Chapter 147

“Lord Xiong Tao……”

“……”

Time and again he challenged them, whether through intimidation or earnest persuasion.

Many transcendent lords had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept the terms.

In most cases, as soon as Zhao Xing proposed the condition, the lords agreed.

The main reason was that Zhao Xing himself was strong enough.

It is only natural for the strong to occupy resources!

Even if there were no such thing as a treasure land, if they were defeated by Zhao Xing, it was only right to offer up a portion of their resources as a sign of respect!

Otherwise, given Zhao Xing’s strength, he could have easily slaughtered the majority of their troop types; the terrifying combat power of those plant-based troops proved that the other party could do so with ease.

Showing mercy was a gesture of respect!

Those powerhouses who occupied treasure lands naturally had to know how to return that respect to Zhao Xing.

For those who couldn't quite grasp the situation, Zhao Xing would offer a slight ‘hint’.

Once they heard that he would continue to cause trouble, they would immediately and obediently offer up a sum of primary origin crystals.

Of course, there were also those who were stubborn and unwilling to part with their resources.

Zhao Xing did not stand on ceremony with them either.

He would simply drive them away and occupy that piece of territory himself.

Over the course of a month.

Zhao Xing challenged over eighty second-tier treasure lands!

Among them, he occupied 3 territories himself.

“Master, these three treasure lands can be mined using the ‘destructive’ method!”

“It only takes ten days and an expenditure of 1 billion primary origin crystals to purchase a batch of specialized mechanical units at the space base, and you can mine a batch of origin crystals.”

“If you, Master, guard these three treasure lands and mine for 10 days at full capacity, you can obtain the equivalent of three months of normal mining efficiency.”

“However, for the next half year, the treasure land will enter a dormant state and will only recover after six months.”

Zero introduced.

“Let’s do that,” Zhao Xing said. “Wait for ten days.”

All three treasure lands were ranked within the top one hundred second-tier treasure lands!

Their annual output exceeded 50 billion.

But Zhao Xing didn't have the energy to split his forces to guard multiple places.

What he wanted was to quickly acquire origin crystals to improve his troops and his own strength!

“Over 80 treasure lands, and every single challenge was a success.”

“The original owners of these treasure lands contributed an average of about 5 billion primary origin crystals each.”

“In one month, I’ve obtained over 400 billion primary origin crystals!”

Zhao Xing looked at his internal world with a smile.

With so many origin crystals, they naturally couldn't just sit idle.

Naturally, he would use them to massively evolve his troops and increase their combat power index.

Origin crystals can permanently increase a troop’s combat power and also raise their growth ceiling.

From Transcendent to King-level requires at least 10,000 primary origin crystals.

From King-level to Emperor-level requires at least 1 million intermediate origin crystals.

From Emperor-level to Sovereign-level requires at least 100 million advanced origin crystals.

“400 billion primary origin crystals seem like a lot, but it’s still not enough to break the growth limits of my current Emperor-level troops,” Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Raising the growth ceiling to Sovereign-level requires 1 trillion primary origin crystals!

Note that this doesn't mean they immediately grow to Sovereign-level; it just removes the shackles for the troops’ future.

For example, if a Deep Sea Banshee is originally Emperor-level, and she absorbs 100 million advanced origin crystals.

She won't immediately become a Sovereign-level troop, but it means she can grow up to Sovereign-level at most, with the bottleneck in between removed and the shackles of growth rules eliminated!

“First, let the Demon Cloud Vine, Thousand-Sound Bamboo, Water Demon Mushroom, and Colossus Tree absorb them.”

“Break their growth constraints.”

“Cultivating one costs only 10 billion primary origin crystals.”

“Afterward, accelerate their growth in the internal world to shorten the time they need to reach the early Emperor-level.”

Zhao Xing made a trip back to the space city base.

First, to exchange primary origin crystals for the easier-to-absorb advanced origin crystals.

Second, to purchase a batch of auxiliary robots responsible for mining origin crystals in the treasure lands.

“After ten days, continue the challenges.”

…………

Zhao Xing challenged them one after another, but the lords in the Transcendent region were in an uproar!

In one month, the owners of over eighty treasure lands had been successfully challenged by a mysterious lord with the codename ‘Demon King’.

And they were all second-tier treasure lands!

Never before had there been such frequent changes of ownership, but over eighty such incidents had occurred within this month!

What was strange was that these treasure lands had returned to the hands of their original owners.

These eighty treasure lands had all briefly held the codename of the same owner—‘Demon King’.

But he only stayed for about half an hour before giving them up, and they were occupied again by the original owners.

And the owners of the treasure lands were all tight-lipped about the details.

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As if it were a taboo subject.

Even Lan and Zhang Yang, who were the first to know Zhao Xing’s name, dared not say too much.

Only when pressed by close friends did they reveal that the ‘Demon King’ was a plant-based lord!

Although there were many lords in the Transcendent region.

There were only so many treasure lands, especially the second-tier ones, of which there were only over eight hundred.

When it was learned that the owners of these eighty treasure lands had all lost to a plant-based lord named ‘Demon King’, it caused an immediate sensation!

“Damn, have you heard?!”

“Heard what?”

“There’s a guy with the codename ‘Demon King’ who has challenged over eighty Transcendent lords in a month!”

“And they’re all owners of second-tier treasure lands!”

“However, he succeeded in his challenges but didn't occupy those treasure lands. I suspect he just wants to improve his combat skills.”

“What, such a thing actually happened?! That’s too wasteful!”

……

“The Demon King specifically picks lords who have occupied second-tier treasure lands for a long time, but ignores those who have just occupied them. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. This Demon King is very mysterious. We only know he is a plant-based lord and his codename, and someone captured a troop type suspected to be a Demon Cloud Vine. Other than that, we know nothing.”

“I know, it’s rumored that he’s only a Transcendent early-stage lord!”

“Transcendent early-stage, plant-based lord? And he has a Demon Cloud Vine?” Mo Luo was in a tavern, listening to the lords’ discussions, and muttered: “It couldn't be Zhao Xing, could it?”

“Mo Luo, what did you say?” a square-faced man at the peak of the Transcendent realm asked from the side.

“Nothing.” Mo Luo shook his head. “Hearing them talk about the ‘Demon King’ reminded me of a friend. That friend of mine is also a plant-based lord, but we haven't been in touch for a long time.”

Having been here for over a year, the original forty-six geniuses each had their own encounters.

They were in less frequent contact, and Zhao Xing had been in seclusion in the Guluohe internal world for over a year, basically never participating in gatherings in the virtual world.

“I’ve heard of the Demon King too,” the square-faced man said solemnly. “This person’s combat power amplification is at least 100, because his challenges against those treasure land owners were completely leapfrogging!”

“Not long ago, he defeated a Transcendent exotic beast lord with a combat power amplification of 97.”

“That terrifying? Then it probably isn't my friend,” Mo Luo shook his head. “But this Demon King is really strange, challenging them but not occupying the treasure lands.”

“The strong all have some peculiar habits,” the square-faced man laughed. “I’d actually like to meet this Demon King. A combat power amplification of over a hundred! He must have been immersed in rule comprehension for over a hundred years.”

“How would you meet him?” a female martial artist next to them shook her head. “It’s just a codename; you can’t even find him.”