"Let's see what else I got." Luo Feng put away the Domain Lord Token and began taking stock of the rest of his spoils.
He had high hopes for Evil Eye's possessions. The scepter and the gold-and-blood armor Evil Eye wore hardly looked like Ordinary Supreme Treasures. They might well be Saint-level Supreme Treasures.
Luo Feng easily erased Evil Eye's imprints with his divine power and claimed several Supreme Treasures as his own.
The scepter was called Xiaotao. It was indeed a Saint-level Supreme Treasure, one best suited to the Wood Origin Profundity. Someone who had comprehended that profundity could draw out its full power. Evil Eye's use of it had been unremarkable; evidently, he had not comprehended the Wood Origin Profundity.
The gold-and-blood armor was the Blood God Armor, an ordinary Saint-level Supreme Treasure focused on defense, with only a modest amplification effect. It reduced attacks below the Saint Realm to one ten-thousandth of their original strength and even reduced Saint Realm attacks to one percent. As for amplification, it increased power by only ten percent.
Neither Saint-level Supreme Treasure was cheap. Together, they were worth an estimated sixty thousand Qiankun Units.
"Sixty thousand Qiankun Units. That's about the fortune of an average Saint Realm expert. Evil Eye really was rich." Luo Feng marveled. And those two treasures were only part of the haul.
They were the bulk of it, though. After tallying the rest, Luo Feng estimated its value at another forty thousand Qiankun Units.
A fortune exceeding a hundred thousand Qiankun Units made Evil Eye exceptionally wealthy among Eternal True Gods, on par with some Saint Realm experts.
"A hundred thousand Qiankun Units is barely enough for Morosa to reach Saint level. It's nowhere near enough to breed a Saint-level Warrior." Morosa was Luo Feng's greatest trump card, but while he remained in his Growth Stage, he felt like a bottomless money pit.
Breeding warriors was especially costly. World Beasts bred warriors in a way similar to the Zerg, but there were differences.
Given enough resources, the Zerg could rapidly breed countless Insect Race Warriors. World Beasts, however, consumed not only vast resources but also their own Origin. Replenishing that lost Origin required still more resources, driving the cost even higher.
World Beasts did have one advantage: they could breed warriors stronger than those of the Zerg, even warriors stronger than themselves. The Zerg could not do that.
Morosa, for example, was only at the peak of Eternal Level, yet with sufficient resources, he could still breed a Saint-level Warrior comparable to a Saint Realm expert.
The cost of doing so, however, was steep.
According to Morosa, once he reached Saint level, roughly a hundred thousand Qiankun Units would suffice to breed a weaker Saint-level Warrior.
At his current level, though, he would need to devour the divine power of five Saint Realm experts to breed a Saint-level Warrior of comparable strength. If he used other resources instead, the cost would be around a hundred and fifty thousand Qiankun Units—roughly the entire fortune of a weaker Saint Realm expert.
The best course, then, was to let Morosa reach Saint level first and breed warriors afterward, either by hunting Saint Realm experts or by pouring in resources.
Of course, even after Morosa reached the Saint Realm, Luo Feng would not dare hunt Saint Realm experts within the You Mountain Empire. There, he could only rely on resources he already had.
Saint Realm experts were among the empire's strongest fighters. If many died within its borders, it would cause an uproar. A God King Level expert might investigate personally, and that would spell trouble.
Luo Feng planned to let Morosa reach Saint level first, then hunt Saint Realm experts during his assessment mission.
The inauguration ceremony for the Galaxy Domain Lord soon arrived.
Luo Feng's strength was plain for all to see: he had defeated Evil Eye overwhelmingly. The various powers of the Azure Domain therefore showed him every courtesy. Nearly everyone invited who could attend did so, bearing generous gifts, and Luo Feng reaped quite a haul.
The two stewards handled the arrangements, so Luo Feng had little to do beyond exchanging a few words with some well-known Eternal True Gods of the Azure Domain and making their acquaintance.
After the banquet, Luo Feng returned to his residence.
The two stewards, Ma Fu and Shi Fang, had already handed over all the gifts. Luo Feng sent his divine sense into the World Ring and could not help being surprised.
"The two stewards did a good job." Luo Feng was quite pleased. They had received many items on his list. Clearly, the various powers had spared no expense to win his favor.
The gifts were worth nearly a hundred thousand Qiankun Units in total.
They had collected so much mainly because the two stewards had invited nearly every Eternal True God in the domain. Setting aside those too far away to arrive in time, several hundred had been able to make it within a little over a year. Together, gifts worth a hundred thousand Qiankun Units were not too outrageous.
More importantly, every faction wanted to be on good terms with the Galaxy Domain Lord. Otherwise, the total would never have been so high.
"Morosa." With a thought, Luo Feng entered the Star Tower.
"Master," Morosa said respectfully when he saw him.
"This should be enough for you to reach Saint level." Luo Feng waved a hand. The space before them filled with mountains of treasures: metals, corpses, Supreme Treasures, and all manner of other valuables.
"More than enough!" Morosa's eyes lit up at the piles. He could have reached Saint level naturally without devouring anything, but that would have taken far longer. Eating would save him most of that time.
"Come here!" Morosa opened his mouth wide. An immense suction seized the mountains of materials before him and drew them all in.
Whoosh!
Countless precious materials poured into Morosa's mouth. He devoured them in moments.
"Master, I'll need about a year to digest everything. Then I can reach Saint level," Morosa said, his eyes shining with confidence.
"Good." Luo Feng was delighted.
If Morosa reached Saint level, the threat from Evil Eye's teacher would diminish. Even without Morosa, Luo Feng was confident he could handle certain Saint Realm experts within the empire. He simply did not want to expose too many of his trump cards, especially the Star Tower. Unless he had no choice, he would keep it hidden.
In the Universe Ocean, he had been the strongest. Even if others knew the Star Tower was a God King Level weapon, they had lacked the power to seize it. The Origin Continent was different. Countless people were stronger than him. If anyone recognized it as a God King Level Supreme Treasure, it would drive them to covet it—perhaps even to madness.
A year was brief to Luo Feng.
"Hm?" Luo Feng, who had been sitting cross-legged for almost a year, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Morosa nearby.
He's about to break through.
Luo Feng understood that Morosa was attempting his breakthrough. Morosa's aura had begun to change, calm one moment and violent the next. The dense aura of destruction kept shifting, leaving even Luo Feng astonished.
For a World Beast King, a breakthrough was a breakthrough of the "world" inside his body. Once that world advanced, it could contain more Origin, and his strength would naturally grow.
Suddenly, Morosa's aura grew steadily more violent. An oppressive aura of destruction spread from him. Luo Feng felt that without the Star Tower's suppressive power, he might have had to retreat for the moment.
What a powerful aura. Luo Feng saw mysterious patterns and glowing white symbols appear on Morosa's body. The world within him seemed to have absorbed enough energy to cross some threshold and was now transforming at a furious pace. That was the source of the change in his aura.
After the transformation had continued for some time—
"Roar!" Morosa let out an excited bellow.
The violent aura of destruction erupted in full. Throughout the Star Tower's interior, a vast vortex formed around Morosa, voraciously swallowing the surrounding power of heaven and earth.
"Even a World Beast makes this much commotion when breaking through?" Luo Feng was startled. Fortunately, he had made preparations.
With a wave of his hand, a great quantity of Source Crystals appeared within the vortex and were promptly swallowed.
A full day passed before the vortex stopped. It was not because Morosa's divine power had reached its limit; he had stopped it himself.
At that rate of absorption, it would probably take over a hundred years for his divine power to reach its limit.
"He broke through?" Luo Feng sensed that Morosa's aura was utterly different, vastly stronger than before.
"Master, I've reached Saint level. Thank you for your generosity!" Morosa said excitedly. Then he added sheepishly, "But I'm very hungry right now. Something to eat would be wonderful."
"Eat? I've got nothing left for you." Luo Feng laughed and shook his head.
After reaching the level of Universe Master, further breakthroughs no longer came with a gift of divine power converted from the Universe Origin. World Beasts were different, but the principle was the same: they received no gift of converted Origin Divine Power. With each new level, they had to slowly convert the divine power of heaven and earth themselves. Taking countless years to reach their limit was perfectly normal.
World Beasts converted what they devoured into divine power, so Morosa had naturally grown hungry after his breakthrough.
Of course, a World Beast's appetite was enormous. Even Luo Feng's wealth would vanish if he kept feeding Morosa. Besides, he had already poured essentially everything he had taken from Evil Eye into this breakthrough. There really was nothing left to feed him.
"If you're hungry, there are quite a few Eternal True Gods lurking outside the city. Eat a few of them. The authorities probably won't hold me responsible," Luo Feng said with a faint smile. "Just don't cause too much commotion. It wouldn't look good if I, the city lord, did nothing about it."
Morosa immediately understood, and excitement rose within him. They might only be Eternal True Gods, but to a World Beast, they were still a delicious meal.
With Luo Feng's permission, Morosa soon slipped out of Azure City and began his hunt.
Once Morosa's new level stabilizes, I'll head to the Imperial Capital, Luo Feng thought.
The spatial power within Saint Realm experts was enough to counteract the great world's suppressive force, allowing them to teleport with ease. Now that Morosa had reached the Saint Realm, he too could travel by teleportation, making the journey much faster.