Chapter 194: Mission Accomplished, Upcoming Server Merge

Chapter 194: Mission Accomplished, Upcoming Server Merge

They saw that Cao Xing was holding a crimson tongue in his hand.

The militia member Arno's pupils instantly constricted, and then he exclaimed:

"Oh my god! That is the Snow Demon's tongue!"

"Lord Cao Xing actually killed such an evil creature!"

Including the other militia members, everyone's faces were filled with shock and disbelief.

After all, their initial thought was just to invite Cao Xing over to use his powerful means to drive away the Snow Demon.

According to the habits of the Snow Demon, if it suffered a loss in one place, it would not come back a second time for a short while.

Although this method could not solve the problem once and for all, it could buy them a period of peace.

But no one ever thought that Cao Xing would actually kill the Snow Demon directly!

Arno asked tentatively: "Lord Cao Xing… were those Snow Demons really killed by you?"

"Yes."

After receiving confirmation, a look of wild joy appeared on Arno's face.

"Lord Cao Xing, you have truly surprised me!"

"In my entire life, I have never heard of anyone being able to kill a Snow Demon!"

The other militia members also chimed in one after another.

"That's right, Lord Cao Xing's power is truly incredible!"

"The Snow Demon has been killed; we won't be disturbed by these monsters for a long time to come!"

The militia member Arno said excitedly: "Great! I'm going to tell all the villagers of Hoge Village this news!"

After saying this, he trotted towards the village.

"Everyone in Hoge Village, Lord Cao Xing has already killed those Snow Demons, we don't need to worry about the threat of the Snow Demons anymore!"

Hearing his voice, all the villagers felt as if they had been injected with a stimulant in the middle of the night, and were incredibly excited.

Including Elena, who was hiding in the basement, she also heard Arno's voice, and a look of joy appeared on her face.

She knew that Cao Xing had succeeded.

After hearing the news, Village Chief Maldo also quickly walked out of the room and hurried to Cao Xing's side.

He said solemnly: "Lord Cao Xing, I have already heard that you actually killed those powerful Snow Demons!"

"With this, we won't have to worry about the harassment of Snow Demons for the next few years!"

"On behalf of all the villagers of Hoge Village, I express my sincere gratitude to you!"

After finishing, Maldo bowed solemnly.

Cao Xing smiled and said: "Village Chief Maldo is too polite, this is what I should do."

Village Chief Maldo quickly had the militia member next to him bring over a cloth bag, which was heavy and contained over eighty thousand crowns.

"Lord Cao Xing, this is the reward promised to you."

Cao Xing didn't stand on ceremony either and took the eighty thousand-plus crowns directly.

The next moment, a system prompt appeared.

[Mission successfully completed: Expel the Snow Demon]

[Received mission reward: Coins *87422, Hoge Village favorability has increased.]

[Current relationship: Intimate]

[Intimate: Every week, you can go to Hoge Village to recruit a batch of newcomers for free.]

…

Seeing the system prompt, a look of surprise appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"Huh? After the relationship with Hoge Village was upgraded to Intimate, there is actually such a feature?"

"That's great!"

"In this way, besides the recruitment feature of the tavern, I effectively have an additional fixed source of population."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing smiled happily.

At this time, Village Chief Maldo continued: "Lord Cao Xing, it is already late at night, and your subordinates must be tired from tonight's battle."

"How about staying in Hoge Village for tonight and leaving tomorrow morning?"

"That's fine," Cao Xing replied.

A smile appeared on Maldo's wrinkled face, "Very well, Lord Cao Xing, if you have any requests or other questions, you can find me at any time, and I will definitely do my best to fulfill them!"

Hearing this, Cao Xing suddenly said: "Village Chief Maldo, I do have something that I need your help with."

Maldo said respectfully: "Please speak, Lord Cao Xing."

Cao Xing got straight to the point: "It's about Elena. My territory is currently short of manpower, so I would like to take her back to my territory, and I hope the Village Chief can agree to it."

Hearing this, a look of thought appeared on Village Chief Maldo's face, and then he said: "To be honest, Lord Cao Xing, you can take Elena away…"

"It's just that her grain store is actually run by the village…"

"Most of her grain is the grain tax handed over by the villagers every year, which is placed in the store for centralized sale, and the crowns earned are used by me to build the village."

"Back then, her husband died in the deep mountains, and we felt that she was lonely and helpless, so we let her work in the grain store."

"So…"

Cao Xing nodded in realization after hearing this, and then said: "I understand, Village Chief Maldo."

"We will not take the grain in the store; I only need to take Elena."

Although Elena's grain store was a considerable amount of wealth, Cao Xing was not taking her away for the sake of this grain.

Maldo nodded quickly upon hearing this: "That's great, Lord Cao Xing, you can take Elena with you tomorrow morning."

Cao Xing shook his head and said: "It's nothing, it's just that I'm troubling you to find a new grain store owner."

Maldo waved his hands repeatedly, indicating it was no trouble.

Then, Cao Xing let Assam and the others go back to rest.

As for himself, he took Liu Muxue back to the room arranged for him by the village chief to rest.

However, the two did not go to sleep on the bed, but leaned against the fireplace, snuggling together as they fell asleep.

The next day…

A system prompt appeared.

[Survivors please note, you have passed the sixth day of the official period. After tomorrow, you will welcome the first server merge. Please be prepared.]

[The Dragon Awakening expansion pack will undergo its second update. The Dragon Shop will add more items, and new leaderboard challenges are about to begin. Stay tuned…]

[Today's weather: Breezy, a cold front will pass through at night. Please prepare for cold protection and keeping warm.]

…

Hearing the system prompt, Cao Xing and Liu Muxue woke up together.

Liu Muxue blinked her beautiful eyes and said softly: "It's updating again, A-Xing!"

Cao Xing nodded and said: "Yes, and there are new leaderboard challenges."

Upon hearing this, a look of excitement appeared on Liu Muxue's face. The last leaderboard reward was pretty good; it summoned Hilda, a leader-level creature.

This gave them a taste of the benefits.

Liu Muxue clenched her pink fist and said excitedly: "We must take first place this time too! Hmph!"

Cao Xing smiled, "It probably won't be that easy."

"The difficulty of this leaderboard is quite high; after all, it's a merger of 10 major regions, with at least hundreds of thousands of people."

Hearing this, Liu Muxue realized: "That's true…"

"However, I believe A-Xing is the most amazing!"

"I will also work hard together with A-Xing!"

Cao Xing also started laughing, "Alright, let's work hard together."

Ruffling her hair, Cao Xing said: "Let's go, get ready to return to the territory."

…

…

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue walked out of the house and came to the entrance of Hoge Village.

Soon, the others gathered at the village entrance again, including Elena, who had packed her things.

Last night, she had already received notification from Village Chief Maldo, telling her that she could leave with Cao Xing tomorrow.

This made Elena appear both embarrassed and somewhat expectant.

Beside them, Liu Muxue, looking at the shy Elena, seemed to understand something.

A smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and then she walked over to Elena's side.

At first, Elena was still a bit uncomfortable, her gaze looking at Liu Muxue with awe, and her behavior was very cautious.

However, with Liu Muxue's enthusiasm.

Before long, the two women were chatting happily, even laughing and talking.

Cao Xing looked at them with a strange expression.

Just as he was about to issue a recruitment invitation to Elena, he seemed to remember something at this moment.

"Right, my favorability with Hoge Village has reached the Intimate level, and I can use the recruitment feature once every week."

"It's a good time to try bringing some people back."

Thus, he clicked on [Recruit] directly.

[Recruitment successful, Hoge Village Chief is arranging personnel…]

…

Cao Xing was stunned, "Is it this convenient?"

However, he didn't think too much about it, after all, the system's functions were inherently very powerful.

It could be said to be the cheat tool that all Survivors on Blue Star possessed.

He waited silently.

Not long after, several villagers carrying large bags and small parcels ran over quickly.

One of them, a middle-aged man around 30 years old, said: "Lord Cao Xing, the Village Chief said your territory needs manpower, so he asked us to come and assist you."

"From now on, you are our lord!"

The other villagers, with smiles on their faces, said one after another.

"I really didn't expect that we could be chosen by Lord Cao Xing; we will work hard for you in the future!"

Cao Xing also smiled.

"Welcome, let us build a prosperous and vibrant territory together!"

After saying this, he issued recruitment invitations to these villagers and Elena.

[Recruitment successful: Elena/Ruben/Gasna/Youlaili… have joined your territory, territory population +8]

Cao Xing took a glance.

There were both men and women among these people, and most of them were between 20 and 40 years old.

The Hoge Village Chief was quite decent; he didn't stuff any old, weak, sick, or disabled people to him.

However, these were all ordinary villagers and didn't have any special skills.

He could arrange for them to go under Cao Yi to collect resources or go farming with Dahua.

However, the loyalty of these villagers was quite high; they all had a loyalty of over 70 just upon being recruited.

And what surprised Cao Xing was that the newly joined Elena actually had a loyalty as high as 90.

Looking at that charming woman, a gentle smile appeared on the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

"Young married women are good…"

"Obedient and sensible…"

Then, he took out the sled and continued to hitch it to Dabai.

Cao Xing looked at those villagers and said: "Everyone, get on."

The villagers looked at the sled on the ground with curiosity, then carefully sat on it.

As for Elena, she was invited by Liu Muxue and sat behind the Mammoth with a face full of shyness.

Thump! Thump-thump!

The Mammoth took a step forward.

Beside it, a snow-white violent bear, Volibear, followed along.

The group headed toward the territory without any harm.

Ten-odd minutes later.

They had already seen Cao Xing's territory.

Compared to a few days ago, the territory had undergone significant changes.

Under the tireless efforts of Du An and the others.

All [Primary City Walls] had been upgraded to [Intermediate City Walls].

The Intermediate City Walls were 4 meters high and 60 centimeters wide, looking full of solidity!

With this width, some defensive facilities like large crossbows could already be placed.

Besides that.

They also saw a total of 23 Intermediate Elemental Arrow Towers, 7 Sentry Towers, and 12 Ice Arrow Towers.

This made Cao Xing's territory look full of deterrence.

The villagers were looking at the scene before them with amazement, occasionally letting out exclamations.

"Gods above, Lord Cao Xing's territory is too powerful!"

"So many arrow towers, and so many powerful soldiers, oh my god!"

"The defensive level of our Hoge Village, compared to Lord Cao Xing's territory, is practically nonexistent!"

"Living in such a territory, there is no need to worry about the Snow Demons coming at night. They would be shot away by these arrow towers before they even get close, haha!"

The villagers of Hoge Village had joyful smiles on their faces.

Like Old Mel, in this world, the primary need for ordinary people like them is to ensure their own life safety.

Obviously, Cao Xing's territory could satisfy this need for them.

[Because your territory's prosperity has reached the requirement, making new members feel a sense of security, territory member: Ruben, loyalty has increased, current loyalty: 75]

[Because your territory's prosperity has reached the requirement, making new members feel a sense of security, territory member: Elena, loyalty has increased, current loyalty: 93]

[Because you…]

A smile appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

The territory gate was wide open.

Seeing Cao Xing and the others return safely, the territory residents also had joyful smiles on their faces.

One by one, they greeted with smiles: "Welcome back, Lord."

"Good morning, Lord!"

"Lady of the territory, you look beautiful again today…"

And Cao Xing and Liu Muxue nodded in response.

Amidst the greetings, they arrived at the center of the territory.

Cao Xing first let the combat personnel go back to rest.

Then he called over the territory resident Cao Yi.

Cao Yi said respectfully: "Lord, please give your orders."

Cao Xing nodded, "These few newcomers just arrived in our territory. You take them to familiarize themselves with the environment first, then arrange today's work for them."

Hearing this, the resident Cao Yi glanced at those villagers from Hoge Village.

They all lowered their heads a bit shyly.

"Alright, Lord, I will take them over right away."

Then, Cao Yi led the seven new members away.

And Cao Xing looked at the charming woman beside him.

"Elena, come with me."

She nodded slightly, "Alright… Lord…"

Then she silently followed behind Cao Xing.

The two went straight to the Tailor Shop and pushed open the door.

Just like before, Xia Yanni was still busy.

She was sewing a batch of beast skin light armor, and it looked like she had been working for a long time.

At this moment, Xia Yanni saw Elena beside Cao Xing at a glance.

Her beautiful eyes held a look of curiosity and confusion.

Cao Xing said: "Yanni, Elena is our new member."

"I also know that you have to bear the entire territory's sewing work alone, and the pressure is a bit high."

"From now on, Elena will work with you. You guide her."

After hearing this, a gentle smile appeared on Xia Yanni's face, "Alright Lord, thank you."

She stood up, then moved her long legs and came to Elena's side.

"Ms. Elena, please take care of me in the future."

Elena quickly replied: "Where… no… it is you who should take care of me…"

"I… I will assist you well… If there is anything, please just give orders…"

Both of them seemed very polite.

They introduced themselves to each other and got to know each other's age and name.

Elena was one year older than Xia Yanni.

Two mature women standing together had a unique charm.

However, Xia Yanni's height of nearly 1.8 meters was a whole head taller than Elena.

Elena looked at Xia Yanni and exclaimed: "Oh my, sister, you are so tall…"

Xia Yanni said a bit shyly: "Yes, sometimes I also feel that I am too tall, and I have some inferiority in my heart…"

Elena quickly shook her head: "How could that be? Your figure is exactly what I dream of; it is simply too perfect."

"This is a figure that would make those nobles and knights go crazy!"

"No… it's not…"

Perhaps because their experiences were relatively similar, the two women got along very well.

After a while, they began to chat happily.

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing smiled and left the Tailor Shop.

…

Then, Cao Xing found Juliette again.

Taking Nive, the three of them came to the back garden area of the Lords Manor.

He took out one [Snow Demon Leader Heart (Gold)] and two [Snow Demon Chief Hearts (Purple)].

Then he said: "Juliette, use these for the Pale Tree."

Juliette nodded slightly, "Alright, respected Lord."

"I didn't expect you to find new hearts so quickly. If this continues, it won't be long before the Pale Tree grows into a big tree."

Regarding the appearance of the Snow Demon hearts, Juliette didn't care at all.

As a knowledgeable botanist, in her eyes, the Snow Demon hearts were just like the Human-Faced Tree Heart, merely items that could accelerate the growth of the Pale Tree.

Cao Xing smiled, "I am also looking forward to the day when the Pale Tree fully grows up."

Then, he watched as Juliette poured the life force contained in the first Leader heart onto it.

At this moment, the crown of the Pale Tree began to sway gently.

The sound of leaves rustling came.

Rustle, rustle…

Then, the Pale Tree began to grow rapidly.

From the original 5 meters tall, it quickly grew to 6 meters, 7 meters…

It didn't stop until it was almost 10 meters tall.

A system notification appeared.

[Your territory plant: Pale Tree has obtained accelerated growth, this acceleration time is: 7 years]

[Life Blessing effect increased by 7%, Growth Blessing effect increased by 7%]

…

Seeing the system notification, Cao Xing had a joyful look on his face.

"It actually grew by 7 years all at once!"

"Very good, now the healing amount of Ice Healing Art and Life Bloom can be greatly improved again!"

A moment later, Juliette poured the life force contained in the other two Chief-level hearts to the Pale Tree.

Rumble…

The Pale Tree continued to grow.

The trunk grew taller, branches continuously extended out, and the dense canopy looked like a large white umbrella.

[Your territory plant: Pale Tree has obtained accelerated growth, this acceleration time is: 4 years]

[Life Blessing effect increased by 4%, Growth Blessing effect increased by 4%]

…

"Not bad, not bad, two Chief-level hearts added another 4 years!"

"In this way, the total adds up to a full 32% life bonus, too strong!"

And at this time, the Pale Tree also ushered in greater changes.

The height exceeded 14 meters, the trunk diameter had already exceeded 1 meter, and a large number of branches and dense white tender leaves grew on the canopy.

A breeze blew by, and a rustling sound came.

The canopy swayed gently, occasionally drifting down a few pure white leaves.

It looked full of holiness.

Cao Xing also realized at this time how powerful this legendary holy tree was.

Even just the Epic quality Pale Tree can enhance up to 100% life bonus.

According to Juliette, the complete Pale Tree's quality even exceeds Legendary.

If one day, he could really revive that legendary Pale Holy Tree in his own territory.

Then just relying on this tree, the improvement brought would be unimaginable!

Juliette and Nive also had gratified smiles on their faces.

"That's great, sister. It feels like this Pale Tree is almost as tall as the one at the entrance of our small tree house." Nive said excitedly.

Juliette nodded slightly, "Yes, it's really hard to imagine that a few days ago it was just a small sapling…"

"In the future, perhaps we can really see the scene of the Pale Tree reappearing."

At this time, Juliette seemed to remember something and said softly: "By the way, Lord, there is something I need to report to you."

Cao Xing heard this and asked confusedly: "What is it?"

"It is about the few War Ancient Tree seeds you gave me a few days ago."

"After a few days of watering with Cold Spirit Water and the accelerated growth effect of the Pale Tree, they have successfully sprouted. Do you need to go and take a look?"

Juliette blinked her jewel-like pupils and looked at Cao Xing.

Cao Xing heard this and felt happy in his heart.

"It grew out so quickly?"

"Very good, then let's go and take a look."