Chapter 225: Breakthrough, First Grade Crystallization
Time flew like a white horse galloping past, fleeting in an instant.
Starlight Calendar Year 1330, Xia Long Month (June).
Having returned once again from the Lightning Elemental Plane, Su Nan sat cross-legged beside the Elemental Pool, synthesizing the Elemental Crystal Core and beginning to absorb the Divine energy within.
After four syntheses, the Elemental Pool of the Starlight Wizard Tower now boasted an Enhancement +4 effect, making it comparable to a Medium Elemental Pool.
Its energy absorption rate and capacity limit, Spiritual Power recovery speed, and Meditation efficiency had all at least doubled compared to before.
Thanks to this, the speed at which Su Nan's Spirit condensation increased was much faster than anticipated.
【Liquefaction: 99.99%】
As the Divine energy within the Elemental Crystal Core gradually assimilated and merged, the Spiritual Power condensation level on the panel finally flickered and changed to 100%.
In that same moment, deep within Su Nan's Sea of Consciousness, the Liquid Mental Power swirling slowly around the Talent Crystal suddenly stagnated, and then, like water encountering cold and freezing into ice, it rapidly solidified into tiny granular crystals.
These hexagonal crystals were translucent, akin to the finest gemstones, rotating slowly around the Talent Crystal, creating a sight as beautiful and magnificent as a galaxy.
"Success!"
Su Nan opened his eyes, his expression filled with boundless joy.
After nearly fifty years, he had finally broken through from First Order Liquefaction to First Grade Crystallization.
Next, as long as he constructed a second Talent Crystal Model, he would be able to advance to Second Level Wizard.
Su Nan reached out and gently tapped the void before him. Countless thin, thread-like rays of light emerged, quickly intertwining to form a profound and complex model.
This was the very second Talent Crystal Model that Su Nan had researched over the years.
Of course, it was just the Lower Level Talent Crystal Model that had yet to be synthesized.
Its effect is somewhat similar to Forbidden Zone, simultaneously deploying an ultra-dense, invisible Energy Field around the body. This Energy Field can negate all incoming damage, including physical attacks, energy attacks, and even formless soul attacks.
Furthermore, all those who enter this Force Field will be subjected to heavy pressure suppression.
Unlike Forbidden Zone, Su Nan can alter the density of the heavy pressure within the Force Field, briefly increasing the 'pressure' in a specific area and placing greater restrictions on any enemies who enter it.
If the 'pressure' is high enough, it can even crush enemies into mincemeat.
Therefore, this ultimate defensive innate ability can sometimes serve as an offensive weapon.
Additionally, the range of the Force Field can be freely expanded or contracted, but the defensive power and density of the heavy pressure will decrease or increase accordingly. The specifics will have to wait until Su Nan actually masters the innate ability and tests it in practice.
Su Nan named this talent crystal model Absolute Forbidden Zone.
"It took thirty-two lower-level talent crystal models to synthesize the upper-level 'Liquid Metal.' Absolute Forbidden Zone should be about the same," he mused.
The last time he constructed the Liquid Metal talent crystal model, the average construction time for a lower-level talent crystal model was thirteen days.
However, Su Nan's spiritual power is now far superior to what it was before, and he also has a high-grade construct potion. He estimates that the average construction time this time should be shortened to less than ten days.
If all goes well, he should be able to synthesize an upper-level model of Absolute Forbidden Zone within a year.
The truly time-consuming part is the final step of filling it with spiritual power.
It is important to remember that the talent crystal strengthens as the refinement of wizard spiritual power increases.
The current Liquid Metal talent crystal is already far stronger than when it was first constructed.
In other words, to construct a second talent crystal with strength similar to the current Liquid Metal, he must infuse it with even more spiritual power.
When he initially filled the Liquid Metal, with the aid of the Spirit Pearl and Golden Apple, it took Su Nan over two years—almost three years—to fully charge the talent crystal.
Now, besides an elemental pool buff that accelerates spiritual power recovery, he has nothing else, and the difficulty of filling it has increased, so the time it will take will definitely be much longer than before.
"It would likely take decades at a quick pace, and it wouldn’t be unusual to spend a century or two.
'This Spiritual Power filling stage is the real test of patience,' Su Nan sighed, taking out a bottle of Construct Potion and drinking it before beginning to construct the Talent Crystal Model.
Soon, eleven months had passed, and Su Nan had successfully constructed thirty-two Lower Level Talent Crystal Models and synthesized the second Super Talent Crystal Model.
He immediately began filling it with Spiritual Power.
Seated cross-legged beside the Elemental Pool, Su Nan closed his eyes tightly as wisps of Spiritual Power energy continuously emanated from the crystalline Spiritual Power deep within his Sea of Consciousness, sinking into the new Talent Crystal Model and gradually filling the space within.
This cultivation lasted for an entire month.
【Talent Crystal Model Filling Progress: 0.06%】
'Only 0.06% progress in a month.'
'At this rate, it would take about one hundred and forty years to fill it completely.'
In truth, Su Nan was well aware that this speed was already quite fast.
It had only been a little over 60 years since he had advanced to Wizard, so even another one hundred and forty years would result in about two hundred years total.
Advancing from Level One Wizard to Level Two Wizard in two hundred years would be considered exceptionally impressive, even during the golden age of Wizards a thousand years ago.
Except for those who seemed to cheat the system, almost no one could compare to him.
But Su Nan still desired to be faster.
'If only there were something that could quickly restore Spiritual Power.'
His eyes flickered as he got up and left the top floor of the Wizard Tower.
In the bright and spacious Study, Lize was engrossed in flipping through documents, her focused and serious expression particularly alluring.
The Quartz Clock on the wall silently turned its hour and minute hands, only emitting a crisp chime when it struck the hour.
After a long while, Lize set down the documents and rubbed her temples.
Ghosts didn’t possess the concept of fatigue; this action was merely a habit she had developed over the years.
Having joined the Star Alliance more than thirty years ago, she was now familiar with all the large and small matters of the Alliance and handled them with ease."
"Honestly, when Lize initially agreed to be Su Nan's assistant and take over the administration of the Star Alliance, she didn’t really give it much thought.
After all, given the current state of the Starlight Continent, how much could the Wizard Faction possibly develop?
At best, it would be just a super-powered human nation.
However, as she became more involved in the various affairs of the Star Alliance, she realized she had greatly underestimated it.
The Star Alliance not only controlled the surface world but had also long since incorporated the Underworld.
Moreover, it even boasted a standing army, complete with an organized Golem Legion.
While its high-end puppets may not have been particularly impressive, the scale of its mid- and low-tier puppets already matched that of a decent third-rate Wizard Faction.
What surprised her even more was that the Star Alliance actually had its own Wizard Academy!
Even though it had only been established for a few decades and its head mentor was just a Level Three Wizard Apprentice, it was already remarkably valuable!
This was especially noteworthy given that it was in a plane where Elemental Energy was scarce.
Lize couldn't fathom how Su Nan had managed to develop the Star Alliance to this extent under such harsh conditions.
This only deepened her curiosity about Su Nan.
Regardless, with a Wizard Academy in place, the Star Alliance had a foundation to evolve into a true Wizard Faction.
Lize altered her attitude and began to dedicate herself fully to the affairs of the Star Alliance.
In the years she had been in charge, the development of the Star Alliance could not be described as a rapid leap forward, but it was certainly showing steady improvement.
In terms of livelihoods, the Mana Engine had become common in the most prosperous cities of the Starlight Continent, integrating into various production-oriented industries. Its significant increase in production capacity had garnered the favor of many nobles and merchants.
In this regard, the adoption of the Mana Engine faced little resistance.
The real constraint on the popularization of the Mana Engine was the production of Sub Magestone.
“The Mana Engine is the core of Sub-Mana technology. Until the production of Sub Magestone increases, true rapid development of Sub-Mana technology will be difficult.”
Lize reached out and stroked the blank piece of paper on the table in front of her. A line of text appeared out of thin air.
《How to Increase the Production of Sub Magestone?》
“The quickest method is to increase the acquisition reward for Sub Magestone.”
Lize's gaze flickered slightly, but he then shook his head.
With Starlight Continent's vast population, Starlight Academy can recruit up to three hundred new students each year.
Currently, the total number of students at Starlight Academy has exceeded five thousand four hundred. Among them, those with the ability to produce Sub Magestones account for at least forty to fifty percent of the total student population.
If the purchase price of Sub Magestones were increased, attracting these students to produce them could potentially double the production in the short term. However, Lize knew this was impossible.
Currently, many low-level materials for the Star Alliance come from Starlight Academy. If the purchase price of Sub Magestones were to rise significantly, it would adversely affect the output of other low-level materials, ultimately leading to chaos. This approach has more disadvantages than advantages and serves only as a temporary solution, making it infeasible.
After contemplating for a moment without arriving at any conclusions, Lize shook his head and set the matter aside for now.
In terms of military strength, the Star Alliance currently commands two Large Golem Legions, with a total of 250,000 Golems! Even the Starfall Society of a thousand years ago did not have so many Golems under its command.
The other main military force, the Magic Knight Order, also exceeded 200,000 formal members last year. It's important to note that "formal members" refers to Knights equipped with Magic Pattern Constructs. Due to insufficient production of Magic Pattern Constructs, the Magic Knight Order has over 100,000 reserve members.
In addition to the regular forces, the Magic Knight Order boasts four elite units: the Dragon Antelope Knights, Water Wyvern Knights, Pterosaur Knights, and Storm Dragon Beast Knights. The first three correspond to land, sea, and air, respectively, while the Storm Dragon Beast Knights excel in all three.
The largest unit is the Dragon Antelope Knights, comprising a total of one thousand two hundred members. The smallest is the Storm Dragon Beast Knights unit, which has about five hundred members.
Additionally, the Star Alliance commands three Navy Fleets, totaling eight hundred and forty Magic Ships.
Honestly, without considering high-end combatants like Wizards and Wizard Towers, the Star Alliance's current military strength rivals that of the Starfall Society in its prime.
"If it weren't for being on the Starlight Continent, the Star Alliance's development speed could be even faster."
Lize couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
However, upon further reflection, if it weren't for the Starlight Continent's isolated environment, the Star Alliance wouldn't have been able to develop as peacefully as it did.
The rise of any Wizard Faction in the Multiverse inevitably faces attacks from both internal (other Wizard Factions) and external (primarily the God side) forces. It's simply impossible to grow and strengthen without such interference.
The existence of the Star Alliance can be considered an exception.
Moreover, Lize realized that the key reason for the rapid development and growth of the Star Alliance was due to Su Nan.
Many of the high-level resources currently held by the Star Alliance were created by Su Nan.
This fact puzzled Lize greatly.
To claim that all these potions, magic items, and puppets were refined by Su Nan is simply astonishing!
Even if he dedicated all his cultivation and study time, it would be impossible for one person to refine so many resources.
Not to mention that he also had the energy to construct the Wizard Tower.
But if he didn't refine them, then where did he acquire so many resources from?
To this day, Lize has been unable to figure it out.
But this was also because she hadn't deliberately investigated.
To rashly probe into a wizard's secrets is a major taboo anywhere.
She was still relying on Su Nan to help her reshape her body, and she didn't want to antagonize him out of mere curiosity.
"What are you thinking about?"
A voice suddenly cut through her contemplation, jolting her back to reality.
Looking up, she saw Su Nan had entered the room at some unknown time, watching her with a half-smile.
"Weren't you in secluded cultivation? Why did you come out?"
"I have something to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Do you know any ways to speed up the recovery of Spiritual Power?" Su Nan pondered for a moment before adding, "That are currently feasible."
Lize was slightly taken aback, and confusion flickered in her eyes.
"The Elemental Pool in the Wizard Tower isn't sufficient?"
She had seen the Elemental Pool in Su Nan's Wizard Tower, and its effects were stronger than that of a Medium Elemental Pool.
To be honest, when she first saw that Elemental Pool, she almost thought she was dreaming.
Logically, it shouldn't be possible to find materials on the Starlight Continent that could create a Medium Elemental Pool.
"Aside from everything else, the most crucial bottleneck remains the issue we cannot solve.
We can't expect Su Nan to single-handedly defeat an Elemental Giant Elder, can we? Such a powerful being might overwhelm even a Second Level Wizard!
Su Nan provided little explanation, only stating, 'I'm constructing a second Talent Crystal and am at the final stage of filling it with Spiritual Power.'
'...I remember that when I first arrived, you had only recently broken through to the First Order Liquefaction realm, not long ago?'
'That's correct.'
'...'
Lize took a deep breath, managing to suppress the tumultuous waves surging in her heart.
To advance from the First Order Liquefaction realm to the First Grade Crystallization realm in sixty years, and to have even constructed a Talent Crystal Model—what kind of monstrous cultivation speed is that?
Back then, it had taken her a full two hundred and eighty-three years to progress from First Order Liquefaction to First Grade Crystallization! Even then, she was considered a genius by everyone in the Starfall Society.
Yet now, in comparison to Su Nan, she felt utterly insignificant.
Gazing at Su Nan, Lize sensed that the mist surrounding him only grew denser, rendering it impossible to see through him at all."
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