Chapter 270: Planar Exploration, Stellar Fortress

Chapter 270: Planar Exploration, Stellar Fortress

2024-11-03 Author: Shi Mian Bu Ru Xie Shu

"Are you saying that Su Nan killed Makarov in less than a minute?"

In the study, Gary put down his quill pen and asked with interest.

Tanner nodded, his tone somewhat uncertain, "I confirmed with the Stellar Tower, Makarov is indeed dead."

Gary mused, "It seems Su Nan's strength is even greater than we anticipated. No wonder he was able to establish a mage force in a sealed plane. We should cultivate a good relationship with him and provide appropriate assistance when necessary."

"Yes, my lord," Tanner nodded emphatically.

In fact, Makarov's challenge this time was orchestrated by the All-Beings Association behind the scenes, to test Su Nan's true strength and decide how to treat him going forward.

The results confirmed that Su Nan was indeed someone worth befriending.

The Star Alliance is also a mage force with great potential.

The All-Beings Association has never been hesitant to form alliances with such mage forces, maintaining a friendly but not overly close relationship.

This is the main reason they have been able to navigate the mage world smoothly and maintain a neutral stance.

Back on the Starlight Continent, Su Nan immediately immersed himself in the creation of puppets.

So far, he possesses design plans for five mage-level puppets.

These are the Tentacle Puppet, Secret Marionette, Shadow Steel Golem, Adamantine Golem, and Supreme Golem.

The first three are Level 1 mage-level puppets, each with different strengths.

The Tentacle Puppet excels in close combat and can serve as a front-line tank. Its numerous tentacles can also cast spells, making it proficient in both magic and martial arts, suitable for various battlefields and highly practical.

The Secret Marionette is known for its flexibility and intelligence, capable of changing its form at will. It can transform into a human appearance for special missions and has formidable combat capabilities, making it a nimble warrior-type puppet.

The Shadow Steel Golem is made from a metal mined and forged entirely in the Shadow Realm. They are silent and powerful guardians with a dark appearance, moving so quietly that they are often mistaken for undead creatures.

Due to their exceptional ability to hide and blend into shadows, many mages often use Shadow Steel Golems as hidden guards in their mage towers or mix them into other puppets on the battlefield to launch surprise attacks on enemies. They are rare among golems, serving as assassin types.

Su Nan plans to form a dedicated witch-hunting corps for the Starlight Mage Tower, with the Tentacle Puppet, Secret Marionette, and Shadow Steel Golem serving as the main members and foundational combat force.

As for high-end combat power, the Adamantine Golem and Supreme Golem will take on that role.

The former has combat power equivalent to a Level 2 vaporization mage.

The latter has combat power equivalent to a Level 3 vaporization mage.

Both golems are 'magic and martial dual-cultivators,' advanced versions of the Tentacle Puppet.

Especially the Supreme Golem, which is extremely powerful and is typically only equipped in small numbers by large mage towers, and used as a regular combat unit only by floating cities.

"The market price of a Shadow Steel Golem is about 7,000 lower-grade magic stones. With enchantment and permanent spell enhancements, it should cost around 8,000 lower-grade magic stones."

Su Nan estimated internally.

In fact, if the value is calculated in magic stones, it is more advantageous for the Star Alliance.

After all, Su Nan's cost to synthesize magic stones is far below the recognized value in the mage world.

If not for the concern that puppets purchased from other mage forces might have hidden backdoors, he could directly buy Shadow Steel Golems and then reinforce them according to his wishes.

"Never mind, since these are the built-in puppets for the mage tower, it's better to be cautious."

"However, I can list some golems for others to exchange."

Mages usually don't have so many concerns when using golems; they can simply purchase them.

"The cost of an Adamantine Golem is about 9,000 mid-grade magic stones."

"The cost of a Supreme Golem is estimated to be 10,000 upper-grade magic stones."

For mage-level puppets, each increase in level typically results in a tenfold increase in cost.

Moreover, compared to Shadow Steel Golems, Adamantine Golems and Supreme Golems are mostly in high demand but short supply.

After all, which mage wouldn't want an Adamantine Golem or Supreme Golem for protection?

The demand for these two types of golems from mage forces is enormous, and most of the Adamantine Golems and Supreme Golems available on the market are monopolized by a few large mage forces.

"Since I have the puppet design plans, the next step is to upgrade the mage tower."

With a sufficient supply of magic stones and the resource channels provided by the Codex of Wisdom, upgrading the Starlight Mage Tower to a large-scale level is almost without any obstacles; the only thing lacking is time.

"Let's aim to complete the upgrade of the Starlight Mage Tower before the outbreak of the internal war among the mages."

Time flies, and the days pass swiftly.

In no time, it was the year 2200 of the Starlight Calendar.

Above District 3 of Longlin, Rose looked down at the mage tower that had been fully repaired and sighed with relief.

The seven or eight mages around her also wore expressions of joy.

"Finally, it's done!"

"This is the last mage tower."

"Who would have thought that repairing a mage tower would take so much time and effort? If we were to build a new one from scratch, it would probably take several hundred years!"

"That's true. When Lord Su Nan initially built the Starlight Mage Tower, it took over a hundred years with the combined efforts of the Star Alliance."

The mages chattered among themselves, their expressions relaxed and joyful.

Although repairing the mage tower was time-consuming and labor-intensive, the rewards for the task were exceptionally generous, equivalent to completing over a hundred regular tasks.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Once the task is handed over, I will transfer the contribution points to each of you based on your efforts. You can now return and rest well."

Rose turned to the group and said with a smile.

"Yes, Lady Rose."

As one of the three Level 1 Crystalized Mages in the Star Alliance, Rose enjoyed a high reputation among the mages. As soon as she spoke, everyone respectfully acknowledged her and left one by one.

After everyone had left, Rose first went to the task hall to complete the task, then returned to her cultivation room.

Sitting cross-legged, Rose began her cultivation.

The most noticeable change since the lifting of the planar seal was the significant increase in resources available on the Star Alliance's exchange list, with a much wider variety.

For example, elemental cores. Before the planar seal was lifted, the Star Alliance's exchange list would never have included elemental cores, and they would even offer extremely high prices to acquire them.

It was only after the planar seal was lifted and the Star Alliance obtained the internal trading rights from the Codex of Wisdom that elemental cores began to appear on the exchange list.

Thanks to this, Rose's cultivation speed had accelerated significantly over the years. It took her only eight hundred years to break through to Level 1 Crystalized and successfully construct a second talent crystal model.

As long as she completed the step of filling it with mental energy, she could advance to Level 2 Mage.

"Once I advance to Level 2 Mage, the contribution points I've accumulated should be enough to exchange for a small mage tower."

Thinking of the mage tower, Rose felt a surge of excitement.

Aside from Lord Starfall—no, now it should be Lady Lizze—the Star Alliance's exchange list had four small mage towers, each with a set contribution value based on their configuration.

Although this contribution value was undoubtedly a 'discounted price' compared to the actual value of the mage towers, it was still an astronomical number for ordinary mages.

Currently, the entire Star Alliance had only one mage tower, which was obtained by the Scepter. Rose had been accumulating contribution points for nearly two hundred years and had only recently seen some hope.

"With a mage tower, I can conduct planar exploration."

Another change brought about by the lifting of the planar seal was the increase in planar tasks for the Star Alliance.

There were many planes in the multiverse that were resource-poor and not worth conquering, or where the native forces were too powerful, making the cost of conquest far outweigh the benefits. Therefore, no mage factions were willing to send large armies for a full-scale invasion.

Instead, they preferred to send small forces into the planes to collect resources.

The Star Alliance naturally followed this trend and had been issuing various resource collection tasks over the years.

And the rewards for these tasks were generous.

After all, when collecting resources, there was always the possibility of encountering native forces or conflicts with other mage factions.

However, what puzzled Rose was that the locations of resource points in the planes should be closely guarded secrets of the various mage factions. Yet, Su Nan seemed to have a clear view of everything—where the valuable resource points were located, their exact positions, and what powerful native forces to be cautious of.

Where did he get this information from?

In addition to resource collection, there was another type of planar exploration task.

As the name suggests, this involved exploring unknown and unfamiliar planes.

These tasks were mainly divided into two categories.

The first category involved known planar coordinates, where direct planar travel was used to explore and gather intelligence.

The second category involved unknown planar coordinates, where direct astral travel was conducted to search for new, undiscovered planes in the vast astral realm.

The vastness of the multiverse is incomparable, with countless planes that even wizards have only partially explored. Every year, new planes are discovered.

The second type of planar exploration is undoubtedly the most challenging.

The astral realm is teeming with countless dangerous creatures, and void turbulence can strike at any moment. Even powerful wizards can lose their lives if they are not careful.

Therefore, the Star Alliance has stipulated that only Level 2 wizards who own a mage tower can undertake the second type of planar exploration tasks.

As for the first type of planar exploration tasks, any wizard can accept them.

Over the years, Rose has taken on many of these tasks, earning a substantial amount of contribution points.

"Once I have a mage tower, I can attempt to conquer a small plane," Rose mused.

The resources required for a wizard to advance are truly immense. Without controlling a plane, it is difficult for a wizard to progress further on the path of wizardry.

Most wizards, once they reach Level 2 and possess a mage tower, start looking for suitable planes to conquer.

Fortunately, the Star Alliance is quite supportive of its wizards in this regard.

As long as one has sufficient strength, Lord Su Nan will provide suitable planar coordinates.

In fact, according to Rose's knowledge, the Star Alliance, after thoroughly digesting the gains from the Wolf Tide Plane, has already set its sights on other planes.

It won't be long before the Star Alliance launches a new planar war!

Knock knock!

Just as she was deep in thought, a knock came at the door.

Rose snapped back to reality and said, "Come in."

The door opened, and Tiana walked in.

"Teacher," the dark elf girl bowed slightly.

"You are a wizard now, there's no need to be so formal. We can interact as equals," Rose smiled gently.

She was very fond of her student.

Though not human, Tiana possessed an extraordinary talent.

Despite entering the Starlight Academy later than Fleming and others, she advanced to wizard status almost simultaneously with them.

If Tiana were human, she would likely have already caught up to Rose in terms of strength.

"Do you have something to discuss with me?"

"The Stellar Fortress has arrived in Longlin District 3. It's waiting outside. Would you like to see it?"

The Stellar Fortress is a new war fortress developed by the Star Alliance, specifically for planar wars.

The fortress is equipped with over a hundred III-type Spell Cannons and ten III-type Disintegration Cannons.

These two types of turrets are recent developments by Su Nan. Their firepower is only slightly higher than the II-type, but their energy consumption is half that of the latter.

The total firepower surpasses that of several dozen III-class magic ships combined.

Additionally, the Stellar Fortress is equipped with a miniaturized version of a floating ring, an elemental pool, and a protective energy field, making it a simplified version of a mage tower.

After its successful development, Lizze ordered that all wizards who accept planar exploration tasks can temporarily use a Stellar Fortress to handle battles during their explorations. In return, they must submit a detailed report analyzing the combat capabilities of the Stellar Fortress.

"Let's go take a look."

Rose nodded slightly and left the cultivation room.

In Longlin District 3, on a spacious open ground, over a dozen palace-like metal structures stood tall, emitting strong energy particle fluctuations.

The metal walls, over two hundred meters high, gleamed coldly in the sunlight, exuding a heavy and oppressive aura.

That was the Stellar Fortress!

More than ten wizards were gathered around the Stellar Fortress, whispering to each other.

Xie Man and Cole were among them, having also accepted planar exploration tasks.

Artir was also present, though she was the leader responsible for transporting the Stellar Fortress.

Not long after returning from All-Beings City, Su Nan had begun the process of reshaping Artir's body.

After regaining her human form, with the relentless resource support from her close friends Xie Man and Cole, she successfully advanced to wizard status.

Although her strength has progressed slowly since then, and she is still at the Level 1 vaporization stage, she has taken the most crucial step.

"Now that you are a wizard, why haven't you accepted a planar exploration task?"

Tiana approached Artir and asked softly.

Artir smiled and shook her head. "I have too little experience. It's not too late to accept one after some time. Besides, Lady Lizze is currently in seclusion, and I have to handle many affairs, so I can't leave for the time being."

"Lady Lizze is about to break through?"

Tiana was slightly taken aback, a trace of admiration flashing across her face.

"It seems the Star Alliance will soon have a second Level 3 wizard."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end