45: Chapter 45: Level 5 Cemetery Activated!

Standing behind Minotaur, Jackal Hunter,

seeing that the surrounding monsters had already been drawn by Minotaur, decisively made his move.

[Hunters Mark]

A dark red light brand seared onto the forehead of the Erosion Beast with the highest health.

The marked Erosion Beast glowed with a red light,

and all damage dealt to it by friendly undead would be increased by 25%.

Immediately after!

Awooo!!!

[Undead War Cry]

A highly penetrating howl spread out.

Within a 20-meter radius, all friendly undead gained +5 Attack and +3 Defense.

Instantly, 2,400 undead charged into the battlefield, forming a pincer movement with Minotaur.

Standing at the highest point of the Graveyard, Xu Qin overlooked the entire battlefield through the global perspective of the Bone Watchtower.

On the east side, Tian Ming led the way with a double Wither, and the Undead Army rolled over everything like a tide.

On the west side, Minotaur stood in the center as a target, Jackal Hunter applied marks and buffs, and the Sand Jackals and Minotaurs harvested in groups.

More than four thousand undead divided the newly landed Rift Erosion Beasts into small pockets, defeating them one by one.

The red dots rapidly disappeared from the regional map.

Xu Qin still kept over two thousand undead by his side to handle any emergencies.

Of course, there was also the crossfire from the eight Soul Energy Sentry Towers within the territory.

But so far,

not a single Erosion Beast had been able to break through the blockade of the two armies.

The battle reached its third minute.

The rift in the sky began to shrink.

The descent speed of the Erosion Beasts noticeably slowed down.

Xu Qin couldn't help but sneer,

"A bunch of level 15 small fry, and they dare to rush my territory?"

He turned his head to glance at an Erosion Beast that was being ganged up on by the Undead Sand Jackals.

The thing was torn to shreds before it could even let out a scream.

"I wonder what they were thinking."

Xu Qin smiled with crossed arms,

"They probably think I'm still the newbie who was hacking at Warthogs with a stone axe two days ago, huh?"

Just then,

Ding!

several lines of golden notification text popped up.

[Talent 'War Gift' Upgrade Progress: 2000/2000!]

[Conditions met! Talent level increased!]

[War Gift: Level 8 -> Level 9!]

[Effect Updated: During battle settlement, the quantity of all loot obtained is multiplied by 10!]

Xu Qin raised his eyebrows!

"...Awesome!"

...

As the abdomen of the last Rift Erosion Beast was ripped open by three Undead Scale Lizards,

this battle, which had lasted for nearly forty minutes, finally came to an end.

Xu Qin closed the bird's-eye view of the Bone Watchtower and switched to the command panel.

The battle damage statistics were refreshing.

He stared at the numbers, his smile fading.

[This Battle • Our Casualties]

Killed: Skeleton Warthog × 412, Skeleton Sand Scorpion × 335, Skeleton Sand Snake × 265, Undead Sand Jackal × 287, Undead Minotaur × 198, Undead Lich × 14.

Total: 1,511.

Over 1,500 casualties.

Xu Qin rubbed his temples.

A loss of twenty percent from a force of over seven thousand.

For a living race lord, this casualty rate wasn't low and would definitely affect morale.

But the undead would not collapse.

What died was dead; the rest kept standing.

"Reclaim the battlefield!"

Xu Qin's command was issued.

Rumble!

Four Bone Transport Carts drove out from the territory, and a thousand Undead Sand Jackals dispersed to begin clearing the debris everywhere.

Erosion Beast bones, shattered skeleton frames, and soul core fragments scattered in the sand were all loaded onto the carts.

Fifteen minutes later, the battlefield cleanup was complete.

Ding!

[Battle Settlement]

Targets Killed:

Rift Erosion Beast (Level 15) × 724

Rift Erosion Beast • Elite (Level 18) × 19

Base Drops:

Erosion Beast Bone × 724

Elite Erosion Beast Bone × 19

soul energy × 28,400

elite soul core × 19

abyssal bone seed × 19

Meat × 0 (Erosion Beasts have no meat)

Dark Erosion Crystal × 86

Talent [War Gift Level 9] triggered!

All loot quantities × 10!

Final Loot:

Erosion Beast Bone × 7,240

Elite Erosion Beast Bone × 190

soul energy × 284,000

elite soul core × 190

abyssal bone seed × 190

Dark Erosion Crystal × 860

Battle Rating: A (Annihilated a large-scale invasion with minor casualties, including elite unit kills)

Upgrade Progress: 2,000/3,000

[Experience bar is full! Lord level increased!]

[Level 20 -> Level 21!]

[Attribute Increase: Attack +2, Defense +1, HP +10]

Upon seeing the words 'abyssal bone seed', Xu Qin's eyes instantly widened.

He slapped his thigh hard and said excitedly, "So that's how it is! The Level 5 Graveyard can be upgraded now!"

Upgrading to a Level 5 Graveyard requires five abyssal bone seeds.

He had one hundred and ninety in his hands.

Thirty-eight times the required amount.

Xu Qin laughed out loud, but then scolded himself.

"I was searching all over the world for this thing before, making Tian Ming run dozens of kilometers, and it turns out it was delivered right to my doorstep?"

He didn't dwell on it for long.

Looking further down.

One hundred and ninety elite soul cores.

Plus the six left from before, that made 196 in total.

284,000 soul energy.

7,000 Erosion Beast Bones.

190 Elite Erosion Beast Bones.

Xu Qin closed the settlement panel and opened the command panel.

Xu Qin

Level: 21 (42/2,500)

Attack: 50 (+8) (Physical - Piercing)

Defense: 23

HP: 230/230

The upgrade notifications for the four heroes followed immediately after.

First was Tian Ming, who leveled up directly to Level 16.

He had killed the most enemies on the battlefield and took the lion's share of the experience.

Next was Minotaur, who leveled up to Level 13.

Blade Guard was Level 9, and Jackal Hunter was Level 5.

After reviewing the stats, Xu Qin didn't hesitate and opened the Graveyard upgrade interface.

[Upgrade Cost: soul energy × 20,000, Bone × 8,000, Stone × 5,000, Iron Ore × 1,000, Magic Crystal Shard × 500, abyssal bone seed × 5]

[Upgrade Time: 24 hours]

[Confirm upgrade?]

[Confirm]

Buzz!

At the top of the Level 4 Graveyard's obelisk, a deep purple beam of light soared into the sky.

The five abyssal bone seeds turned into undercurrents, slowly seeping along the patterns on the surface of the obelisk.

Xu Qin watched as the countdown timer popped up.

[Level 5 Graveyard upgrading...]

[Remaining: 23:59:59]

"Twenty-four hours."

This time tomorrow, he would be the master of a Level 5 territory.

Xu Qin did not stop to enjoy the moment.

He turned to face the Undead Army reassembling in the plaza, quickly counting his forces.

He had just over seven thousand before the battle, lost nearly one thousand five hundred, and now had about six thousand available forces.

"All Vultures and Sand Rats, scatter and scout five kilometers around the territory."

Less than five minutes after the command was issued, red dots began to emerge on the regional map of the Bone Watchtower.

One, two, five...

They were densely packed.

All of them had fallen from the sky during the rift invasion,

but were scattered Erosion Beasts that hadn't rushed toward the territory.

They were distributed in groups of three to five all over the area.

Xu Qin counted them.

Within a five-kilometer radius, there were still about four hundred of them.

"It looks like they are meant to interfere with us going out to collect resources..."

"But this is fine too. I happen to be in no hurry to replenish resources anyway."

Although these Erosion Beasts were not strong individually,

if they were allowed to wander around the territory, they would eventually gather into a horde and become a hidden danger.

And...

"With over four hundred of them, clearing them out will be another settlement wave."

Xu Qin adjusted the organization of his forces.

"Minotaur, take Jackal Hunter and two thousand seven hundred troops to sweep the east and south sides."

"Tian Ming, take Blade Guard and three thousand three hundred troops to sweep the west and north sides."

"The rest... well, there are only a few hundred left anyway, so just stay behind to guard the territory with me."

The four heroes turned around together, and the two armies marched out in single file.