A series of light circles appeared beneath every building in the territory. At the same time, many light circles also formed over the mountain of piled-up supplies.
This was the highest-dimensional power confirming the standards of Toji Hisami’s territory.
Then the light circles under the buildings vanished. The supplies marked by the circles disappeared into thin air.
[Congratulations on completing all the requirements for a Level 2 Territory]
[Void Ocean Territory 07 has officially been promoted to a Level 2 Territory]
[You are the 2155th lord to be promoted to a Level 2 Territory]
[Congratulations on completing all the requirements for a Level 3 Territory]
[Void Ocean Territory 07 has officially been promoted to a Level 3 Territory]
[You are the 5th lord to be promoted to a Level 3 Territory]
[Those who enter the top ten will receive certain rewards based on their ranking]
[Cross-territory trading function has been opened]
[Lord dialogue public channel will be opened after Level 4]
[Territory promotion to Level 3, new functional buildings unlocked]
[Territory promotion to Level 3, knowledge capacity increased]
[Territory promotion to Level 3, population unit attributes strengthened]
[Level 4 Territory Requirements 1: Population 300, reserves of ore, wood, grain, and meat, 2000 standard units each]
[Level 4 Territory Requirements 2: Upgrade the Lord’s Hall to Level 3]
[Level 4 Territory Requirements 3: Occupy the mysterious invader force appearing next to your territory]
Piece by piece, information poured into Toji Hisami’s mind.
If he had not experienced the learning inside the Hall of Knowledge, such a massive influx of data might have made him dizzy. Now, however, he digested everything with ease.
Promoting to Level 3 at fifth place meant he had once again returned to the top ten.
The requirements for Level 4 were heavier than before, and a special condition had been added, a mysterious invader force.
At that moment, in a place invisible to Toji Hisami, a continuous mountain slope suddenly rose at the edge of the territory. An area previously shrouded in mist became visible.
Toji Hisami returned to the Lord’s Hall with Lyra and directly opened the territory panel.
[Void Ocean Territory 07, Level LV3]
[Lord: Toji Hisami, Level LV1]
[Lord Attributes: Health 100, Physique 20, Attack 10, Defense 8, Soul 100+50, Command 100, Energy 11]
[Soul Contract: Lyra]
[Territory Attributes: Area 20 square kilometers, Wasteland 40%, Arable Land 30%, Water Source 20%, Other 10%]
[Territory Resources: Population 125/300, Wood 1440/2000, Ore 850/2000, Stone 580/2000, Food 1100/2000, Livestock 120/2000]
[Territory Special Building: Lord’s Hall LV2]
[Territory Ranking: 0/4000, Ranking Assessment opens after three months]
He pointed at the Lord’s Hall column.
The Lord’s Hall was a special building, separate from all other facilities. Its upgrades were determined by additional conditions.
When he opened the detailed information, he saw every requirement needed to raise it to Level 3. There were no real surprises, they matched exactly what he had learned at the academy.
The basic requirement was to fully construct every building available in the territory, then maintain population and resources at a certain level. Beyond that, there was a special condition for upgrading the Lord’s Hall further: any one of the six special attributes of the territory, Technology, Culture, Mystery, Trade, Industry, or Military, needed to reach a rating of 500.
Toji Hisami’s territory currently led in Culture, already sitting at 315.
When Lyra, standing behind him, saw that score, she could not help taking another look at her master.
A territory that had only recently left Level 1 already possessed a Culture rating of over 300. She found it almost impossible. Culture points came from many sources, but the main one was the individual progress of every population unit inside the territory. A score above 300 meant that nearly every single person in the original territory was making daily progress.
The higher the population level or rank, the more points each step of progress contributed.
In her heart, Lyra silently raised her evaluation of Toji Hisami’s abilities to an exaggerated height.
Everyone knew that when a heroic spirit descended to the main world, they would return to the spirit world upon death and lose their original memories until summoned again. Lyra was different. She had been directly created by the highest-dimensional power, and this was her first time descending. Yet she still carried many records of past territories in her mind.
The six major characteristic scores of Toji Hisami’s early territory had already broken records.
Now that the territory had reached Level 3 and he had visited the Hall of Knowledge, those scores would only continue to climb.
Toji Hisami looked at the information without the slightest surprise.
With the talent Heaven Rewards Diligence, every person in the territory was essentially studying no matter what task they performed. Continuous effort every moment naturally produced continuous gains. In a territory that functioned like a nationwide academy, how could the Culture rating not be high?
His goal was not merely a Level 4 territory. He intended to climb to Level 5 as quickly as possible.
Only when a territory reached Level 5 would all information be fully opened, and that was when the real competition began. Speed in the early stages did not truly count. Only after Level 5 did speed become a genuine test of strength.
Throughout history, every lord who successfully returned to the Human Alliance with their territory after the trial had done so with a territory of Level 5 or higher.
Max had traded him one hundred additional population earlier. Toji Hisami immediately assigned every one of them to construction tasks. The territory entered a period of massive construction.
After reaching Level 3, the classification of buildings became clearer: Industrial, Agricultural, Residential & Entertainment, and Military. One special category still remained locked. That category would only open at Level 5 and would play its true role at Level 7.
He opened the construction list and allocated every newly unlocked building. The Population Management Hall received the highest priority. It was the key facility for attracting more residents and had to be completed first.
After arranging that, he turned to Lyra.
Even when she remained silent, her tall and slender figure standing there was pleasant to look at.
"Lyra, can you train the army?"
"Yes. In fact, I can also handle territory affairs."
Her cold voice answered honestly.
The reply surprised him. After seeing her Guardian profession, his first impression had been that she was purely combat-oriented. He had not expected an S-level spirit to be talented in both civil and military matters.
"For now you don’t need to worry about territory affairs. There isn’t much to do yet, and I can handle it myself. First convert the militia and form the future army of the territory."
Lyra received the order and immediately left the Lord’s Hall.
Toji Hisami once again opened the knowledge integration function of the Lord’s Hall.
After reaching Level 3, two additional knowledge slots had appeared. He needed to invest in them again.
After brief consideration he chose Magic and Evolution.
This was a world where highest-dimensional powers existed. Humanity survived by wielding supernatural forces. Among them, the mage profession stood as the elite. A powerful mage could intimidate an entire region. Before reaching the higher ranks, a mage’s output far surpassed that of a warrior of the same level. Magic could also be applied to daily life, achieving effects similar to advanced technology from his previous world. Compared with the slow, step-by-step progress of science, magic sometimes simply defied ordinary logic.
Evolution was a field that concerned the growth of all living things. He did not know how many others had chosen it, but he would never miss it. The more knowledge of evolution he mastered, the faster every person and every living thing in the territory would grow stronger. It was an investment that demanded continuous effort with returns that were not immediately clear, exactly the kind of path that suited his talent.
As he made the selection, the Lord’s Hall once again emitted a hazy light. Subtle changes spread through the entire territory.
Lyra, who was in the middle of assembling the militia, looked up toward the Lord’s Hall. While the others remained confused, she had already sensed the shift.
She closed her eyes briefly and felt it.
"Mystery, Science, Magic, Evolution..."
"The Lord possesses so much knowledge..."
"In that case, I must also demonstrate my full abilities."
She opened her eyes again. Her aura changed instantly, becoming as cold and sharp as an iceberg. The militiamen standing before her could not help but tremble.
.....
While grand construction continued in full swing inside Toji Hisami’s territory, the continuous hills at the edge finally stabilized.
In a mountain hollow, the ground suddenly split open into numerous holes. One after another, lizardmen crawled out from underground. They spat venom and formed ranks, weapons in hand.
Finally a lizardman leader, clearly twice as large and strong as the others, emerged. The vertical pupils in its bright yellow eyes sent a chill down the spine.
"Waa-gaaa!!!"
The leader let out a low roar. All the lizardmen scattered and began exploring the surrounding environment. The remaining female lizardmen lined up in front of it. Without hesitation the leader seized two of them and disappeared back into its hole.
....
In another part of the Void Ocean, inside Zhao Kai’s territory, the busy laborers once again heard their lord’s furious shouts.
The usually dignified steward stood with his head bowed, enduring the storm of spit and insults.
"I actually became only the twelfth person to be promoted to a Level 3 Territory!"
"I gave you so many resources, and this is how you repay me?!"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became. Zhao Kai kicked the silent steward to the ground. The laborers around them dared not make a sound and only shrank in place.
"All of you, get the hell out and get to work!"
He pulled out a whip and mercilessly lashed several nearby laborers. His mood was simply atrocious.
When he had been promoted to Level 2 he had been ecstatic. Now the anger was equally intense. Everything he had done followed the best practices taught at the academy. He even had a professional territory steward managing affairs. Yet he had been kicked out of the top ten again.
Zhao Kai stormed back into the Lord’s Mansion and opened the inter-territory trading system. The resources provided by his family had not been completely used up; there was still potential to exploit.
Since pure territorial development could no longer catch the leaders, he would use resource trading to accelerate.
"You peasants... I will make you understand why a great family is a great family!"
He opened the inventory list and began purchasing with gold coins. There were not many resources currently listed. He swept them all away.