As soon as Lin You's voice fell, the three saplings were enveloped in a burst of light.
Amidst rapid growth, two of them transformed into thorny vines, similar to the previous ones, with slight differences in attributes, but not significant.
What surprised Lin You the most was the third sapling.
It actually bloomed into a vibrant red flower on the spot!
As the flower opened, a miniature winged sprite slowly floated out, fluttering around Lin You.
[Name: Flower Sprite]
[Race: Plant]
[Level: Tier 1 (0/10)]
[Strength: 0]
[Constitution: 5]
[Agility: 8]
[Spirit: 10]
[Skills: Breath of Nature, Spirit of Nature (Consumes natural energy to heal a designated ally for 50% of their spirit attribute.)]
[Description: The lowest-level plant-type summon, capable of rapidly healing wounds.]
Like the thorny vines, the Flower Sprite also inherited the sapling's skill, and its original skill was also a healing skill.
With the addition of two single-target healing skills, its recovery ability had reached an incredible level.
This was the power of mutation!
With the Flower Sprite and three thorny vines, Lin You's territory had finally become much safer and more vibrant.
Lin You went to the black wolf's corpse, processing it while opening the regional chat channel.
After this period of settling down, most people had overcome their initial panic and started discussing various matters concerning their territories.
"Brothers, I've discovered something major! After the territory is upgraded to Tier 2, the lord also gets upgraded to Tier 2!"
"What the heck! Is that even possible?"
"Nani? We can also level up together?"
"Is the news accurate? Also, how did you upgrade your territory so quickly?"
"Tested and confirmed, it's effective! After upgrading to Tier 2, I feel like my strength has increased a lot!"
"Damn! Reaching Tier 2 so quickly, did you get a full resource draw? Or maybe your initial unit is OP!"
"Then I have to hurry and collect wood and stone, and also magical energy. I'm still more than halfway short."
"I don't have any."
Looking at the messages scrolling by, Lin You was surprised.
The lord leveling up with the territory was something he hadn't expected.
Recalling what the voice had said before, that the territory core was a derivative of the lord's soul, it turned out there was such a connection.
No wonder he could see the territory's information without getting close to the territory core.
[Territory Name: Tree of Life]
[Territory Level: Tier 1]
[Territory Durability: 100/100]
[Recruitable Units: Plant-type]
[Recruitment Quantity: 10/10]
[Territory Description: The foundation of the lord's survival, possessing various functions. If the territory core is destroyed, the lord perishes.]
[Upgrade Requirements: Wood (100/100), Stone (0/100), Magical Energy (0/10)]
[Note: Plant-type territory characteristic, self-sufficient in wood supply.]
The advantage of the plant type was its inexhaustible supply of wood.
This was probably to compensate for the plant type's weakness of having few offensive means in the early stages, which could be considered a pleasant surprise.
It was just a pity that these fixed wood resources couldn't be taken out; otherwise, he would have become rich by selling wood long ago. Why would he have to hunt monsters so painstakingly?
Now that wood was no longer a concern, he only needed to collect stone and magical energy.
Stone was easy to obtain, as there was plenty around the territory, which he could gather on the spot.
Magical energy was not so easy to earn, because his plant-type summons had no mobility at all, let alone going outside the territory to hunt.
He couldn't possibly run out and lure monsters for the thorny vines to kill, could he?
Hmm?
Come to think of it, that method seemed viable!
Lin You's eyes suddenly lit up.
In any case, the territory still had the protection of the safe period. As long as he didn't run too far, there shouldn't be any major problems. It could even be said to be a huge BUG!
Acting on his thoughts, Lin You quickly processed the black wolf's corpse, immediately got up, picked up the dead branch from before, and slowly walked out of the territory.
As he passed through the territory entrance, a reminder immediately sounded.
[Warning! You have now left the territory range and are no longer protected by the safe period!]
Lin You ignored it and continued walking further away.
Sure enough, not long after, seven black wolves jumped out of the nearby forest, lunging at him with their bloody mouths, probably attracted by the scent of flesh.
Lin You didn't dare to be careless, turned around and fled, quickly escaping back into the territory.
At the same time.
The three thorny vines within the territory moved, and sharp thorny tendrils shot out, attacking the pursuing black wolves.
For a time, the black wolves howled miserably, no match for the thorny vines at all, and were wiped out in the blink of an eye.
Under Lin You's deliberate control, these black wolves all died from the attacks of the first thorny vine, instantly pushing its experience to the maximum.
Enveloped in a burst of light, the thorny vine finally successfully advanced, and the flower bud on top slowly opened.
[Name: Thorny Vine Flower]
[Race: Plant]
[Level: Tier 2 (0/25)]
[Strength: 20]
[Constitution: 22]
[Agility: 9]
[Spirit: 17]
[Skills: Breath of Nature, Vine Whip]
[Description: The lowest-level plant-type summon, initially possessing the ability to move.]
The Tier 2 unit hadn't learned any new skills.
But even so, Lin You was incredibly excited.
Because after the thorny vine reached Tier 2, it finally gained the ability to move!
His gaze fell to the bottom of the thorny vine flower, and sure enough, it had broken away from the soil, growing thick roots that allowed it to move slowly on the ground.
This was definitely great news for Lin You.
Because in this way, he could go out hunting and collect more stone and magical energy.
"That's right, the mutation ability!"
Suddenly, Lin You thought of his mutation ability, which could be used repeatedly.
He wondered what the effect would be if he used it on the Tier 2 thorny vine flower. Would it mutate into other, more powerful Tier 2 summoning units?
But upon careful consideration, he gave up.
Because even if he mutated it repeatedly, it would only randomly retain one of the skills, and wouldn't add a third skill.
Moreover, he couldn't guarantee that the summoning unit after mutation would still have the ability to move.
Instead of using the precious magical energy he had just obtained on the thorny vine flower, it would be better to use it to mutate the saplings and increase his combat units.
Considering that he would have to go out soon, the more combat units, the better.
So soon, Lin You arrived at the base of the Tree of Life and used the mutation ability on the remaining six saplings.
As before, after a burst of light enveloped them, the six saplings underwent tremendous changes. In addition to four mutating into thorny vines and Flower Sprites, the remaining two actually produced new units!
[Name: Treant Guard]
[Race: Plant]
[Level: Tier 1 (0/10)]
[Strength: 10 (Attack Power)]
[Constitution: 8 (Health)]
[Agility: 8 (Speed)]
[Spirit: 8 (Skill Power)]
[Skills: Breath of Nature, Cleave (Swings the wooden spikes in its hands, dealing damage equivalent to 100% of its strength attribute to multiple enemies in front.)]
[Description: The lowest-level plant-type summon, excellent in melee combat.]
This new unit was a humanoid plant made of tree trunks and branches.
It had two legs growing underneath, allowing it to move freely on the ground. Its arms were made of two sharp wooden spikes, giving it the appearance of a warrior, and it even had a decent area-of-effect skill.
This unit, within the entire plant type, was probably among the more upstream ones.
If any plant-type lord randomly received this as their initial unit, they would definitely have a very smooth early game, unlike him, who was desperately risking his life to lure monsters outside.
It really was a case of comparing oneself to others only to be angered to death.
"Roar!!"
Just as he was thinking this, a terrifying beast roar suddenly echoed outside the territory, instantly shocking Lin You back to his senses.
When he turned his head to look outside, he was immediately startled and got up.
"Tier 3 monster!"