Chapter 264: Pure Soul Flower, City of All Things
"Awoo!"
A chorus of wolf howls echoed through the wilderness sky.
Countless scarlet eyes of beasts stared intently at the figures hovering above, eager to attack. However, hampered by their inability to fly, they could only gaze longingly from below.
"These Black Wolves look no different from ordinary, bred creatures. It's hard to believe they are actually beings condensed out of thin air by energy. Nests are truly remarkable existences."
Sheman’s eyes swept over the dense wolf pack below with interest.
Coley replied expressionlessly, "If you're interested, catch a few to take back for research later. For now, focus on locating the Nest."
Sheman chuckled, unoffended; he was long accustomed to Coley's personality.
"There's no need to be so serious. The Red-eyed Crows have already been dispatched. As long as there's a find, we'll know immediately."
Not long ago, the Star Alliance had issued the task of locating the "Twilight Valley" Nest.
Sheman and Coley had accepted this task and traveled to the Wolf Tide Plane.
To improve search efficiency, they had also brought along a group of Red-eyed Crows.
The ultra-long viewing distance of the Red-eyed Crows gave them a natural advantage in locating things, particularly those modified by the Star Alliance, whose capabilities far exceeded those of their ordinary counterparts.
Everywhere they went, they would release the Red-eyed Crows to search an area within a hundred miles. If nothing was found, they would continue to the next area.
This method might seem a bit foolish, but it was their only option.
Although the Wolf Tide Plane was smaller than the Starlight Continent, it was still a vast Plane.
Furthermore, the beings inhabiting this Plane were mostly from the Exotic Beast race, making it impossible to communicate or gather information from them.
The entire Wolf Tide Plane remained in a primitive state, characterized only by forests, plains, and mountain ranges with lakes.
The only foreign presence was the Clay Golems left by Youxi for mining purposes.
Under these circumstances, if one wanted to locate the Nest, the only approach was to search every spot, bit by bit.
"There are still many Black Wolves around. If we deploy the Golem Legion, it will attract the wolves and ignite a battle. However, if we spread out the Golem Legion, searching will be much easier," Sheman sighed softly.
He had initially intended to follow the tracks of the Black Wolves to locate their nest, but soon realized that the wolves were unusually scattered, appearing everywhere. Reluctantly, he had to abandon that plan. Fortunately, when the Wolf Tide Plane invaded, the Star Alliance responded quickly, mobilizing a large army to halt their advance. If the wolf packs had secured a stronghold and had enough time to broaden their Plane Channel, the scale of the wolf pack that the Star Alliance would have faced would likely have been several times greater.
Coley glanced at the black torrent below, and after a moment of silence, he remarked, "That's why the Star Eye Network and Transmission Network were established."
"It was the Teacher who was truly farsighted," Sheman said admiringly. He then suddenly shifted the topic, "Speaking of which, Starfall Lord is collecting Materials for Reshaping the Body. Artier should be able to restore his human form soon."
At the mention of Artier, Coley's cold demeanor softened slightly. After all, Artier was one of his few friends.
"Reshaping the Body isn’t too difficult; the key lies in the Materials. Many of these rare Materials are quite challenging to collect."
"They should be able to find all the Materials at the Wisdom Codex, right? Among all the Wizard Factions, they have the most comprehensive collection of Resources."
"Not necessarily. The Wisdom Codex only opens a portion of their Resources for trade with affiliated organizations. Many of the rare Resources are only accessible to their internal members, available in exchange for Contribution Points, much like us in the Star Alliance."
Sheman glanced at his friend, surprised, and asked curiously, "How do you know this?"
Coley replied calmly, "Tanna told me."
"You’re still in contact with him?"
Sheman was genuinely shocked this time. He didn’t recall Coley being the type to socialize.
"I'm interested in information about other planes. So I traded some Resources with him for information."
"I see," Sheman realized. Coley hadn't changed; he was still as pragmatic as ever.
Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly shifted. At the same time, Coley's gaze also altered slightly.
The two exchanged a glance, and without a word, they both soared into the air at lightning speed, heading northwest.
Just moments ago, the two sensed the aura of a Red-eyed Crow vanish.
In the Wolf Tide Plane, few Exotic Beasts had the ability to fly and kill a Red-eyed Crow, with the Twilight Wolf being one of them.
Unlike the Black Wolves that were abundant everywhere, Twilight Wolves were extremely rare and seldom strayed far from their Nest.
Once they encountered a Twilight Wolf, they could almost pinpoint the approximate location of its Nest.
Flying at full speed, the two quickly arrived at the spot where the Red-eyed Crow's aura had disappeared. Over a thousand meters away, they spotted a giant wolf, its entire body pitch black except for its blood-red eyes and fangs.
“Blood Fang!” Sheman exclaimed with joy. “It seems Twilight Valley is nearby.”
After searching for so many days, they had finally found something. Even Coley couldn’t hide a hint of joy in his eyes.
“Awoo!”
Upon noticing Sheman and Coley, the Blood Fang did not flee but instead roared and charged at them.
Seeing this, Sheman was not surprised but rather delighted.
The Blood Fang's actions undoubtedly confirmed his suspicion that a Nest was indeed nearby.
Both belonging to the Twilight Wolf species, Blood Fang and Gray Claw were physical attack types, whose battle power paled in comparison to the nature-based Mist Howl and Night Shadow. Sheman and Coley were unafraid and calmly prepared to meet the creature.
In less than five minutes, the two joined forces and defeated the Blood Fang.
Immediately afterward, they began searching the surrounding area and quickly found their target.
The Nest, named Twilight Valley, was not actually a valley but a cave hidden deep within.
The dark, gaping cave entrance resembled the maw of a beast ready to devour its prey.
Standing outside the cave, they could distinctly feel the abundant Energy Particles within.
Sheman and Coley waited patiently for a while, and sure enough, a group of Black Wolves emerged from the cave.
These young wolves, each less than half a meter long and still covered in mucus, rapidly expanded and grew larger upon emerging, as if they had been inflated. The mucus on their bodies dried quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they transformed into giant wolves the size of a carriage.
The Black Wolves quickly noticed Sheman and Coley in the sky, immediately baring their teeth and letting out low, warning growls.
Sheman and Coley acted as if they hadn't heard, faint smiles playing on their lips.
"Looks like this is the place."
"Let's notify the Star Alliance."
Sheman took out a Communication Crystal and contacted the Magic Pattern Knight stationed near the Plane Channel. The knight would then relay the message to the Star Alliance.
Not long after sending the message, a figure flashed in the air above the valley, appearing out of nowhere.
Sheman and Coley turned their gazes up, their expressions immediately becoming serious as they bowed in greeting.
"Teacher!"
Su Nan nodded slightly at the two of them before looking toward the cave. He could instantly sense the concentration of rich Energy Particles within, far exceeding that of the surrounding area.
"It's the Nest, no doubt about it."
He turned to Sheman and Coley, smiling gently.
"Well done. Go back and complete your task."
"Yes, Teacher."
The two bowed again and left without hesitation.
Soon, only Su Nan remained in the valley. Without even glancing at the nearby Black Wolves, he used a Blink Technique to enter the cave.
The inside of the Nest was quite spacious. Strangely, the ground and walls were a soft pink, resembling internal organs and covered in vein-like patterns. Standing inside the cave felt akin to being within the body of a beast.
Su Nan clearly sensed the Nest's rejection of him.
This invisible pressure was enough to crush a Legendary Knight at the third or fourth ring into a pulp!
Sensing danger, the Nest began summoning wolf packs. The Black Wolves outside roared, trying to rush in, but Su Nan wasted no time deploying his Absolute Forbidden Zone. While neutralizing the surrounding invisible Heavy Pressure, he also blocked the wolves from entering.
At the same time, the Heavy Pressure that accompanied the Absolute Forbidden Zone caused the entire Nest to tremble slightly, with the ground and inner walls emitting sounds of squirming, as if they couldn't bear the strain.
Soon, the invisible pressure emanating from the Nest dissipated. The bloody patterns on the ground and inner walls also dimmed, and a faint wail seemed to echo from the void, as if the Nest were begging Su Nan for mercy.
"Has it developed instincts similar to that of a beast? It even knows to submit to the strong, seeking advantage while avoiding harm."
Su Nan's brow twitched as his gaze fixated on the deepest part of the inner wall of the Nest, where a crimson meatball, about the size of a human head, was embedded—its color clearly distinguishable from the surrounding wall.
He stepped closer and placed his hand on the meatball, letting his Spiritual Power seep into it.
A Biological Nest of Twilight Valley's caliber had little power to resist against a Level 3 Wizard. This was why it instinctively lowered its defenses in surrender the moment it sensed Su Nan's strength.
Before long, Su Nan discovered the Soul Mark left behind by Youxi. He immediately summoned his Spiritual Power to obliterate it, imprinting his own Soul Mark in its place.
As soon as the Soul Mark solidified, Su Nan felt an indescribable connection forming between him and the Nest.
When he withdrew his hand, a black crystal shaped like a wolf's fang appeared in his palm.
This was the item used to control the wolf pack.
As long as one possessed the Wolf Fang Crystal, they could command all the wolves hatched from the Nest.
Moreover, this Wolf Fang Crystal could be divided into subordinate crystals with lesser authority, which could be used to control portions of the wolf pack.
Su Nan lightly clenched the Wolf Fang Crystal. Through it, he could clearly sense the presence of every Black Wolf.
With just a thought, he could immediately summon all the Black Wolves to him.
“With this, nothing in the Wolf Tide Plane can stop the Star Alliance's advance.”
Apart from the Black Wolves, the other exotic beast races posed no real threat to the Star Alliance.
As long as the Black Wolves remained compliant, the Star Alliance could easily seize control of the entire Wolf Tide Plane.
After stowing away the Wolf Fang Crystal, Su Nan turned his attention back to the black meatball on the inner wall.
Having taken control of Twilight Valley, information about the entire Nest flooded his mind.
With the current concentration of Energy Particles in the Wolf Tide Plane, Twilight Valley could hatch forty-five Black Wolves daily and one Twilight Wolf annually.
The upper limit was four hundred thirty-four thousand eight hundred Black Wolves and two hundred eighty-five Twilight Wolves.
This represented the maximum capacity of Twilight Valley to assert complete control over the Nest's creatures.
Exceeding that number, the Black Wolf and Twilight Wolf that continue to hatch will no longer be under the control of Twilight Valley; instead, they will turn against Nest immediately.
However, Su Nan was quite satisfied. A pack of over four hundred and thirty thousand wolves was roughly equivalent to more than three Large Golem Legion armies. Moreover, there were over two hundred Twilight Wolves with Wizard-level combat power. For the Star Alliance, this was a significant reinforcement.
Through Nest, Su Nan also gauged the current number of the wolf pack, which included approximately two hundred and ten thousand Black Wolves. Due to the previous war, their numbers had sharply decreased, and the Twilight Wolves had been completely wiped out. The ones that hatched not long ago had also perished at the hands of Sheman and Coley.
"The Black Wolves can recover to their upper limit in a little over ten years, but for the Twilight Wolves, it will take at least two hundred years to reach their upper limit, at a rate of one per year."
After leaving Nest, Su Nan returned to Starlight Continent. Upon arriving at Starlight Wizard Tower, he immediately found Lize and presented her with the Wolf Fang Crystal.
"Twilight Valley has been dealt with; we can advance now."
Lize smiled faintly. "I've been ready for a long time."
"How are preparations for mining going?"
"The new Clay Golem and mining equipment are still being prepared, but we can transfer a batch from the old ones, which will be more than sufficient for the initial development," Lize replied, speaking slowly and deliberately, clearly having a plan in mind.
"The task of exploring the Wolf Tide Plane Leyline Node has also been issued. If it's assigned to a Wizard Apprentice, it will be completed quickly. At that time, we can simultaneously begin the construction of the Sub Magic Stone Mine."
"Additionally, the environment of the Wolf Tide Plane is well-suited for establishing a Magic Plant Garden. I plan to construct two hundred Large Magic Plant Garden bases to increase the production of Dragon Blood Fruit."
Su Nan listened patiently to Lize's report and nodded, satisfied. It was indeed a wise choice to entrust these matters to her.
"How is the collection of materials for Reshaping the Body going?" he asked.
Lize shook her head. "The other materials are fine; we have nearly collected everything. However, we are still missing the Pure Soul Flower, and it isn't available on Wisdom Codex's transaction list either."
Su Nan raised an eyebrow.
The Pure Soul Flower can purify the soul, minimizing its repulsion with the physical body, thus significantly increasing the success rate of body reshaping. It is considered the most crucial ingredient for this process.
While the Pure Soul Flower is indeed precious, the Wisdom Codex certainly would not be without it; likely, it is a resource traded only among internal members.
Su Nan pondered for a moment before saying, "We can trade with Cyril and ask him to purchase the Pure Soul Flower for us. As long as we offer enough, I believe he'll be willing to help."
"I have an even better idea," Lize replied. "Other places might not have the Pure Soul Flower, but the City of All Things certainly will."
The City of All Things?
Su Nan's expression changed.
The City of All Things attracts a large number of wizards, a mix of ichthyosaurs, and at the same time, you can find many precious resources that are unavailable elsewhere. It is, without a doubt, the largest neutral trading platform in the entire multiverse.
If it’s there, then the Pure Soul Flower can indeed be found.
Without much hesitation, Su Nan quickly agreed to Lize's suggestion. After all, while asking Cyril for help—even if we pay the price—we would still owe him a favor. It is undoubtedly better if we can solve this problem ourselves.
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