A Gold-Tier Pull!

As a troop type with high burst damage and ranged capabilities, lesser demons were far more expensive than ordinary elite troops, worth at least several times as much!

For Shen Xing, a broke bastard whose bank balance had never reached five digits, this was a fortune falling from the sky.

"Calm down. As a future great lord, how can I lose my composure over a single elite troop nest?"

Shen Xing took a deep breath and tried to calm down... like hell he could!

The corners of his mouth were practically reaching his ears.

Hellscream and Gorehowl exchanged a glance. They could tell their lord was in an excellent mood.

"All right, everyone, clean up the battlefield," Shen Xing ordered after laughing for a while.

"Yes, my lord!"

The orcs responded respectfully, then scattered to get to work, leaving only a few skeleton archers to protect their lord.

This battle had shown them the strength of the territory and earned Shen Xing even greater respect.

They all knew that it was their lord's ability that had made the battle so easy.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the village entrance.

Shen Xing turned to look.

A woman in a long white dress approached slowly, carrying an ethereal air.

Her eyes were pale, but she wore a smile. She was like an angel descended into the mortal world, utterly at odds with the darkness that pervaded it.

It was Xia Wanyin, whom he had met earlier at the Blackwater River.

The orcs all stopped what they were doing and gripped their stone axes, watching the newcomer warily.

Xia Wanyin stopped at the village entrance, gave her light elves an instruction, then came over alone.

"Keep cleaning up the battlefield," Shen Xing ordered calmly. From their previous encounter, he could tell the woman bore him no ill will.

She had come alone now to put his concerns to rest.

"Spark, you're amazing! Even I wasn't completely confident I could take this village."

Xia Wanyin spoke first, her eyes vacant but a delighted smile on her face.

"When did you get here?" Shen Xing asked.

"Just as you entered the village."

Xia Wanyin replied, "I originally came to conquer this village too, but you beat me to it."

Shen Xing's expression shifted slightly. "That's unfortunate. If only you'd come earlier."

Xia Wanyin seemed to notice his wariness and chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't steal your loot. Besides, the troops I brought are no match for yours."

Shen Xing glanced toward the village entrance. In the few days since they had last met, she had gained two more humanoid light elves, bringing her total to four elite units.

But if they actually fought, Hellscream and Gorehowl could easily crush them.

"Spark, you're so strong. Would you be interested in pulling off a job with me?" Xia Wanyin suddenly suggested.

"A job?"

"Yes. I found a special area."

Xia Wanyin explained, "There's a huge tree there that glows. It's like a work of art, so beautiful."

"And there's lots of glowing wheat growing beneath it."

"This wheat is a very special plant. I want to transplant it to my territory so I'll have something to eat."

"But there are also lots of powerful monsters there. I'm not confident I can handle them alone, so I wanted to invite you along."

A glowing tree, glowing wheat, and lots of powerful monsters?

Shen Xing's interest was piqued.

After all, the place sounded extraordinary. There might even be some astonishing treasure hidden there.

"All right, I'll go take a look with you in a bit."

He nodded, then added, "But we're just looking first. If things don't look right, I won't make a move."

"No problem!" Xia Wanyin nodded happily.

They settled the matter of teaming up and waited where they were.

A few minutes later, Hellscream and Gorehowl came over together.

After Shen Xing's lesson, the resentment in Gorehowl's heart had long since vanished, leaving only endless motivation.

"My lord, we've finished cleaning everything up."

They respectfully piled the loot at their lord's feet.

With a wave of his hand, Shen Xing put it all into his personal inventory.

[Obtained: Soul Stone ×162]

[Obtained: Vinar Silver Coin ×134]

[Obtained: shattered common soul ×35]

[Obtained: shattered elite soul ×5]

[Obtained: intact elite soul ×1]

The haul was extremely generous. Added to what he had already accumulated, he now had more than four hundred Soul Stones.

Not only did he have enough Soul Stones to level up his troops, he might even have some left over to upgrade the territory's buildings.

"You're done searching! Let's set off now!" Xia Wanyin said eagerly, seemingly unable to wait.

"Done searching?" Shen Xing looked around. "Haven't we only just begun?"

Not only Xia Wanyin, but Hellscream and Gorehowl beside him also looked puzzled.

They were certain they had cleaned up the battlefield thoroughly, without missing a single Soul Stone.

Yet their lord said they had only just begun?

"Strip all the clothes off those plague followers on the ground."

"And in the village, tear down those wooden houses and take all the lumber back."

Shen Xing looked around as he gave orders. "Right, pry up those stone slabs paving the village roads and take them too."

Everyone was speechless.

"Y-you... are you a bandit?" Xia Wanyin couldn't help asking, staring at him in disbelief. "What use are those things if you take them back?"

"Of course they're useful. These are all important basic supplies."

Shen Xing spoke as though it were obvious. "The lumber can be used to build new houses and watchtowers, and the stone slabs can be laid on the ground to increase travel speed."

"My territory is still getting started, and I have so many mouths to feed. Naturally, I have to make use of every resource."

Xia Wanyin listened in a daze but didn't argue. A thoughtful look appeared on her face.

Under Hellscream and Gorehowl's lead, the orcs immediately got to work.

Some crouched on the ground and stripped the plague followers of all their clothes, leaving behind gaunt bodies.

Some became a demolition crew, tearing down the wooden houses one by one and bundling up the lumber.

Others took their stone axes and pried up the intact bluestone slabs from the village roads.

The entire village bustled with activity.

Shen Xing wheeled himself to the clearing west of the village entrance, where the plague followers had been worshipping earlier.

At the center of the clearing stood a black statue, roughly two or three meters tall.

With black wings and curved horns, it looked much like a lesser demon, but more imposing.

"Huh? There's actually the aura of a demon statue here." Xia Wanyin looked surprised.

"A demon statue? What does it do?" Shen Xing asked.

"It's something like a field altar."

Xia Wanyin explained, "You occasionally find statues like this in certain special areas."

"You sacrifice different things to receive random rewards."

"But because you're making a deal with a demon, the price is usually high, though the rewards are good too."

"And you can only make one sacrifice at each statue."

Shen Xing nodded in understanding and looked ahead. A set of information appeared.

[Demon statue]

[1: Sacrifice souls (intact souls) to obtain random power (equipment, fruits, items)]

[2: Sacrifice wealth (Vinar Silver Coins) to obtain random resources (Soul Stones, materials, legion treasures)]

[3: Sacrifice health (any of the four attributes) to obtain random prosperity (troop nests, blueprints, skill books)]

(Note: The more items or attribute points sacrificed, the higher the quality of the reward, up to a certain limit.)

"I can even sacrifice points from the four attributes? What if I sacrifice agility again?"

Shen Xing noticed the third sacrifice option and instinctively made the connection.

After all, he had obtained the Life-Sacrifice Evolution talent for free by sacrificing agility earlier.

After thinking it over for a moment, he decided to give it a try. There was no harm in trying, anyway.

[You have chosen 'sacrifice health'. Please select an attribute and the number of points to sacrifice.]

(Note: Based on your current level, you can sacrifice up to 50 points from a single attribute.)

Shen Xing took a deep breath and said in a low voice:

"Sacrifice agility. Take it to the maximum!"

Chapter 29: A Gold-Tier Pull!

"Sacrifice agility. Take it to the maximum!" Shen Xing made his choice without hesitation.

The demon statue's stone eyes suddenly lit up, gazing at him appraisingly as though it had come to life.

A strange power shot from the statue's eyes and entered Shen Xing's body.

But just as when he had used his talent, the power froze the instant it reached his legs.

A mere breath later, it quickly faded away.