056 Level 5 Bone Tower

Looking at his own attribute panel, Cullen had a strong feeling that the system only truly acknowledged him after he had transformed into an undead.

To put it simply, just regarding the aspect of undead transformation, the cost plummeted dramatically ever since Cullen became an undead himself. If his massive batch of undead conversions today had been carried out beforehand, Cullen wouldn't have been able to manage it without at least ten million territory energy points.

Especially for the conversion of undead below the third tier, Cullen now needed a minimum of only 500 territory energy points to convert a third-tier undead.

It cost 25 territory energy points for a second-tier undead, and a mere 5 territory energy points for a first-tier undead.

The moment this price list appeared, even Cullen himself was astonished.

In other words, if Cullen was willing and possessed a sufficient number of corpses on hand, he could directly transform his 12.07 million territory energy points into 2.414 million first-tier undead.

Such a majestic and overwhelming tide of undead would be far more terrifying than any fifth or sixth-tier undead. Faced with them, even powerhouses above the seventh tier would likely be worn down and crushed to death by sheer numbers.

With this calculation, Cullen gained his most intuitive understanding of his own strength for the very first time.

Of course, while an overwhelming ocean of undead sounded incredibly mighty and formidable, Cullen could at most use it as a trump card.

Unless a full-scale war broke out, he could not possibly convert that many undead in reality. If he truly converted that many, just the sheer amount of territory energy required to sustain them alone would scare Cullen to death.

Not to mention over two million undead, Cullen would find it hard to support even the fifty thousand undead he currently possessed.

He had currently built 2,000 [Small Tombs], which could house 10,000 undead. The rest of the undead Cullen brought back were all placed inside the mining caves.

Yet, just to accommodate these 10,000 undead cost Cullen 100,000 territory energy points a month. Coupled with the maintenance of the [Bone Tower] and the [Undead Mining Caves], Cullen would have to expend hundreds of thousands of territory energy points every month without even lifting a finger.

Due to these and other factors, Cullen's current strategy remained focused on the elite route; he would not develop large quantities of first-tier or zero-tier undead.

Naturally, Cullen's elite route had also shifted somewhat. Aside from the conditions required to upgrade his territory, Cullen would no longer mass-convert those fourth and fifth-tier undead.

It wasn't that fourth and fifth-tier undead weren't strong—they were indeed quite powerful—but their cost-performance ratio was too low.

A fourth-tier undead required a minimum of 12,500 points, while a fifth-tier undead required at least 125,000 points. Therefore, compared to transforming fourth and fifth-tier undead, Cullen was much more inclined to convert third-tier undead.

Third-tier undead possessed respectable combat power, were inexpensive, and could be organized into legions.

Consequently, Cullen's recent goal was to either elevate his current force of 50,000 undead through the Bone Tower or replace them through conversion, upgrading them all to third-tier undead.

Currently, Cullen's Bone Tower had been upgraded to level five, bringing massive improvements to its attributes.

……

**Bone Tower**
Building Level: Level 5
Building Description: A defensive and residential structure boasting extraordinary defense capabilities alongside certain special functions.
Building Effects: Intermediate Defense Lv2, Intermediate Cultivation Amplification Lv2
Intermediate Defense LV2: The Bone Tower can immunize against attacks below the fifth tier, possesses a certain degree of immunity against sixth-tier attacks, and automatically repairs damages.
It can launch selected spell attacks 5 times a day (with a might roughly around the seventh exceptional tier).
Defensive Attack Range: 2,000 meters
Intermediate Cultivation Amplification LV2: Staying inside the [Bone Tower] will automatically grant 300 points of personal energy every hour!
Simultaneous Occupancy: 100 people / undead
Upgrade Conditions: Visible at Territory Level 6
Building Maintenance: 10,000 / day

……

The upgraded [Bone Tower] increased its monthly maintenance cost to 300,000. While the expense was considerably higher, its functions were also much more powerful than before.

It could house 100 undead simultaneously, provide 7,200 personal experience points per day, and upgrade a zero-tier undead to the third tier in just two days. Running at full throttle, it could produce 1,500 third-tier undead in a month.

Looked at this way, a monthly maintenance cost of 300,000 territory energy points wasn't considered too exorbitant.

With the assistance of the [Bone Tower], it wouldn't be too difficult for Cullen to build a legion of third-tier undead.

Of course, it would take some time, but Cullen was in no rush for now. The Bourbon Kingdom had been thoroughly subdued by this recent wave; Cullen had powerfully flexed his muscles in that previous battle, coupled with the mediation led by the Hand of Silver.

barring any accidents, Cullen would enjoy a period of stability moving forward. If he utilized this period well, his strength would undoubtedly experience a qualitative leap.

At this moment, Cullen was already making various preparations for this upcoming period of stability. Aside from military forces, another area Cullen was preparing for was the market.

Cullen was well aware that after his recent burst of power, both the Hand of Silver and the Bourbon Kingdom would inevitably harbor wariness toward him. In the future, it was even possible that the Hand of Silver and the Bourbon Kingdom might join forces to suppress him.

This was almost inevitable; no one would willingly watch a behemoth rise right next to them.

What Cullen feared most was that the Hand of Silver and the Bourbon Kingdom would sideline him and jointly establish a new trading market between themselves.

If these two nations really did that, it would be extremely bad news for Cullen.

Therefore, he had to make preparations in advance. Cullen's preparation consisted of the 121 corpses he had brought back from Aldo City—oh, right, those 121 corpses had now transformed into 121 undead.

These undead did not disappoint Cullen. After converting them, Cullen gave them a brief inspection.

Almost all the undead retained the skills they had possessed in life: blacksmithing, construction, tailoring, gathering, farming... Although the levels of these skills weren't very high, they were comprehensive.

With this batch of undead who possessed life skills, Cullen only needed to channel resources toward them from now on and cultivate them as much as possible.

Once some of these undead matured, Cullen could use them to forge industries and products exclusive to the Land of the Dead, such as the current [Dreamland]!

Such industries and products would become sharp weapons in Cullen's hands, helping him firmly grasp the merchants in the market.

As long as he kept those merchants in his grip and wove a dense network of interests, Cullen's influence could expand right into the Hand of Silver and the Bourbon Kingdom.

At that time, Cullen would be able to easily alter or even control these two countries without making a sound.

It could be said that up until now, Cullen had never abandoned his goal of building the market into a commercial city. While Cullen was working hard toward this aspect, over in the Bourbon Kingdom, Klein made a decision upon learning that the kingdom was prepared to bow its head...