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Chapter 46 - 046 – The Level 2 Territory Altar

When Zhao Lun finally pulled himself out of his obsessive training state, seven or eight hours had already passed. Thanks to his terrifying innate talent, his training had yielded decent results. But what drew his attention the moment he stopped cultivating were the white bone blocks constantly bubbling up from the Bone Conversion Pool.

"So this is the so-called white bone block?"

In his hand, Zhao Lun held a brick-sized piece of bone, as pure and smooth as porcelain. Its appearance was rather appealing, and it felt satisfyingly heavy in his palm. No wonder the Bone Conversion Pool had taken more than eight hours, draining every single bone within a three-mile radius, just to produce a little over two thousand of these things.

"With this amount, it's more than enough to either construct a new Territory Altar or upgrade the current one. But the consumption is insane—every single bone on the ground is gone. At the current rate of bone regeneration, it'll probably take two or three days before the ground returns to its previous state."

Glancing at the bare, black earth that hadn't been seen in a long time, Zhao Lun tossed the bone block lightly in his hand and slowly walked toward the altar. "Anyway, for now, I should decide whether to upgrade this altar or build another one."

Standing before the Territory Altar, Zhao Lun hesitated briefly, then opened the territory interface. He flipped directly to the altar's attributes and mentally tapped the "Upgradeable" option. The display shifted, revealing new requirements.

Upgrade Requirements:

White Bone Blocks × 800

Level 3 Soul Fire × 10

Possess three Territory Wills

Conveniently, Zhao Lun met all three conditions. His only worry was whether he could endure the chanting required to upgrade. But when he saw the 800-block requirement—1,000 less than before—he figured it was worth a try.

Zhao Lun was a man of action. Once the thought took root, he wasted no time. He ordered Orlis and Felis to haul the bone blocks over to the altar and to bring over a dozen Level 3 skulls.

Once his subordinates had finished preparations, Zhao Lun calmed himself, took out the upgrade incantation from his Soul Fire collection, and silently reviewed it over and over.

Since he had chosen not to use a staff to aid in chanting, Zhao Lun needed to prepare even more thoroughly, memorizing every syllable to avoid mistakes that could cause the upgrade to fail. To ensure his mental energy lasted, he also had Orlis bring out every skull from his stockpile of skeletal mages, placing them within arm's reach just in case.

After more than ten minutes of preparation, Zhao Lun finally stepped forward and began to chant the incantation to upgrade the altar.

One minute later, he froze in place.

"…T-that's it?!"

"This… this is ridiculous! I went through all that preparation for this?!"

Zhao Lun suddenly felt the altar had disrespected him. He had been ready to face any mishap, mentally prepared to burn through every last drop of energy and collapse dramatically… but seriously?

One minute. One measly minute, and it was done.

The upgrade hadn't even drained half his mental energy—heck, not even a third. And in the blink of an eye, the altar had transformed before him. Where was the dazzling light show? The earth-shaking display?

This was way too anticlimactic.

Life's like that sometimes—things you think will be easy end up costing blood, sweat, and tears, while things that look impossible sometimes just fall right into your lap.

Still, no matter the process, the outcome was satisfying: Zhao Lun's altar was now Level 2. Feeling a little dizzy from the anticlimax, he grabbed a skull, stuffed a Soul Fire into his own cranium, and opened the territory interface to inspect the new attributes.

Territory Altar – Level 2

Quality: Normal

Building Skills: Lord Summon, Soul Imprint Engraving

Special Attribute: Subsidiary Construction

Soul Imprints: 627 / 2000

Description: A building that has barely shed the title of "shoddy product." Clearly, you still have no intention of treating it well.

Upgradeable: (Upgrade requirements locked)

"Let's see… Soul Imprint capacity has gone up to 2,000. And there's a new special attribute—'Subsidiary Construction.' What's this do?" Zhao Lun muttered, mentally tapping on it.

Special Attribute – Subsidiary Construction

Function: Allows you to build subsidiary Territory Altars in captured territories.

Note: Subsidiary altars cannot store Soul Imprints but can be used to build special territory structures.

Construction Requirements: White Bone Blocks × 800, Level 2 Soul Fire × 10

"Not bad at all!" Zhao Lun's Soul Fire flared with excitement.

He had just been wondering how to set up Bone Conversion Pools in the two territories below his control—and here was the perfect solution, like someone handing him a pillow when he was about to nod off.

"Alright! Once I max out these 2,000 Soul Imprints and gather two thousand little brothers, I can start building Bone Conversion Pools all over the place!" Zhao Lun's eyes gleamed as his previous grand strategy—occupying as much territory as possible and snuffing out enemies early—was promptly shoved aside.

It wasn't that he was fickle; it was just that the appearance of this new "Soul Fire" system had opened a fast track to boosting his overall strength. Of course he'd exploit it.

"Orlis, Felis—take a hundred skeletons each and head out right now. Remember, your goal this time is not to kill skeletons. Any skeletons you see above Level 3, capture them alive. Got it?"

The "Lord Summon" skill was still on cooldown, so Zhao Lun had no choice but to send his lieutenants out personally. Luckily, Orlis and Felis were getting smarter by the day. This small task shouldn't be too hard… right?

Watching Orlis dash off in high spirits and Felis stand there blankly for half a minute before slowly nodding, Zhao Lun suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

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