Chapter 272: The Poisonous Death Monarch, the Star Alliance's Greatest Advantage

Chapter 272: The Poisonous Death Monarch, the Star Alliance's Greatest Advantage

2024-11-04 Author: Insomnia is Better than Writing Books

  "Divine Corpse?"

  Lize was slightly moved.

  Divine Corpses were rarer than deities.

  Moreover, for one to fall into the Material World, the probability was even lower than a True Spirit Mage being killed by a Level 3 Mage.

  Su Nan, however, had a peculiar expression.

  In his memory, the initial spark of the Mage Civil War seemed to be a Divine Corpse.

  "Which deity fell?"

  "The Poisonous Death Monarch!"

  Su Nan's heart skipped a beat.

  That's right, it was this one.

  The Divine Corpse that sparked the Mage Civil War in his memory was indeed the Poisonous Death Monarch.

  But he clearly remembered that the Poisonous Death Monarch's fall was supposed to happen over three hundred years later. How could it have happened now?

  Could it be that his arrival caused a change in the timeline?

  Su Nan was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

  Although he was still far from the level of a True Spirit Mage and should not have been able to influence events within the Realm of Truth, a single nail could bring down an empire. Many major events often stemmed from insignificant details. Perhaps it was because he had defended the Starlight Continent, and the layers of influence had compounded, ultimately leading to the Poisonous Death Monarch's premature fall.

  Thinking about this, Su Nan couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.

  "Which plane did the Divine Corpse fall into?" Su Nan asked.

  "The Crystal Earth Plane."

  A trace of sorrow flashed across Tanner's face.

  "The Crystal Earth Plane was originally a resource-poor, barren plane. The Crystal Earth people living there were a weak race, lacking even the strength of a Mage. However, the appearance of the Poisonous Death Monarch infected all the creatures on the plane, turning them into highly toxic beings with greatly increased power, but they also lost their reason, becoming mindless killing machines."

  "The entire Crystal Earth Plane is now a hell!"

  "An evil deity, after all," Su Nan said, not at all surprised.

  From the deity's name, it was clear that the Poisonous Death Monarch's domain was poison and death. His divine servants, worshippers, and divine creatures were mostly highly toxic undead beings.

  Although the Poisonous Death Monarch was a weak deity, ranking second to last among deities, just slightly stronger than a minor deity, he was still a deity.

  It was not surprising that the divine power that escaped after his death would contaminate a small plane.

  Deities were notoriously strong polluters!

  "Why didn't the True Spirit Mage who killed the Poisonous Death Monarch recover the Divine Corpse?" Lize asked curiously.

  "I'm not entirely sure," Tanner hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I heard that some complications arose during the ambush. Someone was dissatisfied with the original distribution plan, so after some discussion, the True Spirit Mages decided to have their respective mage factions send people to the Crystal Earth Plane to compete for the Divine Corpse, while they themselves would remain spectators."

  The corner of Su Nan's mouth twitched.

  True to form for True Spirit Mages.

  They avoided the risk of death by having their subordinates fight each other, and even if some Mages died, they wouldn't feel a bit of remorse.

  A Divine Corpse of a weak deity was worth far more than a few low-level Mages.

  Tanner glanced at Su Nan and continued, "The Codex of Wisdom is also determined to obtain the Poisonous Death Monarch's corpse. They will soon inform their affiliated organizations and gather you to enter the Crystal Earth Plane to search for the Divine Corpse. Lord Su Nan should prepare in advance."

  Su Nan's expression turned contemplative, and after a while, he came back to his senses, nodding with a smile at Tanner.

  "I understand, thank you for the information."

  "You're welcome. I'm glad the information was useful to you."

  Knowing that Su Nan would be busy, Tanner tactfully got up to take his leave.

  Watching Tanner leave, Su Nan's eyes flashed with thought.

  The information about the Divine Corpse was certainly not given to him alone; other mage factions with good relations with the City of All Things had likely also received the news.

  Still, the favor from the City of All Things should be acknowledged.

  Knowing something a few days earlier allowed for better preparation.

  "What do you plan to do?" Lize's words pulled Su Nan out of his thoughts.

  Su Nan shrugged and said, "We don't really have a choice; we have to participate."

  One of the obligations of the Codex of Wisdom's affiliated organizations was to respond to its calls for war when needed.

  Refusing without a valid reason would result in the termination of the affiliated relationship.

  Therefore, the Star Alliance would definitely participate in this operation.

  However, Su Nan wasn't particularly resistant to the idea.

  To be honest, the Divine Corpse wasn't of much significance to him, at least not now.

  Even if a Divine Corpse were placed in his hands, its greatest use would be to absorb the divine energy it contained.

However, he already had enough divine energy now.

Besides, the most he could do would be some experiments with little practical use, only satisfying his curiosity.

To study a Divine Corpse, one needed power as a prerequisite.

A Divine Corpse could only be put to greater use in the hands of a True Spirit Mage.

Moreover, with so many mage factions eyeing the Divine Corpse, even if Su Nan had the intention to compete for it, he would be powerless.

It would be better to take this opportunity to acquire resources from the Codex of Wisdom and train his forces.

The Star Alliance had only experienced one plane war so far, which was the conflict with the Wolf Tide Plane. Their experience in plane wars was still too limited.

For future considerations, they needed to train more.

This search for the Divine Corpse would inevitably lead to conflicts with other mage factions, making it an excellent opportunity.

Furthermore, since he knew that this Divine Corpse expedition was the source of the Mage Civil War, he wanted to observe it closely to better prepare for the future.

With this plan in mind, Su Nan turned and asked, "How did the Starlight Fortress test go?"

"It went very well."

Mentioning this, Lize's face showed a smile.

"The performance was as we predicted. I compared it with the Silver-White Tower we bought from the Codex of Wisdom. Our Starlight Fortress, whether in performance or combat power, is on par with the Silver-White Tower, and even surpasses it in firepower!"

"How does it compare to a small mage tower?"

"If seven Starlight Fortresses work together, they should be able to match a standard, unenhanced small mage tower."

"What about the cost?"

"The cost is one-fifth of a standard small mage tower. However, considering that many materials needed to build a small mage tower are quite rare and difficult to obtain, plus the time cost, building a Starlight Fortress is actually more cost-effective."

"True, but mage towers have many functions that Starlight Fortresses can't achieve, such as plane traversal and the activation effect of energy particles in the elemental pool."

In summary, the Starlight Fortress and mage towers each have their advantages and disadvantages, and both are irreplaceable.

Just like a qualified army must have diversity, with both bold commanders and a large number of soldiers. "How many Starlight Fortresses have been built so far?" Su Nan asked.

"Fifty-three."

Su Nan nodded slightly, "That's enough for now, but don't stop the construction. We need to build more Starlight Fortresses."

"I understand."

"Who has exchanged for the four mage towers on the exchange list?"

"Wand, Rose, and Fakado. The remaining one hasn't been exchanged yet, but I checked, and Xie Man and Cole are almost close to accumulating enough contribution points. The last mage tower will likely be exchanged by one of them."

"Perfect, all the mage tower owners need to participate in this operation."

"Alright."

"How is the progress on the new mage towers?"

"Currently, three small mage towers are being built simultaneously, and it's estimated to take another twelve years to complete."

"Twelve years, that's pretty fast."

Su Nan nodded in satisfaction.

For a normal mage faction, mages collect resources themselves to build mage towers.

However, in the Star Alliance, Su Nan decided that the Star Alliance would build the mage towers and then put them on the exchange list for his mages to exchange.

This way, it would significantly reduce the time it takes for his mages to build mage towers, thus rapidly enhancing the Star Alliance's strength.

The exchange price was actually lower than the actual value of the mage towers.

The difference in cost was borne by the Star Alliance.

However, as long as it could quickly enhance the Star Alliance's strength, Su Nan felt that this cost was insignificant.

After all, the Star Alliance could extract substantial profits through the synthesis of magic stones, so this minor loss was nothing.

If they followed the normal development path of a mage faction, it would be unknown when they would become a large mage faction.

The Mage Civil War was looming, and there was no time for the Star Alliance to develop at a leisurely pace. They would need to use some means to accelerate their development.

In Su Nan's plan, once he broke through to the third-level crystallization and no longer needed to absorb divine energy, the elemental cores he synthesized could be entirely used to supply his mages.

At that time, lowering the contribution points required for the exchange of elemental cores would significantly increase the speed of his mages' strength growth.

In a few hundred or thousand years, the number of second-level mages in the Star Alliance would definitely increase dramatically.

The notification from the Codex of Wisdom came faster than expected.

On the third day after receiving the intelligence from Tanner, Cyril came to deliver the summons from the Codex of Wisdom.

"The operation is set for three days from now. At that time, our main forces and all affiliated organizations' armies will enter the Crystal Earth Plane. The portal for transporting troops will be open for 24 hours, after which the Crystal Earth Plane will enter a lockdown state, and no one will be able to enter or exit."

After delivering the summons, Cyril's serious expression relaxed, and he smiled.

"This summons came rather suddenly. As compensation, all participating affiliated organizations will have their affiliation fees waived for a certain period based on their scale and strength. For example, the Star Alliance, if they participate in the operation, will not have to pay fees to the Codex of Wisdom for the next twenty years."

Twenty years, which equates to ten million lower-grade magic stones.

This compensation was, in essence, the reward for deploying troops.

Frankly, this amount wasn't particularly high.

A slightly more intense war could result in losses for the Star Alliance that would far exceed this value.

Both Su Nan and Lize knew the Codex of Wisdom wouldn't try to fool them with such a small amount, so they remained silent, waiting for Cyril to continue.

Sure enough, Cyril then said, "Additionally, if any fragments of the Poisonous Death Monarch's Divine Corpse are found in the Crystal Earth Plane, the reward will be determined based on the size and part of the fragment."

Su Nan's expression changed. "Divine Corpse fragments?"

Cyril nodded. "When the Poisonous Death Monarch's corpse fell into the Crystal Earth Plane, it was already in a state of fragmentation. The fragments are scattered throughout the plane, which is why the Crystal Earth Plane was so quickly and thoroughly infected."

Su Nan understood. The True Spirit Mages' decision to send troops into the plane to compete for the Divine Corpse was likely influenced by this factor.

Collecting Divine Corpse fragments across the entire plane would require a significant number of people.

"Which mage factions are entering the Crystal Earth Plane?" Su Nan asked after a moment of thought.

Cyril replied, "Most of the major mage factions are participating, along with seventeen second-tier mage factions, including the Sea King Whale, Black Rope Tower, and Pale Mask."

One of the recognized standards for a second-tier mage faction is having a True Spirit Mage.

Clearly, the True Spirit Mages behind these more than ten second-tier mage factions were involved in the ambush of the Poisonous Death Monarch.

As for third-tier and lesser mage factions, they were likely affiliated organizations of the Codex of Wisdom.

The Star Alliance, with its current strength, could barely be considered a third-tier mage faction, still lagging behind established third-tier factions like the Steel Construct.

Not to mention the major and second-tier mage factions.

Participating in a war that gathered so many major and second-tier mage factions would be a significant test for the Star Alliance.

After Cyril left, Lize voiced her concerns, "The risks of this operation are considerable."

Su Nan smiled slightly. "The risks are indeed significant, but not as high as you think."

Lize gave him a puzzled look. After years of working together, she quickly understood.

"You have a plan?"

Su Nan smiled meaningfully and said slowly, "All mage factions have only 24 hours to transport their troops. In such a short time, no mage faction can send all their main forces into the Crystal Earth Plane; they can only send a small portion."

Lize's expression changed.

With a limited time for troop transportation, the key would be who had the highest efficiency in building and using portals.

Even between major mage factions and lesser mage factions, the gap in this aspect wouldn't be as large as the gap in their true strength.

This could undoubtedly narrow the power disparity between the mage factions.

However, this alone wouldn't explain Su Nan's confident demeanor.

There must be more to it.

After a moment of thought, Lize's eyes lit up as she recalled something.

She remembered how Su Nan had made the Falling Star City vanish into thin air.

Su Nan saw her realization and smiled.

Yes, he had the Magic Cube.

He could store puppets in the Magic Cube and then transport them through the portal into the Crystal Earth Plane.

The Magic Cube had a total of 100 slots, each capable of storing up to 99 puppets of the same type, for a maximum of 9,900 puppets at once.

In 24 hours, he could make hundreds of trips between the two planes.

Transporting all the Star Alliance's puppets into the Crystal Earth Plane would be more than sufficient!

This was his greatest trump card and the Star Alliance's biggest advantage over other mage factions!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end