Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, less than seven days remained until the end of February. Lin Yu had already recruited 2,500 Druids (1,000 Elemental Druids, 500 healing Druids, and 1,000 Shape-shifting Druids, which included 500 Rock Druids, 300 Sharp Claw Druids, and 200 Fierce Raptor Druids). His combat power had reached 2.5 million, placing him seventh on the combat power leaderboard.

If he were to use his ten unused Recruitment Scrolls (1,000 units each), he could boost his combat power score to 12 million.

However, it was still unlikely that this alone would be enough to claim first place on the combat power leaderboard.

This was because the current first-place holder on the combat power leaderboard, Qian Duoduo, and the second-place holder, Yun Qihao—no, that had flipped to Yun Qihao in first and Qian Duoduo in second—were already locked in a fierce, inseparable battle for the top spot.

During the first month’s prosperity competition, the need to construct buildings required vast amounts of land. Everyone was constrained by their limited territory size, preventing the big spenders from truly flexing their wealth.

But now, in the second month, as long as one had enough Recruitment Offices and ample resources, they could expand their army to its absolute limit.

Qian Duoduo and Yun Qihao, for instance, had spent the first month proactively constructing Recruitment Offices. Once the January rankings were locked in, they both demolished all their flashy but impractical decorative buildings—the ones that only served to boost prosperity, like landmarks and environmental beautifications—and replaced them with more Recruitment Offices.

Qian Duoduo was fabulously wealthy and had bought up numerous Recruitment Office blueprints from the market, though most were of Excellent and Exceptional rarity.

The Excellent-rarity Recruitment Offices could recruit units with combat power ranging from 10 to 100.

The Exceptional-rarity ones could recruit units with combat power from 100 to 300.

With Qian Duoduo’s combat power at around 10 million, and assuming an average unit combat power of 150, that would put his army size at roughly 66,000 troops.

Since soldiers don’t participate in production, each one consumed a certain amount of resources daily.

An army of 66,000 troops would consume nearly 600,000 units of food each day. Only someone from a major family like the Qian Family could afford to support such a force.

However, it couldn’t be ruled out that Qian Duoduo also had high-rarity Recruitment Offices, like Legendary ones. After all, the Qian Family was not only rich but also influential. As a scion of the Qian Family, it would be no trouble for them to provide him with a few high-grade blueprints.

As for Yun Qihao, one could only say he was lucky. He was the only lord among this batch of contestants who had pledged allegiance to the Goddess of Wisdom and War during the first phase. The buildings in his territory were all constructed strictly according to her requirements.

Upon returning to Cuiwei Star, he was found by the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom and War and was being cultivated as the Holy Son for this generation. He was given a great deal of resources and various Divine Realm building blueprints.

Consequently, his territory boasted many high-quality Recruitment Offices, with the lowest being Exceptional rarity. He even had more than one Legendary Recruitment Office.

Furthermore, he hadn’t used his Recruitment Scrolls either. On the final day, he could instantly increase his combat power by at least 9 million.

Of course, he had intentionally leaked this information himself. His goal was to scare off competitors like Qian Duoduo and to entice other lords into pledging allegiance to the Goddess of Wisdom and War.

And right on cue, Yun Qihao started sending messages in their small group chat again.

[World Chat Channel (789654)]

[Private Group Chat]

Yun Qihao: "Hey guys, take a look at my territory, then my army, and my combat power. Territory.jpg, Army.jpg"

Yun Qihao: "Aren’t you tempted? All you have to do is become a believer in the Goddess of Wisdom and War to enjoy this kind of treatment!"

Ding Dong: "Yun Qihao, stop trying to pull a fast one on us. Other people might fall for it, but don’t we in this group know better? Even if we become believers in the Goddess of Wisdom and War, the most we’d get is a single Divine Hall blueprint. There’s no way we’d get the same treatment you do."

Lin Yu: "Yeah, Yun Qihao, you promised that when you made it big, you’d help us guys out. How can you try to lead us into a trap instead?"

Yun Qihao: "The Goddess isn’t like the other gods. She doesn’t just see us as faith batteries. Besides, I have a few spots open for my Close Guard. The benefits they get might not be as good as mine, but it’s much more than just a single Divine Hall. You get other buildings too!"

Ding Dong: "Tch, so after all that, you’re just trying to recruit us to be your lackeys!"

Yun Qihao: "You can’t put it that way. Even as my Close Guard, you’d be way better off than the average lord!"

Ding Dong: "Then you’re barking up the wrong tree. There are no ’average’ people in this group. Why don’t you ask Younger Brother Lin? According to him, his territory is super ordinary. He didn’t even have a single Recruitment Office last month!"

Yun Qihao: "Oh yeah!"

Yun Qihao: "@Lin Yu, Younger Brother Lin? What do you say? You in? I’ll make sure you get a great deal!"

Lin Yu: "No thanks, no thanks. I got lucky a few days ago and found a Legendary Recruitment Office, so I probably don’t need to go chasing after Legendary Buildings for now."

Yun Qihao: "Hey, don’t be so quick to say no!"

Yun Qihao: "Let me tell you what you get. If you become my Close Guard, you can get these buildings..."

Lin Yu: "Oops, sorry, something just came up in my territory. Gotta go handle it. Talk later."

Lin Yu quickly logged out of the chat channel. He had only popped in to join the banter out of habit. ’Who knew I’d almost get caught in the crossfire,’ he thought.

’With a territory like mine, why would I ever need to rely on some god? If a deity knew the state of my territory, they’d probably pay me for the privilege of building a Divine Hall here.’

"My Lord, it’s time to depart."

Just then, Chenxi walked into the Lord’s Mansion to remind Lin Yu of his itinerary for the day.

The two left the Lord’s Mansion together, heading for the temporary camp in the Desolate Land.

-----------------

Today was a big day.

Phantom had already led his troops to clear out all the Undead Buildings outside the core area of the Land of White Bones. Thanks to the quality improvements of the buildings, Lin Yu had gained over a thousand "universal building fragments."

So today, Phantom was to lead the troops in an assault on the very core of the Land of White Bones: a three-square-kilometer area.

The core area of the Land of White Bones was a major obstacle. It was densely packed with high-grade Undead Buildings, and a massive Bone Wall stood at the three-kilometer boundary.

Days of continuous fighting had left the territory’s soldiers weary. To bolster their morale, Phantom invited Lin Yu to attend a pre-battle rally.

"Brothers! After days of hard-fought battles, we have successfully cleared the outer regions! And everyone has gained a great deal from it (experience points)..."

"Now, before us stands the enemy’s final fortress! If we take it down, we will successfully complete our mission!"

"Show them what you’re made of! The Lord himself is watching us!"

Lin Yu watched Phantom speak on the platform with a sense of gratification. ’He’s really grown,’ he thought. ’He already has the makings of a great commander.’

Finally, Lin Yu gave a few words of encouragement, and the army set out.

In addition to the Druids (including the Junior-tier Druids), elves, sprites, and heroic beasts, more than ten large Catapults followed at the rear of the army. These siege engines had been unlocked after the researchers completed their study of [Primary Large-Scale Mechanical Structures].

Once the main force was positioned 700 meters from the outer edge of the Land of White Bones’ core area, the Catapults began their assault on the Bone Wall.

Boulder after boulder, enchanted with elements like Metal, Fire, Earth, Ice, and Wind, was launched by the Catapults toward the Bone Wall.

One volley, a second, a third...

The defenders within the core area of the Land of White Bones didn’t rush out in response to the attack, allowing the troops stationed in front of the Catapults to breathe a sigh of relief.

This was the best-case scenario they had envisioned, and by far the easiest.

Under the Catapults’ relentless bombardment, cracks began to appear on the Bone Wall after five minutes.

Ten minutes later, the cracks had widened significantly.

Amid the thunderous roar of boulders striking the wall, an incessant CRACKING sound filled the air. Finally, as yet another giant stone slammed into the Bone Wall...

...the Bone Wall gave way with a deafening RUMBLE, a massive breach appearing in its structure.

Before Lin Yu and his men could even cheer...

...a plume of gray mist rose from the core area.

A huge swarm of skeletal guards swarmed out from within.