Chapter 384: The Palace of the One Hundred Thousand Shadow Beasts

Slowly, the golden sea that had descended upon Ysara like molten metal began to dissipate, shattering into countless luminous shards that drifted through the air like stardust before vanishing completely.

The arena floor was blackened and warped by the heat, and the magical arrays engraved into its structure already pulsed at a steady rhythm, working to repair every crack.

Parts of the stone still glowed a furious red, radiating waves of heat that made the air above them ripple and distort.

Within an area of five hundred square meters, absolutely nothing would have survived if this had been a real battle.

Ysara, far more powerful than Ethan, naturally remained unscathed amid the destruction. Her eyes sparkled with amused interest as she surveyed the smoking crater around her feet, one hand casually brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.

Ethan, on the other hand, was breathing a little heavier than usual.

That had been a good attack, but to use it, he’d expended more than twenty percent of his aura—a trade-off that was far from advantageous.

Of course, that wasn’t the kind of technique that interested him. He was after in-depth combat manuals—the sort that laid the solid foundation of a warrior—not flashy abilities like that one.

Ethan let out a quiet sigh, his gaze meeting Ysara’s for a brief moment. He still had a lot to do, and he couldn’t afford to linger much longer.

After offering a few words of encouragement to the new recruits and exchanging quick hugs with his wives, he set off, walking straight to the central zone of Goldenveil, near the Steel Vein Military Complex.

Once there, he selected an empty plot and activated the Instant Construction ability.

After a few moments fiddling with the system’s many filters, Ethan finally found what he was looking for.

[Name: The Palace of the One Hundred Thousand Shadow Beasts

Description: An ancient, gigantic complex designed to house beasts from their earliest stages through to adulthood.

It features nurseries, breeding cells, genetic, medical, and research laboratories, as well as the capacity to hold up to one hundred thousand beasts.

The highest-capacity cells can accommodate beasts up to the fifth stage.

Even in the deepest cells, there are multiple ventilation and sunlight transmission systems, ensuring that every beast has clean air and adequate, healthy lighting conditions, as well as training facilities. This prevents the gradual weakening of caged beasts.

Effects: +220% beast growth speed, +200% loyalty for beasts born and raised within it, +250% beast strengthening and vitality rates.

Price: 5,000,000]

The price was steep, but he paid without hesitation.

The mere fact that it could hold up to one hundred thousand beasts was already wonderful, and the structure could even accommodate fifth-stage creatures.

Honestly, in his eyes, it was even a bit excessive, but as Goldenveil grew, more and more of the building would end up being utilized.

Without hesitation, he confirmed everything, spent another two hundred thousand gold coins to integrate the Palace of the One Hundred Thousand Shadow Beasts into Goldenveil’s infrastructure, and then took a step back.

In the next instant, the ground beneath his feet shifted, trembling before splitting open.

A plot of land no smaller than that of the Steel Vein Military Complex was prepared, and from its center a black castle began to climb, stone by stone, as if emerging from the very depths of the earth.

Four towers pierced the sky, one at each corner, each over a hundred meters tall, while a ten-story central spire rose in the middle, crowned by the imposing statue of a dragon that seemed to watch over Goldenveil with empty, hollow eyes.

High walls surrounded the entire area, enclosing sprawling pastures within, along with designated zones for animals that needed plenty of room to run—such as the spirit horses Ethan had received from the system.

He watched the structure rise gloriously, his eyes sweeping over the large, heavy gates as he felt the magical density around him gradually increase, the protective arrays coming to life one by one.

With a wave of his hand, he retrieved a second item from his inventory: pop summoning cards.

First, he used the cards he’d won at random from the five draws—five thousand pops in total—a wave of ordinary citizens who would bolster the city’s workforce.

After that, he used the selected pop summoning cards, the ones that would grant him twenty veteran beast tamers.

He tore the cards, watching as shards of light scattered through the air and quickly coalesced into twenty human figures—thirteen men and seven women—all already on their knees, heads bowed in reverence.

Since these were citizens generated by the system, Ethan didn’t need to explain much.

After ensuring everything was running smoothly, he gave them permission to recruit apprentices, set their salaries at around twenty gold coins per month, and, of course, provided them with an budget, as well as all the beast eggs he was currently carrying.

By the time the next war ended, he wanted those spirit horses galloping—and, of course, the Rank S egg properly hatched.

Having finished with the tamers, Ethan moved on to his second goal of the day: establishing a public transit system in Goldenveil using magical trams.

The population was already approaching one hundred thousand, and transportation was becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

Fortunately, the system offered several options tailored to this type of infrastructure, and Ethan paid just over seven hundred thousand gold coins to widen Goldenveil’s main streets by another four meters, installing two tram tracks right down the center of them—tracks that would eventually connect all the city’s major districts, from north to south and east to west.

Shortly thereafter, he built a station for the storage, maintenance, and repair of the trams, and also began recruiting several mages from Goldenveil, tasking them with studying the many technical manuals that came with the station.

That alone took up his entire afternoon, as he had to meet with Tomas to determine how Goldenveil’s laws would govern these trams, create a public transportation management system, and try to find qualified mages to operate them.

In no more than a week, Ethan wanted Goldenveil’s transportation system fully operational.

Once all that was done, he quickly used the remaining construction slots he had, investing another ten million gold coins in infrastructure and expanding Goldenveil’s school tenfold.

In addition to its size, he also changed the building’s blueprint, adding air-conditioned classrooms, a specialized kitchen, and a 200% learning bonus effect, along with various bonuses that improved the children’s talents and even their behavior.

At the end of the day, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

He was ready to march toward Fallenwinter.