The Good Days Are Still Ahead

"Whoosh!"

A powerful gust swept outward, sending the surrounding orc infantry flying as though they had all been struck by a door.

-Giant Wing Sweep.

A fierce light flashed in the Dark Vulture's eyes. It had intended to continue its pursuit, but when it saw Hellscream charging at it again, it could not help feeling a flicker of fear.

It beat its wings, preparing to rise into the air and gain the home advantage before slowly hunting these fellows down.

Just then, a giant invisible hand descended from the sky and smashed down on its head and face.

The blow made the Dark Vulture stagger.

In that brief moment, Hellscream, having activated Wind Walk, had already pounced. He grabbed its wing and slammed it hard against the ground.

It still tried to resist, but Hellscream was already straddling it.

His left hand gripped the back of its fateful neck while the battle axe in his right hacked wildly at its head!

In the blink of an eye, he had hacked the Dark Griffin into a bloody mess, leaving it barely breathing.

In the distance, a group of plague followers led by a plague priest were rushing anxiously toward them.

But they were not fast enough and could only watch as a group of burly orcs surrounded the Dark Vulture.

"Screech-"

With that piercing cry, the area fell silent once more.

By the time they arrived, neither the orcs nor the vulture were anywhere to be seen.

All that remained were broken feathers scattered across the ground and traces of blood.

"Growl..."

The plague followers gazed in the direction the orc army had departed, growling incessantly as anger flashed in their ghostly green eyes.

Half an hour later, Shen Xing and his six orcs stepped into the firelight.

Warmth washed over them, and two arrow towers stood guard on either side of the village entrance like door gods.

The black wooden houses had looked dilapidated before, but now they seemed wonderfully familiar.

Although they had encountered a few surprises on this trip, fortunately, everyone had returned to the territory unharmed, and they had even carried back the corpse of a giant vulture.

The creature weighed at least a hundred-odd jin, enough to provide the orcs with meat for several days.

Of course, the meat on the vulture was not the most important thing. What mattered was the loot it had dropped.

In Shen Xing's backpack lay a bright soul the size of a fist and a light white plume.

[Bright Elite Soul]

[Type: Advancement item]

[Effect: Allows an ordinary ★★★ unit to advance to elite rank, or raises the star rating of an elite creature.

Chances: 65% (ordinary → elite ★), 60% (elite ★ → elite ★★), 55% (elite ★★ → elite ★★★)]

[Hope's Plume]

[Quality: Blue (excellent)]

[Type: Special item]

[Effect: Activates the power within the plume to grant the user temporary flight for 60 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes]

Chapter 18: The Good Days Are Still Ahead

"Not bad. An elite advancement soul and a treasure that grants the ability to fly."

Shen Xing nodded in satisfaction, thinking that the plague priests of the Plague Village were probably furious by now.

They had sent the vulture out to intercept him.

But they had not expected his side to be so terrifyingly powerful. They had killed the vulture outright and even carried its corpse away.

This time, they had truly lost the wife and the soldiers.

Shen Xing then looked at Hellscream beside him and took out the glowing soul.

"Here, absorb this and see if you can break through again."

This incident had also made Shen Xing realize that his strength was far from sufficient.

He had to turn all his resources into combat strength and improve as quickly as possible, then find a way to crush that village.

Otherwise, with it so close to his territory, it would remain a huge security threat.

"Thank you, boss. Your kindness... I'll never forget it, not for as long as I live!"

Hellscream solemnly accepted the soul, his eyes filled with intense gratitude and loyalty.

The other orc infantrymen looked on enviously, practically drooling.

"Keep working hard. There'll be plenty of chances for you to improve in the future."

Shen Xing looked at the orcs and said solemnly, "The territory is just getting started, so everyone needs to work a little harder and give it their all in battle."

"Every bit of effort you put in now will turn into real, tangible soul stones and souls in the future."

"Once the territory has grown big and strong, everyone here will be a founding member. Every one of you can advance to elite, or even leader."

The less-than-bright orcs did not quite understand, but they were still drawn in by the bright future their lord had painted, and their eyes collectively lit up with anticipation.

They secretly resolved to perform well, even if things were a little harder and more tiring now.

Once the territory grew strong, the boss would give them proper promotions.

The good days were still ahead!

Meanwhile, Hellscream had already pressed the soul into his chest.

In an instant, an intense red light surged forth.

His body then began to grow taller, and the muscles in his limbs and back swelled before rapidly becoming firm again.

The greatest change was to the animal-hide pauldrons on his shoulders.

The leather surface quickly faded into a dull metallic sheen, and a wolf-head totem appeared in the very center of each shoulder.

[Advancement successful! 'Hellscream's' potential has risen to elite ★★!]

[Attribute increases from this evolution: Strength +11, spirit +6, agility +8, constitution +8]

[Equipment: Orc pauldrons → Berserker Pauldrons (blue)]

[Awakened skill: Earth-Splitting Slam]

Looking at Hellscream, who now stood 1.9 meters tall and wore black iron pauldrons, Shen Xing was satisfied.

The improvement was quite substantial. Not only had he gained new equipment, he had also unlocked a new skill.

Shen Xing opened the panel and checked the attributes.

[Berserker Pauldrons]

[Quality: Blue (excellent)]

[Shoulder protection: 23-27]

[Special effect: Frenzy (each enemy killed increases the wearer's attack speed and movement speed by 10%, stacking up to 5 times and lasting 30 seconds)]

[Earth-Splitting Slam]

[Skill effect: Concentrates strength in both hands and delivers an overwhelmingly powerful axe strike, dealing massive damage to surrounding enemies and knocking them back.

The greater the strength, the higher the damage and the wider the area of effect.

Cooldown: 45 seconds]

"Oh? Killing enemies stacks attack speed and movement speed, up to a full 50%."

"These pauldrons are pretty impressive."

After all, Hellscream specialized in agility and burst damage. If the effect of these blue pauldrons reached full stacks, his destructive power would rise to another level.

As for Earth-Splitting Slam, it not only dealt extremely high area damage but also knocked enemies back, which was quite good as well.

Just then, an idea suddenly occurred to Shen Xing.

The damage multiplier and area of effect of Hellscream's Earth-Splitting Slam were determined by strength.

Could it be used together with the plume he had just obtained to increase the skill's power even further?

If it were unleashed from several dozen meters in the air, the added acceleration of gravity would definitely make it more damaging than using it on level ground!

"Hellscream, come help me test something."

Shen Xing handed him Hope's Plume, then explained how to use it and what he had in mind.

Hellscream stood there for a few seconds, digesting the information, and gradually understood what his lord meant.

Then he tightened his grip on the plume and took a deep breath.

Whoosh...

A gentle breeze blew, and the orc rose into the air, gradually ascending more than ten meters.

"Boss, I'm flying!"

Hellscream waved his hands and shouted excitedly.

He also performed several difficult maneuvers in the air, thoroughly savoring the thrill of flight.

After circling in the air a few times, he remembered his lord's instructions and hurriedly raised his Steel-Slaying Double-Bladed Axe.

"Haah!"

He took a deep breath and concentrated all his strength in his arms, his muscles swelling as though inflated.

Then he unleashed Earth-Splitting Slam without hesitation!

Like a blazing meteor falling from the sky, he hurtled toward the ground at tremendous speed.

"Boom!!!"

A massive shock wave swept outward, dust billowed into the air, and the entire territory shook violently.