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Chapter 226: Sub Magic Stone Mine

Lize, having experienced the process herself, knew that the most critical and challenging aspect of advancing from First Grade Crystallization to Second Level Wizard was filling the Spiritual Power.

The Talent Crystal Model could be provided by the Wizard Organization.

Consuming the Construct Potion could accelerate the construction of the Talent Crystal Model.

Even someone with a Superior Talent Crystal Model could succeed within a year or two, given enough Construct Potion.

However, the step of filling the Spiritual Power required a prolonged effort—a true grind.

Admittedly, items like Spirit Pearls could hasten Spiritual Power recovery, but such resources were exceedingly precious and difficult to obtain. Even acquiring a small amount would be a drop in the bucket and would not significantly shorten the time required for filling Spiritual Power.

Back when Su Nan had searched the entire Tower of Stars, he had managed to obtain just over ten Spirit Pearl pills, and using all of them had filled less than thirty percent of his Spiritual Power.

That was why he had come to find Lize—perhaps she had some solution.

To his disappointment, Lize pondered for a moment before shaking her head.

"...I see," Su Nan sighed inwardly.

In that case, he could only find a way to continue strengthening his Elemental Pool. If he could synthesize an Elemental Pool at the Large level, the recovery speed of his Spiritual Power should improve significantly.

Having made his decision, Su Nan stopped dwelling on the matter and glanced at the desk. When he saw the words written on the paper, his expression shifted slightly.

"Increase the production of Sub Magic Stones?"

Lize was forthcoming, stating, "The Star Alliance's current Sub Magic Stone production is insufficient to support the rapid popularization of Sub-mana technology. If we can find a way to address this issue, it would greatly benefit the development of Starlight Continent."

Su Nan nodded in understanding and asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"

"I do, but the conditions on Starlight Continent are too harsh, and many measures are simply impossible to implement."

Su Nan's interest was piqued.

"Like artificially cultivating Sub Magic Stone Mines," Lize's clear and pleasant voice echoed softly in the study.

"Magic Stone Mine is formed through long periods of sedimentation, natural purification, and crystallization. The process is lengthy and complex, with strict formation conditions, making it difficult to manufacture artificially. Even the demi-plane built by True Spirit Wizards often cannot produce Magic Stone Mine.

However, Sub Magic Stone Mine is different. Its formation conditions are much simpler, and it can be entirely created through artificial intervention.

In fact, in my era, this technology had already been invented. At that time, there were many Magic Stone Mines, and Wizards did not have a high demand for Sub Magic Stone, so very few Wizard factions took notice of this technology. The Starfall Society happened to be one of them.

Su Nan's eyes lit up. Indeed, during the prosperous age of Wizards, the significance of artificially cultivating Sub Magic Stone Mine was minimal. If the demand isn’t high, then direct manufacturing would suffice, and no one would expend so much effort to cultivate Sub Magic Stone Mine.

But things have changed now; the importance of Sub Magic Stone Mine to the Starlight Continent is evident. If there were enough Sub Magic Stone Mines, not only could Sub-mana technology be rapidly popularized and promoted, but it would also free up some of Starlight Academy's productivity. The capacity used to create Sub Magic Stone could be diverted to increasing the output of other materials—a win-win situation!

"What conditions are needed for the artificial cultivation of Sub Magic Stone Mine?"

"There are mainly two: Leyline Nodes and Magic Stone Essence Mother."

Lize waved his hand, and a roll of parchment from the bookshelf floated into the air, landing on the table and automatically unrolling. It was a map of the Starlight Continent, with thirty or forty locations marked with red lines.

"I've set up tasks in Starlight Academy to find Leyline Nodes. These thirty-six locations are where Leyline Nodes have been discovered over the years. Their energy richness is comparable to that of Flash City Base Number 1. They can be fully utilized to cultivate Sub Magic Stone Mine."

"However, the issue of Leyline Nodes is easy to resolve, but we have no means to obtain Magic Stone Essence Mother."

"Magic Stone Essence Mother is a byproduct of Magic Stone. Typically, a small amount will appear in a large Magic Stone Mine. This substance is invaluable and is one of the necessary materials for manufacturing Elemental Furnaces."

“There’s definitely no way to find Magic Stone Essence Mother now,” Lize sighed.

Forget about the Large Magic Stone Mine; even a single Small Magic Stone is nowhere to be found.

Even the most skilled chef cannot prepare a meal without rice. Without Magic Stone Essence Mother, no matter how refined the technique or how rich the Leyline Node Energy is, cultivating a Sub Magic Stone Mine is impossible.

But when she looked up at Su Nan, she was surprised to see that he not only didn't seem disappointed but wore a thoughtful expression instead.

"This name, Magic Stone Essence Mother, sounds like a highly condensed form of Magic Stone essence," Su Nan suddenly asked, seemingly changing the subject.

Lize was momentarily taken aback, then reflected on it and replied, "That’s a reasonable interpretation."

Su Nan wore a knowing smile.

"I understand. Let's set this matter aside for now; I’ll come up with a solution."

Lize cast a puzzled glance at Su Nan, completely baffled.

How could this possibly be solved?

Unless one could conjure Magic Stone Essence Mother from thin air, the Sub Magic Stone Mine project simply couldn’t commence.

Su Nan didn’t intend to elaborate further and changed the topic, "How's work going lately?"

"Not bad," Lize replied, her expression normal.

When she first took the reins of the Star Alliance, Carolina and Red Widow had made subtle moves behind the scenes, but she paid them little mind.

No matter how many small schemes they concocted, they wouldn’t dare openly undermine the interests of the Star Alliance.

It wasn’t due to their foresight, but rather because the Soul Contract restricted them from acting against it.

Thus, she didn’t need to engage in infighting with the two. All she needed to do was focus on managing the Star Alliance effectively, successfully implement development plans, and as the alliance grew stronger, her power would gradually overshadow the two women.

This was a righteous Conspiracy of Light.

By now, Carolina and Red Widow had been thoroughly suppressed by her.

Perhaps they had resigned themselves to their fate, as their recent small maneuvers had noticeably dwindled.

Seeing Lize's calm demeanor, Su Nan didn’t dwell on it and said with a smile, "If you’re too busy, you might consider finding a few assistants."

“Assistants?”

"Isn't there someone from the Russell Family at Starlight Academy?"

Lize paused and then shook her head. "Forget it; I don't want the Russell Family to know I'm still alive."

Back then, she hadn't left behind any descendants. After a thousand years, the current Russell Family had long since diluted their blood ties to the extreme, and she felt no affection for them anymore.

Moreover, although Su Nan trusted her and granted her authority, he obviously wouldn't allow her to form cliques within the Star Alliance.

She certainly didn’t intend to, but if the Russell Family discovered she was still alive—and that she was managing the entire Star Alliance in place of Su Nan—how could they resist exploiting that relationship to their advantage?

If that were to happen, even if she didn’t want it, the Russell Family would inevitably gather around her, using her influence to create a faction within the alliance.

Don't let Su Nan's easygoing nature fool you; he wouldn't be lenient if such a situation arose.

Perhaps in the future, when the Star Alliance becomes a behemoth, internal factions will indeed emerge, but no rational Controller would allow that to happen during the initial stages of a power's development.

This is the main reason why Lize didn't want to get entangled with the Russell Family.

"You can also consider other candidates," Su Nan said. "The Academy has quite a few excellent Level Three Wizard Apprentices."

Following Sheman and Coley, more trainees in Starlight Academy had broken through to become Level Three Wizard Apprentices.

For example, Artier and Ethan.

Currently, the Academy had a total of twenty-three Level Three Wizard Apprentices.

As for Second Level Wizard Apprentices, there were even more—over a thousand.

Lize appeared somewhat tempted, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll think about it carefully."

The affairs of the Star Alliance had become increasingly numerous lately. If she could find a suitable candidate, she would indeed like an assistant to help share the burden. She couldn't rely on those two Alien Races, could she?

Seeing her indecision, Su Nan didn't press the issue. He chatted for a few more moments before leaving the study.

He still needed to verify his ideas next.

Returning to the laboratory, Su Nan immediately allocated a batch of Sub Magestone from the warehouse and began the synthesis.

"Since Mother of Magic Stone Essence is a crystal condensed from the essence of Magic Stone, then in theory, it should also be possible to synthesize it using a Magic Stone."

"Just like Elemental Crystal Dust and Elemental Crystal Core."

Soon, a large pile of Superior Magic Stones had accumulated on the workbench in front of him.

Su Nan continued with the synthesis.

As each Magic Stone was placed into the Magic Cube, the quantity of Magic Stones displayed in the synthesis interface continued to increase.

When the two hundred and third Magic Stone was added, the words ‘Magic Stone’ on the synthesis interface suddenly flashed and changed to ‘Lower Level Magic Crystal.’

“Not Magic Stone Essence Mother?”

Su Nan frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and continued adding Magic Stones.

As the number of Magic Stones increased, the Lower Level Magic Crystal quickly transformed into an Intermediate Magic Crystal, and then into a Superior Magic Crystal.

During this time, the supply of Superior Magic Stones was exhausted, forcing Su Nan to synthesize a new batch to continue adding to the Magic Cube.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Su Nan began to think his guess was wrong—believing that Magic Stones could not be synthesized into Magic Stone Essence Mother—the synthesis interface suddenly changed, finally displaying the words he had been waiting for.

Magic Stone Essence Mother, purity 8.29%, a crystal containing massive amounts of energy, can be used to manufacture an energy supply device core.

“Finally, success!”

Su Nan breathed a long sigh of relief, a joyful expression on his face.

He had nearly thought his assumption was mistaken.

Fortunately, he had finally synthesized the Magic Stone Essence Mother.

With this, cultivating a Sub Magic Stone Mine was now a possibility.

“I wonder if a Magic Stone Essence Mother with a purity of 8.29% is sufficient.”

It was clear that the higher the purity of the Magic Stone Essence Mother used to cultivate the Sub Magic Stone Mine, the better.

Without hesitation, Su Nan transferred a large quantity of Sub Magic Stones from the warehouse and began the tedious synthesis process.

He did not stop until he had added over a hundred pieces of Superior Magic Stones, and the purity of the Magic Stone Essence Mother had only increased by 0.01%.

At that point, the purity of the Magic Stone Essence Mother had reached 25.37%.

The cost was more than two million eight hundred thousand Sub Magic Stones!

Basically, all the Sub Magic Stones stored in the entire Star Alliance had been used up.

“The cost of one Sub Magic Stone is twelve silver coins, so more than two million eight hundred thousand translates to over three hundred thousand Gold Coins.”

“The cost is acceptable.”

A single unit of Secret Puppet costs over four hundred thousand Gold Coins. Exchanging more than thirty thousand Gold Coins for one Magic Stone Essence Mother made this deal seem worthwhile, at least in Su Nan's eyes.

However, it wasn't long before Lize came knocking.

"Su Nan, what are you doing with so much Sub Magestone?"

Lize's face was full of confusion.

She had just learned that Su Nan had transferred all the Sub Magestone from dozens of warehouses. A large portion of it had just arrived and was prepared for allocation to various cities within the Prosperous Star Empire for trade. With this move, the cities in the Prosperous Star Empire would face an energy shortage for a while.

Of course, Lize wasn’t blaming Su Nan. Star Alliance belonged to him, and he had the right to manage it as he pleased. Lize didn’t care at all about complaints from a mere group of merchants and nobles; she was simply curious why Su Nan suddenly needed so much Sub Magestone.

"You've come at the right time; there's something I want to show you," Su Nan said with a slight smile, opening his palm to reveal something he held.

When Lize saw what it was, her eyes widened, and a look of shock mixed with disbelief crossed her usually cold face.

"Magic Stone Essence Mother!"

"How do you have this?" Lize asked, staring at Su Nan in astonishment.

She had just finished discussing matters related to the Sub Magic Stone Mine with him not long ago, and now he was presenting a Magic Stone Essence Mother. It was unbelievable!

Considering what Su Nan had asked earlier, and the fact that he had moved so much Sub Magestone, a startling thought crossed Lize's mind - could this Magic Stone Essence Mother have been created by Su Nan himself?

No, that was impossible. Magic Stone Essence Mothers could not be artificially manufactured! Until now, no one had ever been rumored to have created one!

Wait! Lize suddenly realized she had been wondering where Star Alliance's Magic Stones came from. At first, she thought they had discovered a Magic Stone Mine, but after taking over Star Alliance, she found that there was none.

All Magic Stones had their origins in the Wizard Tower of Su Nan!

Now that she reflected on it, could these Magic Stones also have been manufactured by Su Nan?

Had he mastered the technology to artificially create Magic Stones and Magic Stone Essence Mother?

The thought that Su Nan had actually achieved such unprecedented technology amazed Lize. The more she contemplated it, the more convinced she became that her guess might be true, leaving her utterly shocked.

If that were indeed the case, it would be extraordinary!

Magic Stones aside, Magic Stone Essence Mother was key material for many energy supply devices. With the ability to produce Magic Stone Essence Mother, the Star Alliance could make a tremendous fortune—assuming the Dimensional Barrier recovered.

In comparison, the mere two million plus Sub Magic Stones would amount to nothing.

Gazing intently at Su Nan, Lize's expression was particularly complex. Just how many more secrets did he hold?

Without directly answering Lize's question, Su Nan gestured for her to focus on the Magic Stone Essence Mother.

"Is this piece of Magic Stone Essence Mother enough?"

Lize calmed her thoughts and used her Mage Hand to move the Magic Stone Essence Mother closer. After observing it intently for a moment, a look of surprise flashed across her eyes.

"This piece of Magic Stone Essence Mother has a very high purity. It’s more than sufficient for cultivating a Large Sub Magic Stone Mine and will significantly shorten the time required."

"How long will it take, approximately?"

Lize contemplated for a moment before replying, "Around three to four hundred years."

Su Nan frowned slightly; however, considering that the typical formation time for a Magic Stone Mine was measured in millions of years, the prospect of cultivating a Sub Magic Stone Mine in just four hundred years seemed remarkably good.

It was worth noting that the Sub Magic Stones required less energy, and with human intervention, the formation time could still be quite extensive.

"And how long does it take for a Small Sub Magic Stone Mine to form?"

"Around one hundred and fifty to two hundred years."

"In that case, by cultivating several Sub Magic Stone Mines of different sizes concurrently, we could create a staggered formation timeline. At most, two hundred years later, the issue of insufficient Sub Magic Stone production could be greatly alleviated."

After considering it, Lize agreed that this was the best plan.

"Anyway, there are quite a few Starlight Continents and Leyline Nodes. As long as we have enough Magic Stone Essence Mother, raising twenty or thirty sub Magic Stone mines won't be a problem.

In just a few words, Su Nan and Lize finalized the general details and named it the Mineral Vein Cultivation Plan.

This is the Star Alliance's second major project in the next few hundred years, following the Teleportation Network Plan."