Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 1261: Awakeners With Their Own Cornerstones [2]

Three days ago.

After settling into Rank 11, Michael had not been idle. The first thing he did was return to Aurora and pay close attention to the situation there.

Unlike the previous opening of the Origin Battlefield, Awakeners were no longer forced to remain inside until the entire period ended. This time, they could leave and return as they pleased. The only restriction was that they had to spend a required amount of time within the Battlefield before the monthly reset. This made things much more convenient for many Awakeners.

Michael knew his sudden rise in the rankings would cause reactions. It was impossible for someone in Rank 11, especially someone like him, to not attract attention. So he returned to Aurora to make sure he wasn’t blind to whatever followed.

Fortunately, the Supernatural Association agents had once again proven useful. Thanks to them allowing him to borrow their source of information, Michael was able to learn a few things.

The results were reassuring. His ranking had done exactly what he wanted it to do.

A significant number of people who had been paying attention to Aurora or considering whether Michael could be pressured had backed away. Many forces that had been quietly testing the waters simply disappeared from the Association’s reports.

It wasn’t that their interest in Michael had vanished. Far from it.

But interest and willingness to act were very different things. Power did matter a lot in this universe.

His Rank 11 placement had not made everyone friendly, but simply making them more cautious, after realizing he had the power to threaten them at a civilization-wide level, had made many neutral.

To Michael, this was enough.

At this point, Michael was certain that as long as he did not trigger another ridiculous event and give the Origin Will another excuse to broadcast his name across the universe, the attention surrounding him would eventually settle. The novelty would fade, and people would adjust to his existence.

This was the outcome Michael wanted. Once that happened, bringing his family back to Aurora would become much safer.

Aunt Mia and Lily had already spent enough time away from their normal lives because of the trouble surrounding him. Michael had no intention of keeping them hidden forever.

When the situation calmed sufficiently, he planned to return them to Aurora, though it might only be Aunt Mia at first. Thanks to Lily’s awakening, her life as a normal teenager had already ended, regardless of what happened next.

With Aurora temporarily stable, and the pressure surrounding his name beginning to move in the direction he wanted, Michael shifted more of his attention to his territory in the Land of Origin. The Eternal Crown Empire had become increasingly important after the establishment of the Subsidiary Territorial Anchor.

Knowing there was a real possibility that the Land of Origin would one day become directly connected to the outside world, Michael did not treat the affairs of the empire casually like before.

With this mindset, Michael turned his attention to the problem that had been bothering him.

Energy Points. The Subsidiary Territorial Anchor was powerful. But that ability came with a cost.

Even though the empire could afford to spend large amounts of resources, the conversion rate remained painful. One high-grade mana crystal only provided one Energy Point.

Even transporting an ordinary person required ten Energy Points, the same as teleporting a Rank Two being. The cost rose dramatically once Rank Three existences became involved.

If Michael only intended to use the Anchor occasionally, this would hardly matter. The Eternal Crown Empire was wealthy enough to support a few expensive transfers.

But Michael wasn’t planning around the present anymore. He was thinking about a possible future where the Land of Origin and the outside world interacted regularly. One should know that if he wanted to sustain the cost of using his talent, he couldn’t rely on himself alone.

Only a force like the empire could provide him with resources he could use, and as he grew stronger he would only need more. Making the empire stronger not only benefited the people, but it benefited him as well.

However, to achieve this goal, he needed to solve the energy issue. Even an empire as big as his could bleed itself dry through repeated consumption at large scale.

This forced Michael to search for alternatives. The description of the Anchor had already given him the clue.

Its Energy Requirement could be fulfilled through any energy source. Mana crystals were simply the most convenient source Michael had tested first. They were never stated to be mandatory.

If the Anchor needed energy, then there was no reason that energy had to come from something that had already been condensed into a crystal.

Living beings contained mana too, so could they also serve as an energy source?

This thought eventually led Michael to the cheapest possible source.

Mages. Or more accurately, people with sufficiently large mana reserves.

Fortunately, testing quickly confirmed his suspicion. The Dominion Conduit could absorb mana directly from an individual and convert it into Energy Points.

The person didn’t even need to belong to the Mage pathway. This changed everything for Michael and the empire.

Mana recovered naturally. Crystals didn’t. A mage who contributed most of their reserve could recover through rest, potions, or simply absorbing ambient mana.

Using people as energy suppliers therefore transformed what had previously been a consumable-resource problem into something closer to manpower management.

Once Michael confirmed this, he promptly issued an imperial order, requiring many kingdoms and subordinate territories under the Eternal Crown Empire to provide mana-capable personnel to support the newly established Anchor.

Michael didn’t demand their strongest people indiscriminately. Each kingdom was simply given a quota.

Either they provided five Rank Two mages or mana-focused supernaturals of equivalent reserves... or one Rank Three mage.

Some kingdoms sent considerably more to flatter him.

Naturally, Michael did not expect them to provide powerful supernaturals for free. Those assigned to the station received imperial compensation.

The greatest one, however, was the chance to cultivate in the Fourth Layer of the Origin Battlefield.