Unlocking two monarch-level units was undoubtedly a great achievement.
However, the cost was quite high, with an exaggeratingly large amount of gold and gems required.
Not to mention both the Earth Dragon Sovereign and Sky Dragon Sovereign required Level 5 souls to summon...and it was not just a single Level 5 soul either.
With that many Level 5 Heroes needed, it was arduous for Zhang Nu to go and look for them.
Fortunately, Zhang Nu had the Soul Altar.
In the future, he could obtain Level 5 souls by synthesizing lower level souls into higher level ones. This solved the issue at hand.
Needless to say, the Soul Altar had proven to be incredibly useful.
Zhang Nu then resumed checking for changes in his draconian units.
He discovered that the basic unit types such as the draconian mastercraftsmen, warmonger royal guards and mystic royal guards no longer had any new advancement unit unlocked.
In other words, these unit types had reached their utmost limit.
Other than the summoning of the Earth and Sky Dragon Sovereigns, the Level 5 Demon King's Altar also presented two additional new options:
[Abyssal Dragon] Level 5 overlord. Costs 4 million gold + 1 Level 5 Hero's soul.
[Demon King's Baptism] Costs 1 million gold. Allows the baptism of any unit, bestowing the target unit the strengthening results of 10 to 50 years of training. However, each unit could only undergo the baptism once within a period of ten days.
Apart from the Earth and Sky Dragon Sovereigns, the Demon King's Altar also unlocked a new unit, not as an advancement of any existing unit type, but as a completely unique unit: the Abyssal Dragon.
Although Zhang San and Li Si belonged to the dragon-kind, they originated from the earth drake species and the sky drake species respectively.
The new unit type, Abyssal Dragon, however, was a true and genuine dragon.
While Zhang Nu himself also belonged to the dragon race, he was a Demon King amongst the dragons, which granted him unparalleled potential and ceiling for growth.
An ordinary abyssal dragon, of course, could not compare to Zhang Nu's exceptional strength.
However, as the most revered beings within the dragon-kind, true dragons held a supreme status.
Among the true dragons, the abyssal dragons were one of the most mysterious and terrifying subspecies.
Even the most ordinary and mediocre abyssal dragon, once reaching adulthood, would naturally inhibit the might of a Level 5 overlord, and most would even stand out as exceptional among the other Level 5 overlords.
Their mere presence exerted a natural suppression over other races, underscoring the elevated status of true dragons.
From this moment onwards, Zhang Nu's forces were no longer limited to lesser dragon-kinds, nor were they restricted to earth drakes and sky drakes only.
For the first time, true dragons were now available for summoning.
This was, in fact, a significant and momentous breakthrough.
As for the Demon King's Baptism?
It was not a unit type.
Rather, it was a special ability that the Demon King obtained through the altar after reaching Level 5.
In truth, there were always multiple paths for the Demon King's subordinates to become stronger, aside from conventional evolution and advancement.
The units summoned by the Demon King were no different from the regular natives or ordinary beings, except for their unwavering loyalty akin to imprinted thoughts.
The native warriors could enhance their strength through learning, experience, and training.
Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Er, Zhao Wu, Gu Yi, and the others under Zhang Nu's command could also enhance their abilities through training.
However, their progress was slow and the results were barely noticeable, especially when compared to a Demon King's rapid advancements.
After unlocking the "Demon King's Baptism" function, Zhang Nu could directly expedite the training of any target unit.
A single baptism was equivalent to several decades of arduous training.
However, the specific advancement in training varied depending on the race and innate talents of the unit.
For long-lived species like dragons, giants, and elves, a single baptism could grant them several decades' worth of training.
On the other hand, for relatively short-lived species like humans, the bestowed training growth might only amount to a dozen years' worth.
In addition, even with the same number of years of training growth, the results would differ based on the individual's innate talents.
Units with exceptional talents and tremendous potential would experience significant advancements from a single baptism.
In contrast, those with poorer talents and limited potential might not see as noticeable of an effect.
Zhang Nu believed that the ability of the Demon King's Baptism could be synergized with the Soul Altar.
One could enhance one's innate talent and potential.
The other could expedite one's training and bestow strength.
Zhang Nu was extremely satisfied with the level advancement, whether it was the growth in his own strength or the unlocking of new units and abilities.
With his power as a Level 5 Demon King and the ever-expanding territory under his control, even an empire-level force would find it far from easy to eliminate him as long as he did not actively seek his own demise.
In reality, once Zhang Nu had achieved Level 5, the outcome of the Chaos Forest's unification was no longer in doubt.
The surrounding factions had permanently lost any opportunity to eliminate the Dragon Demon King.
Now, unless an empire mobilized its entire forces to besiege him, nothing else would pose a threat to Zhang Nu.
However, the prospect of mobilizing an entire empire was no easy task.
It not only carried the risk of significant decline in national power but would also face the threats of nearby formidable enemy factions.
At present, despite the conflicts between Zhang Nu and the northern empire, it was evident that the empire's attention and regard for him as the Demon King were clearly insufficient.
Thus far, their interactions had been limited to that of a persistent border count.
Zhang Nu discovered that after reaching the Level 5, not only did his abilities, talents, and units undergo changes, but there was also a change that had never occurred before.
In his player interface, the number of Demon King channels increased from one to ten!
This meant that Zhang Nu could now speak or trade simultaneously in ten Demon King channels.
This not only expanded his network tenfold but also meant that the Demon King market had also grown tenfold.
He could now easily acquire the blueprints, resources, and items he desired while significantly increasing his financial income.
It was worth noting that in the original Demon King channel, although Zhang Nu was the largest food supplier and held the largest market share, the market dynamics had already reached a stable state.
With the three Spirit Fields in the Darkness City and the development of the super elven farms in Giantree City, it was certain that Zhang Nu would face a situation of excess production capacity in the future.
The expansion of the Demon King channels to ten provided a significant short-term solution for alleviating the issue of excess production capacity.
However, it was clear that this was only a temporary measure.
For Zhang Nu, the food resources that could be consumed by the millions of Demon King territories were still limited.
He still needed to explore the vast continental market worth billions or even trillions of consumers.
Zhang Nu wasted no time and swiftly posted a message, simultaneously reaching all ten Demon King channels.
Zhang Nu: "Looking to buy Spirit Field blueprint, along with Level 2 and 3 building upgrade scrolls with premium price. If you have top-tier blueprints, materials or other valuable items for sale, contact me through private chat!"
Following his message, he posted a procurement list:
[Blueprint: Spirit Field], purchase price of 240,000 gold per copy!
[Level 2 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll], limited to 10 copies, with a purchase price of 100,000 gold each!
[Level 3 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll], purchase price of 350,000 gold per copy!
The Demon King channel 1, also known as the original channel, immediately erupted in excitement.
"He's here! He's here! The Potato Demon King has arrived!"
"The Potato Demon King is back with a hefty sum! Does he still need followers? I want to work for the boss!"
"Offering 240,000 gold coins for a Spirit Field!? I can instantly earn tens of thousands of gold! The Potato Demon King is truly generous. Please accept my worship!"
"..."
At the same time, in the other nine Demon King channels:
"Shit! Who is this guy?"
"His name sounds like someone from Xia country!"
"Bakayaro, I don't care who you are, don't you know the rules?"
"Quick, cancel the trade order! You're ruining the market, and you should know what I'm capable of!"
"Wow, this unknown oppa seems like a hidden big boss?!"
"..."
In the other nine channels, it appeared that there were quite a few international players, some of whom even threatened Zhang Nu.
Among these Demon Kings, Zhang Nu did not have much reputation, otherwise, they wouldn't have been foolish enough to openly threaten him.
Ignoring the rackets, Zhang Nu glanced at his reward chest.
Recently, due to the continuous expansion of his territory, he had received several additional rewards. Among these unclaimed rewards, the highest level was from the Magi Mojo City.
[You opened the Mithril Treasure Chest. You've gained "Gold" x???, "Blueprint: Troll Alchemy Base" x1, "Earth Gem" x100, "Life Gem" x100!]
Compared to other large forest cities, the strength of the Magi Mojo City could only be considered relatively weak.
However, this reward was not bad.
It was just that it paled in comparison to the rewards of Thousand Fangs City and Silver Spring City, not to mention Ironheart City.
As a result, Zhang Nu had two good blueprints in his hands.
[Ancient Elven Sanctuary] Level 4 Blueprint. Costs gold x550,000, light gem x300, life gem x300, quality wood x20,000, quality stone x20,000. You may construct an Ancient Elven Sanctuary within your territory.
[Troll Alchemy Base] Level 3 Blueprint. Costs gold x150,000, fire gem x50, earth gem x100, wood x10,000, iron x10,000. You may construct a Troll Alchemy Base within your territory.
The former was obtained from the reward chest of Silver Spring City.
The Ancient Elven Sanctuary was a functional building that could train elves quickly.
Once they entered the sanctuary to train, they could learn the knowledge of the elven race and master various techniques such as planting, refining medicine, alchemy, forging, and magic or martial arts of ancient elves.
Having such a valuable structure would have a subtle but accumulative effect on the overall strength of the elven race.
Given enough time, they would master various ancient elf knowledge, which would greatly benefit the development of his territory.
As for the Troll Alchemy Base, it was also a functional building, but not limited to the troll race.
Its function was to greatly increase the success rate of alchemy and thus greatly increase the efficiency of alchemy production.
The cost of building these two buildings was moderate, and at least for Zhang Nu, the resources required were insignificant.
The value they could bring was not little either, so there was no need for too much consideration.
Zhang Nu selected a location in the Darkness City to start the construction of the two buildings.
After its completion, Zhang Nu opened up his player interface and swept a glance.
[Trade successful, gold -100,000, you gained "Level 2 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll" x1!]
[Trade successful, gold -100,000, you gained "Level 2 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll" x1!]
[Trade successful, gold -100,000, you gained "Level 2 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll" x1!]
[...]
[Trade successful, gold -240,000, you gained "Blueprint: Spirit Field" x1!]
Zhang Nu was surprised.
The transactions had been completed so quickly!
It was so convenient to acquire things now that the market had expanded!