"Recruiting refugees is one of the rules of the Eternal World."
"Lost in the corners of the world, homeless, and yearning from the heart for a stable place, sometimes refugees receive a divine revelation, cross the fog barrier, and arrive at a new home."
However, refugees are humble, and whether their new home is satisfying depends entirely on the lord.
Upon seeing these people in ragged clothes, eyes murky with fear, faces yellowed and thin, Mu Yuan fell silent.
These were all living human beings.
What if Earth fell into the Eternal World, scattering its people across wilderness? Decades later, would the descendants of Earth also become refugees like these?
If he was not chosen by the Eternal World, but rather was one of the many, would he someday have to embark on a survival journey?
Mu Yuan didn't know. He was just a new lord, able to provide these refugees only with food and shelter.
"Hint: Thirteen civilians have joined your territory."
He had Lu Liu fetch some Vitality Spring Water, mix it into regular drinking water, and give it to the civilians to drink.
He also took out some medicine, just in case it's needed.
Of course, he was a lord, not a philanthropist, he couldn't afford to let the people idle. He had Lu Liu quickly arrange for these people to begin construction work.
Mu Yuan spent most of his time in the Mage Tower, keeping an eye on his surroundings through the Hurricane War Hawk.
General Dead Bone led a small team to the ruins of the Snake-man tribe and built a rare 'lookout tower', which expanded their territorial view.
From his position, Mu Yuan could see the world without stepping out of the Mage Tower.
"Once there are more civilians and they have settled down, we can arrange a group of people to pick the snake scale fruits from the forest."
Maybe because the Guiding Landmark was just built, the initial attraction to refugees was high. After about an hour, a group of refugees appeared at the border of the Tianyuan Territory and, under Lu Liu's guidance, settled down.
When the third group of refugees appeared, they were pleasantly surprised.
While registering their identities, Lu Liu found that one of the refugees was a skilled carpenter who could make wooden poles, buckets, baskets, tables, and chairs.
This was undeniably good news for the still rudimentary Tianyuan Territory.
After all, besides the furniture in houses, they weren't able to produce small tools.
Mu Yuan immediately arranged a single room for the carpenter.
From morning till evening, construction was in full swing in the south of the territory. In a few days, new houses would be built. Although they might not compare to the comfort and facilities of ordinary residences, they were certainly more practical than the crudely built huts of the Dead Bone and the Skeletons.
On the west side, the Skeletons that were not on an expedition lay in grave pits, enjoying the joy of leveling up while lying flat.
The Tree Demon Granny, due to her high rank and Mu Yuan's additional materials, had now advanced past LV4, growing from three to six meters.
Dead Bone was exploring the surroundings of the Snake-man tribe.
Duo Lai transformed into Mining Maiden, constantly excavating, reshaping the terrain of the territory.
The daylight in the Eternal Continent was longer than Earth's, making the 997 working hours seem particularly reasonable.
Even at the end of the day, the glow of the evening sun had not yet faded, casting long shadows of the bustling people across the Tianyuan Territory, creating a warm and busy scene.
At this time, outside the territory, hundreds of meters away from the Guiding Landmark, the thick white fog surged again, engulfing the surrounding forest, and people started to emerge.
"Cough, cough, where, where is this?"
The man in front had a thick beard, almost reaching his earlobes. He wore a rough cloth short shirt, his muscular arm exposed. His naturally bronze skin gleamed in the golden twilight as if cast from steel.
He hugged a tiny little girl with one hand and held a black hammer in the other, still stained with a bit of blood that hadn't dried yet.
He gasped for breath, desperation lingered deep in his eyes. But when he saw the white fog around him begin to fade away, revealing the lush, robust forest, his eyes turned vacant.
"We've been guided by the divine!"
In the depth of their hearts, these downtrodden civilians received revelation: as long as they keep heading north, they would find a haven where they could take refuge.
Casting aside their panic and shock, they set out northward, guided by instinct and the divine sign.
The burly man with a bronze complexion seemed to have experienced a realization.
His grandfather was a Lord Tianmin. However, their territory was eventually destroyed, and his grandfather fell in the resulting battle. The surviving citizens fortuitously hid in an isolated mountain valley and managed to live on.
Generation after generation.
Unable to unlock their extraordinary power, they gradually forgot their past, and their world was confined to the valley and the sky above it.
Even the burly Li Erniu could only learn some techniques of forging, equipment enhancing, and physical training from the few tattered pages passed down by his grandfather.
And gain some knowledge about the outside world through the sparse written words.
Yet, the isolated valley was not forever safe. It was discovered by monsters not too long ago.
Li Erniu led the villagers in a desperate escape, but in the end...
Er, oh, yes, seemed like he survived.
Having survived the calamity, Li Erniu felt exceptionally grateful, "Thank heavens for the divine guidance..."
But before he finished speaking, a dozen or more massive wolves, each over a meter tall, sprang from the rustling bushes.
"Miserable guidance!"
He hadn't even seen the legendary Tianmin Territory yet, but found himself surrounded by monstrous wolves once more.
It seemed forever impossible to escape the whirlpool of fate, and despair once again enveloped him.
Li Erniu, who was nearly exhausted, could only…
A loud, clear shriek echoed from the sky.
A huge grey shadow dived down, casting a vast shadow before them.
Its sharp eyes fixed on the pack of wolves, it let out an angry, disdainful shriek, as if to say: How dare these mere wolves be so audacious near Tianyuan Territory, they're courting their own death!
With a swing of its luminous wings, the wind surged at its command, gathering around the giant bird, forming a visible green storm that pierced through the sky.
The fierce wind stirred about. Sharp blades of wind carved out glaring scars on the ground; howls of wolves echoed from within the green storm as their blood mixed with the wind.
After a moment, the wind gradually died down, and the ash-green giant bird slowly landed before them.
Out of the wolf's lair, they were into the bird's nest!
The vast external world turned out to be so dangerous!
Cold sweat dripped down Li Erniu's forehead. If it was the wolves from earlier, he could perhaps defeat one or two of them with his all-out efforts. However, if he were to fight this bird head on... he might not even provide it with a mouthful.
Yet, he incredulously realized that the giant bird did not approach any further. Instead, disdain flashed in its eyes as if it found the humans foolish. Then it pointed frantically at some distance with a wing, uttering several impatient squawks.
How slow these humans were! Hurry up and leave, I still have to fly for my next shift.