Chapter 212 - Level 6 Shelter

The intense flames emanating from the Burnbull Guards severely crippled the Myrannium Treant Sovereign’s defenses and its regenerative powers, leaving it to burn alive. Observing this, Han Wu became certain that the Myrannium Treant Sovereign would inevitably perish within the next 20 hours, provided his Osteomancers sustained their concentrated assault.

Unfortunately, most of his Osteomancers were gone, and the survivors were struggling, their Undead Energy being eroded by the Myrannium Treant Sovereign’s powerful Life Energy, rendering them temporarily incapable of transforming into their bone giant forms. The window of opportunity was shrinking by the minute. If he hesitated any longer, all the painstaking effort and sacrifices up to this very moment would amount to nothing.

With the final trial of the Treant Ruins hanging in the balance, he resolved to risk it all for victory. He was going to use Merge on his Osteomancers! While the process of merging the Heroic Osteomancers would be exceedingly difficult, fortunately, his soul was resilient enough to endure the immense strain of the merging process.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He merged 30 Osteomancers into one, creating a Lord life form: the Giga Osteomancer! With each powerful stride it took, scattered bone fragments automatically converged around it, melding with its own bones to become part of its body. Moments later, a terrifying hundred-meter tall bone giant towered over the battlefield, its massive frame and even its most minor movements proving capable of utterly obliterating everything in its path.

Sensing danger from the enormous bony monstrosity, the Myrannium Treant Sovereign angrily whipped its fiery branches at the bone giant, intending to land a damaging blow. This time, however, its signature Branch Bludgeon proved ineffective, bouncing off harmlessly.

Without hesitation, the enormous bone giant immediately gripped the thick, burning branch. With a powerful and forceful tug, it snapped the limb clean off. For the very first time in its millennia-long existence, the ancient Myrannium Treant Sovereign suffered the loss of one of its branches.

The true torment, however, had only just begun. The Burnbull Guards maintained their relentless assault, ensuring the Myrannium Treant Sovereign remained engulfed in flames, while the newly formed bone giant systematically snapped off more and more of its massive branches.

Piece by agonizing piece, the Myrannium Treant Sovereign was slowly shaved away, its life force diminishing until, ten grueling hours later, it finally perished. Even the immense power of its Life Domain proved insufficient to repair its catastrophic injuries in time, and it gradually transformed into nothing more than a charred, lifeless hundred-meter-tall tree.

Han Wu received a notification after defeating the Myrannium Treant Sovereign.

[You have cleared the fifth trial.]

[Congratulations on clearing the Treant Ruins.]

[You have obtained the treasure of the treants.]

[Obtained 2,000,000 Wood.]

[Obtained Eternal Altar: Treants.]

[Obtained Treant Training Ground.]

Han Wu let out a deep sigh of relief, his eyes scanning the long stream of victory notifications. Though victory was undeniably sweet, it had been hard-won, demanding the sacrifice of tens of thousands of his Iron Skeletons, and he even had to summon 100 Burnbull Guards to finally achieve it.

Han Wu was abruptly transported out of the ruins, finding himself holding three brand-new items. He wasted no time, immediately transferring the massive haul of 2 million Wood into his storage, hitting the storage limit in one go.

The second reward, the Eternal Altar of the treants, functioned much like the Wights Altar: Han Wu could use Wood to summon various treant types. He could summon five different treant castes: Infantry, Vanguard, Lancer, Archer, and Worker.

Each treant caste was further separated into Regular Treants, Decaguard Treants, Centurion Treants, Millennium Treant Kings, and Myrannium Treant Sovereigns. Though it was a more useful reward than the Wights Altar, summoning wights required fewer resources, as they only needed Gold Coins, while treants demanded ten times more wood for every rank increase.

Depending on their caste, Regular Treants cost 1 to 10 Wood while Decaguard Treants cost 50 to 500 Wood. Centurion Treants required 2,000 to 20,000 Wood, Millennium Treant King required at least 500,000 Wood, and finally, Myrannium Treant Sovereigns required at least 10 million Wood.

I’m sure even clear-cutting an entire swathe of forest would not yield enough wood to summon a single Myrannium Treant Sovereign! However, after personally battling one, I think 10 million Wood is actually a very small price to pay for its immense power

, Han Wu thought to himself.

The Treant Training Ground, much like the altar, was a good treasure. He could station treants within the training grounds, thereby establishing diverse training courses for challengers. The training ground operated on the same scoring system as the Wight Training Ground. Challengers, after accumulating points, could then exchange them for a variety of valuable rewards, including Wood, different types of treant altars, random skill orbs associated with treants, and miscellaneous treant materials.

Han Wu’s keen eye for opportunity immediately spotted the profit potential in the Treant Training Ground. Without delay, he took his three hard-won rewards back to his shelter and commenced the setting up of the new training courses.

It wasn’t long before buzz spread, and soon, tickets for the Treant Training Ground were once again making the rounds in the group chat. For those students who had become jaded by the repetitive nature of the Wight Training Ground, these new tickets were devoured like hotcakes, since they represented fresh opportunities to further enhance their strength.

Han Wu took a moment to organize his supplies before once again dedicating himself to upgrading his shelter. He had already received an estate with the completion of his Level 5 upgrade, but reaching Level 6 was a far more demanding endeavor, necessitating 50,000 Wood, 50,000 Stone, 20,000 Iron, and 40,000 Gold Coins.

Having poured in the required resources, Han Wu witnessed his estate’s remarkable transformation. What was once a humble kilometer radius now sprawled into an extensive five-kilometer domain. Every inch of land within this enlarged perimeter was now under his direct control, a territory he dubbed the Grand Estate. Furthermore, the Smithy underwent a considerable upgrade, its improved layout now capable of accommodating a force of 100 blacksmiths working at the same time.

After upgrading his shelter, Han Wu was presented with a choice of two additional rewards out of six:

[Reward 1: Field. Vegetables and other plants with economic value can be planted here. Plants grow 1,000 times faster]

[Reward 2: Training Ground. Units can train here to increase their strength]

[Reward 3: Stable. Horses raised and nurtured here obtain the Light Cavalry caste]

[Reward 4: Barn. Various livestock can be raised. Raised livestock grow 100 times faster]

[Reward 5: Playground. Constructs a luxurious playground. Helps nurture intelligence of units]

[Reward 6: Graveyard. Increases Undead Energy of undead units. Grants set chance for an undead mutation]

Han Wu had to pick just two rewards for his Grand Estate. He immediately selected the Graveyard, recognizing it as a perfect fit for his skeletons. He figured that with so many skeletons, mutations would be very common, even with a low set chance. He was really looking forward to the distinct variety of skeleton types that would soon join his forces.

For his second option, he decided against the Stable and the Training Ground, opting instead for the Fields. Given that his established combat strategy primarily revolved around overwhelming his opponents with tidal waves of skeletons, the training ground offered little benefit.

He also disregarded the Stable as an option, noting that he had not sighted a single horse since his arrival in the Divine Civilization—such a structure would be an obvious waste of precious space. He preferred to choose the Fields instead, intending to grow crops to feed his locusts which, in turn, would ease the constant pressure he faced in securing enough food for his swarm.

The construction of the two new structures in Han Wu’s Grand Estate was completed with remarkable speed. Just as he prepared to settle down for a moment of rest, a notification chimed, revealing a message from Duan Meng.

[Duan Meng: Han Wu, are you prepared for the second calamity?]

The moment he read that message, Han Wu’s drowsiness vanished.