Chapter 49 – Binding Winds

Chapter 49 – Binding Winds

Cheng Yang began to take stock of today’s gains. For him, the greatest harvest was undoubtedly obtaining the Skill Transfer ability. However, despite using this skill over fifty times today, its proficiency had only increased by 2%. Moreover, each use consumed a staggering 40 points of spiritual energy, far beyond what an ordinary person could bear. Although the skill’s learning restriction was set at the Apprentice-level initial stage, the 40-point spiritual energy requirement made it practically unusable for those at that level.

For the Phoenix Fall Village, the most significant gain was rescuing nearly three thousand more people. Combined with those saved from Huimin Town earlier, the total population had reached over six thousand. Including those still trapped in Huimin Town, the village’s population would soon surpass ten thousand.

Cheng Yang wasn’t sure how many people were needed to upgrade the territory to town level, but ten thousand seemed like a substantial number.

Another achievement of the day was the collection of wood. The carpenter-class combatants had managed to fell 250 units of timber, thanks to dedicated transport personnel. With this amount, Cheng Yang could construct two more residential buildings. He allocated 100 units for a general store and used the rest for basic housing.

Cheng Yang had considered building more shops, but their current utility was limited to selling items. As for learning life skills, few in Phoenix Fall Village had enough spiritual energy to purchase the necessary formulas or blueprints, let alone buy the tools required.

What Cheng Yang truly wanted to build was a defensive wall. However, the first-level wall’s coverage was too small, and it would be too fragile against higher-level monsters. Building a first-level wall required 500 units of wood, which Cheng Yang couldn’t gather immediately, so he opted for housing instead.

After donating the wood to the village, each contributor received nearly 20 points of spiritual energy, including the transporters. The rules of heaven and earth were perfectly fair in this regard.

However, all the spiritual energy earned by the lumberjacks now belonged to Cheng Yang, increasing his total by a significant amount. Originally, Cheng Yang intended to let them keep the energy for their own use, but considering fairness, he decided to reclaim it. His total spiritual energy now stood at 2,900 points, most of which came from killing demonized beasts today, with only about 400 points returned by the villagers.

In the evening, after settling all the refugees, Cheng Yang sent the village’s five teams out to hunt demonized beasts to meet the food demands of the growing population. The previously gathered food and instant supplies were reserved for emergencies.

As for himself, after distributing 2,000 points of spiritual energy among selected combatants, Cheng Yang led five individuals into the forest. For early-stage combatants in the apocalypse, every minute was precious. Accumulating more spiritual energy was crucial for their growth.

The five he took were either team leaders or deputy leaders—key figures Cheng Yang aimed to nurture. Besides lending them spiritual energy for cultivation, creating opportunities for them to earn more was essential. Their future growth would, in turn, benefit Cheng Yang with more spiritual energy.

Cheng Yang returned to Phoenix Fall Village around 2 a.m., his spiritual energy now exceeding 1,700 points, sufficient for tonight’s cultivation.

The next morning, after completing dungeon runs and upgrading the class statues, Cheng Yang led another team to Xiangcheng City for rescue missions. The morning went smoothly, with five successful rescues, including Li Wanshan’s family and another combatant’s relatives. However, trouble arose in the afternoon.

A combatant’s parents had been taken hostage. In the post-apocalyptic world, some strong individuals had formed gangs, coercing weaker people into finding food while they stayed safe. The combatant’s parents were among the coerced.

When Cheng Yang’s team arrived, the gang didn’t witness their combat prowess firsthand. Though they sensed the newcomers were formidable, they weren’t overly concerned. Upon learning Cheng Yang was there to retrieve someone, they immediately took the combatant’s parents hostage, demanding all the food in exchange.

Cheng Yang, however, was not one to be threatened. Before the gang could react, he moved like a flash of light, disarming the two knife-wielding thugs in a single breath.

What followed was straightforward. Cheng Yang showed no mercy, swiftly eliminating the bandits with precise magic missiles. His ruthless efficiency shocked many, including some combatants who had only seen his amiable side before. This incident shattered their perception—Cheng Yang’s kindness was selective, and his wrath was fearsome.

To Cheng Yang, this was merely a minor hiccup. After dealing with the situation, he continued leading his team forward. By deliberately avoiding Xiangcheng City’s main urban area, Cheng Yang had yet to encounter military forces. However, as they moved closer to the city center, such encounters seemed inevitable.

Cheng Yang wasn’t ready to face the military yet, so he proceeded with caution. By late afternoon, they still hadn’t encountered any military personnel, suggesting Cheng Yang had overestimated their progress.

With most southern rescue points cleared, Cheng Yang decided to approach from the east the next day, heading directly to the northern part of Xiangcheng City. Though this route was longer, it would allow them to rescue more people on the return trip.

Back in Phoenix Fall Village that evening, all four main class statues had been upgraded to level 3.

The level 3 class statues brought significant changes. Attribute enhancements now reached 11%, though these only took effect after upgrading. The spiritual energy required for upgrades had also increased substantially. Upgrading all four main class statues would cost 10,000 points.

The most notable change was the addition of a learnable skill. Unlike Magic Missile, which was automatically acquired upon class transfer, Binding Winds required spiritual energy to learn. In this regard, it resembled the Priest’s Angelic Inspiration, though the latter was a heritage skill while Binding Winds was a standard one.

Lastly, the number of available transfers had quadrupled from 51 to 206, indicating a rapid increase in Phoenix Fall Village’s strength in the near future.

However, Cheng Yang now faced a dilemma: should he continue upgrading the class statues or save up 20,000 spiritual energy to elevate the territory’s level?

After brief consideration, Cheng Yang decided to prioritize upgrading the class statues. This approach wouldn’t deplete all daily spiritual energy gains, leaving enough for many to transfer into combatants. Moreover, once all transfer slots were filled, Phoenix Fall Village would boast over 800 combatants, whose collective daily spiritual energy earnings would be substantial. Once the village’s donation function was unlocked, even a single day’s contribution from these combatants would significantly aid the territory’s advancement.

The benefits of upgrading statue attributes became increasingly apparent as the number of combatants grew.

Without hesitation, Cheng Yang upgraded the Mana Enhancement for all four main class statues and the Life Enhancement for the Priest statue. Currently, the Priest statue had completed level 2 research on Mana Enhancement, Magic Attack, and Divine Grace. Once the remaining three attributes were upgraded, the Priest statue would also reach level 3.

Next, Cheng Yang began organizing class transfers. With the village’s population now exceeding ten thousand—partly rescued from Xiangcheng City and partly from Huimin Town—selecting several hundred for transfers was straightforward.

PS: Seeking recommendations and collections. Starting tomorrow, during the recommendation period, if daily collections exceed 500, I will add an extra chapter—a solid 3,000-word update!