Chapter 151: The Battle Ends, Everyone Levels Up!

Cao Xing's level soared directly to 17, and he was incredibly excited!

At this moment, he discovered that only two drops of Moon Condensation Dew remained in his backpack.

"Damn, I'm almost out of mana!"

The last two drops were for emergencies; he couldn't use them all.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing looked at the others on the battlefield.

Except for Cao Xing, the attack movements of Assam, Andrew, and the others had also slowed down a bit.

After all, they weren't robots and couldn't maintain high-intensity combat for several hours straight.

Besides, even robots would suffer from metal fatigue.

Furthermore, as more and more Ice Nest Monsters appeared, Cao Xing's subordinates could no longer keep the defense airtight.

Some Ice Nest Monsters had already rushed to the foot of the city wall and began attacking the structure.

Meanwhile, the Elemental Arrow Tower was continuously firing arrows to attack.

Cao Xing knew he had to destroy some of the Ice Nests, or within a few hours, thousands of monsters would be attacking every single minute.

He was just about to rush back to take out the Ice Nest Monsters under the city wall when he saw a figure over two meters tall, carrying a giant axe, descending from the sky!

"Boom!"

With one swing of her axe, she directly smashed five or six Ice Nest Monsters!

It was the newly joined Putana; she had also entered the battle.

This woman had the strength of a level 17 elite; she was quite powerful.

Cao Xing glanced at her and nodded.

"Sarah, go smash those Ice Nests."

"Andrew, switch to bear form and hold on for a while longer."

"Da Bai, you charge with me too!"

After saying this, Cao Xing led his subordinates and charged to the area where hundreds of Ice Nests had landed.

Soon, they began their assault on these Ice Nests.

"Bang! Bang, bang!"

The Ice Nests had 2000 durability points.

Cao Xing needed to throw two or three balls of Wicked Fire to destroy one Ice Nest, and while also having to fend off the attacks from the Ice Nest Monsters, he started to look a bit flustered.

However, as Da Bai and Sarah joined the fray, these Ice Nests were smashed into pieces in droves!

Bang! Bang, bang!

One after another, the Ice Nests were directly destroyed by Cao Xing.

The number of Ice Nest Monsters hatching in each wave also gradually decreased.

The pressure on Assam and the others suddenly lightened significantly.

It was the fourth hour since the battle began.

That group of Ascalon Warriors, having rested for an hour, had almost recovered their stamina.

They rushed out again to join the battle.

This battle lasted from nightfall until late into the night.

…

Meanwhile.

Near Cao Xing's territory, the other Survivors realized something after no Ice Nests had fallen for an hour.

They had also seen the announcements in the chat channel and the warnings from other Survivors.

While feeling lucky, they quickly dispatched their Arctic People to brave the night and go out to gather resources.

Or they went out themselves to kill monsters and replenish their territory's supplies.

Although the temperature at night was very low, they knew this was a rare opportunity.

…

Late at night.

As the last Ice Nest was destroyed by Cao Xing, he and Liu Muxue leveled up once more; both of them had reached level 18.

This included the other members of the territory.

Those Ascalon Warriors all leveled up to 10, which was the level cap for the first tier.

The first-tier members like Assam, Andrew, and Renice all leveled up to 20, the level cap for the second tier.

Hilda, Braum, and the others had also reached level 16 or 17.

Although this battle had been exhausting, there was no doubt that the rewards were terrifyingly large.

And most importantly, Cao Xing saw materials covering the ground.

They were all Ice Dragon Marks and glacier shards!

"I'm rich, I'm rich!"

"I wonder how many materials we can harvest from this wave!"

Cao Xing suppressed the joy in his heart and then exited his demon transformation state.

"Everyone, tonight's battle has ended."

"You are all the bravest warriors!"

Hearing this, Assam responded first: "You are also the most versatile lord I have ever seen; not only do you possess powerful command abilities, but you also have formidable combat strength!"

The other soldiers chimed in, "That's right, you are a great lord, and we are proud of you!"

Cao Xing smiled, "Our logistics staff has already prepared a post-battle meal. You should all go back to the cafeteria to eat, replenish your stamina, and then go get some rest."

"This place can be left to the others."

Assam and the others nodded upon hearing this and returned to the territory.

They were indeed hungry.

Then, Cao Xing looked at the group of Arctic People.

"Da Zhuang, bring some people over to clean up the battlefield and collect everything!"

"Understood, Lord, I'll be right there!"

Hearing the order, Da Zhuang nimbly slid down from the city wall and then led a group of Arctic People to start cleaning up the battlefield.

Before long, the battlefield within a radius of one or two kilometers around the territory had been completely cleaned up.

The group of Arctic People piled the large quantities of Ice Dragon Marks, glacier shards, and other materials into small mounds, waiting for Cao Xing to come and collect them.

Cao Xing walked over and collected all the materials on the ground.

System prompts appeared continuously.

Then, Cao Xing looked at his haul this time.

[Obtained: Ice Dragon Mark * 43167]

[Obtained: glacier shard * 23731]

Over forty thousand Ice Dragon Marks!

A look of wild joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"As expected of double drop rates! Just this wave of Ice Dragon Marks is enough for me to exchange for over forty Hearts of Strength."

"If another wave comes, I could even exchange for a Golden Treasure Chest!"

And from a Golden Treasure Chest, there is a high probability of obtaining exclusive Golden-tier equipment from the Ice Dragon series.

Cao Xing even wanted to do it again right then and there.

Of course, he also needed to take a break after such high-intensity combat.

Besides, Cao Xing didn't have any more [Ice Dragon Horns] on hand.

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction and then looked at Liu Muxue beside him.

Having experienced several hours of battle and having killed countless Ice Nest Monsters, she carried a sense of heroic spirit about her.

Coupled with her stunning facial features and knight attire, she looked quite valiant and spirited.

Cao Xing said, "Let's go, Muxue, let's go back and get some sleep."

Hearing Cao Xing's voice, Liu Muxue also snapped out of that battle state.

"Mm, okay."

Then, the two of them returned to the Lords Cabin together.

In the familiar room, waves of warmth wafted over.

The Arctic Person Du An had already installed magic-powered water purification devices in every room.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue had a refreshing hot shower.

Then, the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

Nothing happened in the second half of the night.

Because of the high-intensity battle in the first half of the night, everyone felt exhausted.

Even with a beauty in his arms, he felt powerless to do anything else.

…

…

The next day…

Cao Xing held the soft and fragrant Liu Muxue, sleeping until past eight o'clock the next morning!

A system prompt appeared.

[Survivors please note, you have survived the second day of the official period, and the level of Ice Nest Monsters has slightly increased.]

[Weather Forecast: In the evening, Gale Snowfield will welcome a moderate snowfall. Please arrange your travel times accordingly.]

…

The two opened their eyes at the same time, smiles on their faces.

After a night of rest, they had swept away the fatigue of last night and were full of energy.

After a simple wash up, Cao Xing took Liu Muxue and walked out of the Lords Cabin.

At this moment, most of the residents had already started working.

Some were laying brick floors, while others were repairing the city walls that had been attacked by Ice Nest Monsters yesterday.

And the resident Cao Yi had already started leading people to repair the rails outside the territory.

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, not bad. Over these past few days, the residents have adapted to the development rhythm of the territory."

"Now, they know what to do today without me needing to instruct them."

At this time, Liu Muxue said softly, "Axing, are we going to stay in the territory today?"

Cao Xing shook his head, "We need to go out today; we are going to the Witch Forest to look for Ice Luan Flowers."

"Ice Luan Flowers?"

Cao Xing chuckled, "Yes, it's a type of magical plant that is quite important to me."

Liu Muxue nodded slightly.

Just as Cao Xing was preparing to call all the combat personnel to assemble, the dwarf Harold approached him on his own initiative.

He looked at Cao Xing and said respectfully, "Lord, please start arranging work for me."

"My wife and I can both see that this is a powerful and egalitarian territory, and we also want to contribute our strength to the development of the territory!"

Cao Xing checked Harold's loyalty and was surprised to see it had already reached 76.

It seemed that last night's battle must have increased Harold's loyalty.

"Mr. Harold, thank you for your help. I believe that with your joining, our territory will definitely become more prosperous!"

Harold immediately straightened his posture.

Then, Cao Xing led the dwarf blacksmith to the Blacksmith Shop.

The Blacksmith Shop had now been upgraded to level 3 and could even mass-produce Refined Iron equipment, which was blue-quality gear.

However, he didn't have the blueprints for blue equipment, so he could only forge green equipment first for the soldiers to swap into.

However, even though it was only green equipment, it was still much better than the white-tier gear the soldiers were currently wearing.

Then, Cao Xing took out a large quantity of wolf bones, wild boar skeletons, and wolf teeth.

Clatter!

So many bones piled up into a small mountain on the ground.

"Mr. Harold, use these materials to forge new armor for our soldiers."

"As for these fangs, see if you can sharpen them and make them into arrows or something; our territory's arrow reserves are too low."

Hearing this, Harold immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "No problem, My Lord. This equipment is a piece of cake for me; I can finish it all before dark."

"By the way, My Lord, you can just call me Harold."

Cao Xing looked pleased upon hearing this; the efficiency was truly high—he was worthy of his Intermediate Blacksmithing Mastery!

Then, Cao Xing took out the hundreds of large incisors from the Frost Bombing Rabbits he had obtained last time.

"Harold, take a look at what these can be used for."

Harold picked up the gleaming large incisors and pondered for a moment before saying, "These rabbit teeth are quite hard. The standard approach is to sharpen them into spearheads, but…"

"However, my suggestion is to piece them together and craft a set of armor."

Cao Xing was stunned upon hearing this. "Oh? This can be crafted into armor too?"

After all, the system description for this material only stated that it could be used to craft spearheads or be sold to merchants.

Harold nodded. "Yes, by using the manufacturing process for fish-scale armor and making some improvements, the defensive capabilities should be quite good."

Cao Xing nodded in realization.

Indeed, he had been a bit prejudiced, thinking that what the system stated was absolute.

Ever since the update, this world had seemed more realistic.

For many things, one could step outside the system's framework and use imagination to research more functions.

Cao Xing was quite inspired by Harold.

Then, he took out the [ Sharp Claw (Green) ] and [ Keen Claw (Blue) ] that had dropped from the Soul Eater.

Then he asked, "Harold, what can these two items be used to make?"

Harold held the Soul Eater's claws and examined them carefully before saying, "Reporting to My Lord, these claws are already set in shape. Their conventional use is to be made into grappling hooks or used to craft traps."

"However, previously, I saw a method in a book that could improve a conventional grappling hook into a projectile grappling hook."

"A projectile grappling hook?"

Harold nodded. "Yes, when in use, it can instantly launch out, hook onto an enemy over ten or even dozens of meters away, and restrain them."

Cao Xing's eyes lit up instantly.

Damn, this is a good item!

If the soldiers each had one, and if the ropes for the grappling hooks were tough enough, they could even forcibly restrain some large beasts.

He said pleasantly surprised, "Harold, you are truly a wise blacksmith."

Harold shook his head and said humbly, "Practice leads to true knowledge, My Lord; I am just speaking theoretically."

"Furthermore, to ensure the toughness of the grappling hook, some tough and lightweight materials are needed to replace the ropes."

Cao Xing nodded. "Okay, I understand. I will keep an eye out when I go out today."

Then, he took out the [ Large Claw (Purple) ] that had dropped from the Soul Eater Leader.

"Harold, what can this be used for?"

Looking at this huge claw that was over seventy centimeters long, a look of slight astonishment appeared in Harold's eyes.

"What a hard material, and it's also very sharp. Based on the sharpness of this material alone, as long as there is enough strength, it could even easily slice through the skin of a Tier 3 creature!"

Hearing this, a look of admiration appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Harold was right; these large claws had dropped from a Tier 3 Leader-level monster, and they were very sharp and hard.

Harold seemed to be thinking about what to craft with these claws at this moment.

After a moment, Harold said, "My idea is to forge them into scythes!"

"Scythes?"

"Yes."

Harold nodded. "By utilizing the sharpness inherent in these claws, we can forge scythes with immense lethality."

"Giving them to those warriors can greatly increase their destructive capability on the battlefield."

Cao Xing seemed to have associated this point as well.

The shape of this large claw was indeed very similar to a scythe.

And he only had eight large claws in his hand.

It was barely enough to form a scythe squad.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Then let's do as you say, Harold."

"Very well, My Lord."

Harold continued, "However, this high-grade material requires a relatively long time to forge; I might only be able to forge three or four a day."

Cao Xing nodded. "It's fine, Harold, take your time."

"If you get tired from forging, go take a break, read some books, or something. Balancing work and rest is also very important."

Hearing this, Harold's eyes also carried a gentle smile. "Thank you for your concern; you are truly a considerate lord."

Cao Xing patted his shoulder and then walked out of the blacksmith shop.

…

After arriving outside the territory, Cao Xing shouted again, "Combat personnel, assemble!"

Hearing Cao Xing's order, over a hundred people assembled in a swarm.

Assam and the others, along with 102 Ascalon Warriors, were all looking at Cao Xing with a firm gaze, waiting for his orders at any moment.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Today, we are going out for a trip."

"The work in the territory will proceed as usual."

"Assam, Andrew, Braun, Hilda, Renice, Sarah, Blot…"

"You seven will come with me today."

The seven people named by Cao Xing were all key members of his territory.

The few people he named had expressions of joy in their eyes, appearing honored to be able to go out and fight with Cao Xing.

Especially the Black Smoke Shaman, Blot; he hadn't been brought along during the previous few days of going out, which had left him somewhat resentful.

But now, there was only excitement in Blot's eyes.

He bowed slightly and said respectfully, "It is my honor to fight for you, respected My Lord."

Of course, only the tsundere Hilda was dismissive.

Cao Xing nodded and then looked at the two Centaurs.

"Kantor, Kandaer, your mission today is to each lead twenty Ascalon Warriors, split into two teams, and scout for resource points or monsters within ten kilometers around our territory."

"If you encounter enemies you cannot defeat, remember to run away immediately."

"If you kill any beasts, bring their corpses back to the territory and wait for me to return to handle them."

The two Centaurs said respectfully, "As you command, powerful My Lord!"

"We will complete the mission you assigned well!"

Then Cao Xing looked at Ilena again.

"Ilena, today you will lead twenty Ascalon Warriors, along with Blitz and the others, to protect our territory residents while they gather resources in the wild. Do not let them be attacked by other beasts or Ice Nest Monsters."

This beautiful snake woman flicked her tongue, and with a look of resentment in her eyes, she said, "My Lord, can you not take Ilena out to fight with you?"

Cao Xing shook his head and said, "There are already enough hands outside. By comparison, I need you more in the territory; that way you can better help me. Do you understand, Ilena?"

Hearing this, Ilena immediately beamed with joy.

She raised the trident in her hand and said, "Okay~ dear My Lord, I will protect those Arctic People well."

Cao Xing nodded and then looked at the archers nearby.

"Little Elisa."

Hearing Cao Xing's voice, Elisa, who was daydreaming, suddenly perked up.

"My Lord! Elisa didn't steal and drink the Cloud Yak's milk; the milk slid into my mouth by itself at night!"

"Wuwuwu, please don't punish Elisa…"

Cao Xing rolled his eyes. He hadn't even asked yet, and Elisa had confessed on her own.

Come to think of it, if she hadn't said anything, Cao Xing wouldn't have known that this little girl actually ran off to steal and drink milk at night.

Cao Xing said speechlessly, "Alright, I won't pursue the matter of you stealing and drinking milk."

"Today, you will take your archer squad, along with the other 40 Ascalon Warriors, and I will also entrust Aili and Sylvia to your command."

"Your mission is to kill the Ice Nest Monsters that land near the territory; do not let any monsters attack our walls."

"If you do well, I will give you a reward when I return tonight."

Hearing about a reward, Elisa's eyes immediately lit up.

She said excitedly, "Wow! Another reward? Great!"

"My Lord, please rest assured, Elisa guarantees to complete the mission; not a single Ice Nest Monster will reach the foot of our walls!"

Cao Xing also laughed and said, "Alright, let's all get moving and do as I said."

The hundred-plus people split into several groups and dispersed.

At this moment, Xia Yanni, with Tong Chuchu, said softly from the side, "My Lord… those furs you gave me have all been processed. Is there anything else you need us to do?"

Tong Chuchu, with Volibear, said excitedly, "Big Brother, please assign us a task too!"

Cao Xing shook his head with a gentle smile on his face.

"You've worked hard. I know you've been staying up late these past few days to finish that batch of furs; you can go take a rest now."

…