Chapter 4 – Evolution Points, Show Me Your Limits!

The guides on the hidden forums and the tragic experiences of numerous players all highlight the dangers of the Eternal Continent.

Venturing out to explore and risking everything might lead to a quicker death, but hiding within one’s territory won’t guarantee safety forever.

Half a day, one day, two days—sooner or later, a newly established territory will be discovered by wild monsters, followed by constant harassment and invasions.

Mu Yuan was well aware that his dilapidated village would eventually be invaded, but…

Couldn’t it have been a little slower?

He had already accumulated 0.88 Evolution Points—just a little more! Damn it!

He feared that his skeletons, which had the potential of an Emperor, would be wiped out before they could fully grow. Unfortunately, worrying was futile. The enemy forces would arrive at the battlefield in thirty seconds, and he had no choice but to face them.

“Stay alert!”

He issued the command to all the Little Skeletons and carefully observed each one. Sure enough, a few foolishly clumsy skeletons brandished their machetes, eager to charge out of the village and engage the invaders in a life-or-death battle.

Mu Yuan quickly dragged them back with a swift mouse selection.

He had taught them this before! Damn it!

The Little Skeleton tilted its head, its hollow eye sockets flickering with confusion and bewilderment.

Mu Yuan: “…” Never mind, it was all within expectations.

The dilapidated village had plenty of places to hide, but expecting these skeletons to ambush from the shadows and deliver a fatal blow to the enemy was unrealistic.

After all, the direct commands he could give were limited to “move,” “attack,” and “defend.” Any other actions heavily relied on the troops’ own Comprehension Ability.

The Door-Shield Skeleton—the one with intelligence far surpassing its peers and the potential of an Emperor—stood firmly in front of the trap area, holding a saber in one hand and a door shield in the other.

Excellent, very perceptive!

Mu Yuan arranged his troops in a simple formation and controlled his own character to hide in a concealed spot.

Staying alive wasn’t something to be ashamed of.

By this time, the wolf pack had already entered the village. Their fierce eyes scanned the area and soon locked onto the most conspicuous Door-Shield Skeleton.

“Thirteen gray wolves… This isn’t looking good.”

Mu Yuan’s expression turned grim.

「Gray Wolf (Common ★): A common beast at the bottom of the Eternal Continent’s food chain.」

Admittedly, these gray wolves looked malnourished, and their description made them seem like weaklings, but… his Little Skeletons were also low-tier cannon fodder troops, and they were outnumbered.

This battle was going to be tough.

With the advantage in numbers, the gray wolves grew increasingly ferocious, quickly shifting from a slow walk to a sprinting pounce.

They were here!

They fell into the traps!

A pit collapsed, and one gray wolf tumbled into it. The sharpened wooden stakes pierced its skin, and blood trickled out. However, the other wolves nimbly swerved to avoid the pit. Occasionally, one or two failed to brake in time and fell in, but they leaped out by stepping on the wolf below, causing the unfortunate creature to howl in pain.

The other rudimentary traps also had minimal effect. Soon, the gray wolves and the Little Skeletons were locked in close combat.These gray wolves possessed sharp claws and fangs, with agile movements. In open terrain, they could likely overwhelm the Little Skeleton with their speed advantage. Fortunately, the village environment was complex, and Mu Yuan had long positioned the Little Skeletons in various ‘pits,’ backed against large trees or houses, using the terrain to their advantage against the gray wolves.

The two sides quickly clashed in a melee, and the scene could only be described as…

A battle of amateurs.

The Little Skeleton’s fighting style was utterly chaotic, wildly swinging a rusted machete without any technique. However, the wild gray wolves weren’t much smarter either. They pounced and bit at the skeleton, sinking their teeth fiercely into its bones. Even if they managed to snap a rib or two, it had no effect on the painless skeleton, which would retaliate with a swing of its saber.

The wild wolves were slashed until they bled profusely, leaving gruesome wounds.

But it wasn’t enough.

Even though the Little Skeleton held a slight advantage with its reckless, injury-for-injury fighting style, its body was continuously taking damage. Moreover, the gray wolves outnumbered them, and continuing like this would inevitably lead to losses.

This was his diligent point-generating machine—how could Mu Yuan afford such losses?!

“We must concentrate firepower and eliminate some of the gray wolves first.”

At this moment, the Door-Shield Skeleton was exceptionally formidable. Wielding its massive door shield and relying on the fortifications, it managed to hold off four gray wolves single-handedly, even intimidating them at times.

Impressive.

But Mu Yuan didn’t dispatch other skeletons to reinforce it. Instead, he turned his attention to the other battlefields—where Little Skeletons were engaged in fierce combat with gray wolves in small groups, locked in a stalemate.

“In battle, we must outnumber the enemy and strike the weak with the strong. Only by concentrating firepower to break through one point can we build momentum like a snowball.”

Mu Yuan began micromanaging.

His options were limited, but he could order the Little Skeletons to constantly switch battlefields.

Some Little Skeletons with high aggro entered defensive mode, leaning against obstacles and holding their ground, while three or four others were quickly regrouped into a squad and sent to attack the nearest gray wolves.

Under the flurry of saber strikes, the first victimized wolf soon whimpered and collapsed, its flesh mangled.

Then the second, and the third.

Simultaneously, more skeletal combatants were freed up, and Mu Yuan directed them swiftly to the next battlefield.

His eyes darted around, his fingers tapping as he rapidly switched between shortcut commands—sometimes grouping units, sometimes dispatching one or two Little Skeletons to reinforce comrades on the verge of collapse.

Soon, over half of the gray wolves had fallen, and yet, aside from two skeletons limping, his forces had suffered no casualties.

It was already a crushing advantage!

But to Mu Yuan’s surprise, despite such a dire situation, the gray wolves showed no intention of tucking their tails and fleeing. Their eyes grew increasingly bloodshot, radiating a ferocious, suicidal aura.

They truly had no regard for their lives.

One gray wolf threw itself recklessly at the Door-Shield Skeleton, its icy claws slashing down fiercely. The sturdy door shield, already battered from numerous attacks, shattered with a loud crash.

The Door-Shield Skeleton froze. It did possess some intelligence, but the current situation exceeded its processing capabilities. As the gray wolf lunged at it, the skeleton grabbed its machete and charged forward.

Incredibly brave!

But… this was far too reckless.

As it turned out, setting aside its intelligence, it was only at the level of an ordinary Little Skeleton, far from capable of taking on four enemies alone. It was quickly pinned to the ground by the gray wolves, relentlessly torn at.

Critical situation!By the time Mu Yuan promptly dispatched other skeletons to reinforce, Door-Shield Skeleton had already had a section of its arm bitten off. If the gray wolves hadn’t been too dim-witted to aim for the head, this somewhat intelligent skeleton would have long since met its demise.

“You need to play it safe! Only by surviving can you deal damage, understand?!”

“We don’t need to adhere to any chivalry when dealing with enemies. Learn to utilize all available resources—dig pits when necessary, scatter lime when called for, gang up on foes when appropriate. Only those who survive till the end are the true victors!”

This was his General, after all!

If Door-Shield Skeleton had been more cautious, even if its shield got shattered, it wouldn’t have fallen into a life-threatening crisis within mere seconds.

Regardless of whether the skeletons could comprehend him, Mu Yuan launched into a lecture, expounding on the Dao of playing safe, from the basics of steadiness to burying enemies in the dirt, before finally taking a sip of water to conclude.

On the Eternal Continent, noticing that the Lord had left to inspect the territory, Door-Shield Skeleton thoughtfully scratched its skull, a glint of wisdom flickering in its eyes.

…

Compared to the early encounters of most players on the forums, Mu Yuan’s battle was far more perilous, having faced an assault by thirteen gray wolves at once.

Yet he achieved remarkable results.

All Little Skeletons survived.

This was thanks to early preparations and Door-Shield Skeleton’s bravery, but even more so to his meticulous command.

If the Little Skeletons had fought the gray wolves in a chaotic melee on their own, even if they could have won, few would have survived.

However, most Little Skeletons were also severely injured, with some already ‘critically wounded,’ their heads nearly detached.

“Don’t panic. As long as they’re not dead, it’s fine.”

“Injured units can slowly recover by relying on Soul Sand, and Soul Sand…”

From the thirteen slain gray wolves, nine emitted faint, shimmering lights.

Mu Yuan controlled his character and, under the protection of two fully combat-ready Little Skeletons, stepped forward to collect them one by one.

「Acquired 1.5g of Soul Sand.」

「Acquired 0.8g of Soul Sand.」

「Acquired 1.1g of Soul Sand.」

「Acquired…」

One after another, crystals resembling grains of sand, shimmering with a magnificent luster, appeared.

Mu Yuan distributed these Soul Sands to the injured skeletons. How to use them seemed to be an innate instinct of the units; he didn’t need to teach them, nor could he.

Mu Yuan could only urge them to recover as quickly as possible.

“Low-tier units recover relatively fast, but it still takes at least several hours. Severely injured ones will need half a day to a full day.”

“To shorten this time, one would need units with healing abilities, but such units are even rarer and harder to find.”

“During this recovery period, players’ combat strength is significantly reduced, making them more vulnerable if attacked by monsters. Moreover, some players lost units in battle, which is a permanent loss.”

“If gains fall short of losses, players will spiral downward, trapped in a vicious cycle until they meet their end.”

In this battle, they defeated a considerable number of gray wolves and reaped substantial rewards.

Even after deducting the consumption for recovery, Mu Yuan estimated that the remaining Soul Sand should be enough to train one or two Level 2 skeletons.

Some players on the forums had trained Little Skeletons to Level 2, noting that their movements became noticeably less clumsy, their stature slightly increased, their bones gained more luster, and their combat power saw a significant boost.

Clearly, even Little Skeletons could develop considerable strength through continuous leveling up.

However, absorbing Soul Sand to level up also requires time.

And time was precisely what he lacked most right now. So why not…

“Evolution Points, show me your limits!”(End of Chapter)