Chapter 61: Purchase, the Elemental Gemstone

Gu Ning spent his 3,000-plus points on several items.

Shield Warrior Unit Nest (Green): Allows the summoning of Shield Warriors. Shield Warriors have high defense and serve as frontline units in an army.

Healer Unit Nest (Blue): Allows the summoning of Healers. Healers can restore health, greatly improving the endurance of a unit in battle.

Residential Blueprint (White): Allows the construction of residential housing—an essential building for any territory.

Gu Ning directly exchanged for 50 residential blueprints, 3 Shield Warrior Nests, and 3 Healer Nests.

The residential blueprints cost 10 points each—very cheap. Shield Warrior Nests cost 200 points each, and Healer Nests were 600 points apiece. In total, he spent 2,900 points.

With the remaining points, Gu Ning exchanged for some vegetable and grain seeds.

After finishing everything, he exited the Arena.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Windsor and Darkmoon asleep. Each had a leg resting on him. Gu Ning smiled but didn't move. He hadn't rested the entire night and was exhausted. Without any further action, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

———

Gu Ning felt someone nudging him. Half-awake, he opened his eyes to see Windsor looking at him.

"Time to eat, A-Ning," she said softly.

After two days of ice-making and combat, Gu Ning had fallen into a deep sleep.

Even now, he was still a little groggy.

He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. Once fully awake, he nodded to Windsor.

"Got it. You guys go ahead, I'll be right there."

Gu Ning got out of bed, washed up, and joined them for breakfast.

At the table sat Windsor, Darkmoon, and Molly. Molly now lived in another room but usually joined them for meals.

Huohuo and Xiarui were absent—probably off playing somewhere.

Gu Ning sat down to eat. It was a simple meal of congee, steamed buns, and two light vegetable dishes.

He had specifically requested a light breakfast.

Just as he was eating, a message popped up in his friend tab.

It was from Lico'er.

"Don't forget our agreement!" she messaged directly, wasting no time.

Lico'er was lying on her bed at that moment, holding a glass of juice. She wasn't drinking alcohol since the upcoming Domain Duel required her to stay alert.

"I know. I won't go back on my word," Gu Ning replied.

Although she trusted him, Lico'er still felt a bit uneasy. Seeing his reply finally put her at ease.

She closed the chat and walked outside.

More than twenty people were assembled outside—both men and women.

Leading them was a burly man in heavy armor, holding a massive shield that was big enough to completely cover Lico'er's body.

This was Gru, an epic-tier hero she had obtained—a powerful Shield Warrior.

The rest were civilians equipped with leather armor and bows. These were archers Lico'er had personally trained. In her view, sea battles relied heavily on ranged attacks.

Looking at her well-prepared team, Lico'er felt confident.

Combined with her alliances, she was sure she'd reap major rewards this time.

Back on Gu Ning's side, he had tasked the navigator Li Le with managing the civilians and ensured they were all equipped with bows.

Gu Ning also understood that naval battles relied on ranged attacks. But he wasn't planning to rely on these civilians in combat—he just wanted them to survive.

After all, once a territory was built, you couldn't run it without people.

His real fighting force this time would be Windsor, Huohuo, and Xiarui.

Even Darkmoon wasn't suited for open combat—he'd remain hidden in Gu Ning's shadow as a backup.

With the preparations complete, Gu Ning began his daily fishing for resources.

Windsor had helped with this the past couple of days, but today he wanted to test his own luck again.

Soon, the first item surfaced.

Bridge Construction Blueprint (Green): Can be used to build a bridge at a designated location. With it, your territory will become more connected!

Construction Requirement: 500 stone.

"Is this even useful?" Gu Ning muttered in doubt.

Well, he'd just use his talent Metamorph on it tonight.

The second item was a tool.

Luxury Bath Set (Green): Greatly improves your quality of life. Take a good bath, and your mood will improve too!

That sounded pretty good. Recently, Gu Ning had been boiling water himself and using it to scrub clean. Now with a bathtub and automatic heating system, life would be much better.

The only downside was that it needed a power source and lots of water—and he certainly couldn't use seawater to bathe.

Gu Ning made a mental note to fix his power supply and upgrade his seawater purifier soon.

But for now, using clean water for a bath seemed a bit wasteful. Maybe he should just use Metamorph on it too?

At that moment, the third item surfaced.

Gu Ning summoned two civilians to carry the item to the storage room, then looked down at what he held.

It was a bag. Gu Ning checked the description:

Elemental Gems: A special type of mineral used in construction and capable of enhancing certain elemental lifeforms.

"Hahaha! Elemental gems!" Gu Ning was overjoyed—now he could use them to level up Huohuo and Xiarui!

He opened the bag and found:

35 Fire Elemental Gems

26 Gold Elemental Gems

12 Water Elemental Gems

15 Earth Elemental Gems

Gu Ning was very satisfied. These gems were worth far more than the previous two items!

He went to find Huohuo, who was practicing her Fiery Physique skill at the stern. Xiarui was sitting on the gunwale, watching her.

When the two saw Gu Ning coming, they immediately flew toward him and landed on his shoulders.

Gu Ning pulled out the Fire and Gold Elemental Gems.

Their eyes instantly lit up.

Just from their reactions, Gu Ning could tell these were highly beneficial. It looked like gems—besides spirit crystals and amethysts—could also be used to enhance elemental spirits.

He handed one gem each to Huohuo and Xiarui. Each gem was about the size of a fingertip.

Huohuo spit out a stream of fire to melt her red gem before absorbing it.

Xiarui was more intense—her delicate white hand turned gold, and with a firm squeeze, she crushed her gem into golden powder, then stuck out her little tongue and began licking it up.

Gu Ning stored the rest of the gems, planning to let them use the rest after the Domain Duel was over.

He worried that if they consumed too many now, they might need time to digest the energy—potentially weakening them during the upcoming battle.