Chapter 155: Clues of the Black Forest, Repairing the Elemental Pool
Inside the brightly lit Reception Hall, Su Nan and the Traveler sat facing each other, chatting and laughing.
“How has your rest been these past three days, sir?”
The Traveler smiled. “Excellent. It’s been a long time since I’ve stayed in such a comfortable room in the Underworld. In the past, for convenience, I always stayed in caves. Occasionally, when I entered a City State, I could only find shelter in simple taverns.”
Su Nan became intrigued and curiously asked, “Which City State was that?”
“The City State of the Dark Elves, which is more than a thousand kilometers from here.”
“Could you tell me more about it?”
The Traveler readily agreed. “Of course.”
During his three days in Youhu City, he had explored the entire City State. Although he hadn't managed to visit Base 2, which he was most interested in, he had gained a general understanding of the factions in Youhu City.
The current military strength of Youhu City far exceeded what it was eight years ago.
Moreover, Su Nan's forces extended beyond just Youhu City; they also included Matu and Olsen.
Although he hadn't visited those places specifically, from the information he had gathered over the past few days, it seemed that the military strength of these two City States was likely not much weaker than Youhu City.
These three City States together were known as the Star Alliance.
From this name, it was clear that Su Nan's ambitions were not limited to just three City States.
The more he learned, the more unfathomable the Traveler found Su Nan to be.
He had a vague feeling that what he currently knew was just the tip of the iceberg concerning Su Nan's forces and resources!
If there was anyone on the continent capable of advancing to a formal wizard, the Traveler believed Su Nan was undoubtedly one of the most promising candidates.
Faced with such an infinitely promising figure, even someone as casual as he was couldn’t help but want to befriend him and cultivate a good relationship.
If sharing some information could gain Su Nan's favor, it would undoubtedly be worthwhile.
“That City State of the Dark Elves is called Spider City. It is home to twelve Dark Elf families. The Matriarchs of all the families make up the supreme council, which rules the entire City State.”
"Within Spider City alone, there are over six thousand Dark Elves, along with no fewer than fifty thousand vassal races and an even greater number of slaves. In terms of heritage and strength, they firmly rank among the top three in the entire Southeast Region."
"Spider City, huh?"
Memories flooded Su Nan's mind.
The number of races in the Underworld is as vast as the stars.
When it comes to population alone, the Dark Elves might not even make it into the top thousand.
However, in terms of combat power, they certainly rank among the top three.
If it weren't for the Dark Elves' penchant for internal strife, wasting most of their energy on power struggles, they might have already unified the entire Southeast Region.
Su Nan vaguely recalled that in his previous life, when the elements were revived, the Dark Elves seemed to have already unified the entire Southeast Region of the Underworld.
He wondered how they had managed to achieve such internal unity.
Come to think of it, the Star Alliance and Spider City were less than two thousand kilometers apart. Whether the Star Alliance expanded outward or Spider City extended its influence, a collision seemed inevitable.
It looked like he better prepare early.
While his thoughts raced, Su Nan maintained a calm expression, patiently listening to Traveler's explanation and occasionally interjecting with questions.
He had to admit that Traveler's understanding of the power dynamics in the Underworld was far more detailed than the scant memories stored in his mind.
Listening intently, Su Nan quickly sketched a detailed map of the power distribution within a thousand-kilometer radius of the Star Alliance.
With this map, the Star Alliance's future expansion would undoubtedly proceed much more smoothly.
"Do you know where any Silver Mines are located?"
After Traveler finished speaking, Su Nan suddenly inquired.
Traveler paused for a moment before responding hesitantly, "There are some, but they are all already owned by others."
"That's fine," Su Nan replied, unfazed. "Where are they located?"
"There's one near Giant Eye City. It's a Medium Silver Mine and part of Giant Eye City's assets."
Su Nan's spirit instantly lifted.
Even if only half of the Medium Silver Mine were extracted, it would be enough to cover the shortfall in refining Secret Puppets.
He absolutely had to secure this Silver Mine!
The Giant Eye City Traveler mentioned was located three hundred kilometers north of the Star Alliance, conveniently positioned outside the area where the Eye Demon Tribe was previously discovered.
Su Nan guessed that the Eye Demon Tribe was likely the vanquished faction in the power struggle of Giant Eye City, exiled to the wilderness.
The ruler of Giant Eye City is known as the Nest Mother Eye.
While it sounds like a female title, it is, in fact, genderless, much like ordinary members of the Eye Demon Race.
The title derives from its unique ability to control other Eye Demons.
Through this ability, the Nest Mother Eye can often subjugate a vast number of Eye Demons to serve it, which is also the foundation of Eye Demon City-State.
The Nest Mother Eye's own combat prowess is not particularly formidable; it is only slightly stronger than an ordinary Eye Demon—at most, on par with a First Ring Legendary.
The real challenge lies in the swarm of Eye Demons under its command.
These swarms frequently number in the hundreds or thousands, including many legendary-level Eye Demon mutants.
From Traveler's description alone, Giant Eye City seems even more formidable than Youhu City from years past.
However, Su Nan did not take this too seriously.
Sending a Mithril Golem to lead the Golem Legion would be sufficient to easily crush Giant Eye City.
Deciding to leave this matter to the Red Widow, Su Nan shifted the conversation to another topic.
"Speaking of which, why don’t you establish your own force?" he asked.
"With your strength, taking down a City-State shouldn’t be difficult, right?"
Traveler shook his head with a smile. "It’s better not to. I’m not suited for that, and I dislike investing too much effort into building a force. I prefer exploring and adventuring instead—there are still many breathtaking sights on this continent that I haven’t experienced."
"But without establishing your own force, collecting resources will be difficult."
"I'm not alone," Traveler shrugged. "I still have collaborations with several major nobles; that's enough."
After a pause, he sighed and added, "Besides, what's the point of gathering more resources?"
"Given the current situation on Starlight Continent, simply having more resources won’t help me advance to Wizard."
"The key to breaking this deadlock is to find the legendary Three Great Wizard Heritages, and I’ve been searching for them all these years."
At this moment, Traveler's eyes glimmered with a hint of excitement.
Su Nan, sensing this shift, felt a surge of anticipation and stared intently at Traveler.
"You've found clues?"
Traveler hesitated for a moment but finally nodded in agreement. "That's right." "Which Wizard Inheritance is it?" "Black Forest." Su Nan's eyes lit up as he smiled slightly. "How about this: I won’t take advantage of you. You tell me what you know about the Black Forest, and I’ll share what I know about the Star Tower. How does that sound?" "Deal!" Traveler agreed without hesitation. Su Nan was taken aback for a moment before quickly regaining his composure.
During a previous conversation between Magic Hand and Bloodmaw, they had mentioned the Star Tower Key. It must have been at that time that Traveler had overheard it and paid attention. Now, by bringing up the Black Forest, he was clearly trying to lead the conversation. This guy was quite cunning.
Meeting Su Nan's meaningful gaze, Traveler smiled awkwardly and chuckled. "I can make a Vow Contract to ensure that the information I provide is 100% true!" Su Nan, of course, accepted.
After establishing the Vow Contract, the two began to exchange information. "I got the clues about the Black Forest in Spider City." "Spider City belongs to one of the Twelve Families, the Felier Family. The third-generation Matriarch is said to have entered a strange forest and gained a powerful force from it, allowing her to defeat all her competitors and inherit the position of Matriarch." "I infiltrated the Felier Family and examined their scriptures. They document this event, but more detailed information is not available." "In my opinion, if this is true, such important information would likely be passed down orally. Perhaps only the successive Matriarchs of the Felier Family are aware of it."
The Felier Family, huh. Su Nan's eyes flickered with contemplation. Regardless, now that there was a clue, he definitely needed to investigate it. It seemed that contact with Spider City was inevitable. Even if they didn’t come looking for him, he would seek them out.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Su Nan relayed the clues about the Star Tower. "Recently, a new member named Hunter joined the Secret Forest Hut. Have you heard of him?" Traveler shook his head. He hadn’t seen Night Owl in almost two years, so he naturally wouldn't know about the recent activities of the Secret Forest Hut.
In a previous gathering, Hunter sold a Star Tower Key. With this Key, one could pinpoint the location of the Star Tower and enter it. I suspect Hunter likely has more Keys on hand. Perhaps you could start from this angle."
Traveler heard this and immediately cursed his luck.
If he had known that such a rare item as the Star Tower Key would appear, he would have attended the gathering. Unfortunately, at that time, he was being relentlessly pursued by Magic Hand, leaving him no opportunity for social events.
"Hunter, huh? It seems I need to find a way to contact him privately," Traveler thought to himself.
Just then, Su Nan tossed something over, and Traveler instinctively caught it. Looking down, he discovered it was a Space Ring.
"This is...?" Traveler asked, casting a questioning look at Su Nan.
"A reciprocal gesture. You shared so much information, so I wanted to give you a gift as well," Su Nan said with a smile.
Traveler opened the Space Ring and was stunned to find a hundred Magic Stones inside.
This reward was far too generous!
However, the allure of the Magic Stones was too great for Traveler to dismiss. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to accept them.
"Thanks," he said, his expression serious.
Su Nan waved his hand dismissively, indicating it was no problem.
Honestly, aside from the Black Forest clue, the intelligence regarding the power distribution that Traveler had provided was definitely worth a hundred Magic Stones.
Moreover, this act would leave Traveler with the impression that Su Nan was generous.
If there was any other intelligence to be gained in the future, Su Nan believed Traveler would gladly trade with him.
The day after exchanging information, Traveler bid farewell and departed.
Su Nan did not try to keep him. Once he was gone, Su Nan threw himself into his work.
Aside from his daily cultivation, he devoted most of his energy to two projects.
One was to increase the Bloodline concentration of the Hidden Dragon.
The other was the repair of the Elemental Pool.
The cost of repairing the Elemental Pool was not high. The materials required would only amount to about ten thousand Gold Coins. The key issue was the technical expertise.
Without Spiritual Power at the formal wizard level, the difficulty of repairs in many areas would skyrocket.
The numerous, intricate Fulu drawings meant that a single mistake would require starting over from scratch; Su Nan often had to fail dozens, even hundreds of times before achieving success. It felt like a nostalgic return to his initial attempts at creating potions.
After more than three months, Su Nan had finally completed the repair of the Elemental Pool.
On the very top of Dragon Bone Tower, he gazed at the fully restored square pool before him and let out a long sigh of relief, his face lighting up with genuine delight.
The completion of the Elemental Pool’s repair was of enormous significance.
It marked the beginning of a new phase of development for the forces under his command.
"Now, all that's left is to activate it."
From his Space Ring, Su Nan took out the gem he had long prepared. After easily shaping it into eight-sided rhombuses, he embedded them into the magic array, ensuring they appeared as if they had always belonged there.
Buzz!
The entire Elemental Pool trembled violently, and cracks suddenly appeared in the space around it.
Behind these cracks were strange and varied scenes: abyssal seas, boundless skies, infernos that could scorch the heavens, thick and solid earth crusts, and countless others.
Each represented an Elemental Plane!
After a strange fusion of energy, streams of deep blue fluid poured into the Elemental Pool.
This wasn’t ordinary water, but rather a liquefied form of Elemental Energy that appeared as water within the pool.
It was the gentlest expression of energy!
With the successful establishment of the Elemental Pool, a rich and vibrant energy enveloped the entire Dragon Bone Tower.
"It’s a success!"
Su Nan took a deep breath, savoring the air thick with the scent of Elemental Energy, his expression one of pure pleasure.
The Elemental Pool would continuously radiate energy outward.
Within this energy's range, the recovery speed of a Wizard Apprentice’s spiritual power would significantly increase, the efficiency of meditation could be modestly improved, and it could even slow down aging to some degree, thereby extending one's lifespan.
In other words, anyone who resided long-term within Dragon Bone Tower would benefit from increased longevity, faster recovery, and improved meditation efficiency.
Moreover, the larger the Elemental Pool, the better the effects.
Su Nan estimated that a miniature Elemental Pool should increase spiritual power recovery speed by about twenty percent and improve meditation efficiency by around five percent.
As Su Nan watched the water level in the Elemental Pool slowly rise, his mood became increasingly cheerful.
The Elemental Pool operates using the fundamental Elemental Passage mechanism, harnessing the surge of elemental energy to create magical power that flows back into the pool. While its operational efficiency is not very high, the advantage is that there is no need to worry about depletion. As long as the Elemental Pool remains undamaged and is maintained regularly, it can be used for thousands of years.
With the Elemental Pool providing energy, it becomes possible to gradually restore the ecological environment within Long Lin, alleviating concerns about energy shortages.
The only slight drawback is that the energy provided by the Elemental Pool is stable but limited, insufficient for extensive use.
Steadying himself, Su Nan opened the three-dimensional model of Long Lin.
The Spatial Barrier of Long Lin has now been repaired, leaving only the Dragon Bone Tower and Zone 2 to be fixed.
The areas needing repair in the Dragon Bone Tower primarily include the Culture Jar in the modified zone, various experimental facilities, the Magic Crystal Forging Furnace in the Workshop Area, the Target of Cultivation Area, and the overall magical energy transfer pipeline.
Years of disuse have caused these facilities to develop various problems, necessitating repairs one by one.
Fortunately, the Dragon Bone Tower possesses an excellent self-repair function, and with the assistance of Butler Number 1, repairs should not take too long as long as there is sufficient energy.
"Number 1, begin repairing the Dragon Bone Tower," Su Nan commanded.
"Starting repairs on the Dragon Bone Tower. Estimated completion: 18 days, 15 hours, 25 minutes, and 16 seconds."
Su Nan nodded to himself.
Once the repairs to the Dragon Bone Tower are complete, he can begin relocating the base.
As for Zone 2, it can be repaired gradually once the energy is fully restored.
In any case, finding a Dragon Clan for cultivation in the short term won’t be easy.
Without the Dragon Clan, Zone 2, even if fully repaired, can only serve as a large Magical Plant Garden.
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