After dismissing Xu Tai, Xiao Jing began to work on upgrading Wilderness Village.
That's right. It had only been four days since its upgrade to a Level 2 village, and Wilderness Village was already on the verge of another.
One could only say that the gift from the Yellow Turbans last time was just too generous. It had brought a massive influx of labor, greatly accelerating the village's construction speed.
As a result, buildings like a prison, a school, and barracks were constructed one after another, fulfilling the economic, political, and cultural index requirements for an upgrade to a Level 3 village...
"Upgrade to Level 3 Village."
Xiao Jing chose to upgrade without hesitation.
After a tremor so slight it was almost imperceptible, the borders of Wilderness Village began to expand.
A moment later, a system notification sounded in Xiao Jing's ear.
"Ding! Wilderness Village has been upgraded to a Level 3 Village. The village's Life Talent system is now active. The Lord may view the territory's Life Talents via the panel."
Xiao Jing checked Wilderness Village's information.
[Territory]: Wilderness Village (Level 3 Village)
[Lord]: Xiao Jing
[Population]: 2467
[Morale]: 76 (Stable; Development Efficiency +3%)
[Security]: 53+8 (Prison, Security Patrol +8)
[Economic Index]: 112/500
[Political Index]: 101/500
[Cultural Index]: 100/500
[Military Index]: 2478/100
[Prosperity]: 278
[Territory Specialty]: None
[Blueprint Buildings]: Wind Cavalry Barracks (Gold), Basic Shop (Yellow)
[Standard Buildings]: Village-level Lord's Residence, Wind Cavalry Barracks (Gold), Residences (213), Clinic, Basic Market, General Store, Blacksmith's Forge, ...
[Territory Assets]: 1427 mu of farmland on the Wilderness Plain, Basic Stables
[Production]: copper coins: None (Tax Rate: 0%), Food: None, Minerals: Iron Ore (200 units/day), Salt Ore (120 units/day)...
[Secret Realm]: Pre-Qin Ruins - Ancient Qin Secret Realm
[Units]: 200 Tier One Soldier Terracotta Warriors, 30 Tier Two Wind Cavalry, 136 unranked Village Militia (newly trained recruits), 106 Tier One Yellow Turban Soldiers
[Evaluation]: A prosperous little village.
...
'Not bad! Not bad at all! But what was that about "Life Talents"?'
After a quick glance at the village panel, Xiao Jing turned his attention to the newly appeared Life Talent system.
After some investigation, Xiao Jing discovered...
The so-called "Life Talents" referred to professionals in non-combat roles—occupations other than war-focused ones like generals, advisors, and scribes.
Having the Life Talent system on the village panel made it convenient for Xiao Jing to see them all at a glance.
And upon looking, Xiao Jing did indeed find quite a few Life Talents in the village.
One of them, a physician, would be of great use in the coming war.
[Name]: Jiang Qi
[Age]: 27
[Level]: 35
[Loyalty]: 81
[Potential]: Third-rate (Yellow)
[Attributes]: Martial Force: 11, Martial Intent: 0, Strategy: 10
[Experience-based Abilities]: Command: 6, Strategy: 33, Governance: 15, Prestige: 1
[Hundred Schools Technique]: Medicine (Skilled)
[Skills/Strategies]: Miraculous Revival (Strategy -5, can heal minor injuries and stop severe injuries from worsening), Disease Expulsion (Strategy -10, can cure moderate and minor illnesses)
...
'Hmm, this physician's skills are interesting!'
Xiao Jing looked at Jiang Qi's stats on the panel, thinking to himself, 'I could assign him to the village militia!'
'Or I could put him in the village clinic to treat the villagers and raise the village's Prosperity!'
After weighing his options for a moment, Xiao Jing ultimately decided to assign the physician to the village clinic.
For now, Xiao Jing's main forces were essentially puppet soldiers, so the usefulness of a physician was a mixed bag.
Relatively speaking, a physician would be more useful to the village militia, but Xiao Jing currently had them positioned as village peacekeepers, so their chances of seeing a battlefield were slim.
Among the village's Life Talents, besides one skilled physician, there were also three skilled blacksmiths, five skilled miners, two skilled tailors, one skilled dancer, and one novice carpenter.
Life Talents were also graded. Based on the proficiency of their Hundred Schools Technique, they were divided into Novice, Skilled, Expert, and Master, with each level providing different bonuses.
Aside from the dancer—Xiao Jing racked his brain but couldn't think of a single use for her—the others, like the blacksmiths, miners, tailors, and carpenter, all had immense value.
The village's iron mine had recently started producing ore, so the three blacksmiths could be assigned to the forge to craft weapons for him.
Although the quality of weapons they could forge wouldn't be very high at their skill level, it was still production.
In these chaotic times, weapons and food were hard currency. Using them himself or trading them to the Tam Tribe for coin were both excellent options.
He'd assign the miners to the mine and the tailors to the tailor shop. Xiao Jing's previous hunting sprees had yielded over a thousand pelts. Now that he had tailors, they could finally be put to use making leather armor.
'This way, the various functional and economic buildings like the blacksmith's forge and tailor shop can finally get up and running!'
The blacksmith's forge and the tailor shop could only operate properly when managed by skilled professionals.
[Building]: Blacksmith's Forge
[Blacksmiths]: Zuo Shuli, Li Tiedan, Wang Shugen (3/5)
[Producible Items]: Iron Sword (White), Hardwood Armor (White), Hardwood Bow (White), Arrows (White), Iron Spear (White)..., Various Farming Tools (White)
[Available To]: Xiao Jing / All residents of Wilderness Village
[Production Efficiency]: 60% + 2% (Morale Bonus)
[Effect]: When producing for residents, selling or repairing a piece of farm equipment generates a certain amount of income.
The blacksmith's forge was very important. In times of war, it could produce weapons; in times of peace, it could produce farm tools to sell to the villagers for income. It was a solid economic building.
Especially now that Xiao Jing had established a trade relationship with the Tam Tribe. As long as he could produce weapons, he wouldn't have to worry about buyers. It was a path to instant wealth.
This was one of the reasons he placed such a high value on it; the same went for the tailor shop.
'Hmm, not bad!'
He took a stroll around the village. Seeing the residents living and working in peace, seemingly completely unaffected by the recent Yellow Turban invasion, he couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
At the same time, however, his thoughts began to turn to war.
Having tasted the immense rewards from the last Yellow Turban invasion, both he and the villagers were filled with a craving for war.
"REPORT~!"
Just as Xiao Jing was lost in thought, the hurried, rough voice of a Scout broke his concentration.
His brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the Scout who had rushed to his side.
'A strange feeling stirred within him. A Scout wouldn't dare interrupt him unless it was for something important. And now...'
'Could something major have happened outside?'
Despite his thoughts, Xiao Jing put on a smile and asked.
"What is it?"
The militiaman glanced up at Xiao Jing respectfully before quickly lowering his head again. He reported with utmost deference.
"Reporting, my Lord! My brothers and I were patrolling outside the village when we captured two spies from Da Liu Town. We have news: Da Liu Town is under siege by the Yellow Turbans and is requesting our aid!"
'A request for aid?!!'
Xiao Jing was stunned for a moment, then became overjoyed.
'He had just been thinking about sending troops to eliminate the Yellow Turbans and earn merit. Talk about perfect timing... '
'And besides, Da Liu Town had a population in the tens of thousands, a full range of facilities, and abundant food supplies. It was a juicy prize just waiting to be taken...'