Chapter 32: Rules of the Monster Camp

Having finalized the plan to sell weapons and sorted out the looted resources, blueprints, and encyclopedias, Lin Mu found himself with some downtime and needed to find something to do.

Instead of looking for Chang Yin, Lin Mu went to find Feng Zhong.

As the military commander of the village, Feng Zhong was extremely busy. Aside from training the 300 soldiers in the barracks all day, he also led them into battle, acting like a dedicated nurturer. It was evident how much effort he was putting in to train soldiers capable of attacking the Azure Dragon Fortress as quickly as possible.

In Feng Zhong's heart, although he looked down on those so-called 100,000 elite troops, given the current circumstances, one cannot make a fine cake without flour; he could only do his best. However, he could manage; the idea of a Divine General being unable to handle a tiny mountain fortress was laughable.

Strategically despise the enemy, but tactically respect them!

Located to the northwest of the village, there were currently eight barracks. Lin Mu had not let the territory's architects waste energy on building them; instead, they were constructed using blueprints. Lin Mu had purchased seven junior barracks blueprints from the trading market, all of which had been built.

All eight were junior barracks, each capable of training 100 soldiers. Currently, only 300 had been recruited, and all of them possessed Tier 6 aptitude, showing how strict the requirements were for both Lin Mu and Feng Zhong.

This also aligned with Lin Mu and Feng Zhong's elite troop plan: quality over quantity!

The soldiers were training in the barracks with great fervor. Although it was currently February, the south did not experience snow like the north. Without such harsh conditions, the soldiers trained with high morale.

In fact, across the current Divine Land, it was generally like spring—no snow and no winter disasters. This was influenced by the laws of heaven and earth, serving as a sort of weather benefit for players in the early stages. Once the system rules updated, the Divine Land would return to normal with the rotation of the four seasons.

Feng Zhong occasionally nodded from the sidelines. His dignified and restrained demeanor made him a perfect fit for the role of Chief Drill Instructor. In his heart, Lin Mu had positioned Feng Zhong as the Chief Instructor of the True Dragon Territory, planning to establish a legion dedicated to training—the territory's First Legion! Lin Mu hadn't decided on a specific name yet and would need to discuss it with Feng Zhong and the others later.

*Feng Zhong's physique seems even more burly and majestic lately. Is he still hitting a growth spurt?* Lin Mu thought mischievously.

"Hah... hah..." The soldiers practiced their techniques with wooden spears. They trained rigorously, seriously, and diligently, completely ignoring the sweat on their foreheads.

Looking at these "green recruits," Lin Mu saw the foundation of the territory's future military power. Seeing them like this, he could almost see the heroes galloping across the battlefield.

*These are my soldiers now—soldiers that belong only to me!*

Lin Mu's real reason for finding Feng Zhong was to bask in the blessing of Feng Zhong's 10x training efficiency; after all, it would be a waste of such great resources not to use them.

"Feng Jin, the soldiers are training very hard today. We'll arrange an extra meal for everyone later—more meat. Our territory has plenty of food, so we don't need to neglect them over a bit of sustenance!" Lin Mu said upon finding Feng Zhong guiding the soldiers.

"Haha, My Lord, my men are all meat-eaters. Every person gets 20 units a day—not a bit more, and not a bit less!" Feng Zhong seemed to have anticipated Lin Mu's comment.

"20 units of meat? Is there really that much?" Lin Mu marveled. In his previous experience, having 5 units of meat was considered a luxury extra meal. Now they consumed this much daily. Fortunately, his territory was wealthy and prosperous; otherwise, he truly wouldn't be able to afford them. As expected, the greatest resource consumers were training and warfare.

Training was, in the eyes of players, a gold-swallowing beast and a double-edged sword. While it could protect the home and country, it could also bankrupt a warlord.

Even the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty was currently worrying about the cost of maintaining troops. Greedy and incompetent emperors ordered prefectures and commanderies to raise their own armies, which was one of the reasons for the decline of imperial authority and the rise of chaos.

"I understand your concerns, My Lord. However, our territory is rich in resources, and food is currently abundant. I am prioritizing the training of these soldiers so we can attack the Azure Dragon Fortress and subdue the Clear Wind Fortress sooner. Once that happens, our territory will have sufficient talent, and our development will advance by leaps and bounds," Feng Zhong prompted, fearing Lin Mu might cut the soldiers' rations.

"Haha, I have no concerns. As long as our territory has it, proceed with confidence. I trust you! Furthermore, soldiers are the sharp sword and the shield of our territory. Only when they grow can we seize the initiative! We can advance to attack or retreat to defend!" Lin Mu laughed happily.

"Good! My Lord loves his soldiers like his own children and treats them well; you are a virtuous ruler! This subordinate thanks My Lord on behalf of the soldiers!" Feng Zhong bowed, bowing for the soldiers meeting a wise ruler, and perhaps also for himself.

"No need for thanks. The soldiers shed blood for the territory and place their lives on the edge of a blade; how could we not feed and clothe them well! Rest assured, I am not an incompetent lord!" Lin Mu said jovially.

"My Lord is indeed a wise ruler of this age! It is our luck to have met you!" Feng Zhong said happily.

"Haha, it is my luck to have met you all as well!" Lin Mu felt truly lucky to have met a Divine General, though he knew it was inevitable.

"Leave the soldiers' work and training to you. I came to see you because I want to discuss something regarding myself," Lin Mu said slowly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Does My Lord have something on his mind?" Feng Zhong asked curiously.

"Uh, it's like this... can that 1000% training efficiency of yours be applied to me? Also, if I train under you, does the Master-level specialty also apply that efficiency to me?" Lin Mu asked in a low voice.

The 1000% training efficiency came from Feng Zhong's Divine Skill

**[God of War]:** The god of the army, possessing the power of hellish training and conquest. Non-upgradable. **[Hellish Training]** is a passive skill that greatly increases the efficiency of training soldiers by 1000%, with a high chance of triggering the soldiers' talents. **[Power of Conquest]** is an active skill, non-upgradable; in warfare, it actively increases soldier morale by 100% and raises the chance of critical hits, lasting for 10 hours.

The Master-level **[Military Training]** specialty increases the efficiency of training soldiers by 100% and has a high chance of triggering their talents.

If combined with God-tier territory attributes, the efficiency would reach at least 1200%—twelve times! Just thinking about it made him tremble. Did the system gods know about something this broken?

"Haha, of course it works! If it means training My Lord, I will certainly give it my all, haha!" Feng Zhong laughed heartily, as if he had found a way to "torment" Lin Mu. While Feng Zhong was very respectful toward Lin Mu in official matters, he was quite relaxed when dealing with him personally. After over a month of interaction, though they didn't meet constantly, they had become quite familiar, and he wouldn't mind such jokes.

Feng Zhong "loved his soldiers like his own children."

Seeing Feng Zhong's wicked grin, Lin Mu felt depressed. *Am I getting on a thief's boat?*

However, for that 10-plus-fold increase, Lin Mu would endure any hardship. He knew that Feng Zhong's effect of "high chance to trigger talent" did not work on "Outsiders" (players). In his past life, many NPC instructors had similar skills, but unfortunately, players could not activate talents; they had to be triggered naturally. This greatly reduced the chances of players successfully activating talents.

Players didn't know if this was a system restriction on them or a blessing for the natives.

Regardless, Lin Mu and Xiao Hu became soldiers under Feng Zhong.

Shedding tears—no, rather, sweat—they underwent grueling devilish training.

After five days of training, both Lin Mu and Xiao Hu saw significant improvements. Lin Mu reached Level 16, while Xiao Hu reached Level 27. Lin Mu had gained 6 levels, but Xiao Hu's progress was even greater. This illustrated the massive gap in leveling speed between players and natives. As levels increased, players gained less experience and leveled up more slowly, needing to go to actual battlefields to progress, whereas natives could continuously improve through military training or production.

For players, this kind of training certainly didn't provide as much experience as killing monsters, but it allowed them to simultaneously train skills or specialty proficiency while leveling up.

That day, Feng Zhong arranged for Lin Mu and Xiao Hu to lead 100 men to clear nearby monster camps.

After establishing the village, Lin Mu had not looked into the surrounding territory in detail. Perhaps he was thrown off by the sudden appearance of the four large fortresses, or perhaps he simply hadn't paid attention.

Only Lin Mu knew the truth.

Lin Mu had not arranged for people to scout the surroundings, but Feng Zhong did. As a disciplined and idealistic Divine General, defending the territory was his duty. Understanding the valley's situation in detail to make correct decisions in case of an emergency was an essential quality for a commander.

In *Mythical Three Kingdoms*, after a player establishes a village, various camps such as monster camps, rebel camps, or bandit camps appear around the territory. Players referred to these as "leveling dungeons."

Initially, Lin Mu thought the four large fortresses were system-spawned dungeons, but they were not. It wasn't until he saw a monster camp appearing in a plain to the east of the village that he realized his territory also had normally spawning dungeons.

System dungeon camps are available to every player after establishing a village, with a base of 4. Each is a junior camp, which serves as the foundation for leveling with a Yellow-tier Village Building Order.

A Black-tier Building Order spawns 8 camps, with four junior and four medium camps. A Earth-tier spawns 12, with four junior, four medium, and four high-tier camps. As for the Heaven-tier, they were destroyed shortly after appearing, so there wasn't enough time to scout the surroundings for specific information.

However, after asking Feng Zhong, Lin Mu learned the situation for a God-tier territory

10 junior camps, 10 medium camps, 5 high-tier camps, and 1 King-tier camp.

What was a King-tier camp? It was a camp containing a King-tier beast—a King Beast!

A junior camp had 1,000 monsters around Level 10; a medium camp had 10,000 monsters around Level 20; a high-tier camp had 20,000 monsters around Level 30; and a King-tier camp actually had 10,000 monsters around Level 50, plus one King Beast reaching Level 60. From Feng Zhong, Lin Mu learned it was a type of wolf King Beast—the Howling Moon Silver Wolf King!

It was said that the Howling Moon Silver Wolf King was already a junior spirit beast, transcending the level of ordinary beasts, making it extremely valuable. Feng Zhong hadn't decided how to deal with it yet, so he simply mentioned it when Lin Mu asked.

*Truly monstrous.* If a territory failed to eliminate a portion of the camp within three days of it spawning, causing the camp to reach full capacity, the monsters would attack and destroy the territory.

In addition to providing training and leveling for the inhabitants, system dungeon camps also functioned to attack territories. In his past life, players had indeed seen their territories destroyed by monsters from these camps, leading to death, city destruction, and mass displacement.

Lin Mu felt somewhat relieved that Feng Zhong was handling these matters. Because he had misinterpreted a system prompt, he had forgotten about the system dungeon camps.

Regarding the King-tier camp, Feng Zhong had only killed some ordinary wolf packs and had not crossed the line of the Howling Moon Silver Wolf King, preventing it from going into a frenzy.

Lin Mu also learned that Feng Zhong sent people to clear the camps every day to prevent them from reaching full capacity and overflowing to attack the village. This also served as a way to give the soldiers their first taste of blood.

Currently, Lin Mu's territory had a total of 450 soldiers. Among them, 100 had reached Level 30, as they were the first to transition into soldiers. The others were in their dozens, with some at Level 20 and some at Level 10.

Because Zhang Xiaohu had been by Lin Mu's side the longest, Feng Zhong was training him to be a fierce general and a military commander. Feng Zhong was very dedicated to teaching this young boy.

Since Xiao Hu had spawned from a refugee camp and had no friends or family, Lin Mu treated him like a younger brother. Xiao Hu was very grateful to Lin Mu for giving a simple and lonely boy such a bright future.

The soldiers' aptitude remained at Tier 6. Those with high aptitude had been transitioned by Lin Mu into secondary professions to contribute to the territory's production. Low-tier ones, such as Tier 5, were not currently being used, perhaps to be saved for large-scale conscription in the future.

As for Tier 8 aptitude like Xiao Hu's, none had appeared yet.

Lin Mu took Xiao Hu and 100 soldiers of Level 10+ to clear the system dungeon monster camp to the east. There was one high-tier camp, three medium camps, and five junior camps here, which would require significant effort to clear.

Camps refresh every day. If a camp is cleared completely, the system will immediately refresh the entire camp the next day. However, if it is not cleared within a day, the camp will only refresh the monsters that were killed.

Because monster camps refresh daily, if any remain from the previous day, only the killed monsters will respawn, which players considered a waste. They viewed leveling camps as a resource; failing to utilize them properly was seen as a waste of resources.

Recently, Feng Zhong had been handling these matters for the village. By only killing a portion, the system needed time to refresh, preventing the camps from attacking and ravaging the village.

Clear the monsters, level up, and build courage—killing three birds with one stone!