Chapter 37: The Terrifying Benefits of Local Specialties

The emergence of the "Green Ox" specialty is a hallmark of the high-end development of Lin Mu's territory. It is certain that more and more such specialties will appear in the future.

In *Mythical Three Kingdoms*, specialties are one of the most vital indicators of a territory's status. As the name implies, a specialty represents a unique industry or a distinct form of production. Some are one-of-a-kind, while others are not entirely unique but are rare enough to remain scarce, which is what qualifies them as specialties.

Lin Mu knew of many such specialties from his past life. For instance, certain types of alcohol—due to restricted and secret brewing techniques—become exclusive specialties that only territories possessing the relevant craftsmanship can produce. Then there are widely used crops like sweet potatoes; while many players and indigenous forces grow them due to their high yield and adaptability, their rarity in the Divine Land of that era led the system to classify them as a specialty. Other examples include pearls, gemstones, unique fisheries, rare livestock, specialized mounts, and unique implements.

Because the attributes of these specialties are rare, their value is high, bringing lucrative benefits to the territory. In a sense, a specialty is a form of monopoly, and a monopolized trade is a gold mine! A saying from his past life described it well: "A single specialty can sustain an entire territory!" The potential profit is incredibly enticing.

However, Lin Mu knew that the "Green Ox" specialty would not provide massive wealth immediately, but it would be of tremendous help for land reclamation. Clearing land requires the power of men, oxen, or horses; with these forces strengthened, the reclamation process becomes smoother and faster. It effectively solved the pressing problem of land development in his territory.

"Good, very good! You have worked hard, Xian De! For these thousands of cattle, you have spent over a month out there taming the herds! It was truly a grueling task! I will record this as a major contribution of yours!" Lin Mu said happily to Jiang Yuan, also known as Jiang Xian De.

"Hehe, this is what I should do, my lord! With such a specialty, I believe the area of cultivated land in our territory will expand, and we will no longer have to worry about food. It is a great deed that benefits the people! A virtuous act indeed! I am also very pleased," Jiang Yuan replied with a cheerful expression.

"Haha, if our territory had more talents like you, we would have no worries about growing and strengthening!" Lin Mu praised. Experts above the master level were extremely rare in the early stages.

"From now on, I will rely on you to manage this animal pen. Thank you for your hard work, Xian De!" Lin Mu said, gently patting Jiang Yuan on the shoulder with excitement.

"I will certainly do my best to resolve any troubles for my lord!" Jiang Yuan was also overjoyed.

"—System Prompt: Lord Lin Mu, due to your appreciation, Jiang Yuan’s loyalty has increased by 5 points."

Haha, an unexpected surprise. Afterward, Lin Mu and Jiang Yuan talked at length. Jiang Yuan happily shared some taming experiences, though since Lin Mu had not changed his profession to Beast Tamer, he did not gain any system-level progress from the expert's personal instruction. Otherwise, if the system had prompted "Received expert-level full instruction, Beast Tamer level +1," that would have been truly fantastic.

Later, they discussed the development of the Green Ox pen and the issue with the Colorful Brocade Chickens. The Green Ox pen was already in use, but the chickens remained a problem as their population refused to grow. Whenever Jiang Yuan had spare time after handling the oxen, he would tend to the few nests of these chickens. Unfortunately, even with the bonus from the god-tier territory attributes, their numbers grew slowly and could not reach scale—a lack of quantity was the greatest obstacle to making them a territory specialty.

However, now that Jiang Yuan had handled the oxen, he would fully dedicate himself to the breeding and care of the chickens. He believed he would soon be able to expand their population, encouraging them to lay more eggs and hatch more chicks. Previously, his energy had been mostly consumed by the Green Ox herds, leaving the hundred or so colorful chickens in a simple courtyard. Once he was free to focus on them, the territory would finally be able to enjoy Colorful Brocade eggs. These eggs were highly favored by the upper echelons of the Han Dynasty for their rich nutrition and delicious taste, and the chicken meat itself was considered a delicacy.

Once the Colorful Brocade Chickens reached scale, he would be able to harvest wealth from the indigenous people—that would be the real prize, as 90% of the wealth in *Mythical Three Kingdoms* was held by them. The Yinglong Valley was truly rich in resources, and it kept bringing Lin Mu one surprise after another. He began to have even greater expectations for the land on the other side of the Yinglong River.

…

To each their own specialty; as a jack-of-all-trades, he should go back to leveling up. Bidding farewell to Jiang Yuan, Lin Mu set off to grind levels again.

Recently, as the number of soldiers in the territory increased, a division of labor began. In addition to the combat troops, Feng Zhong had trained 50 scouts responsible for exploring the surroundings of the Yinglong Valley. Based on the scouts' reports, Lin Mu began to gain a rough understanding of this valley—one that felt familiar yet strangely new. It felt familiar because he had visited many times in his past life for leveling and hunting bosses. It felt new because, after establishing his village with the God-Tier Village Building Token, the place seemed to have undergone massive changes. Perhaps because no one had explored this area in the early stages of his past life, these changes were unknown to others. Lin Mu had a premonition that these changes would be of immense help to him.

As for the "Dragon Temple," he had not encountered it in his past life, and for now, following Chang Yin's advice, he left it untouched. The "Fate Merchant" was also ignored, as he lacked the necessary reputation.

He had initially worried about the four large bandit camps, but with Feng Zhong’s guidance and efforts, they should be manageable. The only thing that worried him was that the other two large camps had yet to be found. Lin Mu speculated they were likely on the other side of the Yinglong River, as the scouts had already explored everything to the north.

With the god-tier scholar Chang Yin managing the territory, he could sleep soundly. However, the monster camps were what he needed to focus on now; training his 3,000 soldiers into an elite force was his primary task.

The development of the territory proceeded in an orderly manner. Time flowed like the water of the Yangtze, never stopping, and a month passed by. Over the past month, Lin Mu had equipped all his soldiers with the weapons and shields produced by the territory, selling the surplus at high prices. He had also upgraded the Basic Trading Market to an Intermediate one; although tax rates had increased significantly, the gains were immense. He had purchased rare blueprints from the market, such as those for a basic mulberry garden, distillery, martial arts hall, cemetery, and blue-stone city walls.

The number of buildings in the territory had multiplied. Through hard work and perseverance, the architects had grown rapidly, and after a month of effort, an expert-level architect had finally emerged, capable of constructing expert-level buildings on a large scale.

Lin Mu checked the territory’s attributes:

[True Dragon Village] (World's Second Village: A village with a slight reputation, increasing the attraction of special refugees. However, as the village is built in a secluded region, the effect is suboptimal.)
Level: Primary Village
Village Attributes:
Special Attribute 1: [Earth Virtue Auspice] (Activated): The Yellow Dragon belongs to the element of Earth, symbolizing auspiciousness. It thrives by the dragon vein and is born of it. The land of the dragon vein is blessed and can become a primary spirit land. The occupied territory must contain a dragon vein; the Yinglong Valley is currently occupied as a primary spirit land.
Special Attribute 2: [Humanistic Glory] (Activated): Bestowing grace and cultivating virtue, practicing benevolence and peace under heaven. The territory’s overall work and training efficiency is increased by 100%.
Special Attribute 3: [Humanitarian Blessing] (Activated): Benefiting all living beings, everyone is like a dragon. The aptitude of registered residents is increased by one tier.
Special Attribute 4: [Nüwa’s Mercy] (Activated): The Great Goddess Nüwa watches over those who would transform into nine-day dragons, conquering the world and gathering the fortune of heaven and earth. The overall attributes of resources occupied by the territory are increased by 100%.

Current Residents: 16,468/100
Current Military: 2,450
Public Order: 96
Security: 82
Tax Rate: 10% (This rate is fixed and applied only to resources obtained by players within the territory; the system automatically calculates and collects the 10% levy).

Current Resources: Food 6,895,060 units, Iron Ore 147,680 units, Stone 524,504 units, Wood 607,850 units, Coal 14,290 units, Copper Coins 450,556,400. (1 unit of food = 1 jin; 1 unit of stone/wood = 1 cubic meter).
Equipment: 147 Iron Spears, 42 Iron Sabers, 3,000 Black Iron Refined Steel Sabers, 3,000 Black Iron Refined Steel Spears, 3,000 Black Iron Refined Steel Swords, 2,000 Rosewood Bows, 130 Iron-Laminated Bows, 124 Refined Steel Broadswords, 1,000 Gray Wolf Iron Shields, 1,690 Primary Hemostatic Powders, 890 Intermediate Hemostatic Powders.

Current Buildings:
Village Hall (1), Basic Residences (1,257), Primary Mines (3), Primary Blacksmiths (24), Intermediate Blacksmiths (19), Advanced Blacksmiths (5), Primary Tailors (12), Intermediate Tailors (3), Advanced Tailor (1), Expert Tailor (1), Primary Grocery Stores (2), Primary Clinics (2), Intermediate Clinic (1), Intermediate Trading Market (1), Primary Logging Camps (6), Intermediate Logging Camps (2), Advanced Logging Camp (1), Primary Shipyards (3), Intermediate Shipyards (2), Advanced Shipyard (1), Primary Barracks (7), Intermediate Barracks (3), Advanced Barracks (1), Primary Mulberry Gardens (3), Primary Cemetery (1), Primary Blue-stone Wall (1), Primary Martial Arts Hall (1), Primary Fisheries (6), Intermediate Fisheries (3), Advanced Fisheries (2), Advanced Green Ox Pen (1), Primary School (1), Primary Brick Kilns (16), Intermediate Brick Kilns (12), Advanced Brick Kilns (9), Expert Brick Kiln (1), Farmland 265,445 mu.

[Dragon Temple]: Special building, inactive.
Village Area: 9 square kilometers (3,000 X 3,000).
Territory Area: Unlimited (A standard village has a 10 square kilometer area; this village was built with a God-Tier Village Building Token, so there is no limit).
God-Tier City Heart: Durability 1,000,000/1,000,000. Each attack forces a reduction of only 1 point.

Village upgrade to Intermediate requires: Food 5,000, Stone 5,000, Wood 5,000, Copper Coins 100,000, 8 types of basic buildings, and a population of 100 or more.

The village’s resources were abundant, with hundreds of millions of copper coins left over even after market acquisitions. This highlighted how immense the profits from the arms monopoly were. To some extent, Lin Mu’s arms trade had become a specialty in itself, demonstrating the terrifying efficiency of such a monopoly.

With sufficient funds, a growing population, and flourishing development, the territory was becoming well-equipped. However, one thing worth noting was that the special ore vein rewarded by the system had been depleted. Most of the ore had been forged into weapons and sold, with only a small reserve remaining. He needed to find new sources, but unfortunately, no "Prospector" talent had appeared yet. He trusted that the Yinglong Valley and the Qilian Mountains were rich enough to hide more veins.

The military was also steadily growing. With the "War God" Feng Zhong sitting in command, the village’s security was guaranteed. The village remained at the primary level because Lin Mu hadn't had the time to upgrade it. When upgrading to Intermediate, the system would trigger an attack from nearby monster camps. Lin Mu suspected the Howling Silver Wolf King would appear then, so he planned to wait until he had 3,000 elite soldiers to ensure success.

He also intended to challenge the beast king, the Howling Silver Wolf King, during the upgrade. Naturally, Feng Zhong would have to do the fighting; Lin Mu knew he couldn't win, and Little Tiger wasn't ready either. Based on his estimation, the wolf king residing in the beast king camp was at the level of a Mysterious-tier general—powerful, fierce, and brutal. Honestly, if it weren't for Feng Zhong, his territory would have been wiped out by monsters long ago. Relying on him constantly left Lin Mu with a sense of instability, but he had no other choice.