Chapter 130: Life Is Short, Every Second Counts

Chapter 130: Life Is Short, Every Second Counts

Year 1255 of the Starlight Calendar, Winter Harp Month (January).

The first day of the new year began with a grand celebration, the likes of which had never been seen before.

This year's festivities were even more splendid than in previous years, and the reason was well-known: to celebrate the coronation of the new Grand Duke.

To the surprise of the general populace, the new Grand Duke chose to establish his capital in Flash City instead of Starlight City.

He even spared no expense in rebuilding the palace.

Only those of a certain status knew the reason behind the Grand Duke's decision.

It was because the base of a certain individual was located near Flash City.

No matter how one looked at it, the new Grand Duke's residence could not be far from that individual's base.

This was only natural.

In fact, from the moment the capital's relocation was proposed to the start of the palace's construction, not a single noble had dared to object.

Everyone unanimously agreed with the proposal.

Amidst the celebrations and busyness, Winter Harp Month passed, and before they knew it, it was Renewal Month (February).

Snowflakes still drifted through the sky.

In previous years, the snow would have started to melt by this time, but this year, the weather remained cold.

However, Su Nan, who was in Shadow Lake City, did not feel the chill.

The temperature in the underground world changed far less than on the surface, remaining damp and cold year-round.

After spending more than half a month, Su Nan finally completed the first High Stone Golem.

The High Stone Golem was composed of 460 stone golems.

Similar to the Elite Dual-Blade Spiders, Su Nan had enchanted the High Stone Golem with four second-level spells: Levitation, Lightness, Great Strength, and Toughness.

Additionally, using the magic weapon technique, he enchanted the High Stone Golem's body with the Black Steel property, and its two fists with Weak Lightning Elemental Damage and Weak Ice Elemental Damage, primarily to slow down enemies (paralysis and freezing).

Fortunately, the High Stone Golem's body was large enough, and Su Nan's Magic Item Crafting skill had improved, allowing him to attach three properties simultaneously.

In the end, the cost of one High Stone Golem was a staggering 22,000 gold coins, just a thousand gold coins less than an Elite Dual-Blade Spider.

Even with the seven mines currently under Shadow Lake City's control, the monthly profit was only enough to produce one High Stone Golem or one Elite Dual-Blade Spider.

"Expensive, but worth every coin."

It's worth noting that Su Nan had tried to synthesize a third-level Legendary High Dual-Blade Spider using Elite Dual-Blade Spiders.

However, after putting five Elite Dual-Blade Spiders into the synthesis cube, he still couldn't create a High Dual-Blade Spider.

This meant that a third-level Legendary High Dual-Blade Spider would cost over 100,000 gold coins, far more than an Adamantine Golem.

In this situation, refining an Adamantine Golem was undoubtedly more cost-effective for obtaining a third-level Legendary puppet.

"Refining high-level puppets is more cost-effective if you have the blueprints."

"Unless you don't have the blueprints or the key materials, in which case you can only obtain them through synthesis."

In fact, there were already precedents for this.

For example, the cost to refine an Iron Golem was only 1,500 gold coins.

However, synthesizing an Elite Stone Golem cost over 7,000 gold coins.

Both were first-level Legendary puppets, and even though the Iron Golem was slightly stronger than the Elite Stone Golem, the slight increase in power was far from justifying the huge cost difference.

The reason for this was the scarcity of micro soul crystals, which prevented the mass production of Iron Golems.

To obtain enough first-level Legendary combat power, Su Nan had to consume more resources.

The same applied to potions and magic items.

For instance, the resources required for a third-level Transcendent Potion could produce four to five third-level potions if converted into equivalent materials.

However, the current Starlight Continent lacked the necessary materials, so he could only synthesize the third-level potions.

"I'll refine Adamantine Golems for third-level Legendary puppets."

Su Nan made his decision.

Unfortunately, the Adamantine Golem he encountered last time had been mostly destroyed by the magic core, and he only obtained a small amount of magical adamantine, far from enough to refine a new one.

He would have to issue a task for the apprentices in the base to refine magical adamantine.

In terms of cultivation, Su Nan had now mastered all the second-level spells at his disposal, more than twenty in total.

Before acquiring new second-level spells, he was once again in a state where he had no spells to practice.

On the other hand, his progress in Metamagic Techniques, specifically Spell Instant Casting, was quite rapid, with training progress already halfway through.

Su Nan estimated that with about a year, he should be able to master Spell Instant Casting.

Unfortunately, training Metamagic Techniques required casting spells and consuming mental energy, which he had to meditate to recover, significantly slowing down his cultivation speed.

Otherwise, he could have increased his cultivation time or practiced multiple Metamagic Techniques simultaneously.

Chapter 131: The Mid-Renewal Month and the Examination

Unfortunately, there were no potions to restore mental energy.

Time passed, and before they knew it, it was the middle of Renewal Month.

Su Nan took the time to hold an examination at Base 1 to assess the progress of all the apprentices.

After more than four years of development, the number of students at the base had increased to forty-two.

Moreover, a new round of aptitude tests was being conducted across the entire Starlight Principality.

This round of testing was unprecedented in scale, covering all six provinces except for the Golden Rock Province.

Preliminary estimates suggested that over a hundred thousand eligible individuals would participate in the tests.

It was clear that once this round of aptitude tests concluded, the number of students at the base would surge, possibly breaking into the triple digits.

Additionally, Su Nan had already discussed with Koi the plan to establish a knight academy in each province, to build a more comprehensive and extensive talent reserve for the future knight guard.

Given this, the expansion of new magical plant gardens had become a necessity.

After all, they needed more Dragon Blood Fruits and Silver Moon Flowers.

The establishment of the knight academy was manageable and didn't require Su Nan's direct involvement. Koi could handle it, and Su Nan only needed to check in occasionally.

However, the expansion of the magical plant gardens required his personal attention.

"But I estimate I'll only need to be busy for another year or two."

"Xie Man and Cole's meditation is progressing smoothly. They should be able to advance to Second-Level Apprentice Wizards in no time."

"Once they reach that level, I can entrust them with the task of expanding the magical plant gardens."

Second-Level Apprentice Wizards were capable of handling many tasks independently, allowing Su Nan to delegate more responsibilities without needing to oversee everything personally.

When that time came, he would have more freedom to focus on other matters.

For example, exploring the underground world to find descendants of ancient beasts.

Or researching more powerful puppets.

"Alright, that's it for today."

After concluding the final spell examination, Su Nan announced the end of the assessment. He glanced over the forty-odd students in front of him, offering a few words of encouragement before turning to leave.

He wouldn't scold students for not putting in enough effort.

After all, it was their choice.

He provided a platform of equal exchange, ensuring their efforts were rewarded. Whether they chose to work hard was entirely up to them.

As long as they followed the base's rules and didn't harm the base's interests, Su Nan generally wouldn't interfere too much.

This was a common practice in many wizard academies.

Even the Black Wizard Academy, which operated on a brutal competition system, respected students' autonomy in certain aspects.

Of course, the consequences for not working hard in the Black Wizard Academy were often more severe.

Once Su Nan's figure disappeared from the spell practice room, the students seemed to shed a heavy burden, breathing a sigh of relief.

Some wore expressions of joy, while others looked dejected.

"Finished. I failed to cast the spell three times in a row. The teacher must think I'm a complete dunce."

"Same here. I made mistakes in the initial steps of the potion twice. It's so embarrassing."

"Still, Ethan is amazing. He successfully made the Strength Potion in one try!"

"I just got lucky."

Ethan humbly smiled, glancing at Xie Man and Cole, a hint of envy in his eyes.

"Still, he can't compare to Senior Xie Man and Senior Cole. The teacher said they would soon be able to construct the third Star Ring."

Mentioning this, the other students looked at Xie Man and Cole with envy and admiration.

Once they successfully constructed the third Star Ring, they would advance to Second-Level Apprentice Wizards.

At that level, they would truly be considered qualified apprentices.

Unfortunately, most of the students had only recently constructed their first Star Ring, and they were still a long way from reaching the Second-Level Apprentice stage.

As the students chattered, a smoke-like creature about half a person's height floated in from outside, pausing briefly before heading toward Xie Man.

"It's a Fog Beast!" one student exclaimed.

Fog Beasts were semi-ethereal creatures, entirely composed of smoke.

They served as messengers within the base. By expending a bit of mental energy, one could entrust them with delivering messages or transporting lightweight items, making them very convenient.

Naturally, these were summoned by Su Nan as his otherworldly 'assistants.'

The Fog Beast floated over to Xie Man, extending a tendril of gray smoke that wrapped around his ear, emitting a faint whistling sound.

This was the unique language of the Fog Beast, which was translated into understandable words by a constant-effect Comprehend Languages magic item Xie Man carried with him.

The next moment, Xie Man's expression changed dramatically, and he quickly ran out of the spell practice room.

The other students looked at each other, puzzled.

Old Roger, it seemed, had not survived the winter.

Old Roger had lived to the ripe old age of sixty-five, a rare feat in these times. In truth, his health had always been poor. The ailments he suffered from in his youth had taken a heavy toll on his body, leaving him much weaker after he turned fifty. It was only after Xie Man joined the base and began sending home a steady stream of gold coins each month that Old Roger could retire and focus on recuperating. Xie Man even exchanged a bottle of Lesser Dragon Blood Potion, which he diluted and gave to Old Roger to take regularly, helping to strengthen his frail body. Without this, Old Roger might not have made it past sixty.

Despite these efforts, Old Roger couldn't withstand the harsh winter of his sixty-fifth year. He passed away peacefully in his sleep, never waking up the next morning. It wasn't until the servants noticed something was amiss and entered his room that they discovered he had gone. They rushed to inform Xie Man.

Knowing Old Roger's aversion to extravagance, Xie Man kept the funeral simple and private. He laid Old Roger to rest without fanfare.

Standing before Old Roger's tombstone, Xie Man's expression was distant and silent. In the past, he would have been sobbing uncontrollably. But after five years at the base, he was no longer the crybaby he once was.

Not crying didn't mean the sorrow in his chest had diminished. It was still there, a heavy weight pressing down on him.

"Xie Man."

Artur, standing behind him, hesitated, her eyes filled with sorrow as she watched Xie Man. She had never seen him like this. Usually, Xie Man's face was often lit with a smile, even in the face of difficulties, he would self-deprecatingly chuckle and then redouble his efforts. But now, he exuded a profound grief.

"Take it easy," Cole said, appearing beside Xie Man. Xie Man took a deep breath, turned to face them, and his expression was calm, betraying no emotion.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

He glanced at the overcast sky, his voice low and somber.

"I just suddenly realize how short human life is. Decades pass in a blink of an eye."

"Will we also die one day, lying quietly in a tomb like Old Roger?"

"Everyone dies eventually," Artur responded hesitantly.

"What about the teacher?"

Artur faltered, unable to find the words. To her, Su Nan was the most powerful person in the world. Strong, knowledgeable, and possessing vast resources and influence. Perhaps someone like him could achieve immortality.

Cole said calmly, "Everyone dies, but powerful wizards do not."

"Didn't the teacher say that a full wizard can live for a thousand years, and a True Spirit Wizard can live for ten thousand years? That's practically immortality."

Artur smiled bitterly. "Do you think we can become full wizards?"

"Set your goal and work towards it. Why worry about things so far ahead?"

Cole's gaze was resolute as he looked forward.

"No matter how long it takes, I will become a full wizard!"

Cole stepped up beside Xie Man, his tone calm.

"I understand your sorrow, but you need to pull yourself together. If you want to continue on the path of a wizard, such losses will only become more frequent. You need to learn to cope."

Xie Man looked at Cole in surprise. "Are you trying to comfort me?"

"You can think of it that way."

"I thought you always disliked me."

"I don't like you, and I still don't, but your efforts and strength deserve my respect. Having you as a rival helps me stay motivated. I don't want you to fall into despair."

With that, Cole gave Xie Man a deep look and turned to leave.

Only after Cole's figure vanished from sight did Artur react, her face filled with surprise.

"I've never seen Cole like that before. He can actually say comforting words."

Xie Man chuckled, his gaze complex as he watched Cole's departure.

"You're right. That guy may be a bit stubborn, but he's not all bad."

"I used to think we didn't need to rush to improve, that steady and methodical learning was enough. But now, I see some truth in Cole's words."

"Life is short. Even as a third-level wizard apprentice, we only have one or two hundred years. To become a full wizard in such a short time, we need to make every second count and give it our all."

Xie Man sighed.

At that moment, a sense of urgency surged within him. He wanted to become stronger, faster!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end