The Fine Iron Dilemma, Exceptional Frost Wave

The Spartan Warriors' monster hunting and the profits from the Universe Shop brought Huang Yu 1,200 Soul Crystals.

In terms of Soul Crystals alone, Huang Yu now met the requirements to upgrade the Fire Seed to Tier 3!

What he lacked were basic materials such as wood, stone, and Fine Iron.

However, a Tier 3 Fire Seed would not improve the overall strength of Huang Yu's territory.

What he urgently needed was to complete the construction of the territory's various basic facilities.

Having grown used to the discounts brought by the discount artifact,

Huang Yu still felt a little pained at spending such a huge price on two ordinary building blueprints.

But after looking through the discounted goods list, he found no related resources.

He also could not be sure whether the discount artifact would refresh resources like Iron Mine tomorrow.

Other than spending Soul Crystals to buy them, there was no other option for now.

This was also the limitation of the discount artifact.

It could not refresh discounted goods according to his wishes.

Otherwise, Huang Yu would have taken off long ago.

"Building upgrades and forging materials... almost all of them require Fine Iron."

"Iron Mine can provide long-term benefits. For better development, I would have had to buy it sooner or later!"

After comforting himself, Huang Yu clicked to purchase the blueprints for the Iron Mine and Steel Furnace.

950 Soul Crystals were deducted.

Two streaks of golden light shot out from the Fire Seed and, following Huang Yu's will, landed on an empty patch of land in the territory.

A few minutes later, the golden light faded.

A Steel Furnace billowing thick smoke stood beside a mining site at the edge of Huanyu Town.

Huang Yu brought up the information panels for the Iron Mine and Steel Furnace.

Iron Mine: Tier 1 Ordinary Building

Function: Can accommodate up to 10 territory residents for mining and produce 100 units of Iron Ore per day.

Note: Upgrading to Tier 2 requires 15 Soul Crystals, 100 units of wood, and 50 units of stone.

Steel Furnace: Tier 1 Ordinary Building

Function: Requires 3 territory residents to operate. Can refine 100 units of Iron Ore into 50 units of Fine Iron per day!

Note: Upgrading to Tier 2 requires 10 Soul Crystals, 60 units of stone, and 10 units of Fine Iron.

It could only produce 50 units of Fine Iron per day...

Huang Yu was deeply dissatisfied with the Iron Mine's productivity.

Upgrading the Fire Seed to Tier 3 required 1,000 units of Fine Iron.

Upgrading the Spartan Training Camp to Tier 3 also required 600 units of Fine Iron.

And there was also the Blue Mountain Workshop...

At the Iron Mine's current output,

he would have to save up until the end of time.

What was more, considering the Blue Mountain Workshop's rate of material consumption,

50 units of Fine Iron would be tight even for meeting its daily forging needs,

let alone upgrading buildings.

Looking at the remaining 250 Soul Crystals,

Huang Yu gritted his teeth.

He brought out the stockpiled wood, stone, and small amount of Fine Iron from the warehouse.

He poured them into the Iron Mine and Steel Furnace to upgrade the two buildings.

A total of 25 Soul Crystals, 100 units of wood, 50 units of stone, and 10 units of Fine Iron were consumed.

Just a few minutes later, the Iron Mine and Steel Furnace were both upgraded to Tier 2 buildings.

Iron Mine: Tier 2 Ordinary Building

Function: Can accommodate up to 20 territory residents for mining and produce 300 units of Iron Ore per day.

Note: Upgrading to Tier 3 requires a Tier 3 Fire Seed, as well as 100 Soul Crystals, 600 units of wood, 300 units of stone, and 100 units of Fine Iron.

Steel Furnace: Tier 2 Ordinary Building

Function: Requires 5 territory residents to operate. Can refine 300 units of Iron Ore into 150 units of Fine Iron per day!

Note: Upgrading to Tier 3 requires a Tier 3 Fire Seed, as well as 50 Soul Crystals, 150 units of stone, and 80 units of Fine Iron.

After upgrading to Tier 2, the situation improved slightly.

But compared with the upgrade requirements of the Fire Seed and Special Buildings,

the output of Fine Iron was still insufficient.

This was the restriction of Special Buildings.

Their powerful functions raised the upper limit of a lord's strength.

But the resources required for their upgrades were also absurdly high.

Ordinary lords simply could not afford them.

"Looks like I can only think of something through the Chaos Mall and the trading platform."

Huang Yu put away the information panel.

One Soul Crystal could buy one unit of Fine Iron in the Chaos Mall.

Even for Huang Yu, unless he had no other choice, he was unwilling to waste money like that.

So, he planned to loosen the restrictions on Fine Iron trades in the Universe Shop.

He also added Iron Ore to the range of tradable goods.

He hoped that some lucky lord on the trading platform could obtain Fine Iron resources.

Under Huang Yu's arrangements, the Iron Mine and Steel Furnace immediately began operating.

Thirty territory residents entered the Iron Mine with tools produced by the Blue Mountain Workshop, their faces full of drive.

Five bare-chested territory residents fired up the Steel Furnace.

A moment later, thick smoke rose into the sky.

After arranging everything, Huang Yu had nothing else to do and began inspecting the territory.

Fighting was out of the question.

A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall.

He was the lord. Managing the territory was his duty.

Having never received combat training from the system, Huang Yu's combat experience was practically nonexistent.

Other than the powerful physical qualities brought by his High-Level rank, he had no other trump cards.

If he ran into the forest, even a poisonous snake could take his life if he was careless.

Besides, he had the powerful Spartan Warriors.

There was simply no need for him to risk himself personally...

"Good afternoon, my lord!"

"We're so lucky to be able to live in your territory!"

"Thanks to you, my lord, we have food and drink..."

Huang Yu's territory residents were all very enthusiastic and proactive. Those who were not had already been stuffed into the training camp for reform.

With other lords,

it was already quite good if their territory residents could eat their fill every day.

But in Huanyu Town,

the territory residents could eat meat every day.

Moreover, Huang Yu had never oppressed them.

As a result, the territory residents of Huanyu Town had relatively high loyalty.

Ding!

Blue Mountain Workshop: You have gained an Expert Level Blacksmith.

Huh!!!

Just as Huang Yu was inspecting the territory while racking his brains for ways to obtain more Fine Iron,

the Blue Mountain Workshop actually produced another Expert Level Blacksmith.

"Is this a happy problem?"

One more Expert Level Blacksmith

meant Huang Yu could obtain more High-Level equipment.

It also meant that he needed to provide a large amount of resources.

Huang Yu's spirits rose as he brought up the new Expert Level Blacksmith's information.

Blacksmith: Baili

Level: Expert Level Blacksmith

Specialty: Swords

Potential: Has a 3% chance of becoming a Saint Blacksmith!

In terms of potential, the new Expert Level Blacksmith—Baili—was slightly better than Cang Yun.

Huang Yu entered the Blue Mountain Workshop.

Cang Yun was immersed in the mountain-like pile of materials before him.

He did not notice Huang Yu's arrival at all.

The other nine blacksmiths respectfully greeted him before returning to their work.

Among them was a relatively young and distinguished-looking man, polishing a sword.

He was the newly promoted Expert Level Blacksmith, Baili!

"Baili, is this your work?"

Huang Yu looked at the sword in Baili's hand.

The blade was three feet eight inches long, covered in wave-shaped dark patterns. Its entire body shimmered with cold light, looking exceptionally sharp.

"My lord!"

Baili bowed slightly and presented the sword to Huang Yu with both hands.

"The sword is named Frost Wave. When I advanced to Expert Level Blacksmith, I gained an insight and forged it!"

"Frost Wave!"

Huang Yu took the sword, gave it a flick, and praised, "A fine sword!"

Hearing Huang Yu's words, Baili nodded with honor and pride.

In truth, Huang Yu knew nothing about swords.

But he could see this sword's information.

After he took the sword into his hand,

the information panel automatically popped up.

Huang Yu also saw the Frost Wave Sword's grade:

—Exceptional!