After going through several more scrolls, Zhou Zhou found one detailing the conditions required to establish a certified kingdom.
"You can't call your territories a kingdom without fulfilling all of these?"
He asked.
"That's correct. The 3 conditions must be met for a kingdom to be built."
"A kingdom token, 30 regional territories and 3 heroes."
"Only by meeting all 3 can your faction become a Beginner-tier kingdom."
Li Ya replied.
"How does a Beginner-tier kingdom compare to an Intermediate-tier one?"
Hearing the term used by Li Ya, Zhou Zhou asked her.
"To establish a Beginner-tier kingdom, you only need 30 regional territories."
For an Intermediate-tier kingdom, that number rises to 500."
Li Ya explained.
"There are additional requirements as well, such as conquering other Beginner-tier kingdoms and possessing at least 10 heroes."
"The gap between the two isn't something that can be easily bridged."
Zhou Zhou nodded, continuing his study.
He soon learned that the kingdom token was an Extraordinary-tier treasure.
It functioned as the core of a kingdom, and its destruction meant the end of the kingdom.
As such, it would always be kept in the most heavily fortified location.
He also discovered that among the 30 required territories; at least one had to reach the Extraordinary-tier to serve as the kingdom's capital.
That meant sacrificing dozens of regional territories to elevate a single one to that level, only then could the remaining 29 be added.
Fücking insane!
Turning to the final requirement, Zhou Zhou read about the 3 heroes needed to establish a kingdom.
Each had to be at least Extraordinary-tier, and one of them must belong to the same race as the lord founding the kingdom.
To his surprise, he had already fulfilled one of the conditions.
And it happened to be the most difficult one.
'I suppose I should thank my lord talent once again..."
He thought as he put down the scroll.
"I would like to exchange my services for territory fusion certificates."
He said to Li Ya.
"Very well."
Li Ya led Zhou Zhou out of the royal library and then out of the palace.
..
Having witnessed the might of the chaos beasts, the soldiers of the first army held no fear of the scarlet fog monsters within Withered Forest Plains.
Against their assault, the fog monsters stood no chance.
The entire region was leveled within minutes, further cementing the first army's reputation as walking calamities.
"How about we take down Yellow Earth Plains, Dust Wasteland and Gravel Wilderness in the next few of hours."
Lu Chong suggested.
"Such travel speed wouldn't have been possible on horseback.. but we have a freaking dragon with us."
"Distance isn't an issue."
He glanced at Bai Yung as he spoke.
"Our orders are to capture Withered Forest Plains."
"There's no need to go beyond that."
Bai Yung replied flatly.
"His lordship also said that one of the fastest ways to grow stronger is by conquering other territories and using their resources."
Lu Chong countered.
"Clearing the nearby regions falls within that intent."
"And with our current strength, we can do it and still return before nightfall."
He pressed on, trying to persuade Bai Yung.
Recalling their crushing defeat at the hands of the chaos beasts, Bai Yung fell silent for a moment before looking across his subordinates.
"Are we in this together?"
He asked.
"Yes, commander!"
Aegon, Maris, Monica and Zhang Xiang responded in unison.
"... Then we conquer."
A faint smile crossed Bai Yung's face as he met Lu Chong's gaze.
..
After returning to Fish Spring Town via the space teleportation formation, Zhou Zhou, Sun Can and Qin We boarded the winged mechanostrider and set course for Blazing Sun City.
"Do your best to return to the first army."
Zhou Zhou said to his soldiers before heading towards his mansion.
Entering the sitting room, he took a seat on the couch and pulled a total of 20 territory fusion certificates.
Among them were: 8 Black iron-tier, 5 Green bronze-tier, 4 White silver-tier, 2 Yellow gold-tier, and 1 White platinum-tier fusion certificates.
"Should be enough to fuse my territories..."
He picked up a Black iron-tier certificate, muttering to himself.
[Do you wish to use the territory fusion certificate?]
"Yes."
In the next instant, a map appeared on his lord interface, displaying Blazing Sun Desert, Desolate Gabi, and Thorn Dune.
[Please select the regional territory you wish to fuse with Blazing Sun Desert!]
Without hesitation, Zhou Zhou selected Desolate Gabi.
[You have chosen Desolate Gabi (Black iron-tier regional territory) as the fusion target!]
[Fusion in progress...]
Moments later...
The border between Blazing Sun Desert and Desolate Gabi blurred... then vanished entirely.
[Fusion successful!]
[Congratulations! Your initial territory, Blazing Sun Desert (Black iron-tier, 900km²), has successfully fused with Desolate Gabi (Black iron-tier, 611km²)!]
[Territory level has increased!]
[Blazing Sun Desert has been upgraded from a Black iron-tier regional territory to a Green bronze-tier regional territory!]
[Territory size has expanded! Current area: 1,511km²]
[Blazing Sun Desert has perfectly inherited all resources from both the original and the fused territory!]
[Energy density and life energy levels have increased. Current standards match those of a Green bronze-tier regional territory!]
[Please continue fusing regional territories to further increase your territory's level!]
"The figures are correct..."
Zhou Zhou studied the notifications, his gaze steady.
"Once a region surpasses 1,000km², it advances to Green bronze-tier...."
"3,000km² for White silver-tier... 10,000km² for Yellow gold-tier... 20,000km² for White platinum-tier... 50,000km² for Diamond-tier... and 200,000km² for Extraordinary-tier...."
He mumbled as he fell into thought.
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