Recruitment plan, conflict of dragon blood. (5200)

"Go find Bai Zhi?" Liu Muxue asked, puzzled.

Cao Xing nodded and said: "Yes, the leader of Eternal Moment. Her territory should be located near the Eternal Frost Main City. You can contact her directly via private message in a moment."

"After you arrive, just tell her directly that you are here to take her to challenge that Angel Inheritance."

Cao Xing hadn't forgotten that Bai Zhi had previously mentioned she held the location of an Angel Inheritance.

They had already passed the first three rounds, including the skill books for the Two-Winged and Four-Winged Angel forms, all of which were obtained during the inheritance.

And now, Liu Muxue was already a Legendary powerhouse.

After entering the [Four-Winged Angel] form, with all attributes increased by 100%, she was already equivalent to the combat power of powerhouses like Bing Lan and Isabelle.

If she could inherit even greater power from that Angel Inheritance at this time,

it would be of even greater help for the upcoming battles.

Upon hearing the word 'Inheritance,' Liu Muxue immediately understood Cao Xing's meaning.

She nodded gently and said: "Alright, I will head to the Eternal Frost Main City now and then contact Bai Zhi."

Cao Xing was just about to nod when he suddenly remembered something.

"Wait a moment, Muxue."

Hearing this, Liu Muxue turned her head and looked at him, puzzled.

Then, Cao Xing took a small wooden bottle out of his backpack; inside the bottle was a drop of dark purple blood.

It was the 'Blood of Krakatoa'.

"Try this and see if you can fuse with it," Cao Xing said.

This drop of Ancient Dragon blood could significantly increase attributes and change one's class to a hidden class after fusion.

Besides that, it could be used not only by the natives of this world but also by Survivors like them.

Now that Liu Muxue had also broken through to the Legendary level, she met the conditions to use the 'Blood of Krakatoa'.

If she could fuse with this drop of blood, her support abilities would improve even further.

Upon hearing this, Liu Muxue gently took the small wooden bottle.

She poured the flowing drop of blood out of the wooden bottle and placed it in the center of her fair palm.

"Sss—"

A series of corrosive sounds rang out as the Aurora power emanating from Liu Muxue and this Crystal power began to cancel each other out.

She closed her eyes and carefully sensed it for a moment.

A moment later, she said slowly: "It can be fused."

"The system prompt says that after I fuse with this drop of blood, my attributes will increase by 100%, and I will change my class to a Crystal Dragon Knight."

Upon hearing this, a trace of a smile just appeared on Cao Xing's face.

But Liu Muxue's next sentence stunned him.

"However, the fusion will replace my Aurora Knight class, and all previously learned skills will be forgotten, requiring me to learn new ones."

Hearing this, Cao Xing immediately frowned.

"Replacing the class?"

He realized this point at that moment.

Previously, after Tian Jing fused with that drop of [Venom Lizard Blood], he also changed his class to a 'Venom Flame Giant Lizard', and all his skills were brand new.

Then this 'Blood of Krakatoa' must have the same effect.

In his heart, he felt a slight sense of regret.

After all, compared to an 'Aurora Knight' that could increase the strength of the entire territory by several times, a 100% attribute increase was simply not worth considering.

Cao Xing said: "Then don't fuse with it. Put this drop of blood away; I'll see if there are other uses for it later."

"Alright."

Liu Muxue did as told and handed the small wooden bottle back to Cao Xing.

Then, a pair of transparent Wind Wings appeared behind her: "A-Xing, I'm setting off now to find Bai Zhi."

Cao Xing nodded slightly: "Alright, if there are any issues, remember to contact me immediately."

"Mm!" This tall Aurora Saint Envoy replied obediently.

Then she turned around and walked in the direction of the teleportation array.

As the light of the teleportation array flashed, she disappeared from the spot.

The remaining combatants in the territory were just Cao Xing and Valkyrie Malenina.

He had no plans to go out.

Anyway, there were already people out dealing with the Blood army outside.

Looking at the small wooden bottle in his hand, Cao Xing continued to think in his heart: "The power contained in the blood of an Ancient Dragon must be extremely strong."

"But having to replace the original class after fusion is still somewhat hard to accept."

"After all, these Legendary powerhouses in my territory each have their own unique characteristics. If their classes were replaced, those powerful Legendary skills would likely disappear too."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing felt a bit of regret.

After all, it was a real pity that such a powerful item could not find a user.

At this moment, he seemed to recall something, and a flash of light instantly crossed his eyes.

"—I remember, the Dragon Blood Warriors of the Norn Clan have a special talent that allows them to fuse with multiple different types of blood."

"Especially Commander Bo Jie!"

This commander had first fused with the blood of the Ancient Dragon Zhuoma, and then fused with Demon Blood.

In his body, blood from three different races and different powers was already flowing.

"Then—could he also fuse with this drop of blood?"

"In that case, Commander Bo Jie would essentially be fused with the power of four types of blood!"

"How strong would he become then?"

Once this idea appeared, it spread through Cao Xing's heart like wildfire!

He even wanted to call Bjorn back immediately to let him try.

However, unfortunately, the prerequisite for fusing with this drop of blood was to become a Legendary.

Bjorn was currently only a level 70 commander, falling far short.

Moreover, there was another very serious problem: for the Dragon Blood Warrior clan, the more types of blood they fused with, the smaller the probability of success.

The consequence of failure was exploding and dying!

Countless members of the Norn Clan had paid the price with their lives after fusing with the blood of Zhuoma.

The lives of countless Norn people had forged the rare Dragon Blood Warriors.

Someone like Bjorn, an existence who could fuse with three drops of blood without dying, was one in a million.

Therefore, whether he could fuse with a fourth drop of blood was also an unknown.

Cao Xing shook his head: "I'll wait until Bjorn breaks through to the Legendary level, then I'll ask him if he is confident about fusing with this drop of blood."

"If he isn't confident, then forget it."

Thinking of this, he put the matter of fusing with the 'Blood of Krakatoa' aside and continued to inspect the territory.

After walking around, Cao Xing was surprised to find that quite a few new buildings seemed to have been added to the territory recently.

Other buildings had also been upgraded by several levels.

He sighed in his heart: "Various events have been coming one after another recently, and I haven't paid attention to the development of the territory for a week or two. Let's see how things are now."

Thus, Cao Xing called the Arctic Person Du An and the territory resident Cao Yi over.

The two arrived quickly and bowed respectfully: "Lord, may you be well."

Cao Xing nodded and said directly: "Du An, report your work progress."

This Arctic Person immediately straightened his back and said solemnly: "Reporting to you, Lord, after this period of construction, we have upgraded your Lord's Castle to level 16."

"The Energy Tower in the center of the territory has also been upgraded to level 25, and it is about to be upgraded to an Energy Station."

Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed Cao Xing's eyes.

When he looked last time, the Lord's Castle was only just level 13, and the Energy Station had only reached level 21.

Now it had surged up several levels, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Cao Xing turned around and looked at the two buildings behind him with a look of anticipation.

[Lord's Castle: Level 16]

[Building Height: 14 meters]

[Footprint: 947 square meters]

[Armor: 3200]

[Durability: 500,000]

[Current Population Capacity: 7814/16019]

[Attached Aura Effect: Bounty Aura]

[Materials Required for Next Level: Level 25 Energy Station, Wood * 300,000, Stone * 100,000, Refined Iron * 50,000, Mithril * 20,000, master-level elemental crystal * 1000]

[Time Required for Upgrade: 784 hours / 35 minutes]

[Simultaneous Workers: 0 / 4]

After reading the attributes of the Lord's Castle.

Cao Xing couldn't help but show a look of satisfaction.

Especially the population count above; it was truly a pleasant surprise.

"Very good, there is still a surplus of over eight thousand in population capacity."

"It seems that next, we can have another large-scale personnel expansion."

As mentioned before, now is the period of the Blood Chaos, and there are many ways for population growth.

Besides the unit types currently launched in the Battle Merit Shop, which add up to over ten thousand that can be exchanged.

After that, it's about receiving a large number of refugees whose towns have been destroyed or defeated soldiers.

The second method is the fastest and most cost-effective way.

And the first one: going to the Battle Merit Shop to exchange for recruitment scrolls.

Cao Xing currently didn't have any thoughts on that.

It was really because the names of these unit types were quite strange, and they were all related to blood.

Cao Xing didn't want to raise a group of blood-sucking monsters in his territory.

Besides that, there was a more important reason. "Next, if the Blood Chaos can be successfully concluded this time, I am prepared to carry out the third expansion of the territory."

"And this time, it will be the largest expansion in history."

"I plan to upgrade directly to the Giant City level!"

"But if I want to build a Giant City, besides needing massive amounts of resources, I also need a large population."

"Whether it's building walls or various structures, it is a major project that cannot be completed overnight."

"Currently, the number of combat personnel in my territory is sufficient, so the remaining population should mainly be used to expand the workforce."

Cao Xing's eyes held a deep glow, and he was filled with anticipation for the day his territory could expand into a Giant City.

Of course, these scrolls in the Merit Shop still needed to be redeemed.

Even if they aren't summoned now, they can be kept in the inventory and summoned later when the population is sufficient.

Then, his gaze turned to a black building in the center of the territory.

The building had a streamlined shape, and its exterior looked like a tall, massive tower.

It was filled with the aesthetic beauty of a fusion between technology and magic.

[Energy Tower: Level 25] [Footprint: 78.5 square meters] [Height: 28 meters] [Effect: Can increase the temperature of a 10km diameter area by 15°C ~ 50°C] [Additional Effect: High Energy State (After activating High Energy State, it can provide an additional 20°C ~ 40°C of heating effect to the territory, but the hourly consumption increases by 3 times)] [Consumption: 2 Primary Energy Crystals per hour] [Materials required for next level: 100,000 Refined Iron, 50,000 Copper, 30,000 Mithril, 3,000 Eternal Gold Ingots, 1,000 Magic Pattern Stones, 5,000 master-level elemental crystals]

"Not bad."

"Compared to the Level 21 Energy Tower, the heating range has been directly increased from the original 5 kilometers to 10 kilometers."

"Besides that, the maximum heating temperature has also significantly improved."

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction, looked at Du An beside him, and continued, "Well done."

"Next, you should continue to lead people to upgrade these two buildings."

"Especially the Lord's Castle; upgrade it to Level 20 as soon as possible. Our territory needs more population."

This Arctic People immediately straightened his body and respectfully replied, "Understood, Lord!"

Cao Xing then looked at the resident Cao Yi beside him.

It is worth mentioning that when this old man first arrived at this territory, he was only Level 5.

After receiving special care from Cao Xing, he even possessed Tier 4 combat power.

It could be said that among all the staff in the entire territory, his level was among the highest.

Although his strength had improved significantly, Cao Yi's demeanor remained very low-key, and he never put on airs in front of other residents.

He handled various daily tasks and construction assignments personally.

Cao Xing said, "Cao Yi, you've worked hard recently."

Ever since he instructed him to take charge of all the territory's logistics work last time, the old man had been working very hard.

He managed all the affairs of the territory, big and small, in an orderly fashion.

The resident Cao Yi said modestly, "My Lord, you are too kind; this is all my duty."

"And it is also because the other residents are quite cooperative."

Cao Xing nodded slightly and continued to ask, "Currently, how is the situation in our territory?"

The old man Cao Yi replied, "Reporting to my Lord, during this time we have basically been focusing all our efforts on building the walls and upgrading them to Expert-grade Frost Walls."

"The current progress is two-thirds complete, and the last hundred or so wall sections can be finished within ten days."

"Then, we also built a total of 47 'Corrosion Arrow Towers,' which, combined with various Expert-grade Elemental Arrow Towers, can exert an effective defensive effect."

Pausing, Cao Yi continued, "Besides that, there are those large siege equipment."

"Mr. Locke the Goblin recently produced 11 Frost Catapults."

"Additionally, Mr. Harold from the blacksmith shop also crafted 8 Neros Cannons."

"These powerful pieces of equipment have all been installed on the city walls."

"Furthermore, we have also improved these catapults and cannons by installing wheels on each device, allowing them to move quickly along the city walls to support other positions."

After Cao Yi finished speaking, a look of satisfaction appeared on Cao Xing's face again.

Now, relying on these defensive structures in his territory, he was already capable of dealing with large-scale enemy attacks.

Even Hero-level powerhouses would not dare to face the concentrated fire of so many large cannons.

But… Hero-level creatures were no longer a threat to him at all; he needed power above the Legendary level. He thought to himself, "In this Merit Shop, there is actually a Legendary-quality blueprint; a blueprint of this level must be extremely powerful."

"It looks like I need to save up some merit points and find a way to redeem it."

Cao Xing continued to look at the old man before him and praised, "You all have done very well, Cao Yi."

"A while ago, I told you that the territory might undergo a large-scale expansion, moving toward developing into a large city."

"Do you have any thoughts on what I said?"

Hearing this, the old man's expression turned serious.

"Reporting to my Lord, I have recently read quite a few books on management and have gained some insights."

"However… I have only ever managed the population of a small village at most; I have absolutely no experience in managing a large city."

"I might… feel a bit inadequate."

Saying this, he raised his head and glanced at Cao Xing with some trepidation, seemingly afraid that his answer might anger his Lord.

Cao Xing smiled, his tone carrying reassurance, "It's fine. I know that managing a large city is a daunting task."

"You certainly couldn't do it alone."

"So, next, I will equip you with some relevant talent so they can learn from you, and everyone can progress together."

"If you truly encounter problems you cannot solve, I can also go to the Eternal Frost Main City and borrow some management talent from the Ice Crystal King."

"At that time, you can also consult them for relevant management experience."

He was truly thinking this. After all, relying on his relationship with the Ice Crystal King, asking to borrow a few people was something he would definitely not refuse.

Of course… whether to return the people to him later would be a matter for the future.

Hearing Cao Xing's arrangement, the old man Cao Yi's expression relaxed significantly.

He nodded, his tone carrying a hint of determination, "Then… I can try."

A look of approval appeared on Cao Xing's face, "Very good, I believe in your ability."

"However… if our territory wants to proceed with the third phase of expansion, a lot of preparatory work is still needed."

"Next, I have a task to entrust to you."

Cao Yi immediately straightened his body and said solemnly, "My Lord, please give your command."

Cao Xing said slowly, "In a moment, go pick a few people and head to various parts of the Gale Snowfield to receive all the refugees whose villages or towns have been destroyed."

"If you encounter any fleeing soldiers on the road, you can bring them back as well."

"Tell them that we have a prosperous and stable territory here, where they can eat their fill and keep warm, without having to worry about the threats of those beasts and monsters."

Although this old man only had Tier 4 combat power, after receiving various blessings, his true combat power was capable of crushing a Tier 10 Mutant Overlord.

Even if he just took a few staff members out, he could sweep across the entire Gale Snowfield.

Cao Yi also understood the importance of this matter and immediately replied respectfully, "Yes, my Lord!"

"I will go out and execute it immediately."

As he spoke, a pair of Wind Wings appeared behind the old man, carrying him at extreme speed to the wall position.

Then, he selected a few young men who were working and were strong and healthy.

After giving a few instructions, he took them and flew out of the territory together.

As for Cao Yi's professional ability, Cao Xing did not need to worry at all.

Presumably, soon, a large population would arrive at his territory.

"However… a population explosion also means that the resources consumed daily will increase exponentially."

"With over ten thousand people, the consumption just for food is an astronomical figure."

"Plus, I am also preparing to expand into a Giant City next, and the resources required for that are even more massive."

Thinking of this, the figure of King Velen could not help but appear in Cao Xing's mind.

"This guy said last time that he transferred the kingdom's resources to another hidden location."

"Hopefully… the resources there are enough to support me in completing the third phase of expansion."