28: Chapter 28 The Horrifying "Passive Income"

Damn! That was close! Thank goodness it's the truce period now!

The young man, having narrowly escaped death, was wondering whether to shamelessly go up and express his thanks, hoping to get the other party to take him in as a lackey.

But the Undead Army had already finished gathering. Then, the entire army turned and marched off toward the depths of the desert.

The young man stood where he was and thought for a moment. He gathered his courage and shouted in that direction.

"Brother! Thanks! I'll definitely repay this great kindness later!"

His voice echoed in the vast, empty desert. But he received no response. The figure of the Undead Army completely merged into the night.

The young man's mind was filled with those imposing Undead, and when he turned his head, he saw the low-health Elf Archer following beside him.

"Is the Undead Race this strong? ... Damn monsters." Suddenly, he felt that this good looks were no longer appealing.

...

Tian Ming ignored the shouting of the human behind him. He continued to execute his task.

Over the next three hours, seven more strongholds were trampled. Tian Ming's level rose from 8 to 9. Command limit reached 1300. Troop strength was replenished to 1200. The upgrade progress for War Gift was also steadily climbing.

And the second Bone Transport Cart, after the fifth stronghold, was also completely filled. 48 slots × 2, completely full. Mission accomplished. Time to go home!

...

3:00 AM. Xu Qin was sleeping soundly.

Chi chi chi...

The claws of the Skeleton Sand Rat reached toward his face again. Scratch. Scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

"Mm... stop it." Xu Qin swatted the claws away and turned over. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

"... What the f*ck!" Xu Qin opened his eyes abruptly and grabbed the Sand Rat. "Did you specifically train for this? Your hand is so steady?"

He rubbed his cheek, which had been scratched red, sat up, and looked around. Then, he saw Tian Ming standing by, waiting.

The Lich stood in the center of the plaza, bone staff supporting him, with 1,200 Undead neatly lined up behind him. And the two Bone Transport Carts parked next to the bone vault were both full!

"Whoa!" Xu Qin sprang up. He walked quickly to the Bone Transport Carts and opened the storage panel. Skeletons, elite soul cores, scale armor fragments, wood, stone...

Looking at the string of resource numbers, Xu Qin trembled with excitement. "Good heavens..." He opened Tian Ming's attribute panel.

[ Tian Ming · Undead Lich · Hero ] Level: 9 (2890 / 6000) Attack: 56 (Magic - Shadow / Ranged) Defense: 28 HP: 440 / 440 Mana: 900 / 900 Range: 25 meters Hero Trait: Independent Command (Current limit 1300 Undead)

Leveling up four times in one night! Xu Qin opened his own Lord panel again. Experience: Level 18 (1450 / 1800). Although he only received 10%, the experience had clearly increased by a huge chunk!

Looking at his talent again. [ War Gift ] Level: 7 Effect: When combat is settled, the quantity of all loot obtained × 8 Upgrade Progress: 19 / 1000

What the f*ck?! Level 7 already?! Xu Qin's sleepiness vanished instantly. He recalled... The upgrade progress bar for level 6 talent was 1000 battles.

In one night, Tian Ming only needed to hit a dozen or so strongholds at most to fill two Bone Transport Carts. In other words, every battle was an S-rank evaluation... How much does an S-rank evaluation count for on the progress bar?

He opened the battle log and started flipping backward. Hmm? What is this? Elite... Extermination Battle? The progress bar increased directly by 6? Tian Ming, you little rascal, you have such good luck?

"I see, that explains it." After grinding dozens of S-rank evaluations, he finally met the threshold for leveling up. "Is this what 'passive income' is..."

Xu Qin rubbed his still-sore eyes and let out a long sigh. Tsk. Love it. He yawned, stretched, and then looked toward the Graveyard.

On the panel, the upgrade countdown for the Level 4 Graveyard was displayed. 00:41:03. Forty-one minutes. "It's really fast."

Xu Qin stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the 1,200 Undead lined up and waiting in the plaza, feeling excellent. Then he turned and walked in front of Tian Ming, hands behind his back, looking up at the Lich. He put on the posture of a superior.

"Tian Ming." Tian Ming lowered his skull. "I have a task for you." Xu Qin pointed at the two Bone Transport Carts.

"Next time, put the resources you bring back directly into the bone vault. Don't wait for me to wake up to unload." He paused. "You need to know how to draw inferences about other cases from one instance." "That way, you can continue to go out and clear strongholds, understand?"

Tian Ming's skull nodded once. Then he turned around and directed the two Bone Transport Carts to unload. Xu Qin followed behind and opened the total resource panel for the bone vault. The numbers were growing rapidly.

Wood: + 3200 Stone: + 2800 Iron Ore: + 340 Skeletons: + 4600 Soul Energy: + 52000 Scale Armor Fragments: 420 elite soul cores: 21 Meat: + 6800 Animal Hide / Thick Hide: + 4200

Various Skeletons (Pending Conversion): Sand Jackal Skeletons × 1800+ Minotaur Skeletons × 960+ Minotaur Chieftain Skeletons × 48 Sand Jackal Leader Skeletons × 36 Scale Lizard Beast Skeletons × 195

Seeing the 52000 Soul Energy, Xu Qin nearly fainted from excitement. Fifty-two thousand. In one night. Including the previous inventory, the Soul Energy had already broken through seventy thousand. The limit of the bone vault was eighty thousand. Almost full.

"After upgrading the Graveyard to Level 4, the first thing to do is expand capacity." Xu Qin took another look at that "elite soul core × 21". This was a new item; let's see what it's for. He clicked on the item description.

[ elite soul core ] Quality: Blue (Rare) Description: A high-purity soul crystal condensed within an elite-grade magic creature. Can be used for Hero leveling, high-tier unit evolution, or as a construction material for special buildings. Each piece contains Soul Energy equivalent to 50 times that of ordinary Soul Energy.

Good stuff. Xu Qin's pupils shrank slightly. Hero leveling, unit evolution, special buildings. Xu Qin turned his head to look at the Lich, "You really did get me some good stuff." Tian Ming nodded his skull again.

Xu Qin opened the battle log and found the detailed information for that Elite Extermination Battle. Desert Scale Lizard Beast. Elite grade. 30 of them. He scanned the attribute panel of the Scale Lizard Beast. Attack 38, Defense 16, HP 150, plus scale armor reduction.

Then he looked at the settlement: Zero casualties, S-rank evaluation. Xu Qin looked up at Tian Ming and just chuckled. "Good, hahaha!" With a look of satisfaction, Xu Qin turned and walked toward the stone-tiled ground next to the Graveyard. "There's forty minutes left, let's have some barbecue first."