20: Chapter 20 Chongyue, Increase Investment

With Tu Lie instantly slaying the Tier 2 giant monster that had suddenly attacked, the clearing of the eastern 6th Layer Void Land no longer had any suspense.

The swarming monsters were wiped out, and the two monster nests hidden deep in the gray fog were also found.

Upon receiving the news that this Void Land had been completely cleared, Lin Xiao ventured deep into the gray fog.

With the precedent of that Tier 2 giant monster, he did not rashly enter the depths of the Void Land. After all, although his troops were all powerful, their numbers were too few.

Finding the regional treasure chest located in the depths, Lin Xiao chose to open it.

[ Congratulations, you have obtained the following items: 350,000 Source Crystals, 37,000 units of food, 32,000 units of wood, 30,000 units of stone, 3,000 units of iron ore, and 1 Perfect Grade Hero Token × 1 ]

"How much?"

"A Perfect Grade Hero Token?"

Lin Xiao's eyes widened suddenly. Did he really pull a Perfect Grade Hero Token?

He immediately opened his backpack, and when he saw the Hero Token emitting a soft purple glow, he burst into laughter.

How could this be called bad luck? He had encountered a Tier 2 giant monster in the 6th Layer Void Land.

It was clearly his Heaven-Defying luck.

It was finally his turn for his luck to explode, pulling a high-quality item with an extremely low drop rate from a regional treasure chest, and it was even a Hero Token.

"Use."

Without any hesitation, Lin Xiao immediately chose to use it.

An illusory long river appeared, flashing with countless fragments of time. Immediately after, a tall and imposing figure stepped out from within.

He wore heavy, earth-yellow armor, held a massive shield that looked like it was forged from refined steel in one hand, and carried a grotesquely styled long-handled giant hammer in the other.

This newly summoned hero was exceptionally tall, standing over two meters high, and stood there like an iron tower.

As fellow Perfect Grade heroes, Tu Lie gave the feeling of being unmatched in ferocity, like a peerless god of slaughter, while the new hero was like a towering mountain—not as flamboyant, but impossible for anyone to ignore.

"Zhong Yue greets you, Lord."

The new hero knelt on one knee, speaking in a low voice.

"Welcome to my territory." Lin Xiao was full of joy as he welcomed Zhong Yue's arrival.

He opened Zhong Yue's attribute panel.

[ Zhong Yue ] [ Quality: Perfect Grade ] [ Rank: Tier 2 ] [ Physique: 920 ] [ Spirit: 820 ] [ Cultivation Technique: Mountain-Shaking Art (A Grade) ] [ Skills: Immovable as a Mountain (A Grade), Strength to Uproot Mountains (A Grade), Thunderous Roar (A Grade), Ground-Shattering Hammer (A Grade) ]

"Hiss~"

Lin Xiao gasped. Zhong Yue's attributes were even more exaggerated than when Tu Lie was first summoned, nearing the limit of Tier 2, which showed just how powerful he was.

Of course, that didn't mean Tu Lie was inferior to him.

Judging the strength of a hero wasn't just about looking at attributes. For one thing, when Tu Lie was summoned, he came with a magnificent black horse. With the bonuses from the horse, he might not be any worse than Zhong Yue.

Regardless, Zhong Yue's joining was a huge benefit to the territory. Once his strength also broke through to the Tier 3 level, he would be a super combatant not inferior to Tu Lie.

With the eastern Void Land destroyed, the 6th Layer Void Land was completely cleared.

Connecting the 7th Layer Void Land to the territory would take more time, so Lin Xiao led his army back to the territory. He purchased a large amount of fine wine and meat from the trading market to reward the troops.

After the celebration, Lin Xiao opened the territory panel.

[ Territory: Unnamed ] [ Territory Rank: Level 2 ] [ Territory Size: 6.8 square kilometers ] [ Population: 4000 / 10000 ] [ Heroes: 3 / 3 ] [ Buildings: Lords Mansion (Level 2), Frost Fortress (Level 1), tavern (Level 1), Civilian Residence (Level 0), Sentry Tower (Level 0) ]

After converting the 6th Layer Void Land, the size of the territory surged to 6.8 square kilometers, several times larger than before, and it wasn't far from the 10 square kilometers needed to upgrade to a Level 3 territory.

One more round, and it would definitely exceed it.

However, Lin Xiao didn't care. Territory size didn't have a numerical limit like population and heroes; 10 square kilometers was just the minimum requirement. As long as the Lord had sufficient strength and could defend it, he could make it as big as he wanted.

As for other aspects, the number of heroes was full, but troop types could still be recruited.

After rising to Tier 2, troop types occupied more population slots. Frost Giants occupied 100 population slots, while Black Armor Soldierss and Dragon Cavalry occupied 50 population slots. Adding them all together, they only occupied 4,000 population, not even half.

"I hope Jin Ruxuan can get some Perfect Grade troop types." Lin Xiao shook his head slightly and began to check if any new resource points had spawned on the newly converted territory.

...

"The 6th Layer Void Land should be bordering the territory by now."

Inside a territory filled with countless buildings, Jin Ruxuan muttered to himself. He opened his friends list and clicked into the specially followed group.

The friends in this group were all first-tier Lords. They all had business dealings with him and had added each other as friends; Lin Xiao was surprisingly among them.

It didn't make him wait long; the profiles of these friends changed one after another, and their territory sizes surged.

This meant that they had successfully cleared a Void Land.

For the vast majority of new Lords, the 6th Layer Void Land, which they didn't even dare to imagine, was nothing to these first-tier big shots.

"Wei Xuanqi is still steady. The foundation of the Wei Family is too strong."

"This woman, Yun Zhiyue, is also fiercely terrifying."

Jin Ruxuan commented casually while watching.

Although he couldn't see the scene of the army's conquest, he could still picture it in his mind.

"Lin Xiao has also updated."

Jin Ruxuan's gaze narrowed slightly, noticing the changes in Lin Xiao's profile.

The one he paid the most attention to was still Lin Xiao. After all, this was likely the most stunning dark horse among this batch of Lords, with the highest return on investment.

As time passed, the profiles of the friends in his special follow list kept changing, representing their unstoppable clearing of one Void Land after another, converting them into their own territory.

"He kept up, Lin Xiao kept up."

Jin Ruxuan was shocked. Lin Xiao was closely following behind the Prodigies of those major powers and Families.

This was the 6th Layer.

In clearing the 6th Layer Void Land, he still hadn't fallen behind.

This was enough to prove Lin Xiao's strength and potential.

"I can continue to invest."

Jin Ruxuan immediately made a decision. His cooperation with Lin Xiao could be further increased, including helping Lin Xiao collect more protection fees and issuing more loans.

"Some things cannot be bought no matter how much money you have."

"What Lin Xiao lacks most right now should be a Perfect Grade Hero Token and barracks blueprints."

Jin Ruxuan pondered. If he could get a Perfect Grade Hero Token and barracks blueprints, the investment effect would be the best.

He thought for a moment and found a name in his friends list.

"Yo, Old Jin, why did you think of contacting me?"

"Cut the crap. Do you have any Perfect Grade Hero Tokens or barracks blueprints on hand?" Jin Ruxuan didn't waste words and directly stated his purpose.

The other party was from another large merchant alliance and controlled resources no less than his own; they might just have Perfect Grade Hero Tokens and barracks blueprints.

"Isn't this a coincidence."

"I don't have Hero Tokens or troop tokens, but as for the barracks, I did just receive a blueprint and was preparing to look for a buyer."

The other party said with a smile.

"Sell it to me."

"When we return to the Main World, I will pay you back double."

Jin Ruxuan said immediately, offering a price that the other party would find hard to refuse.

"So urgent."

That commercial Lord was a bit surprised. After a moment of thought, he agreed. A perfect grade barracks blueprint didn't necessarily mean it could be sold for a high price.

After all, the only ones who could afford it right now were that small group of top-tier Lords.

They wouldn't be lacking Perfect Grade troop types in their hands, and it was even less likely they would offer a double high price.