Because there was no shortage of gold yielded in Thousand Fangs City.
Zhang Nu took out 1.25 million gold and upgraded 250 High Draconian Soldiers at once, bringing the total number of the Draconian Super Soldiers to as many as 600.
These super soldiers were top-tier Level 3 elite units.
Which were rare even in cities like Giantree City and Berserk Beast City.
Zhang Nu continued to spend 400,000 gold coins to summon 200 Draconian Battle Mages, and then spent another 400,000 gold coins to upgrade 50 of these battle mages to Level 3 Draconian Mystic Battle Mages.
Mystic battle mages were also top-tier elites.
But due to their versatile combat style, proficiency in both melee and magic combat, as well as the ability to adapt to any terrain easily, their combat prowess was slightly higher than super soldiers in terms of individual combat capabilities.
Finally, he upgraded 5 of the mystic battle mages into Draconian Mystic Royal Guards.
He then immediately sent them up onto the Altar of Inferno to be enhanced into Infernal Draconian Mystic Royal Guards.
As of now, Zhang Nu's royal guard squadron had 25 Infernal Draconian Warmonger Royal Guards and 20 Infernal Draconian Mystic Royal Guards.
All of which were Level 4 lord units.
With this squadron of royal guards alone.
They were sufficient to hold their own against an elite formal army of ten or more times the number.
Zhang Nu used the Level 1 and 2 building upgrade scrolls and spent several hundred thousand gold coins, along with a large number of life gems, earth gems, and water gems to upgrade the two newly constructed Spirit Fields to Level 3.
With this, there were now three Level 3 Spirit Fields in the Darkness City.
It was necessary to relocate several batches of elven civilians to manage and cultivate these fields, otherwise, it would be a waste to leave two Spirit Fields uncultivated and neglected.
Zhang Nu also had two advanced upgrade scrolls in his hand.
One was a Level 3 upgrade scroll that he had just received, and the other was a Level 4 upgrade scroll that he yielded from the Sealed Land.
However, he currently had no plans to use the Level 4 upgrade scroll.
Upgrade scrolls of this level were too precious, it was not something that could be easily obtained through monetary means and must be used wisely.
As for the Level 3 upgrade scrolls.
Although it was relatively expensive and rare, it was not difficult to acquire from the market as long as one had enough patience.
He only had one Level 3 upgrade scroll.
Yet there were many Level 3 buildings.
Tree of Life, White Bones Mausoleum, Temple of Nature, Temple of War, Level 3 Spirit Fields, Gnome Magitek Research Institute, Orc Base Camp, Ogre Stronghold...
After contemplating for a while.
If he had to choose based on cost-effectiveness.
Upgrading the Tree of Life might be the best option.
Afterall, the Tree of Life was exceptionally powerful and beneficial, and even as a Level 3 building, it possessed multiple functions and features. Wouldn't its capabilities become even greater if it were to be upgraded to Level 4?
Regrettably.
The Tree of Life was a unique creation.
The "Level 3 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll" in Zhang Nu's hands could not be used on the Tree of Life. Even the Gnome Magitek Research Institute was considered a special building.
These types of special structures.
They could only be upgraded by even rarer special upgrade scrolls.
After thinking it over, Zhang Nu finally decided to use it on the Spirit Field. Compared to the temples or barracks, the money tree was far more important.
[The upgrade costs: "Level 3 Upgrade Scroll" x1, "Gold" x ???, "Life Gem" x 500, "Earth Gem" x 500, and "Water Gem" x 500!]
The Level 3 upgrade for the Spirit Field actually cost ??? gold!
Furthermore, it required 1,500 gems!
The total cost of this upgrade was probably around 3 million gold!
Zhang Nu had never seen such an exorbitant upgrade cost before!
Nonetheless, considering the effectiveness of the Spirit Fields, he gritted his teeth and paid the price.
[Upgrade successful!]
[Spirit Field area +80%, growth speed +50%. Super Spirit Field +10 acres!]
The scale of the Goblin Farm suddenly increased by nearly twice, and the energy contained in the spirit soil received a significant boost once again.
The crops growth speed of the Spirit Field was increased by over thirty times compared to normal crop fields.
And the eleven acres of Super Spirit Field within the center had a crops growth speed around a hundred times faster.
This could no longer be called a Spirit Field. The soil, especially the super soil in the center, could already be described as divine soil.
For a long time in the future, the Demon King no longer needed to worry about basic supplies.
With the large-scale expansion of the Darkness City farm, as well as the elven farm under the Tree of Life, and Chen Guoguo's flower fey farm in the Myriad Floral Valley, Zhang Nu now had the ability to feed almost all the forest cities' population in Chaos Forest.
If there were still things that Zhang Nu would worry about in the future.
It would definitely be having too many resources that he could not sell in time!
Zhang Nu had finally earned several million gold, and just like that, they were almost all spent.
However, with the money generating Spirit Farms in hand, he was calm and composed.
Rao Jian and his team from Dark Dragon Chamber of Commerce had departed for quite a number of days.
Assuming nothing unexpected occurred in their journey.
They should have arrived at the Azure Water Federation by now.
Zhang Nu did not know if the trading company's development was smooth or not. But fortunately, after taking over the Thousand Fangs City, he had incorporated thirty gnome merchant teams, which were enough to open up the internal market of the forest.
However.
Just as Zhang Nu was consolidating resources and busy planning his fortune-making scheme.
Nancilia hastily rushed in and exclaimed, "Your Majesty! The elves and the dwarves are fighting!"
Hearing this news, Zhang Nu was slightly taken aback.
He wondered how the elves could be fighting with the dwarves since he had not heard of any dwarves near the Giantree City.
Nancy quickly explained, "Not long ago, the dwarves of Ironheart City launched a surprise siege onto Silver Springs City, and now they have breached the city!"
Ironheart City?
Zhang Nu pondered briefly.
Ironheart City was located in the eastern mountain range.
And it was one of the forest cities of the Chaos Forest.
It was a large city built by a dozen dwarven tribes and had a population of tens of thousands of people. In recent years, it had been developing very well and was one of the mightiest forces in the entire Chaos Forest.
Zhang Nu asked, "Don't panic. Explain the situation."
Nancy quickly answered, "After the chieftain Marilyn agreed to join under Your Majesty's command, a rebellion broke out within Silver Springs City."
"A rebellion?" Zhang Nu was surprised.
The very first thought that came to his mind was even if there were stubborn factions that refused to join the Demon King,the reaction from the Silver Spring City would not be so radical and extreme.
In the elven race, rebellion was exceedingly rare.
And even if there was a rebellion, what did it have to do with the dwarves?
Nancilia continued, "The guardian elf in charge of the city's protective barrier and magical formation shut them down without authorization, and the guard forces of Silver Spring City were transferred away without permission, allowing a group of elite dwarves to storm Silver Spring City."
Zhang Nu chuckled with a hint of anger behind his voice, "This is no rebellion. It's probably the work of some Heroes who don't want me to have Silver Spring City!"
Nancilia reflected for a while.
She felt something was amiss.
This was definitely not something an elf would do.
She thought of the previous guardian elf of Giantree City, Du Mingfeng. Only a Hero who was indifferent to his fellow tribesmen would commit such an extremely treacherous deed!
"The situation is very grim!", urged Nancilia.
"The chieftain Marilyn is trapped in her own city."
Zhang Nu replied calmly, "Worry not, I'll head there personally. While I'm at it, I'll take over Silver Spring City as well."
"Thank goodness!"
Nancillia was relieved to hear that the Demon King was taking this matter into his own hands.
Zhang Nu had just approached Li SI and before he could ask for a teleportation from him.
Li Si brought urgent news, "My master, we've just received information from the west that may be unfavorable to us."
Zhang Nu was a little annoyed, "What now? What is the situation in the west?"
Li Si reported, "It is said that a treasure of Thundering City has been lost, and there are rumors in the forest that Your Majesty may have sent your men to steal the treasure."
"The giants are fuming and have dispatched an army of giants to seek Your Majesty out and demand an explanation from Your Majesty."
Nancilia was at a loss.
"Preposterous! This is a set-up!"
"How could the Demon King steal the giants' treasure!?"
"His Majesty has even given away priceless treasures such as the Tree of Life. Why would His Majesty be interested in the giant tribe's junk!"
Zhang Nu was not angered by this.
Instead, he felt that something was at play here.
Just then, Li Si spoke, "My master, I suspect that there are forces behind the scenes orchestrating these series of events. They are instigating conflicts on both the east and west sides, probably to distract Your Majesty's attention and forces so they can carry out their conspiracy."
Zhang Nu had also thought of this possibility.
These matters were too targeted towards him.
The timing was also too coincidental.
Even someone without a bright mind could see that someone was behind all these.
The first suspect that came to mind was the forces of the Thunder Empire.
Especially the leader of the Divine Sword Heroes Guild who had yet to show his face.
"These are merely smokescreens."
Zhang Nu speculated, "I believe their true target is the Bloody Fortress. The commotion caused by the dwarves and giants is just to draw my attention."
However.
It did not matter.
Even so.
Zhang Nu was not one bit worried.
Although the ten thousand ogres had yet to arrive and be stationed at the Bloody Fortress.
The fortress itself was heavily guarded.
The grand marshal Zhang San was currently leading troops to deal with Magi Mojo City, but this city was the weakest of the three target cities, thus the outcome should be decided soon.
The Magi Mojo City was not far from the Bloody Fortress.
After dealing with the Magi Mojo City, Zhang San could reinforce the fortress in a day to ensure that everything was secure and to minimize the risks of unforeseen incidents.
As for the giants from the Thundering City,
Zhang Nu planned to send Li Si to negotiate with them.
After all, he really did not steal the giants' treasure.
This was purely the Heroes' provocative tactic to sow discord. He would try to resolve the misunderstanding through negotiation first. If it failed, then he would act.
Zhang Nu planned to go to Silver Spring City first.
All things have their priorities.
The matter of Silver Spring City being sieged by the dwarves was the utmost priority. Zhang Nu valued his elven troops and did not want to see too many casualties.
Meanwhile.
In the Kolo territory.
Su Wenhao received a message through magical transmission.
The plan was proceeding smoothly as planned.
The news greatly boosted his confidence.
He summoned the leaders of the three major Hero guilds and declared, "Now that the Demon King is distracted, it's a good opportunity for us to take action and strike!"
The three guild leaders laughed heartily.
No one had expected it to be so easy.
Especially the situation on the dwarves' side, which was not part of their plan. It seemed that luck was on their side.
Su Wenhao continued, "I plan to mobilize the Kolo family's knights to capture the Bloody Fortress, but I cannot leave the territory. I ask for the aid of the three guild leaders. As long as the conquest is successful, there will be a generous reward awaiting you all!"
"Say no more, chairman!"
"Leave it to us!"
"With the three of us working together, and the support of the Kolo family, we can definitely take down the Demon King!"
The three guild leaders were already powerful, and with the help of the Kolo family's top warriors and knight regiment, they would have a significant advantage.
For the three guild leaders, this was also a rare opportunity.
