Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, five days have passed.

Lin You, who was recuperating in the Imperial Palace of the Holy Radiance Empire, finally fully repaired his spiritual damage on the morning of the sixth day and was sent back to his territory by the Saint Radiance Emperor.

"Kid, if you ever change your mind and want to be my successor, you can come to me anytime."

This was the message left by the Saint Radiance Emperor to Lin You upon his departure.

In response.

Lin You could only express his deep gratitude, yet he knew he was unlikely to do so.

Even though he knew this could give him a great backer, it wouldn’t be of much help to his growth.

The events this time made him understand many things, especially the weakness of his own power.

Before Tier Eight, he hadn’t felt much of anything.

But the higher the tier, the stronger the Lords he encountered.

Satisfaction with the current situation will only lead to stagnation.

So after returning to his territory, he went to Yellow Sand City to check on its development over the past few days, and then immediately went under the World Tree to tally his species.

This battle caused him the greatest loss of species ever.

And it was the most tragic.

Apart from a few members of the Royal Family, only 52 Multiplication Entities and 147 Symbiotic Moss remained.

Besides the Reproduction Species, only the rare species Demon Emperor Dragon and Demon Queen Dragon with the Calamity Sword Bamboo equipped on Cyan Gang were left.

It can indeed be said to be a severe loss.

This also taught Lin You a lesson.

Species with weak individual power, no matter how numerous, are useless.

In the battle with the black-eyed youth, his Reproduction Species were almost useless, mostly being instantly killed, unable even to delay.

These might be fine for dealing with Lords not particularly strong.

But once encountering Lords with strong individual power, they become cannon fodder.

It’s better to use resources to cultivate species stronger than Multiplication Entities, enhancing individual combat capability.

After all, to deal with weak Lords, there’s no need for so many species.

No matter how many useless species, they can’t match a single top-tier species against strong ones.

Additionally, he has Cannibal Flowers, Ancient Natural Trees, and Elf Sages that can summon a large number of creatures, perfectly bridging the quantity gap.

"Looks like I need to take the elite path early."

Lin You murmured to himself.

Now he has three Divine Fragments, naturally having 150 more species than Lords from the Undead Type and Insect Type.

Abandoning the blitzing army strategy to take the elite path is completely sufficient.

With this thought, he quickly opened the recruitment interface and scrolled down to the Tier Eight options.

In the Tier Eight interface.

Besides the initially researched Blood Sword Grass, a new species appeared.

Lo and behold, it was the advanced form of Lucky Four-leaf Clover.

That’s right.

Since upgrading to Tier Eight, Lin You had considered taking the elite path.

Therefore, the second species he researched was the Four-leaf Clover Species instead of the Demon Emperor Dragon.

Just that he didn’t anticipate needing it so soon.

Now, twenty days have passed since he began researching, marking the arrival of his second species.

Without hesitation, he chose recruitment.

[Do you want to consume 25,000 Magic Energy to recruit Tier Eight "Lucky Four-leaf Clover"?]

"Recruit!"

[Please select the recruitment number.]

"250!"

As the voice fell, a large burst of light lit up, instantly filling half of the open ground.

All were half-human-height clovers.

[Name: Lucky Four-leaf Clover (Ordinary)]

[Race: Plant]

[Level: Tier Eight (0/5000)]

[Power: 1500 (+450)]

[Constitution: 1500 (+450)]

[Agility: 1500 (+450)]

[Spirit: 1500 (+450)]

[Skills: Strength Protection (Power increases by 30%), Physique Protection (Constitution increases by 30%), Agility Protection (Agility increases by 30%), Spiritual Protection (Spirit increases by 30%)]

[Introduction: A very rare plant that awakens a leaf every three tiers. It is said that when all four leaves are awakened, it will receive the Goddess of Fortune’s favor.]

Probably because the skill is relatively special.

The name of the Tier Eight clover still hasn’t changed.

The initial attribute average of 1950 points is quite good for ordinary species.

Yet, the attack means are simply the most ordinary flying leaves.

Overall, it’s just that.

But for someone with mutated abilities like him, the meaning is entirely different.

[Do you want to consume 25,000 Magic Energy to mutate "Lucky Four-leaf Clover"?]

"Yes."

[Please choose to retain skill and attribute.]

"Attributes random, skill... retain Physique Protection."

Lin You pondered for a moment, and said.

The reason for retaining Physique Protection is because the Plant Type’s racial talent is to increase constitution.

Plus, many of his species secret treasures are for increasing constitution.

The physical attribute is precisely related to the species’ life force and defense power.

He had thought about it already.

Being a Plant Type species with strong recovery ability.

Max out the constitution, maximizing the advantage.

If you can’t kill me, then I can heal back, exhausting you to the end.

Just like before with those powerfully attacking Chaos Fierce Beasts.

If his species had this 30% constitution bonus, they wouldn’t be so embarrassed, easily breaking through the defense.

There should be no problem at least drawing the match.

He could even rely on healing abilities and big skills to slowly wear down, ultimately winning the battle.

Swish!

With these thoughts, light gleamed.

The clover before his eyes started rapidly transforming, eventually becoming a Fallen Beldam with only four large petals on its head, an advanced form of Enchanting Beldam.

These are the characteristics of the mutated ability.

Not only does it retain skills, but it also preserves some of the plant traits of the mutated embryo.

For example, the Cannibal Flower with a four-lobed mouth.

The attack form is superior to ordinary Cannibal Flowers, with stronger biting power.

As for this Fallen Beldam, it is now one of Lin You’s main combat species, so naturally, he kept it and continued mutating the remaining Four-leaf Clovers.

And so, until an hour passed.

He finally completed the mutation of 250 species, spending 27 million Magic Energy. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The reason for recruiting only 250 Four-leaf Clovers.

Is because Lin You plans to continue using the multiplication species for auxiliary support.

After all, auxiliary species don’t engage in direct combat, so the more, the better.

For example, these three: Elf Sage, Lantern Grass, and Radiant Sunflower.

However, unfortunately.

Even after mutating more than two hundred species, not once did a skill mutation trigger.

Nor did a new Royal Family appear.

No choice.

Lin You could only summon Blood Sword Grass to continue mutating auxiliary species.

Of the remaining 52 multiplication species, nearly half are auxiliary types.

So it saved him a lot of effort, and in less than twenty minutes, the mutation was completed.

Also, he deported the excess multiplication species, replacing them entirely with Four-leaf Clover species.

Thus, his species lineup underwent drastic changes.

Among them, Four-leaf Clover species are the most, totaling:

Trees: Commanding Ancient Tree x45, Ancient Tree of Life x35

Mushrooms: Thousand-Change Poison Mushroom x25, Calamity Poison Mushroom x25

Banshee Vines: Corrupted Beldam x22, Fallen Beldam x20, Fearful Beldam x18

Cannibal Flower: Soul-devouring Flower x20

Pea Shooter: Blast Shooter x14, Frost Shooter x12

Cactus: Cactus Boxing Master x10

Dandelion: Blood-burning Dandelion x5

These are all the main combat species Lin You has now.

A total of 250, all inheriting the Four-leaf Clover’s "Physique Protection" skill.

Secondly are the auxiliary multiplication species, totaling:

Flower Spirit: Elf Sage x20, Elf Sage x12

Sunflower: Radiant Sunflower x3

Lantern Grass: Lantern Grass x2

And species that are not mutated: Demon Emperor Dragon x1, Demon Queen Dragon x1, Life Elemental Spirit x1, Calamity Sword Bamboo x1, Deceitful Willow x1

Plus seven Royal Families.

Exactly 300 combat species.

This is the number Lin You deliberately controlled, thus spending significantly more Magic Energy than anticipated.

Adding up to 31 million, his Magic Energy plummeted to 150 million.

And next is the real challenge.

A staggering 153 Symbiotic Moss gaps!

Due to the special nature of Symbiotic Moss, it requires mutation of Deceitful Willow, inheriting its Deceitful Transformation skill to replicate other species attributes.

But the level of Deceitful Willow corresponds with the territory’s elevation, so he must mutate a Tier Eight Willow.

According to previous mutation probabilities, each Tier Eight Symbiotic Moss needs at least 3.5 to 4 million Magic Energy.

This is definitely a terrifying expense.

Just thinking about it makes Lin You feel a pang of heartache.

With his remaining Magic Energy, it’s far insufficient to mutate that many Symbiotic Mosses; he needs to find a way to make more money.

He casually opened the territory interface for a glance.

Over this development period, the population of Yellow Sand City surged rapidly, reaching 250,000.

Daily net revenue doubled, rising to around 500,000.

Accumulated over twenty days, more than ten million in circulating funds.

But it’s still far inadequate.

At least three to four hundred million is necessary.

Such a substantial amount of Magic Energy, let alone a Tier Eight Lord, even a Tier Nine Lord might not be able to come up with it all at once.

Normal people truly wouldn’t dare play like this.

This further solidified Lin You’s resolve to take the elite troop route.

Otherwise, with continuous depletion like this, he’d probably have to become a son to the Saint Radiance Emperor.

"Is there a way to make money..."

Lin You scratched his chin, displaying a thoughtful expression.

Currently, the most valuable treasure he has is the Rare Species Token for the Undead Grandmaster.

It could probably sell for over a billion.

Next is the Laser Rain Sacred Artifact, which should fetch around 50 million.

But the problem is.

He keeps these as bargaining chips to trade for other treasures, not wanting to easily sell them for Magic Energy.

As for the Dwarf Kingdom, Mageon hasn’t visited his people recently, likely busy, unable to craft Tier Ten Equipment for him.

"That’s right!"

Suddenly, Lin You thought of someone, his eyes lit up.

After tidying up, he directly headed to the Holy Sanctuary Gate, teleporting inside.

Then he opened the private chat interface, sending a message to Li Ke.

To his surprise, Li Ke was indeed in the Holy Sanctuary and quickly replied.

"Brother You! You’re actively contacting me! Is there something you need?"

"Not much, just wondering if you can lend me some Magic Energy, is it convenient?"

"Need you even ask? Of course, it’s convenient; where are you now? I’ll come right away."

"I’ll come to find you instead."

That’s right.

This is the quickest way Lin You could think of to get money.

Li Ke, being the emperor’s sole son, should be able to produce billions in Magic Energy.

Once the species are fully developed, he’ll earn more Magic Energy to repay him.

As for the favor, it will have to be settled later.

There’ll be an opportunity to repay it eventually.