1057: Refining Water

Do you get paid for working?

The originally noisy villagers stopped their commotion upon hearing this.

"Yes, how much?" one person asked tentatively.

"One silver coin per person per day, but if you slack off on work, you won't get it," Li Changkong stated the clear salary and requirements.

He understood that without money, making everyone work hard was unrealistic.

The people Li Village had taken in over the years were too mixed, and a considerable portion of them actually had little sense of belonging to Li Village.

One silver coin.

Hearing this wage, the originally lazy crowd immediately perked up considerably.

One silver coin wasn't a very high wage; for people who relied on physical labor, it could only be described as ordinary.

But in these times, for people like them, getting paid while also being able to live, eat, and drink safely in Li Village, a place with a spiritual lamp, was already considered very good treatment.

The noisy situation gradually quieted down as Li Changkong's method of distributing wages was announced.

In the crowd, only Zhang Yang and a few others who liked making trouble still wore expressions of dissatisfaction.

"Village Chief, I don't want wages. I am originally from Li Village. If I only work after getting paid, how is that different from outsiders?"

"Besides, the Village is currently in a difficult time. If we take money again, what will happen to the Village in the future?"

Someone came to Li Changkong's side and said with firm eyes.

His words also drew agreement and support from many people.

And without exception, these people were all the original villagers of Li Village.

Of course, among them were also a few who joined Li Village later and genuinely wanted to integrate.

Seeing the actions of these people, Li Changkong felt slightly comforted in his heart.

In fact, with the iron Ore having a market, he could still afford the one silver coin wage.

Just as he was about to tell these people not to refuse the wages, a System panel suddenly popped up in front of Li Changkong.

"Ding~"

"Ding~ The Host has experienced different attitudes from subjects within their territory. The Lord Subject Sense of Belonging function has been activated. Please explore it yourself, Host."

The moment the System's voice was transmitted, Li Changkong focused his attention intently.

And when he heard about the new function the System said had been activated, he immediately saw another panel appear in the void next to him.

Territory Name: Li Village

Territory Level: Level 0.3

Number of Subjects: 109 people (Territory level restricts the number of people. The current number can expand the territory up to Level 1.)

Overall Subject Sense of Belonging: Low (After the overall sense of belonging is increased, all subjects' learning ability will receive a bonus. Low sense of belonging does not enjoy any bonus.)

Simple information appeared on the System panel and was also imprinted in Li Changkong's eyes.

He put away the panel.

At this moment, when Li Changkong looked at the villagers in front of him, he discovered something different.

Li Bo: Sense of Belonging 100%

Li Man: Sense of Belonging 97%

Su Laosi: Sense of Belonging 72%

This new function of the System was clearly a sharp tool for identifying the problematic individuals within the Village!

He looked at the people who said they didn't want wages.

Basically, their sense of belonging was all above 80%.

These were people who genuinely cared about the Village.

As for those who wanted wages, their sense of belonging was basically below 60%.

In the crowd, the first few people who stirred up conflict in the conversation even had a sense of belonging at 0%!

Although he had expected it, seeing this value still made Li Changkong feel a chill in his heart.

Li Village had taken in those few guys for so many years, protected their safety, and even allowed them to live freely without bowing their heads, able to eat and drink without worry just by doing a little work.

In the end, they had not the slightest sense of identification with Li Village!

People like this, he feared, could be made to completely betray Li Village if outsiders offered them a few silver coins!

His expression didn't change. After putting away the System's detection ability, Li Changkong said to the villagers who were shouting that they didn't want wages: "Take the wages when they are given to you. I can still afford this much money."

After settling the matter this way, the original villagers of Li Village wanted to say something more, but in the end, they just sighed and nodded in agreement.

Driven by the wages.

After the villagers finished eating, they picked up their tools with full enthusiasm and continued to carry out the land expansion project.

...

"Li Man." After most of the people had left, Li Changkong looked at Li Man, the only Apprentice Knight in the Village.

"Here!" Li Man came before Li Changkong.

"Have you arranged the people for digging iron Ore?"

"It's arranged. There are a total of 14 people, each of them full of strength! Several of them were even mining slaves themselves and are very experienced!" Li Man said with excitement on his face.

When Li Changkong approached him about this before, he didn't believe it.

When he saw that there really was an iron Ore mine behind the Village, his excited mood still hadn't calmed down even now.

That was an iron Ore mine, a pile of money lying in the ground!

"You haven't told them about the iron Ore, have you?"

"Not yet. I plan to tell them when we go to work later."

"Okay, gather everyone here." Li Changkong thought about screening the personnel himself again.

The matter of the iron Ore was considered a secret for Li Village.

It still required a group of trustworthy people to do it.

It was fortunate that the System activated a new function at this time, which was enough for him to select suitable candidates.

When the 14 strong young men were brought over by Li Man, Li Changkong calmly picked out five people from among them who had a low sense of belonging to Li Village.

"You guys go work on building the fence."

"The rest of you, follow Li Man and listen to his orders and instructions."

"Yes, Village Chief!" The 9 people who were chosen replied in a loud voice.

Immediately after, they followed Li Man and left, under the puzzled and displeased gaze of the five people who had been picked out.

...

Sitting in front of the bonfire, Li Changkong paused for a moment and walked towards the outskirts of the Village.

Before, Li Village had never used a High-level spiritual lamp.

He had only heard that the range covered by a High-level spiritual lamp was about three times that of an intermediate spirit lamp, and that the spiritual lamp's ability to restrain The Black Night and monsters was also stronger.

Li Changkong didn't have an accurate understanding of the specific area and spiritual lamp intensity yet.

As he walked, Li Changkong had already walked out of the Village entrance and arrived at a small hill outside the Village.

Originally, this area was beyond the reach of the spiritual lamp.

Now with the High-level spiritual lamp, this place was also covered.

Standing at this high point, Li Changkong could roughly see.

The entire area covered by the High-level spiritual lamp was roughly four times the size of the original Li Village.

Estimating based on the territory area, when it reached about Level 0.8, further increasing the territory range would exceed the coverage area of the High-level spiritual lamp.

"System, does merely enclosing the territory count as land that I have expanded?" Li Changkong asked with a bit of a hopeful mindset.

In response, Ye Tian's answer clearly left no room for such a mindset to grow for the other party: "Ding~ For every 0.1 level of range in all territories expanded by the Host, there must be at least 10 subjects living within it, to prove that the Host is the Lord of this land."

"If the number of subjects living within that 0.1 level range is less than 10, it will be considered a loss of territory, and the rewards for expanding new land next time will be reduced."

Ye Tian explained this hidden rule.

And this also allowed Li Changkong to basically understand the situation.

"Is this the limit to territory expansion? There are also certain requirements for the number of people," Li Changkong understood a lot while muttering to himself.

Circling the area covered by the High-level spiritual lamp, Li Changkong continued forward.

Not long passed.

After roughly walking a circle, Li Changkong stopped at the lake in front of him.

Around the lake, numerous villagers were busy working enthusiastically.

At this moment, combined with their previous work, they had entered the final stage.

As the last wooden fence was erected, Li Changkong heard the System's announcement as expected!

"Ding~ Congratulations, Host, the territory area has expanded by 1/3. The territory expansion was successful. You have received the reward: Formal Knight Perfected Skill [Moonlight Sword Technique]."

"Current territory area, Level 0.4."

Amidst a series of sounds, the reassuring reward was conveyed once again.

At this moment, Li Changkong could clearly feel that power similar to Light Faith, carrying a completely different cool and clear aura, was being generated within his body!

Perfected Level [Moonlight Sword Technique]!

This belonged to the most straightforward combat skill.

And it was at the Perfected level.

Li Changkong felt that his strength, based on his current foundation, had almost doubled directly!

As he looked towards the lake ahead, a large roulette wheel also appeared.

His finger pressed on the start button.

The next moment, the pointer stopped.

An option appeared before his eyes.

...

...

On the other side of the World.

Ye Tian was currently in a terrifying cave that was huge and emitted scorching high temperatures!

Beside him, amidst the rosemary, lying on a mountain of gold, silver, and jewels, were two Dragons sleeping soundly.

In this World, any adult Dragon was an existence at the peak of combat power!

From this, one could see the general situation of the area where Ye Tian was currently located.

In front of Ye Tian's field of vision.

There was a lake of liquid flowing slowly, like lava!

These things were actually the Body Tempering essence refined by the Dragons from lava through their racial talent.

"The medicinal power is still a bit too strong. It's all for these large Lizards to temper their bodies," Ye Tian muttered to himself, stroking his chin, then sighed and shook his head: "Never mind, I'll collect some. Dilute it, change the name, and it can be used by the Host."

Saying that, Ye Tian waved his hand casually, and the Body Tempering essence in the entire cave was instantly taken away.

Even the temperature within the cave suddenly disappeared.

The cold air brought by the heavy snow outside gradually drifted in...

The two unconscious Dragons in deep sleep unconsciously twitched their legs.

...

"[Water of Tempering]." Looking at this option pointed to by the pointer, Li Changkong didn't understand it for a moment.

However, as soon as he saw the description of this item, he instantly understood.

[Water of Tempering]: A portion of Water of Tempering will continuously emerge from the entire lake. This water, when it comes into contact with people who have undergone tiring exercise, can have an excellent training effect, and can increase the training progress of Knights by more than ten times!

Note: The Water of Tempering will only have a Body Tempering effect on subjects with a sense of belonging of 80% or above.

"There can actually be such a reward!" After fully understanding the specifics of this reward, Li Changkong's mood was once again so impacted that he couldn't calm down.

Just a moment ago, he was thinking about what to do about the future development if only his strength in the Village kept getting stronger.

Now, the System's reward directly filled this gap!

Although he hadn't tested the effect of the Water of Tempering in this lake.

But according to the System's explanation, this Water of Tempering was enough to allow more people in Li Village to reach the Knight Realm!