Afterward, Zhou Yan looked at the spoils of his territory. He was stunned.
He saw many well-preserved buildings, all around level 50. The barracks buildings were as high as level 70.
There were over sixty buildings in total, including two S-grade buildings. The lowest-level building was level 30.
These buildings were now all his.
This was the joy of a Warlord. He had seized the complete spoils of war, taking possession of the territory others had painstakingly built.
"No wonder so many people like to be Warlords. The tempting benefits are truly immense. If I weren't short on money, I might have done this occasionally myself." Zhou Yan tasted a hint of sweetness, but it wasn't enough to make him pursue this path.
He began to place all sixty-odd buildings within his territory. However, after these buildings evolved, their levels dropped significantly, by more than half.
He upgraded these buildings to around level 60 before finishing.
Notably, after evolving one of the barracks, he obtained an SS-quality army called [Danyang Elite Soldiers]. This army was quite impressive.
They were the elite soldiers of Tao Qian from the Three Kingdoms period. A saying described them: "Danyang's mountains are perilous, its people are strong and spirited, fond of martial arts and battle, with high regard for strength. It is a land of elite soldiers."
From this, it could be seen that these soldiers were not bad. He upgraded the quality of this army to SSS, then raised its level to 60, and finally summoned all of them.
Lastly, he raised the army's level to 30. Subsequent matters would naturally be handled, and he wouldn't need to worry.
However, this had nearly depleted his soul coins. He needed to hunt more monsters to obtain treasure chests and get more soul coins.
Two of the S-grade buildings were not rare. One was a defense tower, which evolved into a top-tier Fire Sea Tower.
The other was an S-grade [Well], which also evolved into a top-tier [Spirit Spring].
As for the other buildings, he also constructed them. His territory was large enough to accommodate any number of buildings.
After constructing all sixty-odd buildings, he found Zhang Liang and said, "Have you been to see the mines?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang quickly replied, "Not yet."
"Let's go and see the mine. I heard this mine is quite large!" Zhou Yan said.
"I also heard it's quite large, and it's been mined for many years. When we sent people down before, they left behind quite a few crystals, which are now benefiting us for free..."
Zhou Yan led Zhang Liang towards the crystal ore vein outside. This mine was covered by the entire territory, meaning any number of enemies and monsters would meet their doom here.
When they arrived at the mine, they were also surprised by the surrounding mine shafts.
The entire mountain range had countless mine shafts, densely packed like a honeycomb.
Seeing Zhou Yan and Zhang Liang, a responsible general ran over. "Lord, you are here."
"Are there crystals in all these mountain caves?" Zhou Yan asked curiously.
"The crystals in that area of caves have all been excavated. What remains are low-grade crystal veins, not of great value. Only the crystals on this side have value and can be mined for a long time," the general replied.
Zhou Yan nodded and said, "Let's go inside and take a look."
"Alright."
They walked into the mine. The mining tunnels were very long and wide. After reaching the end, they finally heard the sounds of miners at work.
The entire crystal ore vein was crystalline and transparent, filled with rich spiritual energy. With each swing of a pickaxe, the miners could extract a large amount of ore. They didn't need to collect it individually; specialized personnel would gather it and send it directly to the territory. This [Treasure Vault] was specifically for materials, making it very convenient and eliminating the need for further transportation.
These miners were fast, their efficiency immense, several times, even dozens of times higher than miners in other territories.
This was related to their innate talent. Many of them were newly summoned by Zhou Yan, with the lowest talent being S-grade.
Even other miners had learned relevant skills or transferred to related professions, ensuring their mining capabilities were not weak.
Zhou Yan and Zhang Liang saw that countless crystal ores were being mined every second. The crystals were all five-star or above. According to the exploration equipment, there were six-star or higher crystals deeper within, which could be mined within one to two days.
Zhou Yan was very satisfied and said, "The mining speed is beyond my expectations. With such a large mine, are the five thousand people enough?"
"They are sufficient. Their efficiency is high, and more people wouldn't necessarily increase output. Let's go and see other mine shafts; there are dozens of similar ones," Zhang Liang said.
Thus, they visited other mining tunnels. The quality of crystals in each mine varied, from one-star to seven-star. Since the territory needed crystals of various qualities, all these were necessary.
"Have any nine-star crystals been detected?" Zhou Yan inquired.
"Nine-star crystals are extremely rare. We haven't found any yet. We hope that within such a large mine, such crystals will appear." Zhang Liang said.
In many mines, at their core, more advanced ores would appear. Although not many, they would always appear. With such a large mine, there were bound to be some eight-star and nine-star crystals.
They arrived at a very deep mine shaft. A foreman led them inward. This was where the highest-grade crystal veins were, capable of yielding seven-star crystals, and occasionally even eight-star.
"This mine shaft is quite deep, nearly ten kilometers," Zhang Liang exclaimed.
The foreman said, "Lord, Minister Zhang, this mine shaft was the focus of exploitation by those people before, hence its depth. Who would have thought this crystal ore vein was of such high quality?"
"Have any nine-star crystals been found here?" Zhou Yan asked.
"Reporting to the Lord, none. Only eight-star ones, and not many. We have only unearthed dozens of eight-star crystals so far," the foreman replied.
"It seems that nine-star crystals are indeed very rare," Zhou Yan said.
"I believe we will encounter them. My Lord, there is no need to be impatient. The construction of the territory cannot be completed overnight. My Lord has already done more than enough."
They continued to walk deeper.