“Oh wow, a bronze treasure chest? This refugee’s ‘Popularity’ must be a ‘hidden’ quest!”

Xia Tian was both surprised and a little taken aback.

After all, the initial resource treasure chest he received was only ‘iron’ grade. Now, after gaining the people’s trust, he was given a ‘bronze’ grade chest.

The key was that he hadn’t put in much effort; he had simply built a few houses and said a few words, and he had already received a reward. Wasn’t that too easy?

However, upon closer thought, Xia Tian realized that it wasn’t actually that easy.

Firstly, these refugees were so grateful because the houses he built were of blue quality, far exceeding their expectations.

The civilian housing blueprints obtained from ordinary lord treasure chests were, at most, white quality. Some lords might even save resources and have the refugees build their own shacks or thatched huts, in which case the refugees’ gratitude would naturally be limited!

Secondly, it was also related to the refugees’ background.

The refugees he recruited were from ancient times, specifically the turbulent ‘Great Song’ dynasty, and they had initially appeared in a dangerous jungle. They had only just managed to find a place to settle down.

If it were a group of people from modern society, and the lord made them live in wooden or thatched houses, their ‘Popularity’ would not only fail to increase but might even decrease. They might even complain about why the lord didn’t offer the empty rooms in the lord’s manor for them to live in!

Furthermore, not every lord would treat refugees equally.

Xia Tian was certain that among billions of lords, there were definitely some who, after realizing their status as ‘Earthlings’ was comparable to the ‘Celestial Dragons’ of the Pirate World, would immediately become arrogant, looking down on these people derived from the ‘Sea of Illusions’ and treating them like ‘NPCs,’ ordering them around and insulting them at will.

In such a case, even if they received a ‘Popularity Treasure Chest,’ it would probably be the lowest-grade ‘Rundown Wooden Treasure Chest’!

“Do you want to use ‘Midas Touch’ on the ‘Rare Bronze Treasure Chest’?”

As he pondered, Xia Tian took out the obtained treasure chest from his lord’s space. Upon touching it, the familiar golden text appeared in his vision.

“Yes!”

Each set of civilian housing consumed 40 points of luck. After building eight sets of civilian housing, the territory’s luck still had 1420 points remaining.

So Xia Tian naturally didn’t need to be too frugal. Two consecutive uses of ‘Midas Touch’ consumed ‘144’ points of territory luck, transforming the rare bronze treasure chest into the highest-grade ‘Precious Gold Treasure Chest’!

“Precious Gold Treasure Chest”

“Grade: Mortal”

“Description: Upon opening, you will receive some initial supplies and are guaranteed to obtain at least one ‘gold’ quality item.”

“Next, it’s time to witness a miracle again.”

Xia Tian thoroughly enjoyed the unboxing process, as there was always a surprise waiting for him.

“Obtained: Training Ground Blueprint (Gold), Tiger Bone Wine Recipe (Silver), Fire Phoenix Bamboo (Blue), Ice Dragon Grass (Blue), Earth Tortoise Shell (Green), Six Gods Flower Dew * 10 (White)!”

Compared to the first time he opened a gold treasure chest, his luck was a bit worse this time, only getting one gold item, which was the guaranteed minimum.

However, the attributes of this gold blueprint gave Xia Tian a pleasant surprise.

“Training Ground Blueprint (Gold)”

“Grade: Mortal”

“Trait: Training effect +800%”

“Area: 10 mu or more (the more complete, the better the training effect)”

“Materials: 300 units of wood, 250 units of stone, 200 units of metal”

“Description: A building equipped with various training facilities, capable of providing combat training for residents or soldiers.”

“Note: With a relevant troop type ‘Training Manual,’ ‘rapid training’ can be conducted by consuming territory luck.”

“Hiss, eight hundred percent? Is it that exaggerated?!”

Xia Tian carefully re-checked and found that he hadn’t misread it.

This meant that one day of training in this gold-quality training ground was equivalent to nine days in a white-quality training ground.

This seemed a bit exaggerated, but upon closer thought, gold quality implied that this training ground possessed the most top-tier training facilities and equipment, so such a disparity in effectiveness was entirely reasonable.

The only problem was that this building occupied a large area. Building it completely might even exceed the range of the territory’s protective shield, so for now, he could probably only build a portion, and the training effect would be somewhat discounted.

“But it doesn’t matter. According to the information provided in the manual, as long as some essential facilities are built, I can use the ‘Troop Training Manual’ and consume luck to conduct ‘rapid training’ for the territory’s residents, turning them into soldiers!”

This ability was extremely important to Xia Tian.

After all, the danger level around his territory was too high. While relying solely on Wu Song, a single hero, was fine for defense, expansion would definitely require soldiers.

“Hmm, I remember there was a training manual in the initial treasure chest, right?”

Xia Tian mumbled, then took out a book-like “Random Troop Training Manual (Silver)” from his lord’s space.

As the name suggested, the troop type provided by this manual was random; it would only be determined after he opened it!

“Do you want to use ‘Midas Touch’ on the ‘Random Troop Training Manual’?”

As Xia Tian prepared to open it, golden text appeared in his vision.

“No!”

This time, Xia Tian chose not to upgrade it directly.

Because this item was random, Xia Tian was worried that if he got a troop type unsuitable for the territory, or one he didn’t particularly like. For example: Mongolian cavalry, Eight Banners iron cavalry, Crusaders... even if they were gold-grade troops, he would still feel a bit conflicted!

Therefore, he decided to open the manual first to determine the troop type, and then decide whether to consume luck to further ‘Midas Touch’ it based on the situation.

“Obtained: Trapped Camp Training Manual.”

After Xia Tian opened the book, a prompt appeared in his mind.

“Trapped Camp Training Manual (Silver)”

“Grade: Mortal”

“Description: Upon completing all training, you will gain ‘proficient’ combat skills and the ‘Will to Trap’ trait (no fear of death, filled with a desire to charge and break through enemy lines).”

“Note 1: The Trapped Camp is among the most top-tier silver-grade troops, with combat power not inferior to some gold-grade troops.”

“Note 2: Recruits participating in training need to have a Physique of 1.5 or above, and a Spirit of 1.2 or above!”

“Hmm, Trapped Camp?”

Xia Tian was originally thinking that if the troop type wasn’t satisfactory, he would “poke” it with his finger, but after seeing the troop name, he was stunned.

The Trapped Camp might not have been particularly famous in ancient times, but in the ears of modern people, it could be said to be “renowned,” especially among some Three Kingdoms enthusiasts who even considered it the “number one infantry in the world.”

However, it was clear that under the assessment of the “Earth’s Will,” the Trapped Camp was only at the silver level, not the absolute top tier.

“But, it’s the most suitable!”

Xia Tian’s eyes were shining, and his expression was a bit excited.

There was no other way; the “Will to Trap” trait was simply too perfect for his territory. Fearless of death, eager to charge and kill enemies—in an early game where his territory was surrounded by high danger, such soldiers were simply the optimal choice, a rare find.

“Moreover, it currently seems that after things from Earth are integrated into the Eternal Land, their potential is largely influenced by ‘popularity.’ The popularity of the Trapped Camp is clearly not inferior to many gold-grade troop types, and its future is absolutely promising!”

“It’s decided. I’ll temporarily keep the ‘Trapped Camp’ training manual and not upgrade it!”

After some thought, Xia Tian decided that the first troop type in his territory would be trained using the “Trapped Camp Manual.”

Another reason for this decision was that he noticed in the training manual that “recruits” had requirements for their Physique and Spirit attributes.

It was important to note that even the requirements for the Trapped Camp were already very difficult for this first batch of refugees under his command.

The “1.2” Spirit attribute was fine. Although ancient people didn’t receive long-term education like modern people, because life was harder, they needed a more resolute will to survive than modern people. The average Spirit value of these refugees was all above 1.

However, there was a gap in Physique. Although ancient people were more hardworking and enduring than modern humans, these bottom-level refugees had limited nutritional intake, so very few people could meet the “1.5” Physique requirement.