Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch - Chapter 184

Chapter 184: Massive upgrade: from town to Undead City
[Congratulations, Lord, for ranking in the top tier and receiving the fixed ranking reward: equivalent experience points (universal).]

Alex had anticipated the underwhelming reward this time.

After all, the previous ranking reward was mainly due to the beast tide. Without it, the reward was just experience points.

Moreover, the term “universal” meant that all top-tier Lords received the same amount of experience points.

Sophie leveled up from lv1 to lv5, the most significant increase, making her the weakest among the top-tier Lords.

Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui each leveled up once, reaching lv9 Commanding level, very close to Monarch level.

Alex also leveled up to lv4 Monarch level.

The experience required to go from lv9 Commanding to lv1 Monarch level was much more than what Alex needed to level up now. It was no surprise that the siblings hadn’t reached Monarch level.

Besides, Alex had some experience before leveling up, while Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui had just reached lv8, with empty experience bars.

For others, the ranking reward might have ended, but for Alex, it wasn’t over yet.

[Congratulations, Lord, for ranking first in the hunt leaderboard with 26 points.]

[You have received a random primal ability. Drawing random ability…]

[Congratulations, Lord, for obtaining the skill: Life Link.]

Indeed, these points were harder to earn than expected, and Alex remained firmly in first place.

This primal ability, if Alex understood correctly, should be related to her inherent abilities or bloodline, drawn from her primary class.

For example, Alex would only draw undead abilities, and Satan would only draw demon abilities. They wouldn’t get something like holy light magic.

“Just a skill?” Alex muttered, noting that the name didn’t sound like an offensive skill.

Curious about the hunt ranking reward, Alex checked the skill.

Life Link (Passive): As the noble Undead Queen, your life is linked to all your undead in a one-way life-sharing bond. Any damage you take will be distributed among all your undead. Conversely, the death of undead will not affect you.

“Wait, what?”

“Holy fuck!”

Alex was stunned by the skill description and shouted in excitement.

“Alex, what are you doing so late at night?”

“Uh, nothing…” Alex realized she had woken Ruby up.

This was definitely a top-tier passive skill.

Alex double-checked the skill description several times, unable to believe her eyes. It was true.

This meant Alex, like her undead, had become effectively immortal. As long as all her undead weren’t wiped out, she couldn’t die.

Her undead would share her damage, making her truly the Undead Queen.

“The number of undead now represents my health bar. I can be reckless from now on!”

Eager to test the skill, Alex checked her health points.

[Health Points: 600 ]

To experiment, Alex formed a small wind blade and cut her wrist. The wound healed instantly before any blood could flow.

Thinking boldly, Alex cast a curse on herself, targeting herself and bearing the cost.

[Your lv7 Skeleton Warrior has died!]

…

Three messages popped up. Though Alex’s curse wasn’t strong, it had some damage. Alex was unharmed, but three undead had died, with no indication of the cause.

“This skill is too powerful!”

The second place on the points leaderboard was still the Traitor, with 25 points, just one point behind Alex.

Including ties, the top ten had fewer than twenty Lords. These Lords received similar primal abilities, shaping the future landscape of Lords. Alex noted their names.

The leaderboard had closed, and Alex eagerly awaited the next one.

Still excited, Alex’s shout had woken Ruby, who couldn’t sleep. Her ears twitched, picking up the rapid breathing of several people.

“What’s going on? Are you all suffocating in your sleep?”

…

[Night retreats, dawn arrives.]

Time: 06:00 AM

Alex woke up on time, putting on her favorite sailor dress. Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui came over for breakfast, enjoying the stark contrast to their previous diet of roasted meat. Now, they had freshly prepared meals with vegetables and fruits.

Xiao Mu didn’t pay much attention to Alex, finding it impolite to constantly watch a girl.

But Xiao Hui noticed Alex had changed clothes again. Since their arrival, she had seen Alex in at least three different outfits, which was unusual. Without knowing Alex was a Lord, Xiao Hui might have thought she was on vacation.

“You guys eat. I’ll go summon troops.”

After summoning her troops, Alex checked her Warehouse resources.

Thanks to the dwarves’ mining and refining, the iron ingots were nearly sufficient. With many low-level undead working, Alex never lacked basic resources like wood and stone.

Additionally, Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui had some stock in their Warehouse, which Alex could use.

Alex: “Send undead to collect the iron ore from the dwarf mines immediately.”

Sophie: “Got it, Big Shot.”

Sophie didn’t question Alex, knowing she might need resources to break through the town’s level cap.

Alex flew into the sky, looking at the area where her town bordered the east. The trees had been cleared by the Acolytes.

Countless beasts, displaced from their homes, had invaded other territories, uniting to resist the undead but were killed by Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui.

Their goal was to use the Dark Forest’s outskirts to quickly reach Monarch level, while Emerald Hills would help Alex’s four Race Kings grow rapidly.

Following this plan, Alex’s strength would see a significant boost.

Soon, the undead from the White Rock Mountains brought the iron ore to Sophie’s castle. Alex didn’t wait for the dwarves to refine it in the Furnace, which was too slow.

She used her fire magic for a rough purification, then had the system disassemble it. Though some was wasted, Alex didn’t mind.

With these resources, Alex had enough to upgrade the town.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

[lv9 town upgrade requirements: 300k wood, 250k stone, 30k iron ingots.]

“Upgrade!”

Alex wanted to see what changes would occur.

The Warehouse emptied instantly, and the ground shook.

Black and gold light spread around, more intense than the town’s previous upgrade.

Outside the town wall, tall black walls rose, towering over the town’s walls.

The ground cracked, revealing black stone tiles that covered the entire town, leaving no dirt visible.

Alex stumbled as the castle courtyard disappeared, replaced by a massive stone staircase lifting her up.

Looking back, Alex saw her castle had transformed into a luxurious palace exuding a dark, eerie aura.

The four subsidiary castles became auxiliary palaces, surrounding Alex’s palace.

The palace was much larger than the original castle, nearly surpassing the town’s previous area.

The former town wall now protected the palace.

The palace complex was uneven, with Alex’s palace being the tallest and grandest. The black stone staircase led directly to the wall gate.

Special buildings within the town were rearranged to optimal positions.

The Blackwater Altar, Portal of Transit, and defense towers were placed outside the palace, while the Magic Stone Pillar and Specter Chandelier remained at the wall gate.

The stone pillars along the staircase were adorned with skulls, their eye sockets burning with blue flames, adding to the palace’s eerie atmosphere at night.

“Wow~”

Alex stood on the staircase, amazed by the transformation.

The siblings and Ruby, hearing the commotion, came out and stood at the palace entrance, equally astonished.

“This… is a city!”

The luxurious palace felt like the royal palace of a city.

[Congratulations, Lord, for upgrading to a city. You have unlocked the conditions to build a kingdom: lv9 city, lv1 King level, Kingdom’s Tear!]

Building a kingdom!

Alex was shocked again but saw the requirements were still far off.

She needed to upgrade the city to the maximum level, reach King level, and obtain an item called the Kingdom’s Tear.

Alex checked the item, finding it simple yet difficult to obtain: destroy a kingdom.

From the system’s information and what Alex knew, the kings of these native kingdoms were at least King level!

Alex stood in shock, her mind reeling from the information. The system had revealed so much.

Before upgrading, she hadn’t even known the next level after town.

The city’s tremors hadn’t stopped, and Alex guessed she might receive a special building like when upgrading the town.

She checked her system interface for city information.

[City Name: Undead City]

[City Level: lv1]

[Health Points: 1M]

[City Territory: 150 square miles]

[Buildings: Blackwater Altar, Bone Throne, Specter Chandelier, Magic Stone Pillar, defense tower, wall, Energy Cannon, Crystal Shield, Portal of Transit.]

[Upgrade Requirements: 1M wood, 2M stone, 500K iron ingots.]

Seeing the attributes, Alex felt like pulling his hair out. The upgrade was massive, but the resource requirements had increased tenfold, making it hard to bear.

“Alex, what’s going on with your castle?” Ruby called from behind. Ruby and the siblings had come down the stairs to join Alex.

“It’s no longer a castle. This is the City of the Undead.”