Chapter 150 A Billion Population
Two weeks later...
"Huh!" Maximus took a break from the ancient battlefield.
During these two weeks, he was either fighting or on his way to battle.
With the significant increase in his soul amplitude, he had never experienced a loss, so there wasn't any cooldown.
Now, as he looked at his winning streak, he couldn't help but smile.
[Maximus Shadowcrest: Rank 4 Silver
Battles: 2,351
Wins: 2,350
Losses: 1
Ties: 0
Battle Power: 10,689
Reward: 8,231-day energy equivalent]
"So much energy..."
After reaching Silver rank, the reward was equivalent to 10 days' worth of energy.
Now, with this amount of energy, he could master at least 82 new elemental soul paths.
"I wish..." Maximus sighed.
Now, he had all the energy he needed but not enough Potential points.
While he was deep in thought, resting before the next battle, something suddenly descended upon him.
"Huh, what happened?" Maximus was shocked as he tried to block the unknown energy that descended upon him.
"Host?" Tintin was also shocked.
The protective barrier that came with the token didn't even block their strange energy.
That could only mean two things: it was either unfathomable or beneficial.
Maximus didn't bother Tintin as he had the system scan the energy.
[Scanning...]
[Analyzing...]
[Detected a heterogeneous mixture of Will energy.]
[Warning, excessive consumption of such energy will corrode the host's consciousness, turning them into a puppet of the heterogeneous will.]
"This..." Maximus was puzzled.
"What happened?"
While he was shocked and contemplating what to do with such a harmful mass of energy, his token vibrated.
"Doran?" Maximus muttered.
[Doran: Your Majesty, something has happened in the Empire!!!]
[Maximus: What happened?]
[Doran: Based on the information I've read about the era of imperial domination.]
[Doran: The phenomenon occurring in the empire right now is called Amalgamation of Will.]
[Doran: I'm just not sure if it really is.]
[Maximus: Alright, I'll come right away.]
Tintin, who was in a panic, also calmed down after reading the message.
"Your subordinate's guess should be correct," Tintin said.
"Do you know what it is?"
"This kind of Amalgamation of Will is equivalent to the World's Origin,"
"They both can strengthen the host tier quickly," Tintin explained.
"However, because this kind of energy comes from the condensation of the will of the people, it's a little weaker than World's Origin energy"
"Is that it? Is there no danger to using this energy?" Maximus asked.
"Oh, because it's energy from the will of a massive number of individuals, excessive use of it can influence your soul"
"However, with host tier, there is no need to worry"
"Even if you absorb this kind of energy until you reach tier 7 or 8 there is no problem," Tintin explained.
"Hmm." Maximus just nodded.
As for using such energy to strengthen his tier? he never considered that.
Just its influence on his soul was already a deal-breaker for him.
Moreover, since there was already a world's origin open to him, why use such inconvenient energy?
"Let's go to the empire first."
...
In Moonshadow City, at the Teleportation Array:
"Your Majesty, you're here!" Doran and other officials greeted.
"Hmm, at ease."
"Let's go to the castle first."
As they were heading back, Maximus took his time to observe his territory.
Besides the usual prosperity, there was also an increase in population.
Usually, there was almost no crowding phenomenon in his empire.
But now, looking at Moonshadow City, the population has almost tripled compared to before.
Furthermore, he observed that the amalgamation of will was gradually being absorbed by the citizens.
It seemed to be enhancing their talents, strengths, and various abilities.
Soon, they arrived at the castle.
"You may begin," Maximus said, allowing them to speak.
"Your Majesty, while you were away, we conducted an investigation into why the amalgamation of will occurred," Doran began.
"Based on history, the Amalgamation of Will only occurs when something significant happens within the empire."
"First, there's the qualitative improvement of strength of the empire inhabitants."
"Second, the expansion of territory."
"Third, the expansion of the population."
"Fourth, conquering an empire."
"These are a few of the reasons for the appearance of Will Amalgamation."
Doran paused, waiting for His Majesty to absorb the information.
"Hmm, continue..."
"Based on this, we were able to quickly investigate what changed within the empire."
"Just about two weeks ago, the star sea traders transported more than a hundred million people into the empire."
"After two weeks of incorporating these people, the Amalgamation of Will suddenly appeared."
"What is the total population now?" Maximus suddenly asked.
Now Maximus barely manages his empire.
For the order and development of the empire, millions of officials were hired every month.
There were also his guild members diligently completing missions to develop the empire's infrastructure.
He only visited once a month to convert the empire's virtual currency into system points.
"By now, according to the census, it's 1,000,002,382," Doran said.
"A billion?" Maximus was a little shocked.
In just a few months, the population had doubled.
Although it seemed small compared to the world's population, which was in the billions of trillions.
But being an emperor over a billion people was a little overwhelming.
"Good work. Tell Cedric to double his efforts."
"I'm willing to pay double the previous amount if he manages to reach 200 million every month."
"Triple the price if he reaches 300 every month."
"You get the gist of it."
"I'm even willing to pay ten times the amount if he reaches a billion people every month," Maximus told Doran.
"As ordered, your Majesty!" Doran who was stingy with money resolutely stated.
Although it would undoubtedly cost a lot of money, they were not short of it.
Furthermore, Doran already felt the benefits of the Amalgamation of Will.
With this kind of energy, in just a few years, Doran was sure to reach Tier 4, extending his life to a thousand years.
"Hmm."
Soon, all the officials briefly reported what was happening in the empire.
From major things to minor things, it took a whole day to finish.
...
In the City of Arcana, at Maximus Manor:
Maximus returned home after finishing his business in the empire.
Although the Amalgamation of Will had caused a little stir, it had also brought enormous benefits.
Looking at the Amalgamation of Will's energy in his consciousness.
Maximus manipulated the system to see what it could do.
He didn't want such weird energy to pollute his soul.
Who knows if there is any trap in it?
[Detected energy, whether to absorb?]
"Huh? It can really absorb energy!" Maximus became excited. H
e figured that since the system could absorb time energy and potential energy, it should be able to absorb other kinds of energy.
Initially, he tried all kinds of energy: mana, magic crystals, and various processed energies.
Unfortunately, nothing worked, so he gave up.
Now, seeing that it could absorb this Amalgamation of Will, he became excited.
"Does that mean it can only absorb high-end energy?"
Maximus also tried to see if World Origin's energy could be absorbed.
[Detected energy, whether to absorb?]
"It's really possible!" Maximus smiled wildly.
This meant that he would have another source of system points from now on.
"Convert the Amalgamation of Will first," Maximus muttered.
[Whether to convert to Life Points/Potential Points?]
Maximus tapped Potential points, as he was short of them.
[+1 million Potential points]
"So much!" Seeing the massive amount of potential points, he couldn't help but smile.
Furthermore, he felt the Amalgamation of Will was coming at a constant rate.
Which meant that tomorrow he'd have another million points.
"Tsk, tsk, it's really worth it to set up an empire."
Originally, Maximus had set up his empire to get and nurture money so he could convert it to system currency.
Now, there was another benefit: system points.
"Let's upgrade first to celebrate."
[Maximus Shadowcrest:
Soul Tier 4: Elemental Mage - Level 1
Body Tier 4: Sky Knight - Level 9
Soul Amplitude: 1522
Soul Will: 281
Life points: 1,440,000
Potential Points: 7,722,331
Magic Crystal Points: 230,561,641]
These two weeks, he didn't spend points; he was accumulating them.
Now, with enough points and world energy, he could start to upgrade again.
[Gold Affinity: Legendary(0/150k)]
[+1.65 million]
[Gold Affinity: Divine(0/15 million)]
...
[Iron Affinity: Divine(0/15 million)]
...
[Bronze Affinity: Divine(0/15 million)]
...
[Silver Affinity: Divine(0/15 million)]
...
Seeing that there were not enough potential points.
Maximus began consuming the world origin's energy to condense an Elemental Soul Path.
First, the Golden Elemental Soul Path.
Because it's part of the metal element, he only consumed 70 days' worth of energy.
Next...
The Iron Elemental Soul Path...
The Bronze Elemental Soul Path...
The Silver Elemental Soul Path...
"Huh!"
"It's really satisfying to progress at lightning speed," Maximus muttered.
Based on his progress and the generation of Potential Points,
Maximus only needed a maximum of five years to condense all Elemental Soul Paths and advance to Tier 5.
"Now, let's fight again..." satisfied, he began to grind in the ancient battlefield once again.