Afterward, Lu Xuan tallied the number and composition of the Wanderers.
There were 43 people in total: 28 males, 15 females, 3 children, and 2 elderly individuals. Beastkin accounted for two-thirds of them, while humans made up one-third.
Additionally, all these people had sustained injuries to varying degrees.
Most of the men and women were injured, but the children were well-protected and mostly healthy.
Moreover, the mental state of these people was not good; one could even say they were in a daze.
This was because they had been living in fear and hunger for a long time.
Hunger was manageable; it could be alleviated with sufficient food.
However, fear could not be resolved so simply.
Therefore, Lu Xuan needed a stable living environment to calm the hearts of this group of people.
Coincidentally, he had just such a good place!
That was Stardew Valley.
In his opinion, populating the village in Stardew Valley was originally a troublesome problem that consumed a lot of soul crystal. Now, he could let these Wanderers live in Stardew Valley and act as the villagers there.
And there would be no sense of incongruity; he had just asked, and these people were also residents of ordinary villages before they were swallowed by the Dark Tide.
He didn't even need to train them or order them to deliberately act, because they already were.
Doing this could not only solve their mental problems and help them quickly find a sense of belonging, but also save him a large sum of soul crystal.
It was simply perfect!
"Lord, what can we do for you?"
The old man among the Wanderers, now full and energized, came before Lu Xuan and respectfully asked.
"Do what? I need you to act, oh no, it should be to do what you used to do."
Lu Xuan said with a smile.
Hearing this, the old man was puzzled and asked, "Please enlighten me, Lord. What do you mean?"
It was at this moment that the old man suddenly felt himself rising into the air, leaving the ground.
The sudden change made him instinctively squat down in fear.
"Don't be afraid, look down."
Lu Xuan patted his shoulder and pulled him up from the ground.
At his signal, the old man looked down and found that a "world" had appeared beneath his feet.
Inside, four people were busy, and their activities were all visible to the old man.
Watching the activities of these four people, he was surprised and moved.
Isn't this just farming?
As an old man who was about to live out his life, as an old man who had spent his entire life with fields, how could he not be familiar with the scene before him and the activities of these people?
One could even say these activities were etched into his very soul.
"You... you mean for us to continue living here?"
The old man reacted, immediately overcome with joy and tears.
He was not foolish; he understood the true meaning of Lu Xuan's words.
He never thought that after losing his home, he could return to his former life.
This was such a pleasant surprise!
Although not entirely the same, seeing the familiar land and familiar tools, the old man was still moved to tears.
Lu Xuan smiled and nodded, affirming his idea.
"Of course, you will be the villagers of my Stardew Valley from now on."
"But before that, you need to understand some knowledge about the world below."
He said, patting the old man's shoulder.
"Yes, yes, Lord, we can definitely do it."
The old man said excitedly. Although he was old, his body could still endure, and he was willing to continue farming.
After all, having farmed for decades, farming was now the only thing he was most familiar with.
"Mm."
Lu Xuan nodded in satisfaction and began to explain some of the most basic knowledge.
Subsequently, the scene disappeared, and the old man returned to the castle.
He immediately told the other Wanderers everything he had seen and the Lord's requirements for them.
Upon hearing this, these Wanderers were all overjoyed, one by one praising Lu Xuan's greatness.
"Lord, you are too great!"
"If you only need us to do what we used to do, I am willing to serve you for life!"
"Lord, I am willing to do anything for you!"
...
Seeing their grateful expressions, Lu Xuan felt a little satisfied in his heart.
Besides the old man, he also learned that other Wanderers had also engaged in farming or animal husbandry to varying degrees, so having them serve as villagers in Stardew Valley was simply perfect.
What surprised Lu Xuan even more was that several of the Wanderers also possessed special skills, such as construction and forging techniques.
Furthermore, another old man among the Wanderers was even a Yaoshi!
This was simply a delightful discovery.
This meant he could save another sum of money on training these professions, as purchasing skill books for relevant professions was also a considerable expense.
Mainly, learning from scratch was much more expensive than strengthening existing foundations.
Having appeased the Wanderers, Lu Xuan was now ready to begin expanding his territory.
Leaving the Lord's Castle, he ascended into the sky above his territory.
The entire territory came into view.
He took out the Earth Demon Core Crystal and permeated it with his spiritual power.
Instantly, his entire vision changed.
It was like playing a map editor; a 6-square-kilometer green area lit up around the periphery of the territory, and with his gaze, this display area could appear in any of the four directions: north, south, west, or east, meaning that with just a thought, the power of the earth within this crystal would materialize and extend to any area within his sight.
He could even change its shape, making the territory a square flatland, or a square hill, or even a square basin, which was very interesting.
After playing for a while, Lu Xuan began to normally release the power of the earth to expand his territory.
At this time, his spiritual power was also sufficient to control 6 square kilometers of territory, so he didn't have to worry about not being able to control it after expanding the territory.
Generally speaking, a Lord's spiritual power is closely related to the size of their territory. If the territory is too large and the Lord's spiritual power is too little, situations where the Dark Tide invades and the Lord cannot control the territory will occur.
At that time, a very tragic situation would occur, leading to the territory directly losing control and being completely swallowed by the Dark Tide, and the Lord of the territory would also perish.
Therefore, one should not be too greedy when expanding territory.
Thus, after about an hour, Lu Xuan successfully expanded and stabilized the new territory.
At this point, Lu Xuan opened his Lord Card and saw that the information on it had changed.
[Lord Card] (A display tool of the Lord's power, obtained after becoming a Lord).
[Holder: Lu Xuan]
[Race: Human]
[Lord Level: Black Iron Mid-tier (Upper, Mid, Lower)]
[Title: Novice Lord]
[Spiritual Power: 80 / 500]
[soul crystal: 6076]
[Emotional Crystal: 3418]
[Current Dungeons: 2 (Stardew Valley: Initial Version, Stardew Valley No. 02)]
[Territory Area: 6000700 / 6003000 square meters]