After Tie Zhu changed class to a Nord Shadow Scout, his overall attributes increased considerably.
But he still fell short of Colby and Luna.
This was related to his aptitude and level.
Tie Zhu was only lv1.
After he leveled up, his attributes might not be much worse than Colby's at the same level.
"From now on, you'll be responsible for exploring the wilderness for the territory. I hope you won't disappoint me."
Zong Shen gave Tie Zhu one final word of encouragement.
Tie Zhu nodded firmly.
At that moment, his eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at Zong Shen.
" Tie Zhu definitely won't disappoint you, my lord!"
"Good. Go get some more rest. Once it's light, I'll assign you a task."
Zong Shen waved his hand, sending Tie Zhu back to rest in the Thatched Shed.
Just then, Colby walked over.
The Giant Wolf Fenrir was still asleep.
"My lord..."
Colby bowed to Zong Shen.
"Why aren't you getting some more rest?"
Zong Shen looked at Colby's resolute face and asked, puzzled.
Colby shook his head.
"My lord, I have a bad feeling."
His face was full of worry.
"What's wrong? Is it because of the Goblin Tribe from earlier today?"
Zong Shen asked with concern.
Colby nodded.
"That Goblin Tribe is powerful. When I escaped, I was sure I'd shaken off anyone following me, but I still feel like I'm being watched..."
"This feeling is weighing on me. I can't sit still."
Hearing this, Zong Shen frowned as well.
"Is there something wrong with Colby?"
He began asking the Strategy Guide.
(Colby was marked with a Tracking Beacon by a Goblin Mage. This Magic Beacon will continue to pinpoint his location for one day. Of course, you can also use Magic Expulsion to remove the beacon.)
(Don't worry, though. The Tracking Beacon only gives the caster a vague sense of his direction.)
A moment later, golden Strategy Guide text appeared.
Zong Shen's expression grew serious.
The goblins had placed a Tracking Beacon on Colby to trace him back and eliminate them all.
His territory might already have been exposed.
He needed to make plans as soon as possible.
"Colby, you've been marked with a Tracking Beacon."
"The goblins may have already discovered the location of our territory."
"Leave camp immediately and head forty or fifty miles north. Wait for me there. I'll meet up with you after daybreak."
"We have to keep moving to throw those damned goblins off our trail."
Zong Shen thought for a moment and came up with a plan.
According to the Strategy Guide, a Tracking Beacon was a type of Magic Beacon that only gave the caster a vague idea of someone's location.
It wasn't a particularly sophisticated tracking spell.
So as long as Colby kept moving, stopping, and changing his location, he could confuse the caster.
It was already past four in the morning, near the end of the night.
It got dark early here, but it also got light early.
The eastern sky was already paling, and the darkness around them was gradually fading.
It would probably be fully light in another hour or two.
The excited beasts that had been howling outside the territory all night had also disappeared.
Dense footprints covered the area around the territory.
After hearing Zong Shen's instructions,
Colby didn't dare waste time.
He quickly woke Fenrir.
He mounted the Giant Wolf and was about to leave the territory.
Zong Shen took two portions of fine dried camel meat from his Storage Grid and handed them to Colby.
They would serve as rations for the journey.
Colby took the meat, bowed once more, and rode Fenrir north.
Zong Shen watched Colby leave.
Then he turned and headed to the [Market].
In less than two hours, all three portions of Moon Spring Water had sold out again.
It was the middle of the night. Were all these lords nocturnal, refusing to sleep?
A Tier 1 [Market] could only list three items at a time, which wasn't nearly enough for Zong Shen.
The [Market] wasn't a basic building, so upgrading it required a blueprint for the next tier.
It seemed he needed to get his hands on a Tier 2 Market blueprint as soon as possible.
Those three portions of Moon Spring Water had earned Zong Shen 200 units of wood and 80 units of hemp.
The four basic resources he had on hand had now reached a staggering total.
[Wood ×331] [Stone ×22] [Iron ×60] [Hemp ×117]
Stone was the only resource he was short on.
But that was easy to fix.
He had sold two batches of Moon Spring Water, totaling 240 ml. Adding in the water produced over the past few hours, his supply hadn't decreased at all—in fact, it had grown.
He took out a few more portions.
This time, he listed only one.
He asked for 100 units of stone in exchange.
In less than three minutes, a lord had snapped it up.
That was insane, buddy!
With Moon Spring Water, Zong Shen could completely solve his early resource problems.
What's more, thanks to the powerful effects of Moon Spring Water, he was now ruthlessly reaping the wealth of other lords!
Then he began looking through the mountain of private messages.
Over a thousand lords had sent him messages, saying they had blueprints or unusual items.
Unfortunately, very few were actually valuable.
Or rather, those who had truly valuable items weren't willing to trade them.
After all, resources were renewable and could be continuously gathered, while precious blueprints and materials were hard to come by and could greatly aid one's early development.
After searching by keyword, Zong Shen settled on items offered by three lords.
Two of them were special items.
The other was a building blueprint.
Zong Shen looked at the special items first.
The night was long, and he had plenty of time before dawn to haggle in the market.
[Primary Heart of Strength]
[Equipping this item grants +6 Strength.]
This item directly increased a base attribute.
It was worth a lot.
Zong Shen figured the other lord would probably try to take advantage of him.
After all, Moon Spring Water had become a genuine hard currency after he sold two batches.
Every portion of the [Tears of the Moon Goddess] was precious and could be exchanged for a great deal of resources.
After Zong Shen sent the lord a reply,
the other party quickly responded.
It was an Arab lord named Muhammad 1985717. Sure enough, he demanded an outrageous price.
He immediately asked for 400 ml of the [Tears of the Moon Goddess] in exchange.
Zong Shen flatly refused.
The [Tears of the Moon Goddess] were a rare commodity.
Six extra Strength might not save his life, but another portion of the [Tears of the Moon Goddess] meant more health.
After a round of bargaining, they finally settled on 200 ml of Moon Spring Water.
Zong Shen listed 200 ml at once, setting the item [Primary Heart of Strength] as the required exchange.
The deal went through soon after.
The 200 ml of water depleted almost half of Zong Shen's reserves.
But he wasn't worried in the slightest.
There were still around 250 ml of water stored in the Moon Well.
And it could produce another 50 ml every hour!
Before you continue