The black blood dragon pythons purified by Xian Qing'er all possessed exceptionally high loyalty values, mostly above ninety, with some even exceeding ninety-five. Such loyalty was terrifyingly astonishing, essentially signifying absolute devotion from the troops to their lord. Even if the lord perished, the troops would not defect; instead, they would fight to the death for revenge.
However, increasing and maintaining loyalty was incredibly difficult. Conversely, battlefield failures or a lord's mistreatment of troops could easily lower their loyalty. This often left many lords feeling helpless regarding troop loyalty, with a primary concern being how to enhance it. It was thus unfathomable that Xiao Mo's native forces, freshly allied, could exhibit loyalty above ninety.
It was likely that only the "European Emperor Reincarnated" little brat in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains could rival Xiao Mo in this regard. However, that was attributed to the little brat's heaven-defying luck and charisma. Any native goblins who pledged allegiance to him had loyalty no lower than ninety. Still, the little brat's incredible fortune was distinct from Xiao Mo's situation.
The reason the black blood dragon pythons he had recently subdued had such high loyalty was, in essence, due to the power of faith. Xian Qing'er's Immortal Purification Art had forcibly brainwashed them, turning them into her followers who revered her as a deity. Consequently, their loyalty was exceptionally high.
In contrast, the naturally wood people, who had not undergone the baptism of the Immortal Purification Art, did not initially possess such high loyalty. Most of the nature wood people from the wood people tribe had loyalty above seventy-five upon their initial surrender. Such loyalty was relatively precarious. The underlying reason was that these nature wood people were not believers and lacked devout faith in him.
A shortcut to significantly boost the loyalty of forces under a lord's command was to become the lord's believer. This was evident with the mercenaries, underground dwarves, Chong Tian Ming Que, and now the black blood dragon pythons. From these examples, it was clear that becoming a lord's believer could elevate loyalty to an incredible degree. Most importantly, under the influence and precipitation of faith, these troops' loyalty could continue to rise until it reached one hundred, achieving a state of fanatical devotion and unwavering loyalty.
However, Xiao Mo did not believe this was something he alone possessed. Among billions of lords, some were bound to discover this secret. After all, many lords becoming deities through the power of faith was the ultimate objective of the Myriad Races Hegemony Competition and an inevitable trend. If one merely relied on personal cultivation or aimed for peak dominance to become a god, it would be impossible. Without the foundation of faith, how could one achieve godhood?
Therefore, it was highly probable that many shrewd lords were already cultivating believers and acquiring the power of faith. The reason Xiao Mo was ahead of billions of lords was, quite simply, due to his troops. In the eyes of Immortal and Demon troops, Xiao Mo was their Immortal Lord and Demon Emperor, the one they most devoutly believed in. He dared not guarantee whether he could make other types of troops believe in him.
Immortal and Demon troops were a different matter, as both the Immortal and Demon races took pride in worshipping their Immortal Lord and Demon Emperor. Thus, even if Xiao Mo said nothing, these Immortal and Demon troops would proactively gather believers and cultivate faith for him.
"Master! These are the spoils from this battle!"
As Xiao Mo was lost in thought, Xian Qing'er and Mo Wuxin gracefully descended before him, respectfully piling the night's spoils before him. Seeing the mountain of loot, Xiao Mo beamed with joy.
"It seems this night's haul was quite substantial!"
A total of twenty-three black blood dragon pythons had invaded as a group, and only seven remained alive. This meant sixteen black blood dragon pythons had been killed in the battle tonight, including one "old iron" black python that, under immense pressure, had a potential outburst and directly advanced from Spirit-tier low-grade to Spirit-tier peak. The weakest of these black blood dragon pythons were at the peak Lord-level of Tier Nine, while the others were all King-level or above Tier Ten. Therefore, if this battle did not yield a large quantity of Immortal-Demon Stones and Soul Crystals, Xiao Mo would have been thoroughly infuriated.
The battle yielded a total of three thousand six hundred Immortal-Demon Stones, thirteen Soul Crystals, two blueprints, and one precious gem. The gem was not large, oval-shaped, with a diameter of no more than half a meter at most. However, Xiao Mo did not dwell on it, first putting away the Immortal-Demon Stones and Soul Crystals.
Immortal-Demon Stones: 19,652
Soul Crystals: 101
This was their current inventory of Immortal-Demon Stones and Soul Crystals. The materials required to upgrade the [Immortal-Demon Reincarnation Pool] to Level Five had finally been gathered. Once the spoils were tallied, he could proceed with the upgrade. Level Five [Immortal-Demon Reincarnation Pool] would undoubtedly spawn more Immortal and Demon troops. Thinking of this, Xiao Mo felt a slight, irrepressible surge of excitement.
As long as the [Immortal-Demon Reincarnation Pool] was successfully upgraded before midnight tonight, the scale of Immortal and Demon troops nurtured tomorrow would be based on the Level Five standard.
Following this, Xiao Mo's gaze fell upon the two blueprints before him. Both were unknown blueprints, one from a King-tier peak black blood dragon python, and the other from Duoleisi, who had advanced to Spirit-tier peak. These were still unknown blueprints, requiring the Light of Appraisal to be identified before use. However, given the high tier of the two black blood dragon pythons, the quality of the blueprints they dropped was likely to be excellent.
With this thought, Xiao Mo hesitated no longer and immediately began appraising the two blueprints. A light blue, water-like Light of Appraisal enveloped the two blueprints. Fifteen seconds later, the soft Light of Appraisal dissipated, and the two blueprints revealed their new appearances.
[Initial Troop Expansion Blueprint]
[Grade: Intermediate]
[Function: Upon using this blueprint, your initial troops will be expanded by a random quantity.]
...
[Territory Building Upgrade Blueprint (Rare)]
[Grade: Low]
[Function: Upon using this blueprint, you can upgrade a designated territory building by one level.]
[Other Hints: The level of the designated territory building for upgrade cannot exceed Level Five.]
Both of these blueprints were special, with one being a rare blueprint. This indicated that the higher the tier of the defeated enemy and the stronger their bloodline attributes, the better the quality of the blueprints dropped.
"Hahaha! This is an absolute massive profit!"
"Just this intermediate Troop Expansion Blueprint alone makes it incredibly worthwhile!"
"Compared to low-grade troop expansion blueprints, the number of Immortal and Demon troops I can get for free this time will surely increase significantly!"
Xiao Mo burst into laughter, appearing somewhat manic. His mood was simply ecstatic. To know that so far, he had only used [Troop Expansion Blueprints] twice, and both times they were low-grade. Even so, those two instances had granted him twenty-four Immortal and Demon troops for free, including several high-tier or special units. Moreover, the one he now held was intermediate-grade.
After his boisterous laughter subsided, Xiao Mo turned his gaze to the other blueprint—the [Territory Building Upgrade Blueprint (Rare)]...