Mageon’s ceremonial team did not depart until dusk.

During this time, Lin You mainly discussed with him about the Dwarf Kingdom’s plan to settle in the Saint Protection Duchy, intending to establish a new dwarf base here.

Lin You naturally welcomed this idea warmly.

With the connection to the Forging Kingdom, it would undoubtedly attract more and more merchants and cultivators, and in time, economic development would naturally follow.

Before leaving, Mageon also took the materials from the previous five Tier Ten Demons and promised to forge a suitable weapon for him.

"Alright, let’s leave it at that."

Mageon stood within the teleportation array and said to Lin You outside the array.

"Mm, hope you find time to visit again."

Lin You, accompanied by a guard team, watched them leave.

Then, as the light shone, the entire dwarf team instantly vanished within the array, teleporting back to the Dwarf Kingdom.

After handling this matter, Lin You instructed the team before instantly teleporting to the World Tree inside the palace.

With the efforts of recent days, the development of the duchy was already on the right track.

Everyday, each city’s turnover automatically contributes 7% as tax, a rate Lin You found optimal during his long administration of Yellow Sand City.

Neither too low nor too high, it’s just within a reasonable range accepted by the duchy and its citizens.

At this rate, daily taxes roughly amount to over 90 million, along with the channel usage fees, reaching just about 100 million.

This is despite the absence of high-tier lords managing the cities within the duchy.

Regarding faith, it’s also stabilizing at about 8,000 points daily, not far off from the level of the Great Wilderness Duchy.

This owes a lot to the new lords joining, significantly boosting faith acquisition, plus the expansive territorial range is another major factor.

So what he needs to do now is accumulate magic energy to fully recruit species.

Then use the daily rules fragments to continuously enhance his attributes.

Currently, each species recruitment costs 2.5 million; a few hundred periodic mutations yield a combat species — easily several hundred million.

Despite daily earnings of 100 million, all combined just enough to mutate ten or so species, not even close to covering previous losses against the Mechanical Lord.

"Seems like I’ll have to explore deeper into the Demon Plane tomorrow."

Murmuring to himself, Lin You glanced at the now dark sky, decided not to do anything else, and directly teleported back to the royal quarters.

"Your Majesty, should we arrange companions for tonight?"

The attendant outside, hearing movement, immediately called out.

Companions?

Lin You paused, looking towards the door.

Legend says the ancient emperors had three thousand concubines, unexpectedly it’s the same in this world too.

However, as a lord, constantly walking on the edge with imminent death potentially lurking at any moment, his days are precarious.

Romance is too extravagant for him, not worth ruining lives of women he’s never even met, since that would mean everything for the girl.

"Let them withdraw."

He said it towards the outside, then lay on the bed to rest.

"Yes!"

The attendant replied, and silence returned.

...

The next morning.

At the break of dawn, Lin You set off for the Realm Battlefield.

After confirming no one was tracking him, he disappeared into the space from the base, swiftly traversing chaotic zones to enter the Demon Plane.

Since the fusion of Ten Thousand Realms, this was his first real venture into the Demon Plane.

Remarkably he found it filled with a faint evil qi, unsure if it was leaking from a seal.

Affected by this aura.

Even the outermost demons were Tier Eight, not easy for Tier Six Lords to enter.

Though Tier Seven Lords with Tier Eight species can team up to explore.

Without much thought, he chose a light column symbolizing one of the Seventy-Two Celestial Demons and sped towards it, repeatedly traversing through space.

Meanwhile.

Ahead of him on his path.

Two Tier Nine Lords from the Realm Alliance silently approached a lone Anti-Alliance Lord fighting demons.

"Hehe, didn’t expect to find a loner. Later, I’ll attack from the side, you take the rear, don’t let him get away."

"Need you tell? Not one of them can remain!"

Saying this, the alliance members quieted their presence, approaching the lord from two directions, sinister smiles on their faces.

But in the next instant, a sudden change occurred.

Just as they advanced a bit further, an immense, terrifying power suddenly appeared like an invisible hand clenching their throats, forcing them onto the ground.

"Pfft!"

Blood splattered as two enormous wooden thorns erupted from beneath, immediately piercing through their chests.

With no ability to resist!

[Killed Alternate Plane Tier Nine Lord, gained 100 million magic energy, 1 battlefield merit, Tier Nine Territory Essence x1]

[Killed Alternate Plane Tier Nine Lord, gained 80 million magic energy, 1 battlefield merit, Tier Nine Territory Essence x1]

Only 1 merit point?

In mid-air, Lin You surprisingly noted the notification echoing in his mind.

Since advancing to Tier Ten, even killing a Tier Nine Lord yielded lesser merit.

This instantly dashed his hope of massively slaughtering Tier Nine Lords to earn merit.

However, on reflection.

If their high-tier lords massively slaughter the opposing low-tier lords, surely it would provoke retaliatory massacre from the other side.

A self-destructive act for both; naturally not endorsed by the Great Emperors.

As for whether anyone is secretly engaged in such dealings, it is unknown.

Since Tier Nine Lords hold little value, he did not linger and vanished instantly, continuing deeper into the area.

The Lord battling the Demon felt something and turned back in confusion, but found nothing, becoming immediately perplexed.

Unaware that he had just brushed past the gates of hell.

After dozens of extreme space travels, Lin You finally reached a location within three thousand kilometers of the light pillar and stopped.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to proceed.

But he had just entered the three-thousand-kilometer range and encountered a Lord Level Demon.

Indeed!

A Lord Demon, and an F-level Wind Elemental Venerable.

This was the first time Lin You had seen a Lord Demon above Tier Ten.

On the sun-scorched wasteland stood a mighty Wind Elemental over a hundred meters tall.

The terrifying aura affected the environment within dozens of kilometers, stirring fierce Gang Feng, creating numerous space fractures.

On the ground, countless ordinary Tier Ten Wind Elements roamed, making it aptly named Gale Canyon.

As Lin You approached, he noticed several Tier Ten Lords had already arrived early like him.

There were both Anti-Alliance Camp and Realm Alliance factions standing in midair, vigilant of each other.

Lin You took this opportunity to investigate the attributes of the Lord Demon.

[Name: Fierce Wind Venerable (Lord)]

[Race: Element]

[Level: Tier Ten (F-level)]

[Power: 93200 (+18640)]

[Constitution: 93200 (+18640)]

[Agility: 97000 (+19400)]

[Spirit: 97000 (+19400)]

[Skills: Wind Blade, Wind Shield, Hurricane Chaos Dance, Gale Storm]

[Chaos: All Attributes enhanced by 20%]

[Introduction: The ruler of Wind Elements, possessing the storm power capable of annihilating all who dare to approach.]

All attributes exceed 100,000!

Agility and Spirit reaching an astounding 110,000!

Lin You was stunned.

Even though he was mentally prepared, seeing it firsthand still left him somewhat shocked.

With such terrifying demons guarding the periphery, wouldn’t the area near the light pillar be even more fearsome?

There’s also those nearby Tier Ten Lords.

Though it’s hard to sense the number of their Divine Fragment, he faintly perceives two elders with extraordinary presence.

Their aura is more potent than the Mechanical Lord he encountered yesterday.

They possess at least more than five Divine Fragments, and their attributes are significantly enhanced.

"This is not going to be easy..."

Lin You murmured, his brows slowly furrowing.

With so many Tier Ten Lords, there is still a chance to defeat the Fierce Wind Venerable.

But the issue is, his strength is only mediocre among them, making seizing Rule Fragments no easy task.

Moreover, it’s said that the higher the Chaos Level of a Lord Demon, the more Rule Fragments they coalesce upon death.

An F-level will only yield two, with each level increase adding one, thus SSS-level yields exactly ten.

However, not everyone can handle that level.

"With Cyan Gang’s burst, I could potentially suppress them for two seconds."

At this moment, Lingxi appeared beside him, whispering.

"Are you certain?" Lin You’s eyes brightened at her words.

Two seconds is a significant period for a Tier Ten.

However, even then, snatching something from so many formidable Tier Ten foes isn’t easy.

"Never mind, let’s observe the situation first."

Though two Rule Fragments are precious, they aren’t worth risking everything.

Apparently, others shared this thought.

After waiting for a while without anyone else arriving, one elder loudly proposed: "How about teaming up to kill? Treasures rely on individual prowess."

"I had the same thought!" another elder responded deeply.

They were the strongest among the group.

With them leading, the others were naturally delighted, and quickly agreed.

Lin You and the other nine Tier Ten Lords quickly reached a consensus, moving towards the Rift Venerable from all directions.

"Move!"

The white-haired elder shouted loudly and immediately appeared beside the Fierce Wind Venerable. Simultaneously, ten thousand Beast Species appeared, encircling the Fierce Wind Venerable.

Seeing this, Lin You joined the other Lords, instantly teleporting beside the Fierce Wind Venerable, summoning Species to launch an attack.

"Form the array!"

The black-haired elder’s voice rang powerfully, as he gestured, and the Humanoid Type Archer Species formed a row, shooting a rain of arrows towards the Fierce Wind Venerable.

However.

A Tier Ten Lord Demon is evidently not that easy to deal with.

No sooner had they acted, the Fierce Wind Venerable burst with momentum, shooting numerous Qi Blades around.

Meanwhile, ordinary Wind Elements surrounding the area responded to the call, swiftly encircling them!