32: Chapter 32 Level 4 Gravesite and Abyss Bone Seeds

[ Unlocked! ]

[ Wind of Recovery (Level 1) · Passive: When the hero has not taken damage for 5 consecutive seconds, they recover 6% of their maximum HP per second. When HP is below 35%, 'Endangered Regeneration' is additionally activated, recovering 1% ~ 2% of maximum HP per second. ]

The moment it unlocked, Xu Qin could feel the aura around the Bull Battle King change once more.

"That's it." Xu Qin withdrew his hand.

"As soon as the altar finishes upgrading, I will light up your skills one by one. By then, I will definitely appoint you as a Great General..."

Before he could finish, Ding! [ Level 4 Graveyard upgrade complete! ]

A purple-black pillar of light shot up into the sky from the center of the territory. The light pillar expanded! Xu Qin looked up.

The novice protection light shield suddenly expanded outward by a circle. The dark gray "Wasteland" beneath his feet also began to spread outward.

Following that, the system notifications began to flood the screen.

Ding! [ Territory range expanded: Radius 100 meters → 150 meters! ]

[ Undead conversion efficiency increased to 60% (cumulative)! ]

[ Acolyte quantity limit increased to 20! ]

[ Unit promotion limit increased: Tier 1 → Tier 2! ]

[ Environment Modification · Strengthened: Within the Wasteland, undead unit self-healing rate increased to 2% per minute. Living races have their morale reduced by two levels while in Wasteland terrain. ]

[ New buildings unlocked! ]

[ Undead Forge (Military/Resource Building): A comprehensive military facility that integrates forging, dismantling, and refining functions into one. ]

[ Function 1 · Equipment Forging: Uses ores and bones as raw materials to forge exclusive equipment for hero units. ]

[ Function 2 · Material Dismantling: Dismantles organic materials produced by any monster (animal skins, thick hides, meat, etc.) and refines them into Magic Crystal Shards. Base conversion ratio: 10:1. ]

[ Function 3 · Ore Refining: Refines low-purity iron ore into high-purity iron ingots. Conversion ratio: 5:1. ]

[ Construction Materials: Stone × 600, Iron Ore × 150, Bones × 400, Soul Energy × 3000 ]

[ Construction Time: 2 hours ]

[ Bone Watchtower (Recon/Early Warning Building): An extra-tall watchtower built from piles of bones. It can detect all moving units within a 300-meter radius of the territory and mark them on the area map. Additionally, the top of the tower is equipped with an Undead Eagle Eye, providing the lord with a real-time overhead view. ]

[ Construction Materials: Bones × 300, Stone × 200, Wood × 100, Soul Energy × 1000 ]

[ Construction Time: 1 hour ]

Xu Qin turned his head to look at the bone vault.

Inside, there were over twenty thousand animal skins, over ten thousand catties of meat, over one thousand stone hammers, and over six hundred bone spears.

"Twenty thousand animal skins... divided by ten..."

In other words, material dismantling could yield two thousand Magic Crystal Shards.

Just a moment ago, he was still worrying about sixty Magic Crystal Shards.

Now, he wasn't lacking them anymore.

"Hahahaha..." Xu Qin couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Magic Crystal Shards, oh Magic Crystal Shards, so this is where you were waiting for me."

He suppressed his excitement and continued to look at the Graveyard upgrade panel.

He clicked on the upgrade requirements for a Level 5 Graveyard.

[ Level 5 Graveyard upgrade requirements: ]

[ Wood × 5000, Stone × 4000, Iron Ore × 800, Bones × 2000, Magic Crystal Shards × 200, Soul Energy × 20000 ]

[ Special Material: Abyss Bone Seed × 5 ]

[ Upgrade Time: 24 hours ]

Xu Qin glanced at the preceding resources; he recognized them all.

200 Magic Crystal Shards? With the Undead Forge, that wasn't a problem.

But what was the special material in the last line, 'Abyss Bone Seed'?

What was this?

He clicked on the item description.

[ Abyss Bone Seed ]

[ Quality: Purple (Epic) ]

[ Description: A special bone crystal containing the power of the Abyss. Extremely rare, usually produced in high-level Abyss Rifts, or dropped with a low probability when killing elite-level or higher Abyss-attribute monsters. ]

"In other words... it's impossible for this thing to drop in nearby small strongholds."

Xu Qin rubbed his chin.

It seemed he would have to explore further, more dangerous areas.

He would either have to find a special terrain like an Abyss Rift or run into an elite Abyss-attribute monster.

Neither method was something that could be solved in the short term.

Xu Qin sighed.

"Fine, I'll put Level 5 on hold for now."

Seeing this special item, Xu Qin knew that once the territory reached Level 5, it would undergo a leap in development.

It went without saying that it probably wouldn't be easy for any of the other lords to pass.

The current top priority was to fully exploit all the functions unlocked by the Level 4 Graveyard.

Xu Qin opened the construction list and found the Undead Forge.

[ Consumed: Stone × 600, Iron Ore × 150, Bones × 400, Soul Energy × 3000 ]

Three Acolytes stepped forward and began construction.

Two hours was too long.

But Xu Qin couldn't wait two hours right now. He had more important things to do.

"Upgrade the three main buildings."

He opened the upgrade panels for the Dark Altar, the bone workshop, and the Cursed Temple.

[ Level 3 Dark Altar upgrade requirements: Stone × 500, Iron Ore × 180, Magic Crystal Shards × 30, Soul Energy × 4000 ]

"No rush, the Undead Forge hasn't finished building yet, so there's no harm in waiting a moment."

Xu Qin changed his approach and finished the upgrades that didn't require Magic Crystal Shards first.

Bone Watchtower, build!

[ Consumed: Bones × 300, Stone × 200, Wood × 100, Soul Energy × 1000 ]

The soul hall would take six hours, build!

The bone vault would take four hours, build!

Xu Qin looked at the countdown, then glanced at the pale sky.

"I'll go out and fight for two hours now, and by the time I get back, the Undead Forge will be finished."

"After I get back, I'll dismantle the materials and then max out all the buildings in one go."

"Perfect."

Xu Qin clapped his hands.

He turned and walked toward the Bull Battle King.

"Let's go."

The Bull Battle King raised its head.

"While the Undead Forge is under construction, I'll take you out for a spin."

Xu Qin opened the remote command interface of the command panel and sent a new order to Tian Ming, who was out on an expedition.

[ Order updated: Original plan cancelled. Continue searching for strongholds, conduct a full sweep, no upper limit. Iron ore and Magic Crystals are no longer the priority; bones and Soul Energy are the priority. Additionally, keep an eye out for any special areas or special monsters marked with the word "Abyss". Once discovered, mark the coordinates immediately, do not engage. ]

Two seconds later, a notification popped up on the panel.

[ Hero · Tian Ming has accepted the order. Expedition target adjusted. ]

Xu Qin nodded.

Then he walked over to the bone workshop.

Although the Undead Forge wasn't ready yet, making it impossible to dismantle animal skins, he could arrange other things first.

[ Consumed: Bones × 80, Wood × 60, Iron Ore × 20, Soul Energy × 200 ]

Half a minute later, a new Bone Transport Cart rolled out of the workshop.

Xu Qin added it to the queue.

"Bull Battle King." He mounted the beast and shouted.

The massive bone bull head lifted up.

"For the next two hours, you'll fight side by side with me."

"Once you reach Level 3 or 4 and have your own basic commander experience, I'll let you fly solo."

"By then, you and Tian Ming can go east and west, opening up two fronts."

"Then, I can just lay back at home."

The Bull Battle King nodded its head.

Xu Qin hummed with satisfaction and pointed his spear diagonally forward.

"Let's go! There are twenty-seven hours left in the novice protection period."

"We'll come back in two hours to dismantle the materials and max out all the buildings."

Xu Qin's gaze fell onto the pitch-black, unexplored areas on the map.

"And while I'm at it, I'll see if I can find out what the Abyss is."