26
Cheng Yang didn't just bring back food from Huimin but did everything possible to find wood as well. The wood brought back to Phoenix Village were all things such as uprooted trees, that needed to be carried back on the shoulders of the Warriors and Summoners.
Most of their energy was spent transporting these logs but by the end of the day, they were able to bring back forty sizable pieces of wood.
Compared with the village's meager income, Cheng Yang now had 1499 Experience Fragments. Even if he used eight times training speed tonight, he would still have over a thousand Experience Fragments left.
At the moment the village had over 800 Experience Fragments, a good portion of which was from people paying off their debts. The rest of it was from Lau Hui and Liu Hau killing the monsters within a kilometer of the walls.
Now Cheng Yang could only wait for the remaining 200 Experience Fragments to slowly accumulate.
In order to speed up the process, Cheng Yang took his territory outside the walls to hunt. Although it was already dark, as long as they brought torches they could still see alright. Even if they suffered a few wounds, with a priest on standby, there was no real danger.
At this time, Cheng Yang's team wasn't the only one hunting. Two other teams were as well. The last two teams remained in the village using the Meditation Halls to train.
More than four hours later, Cheng Yang's team returned to the village. When Cheng Yang opened up the territory system pane, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the village now had more than a thousand Experience Fragments. Cheng Yang's heart was filled with pride, in his past life, he had never heard of a group upgrading their village to Standard Grade in just two days.
After all, the speed at which you upgraded a village wasn't reliant on the number of people you had but rather the respawn rate of the monsters around you. Not only did Phoenix Village benefit from the high respawn rate at the beginning of the apocalypse but also had an instance dungeon within its limits. The combination of these two factors allowed it to upgrade in just two days.
Cheng Yang didn't hesitate to upgrade the village.
At that moment a voice resounded in his mind: "Congratulations, your Phoenix territory has been elevated to Standard Grade. Please take the time to review the details of your upgraded territory."
Compared to when Cheng Yang had first acquired the territory, there was little fanfare. There weren't any bursts of light or construction like last time.
Cheng Yang immediately opened the territory system pane from the Territory Altar.
Phoenix Territory
Level: Standard-Grade Village
Experience Fragments: 38
Owned Buildings
Warrior Statue (Standard Grade): Produces Warriors (25/50)
Mage Statue (Standard Grade): Produces Mages (25/50)
Ranger Statue (Standard Grade): Produces Rangers (25/50)
Summoner Statue (Standard Grade): Produces Summoners (25/50)
Priest Statue (Low Grade): Produces Priests (5/5)
Ringed Wall (Low Grade): A circular wall with a radius of 650 meters.
Meditation Hall (Low Grade): A buildings that improves the efficiency of the meditation skill by 13% (10)
Available Buildings
Ringed Wall (Standard Grade): Build a second circular wall with a radius of 1700 meters around the Territory Altar and increase the stats of the first ring of walls | Durability: 2600 per meter | Damage Reduction: 13 | Cost: 500 units of wood
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
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 | Cost: 100 units of wood
Tailor(Low Grade): Unlocks weaving and the Tailor Profession. Can buy and sell clothes and cloth goods from the NPC inside | Cost: 100 units of wood
Lumber Mill (Low Grade): Unlocks logging and the Logger and Carpenter Professions. Can buy and sell wooden equipment and wood from the NPC inside | Cost: 100 units of wood
Silversmithy (Low Grade): Unlocks jewelry crafting and the Sculptor and Silversmith Professions. Can buy and sell jewelry and related equipment from the NPC inside | Cost: 100 units of wood
Alchemy Tower (Low Grade): Unlocks potion making and the Alchemist Profession. Can buy and sell potions and alchemical ingredients from the NPC inside | Cost: 100 units of wood
Grocery (Low Grade): Can buy and sell assorted goods and food from the NPC inside | Cost: 100 units of wood
Attributes
Lord Innate Ability: All building attributes increased by 30%
Fast Soldiers: Grants 150% increase in movement speed as an innate ability
Upgrade Conditions
Maintain 400 Professionals
Raise the level of all four class change statues to High Grade
Build the Forge, Tailor, Lumber Mill, Silversmithy and Alchemy Tower
10,000 Experience Fragments
After upgrading, Phoenix Village gained several complex properties and a massive selection of buildings. In addition to better walls and Meditation Halls, there was a large number of Profession-related buildings as well. The amount of wood needed to build them meant Cheng Yang could only look but not buy.
Fortunately, he would soon have enough wood to build the Lumber Mill. After paying for a few people to become Loggers and buying them logging tools, he would be able to generate a steady flow of wood.
These new buildings were the real reason Cheng Yang was looking forward to upgrading the village. Each of the new buildings added were just as important as the class change statues. People would use these buildings to but potions, equipment, and food as well as gain Professions.
Whether it was a safe zone or a territory, you could only buy basic gear and goods from the shops. If you wanted something really good, you needed to clear a dungeon or rely on someone to make it. As long as you had a high enough level in your Profession and high-quality materials, you could create incredible goods.
In Cheng Yang's last life, there was a legendary Blacksmith capable of forging Black Iron equipment. Aside from the Lord of Phoenix Village, he didn't hold anyone in his eye and everyone did their best to curry his favor.
It wasn't easy to raise the level of a Profession. It took an enormous amount of materials, time. and patience. Not everyone was capable of succeeding as a crafter.
Now that he had the opportunity to allow people to gain Professions, he needed to gather the wood required to unlock them as fast as possible. If he could cultivate all kinds of top-level crafters, Phoenix Village would have no shortage of equipment.
Of course, the role of the NPC's in those buildings was not so simple. Their appearance represents the formation of an economy in the territory. The goods sold by them would help mankind flourish. Besides, as long as the transaction happens in a territory, 5% of the sale price is added as tax. Whether it was buying or selling, there was no exception.
These taxes weren't collected by the Lord but were directly added to the territory's Experience Fragments.
In addition, Cheng Yang had gained a new privilege as the Lord called Manage.
It was a way to tax the citizens of Phoenix Village but the ability wasn't so simple. It also allowed Cheng Yang to appoint officials and pay them.
Right now, Cheng Yang could only appoint three officials. A manager for the class change statues, a manager for the buildings, and a Captain of the Guard.
These three officials could now be set by Cheng Yang and given a wage for their work. The exact wage is set by Cheng Yang himself, but the territory limited them to one hundred Experience Fragments per day.
Cheng Yang could also set a tax of 5% for all Experience Fragments gained within a kilometer of the walls. If this tax was imposed on Cheng Yang from the first day of the apocalypse, the territory would have gained an additional hundred Experience Fragments.
Upgrading the village again wouldn't be easy. Just upgrading all the class change statues to High Grade would take a long time. Gathering ten thousand Experience Fragments would not happen in a short amount of time.
Cheng Yang was very satisfied with his current progress. Not only was his upgrade speed fast but the coincidence of bringing an instance dungeon within the territorial limits meant he would continue to have an advantage even when others started to occupy territories.
Cheng Yang opened the Manage panel to set his officials.
There was no doubt in Cheng Yang's mind that Old Lee needed to be set as the manager for the class change statues. His Innate Ability would be incredibly useful since it would increase the number of Professionals with each class he could employ to sixty-five.