DISCLAMER: This chapter mentions discrimination against Japanese people. We don't condone or support any type of racism. Rather than removing or altering the contents of the chapter, our intention is to acknowledge the presence of racism and caution our readers to approach the subject matter with sensitivity.
Zhang San had ascended to the position of the Earth Drake Sovereign, adding another monarch level unit to their ranks.
This was indeed a cause for celebration, but the cost and expenditure involved were not insignificant.
Gold and gems were being spent in extravagant amounts. However, that was of little concern to Zhang Nu. With his current earning capacity, even without launching large-scale wars, he could easily recoup the expenses.
It was the three souls that caused Zhang Nu a slight tinge of regret. After all, they were souls of Level 5 quality!
For a Demon King, souls held utmost importance as the souls not only facilitated their own power advancement and growth but also served as essential materials for producing top-tier units.
Furthermore, certain specialized buildings and functions within the domain also required souls as a necessary resource, further depleting their stock.
Apart from that, since Zhang Nu intended to establish a Demon King Alliance that would assist him and create benefits for him, relying solely on the Holy Grail of Blood's Bloodwine to forcibly control them would not suffice.
He wanted these Demon Kings to be wholeheartedly devoted to serving him, and in addition to providing them with opportunities to earn wealth and share benefits, as well as avenues for their growth and advancement.
Furthermore, as the level of these Demon King subordinates increased and their summoned units became more powerful, it would also benefit Zhang Nu himself.
Recognizing this, he believed it was essential to maintain a stockpile of souls as a valuable resource.
These souls would serve as leverage, allowing him to allocate soul quotas to the Demon Kings based on their performance and contributions, enabling them to acquire souls at market prices or even at discounted rates whenever they needed.
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Nu had a tremendous demand for souls.
Although the Chaos Forest might harbor tens of thousands of Heroes, their levels were not particularly high.
Even if he were to hunt them all down, it would not necessarily allow Zhang Nu to advance to Level 6. And what would he do after exterminating them all?
Zhang Nu realized the necessity of expanding the ways and sources to acquire souls. In addition to the conventional method of obtaining souls by killing Heroes, trading Hero's souls as a commodity through the Demon King market was also an option.
However, despite the presence of cash-strapped Demon Kings who were willing to sell souls in the market, the quantity available was limited and the prices were generally exorbitant.
Even with sufficient funds, acquiring souls was not guaranteed, and even if successful, the cost-effectiveness was questionable.
The truth was, the demand for souls was exceptionally high for Level 5 Demon Kings like Zhang Nu. Purchasing a few souls here and there would be insignificant, akin to a drop in the bucket.
For the past few days, Zhang Nu had been staying in the castle, not simply lazing around. In fact, during this time, he closely monitored the Demon King market and the Demon King channels.
After several days of observation and research, Zhang Nu not only gained a more detailed understanding of the market conditions in each district, allowing him to maximize profits in future business dealings, but he also discovered a great business opportunity.
This opportunity was useless to others and currently, there were only a few Demon Kings who could seize it. Zhang Nu was one of the rare few who could capitalize on this chance.
At this moment, Zhang Nu once again opened the Demon King Channel.
He filtered through some of the chat content related to souls and randomly selected a conversation, which roughly went as follows:
"Buying souls!"
"Buying Level 4 souls with high prices!"
"Why would you need Level 4 souls?"
"Level 2 and 3 souls serve the same purpose, don't they? Instead of risking your life against Level 4 Heroes, it's better to handle a few more Level 3 ones."
"Don't even mention it. I've reached Level 4 only to discover that the most elite new units require soul consumption, specifically Level 4 souls."
"I've reached Level 4 too."
"This man speaks the truth."
"Level 4 souls are hard to come by, and Level 4 Heroes are not easy to deal with!"
"If someone is willing to offer a Level 4 soul, I'm willing to trade ten Level 3 souls in return!"
"..."
From these conversations, it was evident that the number of Level 4 Demon Kings was gradually increasing.
Once these top-notch Demon King players reached Level 4, many of them realized the significance of Level 4 Heroes' souls. Not only were they superior and powerful souls, but they were also essential materials.
Level 4 souls were already scarce, and now they held even greater value as materials. The demand among the high-end Demon King community far exceeded the supply.
Many Demon Kings were willing to pay high prices to acquire them, but only a few were willing to part with their Level 4 souls.
This presented a business opportunity, and the key to it laid in the powerful Level 5 building of the Darkness City, the "Soul Altar"!
The Soul Altar, a Level 5 building, had the capability to synthesize higher level souls by merging lower level souls.
Different levels of souls offered varying amounts of talent points when sacrificed by Demon Kings, even if there was a disparity in quality among souls of the same grade.
Level 1 soul: 1-5 talent points!
Level 2 soul: 20-30 talent points!
Level 3 soul: 200-300 talent points!
Level 4 soul: 1000-1500 talent points!
Level 5 soul: 5000-8000 talent points!
During the soul synthesis process at the Soul Altar, there was virtually no loss of souls, which meant something significant. Zhang Nu could throw a pile of Level 2 and 3 souls into the altar. If the souls possessed a total of 3000 talent points, he could divide them into three parts and synthesize them, resulting in three Level 4 souls.
In other words, the highly valuable Level 4 souls, whose market demand was gradually increasing, could be mass-produced by Zhang Nu using the Soul Altar in the Darkness City.
Within this opportunity, there undoubtedly existed considerable profit potential.
With this thought in mind, Zhang Nu decided to give it a try.
He took 50 Level 3 souls and placed them all into the Soul Altar. Zhang Nu sensed that they had a total value of approximately 11,250 talent points.
To avoid any wastage and unnecessary surplus, he retrieved one soul from the altar, leaving 49 souls that added up to just over 11,000 points.
[Would you like to synthesize Level 4 souls?]
[This synthesis costs 220,000 gold.]
The soul synthesis function of the Soul Altar was not free. It required 20,000 gold to synthesize a Level 4 soul and 200,000 gold to synthesize a Level 5 soul. For Zhang Nu, this processing cost was negligible.
Furthermore, soul synthesis was a highly intricate process. With the Level 5 Soul Altar, it could produce one soul every two hours. Operating continuously for twenty-four hours a day, it could synthesize a maximum of twelve souls per day.
That was more than enough.
Let the synthesis begin!
On the following day, Zhang Nu obtained 11 new souls.
These souls had just reached the standard for Level 4 souls. If he offered them as sacrifices at the Demon King's Altar, each soul would provide exactly 1000 talent points.
Zhang Nu then opened his player interface and posted a message on every channel.
[Selling Level 4 souls. Do not want gold, only soul exchanges are accepted. One Level 4 soul for ten Level 3 souls. Direct trade for those who are interested!]
The Demon King forum immediately buzzed with excitement.
"Level 4 souls?"
"Now this is a rare sight!"
"This is unbelievable! I haven't even encountered a Level 4 Hero, and there are already players trading Level 4 souls!"
"Hey, buddy, I'll offer 500,000 gold for the soul!"
"500,000 gold coins for a Level 4 soul? Are you kidding? Are you sure your head is alright? I'll offer 800,000! Sell it to me!"
"850,000!"
"900,000!"
"..."
"You fools upstairs! Can't you read? They clearly said they don't want money!"
"Before making your bids, at least check who the person is. It's none other than the renowned Potato Demon King. Do you really think he needs your meager amount of gold? Don't try to show off your wealth before a genuine tycoon!"
For now, there was no immediate response. Zhang Nu patiently waited, continuing to monitor the situation.
After approximately ten minutes, a player sent a message from Channel 7.
Nightmare Serpent Blake: "I'll take the Level 4 soul!"
Judging by the name, this Demon King seemed to be of Western origin. Nightmare Serpent Blake appeared quite anxious, as if afraid of missing the opportunity and having the soul exchanged by someone else.
Nightmare Serpent Blake: "Friend, are you available? Can we trade right away?"
Zhang Nu: "Certainly!"
The two completed the trade and Zhang Nu obtained 10 Level 3 souls.
He placed them on the weighing scale of the Soul Altar. The total value of the 10 level 3 souls brought by Nightmare Serpent Blake reached 2,250 points. In other words, Zhang Nu made a net profit of 1,250 points, with a remarkable profit margin of 125%!
It felt exhilarating!
Zhang Nu could not help but burst into laughter!
Just then, a private message arrived from Channel 9.
Demon Domain Sea Serpent Saito Kaya: "Hello, 10 Level 3 souls seem to be a bit too much. Can we exchange eight for one?"
Judging by the name, it appeared to be someone from the island nation.
Zhang Nu could not help but sneer inwardly. Just a measly island nation woman, it was already generous of him to even sell to her. How dare she try to negotiate the price.
Zhang Nu replied bluntly: "No bargaining!"
There was a minute of silence.
Demon Domain Sea Serpent Saito Kaya: "Alright then, ten it is. May I proceed with the trade?"
The trade was completed. Another ten souls were obtained.
This time, the "weighing" resulted in approximately 2,300 points. The quality of souls offered by this island nation woman was quite good.
Subsequently, more and more inquiries poured in. Since Zhang Nu had access to ten Demon King channels, it was easy to sell all the 11 Level 4 souls that were synthesized. He traded 11 Level 4 souls for a substantial number of Level 3 souls.
The total value of the souls reached an astonishing 24,090 points! A remarkable profit of 13,090 points was made! The additional cost incurred was merely 220,000 gold, along with some time and effort.
The Bloody Fortress was now guarded by the fortress legion.
The Chaos Forest's major cities and tribes were being conquered by his subordinate elves, dwarves, and orcs. Zhang Nu had also dispatched Su Yan and Chen Guoguo to deal with the forces of the Demon Kings and Heroes.
Zhang Nu remained stationed at the headquarters.
There was not much to do. He simply busied himself with dealing in souls. To his surprise, he effortlessly earned such substantial profits.
Zhang Nu allocated all the souls to the Soul Altar, anticipating a production of 24 Level 4 souls in two days. These souls were valuable assets, whether for personal use or for selling in the Demon King channels.
Currently, there were only a few Demon Kings capable of slaying Level 4 Heroes. Moreover, the Soul Altar, a rare Level 5 building, had limited availability, as not many Demon Kings possessed the means to construct it.
As more and more Demon Kings ascended to Level 4, the short-term market for trading Level 4 souls showed promising prospects.
With his unique altar and competitive advantage, Zhang Nu can continuously acquire souls, rapidly strengthening his soul reserves.