The wretched youth did not want to die.
He still had many ideas he hadn't realized: establishing an empire, conquering myriad races, reaching the pinnacle of the world...
However, as Xian Meng'er's sword fell, these dreams turned into bubbles.
Perhaps, with a bit more discernment in his next life, he could fantasize again.
The mercenaries in the territory, seeing their lord dead, looked at each other in dismay.
Their loyalty to the wretched youth had already dropped below seventy points.
With the wretched youth's death, their loyalty plummeted further.
Naturally, they had no thoughts of avenging him.
Besides, although they were summoned troops, they were also intelligent beings of the human race, and they naturally did not wish to die.
Therefore, upon hearing Xian Meng'er's clear shout from mid-air, they all dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.
"Take them all back, hand them over to Master and Xian Qing'er, and awaken their loyal souls!"
Xian Meng'er instructed a few Immortal-Demon War Soldiers. However, Mo Jingjing, standing nearby, seemed displeased.
"What's the point of keeping these low-strength crawlers? Master ordered them to be utterly annihilated!"
"You can't say that! Our Lord needs these followers. We must spread the light of faith for our Lord, extending the power of faith to every corner of this world!"
Xian Kuang, a male Immortal race general beside her, reprimanded Mo Jingjing and stopped her from acting.
Hearing that it was to spread the light of faith for their Lord, a spark of fanaticism flickered in Mo Jingjing's eyes.
Immediately, she withdrew her demonic sword, waved to the few Immortal-Demon War Soldiers, and signaled them to take these people back to the Immortal-Demon Tribe.
Subsequently, led by Mo Jingjing and Xian Meng'er, the Immortal-Demon team surged into the pavilion that housed the territory's heart.
Upon finding the territory's heart, Mo Jingjing, without a word, drew her demonic sword and directly destroyed it.
As the territory's heart was shattered, all the buildings in the territory began to collapse, quickly turning into ruins.
...
At the same time.
In the Immortal-Demon Tribe.
Xiao Mo also received the news that the enemy's territory heart had been destroyed.
[Congratulations, Lord, the Immortal-Demon Team has defeated the enemy lord and destroyed their territory heart!]
[Destroying the enemy lord's territory yields rewards: Immortal-Demon Stones +300, Spirit Stones +5]
[Acquired blueprint for a defensive crossbow siege engine!]
[Harvested enemy stored resources: 490 Immortal-Demon Stones, 2 Soul Crystals, 500 units of ordinary food, 7800 units of wood, 4600 units of stone, 800 units of iron essence, and various beast materials!]
[Special Reminder: You are the forty-fifth lord on the Primordial Continent to defeat and destroy an enemy territory, your Fame and Cohesion have been greatly enhanced!]
Seeing the messages above, Xiao Mo was overjoyed.
Destroying an enemy lord's territory yielded truly substantial rewards.
He had obtained 790 Immortal-Demon Stones alone, along with 2 Soul Crystals, a blueprint for a defensive crossbow siege engine, and a large quantity of ordinary resources and materials.
More importantly, he had also acquired five Spirit Stones!
What were Spirit Stones?
They were stones imbued with spiritual power of various attributes.
Not only could they greatly increase the spiritual power of a lord or troops, but they were also essential precious resources for setting up formations and other special techniques.
Simply by destroying one territory, he had reaped such a bountiful harvest.
This made Xiao Mo contemplate whether he should search for more territories and send the Immortal-Demon Team to raid them.
However, upon seeing the last message, Xiao Mo was slightly taken aback.
He was only the forty-fifth, meaning that before him, forty-four lords on the continent had already destroyed enemy territories.
This surprised Xiao Mo.
It seemed he wasn't the only lord preparing to embark on the path of conquest!
In fact, it was quite normal to think about it.
Once the novice protection period ended, it not only meant the territory would be attacked by magical beasts or local forces, but it also signaled the official start of conflict between lords.
If two territories were too close, war was unavoidable.
After all, resources in any given area were limited; two tigers cannot share one mountain.
Moreover, all lords were bound to have some degree of arrogance. It was only the tenth day, and they were naturally unwilling to be subservient.
Therefore, whether it was for territorial influence, resource competition, or eliminating rivals, conflict was inevitable.
Even if they didn't fight now, they would eventually have to. So why not strike early?
Furthermore, the weaker party would have suffered heavy losses after the territory defense battle.
This presented the perfect opportunity to strike while they were down!
However, realizing he was only ranked forty-fifth, Xiao Mo couldn't help but chuckle wryly.
"These brutes are truly insane. They probably started attacking other territories early in the morning!"
While chuckling wryly, Xiao Mo also became vigilant, as those forty-four lords were undoubtedly ambitious individuals.
Moreover, their strength must have been considerable, otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to act rashly.
But this was only a slight vigilance, nothing more.
This ranking did not represent everything. If he had wanted to, he could have sent the Immortal-Demon Team to attack after the territory defense battle. Why wait until now?
The rewards for this ranking were merely an increase in Fame and Cohesion.
These things held little value for Xiao Mo.
As for the blueprint for the defensive crossbow siege engine, which did not require identification, Xiao Mo deduced its origin.
It was likely related to the defensive crossbow siege engines that had already been constructed.
In other words, destroying enemy territories and buildings offered a chance to drop related blueprints.
...
Soon, the Immortal-Demon Team returned to the Immortal-Demon Tribe city with their spoils and the surrendered mercenaries.
There were a total of thirty-six surrendered mercenaries. The strongest among them was a seventh-tier intermediate, but most were below the fifth tier.
However, Xiao Mo naturally accepted any soldiers who surrendered to him.
The more, the better, of course!
As for awakening their loyal souls, that naturally required the "professional" intervention of Xian Qing'er.
"Immortal Purification Technique! Transform!"
As Xian Qing'er chanted, gentle white light enveloped the thirty-six mercenaries.
Moments later, as the white light dissipated, the thirty-six mercenaries' eyes became incredibly devout and fervent. They all knelt before Xiao Mo.
"We pay homage to the Holy Lord!"
"Following the Holy Lord is the greatest fortune of our lives! We are willing to go through fire and water for the Holy Lord, and die without regret!"
Xiao Mo smiled slightly, waved for them to rise, and then inquired about their respective abilities.
Upon hearing that more than ten mercenaries possessed skills in decomposition, collection, lumbering, and mining, Xiao Mo's heart leaped with joy.
He had been the one decomposing the corpses of magical beasts all along. While it might have been simple before, as the Immortal-Demon Team's strength grew and they hunted more magical beasts, the task of collecting and decomposing their carcasses became increasingly arduous.
Now, it seemed, someone could finally shoulder this burden, and he could finally be a true hands-off manager!
After arranging for these mercenaries, Xiao Mo's eyes sparkled with brilliance as he looked at the pile of spoils resembling a small mountain before him.
His heart still sighed with contentment, wishing that such events could happen more often...