The Eye of the Evil God shattered into countless stardust-like particles before coalescing again into a crystal roughly the size of a fist. Its texture resembled that of a crystal, and it seemed inert, devoid of its former malevolence. This situation was not much different from the previous one. Evil God fragments, due to their divine nature, could not be destroyed. However, their vitality could be temporarily eliminated. This particular Eye of the Evil God had lost its vitality and was now just an Evil God fragment without any immediate threat.
Zhang Nu reached out his hand, and spatial energy transported the Eye of the Evil God into his palm.
[You've obtained the "Evil God Fragment" x1. Would you like to assimilate it?]
[Note: The Evil God Fragment is extremely powerful. After absorbing the fragment, you will gain the power of the Evil God. However, your talents, bloodline and physique will be permanently affected. Please make the choice after utmost consideration.]
Zhang Nu carefully examined the eye.
[Dominator"s Eye] Orange grade special item.
Description: This was a fragment of the primordial Evil God, the "Eight-Eyed Evil God." Each eye of the Eight-Eyed Evil God contained a different power. This Dominator"s Eye represents the power of psychic.
Without hesitation, Zhang Nu chose to absorb it.
[Evil God Fragment assimilated successfully!]
[Your maximum MP +2000!]
[You"ve activated a new talent: Eye of Dominator!]
[Your "Eye of Dominator" is resonating with your "Eye of Death", Evil God"s power amplified by 100%, maximum HP +5000, maximum MP +5000!]
Zhang Nu felt the significant boost in his attributes resulting from the fusion of the Evil God fragment this time. Additionally, his Evil God power had noticeably strengthened. This enhancement not only bolstered the abilities of the "Eye of Death" and the "Eye of Dominator" but also extended to the capabilities of the "Source of Corruption."
[Eye of Dominator] Innate talent. Grants immunity against damage and control effects caused by psychic attacks. It can consume MP to activate various abilities of the "Eye of Dominator".
As expected, just like the "Eye of Death" and the "Source of Corruption," the descriptions of these abilities were extremely vague. The Evil God talents obtained from the fragments were abilities that could continuously grow and develop. Their usage was not limited to individual skills.
Up until now, Zhang Nu had not fully explored the extent of his Evil God abilities. The power of the "Eye of Death" was not confined to its deadly and unavoidable "Death Stare". It possessed a variety of capabilities, such as creating different undead creatures, controlling them, and releasing various death-related skills. Similarly, the "Source of Corruption" had diverse applications. The corrupted blood he created could not only silence, seal, and render equipment ineffective, making it impossible for magicians to cast spells, but it could also be used for curse attacks or to create plagues and Evil God monstrosities.
Zhang Nu made a decision. In the future, he would focus on developing these Evil God talents. These abilities were undoubtedly not inferior to his innate talents; in fact, they were even stronger than most of his talents. They held immense value and potential.
The "Eye of Dominator" represented the psychic abilities of the Eight-Eyed Evil God. Psychic abilities were incredibly practical, including skills like mind-reading, hypnosis, control, attack, illusions, and more. This eye's utility might even surpass that of the Eye of Death. Of course, what pleased Zhang Nu even more was the immunity to psychic attacks while the "Eye of Dominator" was active. This meant that Zhang Nu had the ability to counter skilled psychic users. If Han Kexin were to spar with Zhang Nu right now, she would undoubtedly be overwhelmed by the "Eye of Dominator".
In any case, this expedition was definitely not in vain thanks to this eye.
Zhang Nu returned to the Temple of Madness after leaving the divine realm. When he stepped out of the temple, the battle outside had just ended. The eleven giants had been engaged in a fierce battle with Han Kexin and Nancilia. Due to the demise of the Eye of the Evil God, all the mutated eyes on these Evil God's followers had lost their power, and they instantly entered a weakened state. Consequently, they were swiftly dealt with. With the Evil God eliminated, the entire Mountain of Madness felt a rapid dissipation of the Evil God's aura.
Han Kexin said, frustrated, "Aren't you too quick as a man?"
Nancilia chimed in, "Yes, Your Majesty, way too fast. We haven't even adjusted yet, and you've already finished."
Zhang Nu could not help but feel a bit exasperated. Was that even a reasonable complaint? He suspected that Han Kexin was deliberately teasing him. Choosing to ignore the comment, he continued, "Now that all the followers empowered by the Evil God are in a severely weakened state for a period of time, let's quickly clear out the monsters in these mountains."
Hearing this, Han Kexin became delighted. Although losing to Zhang Nu was a bit frustrating, it was not entirely unexpected. The wilderness area of the Mountain of Madness was home to two monarch-class existences and twenty overlords, not to mention the thousands of other high-level creatures. In such a place, the rewards for defeating them would undoubtedly be incredibly rich. Han Kexin summoned her succubi troops, and the trio led the forces to clear the area around the Temple of Madness. Although there were numerous native tribes near the Mountains of Madness, they were currently extremely weak and had no ability to resist. These tribes were all independent territories and did not belong to the Mountains of Madness.
[You've conquered "Mountains of Madness"!]
[You've obtained "Exquisite Stardust Diamond Chest" x1!]
A diamond chest! Han Kexin could not contain her excitement. It was her first time getting a diamond chest, and not just any diamond chest, but a high-grade one. Who knew how many amazing items it would contain? Following their agreement, they would split the loot equally. This time, they had really hit the jackpot!
[You've opened the Stardust Diamond Treasure Chest. You've gained "Gold" x30 million, "Blueprint: Tower of Psychic Trials" x1, "Level 5 Special Building Upgrade Scroll" x1, "Advanced Castle Upgrade Scroll" x1, "Crown of Domination" x1, "Spirit Gem" x12,000, "Dark Gem" x10,000, "Soul Gem" x8000!]
As expected, the rewards were excellent. Among the items obtained, the most eye-catching was the "Level 5 Special Building Upgrade Scroll"! This item, though not a blueprint, was likely worth several times or even ten times more than most Level 5 special building blueprints. Level 6 blueprints were incredibly rare; even Zhang Nu had never seen one before. The upgrade scroll allowed him to upgrade important facilities like the Citadel of Eternity, Soul Altar, Tower of Training, Tower of Lost Trials, and the Evil God Cultivator, all of which were Level 5 special buildings.
Of course, Zhang Nu had long had a Level 4 special building scroll in possession and had never been willing to use it. He could upgrade the Tree of Miracle in Giantree City to the Tree of Eternity and then use this scroll to upgrade the Tree of Eternity once again. According to the ancient elven texts, the Tree of Eternity was already the most powerful existence in the Elven Empire. If he were to upgrade it again, what kind of existence would it become? Just the thought of it caused excitement, but the prerequisite was having this Level 5 upgrade scroll.
Obviously, this upgrade scroll was far more important to Zhang Nu than the blueprints, equipment, and castle upgrades combined in this loot. From this haul, they obtained a blueprint for the "Tower of Psychic Trials" Despite its value, it was not of much use to Zhang Nu since he already had the Darkness City with a similar building type.
As for the "Advanced Castle Upgrade Scroll," Zhang Nu had already used it. His castle had long been upgraded from an "Advanced Demon Lord Castle" to a "Demon Dragon Castle," so this upgrade scroll was useless to him.
Lastly, there was a "Crown of Domination" Demon King's reward chests rarely dropped equipment, but once they did, it was undoubtedly excellent. This crown was a mid-tier epic equipment. It bestowed various secret psychic attack techniques upon the wearer, provided formidable psychic damage immunity, and enhanced psychic ability effects. Although the equipment was good, Zhang Nu did not like relying on equipment. Moreover, he already possessed the "Eye of Domination". This piece of equipment did not hold any significant value for Zhang Nu.
Zhang Nu thought for a moment and then said, "I want the Level 5 upgrade scroll. You can have the blueprint, equipment, and castle upgrade scroll."
Hearing this, Han Kexin was stunned. She found it hard to believe. "Am I mistaken? The usually thrifty potato lord is surprisingly generous today?"
Han Kexin was well aware of the value of the special building upgrade scroll. It was indeed the most valuable among all the spoils. However, in her opinion, the other three items were not bad either. As long as she could get her hands on two of them, she was willing to give up the third one. She never expected that Zhang Nu would give her all three items.
Zhang Nu asked, "If you say it like that, I might reconsider."
Han Kexin quickly replied, "No, no, that won't do. Since it's been said, let's stick with this arrangement. The upgrade scroll belongs to you."
She happily divided the spoils among them. The Tower of Psychic Trial was a Level 5 special building, an extremely valuable item that could be used to enhance strength or train soldiers. The Advanced Castle Upgrade Scroll was perfect for upgrading her castle into a super castle like the one in Darkness City. As for the Crown of Domination, it felt tailor-made for her. Han Kexin believed that possessing this equipment could at least enhance her strength by a quarter. Both Zhang Nu and Han Kexin were very satisfied with this distribution plan.
Finally, they turned their focus toward the gold and gems. Zhang Nu's primary motive for coming here was the gems, and he was not disappointed. The gems he received were easily worth several hundred million gold. Zhang Nu chose to forgo the distribution of gold in favor of acquiring more gems, and Han Kexin readily agreed. Ultimately, Zhang Nu obtained 8000 spirit gems, 5000 dark gems, and 6000 soul gems. The surplus gems he received far surpassed the market value of the gold he relinquished.
Currently, dark gems were valued at over 2,000 gold each in the Demon King market. Spirit gems and soul gems were even rarer and considerably more expensive than dark gems. Han Kexin demonstrated remarkable generosity in this matter. She understood that without Zhang Nu, their victory would not have been possible. Even if she had to compromise in the distribution, she emerged as the ultimate victor. The Mountain of Madness was now devoid of any traces of the Evil God's aura or psychic pollution, and the numerous tribes surrounding the area were in an extremely weakened state. When she dispatched her troops next, conquering these tribes would be a straightforward task. This not only meant complete control over the resources of the Mountain of Madness but also the acquisition of dozens of tribal territories, promising immense rewards.
As for Zhang Nu, although he was the primary contributor, he did not demand additional rewards or a larger share for the future assault on the affiliated tribes of the Mountains of Madness. His rationale was simple. Despite his role as the primary damage dealer, the entire operation, from intelligence gathering to troop deployment, was orchestrated by the Gloom City, and Han Kexin had made her own significant contributions. In a collaborative effort such as this, it was not fair to deny others their rightful share based solely on differences in damage output. Moreover, Zhang Nu had acquired the Evil God fragment, an item he could not share with Han Kexin. Therefore, strictly speaking, he had gained a substantial advantage.
In cooperative ventures, the goal should always be mutual benefit, not just individual gain. With Zhang Nu obtaining the Evil God fragment, the Level 5 upgrade scroll, and a considerable number of gems, his earnings from monster hunting alone amounted to a staggering 27 million gold. It was safe to say that his gains far surpassed his initial expectations. Han Kexin, on the other hand, was even more delighted. She had never before received such a substantial haul of gold and gem spoils. Furthermore, with the Gloom City dispatching troops to attack the affiliated tribes of the Mountain of Madness, there were numerous treasure chests waiting to be opened in the future. So when Zhang Nu explained the matter of the Evil God fragment to her, she welcomed the news without any reservations.
"This collaboration turned out to be incredibly fruitful!"
After returning to Gloom City, Zhang Nu bid farewell to Han Kexin, saying, "If there are more opportunities for collaboration in the future, feel free to come to the Darkness City and seek me out."
Han Kexin replied, "In the underworld, there are countless monster zones and high-level monster areas. There will definitely be more chances."
She was very satisfied. Under this collaboration, the Gloom City's strength had significantly increased. Her personal growth had also accelerated. She could not help but admit that this potato was quite capable. Since Gloom City and the Darkness City had established initial strategic cooperation, they had already achieved mutual benefits in multiple areas. Han Kexin decided to deepen their relationship further to create even more shared value."