Chapter 154: A Guest, and the Surge in Profits After the System Split

Chapter 154: A Guest, and the Surge in Profits After the System Split

Two figures slowly glided through the sky above Lake Gloomy City.

Looking down at the bustling city, where puppets, humans, vampires, and sphinxes lived in harmony, the traveler couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

For any third-tier wizard apprentice, it wouldn't be difficult to control a city-state in the Underworld with a few decades of planning.

But for someone like Su Nan, who had built a powerful force encompassing three city-states, it was truly remarkable.

And that was without mentioning the Starlight Principality backing him.

The more the traveler interacted with Su Nan, the more he realized the depth of Su Nan's capabilities.

This was why he had agreed to Su Nan's invitation to visit Lake Gloomy City.

"I never thought that even sphinxes and vampires would become your vassals," the traveler remarked.

Su Nan picked up on the underlying meaning and was surprised. "You've been here before?"

The traveler nodded. "Eight years ago. I wanted to sneak into Lake Gloomy City, but the sphinxes' defenses were too tight, and there were spirit hunters guarding the gates. I had to give up. I never imagined you would conquer Matu and Osen as well."

As he spoke, the traveler's gaze swept over the stone golems patrolling the streets below.

Flying in from the city gates, he had noticed that most of Lake Gloomy City's defensive forces and patrols were various golems and puppets.

Among them were no shortage of legendary-level puppets!

Sphinxes, vampires, and other slave races made up only a small portion.

It was clear that Su Nan's conquest of Lake Gloomy, Matu, and Osen was due to his powerful golem army.

Night Owl was right; the resources Su Nan controlled were vast and daunting.

An ordinary third-tier wizard apprentice couldn't possibly assemble such a large golem army.

What puzzled the traveler even more was that the materials needed for legendary-level puppets were extremely rare, and the supply of medium and small soul crystals alone was a significant bottleneck for many wizard apprentices.

Where did Su Nan get so many medium and small soul crystals to craft legendary-level puppets?

The traveler was at a loss to understand.

At that moment, Su Nan suddenly said, "We're here."

The two figures slowly descended to the ground, where Carolina and the Red Widow were already waiting at the palace entrance.

"Master, welcome back," the two women bowed in unison.

The traveler took note of this and inwardly praised Su Nan's good fortune and resolve.

Both sphinxes and vampires were known for their cunning.

An ordinary wizard apprentice would have no chance of subduing these races, let alone bringing them under his command.

"Today is late, sir. Please rest for a few days, and we'll have a good chat afterward," Su Nan said.

The traveler readily agreed, "Thank you for the trouble."

"Not at all," Su Nan smiled and turned to Carolina, "Arrange the best room for our guest."

"Yes, Master," Carolina replied respectfully, then bowed slightly to the traveler, "Sir Traveler, please follow me."

Once the traveler left, Su Nan entered the palace and asked without turning back, "What progress has been made on the exploration while I was away?"

The Red Widow kept pace with Su Nan and smiled, "Thanks to Master's foresight in having Sir Sherman and Sir Cole, as well as the Knight Guard, join the exploration team, the progress has accelerated significantly."

"The underground toad and slime creatures in the eastern swamps of the Star Alliance have been cleared out, and the exploration team is now venturing deeper."

"The situation to the north has also been clarified. There are four mind flayer tribes within a fifty-kilometer radius, and we have already eliminated two of them. Taking care of the remaining two is only a matter of time."

"The iron ore vein discovered to the west has been officially developed. Additionally, the exploration team found two new veins: a medium-sized copper deposit and a small tungsten deposit. We are currently clearing the surrounding monsters and expect to start mining in about a month."

Su Nan nodded in satisfaction.

From the Red Widow's tone, it seemed the newly formed Knight Guard was performing well.

This was understandable, given that the Knight Guard's equipment far surpassed that of the Underworld natives.

Not to mention the magical runes and enchanted weapons and armor they were equipped with.

They also carried various potions.

Any single knight from the Knight Guard could stand up to a grand knight.

With such a team, led by Sherman and Cole, they could face anything short of a legendary creature without fear.

And even if they encountered a legendary creature, the rune gems would ensure they could escape.

Seeing Su Nan's satisfied expression, the Red Widow beamed and said, "Additionally, Master, just five days ago, I personally led a team to wipe out the Minotaur tribe to the south. Their gold mine is now ours."

"That's a medium-sized gold mine, expected to bring in over 300,000 gold coins in profit!"

"Excellent," Su Nan's smile widened.

With a medium-sized gold mine and the efficient mining capabilities of the clay golems, he wouldn't have to worry about funds for at least the next six months.

He could stock up on more mithril and craft more mithril golems.

With the deaths of Magi Hand, Blood Mouth, and Ugo, three members of the Eternal Order were now dead at his hands.

While they might not know he was responsible for Magi Hand and Blood Mouth, if they found out, the Eternal Order, despite its loose structure, would be out for his blood.

He couldn't take any chances and needed to prepare, building up more strength.

With a few dozen mithril golems, he could walk fearlessly across the entire Starlight Continent, and the Eternal Order would be no more than a minor inconvenience.

"Continue the exploration, find more mineral veins, and gather intelligence on the surrounding forces," Su Nan instructed.

So far, the Star Alliance had only encountered small, weak tribes in their explorations and expansions.

However, with the exploration range now extending nearly 200 kilometers, they were likely to encounter other city-states soon.

If they wanted to continue expanding their territory, war would be inevitable, and the Star Alliance needed to be well-prepared.

One of the reasons Su Nan invited the traveler to Gloomy Lake City was to gather intelligence on the underground world.

The traveler had spent years exploring the southeast domain of the continent, and he might know more about the underground forces than Su Nan did.

"How is Flash City doing?" Su Nan asked.

"The detailed report is in the study."

They arrived at the study door just then, and Su Nan pushed it open, sitting behind the desk. The report was the first thing he saw.

Since agreeing with Kei on the system split, Su Nan had been implementing it.

By the time he left for Rhian City, the system split had been in place for some time and was running smoothly.

The report on the desk was the financial summary for the past six months.

The profits had increased by nearly half since the system split.

The largest portion came from the procurement of black rock leopards, clay golems, stone golems, potions, enchanted weapons, and dragon blood fruits, accounting for over 80% of the profits.

The remaining 20% came from the procurement of various metal ores mined from the underground world.

Su Nan wasn't surprised by this result.

Previously, the base's contribution to the army far outweighed the army's contributions to the base.

In fact, a portion of the profits from the underground mines was used to subsidize the Starlight Principality.

This was how the Starlight Principality managed to recover so quickly after the war in just a few years.

However, since much of Su Nan's initial capital accumulation came from his territory, he had accepted this arrangement.

Now that they were split, the base no longer had to subsidize the Starlight Principality, and its profits naturally skyrocketed.

"As long as the Starlight Principality remains strong, the base's procurement profits will only increase."

After reading the report, Su Nan left the study and headed to the laboratory.

He took out some gems and silver, spent half an hour setting up the array, and then infused it with mental energy to activate it.

As the light flared up, countless rays emerged, intertwining and forming a portal about four to five meters tall.

"Done."

Su Nan clapped his hands, looking at the teleportation portal with a satisfied smile.

With this portal, he could enter and exit the Dragon Forest from Base 2 at any time.

He would also need to set up a portal at Base 1 for convenience.

He could even enter the Dragon Forest from Base 2 and exit through Base 1, effectively creating a long-distance teleportation between the two bases.

This would save him a lot of travel time.

Setting up the portal, Su Nan contacted Yinlong through their contract.

To his surprise, Amy also came along.

"Meow, what's this?"

Amy's eyes widened as she curiously examined the portal.

"Go in and see for yourself."

Su Nan smiled and led the way into the portal.

Amy quickly urged Yinlong to follow.

The portal connected to the public rest area on the first floor of the Dragon Skeleton Tower, and Su Nan then teleported Amy and Yinlong to Base 1.

When Amy saw the vast forest filled with towering trees, she was completely stunned.

"Meow! This, this is an ecological garden!"

Now it was Su Nan's turn to be surprised.

"You've seen an ecological garden before?"

"Of course, meow!" Amy lifted her head proudly. "My previous owner had an ecological garden, filled with all sorts of strange creatures. But I couldn't see it after I woke up."

Su Nan pondered for a moment. It seemed that the ecological garden had been moved by Amy's owner, unlike the Dragon Forest, which remained on the Starlight Continent.

"Meow, Su Nan, you have control over this ecological garden?"

Amy suddenly remembered Su Nan's casual teleportation and quickly put two and two together.

"Yes, I'm the master here now."

"Wow, how did you manage that, meow?" Amy asked curiously.

"It's a long story. I'll explain as we go."

Su Nan led the way, and Yinlong hurried to follow.

On the way, Su Nan recounted the events, leaving Amy amazed.

"Meow, you have such incredible luck!" Amy exclaimed.

Having experienced the golden age of wizardry a thousand years ago and having a powerful owner, Amy knew far more than most wizard apprentices. She was well aware of the astonishing value of a large ecological garden.

Even a semi-abandoned ecological garden was worth more than the entire Starlight Principality!

Suddenly, Amy seemed to have an idea and excitedly patted Yinlong's back with her paw, shouting:

"Meow, big guy, you're in for a treat!"

"Huh?" Yinlong responded with a puzzled roar.

Su Nan smiled.

This was precisely why he had brought Yinlong along.

While Base 2 of the Dragon Forest was abandoned, Base 1 still had numerous draconic creatures, including high-tier sub-dragons.

These sub-dragons could provide a sufficient supply of sub-dragon blood to rapidly increase Yinlong's bloodline concentration.

Su Nan's targets were the high-tier sub-dragons, such as the Multi-Headed Dragon and the Chaotic Dragon.

Flying over the lake where the traveler had fought Magi Hand and Blood Mouth, Su Nan released his mental energy to scan the area. He quickly located his target.

A silver glow enveloped his body, and metallic liquid instantly formed into countless metal spikes, tearing through the air and plunging into the water.

The next moment, the lake's surface violently churned, exploding with a loud boom.

Water splashed into the sky as over a dozen snake heads burst from the water, emitting thunderous roars of anger that echoed over the lake.

One of the snake heads had a gushing wound on its neck, staining the water below red.

Su Nan immediately used Mage Hand to collect the blood, storing it in a glass tube he had prepared.

"Roar!"

Realizing that Su Nan was the one who had injured it, the Multi-Headed Dragon let out an angry roar. Its dozen snake heads surrounded him from all directions, lunging to bite.

Su Nan's expression remained calm. With a mental command, a metal storm swept out.

The battle between man and beast raged in the air above the lake.

After about seven or eight minutes, having collected enough blood, Su Nan left without hesitation. The Multi-Headed Dragon, unable to catch up, could only roar angrily into the sky.

Meeting up with Amy and Yinlong, who had been watching from a distance, the three of them returned to Base 2.

Su Nan immediately took Yinlong to the laboratory to perform the bloodline refinement procedure.

In terms of power, the Multi-Headed Dragon was nearly at the Fourth Circle Legendary level, while Yinlong hadn't even reached the Third Circle Legendary level.

The Multi-Headed Dragon's bloodline concentration far exceeded Yinlong's.

As a result, after fusing the purified sub-dragon blood from the Multi-Headed Dragon, Yinlong's bloodline concentration increased by 0.36%.

In the past, it would have taken at least two to three months to achieve such a significant increase by extracting blood from Yinlong alone.

"High-tier sub-dragon blood is indeed more effective."

Su Nan nodded in satisfaction.

As long as Yinlong's bloodline concentration remained below that of the Multi-Headed Dragon and other high-tier sub-dragons, it would continue to increase at a rapid pace.

By the time its bloodline concentration growth slowed down, it would most likely have broken through to the Fourth Circle Legendary level.

Then, he would have another powerful ally!

Even if the growth rate slowed down afterward, with a steady supply of high-tier sub-dragon blood, he wouldn't have to worry about Yinlong's tolerance, and the rate of bloodline concentration increase would not be slower than before.

It was only a matter of time before Yinlong broke through to become a pure-blooded dragon!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end