Chapter 142: Not Interested in the Tower of Stars?

Chapter 142: Not Interested in the Tower of Stars?

Year 1256 of the Starlight Calendar, the Veil of Autumn (October).

The chill in the air was already quite noticeable, and this year's first snow might fall earlier than usual.

In the meditation chamber.

Su Nan sat cross-legged on the ground, slowly opening his eyes. A fleeting look of joy flashed across his face.

The fifteenth star ring, successfully constructed!

"Just three more star rings to go."

Su Nan took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and opened his interface.

[Su Nan Yanez, Human Male]



[Spirit: 48.03 / Constitution: 43.77]



[Skills]



Star Ring Meditation Lv16 (23/3,000,000)



Potion Making Lv4 (8,345/10,000)



Biomodification Lv3 (3,025/6,000)



Puppetry Lv5 (374/20,000)



Magic Item Crafting Lv4 (5,031/10,000)



"Three million proficiency points. At this rate, it should take about two years."

"But if I can use divine energy to boost my spirit power, the speed should increase even more."

The corners of Su Nan's mouth curled up.

The remaining three star rings should be completed within a decade.

Then it will just be a matter of spirit power and talent crystals.

Looking down, he saw that among the four skills, [Puppetry] had advanced the fastest, reaching a unique level 5.

After all, Su Nan had been intensely crafting various magical constructs for the past few years, which had rapidly increased his proficiency.

On the other hand, his Potion Making, which had previously been far ahead, had slowed down because he had mostly delegated the creation of low-level potions to the apprentices in his base. With fewer potions to make, his proficiency growth naturally slowed.

The same went for Magic Item Crafting and Biomodification, which he practiced less and less.

Especially Biomodification, which he only used to enhance the bloodlines of Hidden Dragon and Bellringer, resulting in almost no proficiency gains.

Still, to reach this level in the four major skills at the Apprentice stage, he was likely the only one in the entire Starlight Continent with such a rich resource base to practice on.

The other apprentices didn't have the same resources at their disposal.

Stretching, Su Nan took out the key to the trading house and waited patiently. Soon, he felt the key activate.

He immediately activated the key and entered the Hidden Grove Cottage.

Tonight was the quarterly gathering at the Hidden Grove Cottage.

The new member who missed the last gathering had been absent due to some business, but they should be here tonight.

Opening his eyes, Su Nan immediately looked around and indeed spotted a new member.

The new member wore a gray robe, and the faintly visible enchantment patterns indicated it was a magical item.

The robe covered the body completely, and the only visible part of the face was hidden behind a plain white mask.

The other members of the Hidden Grove Cottage were also discreetly observing the new member.

After waiting a bit and seeing no one else enter, Nightowl announced the start of the gathering.

"First, let me introduce the new member. This is the ninth Apprentice of the Hidden Grove Cottage."

Nightowl turned to the gray-robed figure with the white mask.

"According to the rules, the true identities of all Hidden Grove Cottage members are confidential and must not be revealed. For convenience, we all have our own codenames. Please choose one for yourself."

The gray-robed figure pondered for a moment and said, "I'll go with Hunter."

As the low, deep voice spoke, the word 'Hunter' slowly appeared on the table in front of him.

"Welcome, Hunter."

Nightowl smiled.

"Next, we will begin tonight's trading session."

The familiar trading process followed.

Apart from Black Grove and Traveler, all other members were present and took turns presenting items for trade.

Hunter observed the trading process silently and soon noticed that the Apprentice known as Player seemed to have an unusually large amount of resources.

Not only did he bring a considerable number of first-tier potions and alchemical-level magic items for trade, but he also used extremely rare magic stones to purchase items from others!

Moreover, the others seemed to take this for granted, suggesting that this wasn't just a one-time occurrence.

Seemingly noticing Hunter's surprise, Scepter, who was sitting nearby, whispered with a smile, "Player is the wealthiest among us, with a vast array of resources. Since he joined the Hidden Grove Cottage, our trading sessions have improved by several levels."

"I see."

Hunter glanced at Su Nan with a hint of surprise.

Noticing his gaze, Su Nan turned to look at him and nodded slightly.

Hunter quickly returned the nod.

He could tell that the others treated Su Nan with a hint of respect.

Clearly, this wasn't just because of the vast resources he possessed, but more likely due to his power.

This was a deeply rooted and formidable third-tier Apprentice.

Hunter made his judgment.

The trading session proceeded swiftly, and Hunter himself made two purchases, acquiring a first-tier potion from Su Nan and two sun grasses from Rose.

Soon, it was Hunter's turn to offer items for sale.

To everyone's surprise, he produced a stone inscribed with runes.

Su Nan's expression behind his mask became peculiar.

Amid the puzzled gazes of the others, Hunter spoke with a meaningful tone, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a key. A key to enter the Tower of Stars!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the five others, excluding Su Nan, were taken aback.

"The Tower of Stars, one of the three great legacies?"

"Is this for real?!"

"Do you know where the Tower of Stars is located?"

Even Nightowl couldn't help but look at Hunter with astonishment. He hadn't expected that Hunter's first offering after joining the Hidden Grove Cottage would be something so significant!

That is, assuming Hunter was telling the truth.

Nightowl's eyes revealed a thoughtful expression, as if he had just realized something.

Scepter was the first to regain his composure and spoke in a deep voice, "How do you prove what you're saying is true?"

Hunter seemed to have anticipated this and calmly replied, "I can swear a binding oath."

Upon hearing this, the others no longer doubted him, and their gazes turned intensely focused on the rune-inscribed stone.

This was the Tower of Stars, one of the three great legacies of the Starlight Continent! It was said that anyone who could enter the Tower had a significant chance of advancing to a full-fledged wizard. In the element-scarce and resource-poor Starlight Continent, this was almost the only hope for them, third-tier apprentices, to become wizards!

"The Tower of Stars opens every twenty years, and its location changes randomly each time. Only those with the key can find and enter it. To my knowledge, the next opening will be in ten years."

As Hunter spoke, the others' eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Make your offer," Skeleton's hoarse voice couldn't hide his excitement, his gaze fixed on Hunter. "What do you want in exchange?"

Hunter didn't speak but turned to look at Su Nan.

Seeing this, the others' hearts sank.

They had almost forgotten about the Player!

If he wanted the Tower of Stars key, no one at the table could compete with him!

To their surprise, Su Nan shook his head, "I'm not interested. You can trade among yourselves."

Hunter was taken aback.

He had hoped to use the Tower of Stars key to extract a significant amount from the wealthy Su Nan, but it seemed the other wasn't playing by the expected rules.

Could it be that he wasn't interested in the Tower of Stars?

That didn't make sense!

Was there a third-tier apprentice in the world who wasn't interested in the Tower of Stars?

Hunter was thoroughly puzzled.

Rose, Scepter, Heart, and Skeleton were also stunned, their confusion growing as they couldn't fathom why Su Nan wasn't interested.

Only Nightowl remained calm.

He had already figured out the reason.

"The Tower of Stars, the Starlight Principality, huh. I never thought these two would have a connection. I always assumed it was just a coincidence in names."

Regaining his composure and seeing that the Player had no intention of bidding, the others were overjoyed.

As long as the Player didn't participate, their chances of obtaining the Tower of Stars key greatly increased.

Hunter, on the other hand, was deeply disappointed and could only say, "My first choice is potions and gems. Other items can be considered based on their value."

Without waiting, Skeleton eagerly made the first bid, "A gem worth ten thousand gold coins, plus five mini soul crystals!"

The others quickly followed, each trying to outbid the others.

"Two bottles of calming potion, plus a gem worth twenty thousand gold coins!"

"A gem worth thirty thousand gold coins!"

The bids rose rapidly.

This was likely the most competitive trading session in the history of the Hidden Grove Cottage.

Everyone was determined to secure the key.

Su Nan sat calmly to the side, watching the five of them bid against each other.

If he could, he would certainly want the Tower of Stars key.

He already had one, but he could give it to Koy.

However, seeing Nightowl and the others so determined and willing to pay a high price, he decided it wasn't worth the cost.

After all, Koy needed the Dawn Potion to extend his lifespan, and he could always find a way to get one later when he entered the Tower of Stars himself.

Compared to competing for the key, Su Nan was more curious about how Hunter had obtained it.

As far as he knew, the Tower of Stars key should only be in the possession of Evens.

Could it be that Hunter and Evens know each other? Or perhaps he stole the key from Evens?

Nightowl had once mentioned that Hunter escaped from Saulo of the Immortal Society. Could this be related to the Immortal Society?

Several possibilities flashed through Su Nan's mind.

At this moment, the bidding for the Star Tower key finally came to an end.

Scepter won the key with a high bid of thirteen bottles of Calming Potion and a gem worth 62,000 gold coins.

Su Nan wasn't surprised by the outcome.

Before he joined the Hidden Grove Cottage, Scepter was already the most generous member.

If his guess was correct, and Scepter truly came from the Azure Gold Empire's royal family, his generosity would make sense.

The Azure Gold Empire was the most powerful nation in the southeastern domain of the continent, without a doubt.

A bottle of Calming Potion, a first-tier potion that aids meditation, was worth about 300 gold coins.

In the end, Scepter spent nearly 66,000 gold coins to secure the Star Tower key.

It was a high price, but Scepter looked extremely satisfied with the result.

Rose, Heart, and Skeleton appeared somewhat reluctant.

Unfortunately, their resources couldn't match Scepter's, so their reluctance was for naught.

Su Nan gave Hunter a deep look.

Since Hunter was willing to trade the Star Tower key, it suggested he had at least one more key, perhaps even more.

Similar transactions might occur in the future.

Frostfall (November).

Snowflakes began to drift down to the ground.

The snow had indeed come earlier this year.

Compared to the bone-chilling cold on the surface, the underground world had only experienced a slight drop in temperature.

In the city of Lake Shadow, the sphinx warriors still walked the streets bare-chested.

In Base 2, in the laboratory.

A large workbench was cluttered with numerous test tubes, each containing 100 milliliters of blood extracted from the Bellringer.

"Enough blood."

Su Nan muttered to himself, opening the synthesis cube and placing the blood in it one by one, his eyes fixed on the synthesis interface.

As he added more blood, the bloodline concentration on the synthesis interface continued to increase.

59.13%... 64.79%... 71.34%... 84.11%...

When only a few test tubes remained on the workbench, the bloodline concentration on the synthesis interface finally broke the 100% mark, and the information suddenly changed.

[Scream Horror Bug Blood, Purity 1.25%, Contains 1 Standard Unit of Divine Energy. When injected into a human body, there is a very small chance of fusing with the Scream Horror Bug bloodline, but a very high chance of rejection, which can lead to death. The stronger the body and spirit, the higher the fusion success rate and the lower the rejection rate.]



"Success!"

Su Nan was overjoyed.

Just as he had suspected, even without enhancing the Bellringer's bloodline concentration, synthesizing the blood could produce divine energy.

Although the divine energy contained was minimal, it proved that his method was correct.

Su Nan immediately extracted the divine energy from the blood and absorbed it.

Unlike the divine energy obtained from a deity, which carried the power of faith and could cause faith pollution, the divine energy from a natural divine creature was pure and could be absorbed directly.

After digesting the divine energy, Su Nan checked his interface and found that his spirit had increased by 0.25.

"Not bad!"

Su Nan smiled in satisfaction.

Given that it contained only one standard unit of divine energy, far less than what he had extracted from the divine remains, a 0.25 increase in spirit was quite good.

The key was that this method was sustainable.

As long as the Bellringer was alive, he could continuously extract blood and artificially produce divine energy, providing a regular means to increase his spirit power.

"About eight months' worth of blood is needed to produce one standard unit of divine energy."

"On average, this could add about 0.37 to my spirit power each year."

"But no, that's not right. The later stages of spirit power enhancement are harder, so the increments will likely decrease over time."

"Still, even with that, it will significantly shorten the time it takes for my spirit power to reach 60."

Su Nan thought of the Bellringer locked in the restricted area.

Considering its significant contribution, he would move it to a more comfortable environment later.

Otherwise, living in a dark prison and being bled daily could lead to depression.

Of course, security would still need to be tight.

Since he wasn't using the mithril golem anymore, he would have it guard the Bellringer.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end