Chapter 1240 Points

The other ten crates contained elemental crystals. Their appearance was far more varied. Some burned with faint red light without producing heat.

Others were deep blue, with tiny traces of frost gathering against the wooden crates around them.

There were green crystals carrying dense wind energy, golden ones that released a faint warmth, earthy brown crystals, and several darker varieties whose exact affinities were harder to determine at a glance.

The Silver Guard soldiers visibly reacted. Several swallowed unconsciously.

Resources of this quality were not something ordinary soldiers could casually obtain in large amounts.

For those below Rank Three, crystals like these still possessed considerable value for cultivation. They could accelerate mana accumulation, help recover depleted reserves, and support breakthroughs.

Even among the Silver Guard, most wouldn't casually waste such materials.

Only Aldric appeared completely composed. At this stage, all he needed to concern himself with was compressing his Law to completion.

Michael approached the crates and casually picked up one of the mana crystals. He rolled it between his fingers.

The crystal was dense, clean, and contained very little impurity.

Good quality.

He picked up two elemental crystals as well, briefly examining their energy before nodding.

Michael then turned toward the gathered soldiers. His eyes moved across them one by one. The Silver Guards immediately straightened.

Michael pointed toward one of the weakest soldiers present.

"You."

The man stepped forward.

Then Michael selected another. This time, one of the strongest people present aside from Aldric.

After that, he chose three of the weaker Silver Guards and had them stand together. Then another group of three, this time made up of some of the strongest soldiers currently present.

Finally, Michael gestured toward Aldric and had him stand alone in a separate position.

The arrangement quickly became clear.

One weak individual. One strong individual. Three weak individuals. Three strong individuals. And finally the Rank Three commander.

Michael wanted comparison points. If the transportation cost really changed depending on strength, quantity, or both, this would give him enough information to begin understanding the pattern.

The selected soldiers were confused. None of them knew exactly what Michael intended to do with them, especially with twenty crates of valuable crystals sitting beside a gigantic unfamiliar formation.

But beneath that confusion was an obvious trace of excitement.

It had only been a few months since the empire changed rulers. At first, uncertainty had naturally spread throughout the military. They had served one royal family for generations, only to watch that family fall and an outsider seize the throne with frightening ease.

There had been fear. Suspicion. Resentment from some. Caution from almost everyone.

But once the fighting ended and normal life resumed, the reality had been far less terrible than many expected. Michael had not stripped the empire apart simply because he possessed the power to do so.

For most ordinary soldiers, life had continued. Training continued. Pay continued. Their families remained untouched. The empire remained stable.

That alone had softened many initial fears.

More importantly, there was one fact nobody within the military or common populace could ignore. Their new ruler was vastly more powerful than the previous royal family.

That didn't automatically create loyalty. People didn't abandon generations of attachment simply because someone stronger appeared. Especially not soldiers.

But strength still mattered. A strong ruler inspired confidence. And when the difference became large enough, confidence could gradually turn into awe.

Michael had already approached that point.

Several of the soldiers had heard rumors of what he could do. Some had personally witnessed his "undead," which many still didn't know the true nature of, during the takeover.

Now they had just watched him create an enormous unknown structure out of nothing while a statue of him appeared beside it.

Being personally selected by such a ruler, even if only for an experiment they didn't understand, was enough to make several of them visibly excited.

Michael paid little attention to that reaction. His focus remained on the test.

After a moment of thought, Michael pointed toward the weakest soldier he had selected.

"Get on the platform."

The man immediately obeyed. He stepped onto the enormous stone surface and stopped near the center of the magic circle.

Michael's attention shifted inward. Almost immediately, the Subsidiary Territorial Anchor responded.

[Target Detected.]

[Permission Requirement Satisfied.]

[Select Destination.]

Another panel unfolded beneath it. There was only one option.

[The Eternal Crown]

Michael's eyes paused on the name. That was the territory surrounding his main Universal Cornerstone in the Origin Battlefield.

Before Michael could select it, another notification appeared.

[Current Subsidiary Territory Has Not Been Named.]

[Please Assign A Territory Name.]

Michael stared at it briefly. After only a moment of consideration, he entered a name.

[Territory Name Confirmed.]

[The Eternal Crown Empire]

Simple. Perhaps a little too simple. But Michael didn't care. It clearly distinguished this subsidiary territory from the Eternal Crown itself, and that was all he needed.

He returned to the previous interface.

[Available Destination]

[The Eternal Crown]

Michael selected it. The response came immediately.

[Insufficient Energy Points.]

[Please Recharge Subsidiary Territorial Anchor.]

Michael's expression shifted.

Another smaller notice appeared beneath the warning.

[To Convert External Energy Into Energy Points, Present A Compatible Energy Source To The Dominion Conduit.]

Michael looked toward the enormous statue. A faint symbol had appeared at its base.

So that was the Dominion Conduit.

Michael raised one hand. A high-grade mana crystal floated from the nearby crate and flew toward the statue. The moment it crossed the invisible boundary surrounding the base, the crystal crumbled completely.

A new number appeared on the panel.

[Energy Points: 1]

Michael stared.

"…"

One point?

He looked back toward the crate. That had been a high-grade mana crystal.

Mana crystals generally fell into several accepted quality levels. Low Grade. Mid Grade. High Grade. And above them were even more valuable varieties.

There was technically another category beneath Low Grade, but most supernaturals barely bothered calling those proper mana crystals. Their purity was so poor that they were usually referred to as defective crystals instead.

Yet a high-grade mana crystal had provided exactly one Energy Point. From what he could tell, to trade for anything, he'd need these Energy Points.