Chapter 268: Rising Fame

Chapter 268: Rising Fame

2024-11-01

"The predecessor of the Starry Sky Tower was a wizard's tower, supposedly left behind after a powerful traveling wizard was killed in battle. Due to the severe damage, it could not be repaired and was almost just a shell. After the All-Things Society took over, they renovated it into the current Starry Sky Tower."

As Tanner introduced, he led Su Nan and Liz to enter the Starry Sky Tower.

The first floor was an incredibly spacious circular hall, entirely paved with white jade, exuding luxury.

Inside the hall, tall green stone steles, about two meters high, were evenly spaced, densely packed like a stone forest.

The surfaces of the steles displayed dense text, recording detailed mission information.

Su Nan glanced around and found that the mission content was mostly about gathering wizards to explore a plane, hiring people to conquer a plane, or purchasing certain types of intelligence.

After a quick look, Su Nan quickly lost interest.

For wandering wizards who had not joined any wizard forces, such a place might be very appealing, as they could earn resources and gather information. However, for Su Nan, the usefulness of this mission hall was minimal.

He could not find the resources he needed here, and truly valuable intelligence would not appear in such a place.

Withdrawing his gaze, the three entered a teleportation array in the corner of the hall and arrived directly at the seventh floor, where the arena duels were held.

This floor was also a circular hall, but smaller in size.

The number of stone steles was much fewer, distributed around the edges of the hall, forming a circle.

Many wizards stood in front of the steles, pointing and whispering to each other.

Su Nan walked up to one of the steles and read the text.

[Arena 13]



[Arena Master: Trevor Evans]



[Affiliation: Steel Constructs]



[Rank: Level 2 Crystallized Wizard]



[Wager: 10 Shadow Steel Golems]



[Challenge Fee: 5000 Lower Tier Magic Stones]



Noticing Su Nan's gaze, Tanner explained enthusiastically, "The rules for the arena duels here are that only wizards of the same rank as the arena master can challenge them. That is, only Level 2 wizards can challenge a Level 2 wizard, and only Level 3 wizards can challenge a Level 3 wizard. Therefore, those who dare to initiate arena duels are mostly Crystallized Wizards, and they are also among the best in their ranks in terms of combat ability."

Liz glanced at the stele, her eyes reflecting a touch of nostalgia. "I remember Steel Constructs being a third-rate wizard force, right? I heard they are very skilled at crafting puppets?"

"Lady Liz is correct," Tanner smiled in agreement. After learning that Liz was a Level 2 wizard, he showed more respect in his demeanor.

"Steel Constructs' puppets are renowned for their quality. Using the same materials, the puppets they craft are significantly stronger than those crafted by other wizards. These 10 Shadow Steel Golems are worth at least 70,000 Lower Tier Magic Stones."

By paying a challenge fee of 5,000 Lower Tier Magic Stones, a wizard could win a wager worth 70,000 Lower Tier Magic Stones if successful.

A profit of thirteen times the cost—any wizard confident in their abilities would be tempted.

As Su Nan and the others were chatting, a wizard walked up to the 13th stele, glanced at it, and casually touched it. A flash of light, and the person disappeared.

"The duels take place in a separate dimensional space. No matter how intense the fight, there's no need to worry about damaging the Starry Sky Tower itself."

As Tanner spoke, he suddenly heard a voice from behind.

"Tanner."

Turning around, he saw a wizard in a long robe walking over. The wizard wore a strange bird mask that covered half his face, and had several red and green feathers stuck in his hair, making him look quite peculiar.

"Bryce, it's been a long time."

Tanner clearly knew the person well and greeted him with a smile.

"It's been nearly three hundred years since we last met. Where have you been all this time? I haven't seen you return."

Tanner's face showed a bitter smile. "It's a long story, I encountered some issues."

Seeing that Tanner didn't want to elaborate, Bryce didn't press further and turned to look at Su Nan and Liz.

"Who are these two?"

Tanner quickly introduced them. "Let me introduce you. This is Lord Su Nan and Lady Liz."

Bryce's expression turned serious. Anyone Tanner addressed as Lord or Lady was at least a Level 2 wizard.

Tanner then introduced the two to Su Nan and Liz. "This is Bryce, from the Many-Headed Bird."

Many-Headed Bird?

Su Nan quickly recalled that this was also a wizard force, known for its expertise in breeding exotic beasts. It was said they controlled over a hundred large and medium-sized exotic beast breeding bases (ecological parks).

"Su Nan Yanest, from the Star Alliance." Su Nan nodded slightly.

"Liz Russell." Liz followed with her own introduction. "Also from the Star Alliance."

"Star Alliance!" Bryce's eyes lit up. "Could it be the Star Alliance that recently repelled the attack from the Dark Throne and joined the Enlightenment Codex Front?"

Before Su Nan and Liz could respond, Tanner smiled and said, "Which other Star Alliance could it be? Lord Su Nan is the controller of the Star Alliance."

Bryce's respect grew.

Matters involving the Dark Throne were always highly attention-grabbing in the wizard circles.

Especially when it concerned the Starlight Continent, which had been sealed for two thousand years.

The Dark Throne sent a Robe Wizard candidate with an entire plane's army and five wizard towers to attack, but they were completely annihilated. Not only did the Robe Wizard candidate die, but the plane he controlled also fell into the hands of the Star Alliance.

In nearly two thousand years, when had the Dark Throne suffered such a significant loss?

Moreover, it was caused by a local wizard force that developed within a sealed plane! When news of this spread, many people initially refused to believe it. Only after confirming the authenticity of the information did they have to swallow their disbelief.

The Star Alliance's reputation soared in the wizard world as a result.

At least among the lower and middle-tier wizards, few were unaware of the Star Alliance's name.

"Very honored to meet you!"

Bryce's demeanor became more respectful, and he then showed a hint of enthusiasm.

"I heard that the Star Alliance recently acquired the Wolf Tide Plane, which has a bio-nest capable of hatching Black Wolves and Dusk Wolves. I am very interested in these two types of nest creatures. I wonder if Lord Su Nan could sell a few to me? I can pay extra magic stones!"

Su Nan was slightly taken aback but, considering the man's background with the Many-Headed Bird, which enjoyed studying exotic beasts, he understood.

"Dusk Wolves are very rare, and the Star Alliance has no plans to sell them for now. However, Black Wolves are available. If the Many-Headed Bird is interested, they can purchase them from the Star Alliance."

The Dusk Wolves on the Wolf Tide Plane were almost entirely wiped out, and there were none left to sell.

Even if there were, Su Nan did not plan to sell them in the short term. The Dusk Valley only hatches one Dusk Wolf per year.

Unless the number of Dusk Wolves reached its limit, Su Nan intended to keep them within the alliance.

On the other hand, Black Wolves hatched very quickly, reaching their limit in just over a decade. Selling a few thousand would not matter much and could bring in some magic stones, which were almost cost-free.

Hearing Su Nan's words, Bryce was somewhat disappointed but quickly perked up. Being able to buy Black Wolves was still good.

More importantly, from Su Nan's tone, it seemed large-scale purchases were possible. There were likely many in his organization who would be interested in nest creatures, and he might even make a profit from it.

Thinking this, Bryce became excited and thanked Su Nan repeatedly.

Telling Bryce to contact Liz later, Su Nan then asked Tanner, "Where is the arena with the Supreme Magic Golem design as the wager?"

"It's the 24th arena. This way." Tanner moved forward.

The group followed to the 24th arena.

[24th Arena]



[Arena Master: Marco Campbell]



[Affiliation: Black Rope Tower]



[Rank: Level 3 Crystallized Wizard]



[Wager: Supreme Magic Golem Design]



[Challenge Fee: 50,000 Lower Tier Magic Stones]



"A wizard from the Black Rope Tower."

Liz frowned slightly, a hint of disgust in her eyes.

The Black Rope Tower was one of the evil-aligned wizard forces, commonly known as dark wizards.

While not as powerful as the Dark Throne, it was a second-rate wizard force and had a similarly notorious reputation.

"Marco is very strong. He once fought a Robe Wizard from the Dark Throne and it ended in a draw," Tanner whispered.

Hearing this, Liz's frown deepened, and she glanced at Su Nan with some concern.

Bryce also realized that Su Nan was after the Supreme Magic Golem design and planned to participate in the arena duel.

Looking at the text on the stone stele, he hesitated, unsure what to say.

Robe Wizards from the Dark Throne were among the best in the Level 3 wizards. Any one of them could hold their own against three ordinary Level 3 Crystallized Wizards! Given that Marco managed to fight a Robe Wizard to a draw, it was clear how formidable he was.

Even Su Nan might not be a match for Marco.

Su Nan paid no attention to the others' expressions and placed his hand on the stone stele.

A mechanical, monotonous voice from the tower spirit soon echoed in his ears.

【Detected first-time login, please register identity information.】

  【Friendly reminder: Please do not provide false identity information. Once verified as false, penalties will include but are not limited to expulsion from the Starry Sky Tower, lifetime ban from entering the Starry Sky Tower, permanent expulsion from the All-Things Society, etc.】

  The registration process was simple, and Su Nan completed it quickly.

  His identity information then appeared on the stele.

  【Challenger: Su Nan Yanest】

  【Affiliation: Star Alliance】

  【Rank: Level 3 Qi Transformation Wizard】

  【Challenge Position: 3】

  Seeing the information that appeared on the stele, Tanner and Bryce widened their eyes in surprise.

  They had assumed that since Su Nan could kill Yuxi, he must also be a Level 3 Crystallized Wizard, but they didn't expect him to be just a Level 3 Qi Transformation Wizard!

  A Level 3 Qi Transformation Wizard versus a Level 3 Crystallized Wizard, and he could still win?

  The two exchanged glances, momentarily doubting whether Yuxi was just a fraud.

  But then they thought about it, and even if Yuxi was a fraud, he was still a genuine Level 3 Crystallized Wizard. It could only mean that Su Nan's strength was clearly much greater than they had imagined.

  No wonder Su Nan dared to challenge Marco, even knowing that Marco possessed strength comparable to a Robe Wizard.

  Ignoring their thoughts, Su Nan focused on the challenge position list on the stele.

  Challengers were displayed on the stele in the order of their challenge times.

  There were two people ahead of Su Nan.

  One was a Level 3 Crystallized Wizard named Amman Reed, from the Sea King Whale.

  Su Nan remembered that the Sea King Whale was a second-rate wizard force, renowned for their water-based abilities. Their magical tools, puppets, and tamed exotic beasts were mostly water-related, making them a wizard force specialized in water magic.

  The other challenger was named Grush Hughes, also a Level 3 Crystallized Wizard, from the Pale Mask.

  The Pale Mask, like the Black Rope Tower, was one of the dark wizard forces. Its reputation was slightly better than the Black Rope Tower, but they were essentially the same.

  The arena duels at the Starry Sky Tower had no factional divisions; wizards from the same faction would also fight each other without hesitation for the sake of profit.

  Of course, outside the Starry Sky Tower, dark wizard forces often engaged in intrigue and battles against each other.

  Buzz!

  The stele suddenly lit up, and a wizard appeared in front of it out of nowhere.

  He was pale, with blood at the corner of his mouth, looking extremely miserable, clearly having lost the duel.

  Arena duels had no comprehensive protective measures; injuries and severe wounds were commonplace. The only protection was the ability to instantly leave the duel space at any time.

  Both the challenger and the arena master could instantly withdraw from the fight if the situation turned unfavorable.

  Even so, many duels still resulted in deaths each year.

  Wizards who killed their opponents in the arena duels would not be pursued by the All-Things Society and were not allowed to be attacked by anyone in the All-Things City.

  Of course, outside the All-Things City, the All-Things Society had no jurisdiction.

  The defeated wizard glanced at Su Nan and the others, wiped the blood from his mouth, and left with a sullen expression.

  The wizard who had just finished the duel could choose to rest, but the name at the top of the list soon lit up, indicating that the arena master had chosen to skip the rest and start the next challenge, clearly confident in his own strength.

  A wizard in a sea-blue robe with a strange beast head pattern on his cheek walked over, glanced at the text on the stele, and upon seeing Su Nan's information, he gave him a strange look, appraising him for a moment before pressing his hand on the stele.

  【Please pay the challenge fee of 50,000 Lower Tier Magic Stones or an equivalent value in Middle or Upper Tier Magic Stones. Other items are not accepted.】

  The tower spirit's voice rang out, and a crack appeared in the center of the stele.

  The wizard took out fifty Upper Tier Magic Stones and threw them in. A flash of light, and he disappeared on the spot.

  The second challenge had begun.

  "Sir, after this challenge, the arena master should take a rest. I suggest we go back and return tomorrow."

  Tanner made a suggestion.

  No matter how powerful the arena master, they could only handle two challenges at most before needing to rest and recover. Otherwise, fighting in a poor state could easily lead to defeat.

  Su Nan agreed and left with Liz.

  When they returned the next day, they saw a wizard wearing a white mask standing in front of the 24th stele, paying the fee.

  Sensing someone approaching, he turned around. His eyes under the mask flashed, and a muffled voice came out.

  "Su Nan Yanest?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end