Chapter 141: The Star Alliance's Early Days, Graduation Exam

Chapter 141: The Star Alliance's Early Days, Graduation Exam

Year 1256 of the Starlight Calendar, Spring Dawn Month (March).

After three months of focused effort, Xie Man and Cole had stabilized their realms and mastered the techniques required to establish magic plant gardens and set up the necessary magical arrays.

Su Nan then assigned them a mission to travel to a selected location and establish a new magic plant garden.

To facilitate their task, Su Nan also allowed them to choose some apprentices from the base to assist them.

The next day, the two set out with their teams, heading to other provinces of the duchy.

With the task of establishing magic plant gardens delegated, Su Nan's workload significantly decreased.

After creating four Bell of Doom marks, he stopped using the Blood of the Bell Striker to create bloodline marks. Instead, he focused on increasing the concentration of the Bell Striker's bloodline.

After the recent trials, the Bell Striker had fully submitted to Su Nan and cooperated with all his experiments, allowing Su Nan to implant various small devices within the creature.

These "small devices" were actually high-level rune gems.

Su Nan embedded the gems into the Bell Striker's head, ensuring that with a single thought, he could detonate the gems and instantly destroy the Bell Striker's head.

It wasn't that Su Nan was overly cautious, but the Bell Striker was, after all, a wild beast. Despite its current docility, there was no telling when it might rebel.

Especially after awakening divine energy, the Bell Striker's power would surge, and without some form of control, it could cause significant trouble.

After all, Su Nan couldn't watch the Bell Striker every moment.

Enhancing the bloodline of ancient beasts was far more challenging than enhancing that of a dragon.

According to the experimental notes left by Ugo, the Bell Striker's bloodline originated from an ancient beast known as the Scream Horror Worm.

The Cube provided information that the Bell Striker's current bloodline concentration was 32.49%.

However, Su Nan spent over half a month and managed to increase the concentration by only 0.04%.

"If I need to reach 100% to make the Bell Striker awaken divine energy and transform into a Scream Horror Worm, it will take an incredibly long time."

Su Nan frowned, pondering if he should try a different approach.

"Could synthesizing the blood directly produce divine energy?"

"Definitely worth a try!"

Su Nan decided to preserve the blood he would extract from the Bell Striker, and once he had enough, he would synthesize it into Scream Horror Worm blood to see if it could produce divine energy.

If successful, he wouldn't have to waste so much time increasing the bloodline concentration.

After all, the Bell Striker wasn't his magical pet. If its power grew too strong, it would be difficult to control. Maintaining its current level of strength would be ideal.

"Hidden Dragon's bloodline concentration is almost breaking 40%."

Su Nan had never neglected enhancing Hidden Dragon's bloodline concentration.

However, without high-concentration dragon blood or wyrm blood, Hidden Dragon's bloodline concentration grew very slowly.

Without external factors, Su Nan estimated it would take at least seven to eight years to advance Hidden Dragon's bloodline to true dragon blood.

"Although I've asked Koy to help search for wyrm and dragon information, given the current state of the Starlight Continent, finding suitable wyrms and dragons is still uncertain."

Lower-tier wyrms definitely still existed on the Starlight Continent.

But high-tier wyrms and dragons were a different story.

Perhaps the underground world had a higher chance of finding them.

However, Su Nan's influence in the underground world was still in its early stages, insufficient for large-scale searches. He could only gradually expand his territory and wait until his power was strong enough to search for high-tier wyrms and dragons.

Time flew by swiftly.

Before he knew it, it was the Summer Ridge Month (June).

On his 24th birthday, Su Nan finally gathered enough magical adamantine to forge a Golden Magic Golem.

Looking at the densely stacked ingots of magical adamantine in the puppet factory, he smiled with delight.

"Finally, I can start forging it."

Su Nan took a deep breath and began the process.

Two months ago, his "Puppet Forging" skill had already reached level 5, more than sufficient to forge a Golden Magic Golem.

Constructing the golem's body, engraving enchantment runes, casting permanent spells, and imbuing magical properties—by the time he finished, three days had passed.

When Su Nan finally exhaled and stopped, a massive figure stood on the workbench.

Under the bright light of the magic stones, the Golden Magic Golem was dark red, gleaming with a cold metallic luster. Just looking at it gave one a heavy sense of oppression, making it appear exceptionally mighty and imposing.

Su Nan then embedded the soul core into the indentation in the golem's chest, completing the final step.

As a brilliant light shone from the Golden Magic Golem's body, a peculiar life force surged within the massive construct.

Buzz!

The Golden Magic Golem trembled, then sat up and stepped off the workbench, landing with a heavy thud.

"Master, please give your command!"

The golem's voice was deep and monotone.

Seeing this, Su Nan's expression turned satisfied.

This Golden Magic Golem, in addition to its normal construction, was imbued with a series of second-level spells, including Levitate, Feather Step, Toughness, and Strength Surge.

It also possessed magical properties like Black Steel, Weak Lightning Elemental Damage, and Weak Ice Elemental Damage.

The typical cost to create a standard Golden Magic Golem was around 50,000 gold coins.

However, due to the addition of these permanent spells and magical properties, the cost for Su Nan's Golden Magic Golem was approximately 53,000 gold coins.

The high cost came with significant benefits, primarily in terms of power.

The Golden Magic Golem he encountered in the Awigen Legacy had only near-third-level legendary strength.

In contrast, Su Nan's Golden Magic Golem was a genuine third-level legendary construct, more than capable of handling a typical third-level wizard apprentice.

Even someone like Hebe would be no match for the Golden Magic Golem.

Each Golden Magic Golem was equivalent to a powerful third-level wizard apprentice.

"Although it hasn't reached the pinnacle of third-level legendary strength, it's still quite impressive."

Su Nan nodded in approval.

In terms of overall strength, the Golden Magic Golem was average among third-level legendary constructs, slightly inferior to the Bell Striker.

However, considering the golem's high resistance to sound-based attacks infused with soul power, a confrontation between the Golden Magic Golem and the Bell Striker would be uncertain.

"Unfortunately, the cost is too high, or I could have made more."

Su Nan's available funds were limited, so he could only create one Golden Magic Golem until he found a new mine.

"Now that I have a third-level legendary puppet, the next step is to create a homunculus."

In Su Nan's original plan, the redesigned simplified homunculus would have a combat strength approaching fourth-level legendary, with a cost of around 80,000 gold coins.

However, things had changed.

With his increased mental power, he could now synthesize 32 high-level rune gems, significantly boosting their power.

One of the key materials for the homunculus was the high-level rune gem.

With the enhanced power of the rune gems, the homunculus's combat strength would also increase.

Additionally, his recent advancements in enchanting puppet bodies with magical properties would further enhance the homunculus's combat capabilities.

With these dual improvements, the homunculus's combat strength would definitely surpass the original design, reaching fourth-level legendary without a doubt.

However, this would also increase the cost.

A preliminary estimate put the cost at nearly 100,000 gold coins.

"If I use a medium soul crystal instead of a small one, the combat strength would be even higher, but the cost would definitely exceed 100,000 gold coins!"

Su Nan couldn't help but grimace.

This amount was almost equivalent to several years' worth of tax revenue from a marquisate!

However, if 100,000 gold coins could buy a combat force equivalent to a top-tier third-level wizard apprentice, it would be worth it.

No royal family or third-level wizard apprentice would refuse such a deal.

"However, to create the homunculus, I still need more than five kilograms of mithril."

Su Nan sighed.

Unfortunately, Ugo, who had died at his hands, had no mithril in his possessions, otherwise, the shortfall wouldn't be so significant.

Indeed, biologists and alchemists, compared to other wizards, were often poor.

Storing the Golden Magic Golem in the cube, Su Nan left the puppet factory.

As soon as he returned to his study, Carolena appeared.

"Master, this is the report from the Dragonheart Knight Academy."

"Place it on the table." Su Nan waved his hand.

Carolena respectfully placed the report on the table and bowed as she left.

Su Nan picked up the report and began to read.

The content was straightforward, primarily detailing the graduation exam for the Dragonheart Knight Academy.

As the oldest knight academy, the Dragonheart Knight Academy had been in operation for three years.

By next June, the first batch of students at the Dragonheart Knight Academy will be ready to graduate.

According to the rules, students must pass the graduation exam to graduate successfully.

With this in mind, Dean Moritz proposed several exam formats and submitted them for Su Nan's review.

"Three years already?"

Su Nan sighed softly.

Thanks to the abundant supply of dragon blood fruits, the students at the Dragonheart Knight Academy had rapidly improved their strength.

Most second-year students had already reached the level of a squire.

Among the third-year students, twenty-two had successfully advanced to the rank of knight.

By next Summer Ridge Month, it was expected that all five hundred graduates would be knights.

In any country, this would be an astonishing achievement.

The Starlight Continent had never seen such a systematic and organized institution for training knights.

"Looks like the Knight Guard will soon welcome its first members."

Su Nan smiled with satisfaction, then his expression turned contemplative.

Xie Man and Cole's advancement was a critical milestone.

It indicated that the academy's training and accumulation had reached a point where they could unleash their full potential.

Starting with these two, more students would soon advance to the rank of second-level wizard apprentices.

Second-level wizard apprentices possessed considerable combat capabilities and could genuinely contribute to Su Nan's plans.

The surface world, the Starlight Duchy, was currently in a period of stable development with no immediate threat of war.

However, the underground world was at a critical juncture for expansion. It was expected to enter a phase of rapid growth soon, a time when a large workforce would be needed.

These second-level wizard apprentices would be perfect for participating in this expansion.

It would also serve as a form of training for them.

While Su Nan did not agree with the cruel and ruthless methods of dark wizards, he did not want to raise a group of sheltered students either.

Truly powerful wizards were never purely academic; they were well-versed in both knowledge and combat.

After all, whether it was collecting resources or exploring dangerous areas, combat and killing were inevitable.

"The newly formed Knight Guard can work alongside the second-level wizard apprentices to explore the surrounding areas."

"Otherwise, the Star Alliance is still short on manpower."

The Star Alliance was the name Su Nan had given to his underground forces.

From now on, the Dark Lake, Mato, and Osen would no longer act as separate entities but would unify under the Star Alliance.

The Star Alliance was still in its early stages, with its main forces being various puppets. The number of truly autonomous members was pitifully small, with only the vampires and sphinxes, totaling fewer than four hundred.

Exploring the surrounding areas and expanding outward would require more than just puppets; autonomous subordinates were also essential.

The lack of usable manpower was a significant obstacle to many of his plans.

Therefore, Su Nan wanted to involve the second-level wizard apprentices and the Knight Guard from the base.

This would not only increase his available manpower but also help balance the power between the vampires and sphinxes, preventing them from harboring any inappropriate thoughts.

After a moment of reflection, Su Nan had a plan. He set aside the report and took a piece of paper to start writing.

Since he had decided to involve the Knight Guard in the underground expansion, they needed to get familiar with the underground world as soon as possible.

The graduation exam was an excellent opportunity for this.

About half an hour later, Su Nan finished writing and called for Carolena. He handed her the outline of the graduation exam and instructed her to contact Moritz to finalize the detailed plan.

Once Carolena left, Su Nan took another piece of paper and wrote the words "Rune Engraving."

The knowledge of Rune Engraving was something he had acquired from the Forest Hut.

It was a special enchantment that combined magical tattoos and enchanted weapons, offering little benefit to wizard apprentices but significantly enhancing the combat capabilities of knights.

The idea of forming a Knight Guard had initially come to Su Nan from the concept of Rune Engraving.

Now that the Knight Guard was about to be established, it was time to start forging Rune Engravings.

"Even with their current strength, knights are still somewhat inadequate in the dangerous underground world. With Rune Engravings, the Knight Guard will be much more effective."

A basic first-level Rune Engraving could boost a novice knight's strength to that of a peak knight, nearly reaching the level of a grand knight.

With enough Rune Engravings, the Knight Guard would quickly become a formidable force!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end