At noon, Xia Tian ate the meat of the "Black and White Dragon Pheasant."
It must be said that, as expected of a creature that is both an "exotic species" and has undergone "transformation," the meat had a remarkably "chewy" texture. Even with his physique, which was roughly five times that of an ordinary human, he had to chew for a long time before he could swallow it.
However, the nutrients contained within were also astonishing. After eating just a small piece of meat, Xia Tian felt his whole body heat up. He took the opportunity to practice the "Five Animal Play," and in just half an hour, his physique increased by "0.5."
It's important to know that the higher one's physique attribute, the smaller the increase with each training session. With the meat of this "Black and White Dragon Pheasant," he would probably soon reach the eighth or even ninth rank!
By the afternoon,
Wu Song finally awoke from his "drunkenness," and his physique increased from "10.2" to "10.5."
Although the numerical increase wasn't significant, this was a further breakthrough in the "limit" state of the human body. Relying on the enhanced perception from the "Five Animal Play," Xia Tian could feel that Wu Song's blood and qi throughout his body were becoming increasingly active, and a seemingly invisible force was brewing within his body!
And with the "strongest expert in the territory" back in position, Xia Tian no longer delayed and began to "upgrade the territory."
"Do you want to use '1000 points of destiny power' to upgrade your territory from 'stockade' to 'village'?"
"Yes!"
Xia Tian chose to confirm.
Immediately, he saw the value representing the power of destiny in the territory attribute panel rapidly decrease.
At the same time, a thousand white light spots, transformed from the power of destiny, appeared in the territory. Like fireflies on a pilgrimage, they danced across the sky, gathering above the territory to form a small flame!
"Flame of Destiny"
"Attribute: Guidance (Guides humans who enter a ten-mile radius)"
"Description: The core of destiny for a human territory, a symbol of the accumulated beliefs of a large number of humans."
Although this flame was small, only the size of a fist,
its emitted light was very conspicuous. Whether day or night, it could be noticed even from a great distance.
Most importantly, for humans, once they entered the radiation range of this "Flame of Destiny," they would know in their minds that this was a human "territory" where they could come to seek "shelter"!
"This is not bad; at least it won't miss any people who come nearby!"
Xia Tian expressed great satisfaction with this point.
"Look, what's that?"
In fact, just as the "Flame of Destiny" in his territory had finished condensing,
about five miles from the territory, by a river that flowed through the jungle, a group of soldiers who were drinking water seemed to sense something.
Suddenly, one by one, they raised their heads, looking up in astonishment at the "Flame of Destiny" that had risen into the sky, shimmering like a star!
"What's that? Is it 'Venus'?"
"How could it be 'Venus'? It's still so early! Besides, aren't we no longer in our original world...?"
"Huh, do you feel it? A place of refuge, capable of providing food and shelter for humans, avoiding attacks from alien race and fierce beasts..."
One by one, the soldiers, who had been searching in the jungle for most of the day with no results, were already physically and mentally exhausted, and some were injured from several attacks. After perceiving the information that appeared in their minds, their dispirited expressions suddenly brightened.
"Commander Hua, let's go take a look!"
"Yes, Commander Hua, since there's a human territory here, maybe we can find information about the missing child there?"
The eyes of the soldiers were eager, all focused on Hua Rong, who was clad in silver armor and wielded a silver spear, with a bow on his back and arrows in his quiver... Meanwhile, in the territory, Xia Tian was studying the second important change after the upgrade.
That is, after the territory upgraded to a "medium village," the area of the "Protective Shield" would also expand. Initially, the shield's range was centered on the lord's mansion, with a radius of one hundred meters, which was roughly just over thirty thousand square meters.
Now, after the upgrade, the maximum area the shield could cover would be one square kilometer.
Yes, one square kilometer!
It might not sound large, but considering that the current population of the territory is only a hundred people, it is undoubtedly very vast.
Among other things, at least when it comes to constructing territory buildings, there's no longer any need to worry about insufficient open space requiring construction outside the shield.
However, it's worth mentioning that this "one square kilometer" of territory is not directly acquired, but rather requires the lord to "occupy" it through their own strength!
That's right, it needs to be "occupied" by oneself.
According to the information in his mind, the upgraded territory could activate "external expansion" mode.
After occupying surrounding areas, under certain conditions, the "shield" could also expand, thereby incorporating it into the territory's range.
For example, the area where the "quarry" is located, because the "Black and White Dragon Pheasant" that originally occupied it has been killed, and there are no other threatening creatures around, Xia Tian can directly expand the protective shield over it.
Another example is the "Golden Bees"; since they already belong to the territory's affiliated exotic species, their territory can also be directly incorporated into the territory.
"It seems my previous idea was correct. The will of Earth clearly hopes that lords will be enterprising, rather than shrinking within the protective shield to enjoy pleasure and debauchery."
Xia Tian's eyes lit up, and he became even more certain of his initial viewpoint.
Of course, strictly speaking, the will of Earth itself does not have independent consciousness, but is a special integration of the collective consciousness of all humanity on Earth.
Its purpose is simply to allow humans from Earth to eventually gain a firm foothold in the Eternal Land, to procreate forever, and ideally to reach the pinnacle of the Eternal Land, becoming the fated race that dominates this world.
"However, this method is indeed very good. It's highly operable and full of challenges for both the territory and the lord!"
Among other things, just figuring out how to find the most resource-rich areas around the territory to occupy is a challenge.
And the richer the resource area, the more likely it is to have powerful creatures, so the territory's combat capability must meet the corresponding standards.
More importantly, the lord must know how to make reasonable trade-offs.
Because "one square kilometer" is the total area the territory can expand to at this stage. If the expanded territory is then occupied by enemies, the process of reclaiming it will require consuming "area" again.
Moreover, it is already the third day; after seven days, the effect of the territory's "Protective Barrier" will weaken, only able to block the invasion of high-level creatures.
If it expands excessively, leading to insufficient troops to defend the occupied territory, not only might the new territory be taken by exotic races or species, but the territory itself would also be at risk of annihilation!
Of course, in addition to the two changes, a territory upgrade would naturally not lack rewards from the will of Earth.
"Your territory has been successfully upgraded. You have received: Specified Basic Building Blueprint (Blue), Talent Recruitment Order (Blue), 3000 units of Specified Basic Resources."
"Before upgrading, your territory already possessed one top-potential silver-tier talent, five blue-tier talents, fourteen green-tier human elites... You successfully subdued a top-potential exotic species, you successfully annihilated a superior-potential exotic species... You successfully defeated a group of relatively weak exotic races, you successfully defeated a group of quite powerful exotic races..."
"Because you performed exceptionally well during the territory upgrade process, you have received a reward granted by the will of Earth: one wondrous building (silver quality)."
"A silver wondrous building?"
Xia Tian's eyes immediately lit up.
It should be known that of the three wondrous items he currently possessed, besides the "Sun Gold Bottle" being green quality, the "Mist Concealment Pearl" and the "Stone of Protection" were only white quality!
And the reward for the territory upgrade was actually a "silver quality" wondrous building?
This was too surprising!
"Based on the status of your territory, three suitable silver wondrous buildings have been selected for you. Please choose one."
"Hmm, another three-choice option?"
Xia Tian recalled when he first chose his lord's talent; all three talents could be described as "god-tier."
What would be the situation with this wondrous building this time?