T/N: Challenge goal reached, so here's an extra chapter.
Of course, Zhang Nu had his own considerations when he gave Su Yan the suggestion to head to Giantree City.
Darkness Valley is becoming stronger and stronger as a faction.
Zhang Nu's own strength is also gradually reaching the point where he can't keep a low profile anymore.
If he really can't keep a low profile, then it also means that he won't need to keep a low profile anymore. At that point, he should simply take, conquer or destroy whatever zones or resources nearby as he likes.
The moment that Zhang Nu does that, it will also have meant that he has advanced from the development stage to the expansion stage.
The final mission of a demon King is to conquer and destroy.
Giantree City is the strongest power within several hundred kilometers, and as Zhang Nu's territory and forces continuously expand, there's no way that they can possibly allow a threat as invasive as a Demon King to remain nearby.
It can be said that conflict is nearly unavoidable.
Darkness Valley and Giantree City are destined for war.
Zhang Nu sent Su Yan to Giantree City for the sake of laying some groundwork. It's to first set up a spy within to gather information for him.
Besides which, the Heroes that Zhang Nu had killed more or less had certain connections to Giantree City.
Their Ironblooded Heroes Guild's headquarters is located in Giantree City.
Said guild is a very large and powerful Heroes Guild. They're extremely dangerous to Demon Kings, so Zhang Nu absolutely has to wipe them out first in order to avoid major future problems.
Su Yan hurriedly agreed, "Yes boss. I'll head over to Giantree City right away. You can just wait here for my good news!"
Giantree City is several hundred kilometers away.
There are a lot of wild zones, tribes, and other groups in between here and the City.
That said, although the way there isn't all that easy to get through, Su Yan should have no problem dealing with those minor problems given her current strength.
No matter what, she is still a level 2 Hero after all.
"You won't be lacking in rewards in the future as long as you properly show results!"
Su Yan knows full well what Zhang Nu wants. It's exactly because of that, that she has value to him. So long as she has the Darkness Valley backing her up, she'll definitely become a powerful Hero in the end.
A fallen or evil Hero is still a Hero!
It's at the very least better than being a mob character that just randomly gets killed off, after all!
Zhang Nu returned to his territory.
He got quite a lot of gains from this battle.
He didn't lose a single draconian battlemage or high soldier. He only lost two normal soldiers, with about ten or so injured. In total, his battle losses were practically zero.
The draconian general's showing was also quite satisfactory.
Zhang San really did have quite some talent for leading an army.
The enemies this time were way too weak though, so he didn't even get a chance to really show off his full might like the leadership skills for example. Given the current stage of the game, having a draconian general like that is more than enough to basically dominate over most others.
As for his profits from this excursion, it can be called a huge harvest!
31210 gold!
2 skill stones.
16 total Souls, of which 5 of them being level 2 Souls and 11 being level 1.
The two skills were the E ranked Earth Spike and the D ranked Blessing of the Gust.
The former is a basic earth element magic.
Although Zhang Nu doesn't really consider magic of that level to be anything worthwhile, it wasn't a bad thing to diversify his attack capabilities.
The latter is a support skill.
When this skill is activated, it can give him a 25% buff to movement speed for a period of time. This skill is actually quite useful to Zhang Nu.
After using up both the skill stones, Zhang Nu went on to the main event.
[You've sacrificed a level 2 Hero's Soul. 20 talent points gained!]
[You've sacrificed a level 2 Hero's Soul. 21 talent points gained!]
[You've sacrificed a level 2 Hero's Soul. 22 talent points gained!]
[...]
[You've sacrificed a level 2 Hero's Soul. 25 talent points gained!]
Zhang Nu was excited to discover that the five level 2 Souls alone managed to gain him 109 talent points.
Zhang Nu then sacrificed the 11 level 1 Souls. Those mostly tended to give around 3-4 points per soul, giving him 38 talent points in total.
This battle had gained him a total of 147 talent points.
If he adds in the 13 talent points that he had from the start, then Zhang Nu's current talent points have reached 160 in total.
Which Talent should he activate out of the four level 2 Talent then?
Zhang Nu made his choice without taking too long.
[You've activated a Talent skill: Adamantine Dragon Body!]
[Adamantine Dragon Body]. Talent skill. You gained an even stronger body. Physical damage resistance +50%. While in dragon form, +400 HP, +200 MP, +30 Strength, +15 Agility, +30 Constitution, +15 Will. When taking physical damage, you can reflect up to 50% of the damage dealt.
This is a foundational type skill.
It greatly increases Zhang Nu's base stats in both forms. His physical defensive capabilities also greatly increased, and at the same time, he also gained the ability to reflect physical damage.
It goes without saying that this is a very powerful skill.
One point especially worth mentioning is that the effect of this skill isn't static. It will continuously increase in power as Zhang Nu levels up and gets stronger.
"Roar!"
A draconic roar filled the air.
Zhang Nu transformed into his abyssal dragon form.
In the very beginning, Zhang Nu was only about 10 meters long. After he became a level 2 Demon King, his form reached around 15 meters in length.
After activating the Adamantine Dragon Body skill, Zhang Nu's body drew once again. Now, he's at least over 30 meters long, and both the pressure and aura he's emitting has visibly grown.
He has gotten stronger.
Just how much stronger did he get though?
The strength of combat units are ranked as follows: Normal, Elite, Lord, Overlord, King, and Epic.
Zhang Nu did a quick estimation, and his current strength should be at the Overlord level at least.
In facy, he should be one of the strongest among the Overlords.
If he could activate two more Talents, then he would probably directly reach King level. When it comes down to it, level 2 King units have practically never appeared on this continent.
Zhang Nu flapped his wings and left the Valley.
He decided to find somewhere to test out his newfound might.