97: Chapter 97: The entire region advances by 7 levels!

The channel fell silent instantly.

Li Wei (Human Race): "Forget it, forget it. I'd better just focus on farming."

Zorn (Goblin Race): "+1."

After reading this, Xu Qin closed the channel and opened the regional map.

He entered the approximate location provided by Fang Che into the map, then dragged and zoomed to estimate the distance.

A red dashed line extended from his current position.

The numbers popped up.

Good heavens, about twelve thousand kilometers?

"Is it really that far?"

He counted on his fingers.

The Floating City has a base speed of forty-five kilometers per hour, flying one thousand kilometers a day.

Source Energy acceleration can be used once every four hours, boosting the speed to sixty kilometers per hour for half a minute each time.

Twelve thousand divided by one thousand.

"Twelve days."

Xu Qin leaned back against his bone throne.

"It will take nearly half a month to fly there."

He opened the command panel again and reread what Fang Che had said.

Over thirty lords. Three-way standoff. A conservative estimate of two hundred thousand troops. A Legendary-grade treasure.

...

Xu Qin closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.

Of course, he coveted the treasure.

But that wasn't what he was thinking about right now.

"What does it mean for over thirty lords to be gathered in one place?"

"It means the resources in that area are enough to support a whole bunch of lords."

"The fact that these people could travel so far means their levels aren't low—at least level five or higher. Each of them has thousands to ten thousand troops."

"To maintain such a large army stationed there for a long time, there must be a large number of resource points nearby."

"Wood, stone, iron ore, magic crystals—none of them will be lacking."

Xu Qin opened his eyes.

His attention had never been on that Legendary-grade sacred artifact.

A single treasure can only be used by one person.

Over thirty lords fighting to the death, and in the end, the winner only gets one piece of equipment.

But what about the thirty-plus lords themselves?

Their troops, their resources, their territories.

Xu Qin stood up, walked to the edge of the Watchtower, and looked down at the barren Oasis below.

"I've already picked this Oasis clean. The surrounding hundreds of kilometers are all desert; there's nothing of value left."

"Continuing to waste time here is just a waste of time."

"But if I fly over there..."

A dozen days or so might seem like a long time.

However, Xu Qin thought about it again.

These dozen days wouldn't be wasted.

After all, during the few days the Lords Hall was upgrading, the Ore Spirit had accumulated another million units.

"By the time I arrive, the entire army will likely be reinforced to +80 or higher."

And what about over there?

The thirty-plus lords will definitely have to fight each other for a while.

No matter who wins or loses, their troop numbers will definitely be significantly depleted.

Some resource points will also be abandoned due to the war.

By the time he arrives, it will be the perfect time to clean up the mess.

"I want the Legendary-grade treasure."

"I also want the bones of those thirty-plus lords."

"And I want the resource points they are occupying."

Xu Qin returned to his bone throne, sat down, and nodded slowly.

"The most critical point is... with over thirty lords, assuming an average of five thousand troops each, that adds up to one hundred fifty to two hundred thousand."

"If I multiply that by sixteen times..."

Xu Qin pressed the communication button.

"Tian Ming."

"I am here."

"How much resources are left in the Oasis?"

"About six thousand wood, three thousand stone, and two thousand refined iron ore. They are scattered along the southwest and north edges of the Oasis."

"Speed up the collection. I want it all finished within twelve hours."

"Understood."

"After that, the Floating City is going to a new place."

Upon hearing this, Tian Ming hurriedly asked:

"Master, what is the target direction?"

Xu Qin looked at the distant marker on the map.

"East!"

He lay back on his bone throne, hands behind his head.

"We are going to travel the world!"

"Yes, Master."

Tian Ming ended the call.

On the command panel, dense clusters of blue light points began moving toward the edge of the Oasis.

Over fifty thousand Troglodytes split into hundreds of gathering squads and swarmed toward the last few resource points.

Xu Qin lay on his bone throne and opened the Human Race channel again.

They were still arguing about the ruins over there.

Some were forming parties, some were advising others to quit, and others were calling Fan Tong a liar.

Xu Qin didn't post a single message.

He just watched quietly.

"No rush."

"Fly slowly."

"By the time I arrive, you all should be just about done fighting."

Xu Qin closed the channel.

...

Three days later.

The Floating City was flying at full speed over the continent.

Xu Qin stood at the edge of the Watchtower, his hands resting on the bone railing, looking down at the land speeding by beneath his feet.

Barren deserts, gravel, and occasionally a patch of grayish-green dwarf shrubs flashed by.

The orange shield around the exterior of the Floating City completely blocked the wind; standing on the city wall, not even a single hair would be ruffled.

But even so, Xu Qin still felt exhilarated.

This feeling of looking down on everything from such a high vantage point...

It felt incredibly awesome!

"So exhilarating," he muttered to himself.

Suddenly!

Ding!

The command panel popped up a series of golden notifications.

[Watchtower upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Forging Area upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Hall of Valor upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Magic Zone upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Defense System · Bone Wall upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Defense System · Bone Turret × 6 upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Energy Zone upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[descent platform upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Combat Readiness Platform upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

[Treasury upgrade complete! Level 6 → Level 7]

Eight zones, all completed in one go.

The city structure beneath Xu Qin's feet shuddered slightly.

That was the power output of the energy core increasing automatically.

He could clearly feel that the flight speed of the Floating City had significantly increased.

Xu Qin couldn't wait to open the level 7 function list for each zone and checked them from top to bottom.

There was too much content, so Xu Qin didn't examine every item in detail for the moment.

However, there was one most important thing that had to be done first.

He opened the Hall of Valor.

The skill enhancement lists for the six heroes had all unlocked the new stages corresponding to level 7.

Xu Qin poured all his overflowing resources, such as Soul Energy, into it.

He maxed out all of Tian Ming's skills!

He reinforced the skills of the Minotaur, Blade Guard, Jackal Hunter, Chuan Yun, and Tietang by one round.

The inventory of Soul Energy, magic crystals, and other supplies began to drop visibly.

Xu Qin didn't feel any heartache over this.

Because...

"The feeling of having money to spend is the best."

After reinforcing the heroes, he opened the Lords Hall.

It was time to upgrade the main city to level 8.

Xu Qin checked the inventory in the Treasury.

The resources collected over the past two days were just enough.

He didn't hesitate and clicked [Upgrade] directly.

Ding!

[Lords Hall upgrading: Level 7 → Level 8]

[Time required: 240 hours (10 days)]

The basic resources were instantly wiped clean.

Looking at the empty resource bar, Xu Qin laughed instead.

"That's how it should be."

"Resources won't breed if you just leave them there; they are only useful when spent."

Ten days.

That was exactly the time it would take to fly over.

By the time the Lords Hall finished upgrading, he would be just about at the ruins.

Just thinking about what new functions the level 8 Lords Hall would unlock made him feel hot with excitement.

"Ah, the happiest thing in life is waiting for an upgrade."

Xu Qin lay back on his bone throne, hands behind his head.

Farming is truly great.