Another busy day had passed, marking the 11th day since Qin Muye arrived in this magical land.
Checking the rankings, his faction's overall strength remained at 1st Tier Elite, not yet reaching the 1st Tier Champion. However, his ranking had improved from 267 to 203, likely due to the contribution of around 200 Bloodlust monsters fully armed with all the magical creatures.
It was evident that the lords ahead of him were formidable in strength.
Especially in the Monster Siege race, the top three remained True Dragon Emperor, Demon-Subduing Monk, and Fallen Sovereign. Qin Muye couldn't fathom how these individuals achieved such terrifying monster-killing speeds.
The concept of 0.1 seconds was beyond his comprehension; it was faster than the blink of an eye.
As for his ranking on the Monster Siege leaderboard, he didn't even make the list. This board didn't record all the lords; it only listed the top ten. The 10th place had an average speed of 43 seconds.
"A lot of people died again. At this rate, I might end up at the bottom." Qin Muye felt helpless. After three waves of Monster Siege events, the number of lords had reduced to 371. The difficulty of the fourth wave would undoubtedly increase, possibly resulting in a reduction to around 300 lords.
This was just an event, and he hadn't even encountered the native system of this magical land yet.
Qin Muye suspected that this might be a survival game, or perhaps it was just extremely harsh.
"The stronger the strong become, the weaker the weak become."
With increased overall strength, the monsters faced in Monster Siege also became stronger. The rewards obtained after killing them were naturally better. Facing 3rd Tier monsters was vastly different from facing 1st Tier ones.
The lords in the top ten of the rankings had now advanced to 3rd Tier in overall strength after the three Monster Siege events. Especially the first-ranked True Dragon Emperor, who had already reached 3rd Tier Elite.
Qin Muye speculated that they were at least level 30 or higher and had 3rd Tier territories; otherwise, they couldn't achieve a 3rd Tier rating.
Territory size was the practical aspect of overall evaluation. Qin Muye desired to upgrade, but his current territory was not suitable. Even handling 1st Tier Champion would be challenging this time in Monster Siege.
Who knew how much the difficulty would increase?
"I wonder if these people are cheating, or is there really such a huge gap in territories?"
Qin Muye knew that his Mage Tower territory couldn't compare to those lords on the leaderboard. While there might be balance in the early stages, he found a breakthrough, and surely others could too. He wasn't exceptionally clever, and others weren't fools either.
Everyone had their own opportunities. Rising to power was normal, and just because he couldn't do it, didn't mean others couldn't.
"A damaged Mage Tower comes with a magic pool, but a dried-up one needs repair. I wonder what treasures these Dragon Nests and Sinful Temples carry." Qin Muye couldn't help but feel greedy. Moving quickly step by step was essential.
He acknowledged his slowness. If he hadn't found a breakthrough, he might have disappeared from the rankings like those lords who were no longer visible.
"I need to find a way to repair the magic pool. Other resources are fine, but where can I find Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Elemental Cores? They're not available in the points shop or the trading post. It's challenging to handle the resources around here right now." Qin Muye sighed. The description of the magic pool indicated that it was the core building of the Mage Tower.
Those lords at the top probably had it, or at least knew how to obtain it. However, they might not be willing to share the information.
Moreover, Qin Muye had no means of communication. Even if there were willing traders, he couldn't execute it.
"And I don't have the money to buy it. Elemental Cores like these are undoubtedly rare."
"I'll have to wait until Moliok comes back next time and ask him. But Moliok is also unreliable; who knows if he might suddenly turn hostile." Qin Muye remained cautious towards everyone, especially those stronger than him.
A wandering trader could transform into a bandit. Qin Muye's territory was secluded, and being a Divine Lord, if he chose to attack or rob someone, no one would know. Even if they did, it would be treated as a minor matter.
"In summary, it still comes down to being strong enough!"
"After transforming all 400 Spirit monsters into Bloodlust monsters, I should have the power to defend myself."
Well, even if they were strong, they were still only 1st Tier troops. Even with modifications and training, they could only match 2nd Tier troops, not truly becoming 2nd Tier troops.
Qin Muye needed enough time and knowledge to advance the Spirit monsters further.
Now that he had Bloodlust monsters, Qin Muye had gained a lot of data on the limits of 1st Tier. After settling, he could allow Spirit monsters to evolve into 2nd Tier troops.
Qin Muye didn't plan to convert all Spirit monsters into Bloodlust monsters. He still intended to use Spirit monsters as the base sample. Despite Bloodlust monsters having superior attributes, the plasticity, potential, and applicability of Spirit monsters far exceeded Bloodlust monsters.
He estimated to keep around 1,000 Bloodlust monsters for constant availability, commanded by Blood Magic.
Moreover, Bloodlust monsters were a subspecies derived from Spirit monsters and technically belonged to the category of Spirit monsters.
Just like Skeleton Archers and Skeleton Warriors. Despite the name change, they were still 1st Tier troops—Skeleton troops.
So, once Qin Muye elevated Spirit monsters to 2nd Tier, he could naturally elevate Bloodlust monsters to 2nd Tier as well, saving a considerable amount of resources.
"When this Monster Siege event ends, I'll upgrade the Mage Tower to 2nd Tier. By then, I can strengthen the monsters, though they might still be mosquito legs."
The "Monster Experiment Handbook" and "Advanced Monster Experiment Handbook" in Qin Muye's hands were quite good, but unfortunately, they required a 2nd Tier territory.
As long as he didn't die this time, reaching level 10 was straightforward.
He found the experience gain a bit confusing, unsure of the experience mechanism.
Just as he was pondering this, the time for today's Monster Siege event had arrived. As the countdown reached zero, Qin Muye looked at the refreshed prompt and couldn't help but curse and grumble.
"Gee, Hero Unit!"
[Fourth Wave, Your Overall Strength: 1st Tier Elite. Wild monsters this time: 1st Tier Elite Skeleton Heavy Cavalry x100, 1st Tier Elite Skeleton Heavy Infantry x100, 1st Tier Elite Skeleton Mage x100, Undead Tribe Hero Unit x1]
(End of this chapter)