Chapter 92 – Liu Hao’s Advancement

Chapter 92 – Liu Hao’s Advancement

After leaving the military camp, Cheng Yang took Liu Xiyue into the forest to hunt demonized beasts. As they fought more and more, Liu Xiyue’s grasp of combat rhythm improved significantly. However, her skill had a weakness—it couldn’t handle being surrounded by multiple monsters due to its two-second cooldown.

Cheng Yang planned to find Liu Xiyue a better staff, at least a bronze-tier one. Paired with ordinary necklaces and earrings, she would have the power to instantly kill mid-tier first-stage demonized beasts. In terms of single-target damage, this would already surpass that of a high-tier apprentice-level combatant without equipment.

After a night of fighting, Cheng Yang had accumulated around 1,500 spirit energy points, slightly less than the previous two days due to Liu Xiyue slowing him down. However, Liu Xiyue’s gains were substantial. By the time they returned to Luofeng Village, she had over 500 spirit energy points. While this paled in comparison to Cheng Yang’s haul, it was a staggering amount compared to the average combatant’s daily gain of 60 points.

Cheng Yang’s total spirit energy for the day reached 15,000 points. Nearly 5,000 came from clearing a dungeon, another 5,000 from exterminating demonized beasts around Dongshan Village, and the rest from ordinary demonized beast groups. Cheng Yang’s current strength was overwhelming—most demonized beasts couldn’t even break his defense, allowing him to slaughter them without worry. Each ice spike he launched guaranteed a few spirit energy points.

Cheng Yang lent Liu Xiyue 10,000 spirit energy points to enable sixfold cultivation speed. With her current spirit energy income, she could sustain this speed. Since Yu Kai and the others hadn’t returned to the courtyard, Cheng Yang let Liu Xiyue cultivate there, taking advantage of the 30% speed boost.

…

While Cheng Yang cultivated, Liu Hao’s Xianghe Village completed the upgrade of its level 2 profession statue. He immediately selected 120 ordinary villagers and set off for Xianghe Village under cover of darkness. Liu Hao didn’t go alone—he brought his entire team and recruited Yu Kai and Li Wanshan. He had initially wanted to wait for Niu Bing, but since the latter hadn’t returned, Liu Hao decided not to delay.

Liu Hao and his companions were no longer the same as before. After today’s cultivation, they had become genuine mid-tier apprentice-level combatants, their combat power significantly enhanced.

“Old Li, do you think we should find a time to persuade the lord to search for more territory altars?” Liu Hao suggested excitedly. “If each of us could become a village head, our strength would skyrocket. Even ordinary combatants couldn’t compare.”

Li Wanshan remained calm. “Captain Liu, the lord has his own plans. We shouldn’t disrupt them. If there were more territory altars to occupy, the lord would have already done so. Asking him now wouldn’t help.”

Liu Hao chuckled wryly. “You’re really laid-back!”

Li Wanshan smiled faintly, a trace of bitterness in his expression. “What else can I do? In this damned apocalypse, our current situation is already quite privileged, thanks to the lord. My family is reunited, and I have no regrets. I’ve pledged my life to the lord.”

Yu Kai and Liu Hao understood Li Wanshan’s feelings. Cheng Yang had saved his family from the ruins without asking for anything in return, a debt of gratitude that couldn’t be easily repaid. However, as Cheng Yang’s brother, Yu Kai didn’t want Li Wanshan to feel this way. “Old Li, don’t talk about selling your life. The lord probably doesn’t want to hear that. Also, stop calling me ‘Captain Yu.’ You’re older than us—just call me Xiao Yu.”

Li Wanshan was momentarily stunned, then laughed. “Alright, that does feel less awkward.”

Liu Hao grinned. “After tonight, I’ll be a high-tier warrior apprentice. I’ll head into the hard-mode dungeon and get you all some good equipment.”

Yu Kai shot him a disdainful look. “Don’t boast. It’s not even certain you can clear the hard-mode dungeon. The lord has already cleared the nightmare mode, and the territory guards have distributed the extra good equipment to us. What better gear could you possibly find?”

Liu Hao’s face fell. “Can’t you let me have my moment? I’m not comparing myself to those monsters. They’re practically inhuman.”

Truthfully, Liu Hao was frustrated that the territory guards could level up alongside Cheng Yang. No matter how fast he cultivated, he could never catch up to Cheng Yang, let alone the guards.

Yu Kai ignored his complaints and asked, “Haozi, do you think the lord knows the locations of other dungeon entrances? Right now, our territory only has the Bloody Church dungeon, and the daily entry limit restricts our gains.”

Liu Hao stopped joking and replied seriously, “There might be others. Xiang City has the Death Valley dungeon, which offers higher rewards than the Bloody Church.”

Yu Kai nodded. “The rewards are indeed higher, but without the lord, we’d probably die if we entered.”

Liu Hao grinned confidently. “Don’t worry. After tomorrow, you and I will both be high-tier apprentices. With Old Niu and Old Li, clearing that dungeon shouldn’t be too hard. Besides, the first batch of combatants will likely reach mid-tier apprentice level in a couple of days. Our strength will increase again, and we could even split into multiple teams to farm Death Valley.”

Yu Kai frowned. “It’s hard to say if that’ll work, but one thing’s for sure—it won’t be long before the forces from Xiang City’s main base extend their reach to Death Valley’s dungeon entrance. We’ll probably clash with them over it.”

“So what if we clash? Who’s afraid of them?” Liu Hao sneered. “Right now, Xiang City’s main base probably doesn’t even have a single mid-tier apprentice. We could crush them easily.”

Li Wanshan interjected, “Xiao Liu, you don’t need to include us. If the lord really wanted to crush Xiang City’s main base, he could do it alone.”

Liu Hao paused, then had to admit Li Wanshan was right.

As they chatted, the group moved quickly. Although the night wasn’t entirely safe, and demonized beasts occasionally appeared, Liu Hao and the others dealt with them effortlessly.

An hour later, they arrived at Xianghe Village. The village was quiet, with only the occasional twang of a bowstring or the whoosh of a magic missile breaking the silence, a reminder that the apocalypse’s nights were far from peaceful.

Most of the combatants were cultivating in the civilian houses. When Liu Hao and the others entered, Deputy Village Chief Cai Chengtian came out to greet them. Cai wasn’t surprised by Liu Hao’s arrival, as Liu had mentioned yesterday that he would bring ordinary villagers to fill the territory’s population gap after Xianghe Village’s upgrade.

After briefly inquiring about the village’s situation, Liu Hao had Cai Chengtian take the newcomers to undergo their profession transitions. Meanwhile, Liu Hao himself approached the territory altar. After calming his emotions, he opened the territory attribute panel and selected the option to use the Divine Grace (Pseudo) opportunity.

A few moments later, Liu Hao successfully advanced from a mid-tier warrior apprentice to a high-tier warrior apprentice, becoming the second strongest person in Luofeng Village’s territory, after the territory guards who couldn’t leave.

Liu Hao swung his weapon a few times, feeling invigorated. He couldn’t help but grin. At this moment, he felt like he could slice a tiger in half with a single strike—assuming it was a pre-apocalypse tiger. Who knew what kind of monstrosity tigers had become after the apocalypse?

“Old Yu, since it’s still dark, how about I accompany you to Dongshan Village so you can level up too?” Liu Hao, brimming with confidence after his advancement, suggested.

Yu Kai, however, remained cautious. “Let’s not. Even though you’ve reached high-tier apprentice, you’re not as composed as the lord when facing large groups of demonized beasts. More importantly, nighttime is full of unpredictable dangers. With limited visibility, it’s hard to handle everything safely. Let’s wait until tomorrow. There’s no rush.”

Liu Hao didn’t press the issue. “If you’re not in a hurry, neither am I. We’ll go tomorrow.”

By this time, all 120 new villagers had completed their profession transitions. Since ordinary people could now accumulate spirit energy, transitioning had become much easier, no longer entirely reliant on the territory’s spirit energy reserves. Cai Chengtian had simply had the already transitioned combatants lend some spirit energy, which, combined with the returned portions, allowed everyone to transition smoothly.

PS: Seeking recommendations and collections…