Chapter 298 Return to Territory, Magical Vines (5800)

Old Mel exclaimed: "To be able to capture so many even of such sacred creatures, you truly are a lord favored by the Goddess of Fortune!"

As members of Cao Xing's territory, they all knew how astonishing the value of the Cloud Yaks was.

Plus, they had already established a long-term cooperative relationship with the Black Lion Chamber of Commerce, which was equivalent to having a fixed source of income every month.

It could be said that even if Cao Xing did nothing next, he could get rich just relying on these yaks and Light Feather Chickens.

Elisa, who was sitting on Volibear's back, jumped down and said proudly: "Father, it was me who discovered this group of yaks!"

"And those Light Feather Chickens were also discovered by me!"

"Isn't Elisa amazing?"

Hearing this, Old Mel was stunned for a moment, then realized: "So you went out these past few days just to look for cows?"

"That's right, that's right!"

Old Mel looked at Cao Xing, then at Elisa, but he didn't blame the little girl.

Instead, he said with emotion: "She has truly grown up…"

Cao Xing said: "Old Mel, I will have to trouble you to take care of these herds."

"With so many yaks and Light Feather Chickens appearing all at once, your workload will increase significantly. Remember to tell me if you are too busy, and I'll send people over to help you."

Hearing this, Old Mel smiled, shook his head, and said: "It's no trouble, respected Lord."

"So many Cloud Yaks, as well as Light Feather Chickens—I've never seen them in all my life. You are truly too resourceful…"

Cao Xing smiled. "It's nothing. In the future, these magical creatures will only become more and more numerous in our territory."

"Sizhuang, take some people and lead the herd into our cowshed."

"And these Light Feather Chickens, shut them in a separate cowshed as well. Be careful not to let them run away; these chickens are extremely vicious."

"Braum, Assam, you two go over and help."

Hearing this, the three of them immediately straightened up.

"Understood, Lord!"

The next moment, Sizhuang led Wuzhuang to Bazhuang, leading the herd and Dabai as they walked toward the cowshed.

Assam and Braum followed on both sides.

A moment later, Cao Xing had someone bring the Frost Moose and Dabai to the place where they rested.

Also, Tong Chuchu's mecha entered the mechanical factory.

When these powerful combat forces were all properly arranged, Cao Xing said: "Cao Yi, report on today's work progress."

Territory resident Cao Yi stepped forward and said respectfully: "Lord, according to your instructions, today we manufactured two more transport vehicles in the mechanical factory, and also took the time to build a logging robot."

"And it has already started working in the nearby grove."

"The efficiency of this kind of robot in gathering wood is really fast; their chainsaws can cut down a large tree in just a few seconds."

"They can even cut the wood in the wild and transport it directly back to the territory."

Hearing this, Cao Xing also nodded with satisfaction, then continued: "From now on, Locke Rich will be in charge of the mechanical factory. Whatever machinery needs to be manufactured, just inform him directly!"

"Locke, come out."

Hearing Cao Xing call him, the goblin hiding behind the Earth Dragon Mecha walked out.

Facing everyone's gazes, this goblin seemed a bit nervous.

After glancing at the other party, territory resident Cao Yi said politely: "Mr. Locke, hello."

He extended his right hand.

This goblin craftsman seemed a bit embarrassed, but still shook hands with him.

Territory resident Cao Yi smiled and said: "Mr. Locke, from now on you are our companion."

"You will serve our Lord just like the other goblins."

Hearing this, the goblin Locke also came to his senses.

He looked at Cao Xing, then asked the question he most wanted to know.

"Lord, I want to know why there are so many goblin coolies in our territory."

"Our goblin race generally lives in the Southern Continent, and there are very few goblins who serve human lords…"

Cao Xing replied: "Don't get me wrong, these goblin coolies weren't captured by us, but won by me through proper channels."

"Moreover, they live very well in our territory."

Hearing this, those goblins also replied one after another: "Fellow goblin, we were indeed bought normally by the Lord."

"The Lord treats us very well, provides us with a warm shelter, and guarantees our safety while working."

"There's even fresh bread and meat soup every day; this is much better than our lives in the tribe!"

"Yeah, yeah, look at me, I've only been in this territory for a few days and I've already gained a circle of fat."

The goblins chattered endlessly.

Hearing these goblins praise the territory, Locke Rich was filled with amazement.

Furthermore, he could tell that these goblins weren't saying flattering words just because the Lord was here.

Because these goblins all wore expressions of happiness on their faces.

As a fellow member of the goblin race, Locke Rich knew much better than them how harsh the environment in which goblins usually lived was.

Aside from a portion of goblins like them who had integrated into civilized society,

most goblins were living relatively primitive lives.

Their dwellings were in dark, damp undergrounds or caves, and because they couldn't see the sun for a long time, their lifespans were generally short.

And as the absolute bottom rung of goblins, goblin coolies had an even harder life.

They stayed in the mine tunnels almost 24 hours a day, eating, drinking, and relieving themselves all within the mine tunnels.

Only occasionally would they be given a day's holiday to go back and visit their wives and children.

The gems they dug out would also be confiscated by the overseers.

And those goblins who took their gems would trade those gems with surface merchants in exchange for a meager amount of supplies to sustain the tribe's survival.

However, as the saying goes, there are no honest merchants.

Every time these merchants acquired gems from the goblins, they would compress the price to an extremely low level and withhold their supplies.

For these merchants, they controlled the source of sales, and those goblins could only trade with them—weren't they at their mercy to be squeezed?

The goblins naturally understood this point as well, so a portion of goblins plucked up the courage and walked out of the underground.

They went to sell the gems themselves so as not to be exploited by those merchants.

During this period, they naturally experienced a great many difficulties.

If the history of the goblins' development were to be detailed, three days and three nights wouldn't be enough to finish telling it.

But in the end, they still overcame these difficulties.

And then came the role of goblin merchants.

As there became more and more goblin merchants, they established a chamber of commerce of their own.

The overall living standard of the race improved.

However, what improved was only the living standard of the upper and middle layers of goblins.

As for the coolies at the very bottom, there was still no change whatsoever.

They still had to stay in the dim underground 24 hours a day, dedicating themselves for the development of the entire race.

Therefore, in this territory,

this Lord not only provided these goblin coolies with housing, but also provided them with bountiful food—this was simply an incredible thing!

Even the most prosperous goblin tribe couldn't give those coolies this kind of treatment.

At this moment, he respectfully bowed to Cao Xing.

"You truly are a benevolent Lord. May the God of Caverns bless you…"

"Locke Rich will wholeheartedly work for you from now on."

[Because of your words and actions, you have moved territory resident: Locke Rich. The other party's loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 71]

…

A smile appeared on Cao Xing's face, and then he nodded slightly.

"It's fine. You should go and rest first for now."

"Cao Yi, first take him to arrange a residence, and then take him to the mechanical factory tomorrow to familiarize himself with the environment."

"Understood, benevolent Lord."

After saying that, Cao Yi took Locke Rich away to arrange his residence.

At this time, Du An walked over to report: "Lord, according to your instructions, today after finishing building the cowshed, we began to upgrade the city walls with all our strength."

"Currently, more than 70% of the city walls have been fully upgraded into Frost City Walls. It is expected that they can all be completely upgraded tomorrow."

"In addition, the Great Furnace has been upgraded by us to level 17, and your Lord's Manor has also been upgraded to level 7…"

Du An's series of reports once again made Cao Xing feel pleased.

"Well done, Du An. Your efficiency is high as always."

Du An said respectfully: "Being able to contribute to the territory is our honor."

Meanwhile, Da Zhuang also came over to report: "Lord, today according to your instructions, we drove the transport vehicles and headed to that mine cave."

"However, it was occupied again by a group of Molemen."

Hearing this, Cao Xing was also slightly stunned.

Last time, that group of Molemen had been beaten away by them; he didn't expect them to make a comeback so quickly.

It seemed the resources inside that mine cave were extremely attractive to them.

Da Zhuang continued: "But Lord, please rest assured, our Centaur warriors are every single one of them extremely powerful, and they easily dealt with this group of Molemen."

"That mine cave now belongs to us!"

"In addition, the mining efficiency of the goblins is very high."

"The large amount of iron ore, copper ore, and a small amount of magic energy crystal ore they mined today almost filled three transport vehicles!"

"The extraction amount in a single day even compares to the efficiency of the past four or five days!"

"We have already transported all these ores back, and they are currently being sorted in the ore processing plant."

Hearing this, joy also arose in Cao Xing's heart.

This was the benefit of transport vehicles.

Through the efforts of more than a hundred goblin coolies, he could obtain a large amount of ore resources every day.

And these resources were the foundation for the territory to develop from a small gathering place into a town.

Cao Xing nodded slightly and praised: "Well done, Da Zhuang."

"And the goblin coolies have also worked very hard."

Receiving praise from their Lord, happy smiles appeared on everyone's faces one after another.

Then, Cao Xing continued: "Alright, you've all worked hard during the day. Go back and rest now."

"Understood, Lord!"

Everyone gradually dispersed.

Soon, only Cao Xing was left alone here.

And he was also pondering what he needed to do next.

"This time, in that encampment, I obtained a powerful divine warrior altar, which can allow all the warrior-class professions under my command to break through to Tier 4."

"In other words, those Ascalon Warriors, Wild Boar Warriors, and Centaur warriors can all break through."

"However, the materials required for this thing to breakthrough are too much. crowns alone cost 50,000, plus 1,000 portions of food, 100 pieces of mithril, and 10 advanced elemental crystals."

Cao Xing glanced at the reserves of these supplies in his territory and backpack.

[Coins: 5.74 million]

[Food: 127,321]

[Mithril: 3,512]

[Advanced Elemental Crystals: 743]

"Bad news, all four types of supplies are severely lacking."

"The resources I have on hand can at most allow over thirty warriors to break through to Tier 4."

"The ones lacking the most are mithril and food."

Although by comparison, the resources consumed to allow a Tier 3 warrior to break through to Tier 4 could be said to be very little already.

After all, a single [Advanced Heart of Power] is far beyond this value.

But unfortunately, Cao Xing had too many warriors under his command.

Added together, there were at least over 240 people.

If they all wanted to break through, the resources consumed would be nothing short of astronomical.

He was also pondering how to acquire a large amount of resources in a short period of time.

"The two materials, mithril and advanced elemental crystals, should be acquirable on the trading market."

"However, for the two supplies of food and crowns, we can only start with the aborigines."

"After all, by now, everyone knows the importance of food; this can be said to be the foundation of a territory."

"And crowns can be used to purchase food, equipment, and even various arcane potions in towns, acting as a kind of universal currency."

"Therefore, it would be great if a caravan passes by my place recently. If I dump a batch of the resources produced in the territory, I'll be able to gather almost all the required resources."

"It doesn't matter if there isn't one. At worst, I'll go to Merlind City to sell them myself. Anyway, Yaskin has pretty much established a foothold there."

Cao Xing quickly figured out his future plans.

"Next, let's go see how many arcane potions and arrows Francesca and Harold have made."

"Then trade a wave on the market to exchange for resources."

Just as Cao Xing was preparing to head to the Blacksmith Shop first,

he suddenly felt a strong vibration coming from beneath his feet, causing even his figure to sway.

"Rumble!"

"What's going on, is there an earthquake again?"

Cao Xing wore a puzzled look.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared.

[Your territory plant: Giant Vine has successfully grown…]

…

The moment he saw the system prompt, the confusion on Cao Xing's face vanished, turning instead into full-faced pleasant surprise!

"This Giant Vine actually grew out this fast?"

"Haha, fantastic!"

After all, this was the second orange-quality plant in his territory.

The Pale Tree had given him immense help.

And as another epic-level plant, the Giant Vine likewise possessed miraculous effects.

Therefore, carrying an excited mood, Cao Xing quickly arrived at the backyard area of his territory.

The Tree Spirit Race twin sisters had also sensed the commotion of growth and had already rushed here in advance.

Seeing Cao Xing approach, the two women slightly bowed again.

Cao Xing asked, "Did you two also sense that vine growing out?"

Juliette softly replied, "Yes, respected Lord, I feel that beneath our territory, there is an extra trace of miraculous aura."

"Alright, then let's go over and take a look together."

Bringing the two Tree Spirit Race beauties along, they arrived beside the Pale Tree.

A large number of Golden Sunflowers grew here.

Even at night, they emitted a faint golden glow, illuminating this place with a sacred ambiance.

At the other end of the backyard, a giant vine had broken through the soil.

Although it only exposed a single head, one could still imagine just how massive this thing's volume was.

Moreover, Cao Xing faintly had a feeling that what this vine exposed above ground was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Its larger volume was all hidden underground.

When Cao Xing approached, a system prompt appeared.

[Do you wish to bind the Giant Vine? After binding, you will establish a mental connection with it, and you can simultaneously control the vine to move underground.]

…

Seeing the prompt, Cao Xing pondered for a moment.

Then he directly clicked 'Yes'!

The next moment, he felt a mental connection established between himself and some kind of life form beneath the soil.

He could clearly perceive the other's existence and the size of its volume.

When Cao Xing sensed the complete form of this vine, his heart was instantly startled.

"Good grief, it's this huge?"

In his perception, this was an extremely massive giant vine; in terms of volume, it completely rivaled the Pale Tree above ground, or was even larger!

Moreover, it wasn't just a single vine!

A giant main vein rooted deep underground, branching out into thousands of vines.

Like tentacles, they moved about underground.

If Cao Xing hadn't established a mental connection with this plant, he could never have imagined that beneath his territory, there was actually such a behemoth.

It and the Pale Tree were both guardians of the territory, except one guarded the surface of the territory, and the other guarded the underground.

"It's truly outrageous, and this Giant Vine still seems to be in its growth stage; it will continue to grow in the future!"

"In the future, it's estimated that it can also grow into a colossal plant."

Next, it was time to test the control methods of this vine.

With a thought in his mind,

Cao Xing felt the soil under his feet begin to tremble.

Three or four vines moved rapidly through the land below like earth dragons.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the location designated by Cao Xing, which was the area planted with Golden Sunflowers.

"Let's try cutting."

At this moment, three or four vines surrounded that single Golden Sunflower, cutting open the area where it was rooted along with all the surrounding soil!

Those vines looked very fragile, but cutting through these cold frozen soils was practically easier than a blade cutting tofu.

"Goodness, so this is how you move these buildings on the ground."

"Directly cutting them open together with the soil beneath the buildings, and then transporting them, right?"

"Interesting!"

Cao Xing manipulated the four vines together to directly lift up this patch of soil planted with Golden Sunflowers.

Then, he manipulated several other vines to cut out a dirt pit of nearly identical size on the other side of the territory.

He directly transferred this Golden Sunflower along with the soil into that large pit.

In the blink of an eye, the Golden Sunflower had changed place to grow.

And as the vines underneath began to work the soil, the soil of this sunflower quickly fused with the surrounding soil, leaving not a trace of splicing visible.

Cao Xing chuckled, "This method of transfer is truly convenient!"

Nive and Juliette beside him exchanged a glance, their beautiful eyes also carrying intense surprise.

"Sister… this vine is truly miraculous…"

Juliette also gently nodded her head, "Indeed, it can actually cut through the soil, move underground, and help transfer plants and buildings…"

"Even in our Holy Forest Land, we have never seen such a miraculous plant."

At this time, Cao Xing was still immersed in the joy after transferring the sunflower.

After understanding the operating method, Cao Xing decided to try transferring a larger building.

Thus, he set his sights on an Intermediate Elemental Arrow Tower in the distance.

This arrow tower was built the earliest and was located roughly in the central area of the territory.

With the expansion and continuous construction of the territory, it was also stuck among a pile of buildings, looking somewhat abrupt.

And because of insufficient range, this arrow tower basically couldn't play a role under normal circumstances.

With his will, at least a dozen vines moved underground and quickly arrived beneath the Elemental Arrow Tower.

Then, the tips of the vines acted like blades, beginning to cut the soil around the arrow tower.

"Rustle… Rustle…"

In the blink of an eye, a square area of roughly 25 square meters was cut out.

Then, as the dozen or so vines underground began to move, this giant arrow tower, along with the soil beneath it,

was directly lifted up.

"Clatter!"

The scene of a building over a dozen meters tall being lifted into mid-air was quite astonishing.

And Cao Xing also manipulated the vines, holding this Intermediate Elemental Arrow Tower, moving swiftly, and soon arrived at the edge of the city wall.

And as he manipulated other vines to cut, a square dirt pit with the exact same area appeared at the foot of the city wall.

He directly placed this arrow tower down, then fused it with the surrounding soil.

The movement of this arrow tower was thus declared a success.

And when monsters assaulted the territory, this arrow tower would be able to play its role.

"Haha! This is simply too convenient!"

Cao Xing was pleasantly surprised beyond measure!

You must know that if it were normal dismantling and construction,

just dismantling this Intermediate Elemental Arrow Tower would require at least 40 minutes.

Then rebuilding a Basic Elemental Arrow Tower from scratch, and then having to upgrade it into an Intermediate Elemental Arrow Tower.

Back and forth, it would take up nearly ten hours of working time for two workers.

And now?

With this Giant Vine, Cao Xing, relying solely on himself, completed the transfer operation in just one minute.

One could imagine how huge the help this thing was to the territory!

…

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