Chapter 135: Hmm, Not a Big Problem

A blood crystal brimming with wind elemental energy—the blood crystal of a Six-Winged Gale Leopard!

Setting aside the rarity of the blood crystal itself, its grade alone was Tier 6, matching the Lightning Qiong owned by Yu Lei. Holding the glowing, cyan crystal, Lou Yuhui was moved to the verge of tears. Goddess Yan was truly too good to him! He had just seen that even Goddess Yan’s mother, Chen Biqin, had only received a Tier 5 blood crystal. As for the fact that refining the blood crystal would cause one’s wind-type ability to drop by three tiers... was that even an issue?

To become a bloodline awakener with infinite potential—he would be willing even if it meant starting his cultivation from scratch, let alone just dropping from Tier 5 to Tier 3.

Ignoring Lou Yuhui’s overwhelming joy as he hurried outside to find an open space to refine the Six-Winged Gale Leopard’s blood crystal, Yu Yan looked around. Chen Biqin’s house was merely a one-and-a-half-story self-built corrugated metal shack. The ground floor had a relatively spacious area, partitioned into a bedroom for Chen Biqin, along with a kitchen, a bathroom, and a large living room furnished with a dining table and sofa chairs. The second floor was quite disappointing. Following the stairs up, one found a loft-like space. Because the ceiling was so low, one couldn't even stand up straight, and a quilt laid out on one side served as two beds. Usually, the twins Yu Lei and Yu Wan slept there, and sometimes when Yun Duo’er visited her grandmother, she would sleep with Yu Wan.

With Zhang Zhenye staying in Chen Biqin’s room at night, the mixed-gender sleeping arrangements on the second floor were already inappropriate. Adding herself and Lou Yuhui to the mix... cough, that would be truly scandalous.

In the end, she simply set up two tents outside: a large one for herself and Yun Duo’er, and a smaller one for Lou Yuhui to make do in. Tomorrow, once she woke up, she would find an unoccupied old house in the village, tear it down, and build a small three-story villa. With a few pieces of spirit beast meat, she was sure someone would be willing to build it for her!

Night deepened, and all was silent. At Chen Biqin’s house, located at the edge of the village near the back mountain, everyone had fallen into a deep slumber, save for the occasional low groan of pain from Chen Biqin. Yu Yan opened her eyes inside her tent; in the neighboring tent, Lou Yuhui was still refining the Six-Winged Gale Leopard blood crystal. Perhaps because he had previously refined Tier 9 Qu-Ru meat, Lou Yuhui’s tolerance had increased significantly. Compared to Chen Biqin, who was covered in sweat and struggling to keep from screaming, Lou Yuhui only had a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, his breathing just slightly heavier than usual. Yu Yan’s fingers gently brushed over her daughter’s sweet sleeping face in the sleeping bag.

***

As a peak Tier 4 awakener, she already possessed night vision. Everything that had happened today, including the news she received from Lou Yuhui, left her feeling unsettled. Before today, Yu Yan had only entertained the thought of forming a faction; she had never considered herself suited to be a leader. Initially, taking in Tang Yan and subconsciously letting Zuo Changyu become her subordinate was more out of a sense of novelty.

Who would have guessed that circumstances create heroes? In order to lead the villagers through the encirclement and secure a chance at survival, she had been forced to step forward and organize everyone to establish a hunting team. Once the hunting team was formed, all six captains were her people. Even Lou Yuhui, the leader of the Special Attack Team, was her loyal subordinate, naturally making her the de facto leader of everyone in Fenghe Village. As time passed and the Fenghe Village hunting team grew stronger, the rise of a formal faction became inevitable.

Could she truly lead everyone to live better and better within the dungeon world? A trace of bewilderment rose in Yu Yan’s heart. However, this flicker of doubt was quickly suppressed deep within her mind. What did "better" or "worse" matter? Even if things were bad, it was still better than her past life, where the vast majority of the villagers died under the pincer attack of two top-tier dungeons, right?

Yu Yan could not guarantee that every villager would survive unscathed under her leadership. But at least, she had some confidence in ensuring that most of them would stay alive. As for how to be a good faction leader, she had no prior experience, but she would learn as she went. It was nothing more than clearing a path through the mountains or building a bridge over the water. No one is born knowing how to be a faction leader, are they?

Having cleared her mind, Yu Yan felt sharp and focused. She quickly finalized over a dozen rules and regulations that the hunting team must abide by, along with the penalties for violations. Furthermore, Lou Yuhui mentioned that his family had an alchemist, though their rank was low, only capable of refining ordinary powders and decoctions. They could not refine finished pills. But was that really a major problem?

Alchemists find it difficult to advance because spirit herbs are hard to find. In Yu Yan’s Phantom Lotus space, she had plenty of everything—spirit fruits, spirit plants, and spirit beast remains of all grades. With so many high-quality medicinal materials piled up, was there any fear that an alchemist couldn't advance? What Yu Yan lacked was talent!

It seemed she needed to change her original plan to leave Lou Yuhui at the base. Once she found a base for the people of Fenghe Village, and the base was capable of self-preservation, she would have to take Lou Yuhui with her when she left. If they happened to meet their family’s alchemist on the road, wouldn't it be convenient to recruit them as well?

***

The sky began to pale with the first light of dawn.

After Yu Yan finished pondering the matters concerning the hunting team and the base, she looked at the thick stack of drafts in her hand and revealed a satisfied smile. Needless to say, paper and pens were readily available; the family had been well-stocked before the "Home with Divine Beasts" dungeon world descended, as her child was in elementary school. After the dungeon world arrived, Yu Yan moved her entire home into the Phantom Lotus space, so these items were naturally brought along.

The thick stack of manuscript paper covered everything! The first section contained the hard rules the hunting team had to follow, specific punishments for misconduct, and the rules for benefits and rewards. The execution of penalties and the distribution of benefits were currently being handled by the six members of the Special Attack Team, including Lou Yuhui. Later, depending on the situation, Yu Yan would establish a dedicated law enforcement and awards team. Of course, if it weren't necessary, she wouldn't bother; even a wealthy landlord has to watch their stores, right? Even with a space full of high-grade spirit materials, supporting so many people was a significant burden.

In addition to the hunting team's regulations, Yu Yan specifically listed the terms that new Fenghe Village villagers had to follow, as well as the benefits they would receive. These "new villagers" were the ones who would migrate with the hunting team later. To distinguish them from the current villagers, Yu Yan, who was notoriously bad at naming things, simply gave them this "new" label.

There were also short-term goals that the hunting team, the Special Attack Team, and even she herself needed to achieve. This included specific details like how many F-grade dungeons each team had to sweep each week, how many E-grade dungeons to challenge, and when to start tentatively entering D-grade dungeons.

As someone doing this for the first time, Yu Yan felt a bit clumsy. However, it wasn't a major issue. Tomorrow, she would show the current terms to Lou Yuhui and the others. After gathering their opinions and making slight revisions, they would use this for the first stage. As the hunting team’s missions progressed and feedback from the Fenghe villagers came in, she would slowly make adjustments. Isn't it said that practice is the ultimate standard for testing whether something works? If it doesn't work, they would just change it. Yu Yan didn't believe that after a thousand or so revisions, she couldn't come up with a decent set of base regulations!

With strict rules and regulations, and an iron-fisted "law enforcement team" to supervise, the base led by Yu Yan would enter a state of healthy development. By then, even if she were to leave the base for a period, she believed the base wouldn't fall into a state of collapse or chaos. Having settled this huge pile of matters, Yu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.