"Delicious!"

A stream of deep green energy surged out from the crack in space and flowed directly into Rosalia’s Divine Mark.

Rosalia immediately felt the feedback. Her eyes lit up as she casually waved her hand.

"This divine artifact originated from the Voodoo Goddess of the Primordial Pantheon. My resistance to poison has increased, and my origin power has also risen. It’s roughly equivalent to corrupting an entire small town."

"That insane? Let me see."

Phield’s own interface displayed the details more clearly.

Incarnate Synergy Battle

Current Unlock Progress: 6%

Poison Attribute Divine Power Resistance: 8%

Only a 5% increase.

Phield clicked his tongue in disbelief. That had been an entire divine artifact, yet the gains were still relatively limited. Third Tier Divine Chosen truly required terrifying amounts of resources.

Still, it meant Rosalia would naturally possess an advantage against poison-using Divine Chosen in the future.

"Even though the first two tiers required almost no resources, once you reach the Third Tier, the required resources become astronomical."

Phield handed over another divine artifact.

"Try the Second Tier artifact this time. This one packs a lot more punch." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Rosalia licked the corner of her lips.

"Yay, divine artifacts really are delicious."

Using the same method, Rosalia devoured the second divine artifact.

This time, the corrupted dragon chewed for much longer.

The next moment, accompanied by abyss-like malice, a magnificent gray-white radiance flooded into the Divine Mark like a surging tide.

Rosalia let out a soft moan.

Incarnate Synergy Battle

Current Unlock Progress: 16%

Total Corrupted Divine Power Increased by 15%

Strength Increased by 10%

Poison Attribute Divine Power Resistance: 8%

"Ohhh, as expected, Second Tier divine artifacts are the real deal. The bonuses are this massive. If I completely max out all these enhancements someday, I honestly can’t even imagine how strong I’ll become."

Phield was stunned. A 15% increase to her current total divine power was absolutely enormous.

He even briefly considered feeding every remaining divine artifact to Rosalia, but after thinking it over, he decided against it for now. The remaining artifacts still had important uses.

"I’m only a little bit away from unlocking another dragon claw. If I unlock additional body parts in the future, I’ll gain even more abilities."

With a thought, a gigantic dragon claw extended from the spatial crack. Unlike its previous lifeless appearance, the claw now radiated overwhelming intimidation and raw power. Even the chains wrapped around it had noticeably decreased.

"Invincible."

Phield proudly crossed his arms.

"Next, help manage the territory and quickly help the others level up too."

"Hehe~ Of course I’ll help. So, who does this young lady need to chop apart next? My hands are itching."

"If your hands are itching, go clean up the corrupted corpses across Nightfall Domain. Start from the south and cut your way north. It’ll reduce our defensive pressure while also letting you search for any valuable items left behind."

"Leave it to me!"

With that, Rosalia flicked her hair dramatically, carried the greatsword over her shoulder, and left the city.

Meanwhile, Phield headed to work at Windrise Town’s town hall, formerly the grand winery.

"My lord, the scholars from the Turtle School have already received an education in ’love.’ I believe they can now be allowed to perform some minor tasks for you."

Kai rarely appeared personally at the town hall. He bowed respectfully.

"The salt mine is already operating normally. We’ve constructed temporary defensive structures and living quarters around the underground tunnels, though the mining output remains quite low."

The so-called education of "love" naturally involved fists and aggressive emergency resuscitation.

"I’ll gradually assign more manpower to the mines."

Ever since the salt mine began operating properly, the territory no longer needed to import edible salt. At minimum, it saved two thousand gold coins every month, and premium salt could even be sold externally for profit.

"Those scholars can be used, but they cannot be trusted. Have them assist Tate first with organizing documents and copying records."

"As for Yago, the man who helped locate the limestone, assign him directly to my side. He’s a genuine talent."

"Understood, my lord."

After Kai left, nobody came to handle government affairs that morning. After all, Phield had only just returned, and many people still did not know about it yet.

Feeling somewhat bored, Phield mounted his horse and rode through the town.

His gaze wandered repeatedly across the streets of Windrise Town while occasionally nodding toward citizens greeting him respectfully.

Although Windrise Town was only the size of a small town, its planning had been designed according to modern city concepts. Wide main roads, orderly block-like layouts, drainage systems, green belts, public toilets, and commercial districts either already possessed rough foundations or had been fully planned out by Phield.

There were not many people on the streets because most of the residents were busy farming.

After the reclamation of Starnight City, thousands of acres of farmland had been marked out within the city. Eighty percent of it had been opened to the citizens for cultivation. The residents who had already experienced the benefits of the first farmland distribution nearly wanted to hack each other apart with machetes just to compete for the second batch. Their enthusiasm for farming had practically skyrocketed. Every additional acre they cultivated directly translated into real grain production.

At the same time, to prevent land annexation and monopolization, Phield ensured that ownership of all land remained under his control.

"Maybe it’s time to start constructing proper houses. These straw huts and rotten wooden shacks are really ugly."

Phield rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

The town already looked fairly decent overall, yet it still gave him the feeling of a slum district. Even the abandoned Starnight City, which had been deserted for over a decade, possessed a melancholic beauty of ruined civilization.

At the end of the day, the real problem was simply how terrible the commoners’ houses were.

Back when Nightfall Domain experienced heavy rainstorms, seven slaves had died from illness caused by their dilapidated homes.

"My lord, I finally found you~"

Kaor hummed cheerfully while approaching Phield.

Phield looked at him in surprise. This guy was actually not complaining for once.

"What’s got you so happy?"

"Of course I’m happy because my lord returned safely. Is there anything more worth celebrating than that?"

Kaor shamelessly flattered him first before immediately revealing the truth.

"Hehe, besides that, there are also the shirts you bought back in bulk. I can finally change into new clothes."

Phield had previously collected a list of everyone’s needs within the territory and had purchased those items during this trip.

"Clothing, huh... Maybe the territory should start producing its own. Most of the citizens seem to only own a single outfit."

After pondering for a moment, Phield realized the textile industry also needed development. Otherwise, most citizens would not even have spare clothes to change into. Summer was manageable because clothing dried easily, but winter would become incredibly troublesome.

"My lord, producing clothes requires cultivating flax, or raising sheep and goats."

Kaor spoke frankly.

"Forgive my bluntness, but commoners simply cannot afford such things. There’s no reason to waste valuable farmland producing goods the lower class cannot even purchase."

"They can’t even afford linen clothes?"

"That’s correct, my lord. In most provinces of the Empire, a single linen outfit costs roughly fifteen days of income for a worker, which is over fifty copper coins. As for the lace-collared shirt I purchased, it cost five silver coins."

Phield frowned deeply. After thinking carefully, he realized that was indeed the reality.

During procurement, he had spent lavishly because he controlled an entire territory’s finances. But once wealth was distributed down to individuals, ordinary purchases became completely different matters.

Within the territory, only soldiers, administrators, and castle maids ever submitted requests to purchase clothing from Phield.

Clothing made from coarse linen sounded cheap and low-class, yet flax required an extremely long production cycle, and turning it into wearable clothing involved remarkably complicated processes. Though nowhere near as expensive as silk or wool textiles, even an additional set of linen clothes was still beyond what ordinary civilians could casually afford.