Volume One: The Lord's World of Inferno Difficulty Chapter Thirty-Two: The Hero's Token

Standing atop the skeletal hero’s remains, Chen Gu bent down and picked up the obsidian stone that had slipped from the skull below.
[Undead Hero’s Token Found: Ghostfire Obsidian. This can transform your soldiers into undead heroes.]
“A useless thing,” Chen Gu remarked, tossing the obsidian lightly in his hand.
“No, my lord, this is a hero’s token,” Allen interjected from the side.
“I know, but now the whole world has become an undead realm. If we create an undead hero, the world will immediately seize control and turn them against us. I have no intention of summoning another undead hero.”
Chen Gu explained the situation.
Allen, however, said, “We can purify this hero’s token, change its attribute to something else.”
“There’s a way to do that?” Chen Gu had never heard of such a method. In his experience, whatever you obtained from a chest was what you got—there was no such thing as ‘purifying’ or ‘rerolling’ attributes.
“There are many places for it. I recall there’s a Seer’s Hut and a Witch’s Hut in the forest—they can cleanse the hero’s token.”
“But do such places still exist?”
“I’m not certain. Normally, every forest has either a Seer’s Hut or a Witch’s Hut. They’re a bit like bound spirits—
like heroes, yet not truly heroes.
Anyone passing by can seek their aid.
And if you want to challenge them, you must be prepared to face the entire forest’s wrath, so...”
“So you believe that even in this undead world, the seers or witches would still survive?”
“No, I just think that even if they’ve become undead, their habits wouldn’t change,” Allen replied.
Hearing this, Chen Gu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Aren’t you supposed to be mortal enemies with the undead? Why would you think that way?”
“No, our sworn foes are humans. The undead are your enemies, because your goal is to reclaim this world from the undead.”
Allen’s words made Chen Gu realize that Allen had fallen into slumber during the first great war between elves and humans.
He had never witnessed the devastation the undead brought upon the elves.
Though he feared death, he didn’t see the undead as mortal enemies—just regular foes.

At most, he followed Chen Gu’s lead and harbored some extra hostility toward the undead.
“I’ll leave this matter to you, then. Also, clear the surrounding woods—soon, we’ll be heading for the Elven Holy City. Before that, I want all enemies near Silverpine Valley eliminated.”
Allen immediately understood Chen Gu’s intent.
He meant to fortify Silverpine Valley as their final stronghold.
Allen was the perfect choice for this task; he had done such things often.
Securing an area was routine work.
“Leave it to me.”
“Oh, and update the map. If you encounter any Seer’s Huts or similar buildings, be sure to mark them—I fell asleep on my way here and didn’t update the map. I have no idea what’s nearby.”
Chen Gu instructed him.
“Understood.”
Without further delay, Allen summoned his troops and set out.
Chen Gu, meanwhile, instructed the Fire Spirit Ravens to help clear away the remains of the undead army.
This time, Chen Gu had made a significant haul.
Besides 1,751 gold coins, he acquired a large cache of intact armor, spears, and shields.
There were more than a hundred of each, plus fragments of armor and metal. He realized it had been a bountiful day.
Once these supplies were brought back to Silverpine Valley, they could be forged into weapons and equipment for the elves, greatly enhancing their combat strength.
Chen Gu planned to bring everything back and restock at the Silverpine Valley forge.
Regardless of anything else, one must always have proper war gear.
He also intended to outfit his subordinates with whatever equipment he could find.
As Chen Gu was gathering these supplies for transport to Silverpine Valley, Allen had already led his forces into the woods.
Lacking a mount of his own, he advanced on foot with his men.
Unlike Chen Gu, who moved cautiously, Allen was far more confident.
With over four hundred elves, more than eight hundred Fire Spirit Ravens, and over four hundred Bloodshadow Wolves at his side, he was more than able to sweep aside any nearby foe.
Thus, instead of progressing step by step, he divided his forces into groups of ten, fifty, and a hundred, expanding outward in layers.
In no time, Allen had gathered a wealth of information.
For example, about ten miles due south of Silverpine Valley stood a burnt windmill.
It would require skilled labor to repair, but once restored, it could produce resources each week.
Though not much, it would be a modest supplement for the nearby towns.
A little further south from the windmill lay an elven outpost.
Just like the first one Chen Gu had discovered, this outpost was in ruins.
But Allen understood its importance. If he had enough troops, he would assign three to five elven hunters, along with Fire Spirit Ravens and Bloodshadow Wolves, to guard it and prevent enemies from passing through.
To the east, not far away, was a small lake, and on both banks lay an abandoned gem mine.
If they claimed it, they could receive one gem a week. If they sent workers to repair and restore the mine, production would rise to one gem per day.
Bringing in miners would increase the yield further.
This discovery pleased Allen greatly, for elven cities would require gems as they developed.
Although he didn’t need to consider Chen Gu’s needs, the importance of gems prompted him to secure the mine immediately.
Besides these, Allen also collected large quantities of herbs and food from the forest.
He even discovered a wild pumpkin patch.
It was a mystery how pumpkins thrived in these woods, since they weren’t a staple of elven cuisine.
Yet here they grew, healthy and abundant.
However, to Allen’s frustration, he found no trace of a Seer’s Hut within the forest, nor many other outlying structures.
Perhaps it was because this land belonged to Silverpine Valley.
This left Allen somewhat helpless.
After circling the woods three times and clearing out all undead within fifty kilometers of Silverpine Valley, he finally withdrew toward the valley.