"These people were captured by the bone-wraiths to be sacrificed to the Sacred Lord of Bones," Elena said, her tone calm as she surveyed the 500 unconscious villagers.
She turned her gaze toward Julian, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. "Why are you looking at them like that? Do you actually plan to take them into your Hallowed Realm?"
Ordinary people were often seen as a burden by many students. Even if they were nurtured into soldiers, their baseline potential was usually too low to be worth the resource investment.
"Yes," Julian replied with a firm nod. "My realm is growing, and it needs a population to manage the internal infrastructure."
Ever since his Hallowed Realm upgraded, the space had expanded significantly. Currently, it was only inhabited by the Gear-Heart family, Arthur, and the Brass Horizon Soldiers. While the Gear-Heart clan were excellent craftsmen and the soldiers provided defense, they couldn't handle the day-to-day labor of a growing domain.
Julian's realm had a unique specialty—the Heart of the Myriad Lotus. In the future, he planned to cultivate these spiritual plants on a massive scale. That would require a massive amount of manual labor.
More importantly, Julian knew a secret: every soul that pledged itself to his realm increased his Destiny Points. More points meant a higher ceiling for his own potential and the ability to upgrade his buildings even further.
"It's a valid strategy for long-term management," Elena agreed, acknowledging that a Hallowed Realm was essentially a private fiefdom. "But don't expect to turn them into an elite army anytime soon."
"I'm aware," Julian said. With a wave of his hand, a ripple of golden energy swept over the 500 villagers, pulling them into the safety of the Hallowed Realm.
"The humans in these Level-1 Stargates are mostly commoners who have never touched a cultivation manual," Elena continued, a sweet, calculated smile spreading across her face. "Nurturing them from scratch takes an immense amount of resources."
She paused, watching Julian's reaction. "Coincidentally, I have a project that requires a partner with your... specific talents. Are you interested?"
Julian felt a familiar tightening in his chest. Whenever a genius from a Great Clan smiled like that, it usually meant trouble. He had already claimed three relics, a Bone Pagoda, and 500 workers from this valley alone. Elena hadn't contested any of it, which made her current request even more suspicious.
"Why don't you tell me the details first?" Julian asked carefully.
Elena rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me like I'm a wolf and you're a lamb, Julian. My goal in this Stargate isn't these basic relics. I'm after the Earthly Essence."
Julian looked at her with a blank expression. "The what? I've never heard of it."
Elena sighed, realizing that Julian lacked the esoteric knowledge passed down through the clans.
"Earthly Essence is a fundamental resource used to upgrade the grade of a Hallowed Realm," she explained. "Most realms awaken as Unranked or Grade-9. They are small, and the mana density is thin. By infusing the realm with Earthly Essence, you can reinforce its foundation and elevate its rank."
Julian finally understood. While his realm upgraded through Destiny Points, most people had to rely on rare environmental energies like Earthly Essence to advance.
"Furthermore," Elena added, her eyes gleaming, "this essence is vital for the Soldier Transformation process. The instructors in the High Dragon class will eventually teach us the rituals, but essentially, you need this energy to 'wash' the mortal impurities out of your followers."
"So, you want to cooperate to harvest it?" Julian asked.
"Exactly. There are only about 100 wisps of Earthly Essence in this entire Stargate. Work with me, and I'll give you 20% of the haul."
Julian hesitated for only a second before nodding. Even if he didn't need the essence for his realm, he certainly needed it if he wanted to turn those 500 villagers into a true Ascendant army.
"It's a deal," Julian said.
"Good. The Essence only manifests when the Stargate world begins to collapse. When that happens, the House of Garrows and their lackeys will likely try to seize it all. Be prepared."
Elena turned her attention to her team, waking Marcus, Lily, and the others.
"Sister Elena?" Marcus muttered, his head clearing.
"Rest for now," Elena commanded, handing out several translucent medicinal pills. "The clan will provide you with relics once we exit the Stargate. For the next few days, we nurse our wounds here."
"I'm going to scout the surrounding sectors," Julian announced. "I'll be back before the collapse."
"Still hunting for treasures?" Elena asked with a smirk. She knew there were likely fewer than ten High-Rank relics in this entire zone, and Julian had probably already taken half of them.
"You never know what you'll find in the fog," Julian replied.
He turned and vanished into the treeline, moving with a speed that left the recovering students in awe.
"Is that really Julian?" Lily whispered.
"He's... a lot more handsome than I remembered."
Elena watched the spot where he disappeared, her mind already calculating the coming battle. The Stargate would likely shatter in three to five days, pulling them back to the Royal Valerius Academy (Royal Academy). Between now and then, the real hunt was on.