Chapter 227: New Perks
In summary, activating the Immortal Dragon God talent caused a qualitative change in Zhang Nu's soul. His soul no longer relied on the body for existence and became extremely difficult to eliminate due to possessing divinity. Furthermore, having bound with the Demon King's Resurrection Altar, his soul could be instantly summoned back by the altar, making it nearly impossible to kill him.
Of course, "nearly impossible" did not mean impossible. Gods were indeed immortal. This was why throughout history, when dealing with Evil Gods, people could only seal them away because Evil Gods were still gods. People could not find a way to eradicate them completely, so they had to resort to separating them into parts and sealing them. However, compared to true deities, Zhang Nu still had a significant gap. He had merely just dipped his toes into this realm of power, giving his soul some divine characteristics. However, these divine attributes could be neutralized by special means or worn away through long-term sealing.
Additionally, Zhang Nu faced another issue. The Demon King's Resurrection Altar was a Level 5 building, and he had now advanced to Level 6. Although he could still resurrect at the altar, it would only restore a portion of his power. The rest would have to recover gradually on its own, posing potential challenges. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, it would be wise for him to avoid unnecessary risks and not recklessly court danger.
In addition to the divine aspect of the soul, the Immortal Dragon God also brought several special effects. One of them was Infinite Regeneration, similar to limb regeneration but more powerful. Essentially, as long as his head was intact, Zhang Nu could regenerate his body. As for other effects like Soul Possession, Curse Immunity, and Poison Immunity, Zhang Nu did not place much emphasis on them.
Soul Possession was used to seize a new body after the original body was completely destroyed, but this was irrelevant to Zhang Nu since reshaping his body using the Resurrection Altar was more convenient than seizing someone else's body. Curse Immunity and Poison Immunity were less significant due to his Evil God talent "Source of Corruption," which had similar effects. However, the Evil God talent only worked actively when activated, making the effects of the Immortal Dragon God still relevantly useful.
Besides these, the Immortal Dragon God had another hidden effect: basic immunity to soul damage. Soul attributed attacks would essentially target the soul directly, and Zhang Nu's soul, possessing divinity, was almost impervious to ordinary soul magic damage. Therefore, soul magic was rendered almost ineffective against him.
With these newfound abilities, Zhang Nu suddenly realized that he seemed almost invincible. He possessed incredible resistance and immunity to elemental magic, significantly reducing damage from elements such as wind, fire, water, earth, light, darkness, and lightning. With three Evil God talents, he could individually resist or even absorb damage caused by necromancy, psychic, curses, and poisons. His Spatio-Temporal Dragon form allowed him to resist spatio-temporal obstacles, easily retreating from the chaotic time and space, making spatio-temporal magic almost ineffective. In his Evil Dragon of Annihilation form, he could transform his body into pure elemental energy, rendering pure physical attacks ineffective. Now, with the addition of the Immortal Dragon God, even soul attacks were rendered ineffective. This made him nearly impervious to various forms of attacks. To deal with him, one would either have to resort to Qi energy or divine magic. Other means were essentially futile. The situation could be described as daunting for his enemies.
Zhang Nu checked his current status.
Name: Zhang Nu
Level: 6
Race: Abyssal Dragon (Demon King Race)
Base Stats (Excluding skill bonuses): 10600 HP, 21200 MP, 1140 Strength, 2080 Agility, 1040 Constitution, 2080 Will
Level 1 Talents: Abyssal Draconian, Dragon Flame, Dragon Fear, Lightning Control, Beginner Anti-Magic
Level 2 Talents: Adamantine Dragon Body, Abyssal Devouring, Hell Thunderflame, Medium Anti-Magic.
Level 3 Talents: Dragon King's Sanctum, Evil Dragon's Descent, High Anti-Magic.
Level 4 Talents: Spatial Manipulation, Time Control , Dragon God Bloodline.
Level 5 Talents: Abyssal Divine Realm, Spatial-Temporal Dragon, Immortal Dragon God.
Level 6 Talents: Chaos Dragon God/Primordial Dragon (Inactive), Void Dominator/Void Overlord (Inactive)
Other skills: Rebirth from within the Flames (S rank), Sword Forming Technique (A rank), Death Sacrifice (A rank), Spatial Turbulence (A rank), etc.
Remaining Talent Points: 7114
All the stats experienced a significant surge. In Zhang Nu's draconian form, his HP reached a staggering 10,600, and his spirit soared to 21,200. These values were without considering any bonuses from talents, skills, equipment, buffs, or environmental factors. Even without accounting for the buffs from Demon King's castle or divine blessings, and only considering a few talents and self-skills, his HP would easily surpass 25,000, and his MP would reach nearly 50,000. If he shifted to the true dragon form, the HP and MP values would reverse, with approximately 50,000 HP and 25,000 MP. Activating his divine realm, mythic domain and some other skill bonuses, or stacking a Level 4 divine blessing from the Temple of Nature, could easily double these values.
Aside from the stats enhancement, Zhang Nu gained access to the activatable Level 6 talents. However, the Level 6 talents seemed somewhat unusual. The quantity decreased to only two, and there was a directional choice involved.
For the first talent, Zhang Nu could choose to activate either "Chaos Dragon God" or "Primordial Dragon," but only one of them could be activated.
Primordial Dragon activation requirement: 1 million talent points.
Chaos Dragon God activation requirement: 1 million talent points + 1 "Godhood"
Choosing Primordial Dragon seemed straightforward, requiring only ten times the talent points of a Level 5 talent. The quantity was impressive but within expectations. Conquering the Kregi region already yielded him a hundred thousand talent points. If he puts in more effort and sweeps the entire southern border of the empire, there should be no problem activating this skill.
However, the other option, Chaos Dragon God, was unique. Besides the 1 million talent points, it demanded an item called "Godhood." Zhang Nu was unsure about the item quality of the Godhood, but its name hinted at it being a rare and valuable material. This unexpected requirement added an extra layer of complexity to activating the talent, making it seem challenging.
Certainly, without the need for much consideration, it was evident that Chaos Dragon God was undoubtedly more potent than Primordial Dragon. The Level 4 talent, "Dragon God Bloodline," bestowed upon it a divine bloodline, while the Level 5 talent, "Immortal Dragon God," endowed it with a divine soul. Having established this groundwork, it became apparent that Chaos Dragon God would stand superior.
If the speculations held true, opting for Chaos Dragon God would propel Zhang Nu onto the path of godhood. On the other hand, selecting the Primordial Dragon would grant dominion over all beings. The former might come with significantly higher difficulty but promised elevated limits and ceilings, while the latter, despite lower limits and ceilings, might offer a comparatively easier path to certain accomplishments.
This, indeed, became a matter of making strategic trade-offs.
Concerning the second talent, Zhang Nu had the option to activate either "Void Dominator" or "Void Overlord."
Void Dominator activation requirement: 1 million talent points.
Void Overlord activation requirement: 1 million talent points + 1 "Void Seed"
In a similar fashion, one was a talent that could be activated under normal circumstances, and the other was a super talent with a high level of difficulty of activation. When it came to how to activate them and which path to pursue, the decision rested entirely on the player. Without any hesitation, Zhang Nu made the resolute choice to pursue the best options rather than the easiest. Despite the challenges, he was determined to attempt the activation of "Chaos Dragon God" and "Void Overlord"!
After reviewing his own stats, Zhang Nu accessed the Demon King's Altar. Several units and functionalities were updated:
[Abyssal Dragon Elder] Level 6 overlord unit. Evolved from Abyssal Dragon, it gained access to more profound and powerful Dragonic Tongue Magic. The upgrade cost was 30 million gold!
[Primal Earth Dragon King] Level 6 monarch unit. Evolved from the Earth Drake Sovereign. It had the potential to become a mythic unit. The upgrade cost 100 million gold, 10000 dark gems, 10000 soul gems, 10000 gems of each of the four elements, and 8 Level 6 Hero's souls.
[Nine-Headed Sky Dragon King] Level 6 monarch unit. Evolved from the Sky Drake Sovereign. It had the potential to become a mythic unit. The upgrade cost 200 million gold, 15000 radiant gems, 15000 soul gems, 15000 gems of each of the four elements, and 12 Level 6 Hero's souls.
Only these three units were generated. The Abyssal Dragon Elder was a Level 6 overlord unit. The ordinary Abyssal Dragon evolution required an expenditure of 15 million gold. However, as Zhang Nu's Abyssal Dragons had been baptized by the Demon King, their strength had increased, reducing the upgrade cost.
Although Long Yi possessed a monarch-level aptitude and could be upgraded normally, the upgrade cost through the Demon King's Altar would be higher, and there was no guarantee of a smooth advancement. Nevertheless, upgrading was still necessary to acquire a plethora of new magic and talents.
Among these new units, Zhang Nu was particularly interested in the Primal Earth Dragon King and the Nine-Headed Sky Dragon King. While both were still Level 6 monarch units, their descriptions indicated a considerable increase in strength and the potential to become mythic entities. The mention of having the potential to become mythics was not to be taken lightly. If they possessed such potential, there must be a way to cultivate them into mythic-level entities.
However, upon glancing at the upgrade cost, the Great Demon King fell into deep silence. These gold and material costs totaled in the billions of worth! If it were just gold and regular materials, that would be one thing, but acquiring so many Level 6 souls was not an easy task. Despite the high difficulty, he needed to figure out a way. How precious were subordinates with the potential to become mythic entities?
Having a Primal Earth Dragon King in the territory would unlock two slots for ordinary Earth Drake Sovereigns. Similarly, having a Nine-Headed Sky Dragon King would unlock two slots for ordinary Sky Drake Sovereigns. This added up to four more slots for monarch-level entities, significantly enhancing the territory!
Apart from strengthening the Demon King's underlings, after Zhang Nu reached Level 6, the Demon King's Altar gained several new functions:
[Advanced Demon King's Baptism] Costs 10 million gold. This baptism provides three times the effect of a regular Demon King's Baptism. Although it was ten times more expensive and did not seem cost-effective at first glance. However, sometimes time was the most valuable cost as the regular baptism had a ten-days cooldown period.
[Demon King's Possession] Costs 5 million gold per use. The Demon King could bestow a small portion of his power onto any citizen through the altar, lasting for 15 minutes.
[Demon King's Teleportation] Costs 1 million gold coins per use. The Demon King could instantly teleport any citizen from their location to the altar or vice versa.
While these seemed like auxiliary functions, they could prove to be quite useful at times. Simultaneously, Zhang Nu noticed a change in his player interface. He could now simultaneously view a hundred Demon King channels, covering almost all Demon King factions. This meant that the Demon King market had expanded again, making it easier to earn money and souls.
However, just as Zhang Nu was preparing to study the various Demon King markets, the Succubus Queen Han Kexin sent him a message: "Hey, do you have time to come to the Holy Tides City? We're facing some trouble here, and we might need your help."
Zhang Nu inquired, "What's going on? Did something happen to the White Sands Tribe? I haven't received any reports from Shui Yao or the Dark Dragon merchant guild."
Han Kexin replied, "It's unrelated to the White Sands Tribe. Last time we went shopping, did you buy a strange bead in the Sky Ocean Grand Market?"
Zhang Nu, knowing the situation, asked, "Is there an issue with that bead?"
Han Kexin explained, "More than an issue. According to my investigation in the past few days, it has a significant background, seemingly related to the founder of the Azure Water Federation, that legendary empress."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Nu's brows furrowed slightly. Could it be that the Sealing Magic Pearl had caused trouble?"