Chapter 208: Breakthrough, First-Level Liquefaction

Hearing the patriarch declare surrender, the other three Russell family wizard apprentices secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

They were truly terrified.

These two puppet girls were terrifyingly strong!

Not only could they not defeat them, but they couldn't even escape.

Let alone the fact that there was a menacing army outside.

Continuing to resist would surely mean their deaths.

The Russell family was merely cooperating with the alliance, not fighting to the death, and certainly not worth sacrificing their lives for.

"A wise choice," the Red Widow said with a charming smile.

Facado managed a bitter smile, his mouth full of bitterness.

Only now did he truly realize how foolish their previous actions had been.

They had foolishly thought that by combining their strengths, they could contend with Sunan.

But reality had slapped them hard, showing them what it meant to overestimate themselves.

Sunan hadn't even appeared, merely sending two puppets that nearly wiped them out.

Facado wasn't foolish enough to believe that a wizard capable of crafting such powerful puppets would be weaker than the puppets themselves.

The power of a formal wizard was far beyond his imagination!

Thinking of this, Facado felt a wave of despondency.

Previously, he believed his power placed him among the elite of the Starlight Continent, not far behind formal wizards.

But now he understood how arrogant and ridiculous his thoughts had been.

Not far away, seeing the battle end in less than ten minutes, with assassins dead or surrendering, Braid and the others exchanged glances.

To be honest, when they saw the Red Widow arrive with only two puppets, they hadn't said anything outwardly, but inwardly, they were worried.

They hadn't expected these two puppets to be so formidable.

They had effortlessly crushed the attacking wizard apprentices!

It was truly astounding!

"Lord Braid, my task is complete, and I must return with these people. This is where we part."

The Red Widow's voice snapped Braid back to reality. He quickly bowed slightly, responding respectfully:

"Thank you for your assistance. Please convey my regards to Lord Sunan."

The Red Widow nodded with a smile, taking the secret puppets and Russell family members as she left.

Watching them go, Braid turned his gaze to the battlefield.

"Deploy the reserves, it's time to end this war!"

Joton immediately drew his weapon, saying, "I'll lead the troops. Watching the battle earlier has me itching to join in, perfect for stretching my legs."

This time, Braid didn't stop him, waving him off.

With the reserves entering the fray, the Imperial army's assault intensified, and the alliance began to show signs of collapse.

At the rear of the alliance, Edys watched, understanding that Facado and the others had likely failed.

He sighed deeply, his face turning ashen.

The alliance was finished.

In the Lightning Elemental Plane, a certain elemental space.

Boom!

Blinding lightning tore through the void, striking an iron golem, melting much of its massive body into a semi-liquid mass of scrap.

Yet more golems charged fearlessly into the lightning, their enchanted fists pummeling the elemental spirits.

A fierce battle unfolded on the barren land.

Golems continually turned to scrap, while elemental spirits vanished into the air with mournful cries, leaving elemental dust that was swiftly collected by an invisible force, landing in Sunan's palm and disappearing.

Looking at the mountain of elemental dust accumulating in his spatial ring, Sunan smiled faintly.

After discovering the method to synthesize elemental cores from elemental dust and extract divine energy, he had devoted most of his efforts to hunting elemental spirits.

To increase hunting efficiency, Sunan deployed a golem army, spreading his energy waves to lure elemental spirits, then leaving the army to handle them while he focused on acting as a lure and collecting the dust.

This greatly increased the efficiency of acquiring elemental dust.

The cost was merely the consumption of golems.

But compared to using engraved gems to hunt elemental giants, the cost was negligible.

Before long, the lured elemental spirits were all annihilated by the golems.

Estimating that the elemental spirits within a ten-kilometer radius had been cleared, Sunan put away the golems and opened a spatial portal to return to the Dragon Skeleton Tower.

Sitting cross-legged beside the Elemental Pool, Sunan synthesized elemental cores from the dust, immediately absorbing them.

After months of hunting and absorption, his mental refinement had already reached the brink of breakthrough.

As over ten standard units of divine energy were assimilated, his mental energy finally broke through, undergoing a transformation.

In the depths of his mind, the gaseous mental energy swirling around his talent crystal suddenly halted, condensing into droplets like rain.

Before long, the mist vanished, replaced by a liquid flow resembling a galactic band encircling the talent crystal.

The liquid was crystal clear, flowing around the talent crystal with a melodious sound.

"It's done!"

Sunan opened his eyes, summoning the interface to see "Liquefaction: 0.01%" and smiled with genuine joy.

He had finally broken through!

From ascending to a wizard to now, it had only been twelve years.

To break through from first-level gaseous to liquefaction in such a short time was remarkable in any wizarding era, aside from True Spirit descendants.

After transitioning from gaseous to liquid, while the quantity of mental energy seemed to decrease, the quality had increased significantly, more than doubling compared to the gaseous stage.

Among first-level wizards, regardless of various trump cards, a liquefied wizard completely overwhelmed a gaseous one.

After a while, Sunan calmed his excitement, seeing that five standard units of divine energy remained in the elemental dust, he absorbed it all.

His mental refinement increased to 0.2%.

"About fifty standard units of divine energy are needed to increase mental refinement by 1%."

As Sunan expected, after reaching the liquefaction stage, increasing mental refinement became much more challenging.

But he soon rallied.

With the method of synthesizing elemental cores, he could reach first-level crystallization in fifty to sixty years.

This speed far exceeded most first-level wizards.

Especially on the current Starlight Continent, it was unimaginable.

"After reaching first-level crystallization, I need to construct a second talent crystal."

"I need to decide on the talent crystal model first."

Among the talent crystal models obtained from the Starlight Tower, the best was only intermediate, which Sunan found lacking.

He planned to synthesize a super talent crystal model similar to 'Liquid Metal.'

Before reaching crystallization, it was best to prepare the corresponding talent crystal model.

Researching talent crystal models, hunting elemental spirits, and constructing a wizard tower.

Reflecting on it, Sunan realized he had quite a workload.

And each task required significant time and effort.

Thankfully, neither the Star Alliance nor the surface world required his attention now, otherwise he'd be overwhelmed.

Stretching, Sunan looked at the Elemental Pool beside him.

After expansion, the Elemental Pool's energy absorption speed and capacity had increased by about 15%.

Though only a 15% increase, the cost in gems and rare metals was over two million three hundred thousand gold coins.

But the effects were significant.

The increased energy capacity allowed for more flexibility in energy use at Dragon Forest.

Most importantly, it enhanced meditation efficiency and mental energy recovery speed.

"Unfortunately, it hasn't reached the capacity of a standard small Elemental Pool, otherwise the effect would be at least 50% better."

Sunan estimated that the Elemental Pool at the Dragon Skeleton Tower could be further expanded, but the cost-effectiveness was low. It was better to invest in building a new Elemental Pool in the wizard tower.

A standard small Elemental Pool would significantly boost his cultivation efficiency.

"For now, I can only use fourth-tier Crystal Soul Potions. Fifth-tier potions require first-level crystallization mental energy to handle."

"Engraved gems, Forbidden Zones, and Black Thunder can also continue to be synthesized and upgraded."

After reaching the liquefaction stage, Sunan's mental energy had increased, raising his capacity, allowing for more synthesis of engraved gems and wizard tools.

Having decided on his next steps, Sunan turned his thoughts to the wizard tower.

He already had considerable knowledge about constructing a wizard tower, gathered over years through various channels, including books from the Starlight Tower. In terms of knowledge, he was well-prepared.

Now, it was only a matter of taking action.

First, the scale.

In wizard civilization, towers are classified by scale: small, medium, and large.

The larger the tower, the more expensive it is.

Even a basic small wizard tower costs billions of gold coins.

Medium and large towers are beyond monetary measure.

Without resources from two or more colonial planes, building a medium or large tower is unthinkable.

Sunan was realistic.

Medium and large towers were out of reach. Even dismantling the entire Starlight Continent wouldn't yield one.

His goal was always a small wizard tower.

As for more advanced constructs like a floating city, that's the realm of True Spirit wizards, far beyond him now.

"Even a small wizard tower isn't simple to build."

A wizard tower comprises three main parts: energy supply, spatial planning, and combat apparatus.

First, energy supply, consisting of an Elemental Pool, floating rings, and a central crystal energy transmission system.

The Elemental Pool is the tower's most fundamental and core facility, its energy source.

A complete Elemental Pool connects multiple elemental planes, drawing energy for a continuous supply.

It's like a hydroelectric plant, generating energy as long as elemental channels remain.

A small Elemental Pool can sustain a small tower's basic needs, including golem charging, combat apparatus operation, lighting, experiments, and more.

Excess energy can be stored for wartime.

Larger pools supply and store more energy for intense battles.

Generally, a small tower pairs with a small Elemental Pool.

With adequate skill and resources, a medium or large pool can be built.

But costs rise accordingly.

A small pool costs millions of gold coins; a medium one is tenfold, needing rare materials.

Including elemental source crystals, dropped only by elder elemental spirits.

Sunan wanted a medium pool but lacked the means.

"A small pool will do for now; it can be upgraded later if needed."

The second part, floating rings, enable the tower to fly.

They require a large amount of mithril, expensive as well.

The last part, the central crystal energy transmission system, while not as costly, isn't cheap.

It connects the tower to the crystal trace, allowing energy from the Elemental Pool to power the tower, akin to the magic transmission pipelines laid at Base 1.

The central system is essential.

Sunan estimated that energy supply alone, including the Elemental Pool, floating rings, and central system, would cost at least fifty million gold coins in materials.

Many materials are hard to gather quickly, even with money.

Like mithril.

Despite the Star Alliance's size, annual mithril production is under fifty kilograms.

Building floating rings alone requires two to three thousand kilograms.

Including other facilities, the number could exceed five thousand kilograms!

Even saving every bit, it would take a century to gather enough.

A daunting figure indeed!

"Building a tower takes a century or two; it can be accumulated over time."

Sunan decided to delay the floating rings' construction until enough mithril was gathered.

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