Chapter 185: The Forbidden Zone and Black Thunder

Chapter 185: The Forbidden Zone and Black Thunder



In the eyes of many wizards, only magical artifacts can truly be considered genuine magical items.

Alchemical-grade and Glitter-grade items are mere subpar and inferior products.

Even the lowest tier of magical artifacts is far more powerful than Glitter-grade items.

High-tier magical artifacts are almost on par with legendary artifacts.

In a brightly lit workshop,

A large workbench was cluttered with numerous Glitter-grade magical items.

These were all created by Su Nan over the past period.

Su Nan had long planned the types of magical artifacts he would create.

First and foremost, he needed a defensive artifact, which was an absolute necessity.

Given the excellent performance of the Ring of Ultimate Protection in the past, Su Nan decided to stick with this type for his new defensive artifact.

In fact, force field protection is the preferred choice for the majority of wizards.

Apart from physical attacks, force fields also offer excellent defense against intangible attacks like soul strikes.

However, Su Nan’s plans extended beyond mere defense.

Simple protection was no longer enough to satisfy his ambitions.

Ideally, he wanted to add some extra functionality to his artifact.

Adding offensive capabilities was clearly out of the question.

Even with the versatile Magic Core, offensive and defensive functions are separate and cannot be performed simultaneously.

The same applies to magical items.

But while offensive capabilities were not feasible, auxiliary functions such as crowd control or debuffs were possible.

Fortunately, Su Nan found numerous designs for magical items in the books he obtained from the Tower of the Starry Heavens. He drew inspiration from these and, after extensive research, created a new Alchemical-grade magical item.

He chose Alchemical-grade because creating new Glitter-grade items was too difficult.

Since he could strengthen the item through synthesis, Su Nan opted for the simpler route, focusing on achieving the desired functionality.

The final magical ring he created still possessed the intangible force field protection of a defensive ring, but the force field no longer clung tightly to the wearer’s body. Instead, it expanded significantly, forming a spherical force field with a one-meter radius centered on the user.

All enemies entering this force field would be suppressed, akin to a Heavy Pressure Buff, severely restricting their movements.

Thus, the new magical item achieved a dual effect of defense and crowd control.

Of course, the addition of new functions came at the cost of reduced effectiveness for each individual function.

The most obvious was the significant decrease in the defensive capability of the force field.

However, Su Nan was not concerned. The Cube Synthesis could solve this issue.

He placed the rings on the workbench one by one into the cube and began the synthesis process.

After twenty-six rings, the synthesis interface immediately changed to 'Magical Artifact.'

However, this was only the lowest tier of magical artifact. Su Nan did not stop there and continued adding more rings.

Each time he synthesized an additional ring, he would take out the magical artifact to test its resonance.

The use of magical artifacts is also limited by mental power.

Without sufficient mental power, forcing the use of a high-tier magical artifact would result in backlash, making it counterproductive.

He could not allow the artifact’s power to exceed his limits.

It wasn’t until he had synthesized seventy-eight rings that Su Nan finally felt the load approaching his limit.

"Is this the limit?"

Su Nan glanced at the synthesis interface, which still displayed 'First Tier.'

He had a feeling that the artifact was still far from breaking through to the Second Tier.

However, his current strength could only handle this much.

"Once my mental power improves, I’ll continue the synthesis."

Su Nan took out the ring and put it on, then activated it.

Instantly, the air around him seemed to distort, and an invisible wave radiated outward from Su Nan.

Creak!

The metal workbench in front of him suddenly flattened, as if an invisible giant hand had pressed down on it with immense force.

With a screeching sound, the workbench, made of enchanted steel and far harder than a steel golem, was reduced to a flat pile of scrap metal in an instant.

Su Nan realized he had been careless and quickly focused his mind, causing the heavy pressure on the scrap metal to dissipate.

As the user of the magical artifact, he could decide the targets of the force field.

"Force field radius is about five meters."

Su Nan nodded in approval.

This was essentially a small domain.

From the flattened workbench, it was clear that the force field’s heavy pressure alone could easily kill a First Tier Legendary.

However, a more thorough test was needed.

Su Nan teleported to the training area and released a Respected Adamantine Golem to begin the testing.

The results were highly satisfactory.

Even the mighty Adamantine Golem, renowned for its strength, found it impossible to move within the force field's range.

A Fourth Circle Legendary puppet could barely move under the immense pressure, but its movements were as slow as those of an elderly person in their seventies or eighties.

In essence, any creature below the level of a wizard would find it nearly impossible to do anything other than struggle against the overwhelming pressure once they entered the force field's range.

If used against First or Second Circle Legendary creatures, the originally auxiliary pressure effect could become a terrifying killing force.

In terms of defense, the force field’s protective rating was estimated to be between 53,000 and 55,000.

This was over fifty times the defense of the Ring of Ultimate Protection!

Such astonishing defensive capabilities were almost on par with his innate ability, 'Liquid Metal.'

However, 'Liquid Metal' provided instant damage defense, while the force field offered sustained damage defense. Once its energy was depleted, it required recharging, making its overall defensive effectiveness slightly inferior.

The only advantage was that it could be mass-produced.

"Unfortunately, without the assistance of a wizard-level combatant for testing, I can't get more specific data," Su Nan said with a hint of regret.

Despite this, the test results he had obtained were already highly satisfactory.

"I need to give it a new name."

Running his fingers over the ring's textured surface, Su Nan quickly came up with an idea.

"Let's call it 'No-Go Zone.'"

Creating the No-Go Zone had almost depleted all his rings, so he had to put the idea of crafting a second one on hold.

Like the Ring of Ultimate Protection, he planned to synthesize at least five No-Go Zones to carry with him.

One can never have too many means of self-preservation.

However, synthesizing wizard artifacts required a significant number of magical items, so he estimated it would take some time to accumulate enough.

After resolving the defensive wizard artifacts, the next step was to focus on offensive ones.

For this, Su Nan had his eye on a design from the Starlight Tower for a micro-level magical item called 'Black Thunder.'

The primary material for Black Thunder was Thunderstone, obtained from the depths of the Lightning Elemental Plane.

This stone, constantly struck by lightning over centuries, had all its impurities and dross eradicated, leaving behind only the purest, most refined part, rich in volatile lightning energy particles.

Black Thunder, crafted from Thunderstone, could unleash a torrent of black lightning when activated, striking the target with immense power.

Su Nan favored this straightforward and powerful attack method.

After all, he already had 'Liquid Metal' for more flexible attacks.

Among the materials he had obtained from the Starlight Tower, there were several Thunderstones. Su Nan spent a month refining over a dozen Black Thunders and then synthesized them into a wizard artifact of the highest limit.

Given the immense power of an offensive wizard artifact, even a powerful puppet would be unable to withstand it. Therefore, he could only test the Black Thunder's power in a secluded area and then stop.

To get detailed data, he would have to wait until the Hidden Dragon evolved into a true dragon, providing a suitable test subject.

With the remaining Thunderstones, Su Nan planned to craft more Black Thunders for a second wizard artifact.

To create more Black Thunder wizard artifacts in the future, he would need to collect more Thunderstones from the Lightning Elemental Plane.

Although a First Circle Wizard did not yet have the ability to travel between planes, a brief visit to an elemental plane was still possible.

However, the Lightning Elemental Plane was known for its dangers, so Su Nan decided to accumulate more strength and resources before venturing there.

During the testing of the No-Go Zone and Black Thunder, Su Nan noticed a significant issue—recharging wizard artifacts.

Wizard artifacts were incredibly powerful, and the amount of energy particles needed to recharge them far exceeded those required by micro-level magical items.

This made recharging wizard artifacts a very lengthy process under the current conditions on the Starlight Continent.

Preliminary estimates suggested that recharging the No-Go Zone would take about two months.

Black Thunder, which could only absorb lightning energy particles, had an even slower recharge rate, taking about eight months.

The only advantage was that Black Thunder's power was not affected by energy scarcity, as it relied on stored energy particles.

"In future battles, I should rely more on Liquid Metal," Su Nan thought.

Compared to spells and magical items, the consumption of Liquid Metal was much lower.

His innate energy was less affected by energy scarcity, and Liquid Metal did not heavily depend on the concentration of energy particles, further reducing its impact.

If not for this, Su Nan's combat effectiveness as a wizard would be diminished to the point where he would be barely stronger than a Third Circle Wizard Apprentice.

Putting away the magical tools, Su Nan let out a long sigh of relief.

The most crucial potions and magical tools were now taken care of, allowing him to shift his focus to other areas.

Like puppets, for instance.

Over the past few months, Su Nan had managed to bolster the high-tier combat strength of two small golem legions. Now, the entire Star Alliance boasted six small golem legions.

To be more precise, it had one medium golem legion and one small golem legion.

The seventh small golem legion was also in the process of being formed.

However, the main force behind the golem creation was the apprentices at the base. Su Nan only handled a small number of high-tier puppets, which didn't require much of his energy.

His primary focus was on the secret automatons.

During the two years he was away, the Star Alliance had discovered and developed three silver veins, including one medium-sized silver vein, accumulating nearly thirty kilograms of mithril.

That was enough to craft two secret automatons.

However, Su Nan didn't plan to do that.

In the past, due to skill limitations, material constraints, and his own strength, he had to settle for a simplified version of the secret automaton.

Now, with the materials available and his skills and strength at a higher level, he could attempt to craft the original, complete version of the secret automaton.

A fully-fledged secret automaton had combat capabilities comparable to a full-fledged wizard!

"A complete secret automaton requires about thirty-six kilograms of mithril."

Su Nan had just made a substantial profit from the spatial rings of the people at the Tower of Twinkling Stars and the Council of Truth, acquiring over ten kilograms of mithril. Combined with the stock in Long Lin's warehouse, he had more than enough to craft a complete secret automaton.

"A wizard-level mental strength and a 5th-level [Puppet Crafting] skill are sufficient for the task."

Besides mithril, the complete secret automaton also required a large amount of gems, rare metals, and, most importantly, a medium-sized soul crystal.

Su Nan was not short of these materials either; his spatial ring was filled with them, all contributed by the Tower of Twinkling Stars and the Council of Truth.

However, after just finishing the magical tools, Su Nan planned to take a few days to rest and recover his mental energy before crafting the secret automaton.

Returning to his study, Su Nan sat down behind his desk and picked up a book.

Over the past few days, he had finished reading the books he brought from the Tower of Twinkling Stars.

Apart from gaining knowledge, he also learned some secrets about the events that occurred a thousand years ago.

Elemental deserts like the Starlight Continent were not unique in the multiverse.

Throughout the ages, countless similar planes had emerged.

Wizards had identified some patterns.

The causes of elemental deserts were varied, but the two most common were:

1. The weakening of the plane's fundamental essence.

In simpler terms, the plane's life span was nearing its end, leading to a rapid decline in elemental energy.

This type of elemental desert was irreversible and would continue to worsen until the plane's fundamental essence completely dissipated, causing the plane to vanish.

2. Issues with the plane's barrier.

The planes in the multiverse were as numerous as the stars, each with unique characteristics.

Not all planes had gravity, soil, lava, sunlight, air, and water. Some planes were entirely void, with no solid ground to stand on.

However, any complete plane that harbored life inevitably possessed elemental energies such as earth, water, wind, fire, and lightning. The difference was merely in the quantity.

These planes were separated from elemental planes by a special barrier, which could be likened to a fine mesh with many tiny holes.

Through this 'mesh,' elemental energy could slowly flow into the plane.

When wizards (apprentices) created elemental pools, it was akin to enlarging one of the holes in the 'mesh,' increasing the flow of elemental energy.

However, a thousand years ago, the barrier between the Starlight Continent and the elemental planes underwent a change.

The holes in the 'mesh' became smaller, drastically reducing the flow of elemental energy and turning the entire Starlight Continent into an elemental desert.

To address this issue, the wizards, before leaving the Starlight Continent, worked together to seal and repair the plane's barrier.

According to their estimates, it would take about two thousand years for the Starlight Continent's barrier to fully recover.

During this period, the entire Starlight Continent would be isolated, and any existence exceeding a certain level of life force would be unable to enter or leave the plane. Attempting to do so would come at a great cost.

In fact, many planes had similar rules, which is why high-level beings like deities could not easily descend to the material plane.

The wizards reinforced these restrictions on the Starlight Continent to prevent high-level beings from entering or leaving, thus avoiding the disruption of the gradually recovering elemental balance.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end