A large city on the coast of the Sun Moon Empire.
"There's quite a bit of energy," An Zhen said, examining the translucent, ocean-blue mineral stone in his hand.
More precisely, it was a natural energy crystal; rather than feeling like a stone, it had the cool, firm texture of a hard jelly.
Yet, the quality and quantity of energy within it were significant.
It weighed twice as much as iron, but a piece the size of an adult's fist contained the total spirit power of a Spirit Elder.
"What is the annual output, and what is the current storage?" An Zhen asked, looking at the restrained officials standing beside him.
"Reporting, Your Highness," the official respectfully began, "This energy block, named youhai mineral stone, was discovered by an adult from the Hall of Enshrinement sixty years ago in the sea area within the territory of a 100,000-year-old Sea Soul Beast he hunted."
"Approximately fifty million tons are mined annually.
After accounting for usage and years of depletion, the total storage at various ports is about 1.8 billion tons.
At the current mining rate, that sea area can be exploited for another 150 years."
"The quantity is acceptable," An Zhen nodded slightly.
"I will take 1.7 billion, leaving 100 million for backup.
Mining energy minerals is a very important matter.
Next, Mingde Hall will strengthen the development of spirit tools for mineral extraction and exploration, and the imperial court will also issue an order to increase investment in this area."
The Sun Moon Empire was about to, or more accurately, had already entered a phase of rapid development in spirit tool technology, requiring a large amount of energy.
More crucially, he also needed it.
As he grew, the Virtual World's growth rate also accelerated, almost increasing daily.
One must know that this ravenous "infant" was a complete World.
It was fortunate that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was a treasure formed from the corpses of two true dragons equivalent to God Kings; if they had been two human God Kings, it might have already run dry.
Even so, the world's scale was still incomparable to an individual.
The energy from the Fire Dragon King had been largely consumed, and An Zhen had other uses for the Ice Dragon King's energy, which might be of great use in the future.
As for the gold of life, An Zhen intended to use its pure Life force for physical cultivation.
And for those minerals containing vast amounts of energy, even without later processing, the Virtual World's "stomach" accepted them all.
Using the full strength of the Empire to mine the resources of this planet would help the Virtual World grow.
As the largest Plane under the Douluo God Realm, many Divinities had "left" treasures here, such as the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
But in terms of energy quantity, An Zhen felt that these were far less than the energy of the Douluo Plane itself—those energy minerals.
Those exposed on the surface included the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal and Myriad Year Profound Ice Marrow beneath the cold spring of the Earth Dragon Gate's secret place, while those artificially mined included the youhai mineral stone in An Zhen's hand.
Developing a World, in a way, was another form of erosion and consumption.
He just wondered if "stealing" too much would trigger heavenly tribulation.
An Zhen thought of some unpleasant memories.
Native Douluo people doing such things wouldn't face heavenly tribulation, but he was, after all, an outsider.
"Yes," the official respectfully nodded.
Facing this existence, who was now like a Divinity in the Sun Moon Empire, no one in the Empire dared to disrespect him.
An Zhen took out the document handwritten and stamped by Xu Tianzhen, just to follow procedure.
Then.
Time to eat!
Fourth spirit ring, Erosion.
Over 100 million cubic meters of minerals.
An Zhen ran to several ports consecutively, activating his fourth spirit ring to its fullest, before finally swallowing all these minerals into the "stomach" of the Virtual World.
The Youhai mineral stone piled up into a large mountain next to where the Immortal Herbs lived.
"That should be enough for a while," An Zhen nodded with satisfaction.
Having a powerful Empire made resource scouting incredibly easy.
…
Sun Moon Imperial Palace.
Morning court session.
"Mining?"
The ministers exchanged glances.
They wondered why His Highness suddenly brought this up.
"More precisely, it should be energy minerals, and not just minerals, but all kinds of things containing large amounts of energy."
As it concerned his future, An Zhen naturally took it very seriously.
The day after he returned, he directly addressed the court, pulling in all the Ninth-Level Soul Engineers, except for the Ninth-Level Soul Engineer who was in seclusion and Luan Feng who was teaching students.
"Everyone, focus your efforts on this matter."
"Mingde Hall, Hall of Enshrinement, you are responsible for manufacturing relevant spirit tools, and for a series of tasks including exploration, mining, and transportation.
officials in various positions will complete other allocation tasks, including increasing personnel and positions," An Zhen stated.
He didn't understand this aspect.
But as a ruler, he only needed the final result.
"The Empire's wealth and spiritual medicines should be invested more in this area.
Without burdening the people, I need you to increase the annual output of energy minerals by at least eight times."
Eight times.
If this were ancient times in his previous Life, An Zhen's actions would have earned him the title of tyrant.
But in this Empire, which combined extraordinary power and technology, if he didn't push these people, he wouldn't know their limits.
"Eight times?!" someone exclaimed in surprise.
This… was he going to create some incredibly powerful fixed soul-guided artillery shells?
The task volume was to be increased eightfold all at once.
And it was at least.
His Highness said "at least," so could they really submit an "at least" answer?
That certainly wouldn't do; it would have to be at least nine or ten times.
The officials looked at Jing Hongchen, the Prime Minister of the Empire, who stood at the head of all officials.
Regardless of whether this person was truly His Highness's grandfather, he was at least surnamed Hongchen, so perhaps he could help persuade him?
Jing Hongchen was deep in thought.
The refined, silver-haired middle-aged man looked up and said, "The development of related spirit tools is feasible, but the key is the need for a large number of hands.
If the number of people is sufficient, it can even achieve a dozen times the effect."
Jing Hongchen directly ignored the gazes of the officials beside him.
The current Sun Moon Empire was already the Domain of his Hongchen Family, and even these officials had been promoted by him, so why should he care about others' expressions?
His grandson's recent words, concerning such a terrifying demand for energy minerals for an Empire, were very abnormal.
But these were not his concerns; his concern was how to solve his grandson's problem.
Technology brought tremendous changes.
It was difficult to find Spirit Masters specialized in mining, but it was not difficult to mass-produce mining spirit tools.
However, these spirit tools still required Spirit Masters to operate them.
An Zhen spoke, a hint of joy in his voice, "Then disband a few idle ordinary Soul Guided Weapon Legions.
Aside from the necessary positions, the Five Great Protector Spirit Master Legions can dispatch some people to lead them.
Their treatment can be improved, as the Empire still has plenty of surplus spiritual medicines.
The specific arrangements will be handled by the Prime Minister."
An Zhen needed to speed up the progress.
The Virtual World was absorbing things a bit too quickly.
One day and one night.
Sixty thousand cubic meters of minerals were consumed.
The speed far exceeded his imagination, whether it was because the energy quality of these minerals was low or for some other reason.
One must know that this energy, when converted, amounted to 180 million Spirit Elders.
Even a Rank 100 Spirit Master wouldn't have this much energy in their body.
To absorb so much energy without exploding, any individual should have become a Divinity; one could only say it truly lived up to being a World.
And this speed would increase in the future.
The Sun Moon Empire's reserves of energy minerals were certainly not limited to just youhai mineral stone, but it was better to be prepared than sorry.
To feed a World until it grew large, who knew how much it would need; it was best to prepare as much as possible, just in case.
Of course, An Zhen would not just focus on these few minerals; small Worlds like the Undead Demiplane were excellent nourishment for his growth, but that would have to wait until the Virtual World grew larger; right now, it truly couldn't consume them.
"The matter is settled," An Zhen said.
Then he warned, "Anyone who dares to slack off or cause trouble for me, this Highness will confiscate their home."
Without a dangerous warning, some people would lack motivation.
"We respectfully obey Your Highness's command," the officials bowed and said.
Xu Tianzhen, sitting on the supreme throne, blinked her eyes, her small hand gripping a pen, and diligently wrote down An Zhen's freshly issued orders, then picked up the large seal beside her and stamped the document.
"Buzz—"
Just then, a strange spirit power fluctuation suddenly emanated from somewhere in Mingdu.
Mingdu outskirts.
A white-haired old man, dirty and disheveled, like a vagrant, sat by the field, a wine gourd hanging from his waist, and both hands grasping a chicken drumstick, intently devouring it.
"Hmm?" Elder Xuan suddenly raised his head sharply, not caring that the chicken drumstick in his hand had fallen to the ground.
In Mingdu, and the Mingdu outskirts, every Spirit Master with cultivation at this moment raised their heads, looking towards the place where they felt that strange spirit power fluctuated.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, a silver moon ascended to the highest point in the sky.
The sun, originally hanging high in the heavens, seemed to have vanished, and silvery moonlight, like water, poured down, cloaking the earth in a dreamy veil.
The entire Mingdu was gently enveloped by this pure radiance, as if steadily protected by a soft, glowing silver cover, together with the silver moon in the sky, painting a beautiful picture.
"Spatial power, Limit Douluo?!" Elder Xuan exclaimed in surprise.
He had just felt the presence of spatial power.
Has someone just advanced to Limit Douluo within the Sun Moon Empire's Mingdu?
Did the Sun Moon Empire previously have a hidden Rank 98 Super Douluo with a silver moon Spirit?
Wasn't Jing Hongchen the only one who had reached Rank 95 Super Douluo?
Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Xian Lin'er and Fan Yu, their figures bathed in a layer of silvery moonlight, were now staring intently at the silver moon in the sky.
"This is…" Xian Lin'er's voice was hoarse, with a slight tremble.
This was the disbelief of questioning, the excitement of seemingly witnessing a Divinity firsthand.
"The two of you are very lucky," Luan Feng's figure appeared beside them, her eyes also filled with excitement and fervor as she gazed at the silver moon in the sky.
"You have witnessed the birth of the first Level 10 Soul Master in our Sun Moon Empire, no, it should be said, in the entire Douluo Continent's history."
Since they had witnessed it firsthand, and these two were also high-level Soul Guides, it was impossible to conceal it.
It was better to openly inform them, which could also serve as a deterrent.
"Tenth-Rank!" Xian Lin'er took a deep breath.
Her Shrek Academy didn't even have a Ninth-Level Soul Engineer, yet the Sun Moon Empire had produced a Level 10 Soul Master.
The gap was too vast.
After the shock, Xian Lin'er suddenly thought of another matter.
Ninth-Level Soul Engineers corresponded to Titled Douluo, so what about Level 10 Soul Masters?
Did the Sun Moon Empire now possess divine-level combat power?
Then wouldn't the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms be finished?
The reason for victory in that war several millennia ago was that the Original Douluo Continent's Three Kingdoms relied on the number of Titled Douluo.
Now, An Zhen and Yu Tong hadn't even grown up yet.
No, it might not necessarily be divine-level.
Without feeling the specific energy and pressure, Xian Lin'er also couldn't be sure.
Xian Lin'er's heart was a little chaotic.
Sun Moon Imperial Palace.
Unlike the excited and ecstatic Ninth-Level Soul Engineers and officials in the main hall, An Zhen, with a calm expression, glanced at the silver moon still hanging in the sky, and gently tapped the table with his finger, "Once you're done showing off, get to work.
I just assigned tasks."
"Yes."
The silver moon in the sky receded, and sunlight once again bathed everyone.
A silver moonlight fell within the Sun Moon Imperial Palace, and Kong Deming's figure emerged from it.
The tall, white-haired old man bowed deeply to An Zhen, his tone unprecedentedly respectful, "Thank you, Your Highness, for this great achievement!"
"You already possessed this ability; it's just that it's happened a bit earlier now," An Zhen said in a calm tone.
An Zhen reached out, and a dozen thick books landed beside Kong Deming.
"These are books about twin spirits cultivation," An Zhen said.
They came from Shrek Academy.
Out of a certain collecting habit, useful knowledge, Spirit Bones he had encountered, useful things, interesting things, interesting or powerful Spirits, powerful Spirit Masters—even if he didn't delve into them himself, he would make an imprint and keep a copy in the Virtual World.
Anyway, ever since he obtained his fourth Spirit Ability, he had never ended his Spirit possession state, because there was always something in his "stomach" to digest, and he also used his "stomach" as a large storage spirit tool for both living and inanimate objects.
"These books are not to be spread outside.
Familiarize yourself with your Natal Soul Tool, then go to the sea to carry out the task of exploring energy mineral veins.
The Prime Minister will tell you the specifics later.
While you're at it, hunt 100,000-year-old Sea Soul Beasts to complete the spirit ring for your second Spirit.
Raising your spirit power to Rank 98 won't be a problem, and with the spatial power present in your Tenth-Rank spirit tool, you might even be able to condense a second Spirit core and glimpse the realm of a Rank 99 Limit Douluo."
Kong Deming's talent was exceptionally good, and his brilliance was also outstanding.
Silver Moon, Sun.
Twin spirits, two very powerful spirits.
His own spirit tool talent was also very outstanding.
With such a configuration, being in the Sun Moon Empire, he became the first Level 10 Soul Master in history.
If he were in Shrek Academy, perhaps he would have become a Limit Douluo.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your guidance!" Kong Deming excitedly put away the books beside him.
He hadn't expected His Highness to consider things so thoroughly for him.
Although his lifespan had increased with this breakthrough to Super Douluo, having finally become a Level 10 Soul Master, he naturally wanted to live longer.
Once his strength increased, he could continue to explore and open up the path of spirit tools.
He had just entered the Domain of a Level 10 Soul Master, and a whole new Domain awaited his exploration and pioneering.
'My spirit power should also be increasing,' An Zhen's consciousness fell upon the NPC puppet practicing in the Virtual World, which had already reached Rank 60.
An Zhen was very much looking forward to it.
The last Spirit Ability before obtaining the Spirit Avatar.
What kind of authority would he unlock?
According to past patterns, abilities related to authority should manifest in advance.
But this time, they hadn't, or perhaps, he hadn't discovered them?
Sunday.
Listless Monday.