[Congratulations, you have successfully eradicated a third-tier monster gathering site: Undead Remains]
[Obtained third-tier unit token: Walking Corpse]
[Unit Token: Walking Corpse]
[Effect: Unlocks a third-tier common unit]
[Usage Requirement: Third-tier undead territory, 25 Mana]
"Undead type?" Alex's eyes widened in surprise.
After clearing out the monster gathering site, he had unexpectedly obtained a unit token corresponding to its type. This was somewhat unforeseen. If he had known this earlier, he would have sought out a plant-type monster gathering site instead, wasting an opportunity to acquire new units. Moreover, this world lacked any form of trading system. If he wanted to exchange for something else, he would have to find another way. However, this wasn't an insurmountable problem—just a bit of a hassle.
Stashing the token away, Alex continued to inspect the corpse of the Rotting Corpse King. Just then, a commotion erupted behind him. River and the two Poison Thornvines were suddenly enveloped in a radiant light.
"Are they advancing?" Alex stood up, delighted.
It seemed that after defeating the Rotting Corpse King, their experience had maxed out, allowing them to advance to fourth-tier units. It appeared that boss monsters provided additional experience bonuses. Under the dazzling glow, River, who was only the size of a palm, began to grow a floral wreath around its body. Two butterfly-like creatures fluttered around it, exuding an aura of vitality.
The two Poison Thornvines underwent an even more dramatic transformation. Their previously half-human height rapidly increased to over six feet, and a beautiful yet eerie flower bloomed atop their heads. Their bodies became slender and graceful, with vines swaying like the tentacles of an octopus.
[Name: Wood Sprite · River (Royal)]
[Race: Plant]
[Level: Fourth-tier (0/100)]
[Strength: 75]
[Constitution: 70]
[Agility: 82]
[Spirit: 100]
[Skills: Nature's Dominion, Aura of Affinity, Thorny Bind (Manipulates the power of flora to grow thorns on enemies, restricting their movement.)]
[Description: An advanced form of the Flower Sprite. Due to certain reasons, it has awakened a royal bloodline, granting it the ability to command other plant-type units.]
[Name: Toxic Enchantress]
[Race: Plant]
[Level: Fourth-tier (0/100)]
[Strength: 77]
[Constitution: 88]
[Agility: 73]
[Spirit: 76]
[Skills: Nature's Breath, Toxic Vine Whip, Poison Mist (Releases toxins from the flower atop its head, enveloping enemies with a potent paralyzing and lethal effect.)]
[Description: An advanced form of the Poison Thornvine. Its attack range and toxicity have been significantly enhanced.]
Both River and the Toxic Enchantresses had seen a tremendous boost in their stats and had finally unlocked new skills. Their strength now rivaled that of the Rotting Corpse King they had just slain. The Toxic Enchantresses, in particular, had their vine attack range extended to over thirty meters, covering a vast area.
Alex recalled that these two Toxic Enchantresses were the very first units he had mutated—one inheriting the Sapling's healing skill and the other inheriting the Explosive Mushroom's Explosive Spores. It was no wonder they had been present in every battle, allowing them to accumulate more experience than the other plants and advance to the fourth tier first. As for River, its rapid advancement was likely due to its Aura of Affinity, which accelerated its experience gain. Its new skill, which caused thorns to grow on enemies, was also highly effective for surprising foes.
This expedition had been incredibly fruitful, leaving Alex in high spirits. After making one final sweep of the gathering site to ensure nothing was left behind, he led his plant army out of the valley.
Soon, they traversed the mountains and returned to the territory, where Alex set the plants to work gathering stone. By the afternoon, they had finally collected the remaining stone. Alex then hurried to the base of the Tree of Life and took out the territory core he had just obtained. At the same time, a prompt appeared.
[Territory upgrade materials have been gathered. Would you like to proceed with the upgrade?]
"Upgrade!" Alex took a deep breath, his expression filled with anticipation.
Originally, after creating his plant army, he hadn't had enough Mana. However, this expedition had allowed him to eliminate numerous third-tier monsters, earning him over 400 Mana, which was more than enough for the upgrade. As soon as he spoke, the entire territory began to rumble and expand outward. The Tree of Life, the core of the territory, shot up to a towering height of forty meters, becoming a colossal tree that provided shelter to all within its reach.
At the same time, Alex felt a surge of powerful energy coursing through his body, invigorating every limb.
"Finally, fourth tier!" Alex clenched his fists, his excitement palpable.
A voice echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations, your territory has been successfully upgraded. Current level: Fourth-tier]
[Randomly assigning new unit...]
[Assignment successful. Unlocked fourth-tier unit: King of the Man-Eating Flowers]
As with previous upgrades, each territory level-up unlocked a new unit. This time, reaching the fourth tier had granted him a unit from a new plant system, much to Alex's delight. He immediately chose to recruit one King of the Man-Eating Flowers.
[Recruiting a fourth-tier unit requires 25 Mana. Would you like to proceed?]
"Yes!"
The cost of recruiting a fourth-tier unit was more than double that of a third-tier unit. Though Alex felt a pang of regret, he didn't hesitate. With a rustling sound, a massive King of the Man-Eating Flowers sprouted from the ground, quickly growing to over six meters tall—even taller than the territory's fences. Its information appeared before Alex's eyes.
[Name: King of the Man-Eating Flowers]
[Race: Plant]
[Level: Fourth-tier (0/100)]
[Strength: 89]
[Constitution: 90]
[Agility: 5]
[Spirit: 73]
[Skills: Devour (Can quickly recover from injuries by consuming corpses.) Wooden Spikes (Fires powerful wooden spikes from its mouth to attack distant enemies.)]
[Description: The king of flowers, possessing exceptional survivability. As long as the injury is not fatal, it can rapidly recover by consuming corpses.]
Units obtained through territory upgrades were usually fairly common. However, the King of the Man-Eating Flowers had arrived at just the right time. With the beast tide approaching, Alex needed units with strong survivability to endure prolonged battles. While healing skills were useful, they had their limits. The Devour skill, on the other hand, allowed for instant recovery from non-fatal injuries as long as there were corpses available—a truly overpowered ability. And the beast tide would provide no shortage of corpses.
After some thought, Alex recruited five more Kings of the Man-Eating Flowers and stationed them along the fences on three sides of the territory. With this, his Mana reserves dwindled to just over 250 points. Factoring in the Mana needed for mutations, he could only create five fourth-tier units. It felt like he was back to square one.
But there was no helping it. No matter how strong third-tier units were, they couldn't compare to fourth-tier ones. Besides, he had just upgraded his territory and wouldn't be able to reach the fifth tier anytime soon. With the beast tide imminent, it was crucial to maximize his strength. Therefore, aside from River and the two fourth-tier Toxic Enchantresses, he only kept five Flower Sprites with healing skills and nature-based attack spells for further development. The rest were Recalled and converted into Mana.
This gave him an additional few dozen points of Mana, enough to recruit one more fourth-tier unit. Without hesitation, he recruited another King of the Man-Eating Flowers and used Mutation on it.
[Mutating a fourth-tier summon requires 25 Mana. Would you like to proceed?]
"Proceed!"
In an instant, the King of the Man-Eating Flowers transformed into a towering, leafy Treant.