At this moment.
Duke Lannister's Territory.
Inside the city of Zhao Yu, the branch leader of the Gandor Branch Alliance under the Artisan Alliance.
Huge chimneys belched black smoke.
Below those towering chimneys were blacksmiths forging equipment.
The blacksmiths were rushing to produce gear.
The equipment produced in Zhao Yu's territory was already enough to supply a lord for an entire campaign of expansion.
That was because Zhao Yu had a full ten buildings that produced blacksmiths alone.
Just as the blacksmiths tossed materials into the furnaces to heat them.
And began raising the furnace temperature.
Suddenly, there was a thunderous bang.
The blacksmith's furnace actually exploded.
Sparks flew in every direction, instantly killing the nearby blacksmiths.
The explosion also started a massive fire.
"The furnace exploded!"
"Fire! Put it out, quickly!"
Panicked cries soon spread throughout Zhao Yu's territory.
At that moment, inside Zhao Yu's Lord's Hall.
He was discussing how to forge the bones of the demon wolf with his subordinate, Deputy Alliance Leader Wei Xu.
"Alliance Leader, with our current materials, we can forge at least two low-grade orange-quality pieces of equipment."
Zhao Yu frowned slightly upon hearing this.
"Low-grade orange quality? It's decent, but it won't fetch much."
"What if we forged a mid-grade orange-quality item?"
Wei Xu shook his head.
"We don't have any Star Steel."
"Besides, we don't have much Mithril or refined gold left."
"If we fail, it will affect our subsequent forging plans."
"So choosing low-grade orange quality would be safer."
"We have plenty of experience, and our forging hero is highly skilled."
Hearing that answer, Zhao Yu was clearly unwilling to accept it.
A mid-grade orange-quality piece of equipment could earn at least ten times the profit.
A low-grade orange-quality item, on the other hand, yielded only twice the profit.
Zhao Yu clearly did not want to give up such a huge difference.
"Isn't it just forging—"
Before he could finish, the commotion outside startled him.
"What happened?"
Wei Xu was equally confused.
Just then, a subordinate rushed in.
"Reporting!"
"L-Lord, the f-furnace exploded!"
"Furnace Number Seven suddenly exploded."
"It killed all the blacksmiths nearby on the spot."
"The molten iron ignited the surrounding wood, and now—now..."
Zhao Yu shoved past his subordinate and ran outside to investigate.
Before his eyes, the forging district that had taken so much effort to build.
Was already engulfed in raging flames.
Yet Zhao Yu did not fly into a rage at the sight.
Instead, he calmly asked,
"Was Master Gu injured?"
Master Gu was the most powerful forging hero Zhao Yu had recruited under his command.
As long as he was safe, Zhao Yu did not consider anything else a major issue.
"No. Master Gu was studying the demon wolf and wasn't injured."
Zhao Yu nodded slightly.
"Good. This isn't the first time a furnace has exploded, though the commotion was rather large this time."
"Give the order to put out the fire quickly."
"Yes."
After calmly arranging everything, Zhao Yu returned to the Lord's Hall.
It was as though nothing had happened.
Wei Xu, standing nearby, could not help but admire him.
"Although furnace explosions really aren't a major issue to them, being able to handle one so calmly and casually is enough to show how extraordinary Zhao Yu is."
"No wonder headquarters chose him to lead the branch alliance."
At that moment, Zhao Yu continued,
"We're forging a mid-grade orange-quality weapon. Choose a longsword."
"Leave the Star Steel to me."
"Purchase the Mithril and refined gold from the market."
"A fire just broke out here, so you provide the remaining materials."
"Go prepare them now and hand everything over to Master Gu tonight."
"We'll forge it tonight."
Wei Xu hurriedly said,
"But the furnace just exploded. That's not a good omen!"
"What if—"
Zhao Yu waved his hand.
"What omen? I only trust myself."
"It was nothing more than one furnace explosion."
"What is there to worry about?"
Wei Xu was helpless.
"All right."
He turned around and went to prepare the materials.
Meanwhile.
Inside the Lord's Hall of Wilderness City.
"So you're saying that I spent twenty complete white source crystals."
"And your curse can only make the other party less lucky?"
"One page of the divine artifact can only curse the enemy with bad luck?"
"Twenty times? It only gives them twenty times the misfortune?"
Fang Yuan clenched his fists and advanced step by step toward the Earthbound Spirit.
The Earthbound Spirit looked at Fang Yuan's furious face.
It answered timidly,
"Y-Yes."
"Lord, you wanted to curse someone from an extremely long distance."
"I could only use the divine artifact to cast the curse."
"The effect of this page of the divine artifact is simply to make the cursed person unlucky."
"If you want to use lethal, rotting, or other vicious curses against an enemy, you have to cast them face-to-face."
Hearing this answer, Fang Yuan was so furious that he nearly exploded.
Then he rushed forward and pinned the Book of Curses beneath his foot.
"Damn it!"
"Give me a refund!"
"Spit out all twenty source crystals!"
Those were all his savings.
He had risked his life grinding the Gray Wolf Lair to get them.
And all they did was make the other party unlucky!
He had been utterly cheated.
The Earthbound Spirit said at once, "L-Lord, they've been used up."
"I can't refund them."
Fang Yuan sucked in a sharp breath upon hearing that.
"Fine. You won't refund me, will you?"
"Someone, bring me Christian."
"Have him hit it with Holy Light until it's thoroughly purified!"
The Earthbound Spirit was instantly terrified.
You weren't like this when you asked me to cast the curse!
"No, no! Lord, I really can't refund them."
"How about this? I'll help you curse him once every day from now on."
"I'll curse the leader of that Artisan Alliance every day."
"I'll curse him to death!"
"Besides, this curse that makes people unlucky is incredibly powerful."
"If I curse him every day, he'll encounter all kinds of misfortune each day."
"Those misfortunes will accumulate, eventually triggering a major disaster."
"Lord, think about it. What if he suddenly had bad luck at a critical moment, like in bed!"
"And suffered a fatal stroke!"
"Wouldn't that be—"
Fang Yuan finally understood what the Earthbound Spirit meant.
That's right!
Killing someone only required striking them down once, and the pain would be over quickly.
But making someone miserable?
That was like cutting flesh with a dull knife—a lifetime of suffering!
Fang Yuan immediately put on a serious expression.
"Fine!"
"I'll spare you this time."
"Starting now!"
"You will curse him once every hour!"
"You are not to stop for even a day!"
"If you can't kill him, I'll make him miserable!"
The Earthbound Spirit had escaped disaster and no longer dared ask for payment.
It hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes. I will obey your command, Lord."
Fang Yuan could not possibly spend all his time on the Book of Curses, either.
He still had to develop his territory.
After all, a territory was a lord's foundation.
Development was the only true path.
Fang Yuan opened the main city interface.
"With the Resource Territory, my prosperity has reached 4,600 points. I need 400 more points to level up." Fang Yuan took the Purple Building Glimmering Magic Tower Building Card from his inventory and chose to construct the Glimmering Magic Tower in the main city.
Ding! Construction of the Glimmering Magic Tower successful. Prosperity +500. Ding! The Glimmering Magic Tower has been upgraded to Level 2. Prosperity +500.
After hearing the notifications, Fang Yuan thought,
"The prosperity requirement for upgrading the main city to Level 3 has been met."
"Now it's time to upgrade."
"Level 3 main city!"
"Upgrade!"
Ding! During the novice period, the upgrade time has automatically been reduced to zero. You have upgraded the main city to Level 3.
Just after completing the upgrade, as Fang Yuan was preparing to inspect the changes to the Level 3 main city.
A notification suddenly rang in his ears.
Ding! Your hunter has discovered an underground city. Ding! Your hunter has been killed.
Before you continue