After lunch, everyone went back to their tasks. As for Golan, he gathered the remaining purification energy. It wasn't worth much to him anymore—having already reached Peak Green Rank not long ago—and this time it hadn't granted him any new skills or racial talents.
So, he turned his attention to the spoils within the Purification Tomb.
> [You have obtained: 65× units of Ice Mountain Vulture Meat, 30× bundles of Ice Mountain Vulture Feathers, 1× Eagle Helm (Mid-Green), 17× Chaos Gems.]
"Equipment?"
Golan picked up the Eagle Helm and examined it closely. It was crafted from lustrous black metal, a design covering the head completely with only narrow slits for the eyes. Its shape reminded him of the helmets worn by Roman soldiers in his previous life.
Intricate engravings of a massive eagle with spread wings adorned the helm, giving it a majestic and intimidating look.
Curious, Golan checked its details:
> [Name: Eagle Helm]
[Type: Head Armor]
[Effect: Increases head protection by 60%. Inner leather lining reduces concussive impact.]
Touching the inside, he indeed felt a soft leather padding, which contradicted his assumption that it was simply cold, hard steel.
After testing it a little, Golan stored the helm away. He had no plans to keep it for himself, not while the five days of beginner's protection still shielded him. Confident that better gear would come his way soon, he decided to reward Jad with the helm later that evening as recognition for his bravery during the vulture battle.
Next, his gaze fell on the towering piles of eagle feathers. After six rounds of looting these creatures, he had amassed an absurdly large stock of feathers—and had no idea what to do with them.
After some thought, he stored the bulk of them in the territory warehouse and set aside the rest in his system storage. He would later consult Leonard about whether the feather shafts could be crafted into arrows.
Then Golan remembered Lucas's ingredient list. He opened the global market and created a new trade post:
> [Requested Items: Morninglight Herb, Rosemary, Jumping Mushroom, Green Turmeric, Companion Grass, Crow's Nest Fungus… +33 more.]
[Exchange Conditions: One unit of Blue-rank beast meat for each item. Alternatively, one Chaos Gem for every five items supplied.]
[Maximum Demand: Up to ten units of each item.]
"Now that the side dishes are done… it's time for the main course!"
Rubbing his hands together in excitement, Golan opened the upgrade panel for the Lord's Hall.
> [Building: Lord's Hall]
[Territory Rank: Mid-White]
[Function: Lord's daily residence and core storage of the regional system.]
[Upgrade Requirements: 2,000× Wood, 2,000× Stone, 100× Metal, 50× Chaos Gems.]
[Hint: All resources detected. Proceed with upgrade? Yes/No.]
Taking a deep breath, Golan confirmed. A radiant white light descended, expanding outward to cover the entire territory. The Lord's Hall began to grow in size, and the protective dome stretched farther and farther—until it encompassed nearly a full kilometer.
…
After several minutes, the light faded.
> [Notification: Lord's Hall upgrade completed. Open the building interface for details.]
[Will of Chaos: Congratulations, Lord of the Frozen North. Your territory has risen in rank, bringing you one step closer to dominion over all races. Continue your efforts.]
[Territorial Talent Alert: The 'Ancient Purification Tomb' has been enhanced.]
[Territorial Talent Alert: The capacity of the 'Underworld Summoning Tomb' has increased.]
[Territorial Talent Alert: A new tomb has been created—'The Alchemical Forge Tomb.' Open the territorial talents panel for details.]
Perhaps because he had already grown used to new tombs appearing, Golan didn't get overly excited. Instead, he first checked the Lord's Hall details.
> [Building: Lord's Hall]
[Territory Rank: Peak White]
[Function: Lord's residence and storage hub of the regional system.]
[Next Upgrade Requirements: 100,000× Wood, 100,000× Stone, 5,000× Metal, 2,000× Chaos Gems.]
[Racial Talents: Wind Speed, Enhanced Smell, Keen Sight.]
[Equipment: The Curved Sword.]
[Skills: Savage Roar (Peak White).]
"Damn! That's insane!"
Golan had expected higher costs after witnessing the requirements to upgrade the summoning gate earlier, but he never imagined they'd be this outrageous.
"Hah… the road ahead is still long."
He sighed, muttering to comfort himself, then pulled up the lord interface.
> [Lord Title: Lord of the Frozen North]
[Power Level: Peak Green]
[Territory Name: Frozen Plateau City]
[Territory Rank: Peak White]
[Territory Size: 1,000m × 1,000m × 1,000m]
[Territorial Talent: Primitive Chaos Graves (Legendary) (Talent grows with the Lord's Territory).]
[Buildings:
– Lord's Hall (Peak White)
– Summoning Gate (Peak White)
– Tailor's Workshop (Beginner Green)
– 23× Rural Cottages (Beginner White)
– 23× Public Latrines (Beginner White)]
[Talent Buildings:
– Ancient Purification Tomb (Peak White)
– Underworld Summoning Tomb (Mid-White)
– Alchemical Forge Tomb (Beginner White)]
Checking the new tomb:
> [Alchemical Forge Tomb: Through the arts of refinement and alchemy, corpses of creatures can be forged into weapons, armor, and accessories according to user specifications.]
[Details:
– Equipment grade corresponds to the rank of the creature used.
– Loot cannot be gathered from corpses placed inside this tomb.
– Current tomb level allows the following categories:
1. Weapons {Swords, Bows, Spears}
2. Armor {Chestplates, Helmets, Leg Guards}
– Additional categories and diversity will unlock as the tomb is upgraded.]
"Hmmm, not bad. I won't have to worry about lacking weapons or armor anymore. Even if I don't know the exact quality of gear forged from beast corpses, the past tombs proved reliable enough."
"The downside is… no loot drops when using it."
He frowned slightly. Why was it that the earlier tombs didn't interfere with loot collection, but this one did?
After some thought, Golan concluded: the other tombs weren't fully consuming the corpse. The Purification Tomb only extracted promotion energy and racial talents, leaving the body intact. The Summoning Tomb likely used only the soul remnants as offerings, since the undead fed solely on spirits.
But this new Alchemical Forge consumed the body itself—transmuting it into equipment. Naturally, there would be no loot.
"Even with that flaw, this tomb is more than I could have asked for!"
Weapons and armor were of paramount importance now and in the future. Earlier that morning, when the northern expedition team returned from battling the vultures, Golan noticed their gear was battered and worn. Without functional equipment, their combat efficiency would drop by half—or worse.
With this tomb, that problem could finally be solved.
Even if he lost out on meat or loot, the trade-off was more than worth it.
At this moment, Golan couldn't help but feel a strong curiosity—what would equipment forged from flesh, blood, and bone actually look like?
Unfortunately… what he lacked most right now were corpses.
--- End of Chapter.