After most of the Untamed Awakened fused with another Soultrait Symbol or upgraded their existing Soultraits, they left for the training ground to get used to the changes.
Nobody knew how many days they had to prepare for the next battles and everyone wanted to be as prepared as possible.
Michael liked that about his subordinates. They worked hard to grow stronger. If their training regimen was lackluster, or they ended up idling around, Michael would regret providing Soultrait Symbols and Upgrades to strengthen them. Fortunately, that was not the case.
The only downside was that he used more than half of the 126,000ish SoulStar Fragments he procured until now.
He didn't have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire to 6-Star, but that was okay. He had 90ish Lords, their Awakened, and Reinforcement to kill. There was no way that he wouldn't have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade some of his Soultraits once the Regional War was over.
Fortunately, the following days passed in silence. Michael focused on training. He practiced the body and mind refinement techniques Consirat of War and Wisdom Breaker as often as possible to ensure that his mind and body would be ready for the upcoming battles.
However, he paid lots of attention to the soul refinement technique, Sanctum of Life, as well. Michael relied on his physical strength and mental power a lot in battle, but it was a fact that his overwhelming power derived from the use of his Soultraits. Refining his soul as much as possible granted him better access and augmented control of his Soultraits.
The Sanctum of Life ensured that his Soultraits wouldn't break no matter how much he used them. At least, that was supposed to be one of the technique's biggest benefits.
Michael could use Extraction to replenish his energy and mental power fast. However, he couldn't use Extraction to mend his Soul once it was exhausted from using too many Soultraits, too often, and too long.
Therefore, Michael had to practice the Sanctum of Life soul refinement technique more often, ensuring that his Soul could keep up with his mind and body.
He considered leaving the Origin Expanse for a while to finish some business in the Saphirelake Military Academy, but he assigned Rebecca Zauber and her friend to take care of that. Rebecca was deployed to take care of the Awakened Agency's business and some deals with Kraft Viton and the three Awakened who'd managed to pass the Awakened Agency's first test.
Since the Valyr Lordess lost her territory, she had to seek asylum in Arx. Therefore, she didn't have the means to produce resources anymore. The Valyrs' progress slowed down and their debt to Michael increased as they asked for more and more resources to recuperate from their wounds and obtain some equipment to fight.
The Valyrs asked for Energy Stones, Nutrition Serums, Artifacts, and various potions to regain their full strength. Michael never considered gifting them everything. He was not some charity organization. He was a Lord and a businessman.
The Valyrs owed him several favors. That made it much easier to convince the Valyr Lordess and her people to act as mediators with her Clan and people.
Michael desired to trade with the Valyr.
He already had some business with the Forest Elves and supplied them with as many weapons and other armaments as he could spare. The Forest Elves exchanged the weapons and armaments with Agriculture-type Blueprints that were sold to Kraft Viton with a decent profit.
Michael planned to add the Valyr into the trading cycle alongside the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. It had been some time since he requested a list of items that were regularly harvested in the Sacred Desert, the Frozen Tundra, and the Barren Lands. Some goods from the Sacred Desert and the Frozen Tundra were very valuable to the Valyr. The Frozen Tundra's materials were exceedingly rare for them given that the Valyrs spawned in warm regions. Not many survived in cold regions for a long time.
It was hard to procure goods from cold regions for a low price because most partners of the Valyr race knew that they had difficulties procuring them without any help. That was what Michael made use of.
He offered the Valyr a good price. In exchange for the goods procured in the Frozen Tundra, Michael asked for Magma Stones, Blood Essences, and corpses of monsters that could only be found in regions with large amounts of lava and magma.
The Magma Stones, Blood Essences, and monster corpses were then sold to the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers, who required Blood Essences to refine their physique using an ancient technique. The monster corpses and Magma Stones, on the other hand, were required to forge powerful Artifacts.
Michael demanded a wide variety of ores, forging blueprints, and other materials from the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers, providing enough resources to expand the Underground Forging Hall.
The expansion of the Underground Forging Hall made it easier to supply more weapons to the Forest Elves, which meant that Michael would obtain more Agriculture-type Blueprints. More schemes meant more materials from the Frozen Tundra and the Sacred Desert. More materials would elevate his gains from the Valyrs, which would widen his profit margin from the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs once again.
The cycle would continue to grow until one of the parties procured enough resources. However, it would take a long time before the supply exceeded the demand. Until then, Michael was bound to generate more profit than most Lords earned in their careers.
It wasn't easy to create a perfect commerce system with so many parties involved, but Michael thought that he was doing a good job.
Unfortunately, the trade with the Valyr was among the most important. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs paid a hefty price for the Blood Essences, the Magma Stones, and the monster corpses, which was how Michael could generate the most profit.
He was very fortunate to be the only Lord in contact with the Valyr Lordess and her subordinates. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were loyal to him and wouldn't even think about taking away their Lord's business model by secretly commerce with the Valyrs. They might have considered doing that with the Soul Pacts, but the opportunity was taken away with the Oath of Loyalty.
Thanks to the Oath of Loyalty, the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wouldn't dare to take away a margin of his profit, not even for their race's gains.
Of course, Frederik, Hiraku, or the two Descendants, who joined his territory alongside the Untamed Awakened, could approach the Valyrs to trade with them, but the Valyr Lordess signed a Soul Contract that she wouldn't backstab him out of nowhere. She would approach him and offer a proposal if Humans or other people from his territory were to approach the Valyrs for business matters.
That was one of Michael's biggest advantages. He helped the Valyrs and ensured that they would be forced to repay some of their favors, thus establishing a commerce route and a Soul Contract with them.
Once the commerce cycle had been established, Michael waited patiently to generate the first profits. He didn't feel rushed when the Scouts returned to report about the Council of Xylon.
Instead, Michael suppressed the impatience boiling deep inside him and waited for their response to his surprise attack in the center of the Savannah Region.
What is their response to his domination in the Savannah center?
Would they gather their masses to barge into the Untamed Jungle to destroy his territory, or would Michael's interception in the internal affairs of the Council of Xylon create a rift?
Was it enough to kill 11 Lords in the Savannah center to stir trouble?
Michael was not sure about that, but he could tell that the Lords were afraid to leave their territory now that they were aware of his ability to travel long distances without getting detected.
He could appear in the center of the Savannah region without anyone noticing. What would happen if they gathered their forces to barge into the Untamed Jungle only to lose their territory when The Lord of the Untamed Jungle executed another swift attack? Michael was likely to have the means to make a detour around their forces and invade their territories while they were busy entering the Untamed Jungle.
They couldn't leave their territory and main settlement unprotected.
Losing their Lord Powers was what most of them were worried about. After all, Michael was not their only enemy. The other members of the Council of Xylon were also their rivals!
