After settling the refugee family down for a while, Yun Kai gave them some food from the warehouse. Their faces lit up at the sight of real grain, and not the moldy scraps or wild roots they'd been eating. The children ate eagerly while their parents watched with grateful tears in their eyes.
Then Yun Kai and Léi Shén returned to the entrance of the village to wait for more refugees.
However, due to Yun Kai's series of actions, the God-Tier village building token's ten-point loyalty bonus, and the simple act of feeding them, the family's loyalty had already exceeded sixty percent.
According to the system knowledge, loyalty worked in tiers. Surpassing sixty percent meant they had a certain sense of belonging to the territory. Exceeding seventy percent meant they regarded the territory as their own home.
Generally speaking, more than eighty percent meant they would advance and retreat with the territory through any hardship. And if it exceeded ninety percent, they would be completely loyal unto death.
Yun Kai didn't expect them to reach ninety percent loyalty so soon. That level required time and trust. But when the territory developed properly, reaching an average of eighty percent wouldn't be difficult. After all, there were still attribute bonuses working in his favor.
All afternoon, Yun Kai waited at the entrance for refugees. He didn't know if it was because of the bonus attributes, but as time approached dusk, about thirty refugees had appeared on the path.
They came in groups of twos and threes. Some alone. Some in families. All of them looked exhausted, hungry, and desperate.
Yun Kai welcomed each one personally. Explained the village. Offered food and shelter. Promised fair treatment and low taxes.
One by one, they agreed to stay.
By the time the sun touched the horizon, painting the sky orange and red, Yun Kai had gained over thirty new residents.
A notification appeared in his mind.
[Quest Completed: Gather Your People]
[Description: A village without people is just empty buildings. Attract your first ten residents to Spiritrock Village.]
[Reward: 50 gold coins, 1 primary housing upgrade token]
His total gold coins rose to 450. Not a fortune, but enough to work with.
The system didn't stop there. Another quest notification appeared immediately.
[New Quest Available: Loyal Residents]
[Description: Reach five hundred residents with over 65% loyalty in Spiritrock Village.]
[Reward: 2000 gold coins, 50 primary housing upgrade tokens]
Yun Kai's eyebrows rose. Five hundred residents? That was ambitious. But the rewards were substantial.
He pulled up the village interface in his mind, checking the housing situation.
The ten Level 1 primary houses were naturally not enough anymore. They were already filled with the thirty-plus residents. One Level 1 primary house could only contain three residents, meaning thirty houses total were needed.
Yun Kai immediately used the housing upgrade token on one of the houses. White light surrounded the building, and it expanded, growing taller and wider. When the light faded, it could now hold ten residents comfortably.
That helped, but they still needed more houses.
Yun Kai timely arranged for the able-bodied men among the refugees to work together building additional houses. Simple wooden structures to solve the immediate accommodation problems. Nothing fancy, just functional shelter.
He also made an important decision. He appointed the first male resident who had arrived with his family, a man named Jiang Lao, to be the village's butler of sorts. Someone to help manage the day-to-day operations.
Jiang Lao was older, maybe in his fifties, with graying hair and weathered features. But his eyes were sharp, intelligent. He carried himself with a certain dignity despite his ragged clothes.
Yun Kai used that opportunity to inquire about Jiang Lao's official position before. What had he done in his previous life? Where had he worked?
But Jiang Lao refused to say anything concrete. He would deflect, change the subject, or simply remain silent.
However, from his actions and the way he organized the other refugees, Yun Kai could see that he was not a small official before. Probably someone of significant rank. A magistrate, maybe. Or an advisor to a noble house.
But something had happened. Something that made Jiang Lao flee rather than seek help from the government. He would rather watch his children starve than approach the authorities.
That spoke volumes. Whatever his past, it was complicated.
Yun Kai didn't push. Everyone had secrets. As long as Jiang Lao was loyal and capable, his past didn't matter.
Time soon came to dusk, and fewer and fewer refugees appeared on the path. The flow had slowed to a trickle, then stopped entirely.
Having settled in the residents, Yun Kai observed Léi Shén standing guard near the entrance. The warrior general hadn't moved for hours, patient as stone. Yun Kai nodded with satisfaction.
Then another notification appeared.
[Ding! Congratulations on the player taking over the first Divine-Tier Legendary Warrior General, and also the first player in the game world to subdue a Legendary General, which has triggered a world announcement.]
Yun Kai's face immediately darkened. "Not again."
He knew he couldn't change the system's decisions. But this was frustrating. Hiding his strength was the smart path to development. You didn't need other players to know what you had. Fame attracted enemies.
But the system didn't care about that.
[World Announcement: Village Chief Yun Kai has summoned the first Legendary Warrior General. He will be rewarded with 1000 gold coins, and the cultivation level will be increased by one sub-stage. In addition, the mature speed of the territory's plants will be doubled to encourage continued efforts.]
The announcement repeated twice more, echoing through every mind in the Desolate Martial World.
Yun Kai sighed. There was no helping it now.
But the rewards were substantial. His gold coin total jumped to 1,450. A thousand gold coins was a huge sum in the early stage, enough for extensive use throughout the territory. It could even be used to speed up production.
Then white light washed over Yun Kai's body. His cultivation surged, meridians widening, Qi flowing faster and smoother. Within moments, he'd broken through to the late stage of Qi Gathering Realm.
The increase in power was noticeable. His body felt lighter and stronger.
Moreover, the most important reward was the doubled plant growth rate. Originally, the bonus of the God-Tier village building token and Dragon King Temple had increased the growth rate of crops in the territory by sixty percent. But now it had directly become more than three times the normal speed.
The two bonuses combined increased the rate of resource acquisition by a total of one hundred sixty percent. It was absolutely abnormal. Grain supply in the early stage would definitely be sufficient.
After being stunned for a few seconds, processing the changes, Yun Kai directly used the exploration technique to check Léi Shén's attributes.
Information flooded his mind.
---
[Name]: Léi Shén (God of Thunder)
[Age]: 28 years old
[Cultivation]: Peak Innate Awakening Realm
[Potential]: SSS-Rank
[Title]: Divine-Tier Legendary Warrior General
[Four Dimensional Attributes]:
Force: 90
Intelligence: 68
Command: 81
Politics: 52
[Exclusive Arms]: Ambush Cavalry, Ambush Hammermen
[Command Skills]:
Awe: After the general uses this skill, the force of the enemy army will be reduced by 5%, morale will be reduced by 10%, and the speed of blood recovery will be reduced by 50%.
Dressed in Armor: When the army is in a desperate situation, morale will be increased by 20%, the force of our army will be increased by 10%, and the general's force value will be increased by 5 points.
Battle Mode: When fighting against foreigners, command will be increased by 5 points, force will be increased by 3 points, and the morale of our soldiers will be increased by 20%. After the victory of the battle, command will be increased by 1 point, with an upper limit of 10.
[Skills]:
Innate Thunder Pulse: Lightning circulates through Léi Shén's meridians, boosting physical strength and reaction time. Passive arcs of electricity crackle around his body, occasionally shooting out in waves.
Stormbreaker Summon — Awakening Form: Léi Shén can summon a spiritual hammer construct formed from lightning essence. Not yet physical like his well-known divine artifact, Stormbreaker, but still devastating.
Thunderstep: Léi Shén takes a step and appears several meters away, leaving a sonic crack behind. Perfect for dodging or instant gap-closing.
Storm Barrier: A circular shield of swirling wind and crackling lightning. Blocks physical and elemental attacks. Can reverse attacks back at the attacker, with success rate depending on the strength of the enemy.
Note: When the Legendary General increases cultivation by one realm, their attributes grow accordingly. Command increases by 5 points, Force increases by 3 points, Intelligence increases by 1 point, and Politics increases by 1 point.
Yun Kai studied the information carefully. There were seven skills total, three of which were command skills related to warfare.
Léi Shén was worthy of being an invincible general in wars during his previous life. His force attribute of ninety was extraordinary for someone at the Innate Awakening Realm. His command of eighty-one meant he could lead armies effectively.
Even though only two skills applied to civil wars within the kingdom, they were completely sufficient. Moreover, Legendary Generals could train special arms. This was the most important advantage.
In the game world, arms were divided into ten levels. But only Legendary Generals could train arms of level five or above, which was similar to actual special forces in terms of quality and capability.
However, this still depended heavily on the qualification of soldiers. Ordinary soldiers could not become arms of rank five or above, no matter how good the training. But for Spiritrock Village, with the Land of Choice attribute upgrading every resident's potential, this would be much simpler.
Yun Kai had a goal. He wanted to compete for the first town in the world. And he knew the requirement to be promoted to the first town. If other forces tried to figure it out by themselves, who knew when they'd succeed.
Since then, the whole territory had gradually gotten on the right track. Now Yun Kai was still a seasoned chef cooking with limited ingredients. The population of the whole village was only about thirty-seven people total, including himself and Léi Shén.
The maximum capacity of a primary village was one thousand people. When five hundred people were reached, it could be upgraded to a medium-sized village, and then the capacity would increase further.
Naturally, Yun Kai didn't have to do all these things by himself. As long as Jiang Lao was here managing the daily affairs, most things could be settled properly.
Yun Kai stood at the village entrance as the last light faded from the sky. Stars began to appear overhead, and the forest grew quiet.