Heroic witch, the arrival of management talents.

Cao Xing held the Hero's Heart in his hand and walked toward the Alchemy Workshop.

However, when he pushed the door open and looked inside, it was completely empty; the witch seemed not to have woken up yet.

"Did I wake up too early?"

Cao Xing shook his head, and just as he was about to go outside to look for Francesca, a figure gracefully walked toward him from the front.

It was precisely that beautiful witch.

Today, she had changed into a set of white casual clothes, outlining her graceful figure just right.

Like a blooming snow lotus, she was pure and elegant.

Cao Xing's gaze involuntarily lingered on her for a moment.

Francesca noticed his gaze, tilted her head slightly, and asked softly, "What is it?"

Cao Xing smiled and shook his head, "It's nothing, it's just my first time seeing you wear this kind of clothing, so I'm a bit surprised."

The corners of the witch's lips lifted slightly, revealing a faint smile, "Trying out different styles occasionally isn't bad either."

Cao Xing nodded, then took out a Heart of Power emitting vast fluctuations from his backpack and handed it to her.

"Use this thing first."

Francesca's gaze fell upon the dark red crystal in his hand, and a ripple flashed through her deep eyes.

"Understood."

She extended both hands, solemnly received it, and then added, "Thank you."

As Francesca gently pinched with her fingertips, the dark red crystal instantly shattered.

The vast power contained within it was entirely absorbed by her. In an instant, an invisible whirlwind seemed to sweep around, and the air was filled with a fresh scent, as if one were in the midst of a primeval forest.

As a forest witch, she mastered the spiritual energy of the forest.

Her combat power was also quite formidable.

Especially her Commander-level skill—Witch Domain, which was a skill capable of sealing enemies in groups.

Cao Xing had tested it before; this skill could even take effect against Legendary powerhouses, which could be said to be extremely overpowered!

However, recently she had been busy refining various potions, and Cao Xing was mainly helping her improve her sub-profession skills, while her main profession hadn't been improved for a long time.

Time flashed by, and three or four minutes passed.

Francesca's breakthrough was also very smooth.

As waves of powerful spiritual energy fluctuations emerged, the system prompt sounded.

[Your territory member: Francesca has successfully broken through to become a Hero-level creature, base attributes increased by 100%, attack range increased by 200%, Prosperity +50—*?]

At this moment, Francesca, who had successfully metamorphosed into an eighth-tier creature, suddenly opened her eyes.

Then, she walked gracefully toward Cao Xing.

As she walked, pieces of green leaves revolved around her side, resembling a forest goddess walking towards him.

Cao Xing also noticed that Francesca's body had undergone relatively subtle changes.

A head of dark brown hair had grown longer by about ten centimeters, swaying slightly in the air like spirit snakes. Cao Xing's figure emerged within her deep pupils, as if only the two of them remained in the entire world.

A moment later, Francesca had already put away that powerful spiritual energy fluctuation.

After coming to Cao Xing's side, she lightly pressed her collar, slightly bowed, and said, "I have successfully broken through, please give me new instructions."

"Not bad."

Cao Xing praised, "Next, you can continue to go back and refine medicine. For now, you don't need to fight yet. I will call you when there are missions in the future."

"I understand."

Francesca nodded gently, and then walked gracefully toward the Alchemy Workshop.

After she left, Cao Xing thought to himself, "Not bad, Francesca has also successfully broken through."

"Next, we can just wait for her level to slowly improve."

"Then—my territory will have one more Legendary witch!"

Thinking of this, a trace of anticipation inevitably arose in Cao Xing's heart.

Next, he continued to idle around in the territory.

Although he still had many things to do on hand.

Including contacting the Black Lion Chamber of Commerce, Luna Chamber of Commerce, Woodpecker Chamber of Commerce, etc., selling a batch of the resources in his hands, and then establishing a stable trading system.

However, now it was during the Blood Chaos, so these could only be temporarily shelved.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing continued to stroll around the territory.

From time to time, he went to the Tailor Shop to spend some tender moments with that pair of mature women, Xia Yanni and Elena.

Of course, the Baron's mother over there wasn't left out either; he also spent an hour or two pacifying her.

Then he took some time to go to the territory's back garden area, found that pair of Tree Spirit Race sister flowers, and accompanied them to farm,

water flowers and things like that.

Just like that, a whole morning passed quickly.

By noon, a staff member hurried over to Cao Xing's side and respectfully reported.

"Lord Lord, a large group of people has come outside the territory. They look like a group of refugees fleeing from disaster and hope to see you."

At this moment, Cao Xing was happily farming with the Tree Spirit Race sister flowers, occasionally raising his head to glance at this pair of exquisite beauties, feasting his eyes.

Upon hearing the voice from behind, he also put down the work in his hands, then nodded and said, "I know, go busy yourself first."

"Yes, Lord Lord."

This staff member quickly left this place.

Cao Xing patted his hands, stood up, and said:

"Juliette, Nive, you guys continue with your work, I'll go out and take a look."

The two women raised their heads, a smile blooming on their faces.

Juliette said softly, "Go ahead, Lord Lord."

"We are already very happy that you were able to accompany us for so long today."

Little Nive beside her also chimed in, "That's right, that's right! This is our first time planting flowers together with Lord Lord. Both Nive and Elder Sister are very happy."

Speaking of this, she added a sentence, "Of course, if Lord Lord has time, it would be great to come play that kind of game with me and my sister again!"

"Nive and Sister still want to hug Lord Lord and sleep together."

The little girl's voice was very crisp and quite loud.

As a pure Tree Spirit Race member, she didn't yet know what happening with that kind of matter represented.

But she knew that doing that kind of thing could make Lord Lord happy, and she herself felt very comfortable too.

So she kept thinking about it, wanting to have it one more time with Cao Xing.

Juliette beside her instantly blushed, and embarrassedly tugged at Nive's sleeve.

Cao Xing's expression didn't fluctuate much, except that his mind also conjured up the extremely exquisite and perfect figures of this pair of sister flowers.

Such a woman, just one of them was enough to drive countless men crazy.

Cao Xing smiled lightly and replied, "Alright, when I have time, I'll come find you guys again."

Hearing him agree, happy smiles simultaneously appeared on the faces of the two women.

Then, Cao Xing left the back garden area.

And headed straight for the east gate of the territory.

"Creak—"

When the city gates opened, Cao Xing saw at a glance that more than a hundred figures were standing in the snow outside.

They were in tattered clothes, carrying worn-out luggage on their backs.

Everyone's face carried expressions of exhaustion and panic; it seemed they had suffered quite a bit along this journey.

Just at this moment, a staff member said loudly, "Lord Lord has arrived."

Hearing these words, everyone couldn't help raising their heads, and over a hundred pairs of eyes looked at Cao Xing simultaneously!

Various different expressions successively appeared on the faces of this group of people, including being stunned, surprised, and fearful—

Cao Xing swept his gaze across the crowd and took the lead to ask, "Where do you all come from?"

His voice was calm yet carried dignity, making this group of people outside feel somewhat nervous, and for a moment none of them dared to speak.

They could sense that although this lord was young, he exuded a heart-palpitating ferocious aura, resembling a dormant ferocious beast.

The atmosphere fell into silence.

A moment later, a young man with disheveled clothes but a delicate and pretty face stood out.

He bowed slightly and said in a respectful tone, "Respected and powerful Lord, please allow me to express my highest respects to you."

"We are townspeople from Frostwind Town, and my father is the Frostwind Baron: Godfrey Green."

"Just a few days ago, that group of bloody and ferocious monsters suddenly descended, and Frostwind Town was also conquered by those monsters. My father's baronial guard unit all died in battle during the process of resistance."

"Including himself—he also unfortunately died during the course of the battle."

Speaking of this, a trace of grief appeared in his eyes, and his voice became somewhat choked up.

"However, at the very last moment, a group of powerful soldiers descended from the sky."

"They killed all the Blood soldiers and rescued us."

"However—post-war Frostwind Town was completely destroyed by that group of monsters, the houses turned into ruins, and the earth was soaked with blood, making it no longer suitable for living."

"Later, I led the surviving townspeople and wandered all the way through the Gale Snowfield."

"However—this snowfield is too vast, and after walking for many days, we have not found a suitable place to live."

"Along the way, because of the harsh weather and attacks from beasts in the snow, we lost many townspeople."

Suppressed sobs rose from the crowd. Among those dead townspeople, many were their loved ones.

The young man took a deep breath and continued, "We have been wandering in the Gale Snowfield, but because the Blood Legion is causing destruction everywhere and wars are breaking out everywhere, there is simply no suitable place to live."

"We were even about to give up hope—"

"Until yesterday, when we met an old gentleman who could also fly."

"He told us to head southwest, saying there is a prosperous and powerful territory here, and the lord there would take us in."

"And so, we came all the way here."

The narration of the young man was clear and logical, and his tone carried sincerity and earnestness.

The old gentleman who could fly that he mentioned should be Cao Yi, the territory resident sent out yesterday, and the timeline matched up.

However, Cao Xing still had a trace of doubt in his heart.

After all, Cao Xing knew very well what the nobles of this world were like.

Selfish and cold, treating commoners as tools and livestock, not treating them like human beings at all.

And this young man, as the son of a baron, was also a noble.

Cao Xing looked at the young man in front of him and asked, "Then why did you not leave alone, but chose to bring these townspeople with you?"

"In the harsh environment of the Gale Snowfield, these townspeople cannot bring you any help and might even become a burden."

Hearing this, the young man solemnly replied, "Because they are all townspeople of Frostwind Town and the subjects of the Green Family."

"Under the governance of my father, the town was prosperous and stable, and the townspeople lived and worked here in peace and contentment."

"Even though the town has been destroyed and my father has died in battle, the honor of the Green Family still remains."

"I still have the responsibility to protect them!"

"I will take the remaining townspeople to find a new, suitable place to live and start everything over from scratch."

His tone was firm and sincere, and his eyes flashed with an unyielding light.

Cao Xing carefully looked him up and down, then looked at the group of townspeople behind him and asked, "Is what he said true?"

The townspeople nodded one after another and chimed in all at once.

"It is true, this powerful lord."

"Young Master Joren has always taken good care of us."

"Yes, Young Master Joren is different from other nobles. If it were not for his leadership, we would have all frozen to death days ago."

Their tone was sincere, and the gaze they cast toward the young man also carried heartfelt respect.

Cao Xing lowered his head to ponder for a moment, then glanced at the attributes of the young man.

[Joren Green]

[Affiliation: Ice Crystal Kingdom]

[Level: Level 24]

[Potential: Elite-grade Creature]

[Skills: None]

[Lifestyle Skill: Advanced Management Mastery (1723/5000, has read a large number of classic works on management, political science, etc., and has in-depth insights into territory planning, personnel management, and other aspects.)]

[Talent: Intelligence (Possesses a sharper and more efficient learning ability than ordinary people, increasing learning efficiency by 30%. )]

(Character Introduction: Joren Green has read a large number of books since childhood, dreaming of having a territory belonging to himself. However, due to his status, he was unable to realize this dream.)

(However, Joren did not get discouraged because of this. He helped his father manage Frostwind Town since childhood, and under his advice and governance, the town became increasingly prosperous.)

After reading the panel attributes of this person, the eyes of Cao Xing suddenly lit up.

This noble named Joren turned out to be a talent with Advanced Management Mastery.

You must know, what was he lacking the most right now?

It was obviously those talents with management experience!

If they could be recruited into the territory, it would just happen to share some pressure for Cao Yi.

Cao Xing seriously looked at the young man in front of him and then said, "I can take all of you into the territory and provide you with safe shelter and enough food."

"However—you must think it over carefully."

"Once you join my territory, starting from today, you must forget your past identities."

"From now on, you can only live as members of my territory."

"You must also absolutely obey my commands."

His words carried a hint of subtle threat.

Cao Xing was no goody-two-shoes. Since he was willing to recruit these homeless refugees, he naturally needed them to make sufficient contributions to the territory.

If they only wanted a temporary dwelling and intended to leave the territory after the war ended, Cao Xing would not show any mercy to such people.

The complexions of the townspeople turned somewhat pale. As ordinary people facing a Tier 10 powerhouse, even though the other party was not intentionally targeting them, the aura radiating from his body alone made them unable to bear it!

They all looked in unison toward the young man ahead—Joren Green.

Joren pondered for a moment, then gradually raised his head.

His wise gaze passed behind Cao Xing and saw the internal situation of the territory.

There were rows of towering arrow towers and thick city walls, upon which a large number of workers were carrying various materials back and forth, working diligently.

However, even those workers gave him a spontaneous sense of terror!

It was as if the other party could easily crush him to death with a casual flick of a finger!

Everything before his eyes was pointing out without exception that the strength of this territory far exceeded his imagination.

Joren took a deep breath and replied solemnly, "We have thought it through, Lord Lord."

"It is our honor to be able to work in such a prosperous and powerful territory."

"From now on, we will devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the construction of the territory and dedicate everything to the development of the territory!"

The other townspeople also responded one after another.

"We are willing to follow you to the death and will never betray the territory!"

Cao Xing nodded slightly, then issued recruitment invitations to this group of over a hundred people.

[Recruitment successful: Hewan Turner and Laurie McCoy of Frostwind Town—joined your territory, territory population +138]

The moment the system prompt ended, all the townspeople likewise felt the blessing power of the Pale Tree, causing their Health Points to skyrocket twofold.

The hundred-plus people looked at each other, seeing expressions of shock and panic in one another's eyes.

This power was simply too miraculous and powerful; the exuberant vitality repaired the injuries and hidden illnesses on their bodies in an instant.

It felt as if their entire bodies had become a dozen years younger!

This was simply incredible.

Before they even had time to express the shock in their hearts, Cao Xing directly interrupted them.

"Next, you should go to the cafeteria to eat first, and then someone will lead you over to work and arrange a place for you to live."

After speaking, he pressed the communication device by his ear and called someone over.

Before long, an Arctic Person named Liuzhuang trotted over to the side of Cao Xing and respectfully said, "Lord Lord, please give your orders."

Cao Xing said, "Lead this group of new members. Today, have them first repair the city walls or gather resource points around the territory."

"Tonight, you can arrange accommodation for them."

These townspeople of Frostwind Town looked very simple and honest, and that Joren Green was also a talent.

But Cao Xing would not give them any preferential treatment because of this.

Before that, they still needed to do some hard labor to temper them somewhat.

"Yes, Lord Lord." The Arctic Person Liuzhuang respectfully replied.

Then, he turned around and said to the group of Frostwind Town townspeople, "All of you, follow me. I will take you to the cafeteria first."

After speaking, Liuzhuang walked straight into the territory, and the more than one hundred townspeople obediently followed behind him.

And when these townspeople passed through the city gate and completely entered the territory, a chorus of exclamations rang out once again!

Obviously, the scale of the territory of Cao Xing, even placed in the entire Gale Snowfield, could be considered quite prominent.

Aside from those long-established Giant Cities, there was basically no territory more prosperous than his here.

These townspeople of Frostwind Town felt as if they were in a dream, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief!