Several orcs brought the Hero in.
It was a human male youth.
Zhang Nu could not help being slightly taken aback.
It was his first time encountering a human being.
Nevertheless, it was nothing too surprising.
The human race was the most balanced race. They were also the largest race on the continent.
No matter if it was the number of countries, area of territories, population size or the number of strong individuals, humans ranked first in every aspect.
However, this world was just too vast.
There would always be a large number of areas with no human activities.
The Chaos Forest had fewer humans, but it was not completely devoid of human beings. Some forest cities have some human merchants and adventurers as permanent residents, even Giantree City was said to occasionally have human caravans stop by.
Zhang Nu could tell at a glance.
This Hero was from the Thunder Empire of the North.
This is a Hero who belonged to the imperial forces.
'He is a Level 3 Hero...not bad.'
The human youth introduced himself, "My name is Liu Qingcheng, an esteemed member of the Divine Sword Hero Guild, and I am very honored to be granted an audience with someone of your stature."
"Hah! A Hero from a Hero guild, and yet you dare to stand before me. Not afraid I'll just kill you on sight?"
Facing the Demon King's sharp question, Liu Qingcheng remained ever calm and collected, accompanied with a demeanor neither too haughty nor humble.
"Your Majesty is indeed extremely powerful, otherwise you wouldn't be able to conquer Berserk Beast City. Killing me would be like squashing a bug with your strength. However...."
His words paused briefly.
"If you choose to kill me, it would be a declaration of war against the Divine Sword Hero Guild! It would be an unbearable consequence, even for you!"
Zhang Nu's eyes narrowed slightly, "Are you threatening me?"
Liu Qingcheng shook his head, "No, I didn't have any intention to offend you, let alone threaten Your Majesty. I am merely stating an objective fact."
"The Divine Sword is a Hero guild from the south of the Thunder Empire!"
"Our guild possesses numerous powerful individuals, as well as the full support of the empire!"
"To be an enemy of us, is to be an enemy of the great empire!"
"Which is less than ideal for your current self!"
"Only through cooperation can we achieve a win-win situation!"
Zhang Nu was not one bit amused, "And what do you want?"
Liu Qingcheng answered, "Our goal is to take over the entire Chaos Forest, and to do that, we need to gain control over all the forest cities."
"We hope that you would entrust us with the ownership of Berserk Beast City and any other forest cities under your rule, and in return, the empire will generously grant you a substantial amount of food, equipment, and supplies!"
Zhang Nu was a little speechless.
This Hero really dared to propose with such absurd conditions.
"I see. You're asking me to hand over all my assets and properties, and then, you'll only need to offer up some junk and scraps to humor me afterwards. Do I look like a bloody fool to you?"
Liu Qingcheng took up an assertive tone, "We are very sincere in our proposal and even willing to sign a contract with you to ensure the deal will be honored in the future."
Zhang Nu asked, "And if I refuse?"
Liu Qingcheng frowned, "It will not be a wise decision. The empire is determined to take over the Chaos Forest. We are still willing to negotiate with you in a peaceful manner for now, but it doesn't mean we are afraid to use a forceful approach!"
"When it really comes to that, with your solitary forces, you won't be able gain anything but losing your life to your foolishness!"
"Please consider the stakes in this matter!"
"I highly advise you to rethink your choices."
"Is it war or peace!"
Zhang Nu sneered, "In the end, you're just here to put on some air and patronize me. But you are but a mere coward who didn't even dare to show up in person. Do you really think you can threaten me?!"
Hearing this.
Liu Qingcheng's expressions changed, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Nu clasped his big hands over the Hero's head as if he was squeezing a small chick. And with a little force, the Hero turned into a puff of smoke.
"A mere illusion."
"Think I'm so easy to fool?"
Zhang Nu had seen through it right from the beginning.
Liu Qingcheng never even walked in here.
The only reason he dared to put on such an insistent attitude while being so calm was purely because the one who stood and spoke in front of Zhang Nu was only an arcane illusion. He himself was hiding somewhere safe.
'This kind of illusion.'
'It shouldn't be able to last very long.'
'His real self is probably nearby.'
Zhang Nu flew up into the air in an instant.
He inspected around and found an invisible figure, the corners of his mouth formed into a mocking grin.
'Found you~'
Right now.
Liu Qingcheng had a hideous expression on his face.
The illusion ability was his talent skill.
Although the skill had no combative power, the illusion it created was extremely realistic. It was almost impossible to distinguish it from the real one through ordinary means of detection. This was proven to be true many times in the past.
'What's going on today?'
'What gave it away?'
'Forget it! I can't stay here any longer. I've collected more than enough information anyways. Time to withdraw!'
As the thought came to his mind and he was prepared to leave.
Suddenly.
Liu Qingcheng felt a terrifying psychic force digging into his brain like a drill.
B rank psychic magic: Psychic Invasion!
Although Liu Qingcheng's head was clear and his mind was conscious, he had completely lost control of his own body. He sank into absolute terror once he discovered this.
"No!!"
"Stop!"
"STOP IT!!"
Liu Qingcheng was controlled to start walking, and like a puppet on a string, he returned to the place where he met Zhang Nu.
But now.
The Hero wet his pants.
His face was full of fear and seized by dread.
Zhang Nu showed contempt, "Where did your act of bravado go? If you've remained undeterred, I would have still respected you as a real man."
At this time and moment.
His very life was at the mercy of others.
How could he still be composed?
His audacity to act tough in front of the Demon King was solely founded upon his confidence in his illusion skill, thinking that Zhang Nu would never be able to find out where his real self really was.
As an emissary of the Divine Sword guild.
Liu Qingcheng had met many Demon Kings in the past.
This was the first time his true self stood in front of a Demon King, and it was undoubtedly the most terrifying and powerful Demon King he had ever met. Until this moment, he still has not regained the control of his body.
"Don't..."
"Don't kill me!"
"I was wrong! I apologize!"
"We can still talk! Any conditions are fine!"
"The Divine Sword is sincere. As long as you don't hurt me, we can still cooperate and join hands to rule over Chaos Forest."
Seeing the buffoon's disdaining behavior.
Zhang Nu could not help laughing out loud.
"How can I be interested in cooperation when I see that the emissaries of your Hero guild are so pathetic like you? You want war? You shall have war!"
Liu Qingcheng found out in horror that his hands were uncontrollably pulling out the short sword at his waist.
Both hands then held the hilt the sword upside down, aiming straight at his own heart.
He hurriedly shouted, "There are thousands of Heroes in our Divine Sword guild and we have reached cooperation with ten Demon Kings. Do you really want to stand against the entire Chaos Forest and Thunder Empire? Are you insane?! Stop it..Stop! PLEASE STOP!.....Ahhhh!!"
A miserable scream.
Liu Qingcheng had plunged the short sword into his heart with his own hands.
His life was rapidly draining away and he fell to the ground with a scream. His face was full of fear and despair as he watched the Demon King walk down to him.
A swirl of Dragon Flame fell on him.
The Hero was reduced to nothing but charred ashes.
[You've slain a Level 3 Hero. Hero's Soul +1. Skill Stone +1]
As for the threat made by Liu Qingcheng.
Zhang Nu did not even take it to heart.
To be honest, for Zhang Nu, the more top Heroes coming for him, the better. Afterall, it was too difficult to level up after Level 4. Without enough souls, he simply could not raise his level.
Zhang Nu glanced at the skill stone dropped by the Hero.
[Mirror Image] B rank skill.
'Eh'
'This skill'
'Wasn't it the one the pathetic Hero used'
Zhang Nu immediately used the skill stone on himself.
[Mirror Image] B rank skill. Creates a physical illusion that exudes the same exact aura as the original self. The illusion draws a minimum of 100 MP when created and costs an additional 10 MP per minute while active. The illusion will dissipate when the MP is exhausted.
It was an interesting skill.
Although the skill had no combative power, the physical illusion had a high degree of imitation, it could not be discovered even with advanced detection skills.
As long as the user did not make a move against others.
There was a high probability that it could fool just about anyone.
No wonder Liu Qingcheng was so full of confidence.
If Zhang Nu had not seen the hint from his cheat ability, he would not have seen through Liu Qingcheng's illusion.
But this is only a small episode for Zhang Nu.
After the issue of the Hero was resolved.
Zhang Nu ordered a Draconian priest to teleport him back to Darkness Valley.
He decided to use the remaining two blueprints.
'Let's build the temple first.'
Zhang Nu placed the Temple of War right next to the Temple of Nature.
The temple construction cost was very cheap for the current Zhang Nu.
The gold cost was only 120,000 and the gems needed were also relatively common. All in all, the total cost was only about 200,000 gold.
Compared to the function of the temple, such a small amount of gold was really insignificant.
[Temple of War construction successful!]
[All units have gained the Goddess of War's blessing!]
The moment the temple appeared.
Darkness Valley, Giantree City, Berserk Beast City, and even all nearby villages and tribes who pledged their allegiance to the Demon King received a brand new buff.
[Goddess of War's Blessing Level 1] Special status. Strength +10%, Constitution +5%, Will +5%!
In the Giantree City.
The elves were surprised to find out.
Another divine blessing has appeared.
Wasn't this the power of the Goddess of War?
But the elves did not worship the Goddess of War!
The followers of the Goddess of War were usually orcs, half-orcs, some dwarves and other war-like races.
Was this the doing of the Demon King again?
Did he have an affair with the Goddess of War as well?
But how could their relationship be so great that even non-followers of the Goddess of War could be bestowed her blessings?
Meanwhile, in the Berserk Beast City.
The orcs felt the divine blessing of the Goddess of War.
Their morale was instantly heightened and their loyalty greatly boosted.
After Zhang Nu finished building the Temple of War, he continued to use the last Level 2 blueprint "Advanced Beast Pen".
[Advanced Beast Pen construction successful!]
[You've unlocked the ability to summon tamed beasts!]
[You've gained a new summonable tamed herd: Jungle Giant Lizards +30000, Quadruped Winged Beast +10000!]
Jungle Giant Lizards. Level 1 normal. Costs 10 gold.
Quadruped Winged Beast. Level 2 normal. Costs 400 gold.
Advanced Beast Pen.
It seemed pretty ordinary.
Only two tamed beast units have been unlocked.
Both of these beasts were normal units and their combative power was pretty low. But this did not mean that they were worthless.
Jungle Giant Lizards were good at carrying weights and they were capable of traveling through complex terrains.
They were excellent jungle transportation units, especially suitable for transporting cargoes and supplies.
The Quadruped Wing Beast was similar in this case. This species of winged beasts was several times larger than an ordinary winged beast. Although their figure was more cumbersome and lumbering, their ability for carrying loads was also stronger. These winged beasts were perfectly ideal for air transportation.
Simply put, the Advanced Beast Pen could not increase the territory's military strength by one bit.
However, it provided the territory's means of transportation.
In the future, with the increasingly flourishing trade, as well as the progressively efficient resource extraction operations, these tamed beasts would become of great use.
In short, they would not be useless at all.
