Using the method of luring with scent, Alex quickly dealt with the sixteen Blaze Lions in the den.
Apart from a minor mishap during the final wave, where the remaining Blaze Lions were all drawn out at once, the process went relatively smoothly.
After disposing of the corpses, Alex led his plant army into the den, arriving at the edge of the magma pool.
As soon as he stood still, a wave of scorching heat hit him, forcing him to squint instinctively. Even the plants beside him began to shrink back.
Yet, in such a harsh environment, the lotus stood proudly, swaying with the surging magma, truly a marvel of the world.
"Whoosh—"
At Alex's signal, a vine lashed out towards the magma pool.
But in the next second, the vine was charred by the intense heat, breaking into two pieces and falling into the pool. The remaining piece quickly retracted, as if startled, and only managed to recover with the healing of the Flower Sprite.
"No good?"
Alex frowned slightly, deep in thought.
After a moment, he seemed to remember something and suddenly looked at another Poison Thornvine beside him, its body glowing faintly green.
"You try. River, you and the others handle the healing."
This Poison Thornvine was the first one Alex had summoned, inheriting the Sapling's healing ability.
Now at the third tier, its self-healing ability had greatly improved. With the healing from the Flower Sprites, it might just withstand the magma's scorching heat.
"Whoosh—"
Another vine shot out, this time a glowing green one, straight towards the lotus in the magma pool.
At the same time, the healing light from the Flower Sprites enveloped the vine, diligently treating the burns. The Poison Thornvine also activated its self-healing ability, continuously repairing the withering vine.
With both forces combined, it actually managed to resist the heat's erosion.
"Success!"
Alex's face lit up with joy. With a "snap," the lotus broke off and was brought out of the magma pool, finally landing on the shore.
Alex hurried forward, carefully picking it up. Apart from feeling slightly warm, he sensed nothing unusual.
The lotus's properties immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Blazing Lotus]
[Effect: When planted within the territory, it produces Mana every hour, the amount depending on the territory's level.]
[Description: A lotus imbued with Mana, capable of growing in any environment.]
"Great find!"
Alex couldn't help but exclaim.
All the effort he put into clearing the Blaze Lion den and the time spent were now completely worth it!
Mana every hour meant that even if he didn't go out hunting and just stayed in his territory, Mana would continuously increase.
He just didn't know how much it would increase each time, which made him quite curious.
With no more desire to continue exploring, he disposed of the Blaze Lion corpses outside the den and hurried back to his territory with his plant army.
As soon as he entered his territory, Alex took out the Blazing Lotus and planted it in an empty spot next to the Tree of Life. At the same time, a voice rang in his ear.
[Blazing Lotus successfully planted. Level has changed. Current level: Tier 3]
[Building Name: Blazing Lotus]
[Building Level: Tier 3]
[Resource Gain: 15 Mana/hour]
[Description: A lotus imbued with Mana, capable of growing in any environment. Level increases with territory.]
Fifteen Mana!
Alex was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected the Blazing Lotus to be so powerful, providing more Mana than killing a Tier 3 monster.
While shocked, he also felt incredibly excited because this would significantly increase his chances of defending against the beast tide. He might even reach Tier 4 before the safety period ended!
If he could really reach Tier 4...
Alex's gaze sharpened as he looked towards the direction of the beast tide, deep in thought.
He then opened the territory information to take a look.
[Territory Name: Tree of Life]
[Territory Level: Tier 3]
[Territory Durability: 500/500]
[Recruitable Units: Plant Type]
[Recruitment Count: 12/30]
[Territory Description: The foundation of a lord's survival, possessing various functions. If the territory core is destroyed, the lord perishes.]
[Upgrade Requirements: Wood (500/500), Stone (37/500), Mana 198/250, Tier 3 Territory Essence (0/1)]
[Note: Plant-type territory characteristic, self-supplying wood.]
The materials required to upgrade to Tier 4 had significantly increased.
A full five hundred units of stone would take at least two days to gather, even with all the plants constantly transporting it.
Not to mention the new "Territory Essence," which, although only one was needed, was clearly not easy to obtain.
"It seems I'll have to gather enough stone first."
Closing the information interface, Alex began using the recently acquired Mana to recruit more units.
With the Blazing Lotus in place, he wasn't too concerned about Mana and directly maxed out the recruitment, summoning a total of eighteen Tier 3 Poison Thornvines. He then sent them to the mountain behind to transport stone.
Surprisingly, although these Poison Thornvines were slow-moving, their numerous vine tendrils made them quite efficient and effortless in transporting stone.
For the entire day, Alex was occupied with arranging the stone transportation.
It wasn't until nightfall that he finally gathered half the stone needed for the upgrade.
Dragging his tired body back to his territory, surrounded by his plants, he finally ended the busy day.
In the blink of an eye, the night passed.
The morning sun rose as usual.
As the first rays of sunlight bathed the earth, lords in every corner of the world awoke and began their daily struggle for survival, as if they had already grown accustomed to this life.
However...
Today was slightly different.
Just as the sky brightened, a cold voice suddenly echoed in everyone's minds.
[Congratulations to all lords for surviving three days on the Primordial Continent.]
[Restrictions on major monster gathering grounds have been lifted. Clearing these grounds will reward rare items and the material needed for upgrading to Tier 4: Territory Essence.]
[All lords, please strive to improve your territory levels.]
Silence!
The regional channel was eerily quiet.
Everyone was frozen in place by this sudden announcement.
Then, after a moment, the regional channel exploded.
"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Did I hear that right? Rare item rewards? Materials for upgrading to Tier 4!?"
"Oh my god, last time a treasure chest was a big deal, what's going on this time?"
"Can someone tell me what a monster gathering ground is? Is it dangerous?"
"Who cares what it is, I'm going for it. Anyone who tries to stop me will regret it!"
"Damn it! I missed out on the treasure chest last time, I'm definitely getting it this time."
"Just reached Tier 3, was wondering what the Territory Essence was, turns out it's this."
It wasn't just these people who were excited; even the usually calm Alex couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
He had already gathered all the materials needed, only lacking the Territory Essence.
If he could obtain it, he would be one step ahead in reaching Tier 4, giving him a significant advantage and a firmer footing in the upcoming beast tide.
Others naturally understood this as well.
So, for a while, everyone was inquiring about the monster gathering grounds, making the regional channel buzz with activity.