Chapter 14: Chapter 14

One silver coin could be split into 100 copper coins, and 100 copper coins could be combined into one silver coin.

She combined them for a total of 5 silver coins and 3 copper coins, then converted 4 silver coins into territory energy. With the 50 points left over from before, she now had 450 energy points.

She’d posted the location of Qingshan Camp in a popular thread on the world forum’s public chat today, so more people should come tomorrow. The territory was still a bit small.

She spent 300 energy to expand the territory’s shield, increasing its area to 1,000 square meters, and built three more treehouses for rent.

With the territory expanded, the energy cost to maintain the shield doubled—now 20 energy per day. The remaining 60 energy would only last three more days.

[Territory Name: Qingshan Camp]

[Lord: Mu Ying]

[Territory Level: Camp]

[Energy: 0]

[Area: 1,000 sqm]

[Facilities: Territory Shield (3/3), Treehouse Residences ×6, Oak General Store]

[Residents: 26]

[Blueprints: Territory Shield, Treehouse Residence, Shop]

[Rules: Expand to view]

[Materials: 0]

The territory was finally starting to look like something.

Many people camped out in the territory that night. The sudden appearance of new treehouses and the shifting boundaries caused a bit of a stir, but things soon calmed down.

Although Qingshan Camp wasn’t as big as some of the others mentioned on the forum, and only had a single general store, everyone was glad they’d ended up here.

After all, the entrance fee was half the price.

What good were lots of shops if you couldn’t afford to buy anything?

Now that Qingshan Camp had expanded, the first thing everyone did was check the entrance fee. Only after confirming it hadn’t gone up did they relax."

"A new day dawned. Early in the morning, Mu Ying was once again engaged in her usual professional training.

Thanks to Cheng Wei’s exaggerated storytelling, everyone had gotten used to Mu Ying’s peculiar cultivation method of standing in front of a tree and zoning out. The only thing that still drew curious glances was the legendary family of sparrows who showed up on time every day to keep her company and beg for water.

With the camp expanding, Mu Ying now had even more trees to look after.

Although repeatedly attuning to the same tree—or even the same type of tree—yielded diminishing returns over a short period, Mu Ying never tired of it.

All the trees within her territory were, in a sense, intangible assets of the land. Every day, she would use her natural senses to attune and harmonize their energies, then nourish them with water from the Spring of Restoration. The trees would only grow healthier and stronger as a result.

She spent her morning holed up at home, studying spells as usual.

Mu Ying was a quick learner when it came to magic, thanks in large part to her higher-than-average Perception stat. Nature always seemed willing to respond to her call.

Take Liu Luoluo, for example: with an 11 in Perception, she had only just managed to learn a zero-level cantrip for healing minor wounds, and even then her casting was unstable.

Opening her player handbook, Mu Ying glanced at her stats panel as she always did.

“Huh? My Perception stat has fully assimilated?” She immediately noticed the change.

[Stats: Strength 8, Constitution 10, Dexterity 11, Intelligence 12, Perception 15, Charisma 11]

Her Perception had changed from “14+1” to “15,” meaning the point she’d previously added had now been fully integrated.

She’d already experienced firsthand the benefits of a high Perception stat, so she decided to invest her remaining two free attribute points into Perception as well.

She added one point first, raising her Perception to “15+1,” and her mana increased from 60 to 70.

Having already learned the basics of the Entangle spell yesterday, today Mu Ying planned to study the healing spell, Healing Word.

Healing Word allowed her to heal a target within casting range, with the effectiveness tied to her Perception stat—the higher the Perception, the stronger the healing.

If she cast the spell with direct contact, the healing effect would be even better.

After mastering the spell’s theory and casting essentials, she realized she had no one to test it on. Casting it on herself, even if successful, wouldn’t let her gauge the actual healing amount.

As noon approached, Mu Ying left her treehouse to look for a suitable target around the camp.

Most people were out, and those who remained didn’t have any injuries.

“Oh well, I’ll try it another time,” she thought, just as a group of people came running into camp in a panic.

“What happened? Is something wrong?” she asked, stopping Li Wei and the others.

“We hadn’t been out long before we ran into a group of people surrounded by zombies. Some of them are our classmates. We barely managed to help them escape, but a lot of people got scratched, and Luoluo’s boyfriend is hurt the worst…”

Following their gaze, Mu Ying saw Liu Luoluo crouched beside a boy, casting a spell. Unfortunately, the wound was deep, and the zero-level healing cantrip wasn’t helping much.

Thankfully, now that they were professionals, there was no risk of zombie infection. The wound was deep, but not fatal.

“Luoluo, can I give it a try? I just started learning a healing spell today,” Mu Ying said eagerly—what a perfect opportunity to test her magic.

“Sure, sure!” Liu Luoluo replied, eyes shining with hope. Ever since last night, her confidence in Mu Ying had skyrocketed.

She moved aside to make room for Mu Ying and reassured her boyfriend, “Aqing, don’t worry. Mu Ying is definitely better than me!”

Mu Ying herself wasn’t sure how effective her spell would be, but she focused intently and, to maximize the effect, chose to cast it with direct contact.

Her prior study paid off—she succeeded on her first try.

Unlike Liu Luoluo, the magical glow in Mu Ying’s palm was a vibrant green, both brighter and denser than the faint light of the minor healing cantrip. After all, hers was a first-level spell, not a cantrip, and her Perception stat was much higher.

The green light enveloped Si Qing’s wounded arm.

Liu Luoluo watched anxiously as Si Qing pressed his lips together. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

“Uh… it doesn’t hurt anymore, but it’s really itchy…” Si Qing replied through gritted teeth.

“That means it’s working. Just bear with it,” Liu Luoluo said, relieved. Her attention shifted to Mu Ying, whose spell looked so much more impressive than hers.

If her own spell was like a band-aid, then Mu Ying’s was a full-on bandage. Was she even a real cleric?

When Mu Ying finished casting and saw that the wound had mostly healed, she relaxed. Druid healing really was impressive!

“Hey, the zombies followed us back! Anyone with a weapon, get ready! We’ll split the loot based on kill records!” Li Wei shouted, quickly taking up a strategic position at the camp gate.