Counting the Spoils

"Then can I form an alliance with you and share maps?" Xia Wanyin asked again.

"An alliance... share maps?"

Shen Xing was puzzled again. He had never heard of those features.

"That's right."

Xia Wanyin nodded. "As long as we form an alliance, we'll be able to see the locations of each other's territories on the map."

"Besides that, the areas an ally has explored and the resource points they've occupied will also appear on the other person's map."

"But you can only view them. You don't have permission to operate them."

Shen Xing was tempted.

After all, Xia Wanyin had entered the game before him and seemed to have some special abilities. She had surely explored more of the map.

Then he hesitated.

That would mean she would know where his territory was.

Although the woman had shown no ill intentions so far, he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

Xia Wanyin understood his concerns and made another suggestion. "Oh, right! Later, I can also help you find all the resource points around your territory."

"No problem. The resource points don't matter. What matters is that I want you as an ally," Shen Xing said righteously.

Xia Wanyin: "..."

"Hehehe, you really are an interesting person."

She let out a clear laugh, then rolled up her sleeve, revealing part of her fair, jade-like arm.

A Flower of Mist, suspended between the real and the illusory, was imprinted on her wrist.

Then Xia Wanyin stepped forward and touched Shen Xing's arm.

He felt a warm touch.

Before Shen Xing could react, vast swathes of fog dispersed from the minimap, revealing many areas he had never explored.

Shen Xing saw vast forests, villages, and even the outlines of ancient buildings.

Besides those, green dots twinkled across the map like stars.

These green dots all represented resource points: sacrificial towers, mines, and so on.

Compared to the four or five green dots on his own map, Xia Wanyin had already revealed nearly twenty resource points.

Shen Xing was secretly amazed. He was even more certain that the woman might have some special ability that allowed her to pinpoint resource points in the fog.

"Huh? Our territories are pretty close to each other, only two or three kilometers apart," Xia Wanyin said in surprise.

Shen Xing also took a look. The two white dots weren't far apart on the map.

One was to the west, and the other to the southwest.

"Aren't you blind? How can you see this map information?" Shen Xing couldn't help asking.

"Because this game is very considerate. It accommodates people with special needs like us."

Xia Wanyin explained, "A lot of system notifications appear directly in my mind."

"I see..."

Shen Xing nodded, secretly wondering why he hadn't experienced any of the game's consideration.

Damn it, it was bad enough that he couldn't stand up in the game, but it had also set his agility attribute to zero.

If he hadn't awakened his [Life-Sacrifice Evolution] talent and exploited a bug, he probably wouldn't have survived three days.

"Then I'll head back first."

Shen Xing said goodbye, already eager to return to his territory and see what he had gained from the attack on Plague Village.

Carrying his lantern, he disappeared into the mist with the orc squad.

Xia Wanyin remained where she was, watching him leave.

A moment later, she too set off in another direction with the light elf squad.

Meanwhile.

Inside a detached estate with a courtyard by a lake.

A tall young woman in a plain-colored dress sat up in bed.

Her eyes were closed, and her long eyelashes trembled, but she showed no sign of being troubled or disoriented by the darkness.

Feeling her way along the wall, she left the room and made her way to the living room on the first floor with practiced ease.

"Lingyin, Lingyin," the young woman called softly.

"Wanyin, why did you come out on your own?"

A woman in a black uniform reclined on the sofa, her long black hair cascading down her back and a pair of glasses resting on her delicate face.

"Sis, I met a very special player in the game today," Xia Wanyin said excitedly. "I even formed an alliance with him!"

"A player?"

The long-haired woman frowned slightly. "Didn't I tell you not to casually interact with other players in the game?"

"The game isn't governed by law, and there are lots of vicious people in it."

Her tone grew stern. "Besides, you're on the border of the Weideng Kingdom right now. If anything happens, even I won't be able to get there in time to save you."

At the long-haired woman's scolding, Xia Wanyin timidly lowered her head. "I... I understand, Lingyin."

Seeing her like that, the woman's expression softened. "All right, I didn't mean to blame you."

"Tell me what the player you met was like."

Xia Wanyin kept her head lowered and recounted what had happened that day.

When the woman heard that the other player also had a disability and had obtained a Hero Altar blueprint, a flicker of surprise finally crossed her eyes...

Chapter 31: Counting the Spoils

Inside the detached estate by the lake.

Xia Wanyin excitedly told her sister about her experiences in the game.

"Oh? This newcomer actually obtained a Hero Altar blueprint too?"

The black-haired woman sounded surprised, but she quickly regained her composure. "He's lucky. Many high-level lords are looking for that kind of blueprint but have no way to get one, yet he stumbled upon it."

"But he obtained it through a demon statue, so he must have paid a considerable amount of attributes for it. It wasn't worth the cost."

"In the early stages of the game, every point of an attribute is precious."

"Even if the Hero Altar is important, it's a building for the middle and late stages. Trading early-game attributes for mid-to-late-game development isn't really worth it."

Little did she know that Shen Xing had obtained the blueprint without paying any price at all.

If he really had to sacrifice attributes for it, he would have been utterly unwilling.

The woman pondered for a moment, then shook her head. "Wanyin, did you use the 'Essence of Light' I gave you today?"

"I already used it. Xiao Guang not only broke through to three-star elite, but also awakened a talent skill."

Xia Wanyin replied excitedly, but then an apologetic look appeared on her face. "Lingyin, I heard elemental essences that match a troop type are very expensive, many times more expensive than ordinary souls..."

"That's nothing."

The black-haired woman said dismissively, "If I could transfer more than one item a day, I would have raised all your troops to three-star elite long ago, then found a way to bring you to my territory."

"Oh, right, Wanyin."

As if remembering something, Xia Lingyin said, "A three-star Mist Void Realm recently appeared near Hancheng. Someone found a tower inside it, which might be some kind of large ruin."

"A lot of lords have gone over there, and I'm going to take a look too. I won't be able to look after you for a while."

Xia Wanyin nodded obediently. "Go ahead, Lingyin. I'll take good care of myself."

At dusk, as night gradually fell, the entire Land of Mist grew darker.

It was worth mentioning that although this world was shrouded in thick fog, it still had day and night.

During the day, the thick fog was a pale grayish-white.

At night, it turned pitch-black, so dark that one couldn't see one's own hand.

At that moment, in the endless fog, a point of light like a moving flame drew steadily closer to the territory.

The level-three campfire blazed, illuminating the area for dozens of meters around it.

A group of orcs carrying door panels and roof beams entered the campfire's range with several skeleton soldiers.

Da Hou, who was guarding the territory, was startled at the sight. "You went looting without me?"

"What looting?" Gorehowl retorted. "The lord said we're making reasonable use of every last resource!"

Da Hou understood. So there was such a refined way to put it.

He had learned something new again.

Shen Xing smiled. "We brought back quite a lot of materials this time. Everyone's going to be busy."

"First, process all this wood into standard lumber."

"And those stone bricks-start laying them from the village entrance, all the way to the campfire."

Then Shen Xing opened his [Lord's Backpack] and emptied out the materials inside.

In an instant, an enormous quantity of building materials piled up into a small mountain.

The orcs got busy, some chopping wood and others laying the paving.

"Next, it's time to count the spoils."

Shen Xing wheeled himself to the center of the territory, a trace of anticipation rising in his heart.

This expedition had yielded quite a haul.

Besides nearly two hundred [Soul Stones] and several intact souls, there was also food, skill books, gems, and so on.

The most valuable of them were the three items dropped by the lesser demon and the three blueprints.

"I'll look at them one by one."

With a thought, Shen Xing took a black book from his backpack. A ghostly green fireball was printed on its cover.

[Hellfire Fireball]

[Quality: Blue (Excellent)]

[Type: Skill book]