As it turned out, Qin Muye was too hasty; transforming six Spirit Monster workshops into Magic Energy Spirit Monster workshops wasn't a problem, the problem was that he had run out of money.
First off, he needed an additional 70 Gold Coins to transform 49 Spirit Monsters into Magic Energy Spirit Monsters. With the money he collected yesterday and today, minus the change, he had only 5,000 Gold Coins. Just for the existing Spirit Monsters in the Mage Tower Territory, it would cost 3,430 Gold Coins, plus the 10 Spirit Monsters led by Demon Blood would total a cost of 4,130 Gold Coins.
Even including the 2,000 Gold Coins that would be produced by the two Gold Mines tomorrow, at most he could only recruit 20 Magic Energy Spirit Monsters.
So, even if the troop production rate of the Magic Energy Spirit Monster workshop truly increased from 10 to 100, he wouldn't have enough Gold Coins to recruit them.
This gave Qin Muye quite a headache. He had been focused on research, thinking Special Resources would be his bottleneck, but it never occurred to him that Gold Coins would limit his progress.
In fact, over these past days, Gold Coins seemed to be the least useful Basic Resource to Qin Muye.
"It really is the case that a lack of money can stump a hero," Qin Muye sighed, feeling it really shouldn't be this way.
However, he didn't think too much about it, believing there's always a solution to a problem. Although he realized its importance later than he should have, he recognized that research also required funding.
The Magic Energy Spirit Monsters could still be further transformed. As of now, using fantasy terms, these Magic Energy Spirit Monsters were about at Mid-Level 1, and could still be elevated to Late-Level 1.
However, this would require more in-depth study and research from Qin Muye. In his estimation, he could probably push their Attack And Defense Attributes to 10 points and acquire another related Skill.
If he could also add two Academic Research upgrades, that would be quite impressive.
Furthermore, the creatures could later be trained in training grounds to become Elite Level Troops.
"I'm not only short of money, materials, and resources, but also heroes..."
With only Demon Blood busy running around, Qin Muye didn't feel very secure. Today was the seventh day, the last day of the newbie period.
After today, the only benefit left would be that wild creatures wouldn't actively attack his territory.
This meant that for the next 23 days, he must confront not only surprise attacks from other Lords, but also targeted actions from the natives.
Indeed, in Qin Muye's view, the natives were also hidden adversaries rather than collaborators.
From Molik Copperbeard's attitude, it was evident that the natives were constrained by the "Lord Era" rules and were all real beings. If Qin Muye were in their place, he would be disgruntled too.
For example, the time they reluctantly sold him something as they passed by, but were compelled to do so because of the rules.
But rules don't mean the natives have no way to target Lords; this world isn't owned by the Lords favored by fate, it's not impossible for them to find ways to scheme against them.
"What's more important is the lack of time."
Qin Muye knew his situation well; there was no point talking about his fighting ability, being chased by a goose or struggling to kill a chicken with his weak hands. If it weren't for his Learning Ability and Academic Research strengths, he'd indeed be useless.
So the thought of having to fight wars later, not only against other Lords but also against these natives, was indeed very troubling.
He didn't harbor any illusions that the natives would accept them. From Molik Copperbeard's and the earlier attitude of the Wisdom Tree, the former's dissatisfaction was obvious, and although the latter seemed kind, there was hidden sharpness, clearly more intent on using and rejecting the gifted Lords.
Therefore, Qin Muye surmised that they were likely invaders, or else the treatment wouldn't be so poor.
"Indeed, it's the Spirit Monsters under my command that I trust the most..." Qin Muye heaved a sigh, aware that his rise relied on means outside the "Lord Era," but at present he was still very weak and couldn't detach from his identity as a gifted Lord, so his foundation remained in this "Lord Game."
This action of his was probably akin to freeloading.
As dusk approached, Demon Blood also returned with the 10 Spirit Monsters. Seeing the originally diminutive Spirit Monsters transformed into human-sized Magic Energy Spirit Monsters, he was taken aback, not expecting such a drastic change.
As a Hero unit, he could clearly feel the Magic Power and Elemental Power within the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters, inducing a qualitative change in them.
However, he didn't ask too much and went to report to Qin Muye with his findings.
The harvest was indeed substantial, after all, it was the result of a day and night's work. Of course, it seemed abundant compared to what they had before.
Qin Muye himself checked the items while he told Demon Blood to go rest and recuperate. Demon Blood had also reached Level 4, barely sufficient. After today, things wouldn't be the same, and Demon Blood would need to contribute his strength, so naturally, he needed to rest while there was still time.
And the remaining 10 Spirit Monsters were assigned to be transformed into Magic Energy Spirit Monsters, costing another 700 Gold Coins, which made Qin Muye's Gold Coin tally dwindle even further.
"3 Basic Treasures, 2 Level 1 Magic Scrolls, 1 Building Blueprint, that's quite a bit."
As for Basic Resources and Special Resources, Qin Muye didn't bother to do an inventory; the former in total were only about 3,000, averaging around one thousand per type, and as for the latter, their combined total didn't even break three digits.
[Standard Shield]
[Level: Basic]
[Attribute]
[Defensive Power +2]
A shield, this Basic Treasure made Qin Muye smile wryly. What was Magic Blood thinking? Couldn't he have just equipped it himself instead of involving Qin Muye as a middleman?
[Apprentice Robe]
[Level: Basic]
[Attribute]
[Knowledge +1]
[Defensive Power +1]
This Apprentice Robe brought genuine joy to Qin Muye. It was finally something he could wear. He could indeed wear standard armor, but the problem was, the armor was too heavy. He could manage it for a short while, but not for an entire day.
He dressed in it contentedly; the +1 to Defensive Power was an unprecedented breakthrough.
[Apprentice Magic Wand]
[Level: Basic]
[Attribute]
[Power +2]
"I thought this thing was a fire stick, who would have thought it was actually a magic wand?"
2 points of Power was quite nice, his Power was still 0 up to now. After equipping it, his Magic Damage and Magic Effect increased substantially, especially for the Magic Divine Arrow spell, which went from 10 points to 30 points—more than what he managed through hard training.
"There are also two Magic Scrolls, a Level 1 Water System Magic·Healing and a Level 1 Qi System Magic·Attack Acceleration."
"If it were a Magic Book it would be easier, Magic Scrolls are a bit hard to learn, plus they're of the Water System and Qi System..."
"But once you've mastered one spell, you've got a path to mastering many. Let's start learning Healing for now. Looks like I'm in for another all-nighter. Hopefully, I can manage it in time."
If he mastered the Level 1 Water System Magic Healing, the survivability of Demon Blood and his Magic Energy Spirit Monsters would improve greatly.
[Magic Scroll·Healing]
[Magic Level: 1]
[Effect: Restores 10 Life Points to an allied troop]
[Magic Scroll·Attack Acceleration]
[Magic Level: 1]
[Effect: Increases the speed of a selected allied troop by 3 points, lasting for 10 minutes]