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Regardless of the specifics of its effects, Cheng Yang planned to use the Statue Lifting Stone to increase the number of people who could perform a class change ceremony.

Cheng Yang was somewhat unwilling to leave the instance. Although the Statue Lifting Stone was a great item, it didn't live up to his expectations for obtaining the first clear of the Nightmare Difficulty. Of course, that was only when he compared to getting a secondary class from the Normal Difficulty.

After joining up with his group, Cheng Yang left the instance.

Since it would be a good source of equipment, Cheng Yang intended to send members of the Imperial Guard into the Nightmare Difficulty every day. It would also speed up the rate at which the territory accrued Experience Fragments significantly.

Since they would be able to run the dungeon ten times a day, it would increase the daily income of the village by at least fifteen thousand Experience Fragments.

After organizing that, Cheng Yang used the Statue Lifting Stone on the Preist class change statue.

A moment later, the number of people who could become Priests increased to thirty. This total was the combined effect of the Statue Lifting Stone and Old Lee's Innate Ability.

Since there were fifteen new slots open, Cheng Yang needed to find suitable candidates to fill them. Even with nearly a hundred thousand civilians, it would be a difficult task to find that many people who were fit to become Priests.

This time, however, Cheng Yang would pass the responsibility to Old Lee since he also had the authority to check people's aptitude.

By now, the various army units in Phoenix Village had gradually entered a combat groove, and the division of labor among the Professionals had become apparent. Every day the soldiers were able to earn up to sixty Experience Fragments. Then, to double their training speed, the army personnel would save some of their earnings.

The only impediment to their progress was the increased number of Standard-Grade monsters. The only hordes left nearby were those with hundreds of members which acted as a barrier for the village's growth.

One way to fix the problem was for Cheng Yang to go out and cull hordes to an acceptable size. The only other solution would be to increase the number of Standard-Grade soldiers. That way, the five brigades would be able to defeat the hordes without Cheng Yang's help.

The group that performed their class change ceremonies on the day of the apocalypse was on the verge of reaching Standard Grade. Liu As for the rest of the soldiers, they would level up a few days later. In particular, thanks to Cheng Yang's investments, his best friends and Old Lee would level up by tomorrow. Since there wasn't a way for Cheng Yang to affect how fast the majority of the army leveled up, so whenever he had the chance, he'd try and thin the hordes surrounding the village.

Cheng Yang's schedule for today included claiming the Territory Altar North of the Cloud City. It was the last territory near Cloud City, so if Cheng Yang wanted more satellite villages, he would have to explore the farther away areas.

This time, Cheng Yang would only bring Yu Kai and his soldiers. Even though they would miss their designated training time slot, no one complained. After seeing what happened to Liu Hau, everyone could tell Cheng Yang intended to make Yu Kai the Governor of the new village.

Before leaving, Cheng Yang filled his Spacial Ring with potions, leaving him with just over a hundred thousand Experience Fragments. Although he had earned quite a few yesterday, buying a Spacial Ring had negated his effort.

Shortly after that, the group departed from the North Gate towards Cloud City.

As they passed through the city, the group stopped to clear The Forgotten Grave since it was nearby. Since Cheng Yang's strength had improved by leaps and bounds, it was a short detour.

As the group continued their journey North, they began to encounter refugees. Although there were still a lot of refugees around, their numbers, in general, had decreased.

Their situation had experienced a slight change.

Monsters started forming hordes a few days ago, and since newly spawned monsters weren't killed fast enough, Cloud City had reached its limit for the number of monsters in a single area. This meant that the spawn rate had decreased, making it easier for the refugees to move around.

Also, ordinary people could obtain Experience Fragments when they killed monsters now. So, as long as a refugee was able to get ten, they could perform a class change ceremony in the safe zone.

Thus, some of the braver or more desperate refugees were banding together to hunt monsters. Unfortunately, their only option was to use numbers to beat a single monster to death with their bare hands, so casualties were unavoidable. It was a dangerous process, but the rewards were more than worth it.

Moreover, Yuan Jianzhe tacitly approved of these people performing class change ceremonies. At the very least, by ignoring the people who did it, he was telling civilians that as long as they were brave enough, the military would allow them to obtain power. People who were able to accomplish the task of earning ten Experience Fragments were even fought over by the various militias in the safe zone.

It was hard for most to refuse an olive branch from established powers, but there would always be people who refused to be controlled by others. Those few ambitious people would form teams with each other to hunt monsters.

These independent teams would eventually grow in size by accumulating Experience Fragments among them and then pooling them to allow a new member to perform a class change ceremony.

Soon, the number of Professionals in Cloud City would reach unimaginable levels.

As always, when Cheng Yang met a group of refugees, he told them to wait where they were. Once he finished his business in the North, he would come back for them.

When the group arrived at the northern bridge, they found a massive horde of monsters guarding it. But this time, the main monster wasn't something tricky like the Skull Spotted Spiders. Instead, it was just a group of Mephits.

This made Cheng Yang happy. Without warning the others, he dashed into the horde. He was facing hundreds of monsters on his own, but his Petal Blizzard skill made it seem like he was harvesting wheat.

A little over ten minutes later, the battle was over. All that remained was a pile of bloody corpses and a pristine scroll.

When Cheng Yang opened the scroll's system pane, he realized it was a potion recipe.

Magic Amplification Potion (Recipe)

With just a few simple ingredients and a disregard for the side effects of taking too many, even novice mages can be useful in a war!

Requirements: High-Grade Alchemist

Effect: Increase Magic Attack by 2 for five minutes

It was a good recipe. Someone else had obtained it in Cheng Yang's past life, and the potion itself went on to become one of the most sought after items in the area around Cloud City.

Now that Cheng Yang had it, the potion would reach even greater heights! Which idiot allowed him to get so overpowered? If he combined his Alchemy Talent and Perfect Medicinal Body, each potion would increase his Magic Attack by eight points! That was more than a Purple Silver stave!

Cheng Yang started laughing. With this as a hidden ace, even if he ran into a Mature monster, he'd be able to win.

Once he calmed down, Cheng Yang tried to learn the recipe, but he failed.

Cheng Yang slapped his forehead. In his excitement, he had overlooked the fact that he didn't meet the requirements to learn the recipe.

What a shame, if it just needed him to become a Standard-Grade Alchemist, he would be able to learn the recipe in four or five days. As for reaching the High-Grade level, Cheng Yang would need to wait at least another week or two after that. He would have to wait quite some time before he would be able to use Magic Amplification Potions.

Cheng Yang put the scroll into his Spacial Ring and order the group to keep moving. As they walked through the forest, the same scene from the day before played on repeat. Every couple hundred meters, Cheng Yang's group would encounter a horde with a few hundred monsters.

The general procedure would be for Cheng Yang to use Sacrificial Blood Cloud. Then, the five lucky individuals would decimate the monsters. If the horde was too big, Cheng Yang would deal with it on his own. Although it slowed them down, it was far safer.

Two hours later, with the help of knowledge from his previous life, Cheng Yang arrived at the approximate location of the Territory Altar. Once he did, Cheng Yang separated from the group and approached the guardian horde alone.

A few minutes later, Cheng Yang stared down the monsters surrounding the Territory Altar. Since the horde wasn't any stronger than the one guarding the other territory, Cheng Yang didn't bother thinking up a plan. He was able to use the same tactic as yesterday without even feeling pressured.

An hour later, Cheng Yang placed his hand on the Territory Altar and claimed it.

Watching the class change statues force their way out of the ground, Cheng Yang's was filled with pride. The world was vast, but who else was capable of capturing three Territory Altars before the end of the second week of the apocalypse.