The Ghost Tribe Recruit

The feeling of getting rich was wonderful, but the moment Zhang Yang thought of how few soldiers he had left, he felt utterly miserable.

Those several hundred soldiers had died far too tragically. If only he had some demon souls to strengthen them.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs.

"Prioritize strengthening and upgrading the soldiers. I can't take any more deaths and waste like this."

Zhang Yang thought gloomily.

The Mountain Monster Demon Soul could upgrade four Captain-Level Soldiers, while the Great Horned Deer Lord Demon Soul could upgrade ten Captain-Level Soldiers. Adding Wu Yuan, the quasi-hero, the village would effectively possess fifteen powerful combatants. Even if they encountered an enemy as formidable as the Great Horned Deer Lord at full strength again, they could still sweep it away in one furious charge.

Besides, if Wu Yuan began the Hero's Trial and the village lacked enough powerful forces to hold down the fort, wouldn't they be finished if a powerful monster attacked?

"That's right, we'll do it this way! A person can't be too selfish. I have to look at the big picture and make unified arrangements. I'm destined to farm, after all. The Great Horned Deer was so powerful and even possessed a powerful ultimate move that could summon Abyssal Evil Ghosts, yet it was still beaten to death. If it had merely had a few Captain-Level Soldiers under its command, how could it have been killed and ultimately fallen short at the final step? As the Village Chief, charging into battle myself would be far too foolish."

Zhang Yang muttered to himself, constantly steeling his resolve. He was afraid that he might lose control for a moment and use the Great Horned Deer Lord Demon Soul on himself after all. This agonizing choice was truly inhuman—it was torturous.

"Let's cultivate a magic-class profession first."

After firming up his stance, Zhang Yang began examining the traits and differences of the Village Mage, Village Priest, and Village Imp troop types.

"Hmm, cultivating a Village Witcher or Village Priest requires one recruit, while cultivating a Village Imp requires five complete demon souls."

"It requires consuming 1,000 points of energy, and the cultivation success rate is one hundred percent."

"So, I choose to cultivate a Village Imp."

Because recruits were scarce, Zhang Yang made his choice directly. After consuming five complete Azure Wolf Demon Souls, a mass of black light rose up. In just five seconds, a Village Imp was cultivated.

In an instant, the temperature around them dropped by more than ten degrees, but Zhang Yang did not see the Village Imp's true form. He could only inspect it through the village's attribute panel.

"Village Imp, owner: Zhang Yang."

"Level: Level 1 Ghost Tribe Recruit."

"Status: Completely bound to the Village Building Order; communication can be conducted through the Village Building Order."

"Talent: Invisibility/Manifestation (Note: Because its level is too low, it can only manifest at night.)"

"Talent: Yin Energy (Passive)."

"Talent: Earth Burrowing and Mountain Traversing."

"Skill: Possession, Level 1."

"Skill: Ghost Wall, Level 1."

--

"What a weakling. But Earth Burrowing and Mountain Traversing is an excellent talent. Exploring for ore and such will be child's play." Zhang Yang was quite satisfied. Since it was a Ghost Tribe Recruit, that meant it could continue leveling up in the future.

"Village Chief, may I use this place as a shelter?"

At that moment, a line of text suddenly appeared before Zhang Yang's eyes. It was the Village Imp speaking with him.

"You mean this Wood Demon Tower?" Zhang Yang asked tentatively.

"Yes, Village Chief. My current strength is too weak, so I can only manifest at night. Moreover, many warriors in the village can directly inflict tremendous damage on me. Therefore, before you build me a place to live, the only place I can hide is here."

"Will your daily residence have any effect on the Wood Demon Tower?" Zhang Yang asked very carefully. The importance of the Wood Demon Tower was beyond question, so he had to get this clear.

"Reporting to the Village Chief, it will not. My Yin Energy talent can nourish the Wood Demon Tower in return, thereby maintaining the Wood Demon Tower's effective usage period. Otherwise, a Level 2 Wood Demon Tower can only be used for twenty years before it withers away. With me here, I can extend its usage by at least ten years—and that's assuming I don't level up."

"Is that so? All right, then you can stay in this Wood Demon Tower for now. By the way, how can you continue leveling up?" Zhang Yang continued asking. He was not worried that the Village Imp was lying, because from the moment it was cultivated, it had been destined to live or die together with the Village Building Order.

"Reporting to the Village Chief, as a member of the Ghost Tribe, I have several ways to level up. The most effective is incense offerings, followed by a source of Yin Energy, then devouring and plundering, and finally cultivating by myself. At present, I can only cultivate by myself."

"Additionally, if the Village Chief can provide me with some remnant souls to devour, my leveling speed will also become very fast. However, this method carries a great hidden danger. A short-term increase in strength will gradually make me violent in the future, and I may ultimately endanger or even destroy the village. Therefore, I do not recommend that you do this."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang swiftly abandoned the idea of using remnant monster souls to increase the imp's level. Then he asked curiously, "What's your name?"

"Reporting to the Village Chief, only Ghost Generals and those above them in the Abyssal Ghost Tribe have names. I am merely a Ghost Tribe Recruit, and I possess an intangible body, so I cannot have a name. It would become a burden to me."

Zhang Yang nodded. He had originally been thinking of giving the little imp a name.

"All right, then stay here temporarily. Also, don't come out at night and frighten people. Once you've rested, search underground around the village for me and see if there are any valuable ores or the like."

"As you wish, Village Chief."

After the imp's information vanished, Zhang Yang thought for a moment, then went out first to inform Wu Yuan and the others to end their alert, clean up the battlefield, recover from their injuries, and so on. Then he decided to immediately upgrade the Village Building Order. This was the most important matter.

It was currently known that Village Building Orders came in gray, white, black, and blue qualities. There should also be green and gold above those.

Zhang Yang's current Village Building Order was white, and one of his Village Building Order missions required him to upgrade it to at least blue quality.

He opened the village panel and selected the damaged Village Building Order dropped by the Great Horned Deer Lord. Several lines of information immediately appeared.

"Using a damaged Fantasy Village Building Order can increase the quality and level of the Village Building Order. You currently possess one damaged Village Building Order (Black). Based on the circumstances of the kill, there is a 45% chance of upgrading the Village Building Order in your hand. (Explanation: If the enemy is killed within the enemy village's territory, the upgrade chance will be higher; otherwise, the upgrade chance will be lower.)"

"Note: Energy can be used to increase the upgrade chance. Because the Village Building Order's level has increased, 1,000 points of energy are required to increase it by 5%."

"Using the damaged Great Horned Deer Civilization Code Blueprint can increase the upgrade chance by 10%."

--

"Interesting. It's a good thing I just got rich; otherwise, I wouldn't have had enough money to upgrade at all." Zhang Yang sighed. If he used the Great Horned Deer Civilization Code Blueprint, he would need to pay 9,000 points of energy. If he did not use it, he would need 11,000 points of energy to upgrade.

"Then I'll hold on to this Civilization Code Blueprint. What if I get the chance to invade the Great Horned Deer civilization in the future?" Zhang Yang chuckled. In any case, the one thing he was least short of now was energy.

"Confirm upgrade."

"Buzz!" The damaged Village Building Order in Zhang Yang's hand instantly vanished. White rays of light shot out throughout the village, still forming straight horizontal and vertical lines. Soon, even more white threads joined in, causing the village's area to continue expanding until it covered a full square kilometer. It was absurd—the black Village Building Order really was something else.

Next, several more lines of information flashed into view.

"Upgrading the Village Building Order. Upgrade time: 82 hours. Because your Village Building Order will become black quality after the upgrade, the initial village area will expand to one square kilometer. At the same time, the village will be eligible to possess two additional finished Level 5 buildings. Please spend 3,000 points of energy to select them (Click to Select/Reject)."

"One damaged Great Horned Deer Civilization Code Blueprint detected. Use it?"

"After use, you will randomly obtain one basic building of the Great Horned Deer civilization."

"Level 5 Blacksmith Shop, comes with one blacksmith."

"Level 5 Arrow Tower, comes with twenty archers."

"Level 5 Warehouse, comes with 1,000 units of lumber, 1,000 units of iron ingots, and 1,000 units of grain."

"Level 5 Farmland, comes with twenty-five farmers."

"Level 5 Residential House, comes with twenty households."

"Level 5 Artisan Camp, comes with five artisans."

"Level 5 Military Armory, comes with equipment for five hundred soldiers (common/elite)."

"Level 5 Herbal Medicine Shop, comes with one medical artisan."