The next morning.
Qi Lin woke up groggily on the straw laid out in the lord’s hall, feeling something soft on his arm and a weight on his thigh.
He had a face full of black lines.
Was he really that restless in his sleep?
Anyone who saw this would think he’d been wrapped up by an octopus.
Sleeping in this shabby environment was uncomfortable enough, but this person just had to squeeze in next to him.
She said she wasn’t used to it yet and needed a good rest. For a death spirit to insist on sleeping, he was speechless.
“Get up.”
He pulled his arm out and pinched her cheek without any gentleness.
“It hurts, it hurts!”
The girl instantly woke up, sitting up abruptly on the straw.
“What are you doing!”
Qi Lin glanced over, even catching sight of a little rabbit, and coughed.
“Cough, cough.”
“What are you coughing for? Got a feather stuck in your throat?”
The girl’s face was flushed, glaring fiercely at Qi Lin.
“Clothes…”
“Ah!”
The girl screamed, instinctively covering herself with her arms.
“You actually took off my clothes!”
“Come on, who cares about your A-cup.”
Qi Lin stood up and stretched.
“You…”
The girl was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to retort.
Humiliate him?
But she knew her own size—at least eighteen and above—so there was no way to humiliate him.
Damn it!
She stopped covering herself and dressed right in front of Qi Lin.
Seeing his surprised expression, she showed a smug look.
“Think of it as a little benefit for some lonely single dog.”
“Wait, you mean me?”
Qi Lin pointed at himself.
“Aren’t you one too?”
“But I’m a girl.”
“You sure accepted that quickly…”
“What else can I do? Throw a tantrum, make a scene, and wait for you to die?”
She rubbed her messy hair, pulled out a few strands of straw, and walked out of the lord’s hall.
Outside, the farmers had already started working early without waiting for Qi Lin’s orders.
With the help of the death spirits last night, their speed in gathering resources in the morning was incredibly fast.
Plus, with the incarnations leading the death spirits out hunting, the development speed of the entire territory was steadily increasing.
Just as Qi Lin had expected, by mid-morning, the farmers had gathered enough materials to upgrade the lord’s hall again.
And there was another piece of good news—he had leveled up again!
It was double the happiness.
“Currently level two, still one level away from top-tier units.”
Qi Lin muttered to himself, upgrading within the lord’s hall, and the resources in the warehouse increased accordingly.
This time, unlike the previous upgrade, there was even a waiting period.
Two hours. He looked up at the sky and estimated he’d have to wait until noon.
But just then, he noticed a silly bird circling above his territory.
The moment Qi Lin looked up, as if sensing it had been discovered, the little bird flapped its wings and flew away.
“Something’s wrong.”
He frowned, recalling yesterday’s events.
Although he hadn’t paid close attention before, birds seemed rare here—it was unusual to see even a few in a whole day, let alone flying over his territory.
On the other side of Qi Lin’s territory.
There was a forest, and within it, another territory, not far apart.
A man viewed the entirety of the opposing territory through the vision shared by a small bird, a cold smile curling at his lips before he burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, a farmer lord, there’s actually a farmer lord, I’m going to die laughing!”
“Brother, your luck is really bad. The day after tomorrow, let me send you home.”
The man’s divine power was the Divine Power of Hundred Birds’ Senses, allowing him to control all unintelligent birds weaker than himself to assist in enemy scouting.
This was why he could grasp the development of surrounding lords without leaving his home.
In fact, most of the divine powers obtained by lords at the start, whether active or passive skills, were primarily support-oriented, perfectly complementing the lord’s role.
The other side had a lot of farmers. If he could absorb these people, his development speed would increase greatly, and catching up to top-tier lords would be no problem.
Thinking this, the man grew even more excited.
“Kekekeke!”
He had already memorized the path, even seeing the opposing lord’s face—he wouldn’t mistake it.
As for being discovered, what a joke. Who would fear a farmer lord with no combat power?
Time passed quickly, and noon arrived.
The farmers began returning in batches to eat, and the lord’s hall Qi Lin had been waiting for finally finished upgrading.
[Lord’s Hall upgrade complete. Buildings unlocked: Farmland, Well!]
[Building Name: Farmland]
[Effect: Can be used to plant common crops.]
[Construction Requirements: Requires two farmers to cultivate for two hours.]
[Building Name: Well]
[……]
Actually, Qi Lin wasn’t particularly excited about these two buildings, but having his own freshwater source was essential.
So he decisively assigned farmers to start working.
Calling it a village was generous—there were only a few straw huts, and there was no real division of land within the territory.
The range of the Protective Shield only covered the area occupied by the buildings.
So could he set his own boundaries?
But Qi Lin soon realized he was wrong. The territory wasn’t boundless—it just wasn’t displayed in the data.
On the terminal of the lord’s hall was a faint green line.
He tested it and found he couldn’t build any structures outside the green circle.
If the territory’s size only increased as the lord’s hall was upgraded, then it would definitely show.
On the other hand, it suggested there might be other ways to expand his territory here.
Of course, all this was just Qi Lin’s speculation.
With the well completed, he used a windlass to draw a bucket of groundwater, scooped a ladle, and drank.
It was sweet and refreshing, much better than the water outside.
“All right, everyone’s worked hard. Drink some water and take a break.”
“Thank you, Lord!”
The surrounding farmers immediately showed gratitude.
Being intelligent life forms gave them a big advantage as units, but also came with drawbacks.
For example, they had loyalty.
If a lord was especially cruel and oppressed his people, it could force them to rebel.
So sometimes it was important to balance work and rest, mixing kindness and authority.
On the other hand, the death spirits led by incarnations didn’t have this flaw—they could work around the clock.
“Damn, even capitalists would cry at this.”
Just then, a notification popped up.
[Congratulations on successfully killing a level 5 goblin. You’ve obtained one blueprint!]
“Blueprint?”
Qi Lin was stunned, but wasn’t surprised that the Lord’s World had such things.
Blueprint ownership belonged to the lord, which was why he received the message.
But in reality, besides blueprints, how could there be no other spoils of war?
He couldn’t see the blueprint’s details yet, but he was sure of its importance, so it would definitely be sent back to the territory.
Another thing that made him happy: he was level three, and the soft girl incarnation actually managed to kill a level five.
Defeating higher-level enemies—this was the strength of top-tier units.
It seemed to confirm that the death spirit race was indeed among the top-tier units.
Their basic power was weak, but that wasn’t their strength.
What was the advantage? Mass production, of course!
Summoning death spirits cost him nothing, and due to the Summoning Spell, killing an enemy of any level let him summon a death spirit of that same level.
But there was a condition—the corpse had to be fresh, or it couldn’t be summoned.
A single top-tier unit was enough to put Qi Lin ahead of most lords—what about two or three in the future?
At that moment, his mood soared, the anxiety fading.
Right then, the skeleton returned to the territory with the spoils.