279: Crazy upgrade

“There are only five Epic building upgrade scrolls in total, and they can only be used on highly scarce buildings.”

Mo Yan’s thoughts landed on the Abyssal Fire Demon Summoning Altar that had yet to be built.

It was also an Epic building, and an extremely rare troop-summoning type building at that.

Based on past experience collecting Materials, upgrading this type of building often required some incredible special Materials.

“The Flame Demon Altar will likely require things like the Heart of the Flame Demon Lord when upgrading.”

Such Materials are hard to come by.

Instead of getting stuck by Materials then, it would be better to directly use the upgrade scroll to skip this process and achieve it in one go.

After making up his mind, Mo Yan contacted Uncle Qin through the communicator.

“Uncle Qin, the territory has been upgraded to Level 8. All buildings, begin upgrading immediately.”

“Yes, My Lord! I guarantee the mission will be completed!”

Uncle Qin’s excited voice came from the other end of the communicator.

… …

At the same time, within Cangming City, the “Ascension” of the three core buildings was causing quite a stir.

“Did you see it? The Enlightenment Stele… it just flew away!” A resident who had just finished Cultivating was still in extreme shock, pointing at the empty center of the square, unable to speak coherently.

“It’s more than just the Enlightenment Stele! I just came from the Pill Chamber, and the Nine Revolutions Pill Chamber is gone too! Only a big pit is left!”

“And the Teleportation Altar! My goodness, what is My Lord trying to do?”

The residents discussed animatedly, their faces filled with confusion and unease.

These buildings had long become an indispensable part of their lives. The Enlightenment Stele could help people achieve Epiphany, the Nine Revolutions Pill Chamber provided sacred medicines for healing, and the Teleportation Altar was the only way to explore outside.

Now that they were suddenly all gone, it made them feel somewhat unaccustomed for a time.

“What are you all panicking about?!”

Among the crowd, a captain of a hundred-man squad stepped forward and shouted with full vigor: “This is My Lord’s arrangement, and it has its profound meaning!”

“You only need to know that everything My Lord does is for the good of our Cangming City!”

His words were like a calming pill, causing the restless crowd to gradually quiet down.

Yes, from the arrival of the apocalypse until now, when had My Lord ever disappointed them?

… …

On the other side.

Uncle Qin was operating frantically on the virtual territory panel.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, his fingers moving so fast they almost left afterimages, continuously clicking the confirmation button for upgrades on the light screen.

“Consume [...] to upgrade Lv7 Butchering Platform to Lv8?”

“Yes!”

“Consume [...] to upgrade Lv7 Barracks to Lv8?”

“Yes!”

“Consume [...] to upgrade Lv7 City Wall to Lv8?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Uncle Qin muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism.

He had never imagined that he would have such a luxurious experience in his life.

Upgrading buildings, without looking at resource reserves, regardless of cost, just needed to mindlessly click “Confirm”!

Massive amounts of resources were consumed like flowing water, in exchange for rows of building phantoms.

When all these buildings were completed, the prosperity of the territory would skyrocket!

This feeling of personally building a city made him, an old butler over half a hundred years old, unable to help but feel his blood boil.

“Following My Lord, this life was worth it!”

Uncle Qin wiped a sweat, looked at the still bottomless resources, and once again threw himself into the “clicking” endeavor.

...

After Mo Yan finished everything, he opened the territory panel to check the current population status.

“Territory Population: 1625 / 2900”

Among them, there were 1300 official Soldiers.

The remaining three hundred-plus people were management talents like Uncle Qin and Lu Mingyuan, as well as special Professionals and residents like Chen Yutong and Xu Yanyan.

Mo Yan’s gaze fell on the population limit column, looking at the huge vacant space behind it, his eyes calm.

“Over a hundred people were lost in the Hell instance before.”

He muttered softly.

As H City became the center of the storm, future conflicts would only increase, and military strength would never be too much.

It was always better to be prepared than to sharpen one’s spear at the last minute.

He opened the Barracks recruitment interface and began a new round of military expansion.

This time, he did not distribute them evenly, but rather supplemented them specifically based on the existing troop composition of the territory.

“Spearmen, good at defense but lacking in offense, recruit two-tenths.”

“Archers, the main ranged firepower, recruit three-tenths.”

“The remaining five-tenths, all recruit Shield Soldiers!”

As commands were issued one after another, dense white light dots lit up above the Barracks, and the figures of new recruits condensed into shape within the light.

Mo Yan looked at this scene; his current military strength had reached 2,575 people, and this did not include Hua Li’s Array Star Officials.

An army of this scale was sufficient to handle most unexpected situations.

With the territory’s affairs on track, Mo Yan could finally shift his attention back to himself.

He looked within himself; the Spiritual Qi in his body had reached the peak of Qi Refining Level 10, with a faint sense of overflow, as if it could break through some barrier at any time.

But he knew that going from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment was by no means as simple as a matter of course.

That was a chasm, and the dangers within were far beyond what the cold words on the System panel could describe.

“It’s time to see Teacher Xu.”

Mo Yan muttered to himself, his figure disappearing from the top of the Lords Manor.

He needed a true guide to clear the fog ahead for him.

The territory’s academy was located in the Cultivation area of Cangming City, adjacent to the newly completed Talisman Hall.

When Mo Yan arrived, Xu Yanyan was lecturing under a willow tree in the courtyard.

There was no podium, no textbooks.

He simply sat cross-legged on a bluestone, his voice gentle and calm.

Below, dozens of students sat on the ground, listening intently.

The composition of these students was mixed, with teenagers in their teens and Soldiers in their prime.

They were the first batch of residents in the territory to be screened out as having Cultivation Aptitude.

Mo Yan did not disturb them, but simply stood quietly outside the courtyard, leaning against a corridor pillar, listening to Xu Yanyan’s lecture.

“…The so-called Spiritual Qi is not inanimate; it has its own nature.”

“The explosiveness of fire, the gentleness of water, the vitality of wood, the sharpness of metal, the profoundness of earth.”

“When you lead Qi into your body, you cannot blindly force it; you must learn to listen, to feel, and to conform to its nature, only then can you achieve twice the result with half the effort…”

What Xu Yanyan was teaching was not a specific Cultivation Technique, but the most fundamental Dao.

His words made many students in the courtyard show expressions of sudden enlightenment, and the Qi on their bodies smoothed out by a few points.

Mo Yan listened, and he too felt something.

He had previously Cultivated the Star Stepping Art, Star Body Tempering Art, and Qingxiao Thunder Control Sword Art.

He relied on the domineering nature of the Cultivation Techniques themselves and his powerful Divine Sense to forcibly control the power of stars and thunder. Although it was incredibly powerful, it always felt like something was missing.

And Xu Yanyan’s words opened another window for him.

It turned out that power was not just for conquering; it could also be communicated with.

Conforming to its nature was the true Dao.

After an unknown amount of time, the sun began to set in the west, and Xu Yanyan’s voice stopped.

“That will be all for today. Go and comprehend on your own.”

“Thank you, Teacher, for your guidance!”

The students respectfully bowed and dispersed in twos and threes, each with a thoughtful expression on their face.

After everyone had left, Xu Yanyan finally turned his gaze to Mo Yan outside the courtyard, a slight smile in his calm eyes.

“My Lord, you have been standing for quite a while.”