https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-130-Life-Is-Short-Every-Second-Counts/12808457/
Chapter 131: The State of the Wizards
Chapter 131: The State of the Wizards
"Master, Matu and Osen have sent letters."
As soon as Su Nan stepped out of the meditation room, Carolina hurried over, handing him a letter.
Su Nan raised an eyebrow in surprise and took the letter, opening it.
The Red Widow and the Black Duke had been quiet for so long that he had assumed the two city-states would leave Mystic Lake City to fend for itself and collaborate against Kashaam. He didn't expect to hear from them now.
The content of the letter was simple: an invitation to meet.
The three city lords were to meet alone in the Black Valley in three days, without any soldiers, to discuss matters related to Kashaam.
"Master, did the Red Widow and the Black Duke say anything else?" Carolina asked cautiously.
Su Nan didn't say much, simply passing the letter to her.
After Carolina finished reading, Su Nan asked, "Where is the Black Valley?"
"It's roughly at the intersection of Matu, Osen, and Mystic Lake City, in the center of a black valley."
Carolina, understanding what Su Nan wanted to know, explained in detail, "The Black Valley is a very special place. Once you use elements or magic there, you'll suffer severe backlash, and the stronger you are, the more severe the backlash. That's why Ysura, the Red Widow, and the Black Duke would always choose to meet there, to avoid any ambushes."
Su Nan's expression changed.
It sounded a bit like an anti-magic zone.
However, in an anti-magic zone, you can't cast spells or manipulate energy particles.
In the Black Valley, you can manipulate energy particles, but you'll suffer backlash.
It had a similar effect.
No wonder the Red Widow and the Black Duke chose that place for their meeting.
There, they wouldn't have to worry about Su Nan attacking them.
Similarly, Su Nan wouldn't have to worry about them plotting against him.
"Master, are you going to go?" Carolina asked.
Although Su Nan hadn't explicitly said so, Carolina could sense that he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about collaborating with Matu and Osen.
Initially, Carolina had some reservations about this and planned to find an opportunity to persuade her master.
However, after seeing a few elite dual-blade spiders and high-tier stone golems in the puppet factory a few days ago, she dropped the idea.
What collaboration?
With the golem army, Matu and Osen were irrelevant. Mystic Lake City could handle the insect plague on its own.
Now, it was Matu and Osen who should be worried about how to deal with the insect plague!
"Seeing what they have in mind wouldn't be a bad idea."
Su Nan smiled with a deep meaning.
Although he didn't plan to collaborate, using this opportunity to probe Matu and Osen's true intentions would be beneficial.
After all, once Kashaam was dealt with, it would be the turn of these two city-states.
Knowing your enemy as well as yourself ensures victory. Gathering intelligence beforehand was always a good idea.
"Reply to them and tell them I agree."
After Carolina left, Su Nan walked to his study.
The desk was piled with scrolls of parchment. Su Nan sat down and casually picked one up, spreading it out to read carefully.
The content was about the secrets of the wizards.
This was intelligence that the former Starlight Royal Family had secretly collected, and Kui had sent it to him as soon as he discovered it.
Perhaps because their ancestors were wizards, the former Starlight Royal Family had always placed great importance on wizards, dedicating significant resources each year to gather secrets about wizards in the southeastern domain of the Starlight Continent, compiling and organizing the information.
Over the years, they had achieved considerable results.
According to the intelligence, there were 184 wizards whose whereabouts were known.
Among them, there were 31 first-level wizard apprentices, 148 second-level wizard apprentices, and 5 third-level wizard apprentices.
From the data alone, the number of second-level wizard apprentices was disproportionately high compared to the other two levels.
But upon closer reflection, this made sense. First-level wizard apprentices, who had yet to display their strength, would naturally be very low-key and hard to discover.
Third-level wizard apprentices were simply fewer in number.
In contrast, second-level wizard apprentices, who had already acquired some power, began using their abilities to gain advantages and gather resources, making them the most active group.
Notably, more than 70% of these 184 wizards had passed away over the course of several hundred years.
The remaining ones were scattered across dozens of countries in the southeastern domain of the continent.
The intelligence from the Starlight Royal Family detailed the approximate strength of these wizard apprentices, the countries and towns they were currently in, and the noble forces they were collaborating with.
Su Nan read through each entry, noting that almost all the wizard apprentices had the support of noble forces.
This was to be expected. After all, in this resource-scarce era, it was incredibly difficult for wizard apprentices to gather sufficient resources without the help of a significant number of people.
Notably, Su Nan even found his own intelligence listed.
Up until the rebellion in the Flashing Fief, the report estimated his strength to be at the level of a Second Circle Legendary.
This was quite a bit off.
No wonder the Firelight Church only sent a High Priest with a holy relic to protect Duke Helan in the Lake Blue Province.
Apart from him, there were four other third-level wizard apprentices.
One was a third-level wizard apprentice under the patronage of the Starlight Royal Family, who had already been killed by Ovij.
The second was Ugo from the Immortality Guild.
According to the intelligence, the Immortality Guild was an extremely aggressive and reckless wizard organization, with an estimated membership of eight to ten individuals.
They were active throughout the Starlight Continent, secretly using force to manipulate and control numerous small country nobles and even royal families, forcing them to gather resources for the guild.
Moreover, the Immortality Guild would stop at nothing to enhance their power.
They captured civilians for experiments, allowed modified creatures to massacre villages to collect data, and planted evil demonic plants in densely populated areas, leading to countless deaths. Such atrocities were far too numerous to count!
There was even an incident where an Immortality Guild wizard apprentice killed all the inhabitants of a small country, turning the entire nation into a wasteland!
This event caused a sensation throughout the southeastern domain.
To avoid causing panic, the neighboring countries' high-ranking officials tacitly suppressed the news, claiming that the small country's downfall was due to a major epidemic. As a result, the common people and minor nobles remained largely unaware.
In the vast southeastern domain, apart from the powerful nations like the Azure Gold Empire, the Starlight Principality, and the Thornflower Principality, which the Immortality Guild feared, the rest of the countries had all suffered from the guild's atrocities.
However, the Immortality Guild was so powerful that these countries could only swallow their anger and endure.
"Nightowl was right; the Immortality Guild is a bunch of lunatics."
Su Nan knew without a doubt that the numerous calamities caused by the Immortality Guild's wizard apprentices were likely part of their research to extend their lifespans.
They were a group of madmen who would do anything to achieve immortality!
The only reason the entire continent hadn't become a wasteland was the presence of other rational wizards who kept these lunatics in check. Otherwise, the continent would have deteriorated much faster.
The one piece of good news was that, like the Forest Hut, the Immortality Guild's organizational structure was relatively loose.
Members operated independently, exchanging resources, information, and support through transactions, with little close-knit relationship among them.
This meant that Ugo's previous threats were likely just a show of force.
The claim that the divine remains were something the Immortality Guild must obtain was probably just to scare him off.
The divine remains were likely something Ugo wanted for himself.
However, he couldn't rule out the possibility that Ugo might later pay a price to convince other members of the Immortality Guild to assist him.
Regardless, as long as the entire Immortality Guild wasn't mobilized, Su Nan didn't need to be overly concerned.
Continuing to read, he found that the remaining two third-level wizard apprentices had the backing of the Azure Gold Empire's royal family and the Thornflower Principality's royal family, respectively.
To Su Nan's surprise, according to the intelligence, these two third-level wizard apprentices were also members of the Forest Hut.
"Forest Hut members with ties to the royal families."
The first names that came to Su Nan's mind were Staff and Rose.
From his observations, the two members of the Forest Hut who most exuded noble decorum were undoubtedly these two.
If his guess was correct, these two third-level wizard apprentices were likely Staff and Rose.
Judging by their names, Staff was probably the third-level wizard apprentice backed by the Azure Gold Empire's royal family.
As for Rose, she was likely the third-level wizard apprentice backed by the Thornflower Principality's royal family.
It was precisely because of these two that the Immortality Guild's wizard apprentices dared not make a move against the Azure Gold Empire and the Thornflower Principality.
As for the Starlight Principality, it was protected by Ivans and the third-level wizard apprentice who had been killed by Ovij.
All of these were the wizard apprentices whose locations had been confirmed.
There were many more who had appeared or left clues but whose existence or specific whereabouts remained uncertain.
For example, the other wizard apprentices of the Immortality Guild besides Ugo.
The Forest Hut was no different. Apart from Su Nan, Staff, and Rose, the other members were not mentioned in this intelligence report.
After all, the Starlight Royal Family's intelligence gathering was primarily limited to the southeastern domain, and their influence rarely extended to other regions. Naturally, it was difficult for them to gather information on wizards in those areas.
Spending over half an hour, Su Nan meticulously read through the entire intelligence report, gaining a general understanding of the current state of wizards in the southeastern domain of the Starlight Continent.
It was undeniable that, compared to the billions of people in the dozens of countries in the southeastern domain, the number of wizard apprentices was incredibly small.
Not even one in ten thousand.
In fact, if he were to compare, the combined number of wizard apprentices in the entire southeastern domain might not even match the number in his own base.
Although, it was true that all the wizard apprentices in his base were first-level apprentices.
But it made sense. Given the current state of the Starlight Continent, it was destined to be difficult to produce many wizard apprentices.
Currently, there were two main origins for wizard apprentices in the continent:
The first type was a fortunate individual with the potential to become a wizard, who accidentally came across an enlightenment book and thus awakened their mental energy, embarking on the path of a wizard. They would gradually accumulate strength and resources. If they had enough luck and potential, they could advance to a second-level wizard apprentice and then seek the protection of a noble force, stepping into the limelight.
The number of wizard apprentices who emerged through this path was extremely low.
The second type was those who were of noble or royal lineage.
Some royal families and great nobles, who were aware of the secrets of wizards or had ancestors who were wizard apprentices, would use enlightenment books to test the potential of their family members.
If a family member was found to have the potential to become a wizard, they would be cultivated with all available resources.
This type of wizard apprentice was relatively more numerous and, due to their backing, often found it easier to advance to a third-level wizard apprentice.
For example, Staff and Rose both belonged to the second type.
Of course, there was also a third type, where wizard apprentices themselves cultivated students.
However, this was extremely rare.
Wizard apprentices often found their own resources insufficient, and rarely had extra resources to cultivate students.
Cultivating dozens of students simultaneously with a significant amount of resources, as Su Nan did, was unheard of.
Others were cultivating guardians for their nation or family, or successors to their legacy. Su Nan, on the other hand, was cultivating his own force.
Once these students grew in strength, his base would leap to become the most powerful wizard force on the Starlight Continent.
"Based on this intelligence, it seems there are no formal wizards left on the Starlight Continent."
"At least not in the southeastern domain."
If there were still formal wizards in the southeastern domain, the Starlight Royal Family wouldn't have failed to find any clues over the years.
As for other regions of the Starlight Continent, further investigation was needed.
"Next time I meet with Brother, I should ask him to gather more intelligence on this."
Putting down the intelligence report, Su Nan flicked his wrist, and a rune stone appeared in his palm.
It was the key to finding and entering the Starlight Tower, which he had obtained from Ivans.
"The next appearance is in twelve years."
Su Nan gazed at the rune stone, his eyes filled with contemplation.
According to Ivans, entering the Starlight Tower required passing a trial.
Considering that anyone with the potential to become a wizard had the right to enter the Starlight Tower, the trial's difficulty should not be too high, as some entrants might not even be first-level wizard apprentices.
However, there were other possibilities.
For example, different levels of wizard apprentices might face different trials with varying difficulties.
The exact nature of the trials would only be known once he actually entered the Starlight Tower.
Su Nan estimated that in twelve years, he should be able to construct eighteen star rings and increase his mental energy to over 60 points.
The remaining challenge would be constructing a talent crystal.
This was the most difficult hurdle for advancing to a formal wizard.
Many third-level wizard apprentices were stalled at this stage, spending decades and failing to take the final step before their lifespans ran out.
"Given the current state of the Starlight Continent, even with the synthesis cube, it would take me at least forty to fifty years to construct a talent crystal."
"However, if I can find resources to aid my advancement within the Starlight Tower, I might be able to cross this hurdle sooner."
Su Nan had a vague intuition that the opportunity for him to advance to a formal wizard might lie within the Starlight Tower.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report