Chapter 1171: Upgrading the Territory! Ascending to Mid-level Empire!

Chapter 1171: Upgrade Territory! Ascend to Mid-Imperial Rank!

The final upper-tier artifact of the Supreme God, in truth, is merely a fake "Sky-Shielding Umbrella."

Its effect, Zhou Zhou had already witnessed before.

Even for himself, a being of the Chaotic Human Clan, it was impossible to detect its concealment—proof of its unparalleled ability to hide.

As a survivalist who thrives on concealment, Zhou Zhou naturally cherished this item.

He stored the Sky-Shielding Umbrella away, then soared out of the divine palace, ascending into the skies above the Pride of the Sun Imperial Capital, gazing down upon his city with quiet contemplation, silently murmuring the words of ascension.

The next instant—

With 1 million megatons of base materials, 1,000 lower-tier divine god sub-crystals, 50 billion source crystals, 1 billion units of temporal-space elemental gems, and 10 lower-tier imperial territory decrees vanishing without a trace,

a textual notification appeared.

[Congratulations! Your lower-tier upper divine palace (Master Rule) has successfully ascended to a mid-tier lower divine palace (Master Rule)!]

[Your territory has successfully upgraded to a mid-divine lower-tier domain!]

[Your subordinate divine upper-tier Yuan Yan Array has been upgraded to a mid-divine lower-tier Yuan Yan Array.]

[Domain stone pillar durability has increased to: 10 million / 10 million!]

[Your domain territory has expanded to 100 million km × 100 million km × 1 million m!]

[All fog monsters within the newly added domain territory have been expelled!]

[The crimson fog will no longer appear within any of your domain territories!]

[You have received an upgrade reward: Mythic Building Blueprint Box (Mid-Divine Lower Tier)!]

[Lord's talent hint: Your Crimson Nidus can now be upgraded!]

[Lord's talent hint: Your mysterious trading caravan faction has been strengthened!]

[Lord's talent hint: The divine personnel of your Life Ark have gained enhanced power!]

The next second.

A voice of greater dignity and resonance rang out.

[Blue Star Global Channel Leader Announcement: Congratulations to the Sunlight Empire (Junior) - Sunlight Lord, becoming the first Lord to advance from Commander Territory to Lower Mid-Deity Rank! Reward: One Supreme Treasure Box, Mythic Level +3, Legendary Level +1000, Unique Race Title: "Pioneer's Glory IX" upgraded to "Pioneer's Glory X!"]

[Blue Star Global Channel Leader Announcement: Congratulations to the Sunlight Empire (Junior) - Sunlight Lord...]

[Blue Star Global Channel Leader Announcement: Congratulations to the Sunlight Empire (Junior) - Sunlight Lord...]

Zhou Zhou smiled and nodded.

Another title finally secured.

Of course.

That was not the most important part.

The most important thing was that now He could elevate the Sunlight Empire from Junior to Intermediate status.

It took a mere two days to achieve this feat.

Such a triumph remained far beyond the reach of most lords across the myriad realms.

As for those rare figures in history who had accomplished it, the memories etched within His bloodline revealed that most had relied on the advance backing and resources of their clans; without such aid, they too would have found it impossible to elevate a primary empire into an intermediate one in so brief a span.

Those who had truly achieved this by their own solitary strength were as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns across the vast cosmos.

And now, He had become one of those exceedingly rare few.

He drew a deep breath, yet no arrogance stirred within His heart.

Then, He flew swiftly back into the divine palace, coming to a halt before the Golden Monument of the Empire.

Zhou Zhou gazed at the Golden Monument of the Kingdom before him, silently chanting the command to ascend.

In the following instant.

The textual prompts materialized.

[Tip: You have met all conditions for elevating the Jiaoyang Empire to Intermediate Imperial status. Do you wish to proceed with the elevation?]

"Elevate!"

Zhou Zhou said.

[Tip: You have one opportunity to change the capital city's location. Do you wish to change or retain the current position?]

"Retain!"

Zhou Zhou answered without hesitation.

The Jiaoyang Capital was the cradle of his rise—its significance to him could not be matched by any other region.

To the people under his rule, it was the birthplace of the Jiaoyang Empire, the root of countless citizens' hearts. Their affection for this land was profound and unshakable.

Even if offered a true god-tier region or a master god-tier region, he would not exchange it.

After all...

If He truly desired a True God-tier regional territory, or even a Main God-tier one, He could entirely rely on the regional territory fusion proofs in His possession to merge the Blazing Sun Imperial Capital into a True God-tier regional territory; in the future, fusing it into a Main God-tier regional territory was not impossible either.

Therefore, He naturally would not change the location of the Imperial Capital.

[Prompt: Your choice has been confirmed!]

[Prompt: Your Lord Territory—Primary Empire, the Blazing Sun Empire, is currently upgrading...]

[Prompt: Upgrade successful!]

[Congratulations, your Primary Empire Lord Territory—the Blazing Sun Empire—has officially upgraded to an Intermediate Empire Lord Territory—the Blazing Sun Empire!]

[Prompt: You may display your Empire Territory Level on any channel!]

The corners of Zhou Zhou’s mouth curled into a slight smile.

This upgrade was far simpler than the previous ones.

He hoped that upgrading from an Intermediate Empire to an Advanced Empire would not be too difficult either.

In the very next instant, a fresh announcement rippled across all channels of the Lords of All Races.

[All-Channel Announcement for Lords of All Races: Congratulations to the Human Race - Lord of the Scorching Sun, for successfully elevating his imperial territory into the very first mid-tier imperial territory among the Lords of All Races. Rewarded with: Mythic Treasure Chest of All Races +1, Mid-Tier Imperial Treasure Chest +1, Legend Character +10, Mythos Character +1!]

[All-Channel Announcement for Lords of All Races: Congratulations to the Human Race - Lord of the Scorching Sun...]

[All-Channel Announcement for Lords of All Races: Congratulations to the Human Race - Lord of the Scorching Sun...]

Beholding this, the smile upon Zhou Zhou's face deepened with unmistakable clarity.

He had long been prepared for such an outcome.

After all, when the Kingdom of the Scorching Sun had ascended from a low-tier kingdom to a mid-tier kingdom, it had triggered this identical proclamation.

He opened the various channels to which he belonged.

He discovered that whether it was the humans of Planet Blue, the elves, or any other race, the vast majority were consumed by discussions regarding his nascent ascension to a mid-tier empire.

The Blue Star race fared well.

They had long grown accustomed to the might of their own sovereign.

Faced with the repeated appearances of the Sun Sovereign's name in the public announcements, there was now a sense of inevitability, as if it were simply the natural order of things.

After all, the Sun Sovereign of our Blue Star race was so powerful—so overwhelmingly so—that it was hardly surprising the last few universal announcements were utterly out of the ordinary.

The most intense reactions came from the sovereigns of other races.

Take Zhou Zhou, for instance, the channel administrator of the [Universal Sovereigns Channel].

This channel was originally established by the Supreme Will specifically to assist Zhou Zhou in completing his "King of Kings" special mission, intended to unite all the sovereigns of the myriad races under one banner, so they could jointly confront Os's Crimson Armies.

Yet now, Os's Crimson Armies had already been decisively defeated by Zhou Zhou alone, and the King of Kings event will officially conclude tomorrow morning. It's unclear whether the Supreme Will has forgotten—yet the Universal Sovereigns Channel remains active, still intact.

At this very moment, the numerous sovereigns from across the races are flooding the channel with chatter, desperate to avoid being forcibly removed from the group before the channel finally dissolves.

And the topic dominating their conversation is none other than Zhou Zhou's Sun Empire's promotion to a mid-tier empire.

This is utterly preposterous. Barely two days have slipped by, and they have already ascended from a rudimentary empire to a high-tier one?

Up until now, it seems the Lord of the Scorching Sun is the only one who has ever graced the global announcements for all the myriad races...

If you had witnessed the recording of the Lord of the Scorching Sun standing alone against Austin's crimson legion, you wouldn't find this the least bit strange. Let me put it this way: the strength of the Scorching Sun's faction is already fully on par with some of the lesser high-bloodline racial powers.

I refuse to believe it, unless you send me the recording to see for myself.

Give me a copy too!

Big boss, I want it as well!

It has already been sent.

...

Before long, the recording of the Lord of the Scorching Sun leading the armies of the Scorching Sun Empire in a solitary battle against Austin's crimson legion was witnessed by a vast multitude of lords from the myriad races.

Following that, they plunged into a profound silence.

This Sunlord... truly belongs to the same generation as the other Great Lords of the myriad races?

The disparity in style—between the power of the Lords and their individual strength—is astonishing!