Before the elves entered, Zhang San and Li Si stood in the hall. These two elder subordinates of the Demon King had just completed an upgrade and were currently adapting to their newfound powers. Zhang Nu examined their new stats.
[Primordial Earth Dragon King] Level 6 monarch unit. HP 25,000, MP 13,500, Strength 3020, Constitution 3680, Agility 1850, Will 1355, Loyalty 100%(Locked).
Skill: Primordial Earth Dragon Form (Talent), Dragon Emperor Potential (Talent), Earth Domain (Talent), Gravity Manipulation (Talent), Adamantine Dragon Body (Talent), Earth Dragon King's Might (Talent), Primordial Roar (S-rank), Rampaging Dragon Qi (S-rank), Dragon Emperor Aura (S-rank), etc.
[Nine-Headed Sky Dragon King] Level 6 monarch unit. HP 14,000, MP 28,000, Strength 1105, Constitution 1120, Agility 1165, Will 2800, Loyalty 100%(Locked).
Skill: Infernal Nine-Headed Dragon Form (Talent), Dragon Emperor Potential (Talent), Sacrificial Domain (Talent), Demon King Summoning (Talent), Mastery of Nine Elements (Talent), Blood Ritual (Talent), Teleportation Field (S-rank), Spatial Gate (S-rank), Great Big Bang Technique (S-rank), etc.
After the two elder figures were upgraded, it meant that all three titans of the Darkness City had become Level 6 monarchs. United, the Darkness City Three Titans were capable of confronting the current Azure Water Empress, who, despite having greatly diminished in strength, was still an mythic-class unit. The significant enhancement in the strength of the Darkness City's three dragon kings was evident. Moreover, after the upgrade, not only did Zhang San and Li Si experience a surge in strength, but their races also underwent transformation and evolution.
Zhang San had become the Primordial Earth Dragon King, one of the most ancient species of earth dragons from the primordial era, which had long been extinct. They were the most powerful and formidable among earth dragons, far surpassing other earth dragon species in strength.
Li Si, on the other hand, transformed from a seven-headed dragon into a nine-headed dragon. The nine-headed dragon is a supremely high-end variant among the dragon-kind, considered almost divine. A seven-headed dragon could already employ magic from seven different elements: wind, fire, water, earth, light, darkness, and thunder. After becoming the Infernal Nine-Headed Dragon King, Li Si gained magical abilities in two additional elements based on the seven-element foundation: life and necromancy. As a Draconian Priest already gifted in spatial magic, Li Si, with the addition of wind, fire, water, earth, light, darkness, thunder, life, and necromancy, effectively became a mage unit proficient in ten different schools of magic.
The advancement of Zhang San and Li Si was not limited to just their strength and lineage. More importantly, their upgrade granted them the potential to become Dragon Emperors, which are mythic-class dragon units. In other words, they had the potential, even with Level 6, to break through their limits and become even more powerful mythic dragons.
In fact, the current combat power of Zhang San and Li Si was almost on par with the Abyssal Dark Dragon King, Long Yi, but their overall abilities had already slightly surpassed Long Yi. It should be noted that Long Yi was no weakling; he was a bona fide Level 6 monarch of dragons. He had also been granted various draconic magic by the dragon elders promotion. However, compared to Zhang San and Li Si, Long Yi temporarily lacked the potential to become a Dragon Emperor; his potential was at most that of a dragon king.
Now, the Darkness City boasted seven monarch units of its own. With three Level 6 monarchs and four Level 5 monarchs, they formed a formidable force. In the Gloom City under Han Kexin's command, up to six Level 6 demonic monarchs could be mustered if all were to complete their upgrades and evolutions. Just the monarch-class units from the two cities would number thirteen. The number didn't even include the two Demon Kings themselves, the Elven Kings from the Giantree City, and the Azure Water Empress of the Sea Tribes, Shui Lan. With these assets, their foundation wouldn't be inferior to that of an empire-level power.
With this round of expansion, the Darkness City had grown significantly stronger. However, the expenditure was truly astonishing. Zhang Nu had almost exhausted all his gold, gems, and high-level souls. "Unexpectedly, the three most crucial resources, gold, gems, and souls, still seem somewhat insufficient to support the expenses. I need to earn more money and resources!"
Zhang Nu casually opened the Demon King channel. Since the Demon King Ranking was released, Zhang Nu's fame among the Demon King community had reached its peak. Now, in every Demon King chat channel, there were almost always people, overtly or covertly, inquiring about Zhang Nu. Not all of these people were merely curious. Among them, there were surely Demon Kings controlled by Heroes or collaborating with them. The top-ranked Demon King, Zhang Nu, had always been known for his mystery and low profile, never wasting words in chat areas beyond business dealings, to the point where people still didn't know his race.
One could imagine that anyone who could find out information about this top-ranked Demon King could instantly gain huge benefits by selling this information to Heroes, as hunting down the top-ranked Demon King was too tempting for Heroes. After the leaderboard was released, killing a target from the opposite ranking not only yielded regular rewards but also high-quality treasure chests. Moreover, the higher the ranking of the target in their faction, the more astonishing the treasure chest rewards would be.
Zhang Nu was certain that the Heroes ranked in the top few hundred were now desperately trying to find him through various channels. Each of these individuals was extremely formidable, and Zhang Nu did not want to confront them prematurely to avoid disrupting his current development momentum. Right now, he was solely focused on making money and expanding his territory.
Fortunately, digging up information on him was not so easy. Zhang Nu had always kept a very low profile. So far, apart from Han Kexin, only a few others within the Chaos Forest knew of his identity, and all these Demon Kings within the Chaos Forest were bound by contracts and could not reveal his information. Therefore, at least for the short term, there was no need to worry about being targeted.
Zhang Nu glanced through his private message inbox. Although he had received many new messages, most of them were attempts to probe or flatter him. The Godhood and Void Seed he was looking for still had no leads. Zhang Nu felt that these two items were not easy to come by. Apart from these two items, what else could directly enhance his strength? Zhang Nu immediately thought of something - the "Fragment of Evil God." If he could obtain a fragment of an Evil God, it would also significantly enhance his strength, and the talents granted by such fragments were generally very powerful and useful. Those who possessed fragments of an Evil God, or even just valuable clues about them, Zhang Nu wouldn't mind purchasing at a high price or exchanging with precious materials like monarch crystals.
After adding this purchase request, he also casually checked other trade items in the Demon King's market and bought some gems and other materials to replenish the severely deficient stock in the Dark City.
At that moment, one particular private message caught Zhang Nu's attention. The Undead Lich Lu Jiang messaged: "Big boss, I have a Level 5 special blueprint here. Can I exchange it for the monarch crystal you have?"
A Level 5 special building blueprint? This indeed piqued Zhang Nu's interest, as such level and quality blueprints were not common in the market.
Zhang Nu replied: "Send the info over for me to take a look."
The Undead Lich Lu Jiang quickly responded: "Yes, thank you, big boss. I'll send it to you right away!"
A blueprint was sent over.
[Blueprint: Nature Priest Job Advancement Tower] Level 5 special blueprint. Costs gold x 30 million, life gem x5000, basic elemental gems x3000 each. You may construct a Nature Priest Job Advancement Tower within your territory.
A job advancement tower? This indeed was a valuable item! Zhang Nu thought for a moment and replied, "This blueprint is good, but it's not enough for a monarch crystal. If you really want to sell it, I can offer 20 million gold or buy it with a few A-rank skill stones."
Job advancement towers are highly valuable. Zhang Nu had placed a job advancement tower in the main city of the Kregi territory. This tower now brings in an average revenue of about 10 million a day and also converts local residents into mages, providing them with knowledge and power while automatically turning them into supporters of the Demon King's rule. However, job advancement towers have specific applicable races or target ranges. The Mage Job Advancement Tower in the Kregi area is only designated for the human race; other races can't use it.
This blueprint was for job advancements into priests of the Goddess of Nature. Therefore, the converts must first be followers of the Nature Goddess. This covered several common forest races, primarily elves, making it a tower suitable for the Chaos Forest. Building this tower could effectively enhance the strength of the Chaos Forest.
After some negotiation, Zhang Nu acquired the blueprint from the Undead Lich Demon King for 10 million gold and 3 A-rank skill stones. Both parties were satisfied with the deal. For Zhang Nu, this expense was negligible. For the Undead Lich Demon King, forest races were rare in its territory, and followers of the Goddess of Nature were hard to find. Without prosperous kingdoms nearby, it couldn't profit from the job advancement tower, so it was better to trade it for money and skill stones.
Just as Zhang Nu obtained the blueprint, he sensed the presence of elves. Nancilia, accompanied by over two hundred elves, entered the hall and knelt down respectfully, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Zhang Nu glanced over and understood their origins. "You must be the elves who have recently migrated to the Chaos Forest," he deduced.
At this moment, Sigrid's legs were trembling; this was her first time facing such an inconceivably terrifying being. In fact, Zhang Nu's aura was already restrained, not emitting much pressure. However, the presence of the Chaos Forest's three dragon kings by the Demon King's side was overwhelmingly terrifying. Especially Zhang San and Li Si, who had just completed their upgrades and advancement, were unable to conceal their aura. The aura of the Primordial Earth Dragon King And the Nine-Headed Sky Dragon King was much stronger than that of ordinary dragons, enough to make all the elves present dare not to even breathe too loudly.
Compared to these three dragon kings, the four outside seemed insignificant. Yet, even a Level 5 Dragon King was considered an extremely noble and great existence to these elves. Moreover, so many dragon kings were all respectfully kneeling before the Demon King before them.
Despite the Demon King's unassuming appearance, this sense of mystery and hidden depth made the elves feel even more awe and fear.
"As long as you are willing to pledge allegiance to me and join the Chaos Federation, you will be granted the right to reside in the Giantree City, the elven capital city within the federation," Zhang Nu stated calmly. "As the lord of the Darkness City, I will protect all the citizens of the Chaos Forest."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The elves responded gratefully. The elves were overjoyed. Such a great being willing to protect them brought an immense sense of security and honor. They no longer had to worry about being bullied by other races, nor fear the empire, and no longer needed to live a life of displacement!
The settlement of 560,000 elves was of great value to Zhang Nu. After pondering, he said, "The population of Giantree City's elves surpassing one million is a joyous occasion. Let me give you another new gift!"
Hearing this, Nancilia was astonished. His Majesty is going to give the elves another gift? The Ancient Tree of Eternity was already a gift from His Majesty to the elves, and it was the best thing the elves could imagine in this world. The elven race was already very satisfied and grateful. Unexpectedly, another gift was forthcoming. His Majesty's generosity knew no bounds!
The gift Zhang Nu intended for the elves was none other than the job advancement tower he had just acquired. Taking advantage of the surge in the elven population, he planned to place this item directly in the Giantree City."