The next day, Liang Ji bought two first-rank Spotted Snake Demon Cores from the Treasure Basin's official website. They were stocked locally, so he placed the order in the morning and had them delivered straight to the school that afternoon.
He refined the two Spotted Snake Demon Cores into his Natal Star at school. As before, the Dragon Soul refined them first, and only then were they planted in the star.
Though the Demon Cores had been planted, it would take time for the star to digest them, transform them into Spirit Vein energy, and strengthen the Star Spirit Vein.
Liang Ji waited ten days before the Spirit Vein data on the Star Compass finally changed to First Rank (3%).
At the same time, the increase in Spirit Vein strength brought considerable changes to the entire Natal Star, including its Vassals. After all, the growing Spirit Vein had greatly expanded the star's source energy.
Star Lord: Liang Ji.
Cultivation: Nine-Rank Body Refining (Bone-and-Tendon Refining 20%).
Natal Star: Dragon Soul Star.
Star Diameter: 2,256 kilometers.
Star Composition: Earth (42%), Metal (12%), Water (23%), Wood (13%), Fire (6%), Air (4%).
Spirit Vein: First Rank (3%).
Vassals: Half-Dragonfolk.
Dao Fruit: 0.09%.
After the two Demon Cores were refined into it, the Natal Star's volume grew by nearly two-thirds, and the Dao Fruit it nurtured increased by 0.02%.
Vassals: Half-Dragonfolk.
Rank: First Rank.
Population: 16,483 (First Rank: 4,001; Zero Rank: 12,482).
Religion: Heavenly Emperor Faith (Priest: Xi).
Politics: Small Tribe (Chief: King).
Economy: Farming, Animal Husbandry (Leader: Farmer).
Military: Hunting Team (Commander: Chi).
Skills: Snake Barbarian Scripture (Hegemonic Body), Mountain Splitting Axe, Flying Snake Spear, Bedrock Shield.
The Half-Dragonfolk population had finally surpassed the limit of ten thousand, and the number of First-Rank Vassals had also exceeded four thousand.
Meanwhile, thanks to their Hegemonic Body inheritance, the increase in Star Spirit Vein strength, and the resulting rise in the star's spiritual energy, the Half-Dragonfolk had grown in stature and undergone other changes.
In the past, Zero-Rank Half-Dragonfolk generally stood around 1.6 meters tall as adults. Now, they commonly reached 1.7 meters. Those who awakened their bloodlines and advanced to First Rank usually stood over 1.9 meters. The strongest among them, those capable of contending for the title of Chi, the warrior chief, stood around 2.2 meters tall.
But their increased height was only a minor change. Perhaps because they were cultivating the Hegemonic Body and developing their bloodline inheritance, the First-Rank Half-Dragonfolk were also growing noticeably broader. Their backs, tails, and arms were nearly twice as thick as those of the previous two generations.
Each Half-Dragonfolk stood like a boulder.
These days, the Half-Dragonfolk no longer even used shields in their duels, and they rarely wielded battle-axes. They preferred to clash body to body, trading blows in brutal, flesh-and-bone combat.
Ordinary shields could no longer match the defensive power of their own scales and Hegemonic Bodies. And no matter how sharp an ordinary battle-axe was, it often failed to pierce their scales or break through their Hegemonic Body defenses.
So it was more effective to fight directly, with their bodies and fists colliding.
"It seems the Half-Dragonfolk's smithing skills can no longer keep up with the growth of the Vassals themselves."
"I still need to train Rune Masters and forge Rune Artifacts for them."
Watching the Vassals develop on his Natal Star, Liang Ji couldn't help frowning.
He had looked into it: even the most basic First-Rank Rune Master inheritance cost ten thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. He didn't have nearly enough.
"The first mock exam is in about ten days. Given how my Vassals are developing, I should get a good score."
"By past precedent, the top ten in the first mock exam receive rewards from the school. I should be able to get a Rune Master inheritance from them."
After turning the thought over in his mind, Liang Ji continued watching the Half-Dragonfolk Vassals develop on Dragon Soul Star.
At that moment, south of the Vassal settlement, the leader in charge of agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Farmer the Seventh, was leading a group of Half-Dragonfolk in setting fire to a wide stretch of grassland.
Once the grass had burned to ash, the Half-Dragonfolk drove their livestock across the land and used them to pull iron plows, breaking new fields.
The Half-Dragonfolk tribe on Dragon Soul Star had been reproducing and developing for over ten thousand years, but their limited numbers and intelligence, along with Liang Ji's lack of deliberate guidance, had kept the tribe's economic and political development very slow.
Despite ten thousand years of development, the Half-Dragonfolk still merely gathered together to live. They had not even formed villages. Their economy was also based mainly on slash-and-burn farming, hunting, and fishing.
After all, before this, the Half-Dragonfolk population had been capped at ten thousand. Most of them were Zero-Rank Half-Dragonfolk without intelligence, accustomed to hunting like beasts.
Those who had awakened their bloodlines and intelligence and advanced to First Rank numbered only one or two thousand. A little slash-and-burn farming, hunting, and fishing was enough to meet their daily needs.
But now, after Liang Ji had refined two more Demon Cores into his Natal Star, the Half-Dragonfolk population had broken through its limit and begun to grow rapidly. The number of First-Rank Half-Dragonfolk who had awakened their bloodlines and intelligence was also rising quickly, already exceeding four thousand.
As a result, their old ways of living in scattered settlements and practicing slash-and-burn farming were no longer working.
So, with Liang Ji's guidance, Farmer the Seventh, the leader in charge of the tribe's economy, began leading his people in clearing new fields and trying more intensive cultivation.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, King the Seventh, the political chief of the Half-Dragonfolk tribe, was leading another group in transforming their settlement and building a village.
At the heart of the newly built village stood the Heavenly Emperor Temple. Xi the Seventh, the religious leader and priest, was blessing and baptizing a group of Half-Dragonfolk newborns.
The population limit had been broken, and Liang Ji had also planted the Cuscuta Spirit Root he had obtained earlier in his Natal Star. Now the number of newborns in the Half-Dragonfolk tribe increased every year.
In the mountains north of the tribe, Chi the Seventh, the chief of the warriors, was leading the Hunting Team through the forests to surround and hunt wild beasts.
The Half-Dragonfolk tribe was not only trying more intensive cultivation; it also needed to increase the number and variety of its livestock to provide for its rapidly growing population.
With two new Demon Cores refined into the Natal Star, the entire star had improved. The Half-Dragonfolk Vassals seemed infused with new life, and their world brimmed with vitality as they flourished.
Watching the Half-Dragonfolk tribe thrive, Liang Ji felt his spirits lift.
Then, with a thought, he planted the two Dharma Land Spirit Seeds he had kept inside the Dragon Soul—the Frozen Abyss and Flame Valley—directly into his Natal Star. They would take root on Dragon Soul Star and evolve into two new Cultivation Dharma Lands.
The Frozen Abyss opened in the northeast of the Half-Dragonfolk tribe, where the mountains met the sea. Flame Valley opened in the southwest, where the plains met the mountains.
The two Cultivation Dharma Lands would take a day or two to form and mature. After that, the First-Rank Half-Dragonfolk, having cultivated poison resistance through their Hegemonic Bodies, began entering the Frozen Abyss and Flame Valley one after another to strengthen their resistance to ice and fire.
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