Chapter Eighty-Two: Preparing to Depart
Since Lu Sheng had already said so, Wang Xian did not refuse further.
“Alright, I’ll accept these. Thank you.”
Lu Sheng nodded and left. Lei Yan was currently mining Life Grass for him at Little Blade Mountain, so he’d have to wait until evening for Lei Yan’s return. Wang Xian watched Lu Sheng’s departing figure, his eyes glimmering with intrigue. This man was quite thorough in his dealings. Considering Lu Sheng’s formidable strength, Wang Xian’s mind teemed with possibilities. Perhaps… he could finally settle tranquilly in this settlement.
...
Returning from Wang Xian’s home, Lu Sheng counted the Tenfold Fertility Cards—exactly one hundred. The Life Grass harvested yesterday was about the same, perhaps one hundred and twenty at most. If one stalk of Life Grass produced one card, failure must occur occasionally.
Evening arrived swiftly, and Lei Yan returned with his team. Lu Sheng sought him out.
“You’ve worked hard. Distribute these Red Pouches among your people. These ten second-tier Red Pouches are for you. In future, whenever Wang Xian needs materials, assist her with all your strength.”
Lei Yan gratefully knelt on one knee, accepting them. “Thank you for your generosity, sir! Serving you is never a hardship!”
Excitement surged in Lei Yan’s heart; his sycophancy was finally paying off!
Lu Sheng regarded Lei Yan with satisfaction—this fellow was indeed talented.
The Red Pouches totaled 110 second-tier ones, with ten for Lei Yan alone. Lu Sheng no longer controlled the breeding of Red Fire Ants, only ensured abundant food. Within his spatial domain, Red Fire Ants multiplied rapidly; issuing a command was all it took to obtain more Red Pouches.
“Very well, stand up. Serve me well and the rewards will be plentiful.”
Lu Sheng returned to his own home, enjoying a leisurely existence. He often controlled his Scarecrow Avatar to roam the settlement while his true self remained inside, now adept at handling two bodies at once, unlike before when he couldn’t even walk properly.
Seeing Lu Sheng leave, Lei Yan departed his room as well. Flattery must be thorough—not only before Lu Sheng, but anywhere, seizing every opportunity to ingratiate himself. Sometimes, opportunities were created through such devotion. Had he not resolutely sided with Lu Sheng, would Lu Sheng have chosen him now? Perhaps, after past incidents, Lu Sheng would have felt nothing but aversion at his sight.
By consistently presenting himself as Lu Sheng’s chief henchman, as if Lu Sheng entrusted all matters to him, he would naturally become the foremost loyal follower. Even Lu Sheng would habitually call upon him.
This was Lei Yan’s strategy.
Gathering his subordinates, Lei Yan produced the Red Pouches Lu Sheng had given him.
“These are cultivation resources Lord Lu Sheng has rewarded us for our hard work these past days!”
He waved the Red Pouches at the front. “No need for me to explain what these are—but these aren’t first-tier, they’re second-tier!”
“That… can’t be possible.”
At first, there were doubts, suspicion that it couldn’t be true—but once the second-tier Red Pouches were in hand, belief followed.
It was real!
Cheers and excited shouts erupted instantly.
“Wow! Lord Lu Sheng is so generous!”
“Damn, I was just complaining about how hard I worked for Lord Lu Sheng—serves me right!”
As he spoke, the man struck himself twice.
“From now on, if anyone dares speak ill of Lord Lu Sheng, I, Niu Ming, will be the first to object!”
...
The next day at noon,
The Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes matured once more.
Stage Four Beginners: 25,500
Stage Four Advanced: 22,200
The advanced-stage mosquitoes’ numbers were boosted by two Tenfold Fertility Cards.
With these Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards, he could upgrade his monster cards to stage five, then send the Scarecrow Avatar out to gather resources.
First, he strengthened the Scarecrow Avatar further, consuming three Stage Four Beginner Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards, raising it to stage four. Besides an increased control range of five hundred kilometers, little else had changed.
Lu Sheng was satisfied; five hundred kilometers allowed his avatar to roam the wilds freely.
Next, it was time to upgrade the monster cards.
He brought out ten Goblins, gave them ten Water Spirit Fruits for evolution, and three more for the Giant Crocodile.
Yesterday, he had the Water Spirit Fruit Tree cultivate Stage Three fruits—stage four trees cultivated stage three fruits quickly, up to fifty at a time.
[Goblin]
Quality: White
Tier: Stage Three Beginner
Skill: Powerful Strike
Evolution Skill: Berserk
Berserk: Unleashes potential, increases all attributes by 20% for ten minutes, afterward falls into twelve hours of weakness, reducing all attributes by 20%.
[Giant Crocodile]
Quality: Green
Tier: Stage Three Beginner
Skill: Death Roll
Evolution Skill: Water Cannon
Water Cannon: Opens mouth, gathers water element for five seconds, fires a water cannon at the target with explosive effect.
The Giant Crocodile’s quality rose by a tier; apparently, this evolution had strengthened its bloodline. It was a costly improvement—consumption doubled. Had he known, he would have upgraded before evolving.
Time to raise tiers.
He needed to enhance ten Frogmen, ten Goblins, a Stone-Throwing Goblin, Giant Crocodile, Earth Bear, and True-Eye Moth.
These were the monsters Lu Sheng intended to take out. The Twin-Headed Fire-Wind Snake served as a secondary dimension food provider and would stay.
Twenty-four monsters in total, mostly Stage Three Beginners, except for a few True-Eye Moths and Frogmen.
He upgraded all twenty-four to Stage Four Perfect, consuming all Stage Four Beginner Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards and some Stage Four Advanced ones.
Next, raising them to Stage Five Beginner—each card required one hundred Stage Four Advanced Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards. The Giant Crocodile and True-Eye Moth, being green quality, consumed twice as much.
Altogether, 2,600 Stage Four Advanced Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards were spent, successfully upgrading twenty-four monster cards to Stage Five Beginner.
There was also a defense card, Snake Skin Inner Armor, green quality.
Li Kuang and his group had Wang Xian forge it for him; he had no use for it, but his avatar could. He spent some Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards to upgrade it to Stage Five, costing just 202 Stage Four Advanced cards.
Preparations for the expedition were complete; next, it was time to upgrade his household.
Twin-Headed Fire-Wind Snake, Muscle Dog, Bristle-Tusked Pig, Red Fire Ant Queen, Water Spirit Fruit Tree—three green, two blue quality.
All upgraded to Stage Five, consuming another 1,342 Stage Four Advanced Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards.
Reaching this point, he decided to stop upgrading, reserving the rest for Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes.
After deducting the consumption, he had 18,059 Stage Four Advanced Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards left.
With these, he gained sixteen Stage Five Intermediate Bloodthirsty Mosquito Cards, fifteen female and one male.
He kept 2,059 Stage Four Advanced cards for upgrading Tenfold Fertility Cards, including his Frogman Spear, which also needed enhancement.