?" Liu Hau glanced at Cheng Yang and snickered.

Old Lee just shook his head, "Maybe if you weren't gossiping so much, you'd already have leveled up! You ask me this nearly every day, and what is the result every time? Stop thinking so much and work harder to kill monsters."

"Wouldn't they be an interesting couple? The school idol gets together with a geeky loser turned superhero?" Liu Hau asked, ignoring Old Lee's complaints.

Liu Hau wasn't the only one gossiping about Cheng Yang's relationship status. Most of the soldiers couldn't help but notice how quickly their usually cold and stoic leader had warmed up to Liu Wei. Had her stunning looks conquered the Ice King?

Cheng Yang couldn't hear any of that, but even if he knew, he would laugh it off. A leader's public image mattered in the old world, but in a world where leadership was decided by strength, what harm would a little gossip do?

Since Cheng Yang had cleared the path they were taking earlier, the group didn't run into any sizeable hordes.

The journey was a smooth one, and they covered the thirty-kilometer distance in five hours. If the soldiers didn't need to worry about protecting civilians while also carrying wood, their journey would have ended even sooner. Without the fear of monsters keeping them moving, most of the civilians that were in the convoy wouldn't have been able to handle the pace.

When they arrived at Silkworm Mountain, it was dusk. Cheng Yang immediately ordered for Yu Kai to build the wooden wall and had everyone else settle themselves.

Cheng Yang had brought over nearly four hundred units of wood, so, once the wall was built, Yu Kai constructed several Low-Grade Meditation Halls.

Once the process of creating an army for Silkworm Mountain started, Cheng Yang took the rest of the procession with him and left the village.

Silkworm Mountain was in a far inferior position in comparison to Joyous River Village. Without the convenience of a road, it would take several hours for Yu Kai to receive help in the case of an emergency. For a long time to come, Silkworm Mountain wouldn't be able to develop independently. It would have to rely on daily deliveries of vital supplies from Phoenix Village.

Back in Phoenix Village, Cheng Yang left the army to its own devices and surveyed the loot he'd gained that day.

Cheng Yang earned nearly 7,000 Experience Fragments from his Imperial Guard clearing the Blood-Soaked Cathedral, so he wouldn't have to worry about money any time soon. As for raw resources, Cheng Yang was worried about the inflow of wood and stone.

Wood was comparatively easier to get after Cheng Yang raised the price at which the village would buy it. Once he did, dozens of soldiers purchased logging tools and began cutting down trees with great enthusiasm.

Yesterday, the village purchased seven hundred cubic meters of wood but needed to send four hundred to Joyous River Village. Today, Phoenix Village purchased nine hundred units of wood. Even after deducting the wood shipped to Silkworm Mountain, the total remaining amount exceeded eight hundred units.

Stone, on the other hand, was exceedingly scarce. Unlike lumber, which could be found everywhere in the post-apocalyptic landscape, stone could only be mined from quarries. Of which, only two had been found in the vicinity of Phoenix Village so far. Each site was only big enough for ten or so people to work comfortably at a time, so the stone Phoenix Village purchased over the last two days barely amounted to four hundred units. Although this rate of production would be enough to create buildings, it was only a drop in the bucket for the real use of stone: roads.

Cheng Yang approached the Territory Altar so as to build the Barracks. The Trial Hall was, without question, the most useful of the new buildings but, without an official position in the military, it couldn't be used. As such, Cheng Yang needed to follow the rules of this world and build the Barracks first.

A moment later, the Inner Village was flooded with light as a massive building was conjured into existence. The Barracks were an imposing collection of buildings enclosed by a wall some distance south of the Territory Altar built in the ancient Chinese style.

Similar to the Imperial Guard Pavilion, the Barracks was considered a restricted zone. Only officials of a certain rank and members of the military were allowed to enter.

Cheng Yang walked through the gate and took a closer look around the Barracks.

This was his first time actually going into a Barracks pavilion. In his previous life, Cheng Yang was an adventurer, so he denied entry. He only knew the general layout because soldiers would often brag about the facilities.

The Barracks were Low-Grade, so they only covered an area of 40,000 square meters. Although the several football fields worth of space seemed like a lot, it would be split between Phoenix Village's hundreds of soldiers.

On the left were rows of large lodges, dining facilities, and a bathhouse. In total, there were fifteen lodges in three rows. Each one had two floors and could fit a hundred people.

On the right were training grounds for all five classes. Their appearance was radically different from a modern training ground. Strength and stamina training wouldn't affect someone anymore, so there weren't any areas for exercising or a track to run on. Instead, everything was geared towards increasing an individual's combat skills.

There was a target range to practice ranged attacks and a sparring arena where it was impossible to kill someone, but the true jewel of the training grounds were the automated training dummies. They took the forms of several different types of opponents and could be used to hone one's reaction time in mock battles.

In the center of the Barracks was an administrative office. It was the core of the facility and was the tallest building in Phoenix Village to date, standing three stories tall. It contained offices and living quarters for military officials. The first floor was dominated by a massive war room where soldiers could raise their ranks, and officers could induct new soldiers into the military.

Surrounding the whole area was a wall made from a low stone base with a wooden fence built on top.

As the Lord of the village, Cheng Yang couldn't enlist as a soldier, so, unfortunately, the only building he could use was the administrative one in the center.

Unlike a certain Ming emperor, Cheng Yang couldn't just declare himself general and enter the army. Now, in both lives, Cheng Yang was forbidden to use the state of the art training facilities. In Cheng Yang's opinion, it was bullshit.

The administrative center was empty when Cheng Yang arrived but, once Lau Hui returned from hunting, Cheng Yang intended to appoint him as Chief Administrative Officer. As a person with a straightforward and down to earth personality, Lau Hui was well suited to the position.

Cheng Yang entered the war room and opened the Barracks' status pane.

Barracks (Low-Grade)

A facility for the residence and training of an army. While housed here, soldiers gain a bonus to their training speed and the speed at which skills level up increases when using the training facilities. These bonuses increase proportionally with the operating rate up to a maximum of twice the standard bonuses.

Accommodations: 1500 soldiers

Training Bonus: 13%

Skill Proficiency Bonus: 130%

Operation Bonus: 0%

Cheng Yang knew the actual properties of the Barracks already from his past life. What he was really interested in was the operating rate.

Right now, High-Grade Meditation Halls were superior to training in the Barracks. However, as the number and quality of the soldiers increased, the operating rate would increase. Once it reached its peak, the Barracks would be on equal footing with Standard-Grade Meditation Halls.

And that was only as a Low-Grade Barracks. Once you add in the numbers factor, the Barracks was perhaps the single most significant investment Cheng Yang could make in regards to raising the army's strength.

[1] Apparently this idiom usually means "a man who sleeps around but doesn't get tied down" so I'm not sure if this is an innuendo or not