The Soul Altar had great uses indeed.
But it was not necessary to immediately make use of it in a hurry.
Zhang Nu was only required to unlock one more talent to reach Level 5.
For now, the limited souls he had in hand should be prioritized for his leveling.
Subsequently, Zhang Nu took out 10 million gold and upgraded 500 High Draconian Soldiers into Super Soldiers all at once, bringing the total number of super soldiers to over 1100.
He continued by spending 1 million gold to summon 1000 Draconian Battlemages, and then spent another 800,000 gold to upgrade 100 of them into Mystic Battlemages.
This was one mass upgrade.
The draconian legion's high-end combat strength soared significantly.
The super soldiers had powerful flight and maneuvering abilities.
With over a thousand super soldiers and nearly two hundred mystic battlemages, this force was sufficient to deal with the empire's formal army several dozen times its size!
Zhang Nu also expanded upon his royal guard squadron.
He first spent a total of 2.1 million gold to upgrade and strengthen 15 Infernal Warmonger Royal Guards.
Then he spent an additional 1.5 million gold to upgrade and enhance another 10 Infernal Mystic Royal Guards.
The Demon King's royal guard squadron now had 40 Infernal Warmonger Royal Guards and 30 Infernal Mystic Royal Guards, for a sum of 70 Level 4 lord units!
After completing his myriad tasks in Darkness City, Zhang Nu teleported to Giantree City.
After conquering Silver Spring City, he obtained a Level 3 special building upgrade scroll as a reward, which he intended to use on the Tree of Life.
...
Meanwhile, Marilyn and the Silver Spring elders were visiting Giantree City and choosing their residence.
Although Silver Spring City had a beautiful and pleasant environment, as well as plenty of therapeutic hot springs to nourish the body, it still paled in comparison to the Giantree City.
Under the nourishment of the Tree of Life and the Lifesprings, the elven giant trees in the Giantree Forest had mostly revitalized from the verge of death.
For the elves, Elven giant trees were the most primitive, yet the most comfortable habitat to live in.
Furthermore, Giantree City had a bustling city and elven holy relics like the Tree of Life, making it an immensely desirable place to settle down.
Giantree City was sufficiently vast.
It would not be an issue even if the current population doubled.
The Giantree Forest could also accommodate at least one or two million elves.
It was completely stress-free for the entire Silver Spring Tribe to move to Giantree City, and this matter had already been approved by the Demon King.
After all, concentrating the population was much more conducive to promoting and boosting production.
As for the Silver Spring City, it would be an absolute waste to forgo it.
There were not many forest cities in the eastern part of the Chaos Forest.
The Demon King planned to transform the Silver Spring City into a more open commercial city, available to dwarves, elves and other races. He intended to turn the city into the commercial and trade center of the eastern region of Chaos Forest.
The Silver Spring City had a satisfactory environment.
Plus it was also located close by the dwarves' Ironheart City in the Endless Mountains.
The resources near the Silver Spring City, as well as the equipment and supplies produced by the dwarves in the Endless Mountains could all be bulk processed in the Silver Spring City.
Although most elves had migrated out of the city.
In the short term, Silver Spring City would definitely become much emptier and quieter.
In the long term, it is possible that Silver Spring City would prosper even more than it did under the governance of the elves.
"Everyone, feel free to move in and live here!"
"The Giantree forest alone can accommodate one or two million of our people!"
"In the future, Giantree City will have plenty of room for expansion. We plan to gather elves from all over the Chaos Forest, even those beyond it!"
The young Elven King was providing the Silver Spring representatives an introduction to the city, as well as a briefing of their future plans.
She herself had a look full of longing and anticipation.
"Under the protection and support of His Majesty the Demon King, we will surely create the most prosperous, peaceful, and comfortable elven utopia!"
Marilyn and the Silver Spring elves nodded in agreement.
The Giantree tribe and the Silver Spring tribe were the two largest tribes among the elven race in Chaos Forest.
And now, the two major elven tribes have merged.
The other elven settlements in Chaos Forest would soon catch the news.
When they learned about the Tree of Life in Giantree City, and that the city was open to every elf, they would all flock to join the Giantree City.
In the future, when the Elven King finally emerged, there would inevitably be a greater commotion.
Not only just the elves of Chaos Forest, elven tribes from other regions would also surely come and join under the banner of the Elven King.
By then, it might even be possible to establish an Elven Kingdom centered around the Giantree City.
As all the elves present were filled with excitement and anticipation, suddenly an immensely powerful energy erupted from near the city.
"What's happening?"
"Such an intense energy burst!"
"Oh no! It's the Tree of Life! Something must have happened!"
The elves were all shocked and frightened when they sensed the source of the energy outburst, breaking out in cold sweat.
Because the center of the energy eruption turned out to be the Tree of Life!
It was no surprise that elves were mortified.
The most essential and valuable asset of Giantree City was undoubtedly the Tree of Life. If the Tree of Life was destroyed or damaged by the wicked, it would unquestionably be a huge loss and a massive blow to the elves.
But this should not happen!
The Tree of Life was not only heavily guarded by the Giantree army but also the Ancient Tree army. It was the most strictly guarded area in the entire Giantree City.
"Wait!"
"Something's not right!"
"This energy burst doesn't seem to be caused by destruction!"
Nancillia began to carefully get a read of the energy and suddenly exclaimed in surprise and doubt, "Wow, what a powerful life energy! I can sense the life force of the Tree of Life is getting even stronger!"
"I feel it too!"
"What's going on?"
"Everyone, look.....The Tree of Life is different now!"
The elves of the entire Giantree City were shocked by the astonishing scene before their eyes.
The Tree of Life was growing rapidly with a speed visible to the naked eye, and had expanded by nearly 80 percent, making its already enormous size even more impressive.
The Tree of Life towered over eight hundred meters tall, upholding a lush and verdant crown with a diameter of over a thousand meters.
Golden magical patterns were flowing through the roots to the trunk and to every single leaf, emitting a vibrant and vigorous life force that affected a radius of dozens of miles around it.
Giantree Forest.
The giant trees in the forest, one by one, transformed from being wilting yellow into vibrant green ones.
The giant trees had been slowly recovering from their wilting state over the past few days.
According to the elves' plan and estimation, it would take at least a year or two for them to fully recover.
However, due to the surprising change in the Tree of Life, its emanating life force had instantly revitalized the forest, restoring its vitality.
Nancilia along with the other elves were deeply astonished.
Marilyn asked in disbelief, "What is happening to the Tree of Life?"
The young Elven King murmured, "It seems like the Tree of Life is evolving!?"
Evolving?
"This is the Tree of Miracle!" exclaimed Marilyn, her eyes widened in amazement.
According to the ancient scriptures and records, the Tree of Life could evolve into the Tree of Miracle under some strict circumstances, which was a more powerful existence than the former.
And if it evolved again...
It would become the Tree of Eternal.
It was said that during the heyday of the ancient elven empire, the entire empire was built around a Tree of Eternal as its core.
It was the most glorious era throughout elven history.
"Why did the Tree of Life suddenly evolve?"
"I've no idea either", replied Nancilia.
Nancilia was utterly baffled as to what caused the evolution of the Tree of Life, as it just seemed to be a miracle bestowed by the Goddess of Nature.
"Oh! I know!"
Nancilia suddenly thought of something.
"The Demon King! It must be His Majesty! Only he is capable of such a feat!"
The group of elves swiftly rushed to the Tree of Miracle.
Just as the young Elven King expected.
When they approached, a domineering and towering figure could be seen standing beneath the Tree of Miracle, examining the massive tree before him with a fairly satisfied expression.
"Your Majesty!"
The young Elven King immediately stepped forth.
She exclaimed excitedly, "Did you perform all these miracles?"
Facing the group of elves with faces full of admiration, Zhang Nu composedly answered, "You're not entirely wrong. The level of the Tree of Life was a bit too low, so I upgraded its level by one. The effects were a pleasant surprise."
Upgrading the Tree of Life cost a huge price.
It took Zhang Nu one Level 3 special building upgrade scroll, 1.5 million gold, 2000 life gems, and 2000 earth gems in total.
If he had not obtained a large number of gems in Ironheart City, he would not have been able to perform this upgrade.
Nonetheless, after the upgrade, the Tree of Miracle's functions and effects were significantly strengthened.
[Tree of Miracle] Level 4 special building. Within a radius of 30 kilometers, +100% recovery rate for all units, -30% aging rate for all units, +200% training efficiency for elves, -60% aging rate for elves +50% attribute bonus for all elves, and accelerated the growth rate of animals and plants.
The beneficial effects were simply incredible.
The impact of the Tree of Miracle on the elven race was immaculate.
Their overall stats increased by as much as 50%!
This had greatly enhanced the strength and power of Giantree City.
Furthermore, the training efficiency of the elven race was increased by 200%, and their lifespan was greatly extended, which meant the longer they lived here, the stronger they would become.
Not only that, the effective radius of the Tree of Miracle was huge.
The area of the Spirit Fields it created was also twice as large as before.
The size of the elven farm was not only greatly expanded, but the growth rate was also improved by 50%. Although it still could not compare to the Level 3 or higher Spirit Fields in Darkness City, its scale was simply astonishing.
The significance of this upgrade was simply astounding.
The Silver Spring tribe elves were stunned in awe.
They even began to suspect that the Demon King was the incarnation of the Goddess of Nature, otherwise how did he manage to carry out such amazing and unbelievable things?
In addition to the functional improvements, the Tree of Miracle unlocked three to four times as many elf units.
In addition to the Level 1 to 4 elite units and lord units, the Tree of Miracle also unlocked a new Level 4 overlord unit, the "Miracle Archpriest".
The Miracle Archpriest was an upgrade from the Ancient Tree High Priest.
The required materials were: 1 million gold, 1 Level 4 Hero's soul, 300 life gems, and 200 light gems.
The Miracle Archpriest was not only a Level 4 overlord unit, she could also utilize and had full command over the power of the Tree of Miracle.
Hence, within the effective range of the Tree of Miracle, she could exert a strength not inferior to that of a Level 5 overlord unit, while also possessing the ability to promote and enhance production.
And therefore, even though she cost an exorbitant price, she was worth every penny.