Chapter 49 – Dolai's Development Training

「Prompt: Your troop ‘Archer (Common ★★)’ has undergone transformation while bathed in Miracle Light and has been promoted to ‘Sharpshooter (Rare ★)’.」

「Prompt: Your troop Sharpshooter has learned the skills ‘Charged Arrow’ and ‘Triple Shot’.」

Similar to when the Sentry Guard evolved, the promoted Sharpshooter also possessed two skills. This was likely the standard for rare troops in his territory.

However, these two skills of the Sharpshooter were quite common.

On the forums, the standard skills for Sharpshooters were mostly one of these two.

After leveling up, the Sharpshooter wore leather boots, was clad in light armor that covered every inch without leaving a single gap—making it nearly impossible to distinguish gender—and donned a gray helmet. It held a war bow over a meter long and carried a short saber at its waist. Although its equipment wasn’t as luxurious as that of the Imperial Guard, it still appeared quite costly. If ordered from other lords, who knew how much Soul Sand such a set of equipment would cost.

“Not bad, really not bad.”

Mu Yuan was quite satisfied, and he believed Undead General was too. The Undead General loved this kind of long-range, sneaky profession the most.

“However, the Sharpshooter’s Rank is still very low. To truly be useful, its Rank needs to be raised.”

“Let them train slowly.Following the territory’s customs, Mu Yuan planned to assign code names to the first Imperial Guard and the first Sharpshooter to improve their recognition.

He began burning his brain cells.

Suddenly, the Imperial Guard spoke, its voice very low, as if muttering.

“Lu… Liu…”

“What did you say?”

“Number… Lu… Liu…”

Mu Yuan had initially thought the Imperial Guard also had the makings of an Emperor, awakening self-awareness after just one evolution, but that wasn’t the case. The Imperial Guard merely kept repeating, murmuring the same words.

Beside it, the newly evolved Sharpshooter was the same, muttering to itself, “Ten… seven… seventeen…”

They might have gained a bit of intelligence, but they were still far from truly awakening self-awareness. The words they could speak were limited to these few, the rest being unclear.

“But what do Lu Liu and Seventeen mean? Some kind of numbering system?”

“Could troops have mysteries from past lives?”

Although he couldn’t figure it out, Mu Yuan didn’t dwell on it. He was still a newbie who had been in this world for less than eight days, neither capable nor inclined to explore the world’s mysteries.

When he became stronger, all mysteries would naturally reveal themselves.

But since they kept repeating these two numbers, he decided to name the Imperial Guard Lu Liu and the Sharpshooter Seventeen.

Deadbone, Dolai, Asun, Lu Liu, Seventeen.

His team was growing larger and larger.

…

That night, Mu Yuan stayed up until three or four in the morning, yet the next day he was still full of energy, feeling like he could pull all-nighters for several days without any issue.

Such was the charm of the Nine Profound Nurturing Fluid!

Mu Yuan even coveted the idea of exchanging for more. This nurturing fluid only begins to diminish in effect after three consecutive uses.

True top-tier second-generation heirs had probably chugged several bottles long ago.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford it anymore; the remaining Contribution Points were needed everywhere.The next day, Mu Yuan began using his Soul Crystal Coins to purchase Remnant Souls on the forum, primarily targeting those of the Falcon, Little Skeleton, and Slime. As for the Remnant Souls of Sentinels and Archers? They were too expensive and not yet on his procurement list.

His acquisition pace was slow, and he occasionally sold off some Remnant Souls and Materials in small quantities.

He also sold the Shaman’s Inheritance Stone for 1.8 Soul Crystals, which was considerably lower than the price of Remnant Souls for units of the same class. But who could blame it? The Shaman was just a bit lacking in appearance.

Even with some income, Mu Yuan couldn’t afford to purchase too many Remnant Souls, as his Soul Crystal Coins still needed to be allocated toward ordering standard equipment.

He placed an order with a reputable Transcendent Group, commissioning Skeleton Soldier armor, Bone Spears for throwing, War Bows, shields, and more.

He was quite frugal with his orders, totaling only about ten to twenty sets of various equipment. Only consumables like Bone Spears and arrows were purchased in slightly larger quantities. Even so, this cost him over two Soul Crystal Coins, not including the cross-realm delivery fee to the Eternal World.

“Such a money drain!”

“No wonder they say the path of an individual Lord is difficult. Managing a territory does generate income, but Lords who take the individual route often get overwhelmed by various expenses before they can reach the stage of making substantial profits.”

Mu Yuan had no choice but to exchange some Contribution Points for a few more Soul Crystal Coins, as he still had upcoming expenses.

He had some plans.

To carry them out, he needed to move to a new residence. In his current old apartment, he couldn’t even summon Deadbone without hesitation, let alone execute his plans.

…

For the entire day, Mu Yuan barely managed his in-game territory, leaving it entirely to Deadbone to oversee exploration and combat.

He was busy with moving and procuring supplies.

He sold some Soul Sand to obtain Xuan Nation Coins and rented a standalone villa from the Association, specifically designed for players. It included facilities like an underground Training Ground and offered a high level of privacy.

Quickly, Mu Yuan packed his computer, phone, clothes, and other essentials, completing the move and settling in within a single day.

“Renting is manageable, but buying is entirely unnecessary.”

After all, once Lord players reach a certain stage, they can physically enter the Eternal World, which also benefits their subsequent self-improvement. He’d heard that truly Advanced players spend most of their year in the Eternal World.

Owning property there is far more important than owning property in the real world.

He’d heard that housing prices in some major cities had already skyrocketed.

After moving, Mu Yuan ordered another batch of supplies, wiped his sweat, and sat down in front of his computer.

Meanwhile, in the Eternal World, Deadbone was still leading the team on explorations, working hard to earn money and support the household.

As instructed, Dolai was diligently training the skill it had Awakened the previous day, ‘Liquid Form Shaping.’

Dolai possessed two skills. While Leap Strike was relatively straightforward—even when mastered, it merely meant faster leaps and more precise landings—Liquid Form Shaping was different. Like the neighboring Undead Resurrection, it was an Advanced skill with multiple applications and immense potential waiting to be tapped.

The previous day, Dolai had learned to use Liquid Form Shaping to mold arms for combat.

However, Mu Yuan suspected that Dolai mastered arm-shaping so quickly mainly because it needed hands to pick things up.

“Shaping can be used to create arms, armor, or even allow Dolai to expand or contract its body, freely altering its form.”It was like a piece of modeling clay that could be kneaded and reshaped at will.

One day, it might even be molded into Dolai Battle Armor for him to wear, or condensed into liquid wings.

However, Dolai was not yet capable of such refined manipulations.

During training, Mu Yuan also discovered some limitations in liquid condensation and shaping. While it could be molded into any form, constrained by Dolai’s own physical nature, no matter how it was shaped, it remained soft and pliable.

Even if it formed the appearance of rock armor, its core essence remained unchanged.

Most of the time, Dolai’s lethality came from the impact force of its massive body.

It had no trouble dealing with fragile enemies like ordinary Goblins and Goblin Spear Throwers—a single slap could crush them like swatting flies.

But when facing a thick-skinned and sturdy Great Goblin, Dolai’s attacks were far less effective. Of course, the Great Goblin’s punches, no matter how powerful, could only cause ripples across Dolai’s body.

If the two were to engage in a prolonged battle, they could fight for three hundred rounds until the stars faded, and there would still be no clear winner.

“Dolai’s weakness lies in its softness. But if—if Dolai could alternate between soft and hard, it could use its shaping ability to form sturdy armor, easily resisting Saber and Sword damage. It could also harden its palms during attacks to enhance slapping power.”

“Moreover, it could shape its condensed liquid into spikes and, at the moment of contact with an enemy, harden them into true sharp weapons, piercing through the target in one strike.”

The idea was perfect—all that was missing was making Dolai hard.

But how to achieve that hardness?

“If Dolai Devours enough steel, could it become as hard as steel when shaping itself?”

Mu Yuan thought it was worth a try.

(End of Chapter)