Chapter 242
Shen Xing turned off the panel, his expression returning to calm. "Mr. Fordring, why don't you go and rest for a while and get used to the new territory? I'll call you if I need anything."
"Yes, the Holy Light is always at your command."
The old man bowed slightly, performing a standard knightly salute, and then retreated with firm steps.
"He's a bit strange."
Leina watched Fordring's retreating figure, a look of doubt appearing in her ruby-red eyes.
"That is indeed a bit strange."
This was the first time Shen Xing had recruited a soldier with his own name.
Logically speaking, the creatures recruited by recruitment scrolls are beings that have already died once, whose souls have fallen into the Land of Shades and had their memories erased.
But this person not only appears to be extremely intelligent, but also seems to retain memories from his previous life, which is quite unusual.
"Perhaps it's because he believes in the Holy Light." Leina noticed something and explained softly, "Legend has it that some beings with incredibly firm faith will receive the protection of the Holy Light after they fall into the Land of Shades."
"Holy Light can preserve their true spirit and allow them to return to the world with the memories of their previous life."
Shen Xing nodded in realization, understanding that the power of Holy Light had this effect.
But this is also a good thing for him; the more unique and intelligent the guardian, the greater the role it can play.
"Next, let's check out the other loot."
"Speaking of which, the remaining four items are the highlight of this trip."
After all, the previous items were loot dropped after defeating those bosses.
But these four items were given to me by the Black Dragon Lord.
In particular, it contains a drop of His essence and a reverse scale, which contain unimaginable power.
Shen Xing also examined both items together.
[Blood of the Black Dragon King]
[Quality: Unknown]
[Item Description: Blood essence containing a trace of the Black Dragon Lord's primordial power.]
[Effect ①: Allows a non-Dragonborn unit to absorb this effect, transforming it into a half-dragon, greatly increasing all its attributes, and awakening a random Black Dragon skill.]
[Effect ②: Absorbed by Dragonborn units, it further purifies their bloodline power, greatly increasing all attributes and advancing them to Hero status.]
[Black Dragon King Scale]
[Quality: Unknown]
[Item Description: A scale from the hardest part of the Black Dragon Lord's body, containing powerful defensive capabilities]
[Effect ①: Can be crafted by a Grandmaster Rank blacksmith into Legendary Rank shields, breastplates, etc. The finished product inherits some of the Black Dragon Lord's power.]
[Effect ②: Can be used directly as a defensive item to block attacks from the front, reducing physical damage by 50% and magical damage by 40%.]
(Note: Damage reduction is capped at 70%).
"Blood that can directly Metamorphosis into hero's blood... and scales that can be forged into Legendary Rank equipment!"
"Good heavens, as expected of the Black Dragon Lord, one of the Five Chromatic Dragons, his move is truly extraordinary."
Shen Xing sighed softly.
Especially that drop of black dragon blood, which could be of maximum use to him.
After all, he possesses the legendary [Shadow Dragon Nest], a troop nest capable of summoning pure-blooded Shadow Dragon in large numbers.
In other words, one can use this drop of blood to directly create a dragon hero.
Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!
As for the second Black Dragon Lord's Scale...
"This thing requires Grandmaster Rank Forging Mastery to craft, which is far too far beyond my reach."
"There's only one advanced blacksmith in the territory right now. Who knows when that will be?"
"But..."
Shen Xing's thoughts raced. "This scale possesses extremely strong defensive capabilities, and its size is also just right?"
"Then... can it be used directly as a shield?"
He had just recruited a Leader Rank guardian, who didn't yet have a suitable shield.
Shen Xing decided to give it to Fordring to try later.
"Very good, next item."
Shen Xing slightly raised his right hand, and a dark ball of light appeared, containing a coiled-up young dragon with three star patterns on it.
[Shadow Dragon Nest]
[Rank: Boss One Star ★★★]
[Site size: 782 square meters]
[Effect: Can be placed in your territory to recruit a level 10 (Tier Two) Shadow Dragon by consuming materials. Hatching time is 24 hours.]
[Incubation Space: 0/1]
[Recruitment Requirements: 10,000 Soul Stone, 5,000 Black Crystal, 2,000 Food, 100 Black Dragon Scales]
[Upgrade Requirements: 5000 Greater Soul Stone, 1000 Giant Dragon Crystal Ingot, 10 Leader Rank Soul, 1 Tier Four Boss Dragon Soul]
(Note: Each time the Dragon Nest's star level is upgraded, it will gain 1 additional hatching space.)
(Note 2: The hatched Shadow Dragon is in its growth stage and requires a large amount of food to feed it every day. Please pay attention to food consumption.)
"Great! With this thing, I can summon Shadow Dragon in bulk, and they're even Tier Two, 3-star Boss Rank dragons!"
Shen Xing clenched his fists, his heart pounding with excitement.
"However, the materials required for this are truly outrageous."
"Recruiting just one costs tens of thousands of Soul Stones and 2,000 units of food. Who the hell can afford that?"
Of course, this also proves the power of the Shadow Dragon unit.
After a moment's thought, Shen Xing decided to hatch one first to test its strength.
Other resources are relatively plentiful, but food is running out again.
Now, the entire territory has less than three thousand units of food left.
Of course, Shen Xing also knew that this was the reason for his rapid development.
No lord could afford to launch a massive army surge every few days like that; no amount of food could sustain such a massive attack.
"We still need to develop our logistics to support the increasing demands of our territory."
Shen Xing secretly decided that he would focus on farming and animal husbandry to expand his territory and produce as much food as possible.
Then, he pushed his wheelchair to the open area on the west side of the outer city of the territory, next to the Infernal Nest.
"Buzz..."
The dark ball of light in his hand began to slowly rotate before landing in the center of the open space.
"Boom..."
The ground began to tremble slightly, and a large number of dark bones and a pile of black stones rose out of thin air.
Then they rapidly reassembled in mid-air, piling up into the shape of a giant nest.
Beside this nest are two jet-black dragon-head stone pillars, with two recessed hexagonal outlines in the center of each pillar, which are used to set gemstones.
Since this dragon unit's lair starts at the Boss Rank, it can be inlaid with two gems.
Then, he directly opened the nest interface.
[Consume the following materials: Soul Stone *5000, Black Crystal *5000, Food*2000, Black Dragon Scale *100, and hatch 1 Shadow Dragon?]
"Yes."
Deep within the lair, dense dark energy began to gather.
Through the gaps in those black bones, one could vaguely see a dragon egg, about half the height of a person, slowly condensing inside, with dark gold patterns flowing across its surface.
Unlike other troop nests, you can recruit troops immediately by consuming materials.
The Shadow Dragon inside this dragon's nest still needs some time to hatch.
"A 24-hour incubation period, which means recruiting one per day, is a bit slow."
"However, it seems that increasing the star rating can increase the hatching space of empty nests, which means increasing the hatching speed. That's alright."
Shen Xing clapped his hands, looking at his first dragon clan barracks with satisfaction.
Next, he prepared to examine the last piece of loot— the Giant Dragon's Secret Treasure.
The so-called Giant Dragon's Secret Treasure is similar to a treasure chest in a game, which can be opened to reveal treasures from the dragon's hoard.
"Clang!"
With a muffled thud, a huge stone box, roughly two meters long, rectangular in shape, and resembling a coffin, was revealed.
The box appears to be made of obsidian, with dragon scale patterns engraved on its surface, making it look incredibly lifelike.
[Open the Dragon Clan's Secret Treasure?]
"Open it for me."
As Shen Xing clicked "confirm," the obsidian cover slowly opened, revealing a bright white light.
As soon as the light faded, Shen Xing peeked out and was immediately taken aback!
He saw a large pile of gold and silver coins, gleaming brightly, filling the bottom of the chest.
On top of this pile of gold coins was a black robe embroidered with dragon patterns, an ancient book, and several sparkling gems.
With a wave of his hand, he collected all the treasures into his backpack.
[Received: Kingdom Gold Coin * 174]
[Received: 16492 Kingdom Silver Coin]
[Obtained: Dragon Priest Robe (Gold)]
[Obtained: Sacrifice Pact Skill Book (Gold)]
[Obtained: Dark Gem (Gold) *2]
[Obtained: Ice Gem (Gold) *1]