Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

After retrieving three bronze chests heavier than steel, he emerged from the mine with his subjects.

He found the fifty kobolds clasping their hands in silent prayers as they waited for their return and the shadow stalker supervising them.

A few words later and confirming he got the experience points despite the distance, they walked back to the territory spiritedly.

Back inside, fifty-one notifications asking him if he wanted to accept the kobolds as subjects resounded in his ears. Without hesitation, he pressed yes with a bright smile.

Then, he turned to them, clapped his hands, and welcomed everyone.

However, his eyes were already locked on a pagoda tower reaching for the sky and placed behind his house as if it were his exclusive property. A thin veil of Qi encased its pristine walls, reflecting the sunlight in a myriad of vivid colors.

Its appearance struck his heart as he gawked in awe.

Without wasting a second, he opened its panel to read the description.

Spiritual Qi Tower LV3

Introduction:

Invented by Nü Wa, the Spiritual Qi Tower generates and imbues the air with natural energy to fight against desertification and the propagation of barren areas. Cultivators built their sects around them later and used the Qi supplied to perfect their bodies and techniques.

Abilities

Qi Production

Land's fertility and harvest increased +30%

Medicinal properties: You have a slight chance for your harvest to yield rare plants brimming with life force.

Note: Increase your tier to level this special building up. The higher it is, the more pronounced its effect will become.

His eyes enlarged as he clenched his fists and leaned back.

"Incredible! It does more than just provide Qi! With it and Demeter's Harvest Hall, my territory will never suffer from food shortage!" His eyes narrowed into determined slits as he pointed his finger towards the river's west bank. "We'll become a farming territory! After building enough habitations for everyone, build more farms!"

Then, he turned towards Wukong and grinned.

"I know you enjoy mountainous regions more, but you can live in the Spiritual Qi Tower. That way, we'll be neighbors!"

The monkey king gazed at the tower in shock for a second before he slapped his leg and held his sides.

"Hahaha! A demon getting one of Nuwa's buildings? It's so hilarious!" He wiped a tear of amusement before continuing. "I can't promise you to be around every day, but you'll definitely see me cultivate inside often."

Adam's smile broadened on his face, and his fingers itched... to boast about it on the lord's chat. But he refrained... for now. Instead, he prepared for one of the most exciting moments in a gamer's journey: sorting loot!

"Can you get the bodies out?"

After Wukong snapped his fingers and his mystical cloud spewed the three thousand kobolds and almost two hundred snakes, he left for the chaos forge.

Meanwhile, Adam watched his departing back in gratitude before he smiled at his subjects.

"We are fifteen, so you can each claim 200 of them. Absorb their essence and leave to eat."

As they started, eager to push towards their next evolution, he gripped the leader's corpse and dragged it to Luna.

"It has the most essence. You can have it."

He noticed the frown creeping on her beautiful brows and the confusion in her eyes. Yet, he also saw desire.

"Are you sure? You killed it yourself, and your armor's state tells me enough about the task's difficulty."

She shook her head, finding it wrong for her to take something he had fought hard to get, not to mention that the leader wafted something more powerful than demonic essence.

However, her shoulders trembled after he nodded and answered.

"I'm sure. As a caster, you burn your essence much faster than any of us. Therefore, my priority is to help you increase it." He scratched his cheek and turned aside. "I also saw you command the others earlier, so I wanted to reward you. But please, don't expose my position next time."

As his words registered, she felt her skin burn in a strange mix of shame and... joy?

Was she happy to receive his care and good intentions? She didn't know, but the corner of her lips rose into a subtle smile.

"I don't dislike that feeling."

She muttered under her breath before snatching the corpse and walking away.

"Other men offer women nice flowers, but look at you! Who taught you to offer a disgusting corpse with horrible tentacles sprouting from its arm and leg? Tsk, truly a boor!"

Watching her leave, he rolled his eyes at her bizarre character.

'What did I do wrong again? I thought the compliments and the essence would delight her.'

Then, he shrugged, picking his share of the corpses and beginning to absorb their essence.

'Well, I guess I'm not as good as I thought when it comes to reading people... Or is it just women?'

Chuckling and forgetting about Luna's strange reactions, he revelled in the exhilarating sensation of feeling his essence increase for five minutes until green demonic energy swirled in his eyes as he checked how much he had gained.

[Demonic essence increased by 600.]

'Three per kobold, that's a lot! I think I can start summoning more fighters now that the main lineup is this strong.'

A pensive frown creased his brows for a minute as he considered dividing his force now that every melee combatant would have over 700 stat points. Of course, they would have to train the newbies. But he wanted to copy proper armies by dividing them into battalions at first, then legions.

'We'll expand in every direction simultaneously and conquer realms in a few months if we achieve that.'

He clenched his fists tightly, wild ambitions burning in his heart.

With an eager grin, he pushed those thoughts aside for now and focused on touching all the carcasses to dismantle them.

Half an hour later, he grinned at the spotless ground and summoned his notifications.

[Obtained: unit of iron x3000.]

[Obtained: unit of stones 6000.]

[Obtained: unit of topaz 30.]

[Obtained: unit of food 6300.]

[Obtained: serpent's poison sacs x50.]
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[Obtained: Tier 3 core x1.]

[Obtained: Tier 2 cores x901.]

[Obtained: Tier 1 cores x37.]

Heart hastening in his chest, he whistled at the incredible haul. They had enough food to sustain the territory for a while already and with the 900 cores, he would summon as many fighters and make them help with the construction projects. The topaz was also a welcomed addition.

"We'll board the territory development bullet train tomorrow!"

He giggled at the thought before turning toward the six small iron chests and three bigger bronze ones.

"Now, the moment I've been anticipating the most. The pack opening!"

His fingers trembled, almost dancing on their way to the chests' lids as his mind wandered into a world of blueprints and resources.

A second later, he pushed the first iron chest open and grinned at the blueprints.

Then, he did the same for the five others and checked his notifications, yet a frown graced his lips as he saw that most were duplicates he did not need. Still, he got three new ones.