Chapter 270: Plane Exploration, Star Fortress
"Are you saying that Su Nan killed Makaro in less than a minute?"
Inside the study, Gary set down his quill, intrigued by the news.
Tanna nodded, his voice slightly unsteady. "I confirmed it with the Starry Sky Tower; Makaro is indeed dead."
Gary reflected for a moment. "It seems Su Nan’s strength is even greater than we anticipated. No wonder he was able to establish the Wizard Faction in the Sealed Plane single-handedly. We should cultivate a friendship with him and offer assistance when necessary.”
"Yes, sir," Tanna replied with a firm nod.
In reality, Makaro's recent Arena Duel had been orchestrated behind the scenes by them, the All Things Assembly. Their aim was to gauge Su Nan's true strength to determine how to approach him in the future. The outcome confirmed that Su Nan is indeed someone worth befriending.
The Star Alliance is also a Wizard Faction with immense potential. The All Things Assembly is never reluctant to forge alliances with such Wizard Factions, maintaining a friendly yet appropriately distant relationship. This is the primary reason they can thrive in the Wizarding World while remaining neutral.
Meanwhile, back on the Starlight Continent, Su Nan immediately immersed himself in refining his Puppet creations.
To date, he possessed the design schematics for five types of Wizard Level Puppets:
The first three are First Order Wizard Level Puppets, each focusing on different strengths.
The Tentacle Puppet is powerful in close combat, serving as an excellent front-line tank. Its many tentacles can also cast spells, making it a versatile option suited for various battlefields due to its dual capabilities in Magic and Martial Arts.
The Secret Puppet excels in flexibility and intelligence, able to seamlessly change its form. It can adopt a human appearance for special missions and possesses formidable combat strength, functioning as a nimble warrior-type puppet.
As for the Shadow Steel Golem, they are crafted from a metallic material entirely mined and forged in the Netherworld. These silent and powerful guardians have a dark appearance, and their movements are ghostly quiet, often leading them to be mistaken for undead creatures.
Due to the Shadow Steel Golem's exceptional ability to conceal itself and blend into the shadows, many wizards often use the Shadow Steel Golem as hidden guards for their Wizard Towers or incorporate them into other puppets on the battlefield to launch surprise attacks on their enemies.
The Shadow Steel Golem is among the few assassin-types within the realm of golems.
Su Nan planned to assemble a Witch Hunter Legion exclusively for the Starlight Wizard Tower, with Tentacle Puppets, Secret Puppets, and Shadow Steel Golems as its core members and foundational combat force.
For high-end combat power, the Vajra Golem and Supreme Golem would fulfill those roles.
The former has combat power equivalent to a second-tier Vaporization Wizard, while the latter is on par with a Tier 3 Vaporization Wizard.
Both types of golems are capable of ‘Magic Martial Dual Cultivation’, representing an advanced version of the Tentacle Puppet.
The Supreme Golem, in particular, possesses extremely formidable combat power and is usually employed in small quantities by Large Wizard Towers.
Only the Floating City utilizes them as standard combat units.
"The market price for one Shadow Steel Golem is about seven thousand Lower Magic Stones. With enchantments and continuous spell processing, the cost rises to approximately eight thousand Lower Magic Stones," Su Nan estimated.
In fact, calculating their value based on Magic Stones is more advantageous for the Star Alliance.
After all, Su Nan's cost to synthesize Magic Stones is far lower than the publicly recognized value set by the Wizarding World.
If he weren't concerned about any backdoors left in Golem Puppets purchased from other Wizard Factions, he could directly acquire Shadow Steel Golems using Magic Stones and then enhance them according to his own preferences.
"Never mind; since they are part of the Wizard Tower's built-in Puppet Legion, it’s better to be safe."
"However, I can purchase some golems to add to the exchange list for others to redeem."
Wizards generally do not have strict requirements for the golems they use; direct procurement is sufficient.
"The cost of building a Vajra Golem is approximately nine thousand Mid-Level Magic Stones."
"The cost of creating a Supreme Golem is estimated to be around ten thousand Superior Magic Stones. It is normal for the cost to increase by more than tenfold with each level increase."
Moreover, compared to the Shadow Steel Golem, Vajra Golems and Supreme Golems are often available for purchase but rarely have sellers.
“After all, which wizard wouldn’t want a Vajra Golem or a Supreme Golem for self-defense? The demand for these two types of golems is especially high among the Wizard Faction, and most of the Vajra Golems and Supreme Golems available in the market are controlled by a few large Wizard Factions.
‘The blueprints are complete; now it’s time to upgrade the Wizard Tower.’
With an ample supply of Magic Stones and the resource channels provided by the Wisdom Codex, upgrading the Starlight Wizard Tower to a large level was virtually effortless—the only thing lacking was time.
‘We need to try to finish upgrading the Starlight Wizard Tower before the Wizard Civil War erupts.’
Time flew by like an arrow, and days passed in the blink of an eye. Before they knew it, the year 2200 in the Starlight Calendar had arrived.
Above the Dragon Forest Sector 3, Rose looked down at the now-repaired Wizard Tower and let out a long sigh of relief. The seven or eight other wizards around her also displayed expressions of joy.
"It’s finally done!"
"This is the last Wizard Tower."
"I didn’t expect that repairing a Wizard Tower would take so much time and effort. If we had to build one from scratch, it would probably take hundreds of years!"
"That’s for sure. When Master Sunan constructed the Starlight Wizard Tower, it took over a hundred years, even with the power of the Star Alliance."
The crowd chatted amongst themselves, their expressions relaxed and joyful. Although repairing the Wizard Tower was time-consuming and laborious, the corresponding mission rewards were exceptionally generous, equivalent to completing hundreds of regular missions.
"Thank you all for your hard work. After I hand over the mission, I will transfer the Contribution Points to your accounts based on your contributions. You may all go back and rest now."
Rose turned to everyone and spoke with a smile.
"Yes, Lord Rose."
As one of only three First Grade Crystallization Wizards currently in the Star Alliance, Rose possessed significant prestige among the other wizards. At her command, everyone responded respectfully and left one after another.
After they departed, Rose first went to the Task Hall to hand over the mission and then returned to her cultivation room.
Sitting down cross-legged, Rose began to cultivate. If there was one noticeable change since the Plane blockade had been lifted, it was that the number of resources on the Star Alliance’s exchange list had significantly increased, with an even greater variety available.”
---
Take the Elemental Crystal Core, for example. Before the lifting of the Plane blockade restriction, the Elemental Crystal Core was virtually absent from the Star Alliance exchange list. In fact, when it was available, it commanded an extremely high price.
Only after the restriction was lifted and the internal trading rights of the Wisdom Codex were obtained did the Elemental Crystal Core start appearing on the exchange list.
As a result, Rose's cultivation speed has significantly accelerated in recent years. She managed to break through to First Grade Crystallization in just over eight hundred years and successfully constructed a second Talent Crystal Model.
Once she completes the process of filling her Spiritual Power, she will be able to advance to Second Level Wizard.
"Once I advance to Second Level Wizard, the Contribution Points I’ve accumulated should be nearly enough for me to exchange for a Small Wizard Tower."
Thinking about the Wizard Tower made Rose's heart flutter with excitement.
Aside from the Medium Wizard Tower taken by Starfall Lord—no, she should now be referred to as Lord Lize—
there are currently four Small Wizard Towers listed on the Star Alliance exchange, with Contribution Points values set according to their different configurations.
Although these Contribution Points are undoubtedly a 'discount price' compared to the actual value of the Wizard Towers, they still represent an astronomical figure for an ordinary Wizard.
At present, the entire Star Alliance has seen only one Wizard Tower exchanged for a Scepter.
Rose has been saving Contribution Points for nearly two hundred years, and now she finally sees a glimmer of hope.
"With a Wizard Tower, I can explore the Plane."
Another change resulting from the lifting of the Plane blockade restriction is that the Star Alliance has gained access to many Plane missions.
Many Planes or Resources in the Multiverse are barren and lack conquest value, or their indigenous forces are too powerful, making the cost of conquest greatly exceed their value. Thus, no Wizard Faction is willing to dispatch large-scale troops for invasion.
Instead, they prefer to send small groups into the Plane to gather Resources.
The Star Alliance has naturally followed this trend and has been releasing various collection missions for Resources in recent years.
Moreover, the mission rewards are substantial.
After all, when collecting Resources, there is potential not only for battles with indigenous forces but also for conflicts with members of other Wizard Factions.
--- However, what puzzled Rose was that, logically, the locations of the Resource points within the Plane should be secrets that each Wizard Faction would do everything to protect. Yet, Su Nan seemed to have opened his celestial eye; he knew everything: which Plane held valuable Resource points, their exact locations, and what powerful indigenous forces required attention.
It was unclear how he obtained this information.
In addition to collecting Resources, there was another type of Plane exploration mission.
As the name implied, this involved exploring unfamiliar and unknown Planes.
These types of missions were mainly divided into two categories.
The first category was for Planes with known Coordinates; one would directly proceed with Plane Travel to explore and collect information.
The second category involved unknown Plane Coordinates; one would undertake an Astral Realm journey, searching for new, undiscovered Planes within the vast Astral Realm.
The Multiverse was immensely vast, containing countless Planes. Even Wizards had only explored a fraction of it so far, and new Planes were discovered each year.
Of the two types of Plane exploration, the second was naturally the more challenging.
Countless dangerous creatures inhabited the vast Astral Realm, and occasional Void Turbulence also posed a threat. Even someone as powerful as a Wizard could lose their life if they were careless.
Therefore, the Star Alliance stipulated that only Second Level Wizards who possessed a Wizard Tower could accept the second type of Plane exploration mission.
As for the first type of Plane exploration mission, any Wizard could undertake it.
Rose had accepted many such missions over the years, earning a good amount of Contribution Points.
"Once I have a Wizard Tower, I can attempt to conquer a Small Plane."
Rose's eyes flickered.
The Resources required for a Wizard to advance were truly immense. Without a Wizard who independently controlled a Plane, it would be difficult to progress further on the path of Wizardry.
Most Wizards, once they advanced to the Second Level and possessed a Wizard Tower, would begin searching for a suitable Plane to conquer.
Fortunately, in this regard, the Star Alliance greatly supported its subordinate Wizards.
As long as one had enough power, the Master Sunan would provide suitable Plane Coordinates.
In fact, as far as Rose knew, after the Star Alliance had fully digested the gains from the Wolf Tide Plane, it had already begun setting its sights on other Planes.
It was estimated that it would not be long before the Star Alliance launched a new Plane War!
Thump thump!
Just as she was pondering, a sudden knock echoed through the door.
Rose snapped out of her thoughts and said, “Come in.”
The door opened, and Tagana walked in.
“Teacher,” the young woman said, bowing slightly in greeting.
“You are a Wizard now; there’s no need to be so formal. We can treat each other as equals,” Rose replied with a gentle smile. She greatly admired this student of hers.
Although Tagana was not human, her talent was exceptionally high. Despite joining Starlight Academy later than Fleming and the others, she had advanced to become a Wizard almost simultaneously with them. If Tagana were human, she would likely have already surpassed Rose in terms of strength.
“Is there something you need?” Rose inquired.
“Star Fortress has arrived at Dragon Forest Sector 3 and is outside now. Would you like to take a look?” Tagana answered.
Star Fortress was a new war fortress developed by the Star Alliance specifically for Plane War. The entire fortress was armed with over a hundred River-type Spell Turret cannons and ten River-type Disintegration Cannons. Both types of cannons had been newly developed by Su Nan. Their firepower was only slightly higher than Type II, which was not a significant difference, but their consumption was only half that of the latter.
The total firepower was even greater than the combined strength of dozens of third-level Magic Ships. Additionally, Star Fortress was also equipped with miniature versions of the Levitation Ring, Elemental Pool, and Mystic Lock Defense Energy Field, which could be considered a simplified version of a Wizard Tower.
After its successful development, Lize had decreed that all Wizards accepting Plane exploration missions could temporarily receive a Star Fortress to utilize in battles during the expedition. The condition was that they would need to submit a detailed report on the combat capabilities of the Star Fortress afterward.
“Let’s go take a look,” Rose said, nodding slightly as she stood up and left the cultivation room.
In Dragon Forest Sector 3, more than a dozen palace-like metal structures loomed over a wide open space, radiating a strong energy particle fluctuation. The outer walls, towering over two hundred meters high, shimmered with a cold luster under the sunlight, exuding a sense of heavy oppression.
Those were the Star Fortresses!
Over a dozen Wizards had gathered around the Star Fortress, speaking in hushed tones. Sheman and Coley were among them.
"They also accepted the Plane exploration mission.
Artier was present as well, serving as the team leader responsible for transporting the Star Fortress.
Not long after returning from the City of All Things, Su Nan began reshaping Artier's body.
After regaining her human form, and with the tireless assistance of her two close friends, Sheman and Coley, she successfully ascended to become a Wizard.
Although her strength has been increasing slowly since then, and she is still only at the First Level of Vaporization, she has taken the most crucial step.
"You're a Wizard now too; why not accept a Plane exploration mission?" Tagana asked Artier, leaning in closer.
Artier smiled and shook her head. "I haven't accumulated enough experience yet. It won't be too late to accept a mission later. Besides, Lord Lize has been busy in seclusion lately, and there are many matters that I need to handle, so I can't leave right now."
"Is Lord Lize about to break through?" Tagana inquired, a flicker of emotion passing across his face.
"It seems that the Star Alliance will soon have a second Level 3 Wizard."
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