"The city lord of the First City back then, the Great God Houdini, was the very first human to clear the tenth stage, and because of that he obtained the Book of Magic."
Mr. White continued recalling the events of the past, "It was precisely because of his selflessness that he taught the contents of the Book of Magic he obtained to the people who were struggling desperately at the time. Only then did humanity achieve the glory it has today."
"If not for that, humanity probably would have already gone extinct, or be hiding in some corner, trembling like rats just to stay alive."
"It's just a pity..."
"Human ability is still limited in the end. Otherwise, we wouldn't be so firmly suppressed by certain existences."
"Certain existences?"
When Ethan heard that, he wanted to ask more.
But Mr. White simply waved his hand casually, clearly unwilling to talk about it further. He quickly changed the subject, "It's said that in the entire Mist World right now, the highest anyone has reached is only the thirty-seventh stage. As for how many stages there are above that, no one knows."
"What about you? Which stage did you reach?", Seeing that Mr. White didn't want to continue the topic, Ethan didn't press him. Instead, he tried to learn more about the Demon Tree.
"Me? I'm just a merchant. It would already be pretty good if I could get through the first three stages," Mr. White laughed, "Besides, I only went to experience the characteristics of the Demon Tree. I didn't actually plan on getting any benefits out of it. This is called knowing yourself and knowing the enemy. A department store earns from everything. Only by knowing the situation inside can I understand what the people going in to challenge it will need, right?"
"That makes a lot of sense."
Hearing that, Ethan finally understood what Mr. White meant earlier when he said something.
He had said before, "So the branch of the Demon Tree actually landed here with you. Looks like my choice of location wasn't bad."
Now Ethan finally understood the meaning behind that sentence.
"So when you saw this branch of the Demon Tree, your first thought wasn't to go challenge the stages. Instead, it was to build an adventurers' gathering place here and make money off those people, right?"
"Hahaha! As expected, little brother, you really understand me."
Mr. White burst out laughing, "Exactly! The moment I saw the Demon Tree, the first thing I thought was that we were about to get rich."
"If the General Chamber of Commerce approves setting up a branch here, those old fellows really wouldn't have any reason to refuse. After all, this place can bring them a huge amount of tax revenue that doesn't need to be shared with the city lord. On top of that, there's also a Archmage stationed here."
"And now there's one more reason for them to agree, the Demon Tree branch. Using it as the center to build an adventurer ecosystem would absolutely be the most profitable thing possible."
"So little brother, just sit back and wait to make money."
Ethan replied with a smile, "Since Mr. White is so confident, then of course I'll wait for your good news."
"However, there's one thing I'm not sure if I should say," Mr. White stroked his little mustache, "That is, Lord Ethan, your territory is still a bit too small. It would be better if it were bigger."
"That's easy. I'm just planning to upgrade it."
Ethan had actually planned to upgrade the villa yesterday.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough materials.
At the time he lacked quite a bit of advanced stone and earth-element beast cores. But with the citizens going out to mine and hunt monsters today, the materials needed to upgrade the Estate were now more than enough.
"What do you mean you're planning to upgrade it?", Mr. White looked at Ethan with a confused expression.
Only then did Ethan realize.
The system upgrade ability he possessed was probably something that didn't exist in this world.
It was something the natives had never seen before.
So Ethan simply smiled and said, "Mr. White, let me show you a great magic. It's a construction rule my master taught me, magic about how to demolish and rebuild to get a bigger and newer house."
"There's actually such magic?", Mr. White's eyes lit up, "Then I really have to see this for myself!"
[Upgrade Estate!]
[Estate upgrade successful: Advanced Stone −1000, Mud −10000, Advanced Wood −1000, Vines −2000, Glass −200, Spirit Stones −200, Earth-element Beast Cores −200, Fire-element Beast Cores −100, Water-element Beast Cores −100, Metal-element Beast Cores −50, Wood-element Beast Cores −50, Wind-element Beast Cores −20]
Truly, back to square one overnight.
However, as the Estate materials were consumed, Ethan stood on the roof and saw the original villa's area rapidly expanding.
The snow that had originally covered the ground of the villa area disappeared instantly.
Then, the lawn belonging to the villa began spreading outward rapidly, and the original surrounding wall started moving outward together with the land.
That's right, the entire piece of land was expanding at high speed.
It even carried along the things that originally existed on the grass as it expanded.
The most outrageous part was Ethan's four-sided strangling vine wall. At this moment, it was actually growing rapidly along with the Estate.
Because, the original villa wall could no longer enclose the area of the new Estate.
Judging from the length of the wall, Ethan estimated that this Estate had at least fifty to sixty thousand square meters. And as the Estate wall grew longer and wider, those strangling vines were also growing quickly, as if they were being stretched endlessly.
But the strange part was that every time these strangling vines were pulled longer and straighter by the expanding wall, small specks of green light would appear on the wall.
Then those strangling vines would grow rapidly again, continuing to grow until they reached the full length of the wall.
Inside the Estate, the original villa was also changing quickly.
The original two-story small villa had now become a large villa nearly five stories tall. The villa's design was very special.
It was in a terraced style.
Each level going upward had a smaller area than the level below, but outside every floor of the villa there was a huge terrace. On the terraces there were flowers and plants, giving the place a very comfortable feeling.
At the very top of the villa was a massive terrace.
The terrace was a green lawn, and there was also a pavilion.
It looked like a place meant for relaxation and entertainment.
As for the swimming pool, vegetable garden, dormitory, and other things inside Ethan's original villa, they didn't undergo any major changes. Their positions simply shifted.
For example, the vegetable garden now appeared some distance away from the villa.
Its location was behind the small villa building.
And in front of the villa, there was still that small swimming pool. However, beside the pool there was now an extra blank area, with several red exclamation marks appearing above it.
[Hot Spring Area: Can construct a hot spring complex connected to the swimming pool, allowing outdoor hot spring bathing in winter. As long as enough fire-element beast cores are added, the hot springs will never cool down and will always remain at a comfortable temperature of forty degrees.]
[Swimming Pool (Upgradeable to Level 2): A Level 2 swimming pool will expand the area and gain a warm-in-winter, cool-in-summer function. At the same time, a small bridge will be built above the pool, and a ten-meter-long slope will be added along the pool's edge, letting you enjoy the pleasure of slowly entering the water.]
[Water Leisure Area: A leisure area can be added beside the swimming pool, placing several lounge chairs and sun umbrellas, while also adding several massage chairs, allowing you to enjoy one hundred percent relaxation during everyday life when you can't go out.]
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