Another busy day had passed, and it was already Qin Muye's 11th day on the Magic Continent.
Opening the leaderboard, his own force's overall strength was still at the 1st Elite Level and hadn't become the 1st Rank Champion. However, his rank had advanced quite a bit, climbing from 267th to 203rd, probably due to the contribution of the 200 Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters and the full armament of all Magic Energy Spirit Monsters.
This showed that the lords ahead of him were terrifyingly strong.
Especially in the monster siege velocity ranking gained this time, the top three were still the True Dragon Emperor, the Exorcist, and Wang Junzi. He had no idea how these people could achieve such a fearsome speed in killing monsters.
What does 0.1 second mean? He couldn't even blink that fast.
As for his rank on the velocity leaderboard... he didn't make the list at all. Unlike the general leaderboard that recorded all the lords, this one only recorded the top ten, with the 10th place having an average speed of 43 seconds.
"So many have died again... If this keeps up, I'll soon be at the bottom," Qin Muye said somewhat helplessly. After three waves of monster siege events, there were now only 371 lords left. Today's fourth wave would undoubtedly be more difficult; it might knock some off the top, leaving just 300.
And that was just one event, not even truly touching the original inhabitants' system of the Magic Continent.
Qin Muye even suspected it was some kind of a gu-raising game, otherwise, why would it be so vicious?
"The strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker..." he murmured.
The stronger the overall strength, the stronger they were against the wild beasts in the monster sieges, and naturally, the rewards obtained after killing them were much better. The rewards for 3rd Level wild beasts were simply not the same as those for his 1st Level beasts.
Now, after three waves of monster sieges, the top ten on the leaderboard had reached the 3rd Level, especially the True Dragon Emperor in first place, who had already become Elite 3rd Level.
From this, Qin Muye guessed that the other party must be at least Level 30+ with a 3rd Level territory; otherwise, it would have been impossible to achieve a 3rd Level evaluation.
A territory is the reality behind the comprehensive evaluation. He also wanted to level up, but he didn't have the guts. His territory was so cramped that he couldn't even walk properly, let alone upgrade to 2nd Level. Even surviving this monster siege as the 1st Rank Champion seemed unlikely.
Who knew how much more difficult it would become?
"I'm starting to wonder if these people are cheating. Or is the disparity in territories really that huge?"
Qin Muye knew his Mage Tower Territory couldn't compare to those leaders on the leaderboard. There might have been balance at the beginning, and while he could find a strategy to break through, so could others. He was not exceptionally clever, nor were the others fools.
Everyone has their own opportunities, and rising to prominence is quite normal. One cannot assume others cannot achieve something just because one has failed.
"The damaged Mage Tower comes with a Magic Pool, although it's dried up and needs repairing. I don't even know what those other territories like the Holy Dragon Nest or the Sin Temple started with, but they must be good things," he couldn't help but feel envious. One step ahead is all it takes to stay ahead.
Qin Muye was an example of being one step behind, and it showed that if he hadn't broken through, he would probably have ended up like those lords who disappeared from the leaderboard.
"I need to figure out a way to repair the Magic Pool. The other resources are manageable, but where to find Earth, Water, Fire, Wind Element Cores? They're not for sale in the Points Shop or the Trading House, and it's not easy to obtain resources nearby right now. It's really difficult," Qin Muye admitted, feeling quite frustrated.
From the description of the Magic Pool, it appeared to be the core structure of the Mage Tower.
The lords near the top of the ranking likely had them or knew how to obtain them, but the problem was they might not be willing to divulge that.
Furthermore, he had no means of communication or exchange; even if there were willing traders, it was impossible to conduct business.
And he also had no money to buy.
Such an Element Core, without even thinking, one would know it was surely a rare item.
"Can only wait for Molike to come back next time and ask, but this Molike is untrustworthy too, who knows if he'll suddenly turn violent," Qin Muye was always cautious of everyone, especially when they were stronger than himself.
Traveling merchants are not incapable of transforming into bandits, Qin Muye's territory was isolated without a village in front or a shop behind, and as a heaven-sent Lord, if someone meant to kill and plunder, no one would know, and even if they did, they would downplay the incident.
"In summary, it's still the same sentence, 'To forge iron, one must be strong oneself!'"
"After those 400 Magic Energy Spirit Monsters are all transformed into Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters, I should possess the strength to protect myself... I guess."
Alright, no matter how strong, they're only Level 1 troops, and even if they underwent transformation and training, they could only match, not genuinely become Level 2 troops.
He needed enough time and knowledge to further improve the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters.
Now that he had obtained the Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters, Qin Muye also acquired plenty of Level 1 extreme data; all he needed now was to settle and refine it to upgrade the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters to Level 2 troops.
Qin Muye didn't plan to transform all the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters into Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters, he still intended to use the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters as the base sample, after all, although their attributes were not as good as the Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters', their plasticity, potential, and applicability were far superior.
He estimated that it would suffice to have about 1000 Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters on standby, led by Demon Blood.
Furthermore, these Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters were essentially a sub-species derived from Demon Blood Spirit Monsters, still technically falling within the category of Demon Blood Spirit Monsters.
Just like the Skeleton Archers and Skeleton Warriors may have different names, they are still Level 1 troops like the Skeleton Soldiers.
So as long as Qin Muye upgraded the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters to Level 2, he could naturally do the same for the Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters, saving quite a bit of cost.
"After this monster siege event is over, I'll upgrade the Mage Tower to Level 2; then I'll be able to strengthen Spirit Monsters, though I guess the gains will probably be minuscule."
The "Spirit Monster Experiment Manual" and "Advanced Spirit Monster Experiment Manual" Qin Muye had were pretty good, but unfortunately, they required a Level 2 Territory.
As long as he didn't die this time, reaching Level 10 was quite simple.
It's just that he didn't quite understand this experience increase rate, nor did he know what experience model it was based on.
As he was pondering this, the time for today's monster siege event had also arrived; as the clock hit zero, Qin Muye looked at the newly refreshed notification, cursing in his heart.
"Damn, a Hero unit!"
[Wave 4, Your Comprehensive Strength: Elite Level 1, This Round's Monsters: Elite Level 1 Skeleton Heavy Cavalry×100, Elite Level 1 Skeleton Heavy Armor Soldiers×100, Elite Level 1 Skeleton Mages×100, 1 Undead Clan Hero Unit]