Chapter 239: Frost Stone, Shadow Realm
"My Lord, here are the exploration results for the secondary magic stone veins from the past six months."
In the study, Artir used Mage Hand to place the document on the desk.
Lize acknowledged with a slight nod, finishing the documents she was working on before picking up the exploration report for a thorough read.
Artir stood quietly by her side. The light from the magic stone lamp on the wall cast a warm glow, reflecting off her translucent form, giving her an ethereal, otherworldly appearance.
Artir considered herself fortunate.
Although she had failed to ascend to become a wizard, she had survived the high-risk transformation into a spectral entity, allowing her to continue her existence in this world.
Moreover, her teacher had promised to help her rebuild her body in the future.
When that time came, she would have another chance to strive for wizardry.
Artir understood clearly that under normal circumstances, the Star Alliance would never expend such a significant amount of resources on a wizard apprentice.
Her special treatment was entirely thanks to her teacher and Lord Lize.
Grateful for their support, she devoted herself fully to her duties, determined to repay their kindness.
Before long, Lize finished reading the document and nodded slightly.
"Not bad. The cultivation progress is smooth. It seems the vein should be ready for mining in a little over a decade."
Lize looked up at Artir and instructed, "Start making preparations now. Mining equipment and clay golems must be prepared in advance. The moment the vein stabilizes, they must be deployed for immediate extraction."
The initial rollout of secondary mana technology had exceeded expectations.
Whether in civilian or military applications, the reception of mana-powered machines was overwhelmingly positive, with exceptional feedback.
The entire Starshine Continent now resembled a volcano on the verge of eruption. As long as enough secondary magic stones were supplied, an explosion of development would occur, propelling secondary mana technology into rapid growth.
In less than a century, mana technology was destined to sweep across the continent, revolutionizing productivity entirely.
This would further elevate the continent's development and create new opportunities for the Star Alliance's growth.
Artir meticulously recorded Lize's instructions, preparing to act on them as soon as she left the study.
Simultaneously mining over thirty large veins would require an enormous quantity of mining equipment and clay golems, necessitating early preparations.
This critical aspect of mana technology's advancement allowed no room for error.
"And one more thing," Lize continued, changing the subject. "The Star Alliance plans to form a new puppet legion, requiring a large amount of materials."
A new puppet legion?
Artir was puzzled.
Currently, the Star Alliance had two puppet legions.
One was the conventional golem army, comprising three large-scale and four medium-scale units.
This force continued to expand annually, with plans to establish a fourth large-scale unit within the next decade.
The other was the Starshine Wizard Tower's internal golem legion.
Although its size was equivalent to a small-scale army, its combat capabilities exceeded those of a large-scale legion.
This legion rarely left the wizard tower unless absolutely necessary.
Given that the Star Alliance faced little threat of large-scale warfare, two puppet legions were more than sufficient. Artir didn't understand the necessity of forming a new one.
When she reviewed the composition list for the new legion, she was stunned.
Three hundred Tentacle Puppets and fifty Secret Dolls!
The scale was staggering!
Artir knew that both Tentacle Puppets and Secret Dolls possessed combat capabilities comparable to first-tier gaseous wizards.
What could warrant creating so many wizard-level puppets at once?
More critically, the cost of forming such a legion would be astronomical.
Lize noticed Artir's bewilderment but offered no explanation.
When Sunan proposed the new puppet legion, Lize immediately understood his intention:
It was preparation to confront the Dark Throne.
Only an opponent as formidable as the Dark Throne would justify such an investment in wizard-level puppets.
"My Lord, gathering this many materials in a short time might be impossible," Artir said with a frown.
For instance, crafting fifty Secret Dolls required over twenty million gold coins in materials.
Although Tentacle Puppets were relatively less expensive, the cost of three hundred units still exceeded one hundred million gold coins.
Even with the Star Alliance's current income, allocating a quarter of annual revenue would still require more than twenty years to gather sufficient funds.
The real problem was the scarcity of certain materials, like mithril, which would take 40–50 years to accumulate enough for fifty Secret Dolls.
Lize, fully aware of this, waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. This is a long-term project. As long as it's completed within three centuries, it's acceptable."
Artir exhaled in relief. With that extended timeline, the task seemed much more manageable.
"Is there anything else?" Lize asked.
Artir quickly composed herself and replied, "A high-tier subspecies of dragon, a Magic Rage Dragon, has shown signs of evolution recently in Zone 2 of the Dragon Forest. How should we handle it?"
Lize raised an eyebrow, her expression hinting at surprise.
The Star Alliance's plan to enhance the bloodline purity of draconic subspecies was something she had previously doubted.
To her, the dragons were a notoriously powerful race across the multiverse.
Attempting large-scale dragon domestication, a task even third-tier wizards hesitated to pursue, seemed overly ambitious for someone like Sunan, a mere second-tier wizard.
Furthermore, elevating the bloodline purity of an entire draconic subspecies posed enormous challenges.
While enhancing a single draconic subspecies to evolve into a true dragon might be achievable with effort, attempting the same for an entire population was exponentially more difficult.
If it were so easy, those large wizard factions would have already cultivated legions of dragons.
The dragon population in the original Dragon Forest was captured from the outside and bred locally rather than cultivated from scratch.
However, Lize's skepticism was soon overturned.
She discovered, to her astonishment, that the bloodline concentration of the sub-dragon species in Zone 2 was increasing at an unprecedented speed. Upon further investigation, she learned that the Star Alliance was using dragon blood to enhance the bloodline concentration of the sub-dragon species!
This was beyond extravagant!
What puzzled her even more was how Sunan managed to procure so much dragon blood. On the Starshine Continent, not a single dragon remained, and the limited dragon blood was relics left by wizards from a thousand years ago.
Despite her confusion, this revelation altered Lize's perspective on the bloodline enhancement project.
Perhaps it truly had a chance of success.
Artir's report only reinforced this possibility.
In less than 400 years, an individual from the sub-dragon species was already on the verge of evolving. Given another 200–300 years, it might indeed be possible to cultivate a group of true dragons.
After some thought, Lize said, "Isolate the Magic Rage Dragon from its group for now and move it to a secluded area. Allocate 100 standard units of dragon blood from the warehouse to accelerate its evolution."
She paused before adding, "The enhancement experiment should be supervised by a wizard and issued as a task."
"Understood." Artir quickly took notes.
However, a thought struck her, and she hesitantly asked, "My Lord, what if the Magic Rage Dragon evolves into a true dragon? Won't it become difficult to control?"
Lize frowned in contemplation.
Unlike sub-dragon species, true dragons were inherently proud. Their arrogance was deeply ingrained in their very being, making them notoriously resistant to domestication.
Once the Magic Rage Dragon evolved into a true dragon, it would likely resist the taming efforts of the Dragon Forest and even rebel.
Though the Star Alliance had enough power to suppress such rebellion, doing so would only treat the symptom, not the root cause.
The goal of the project was to cultivate a group of dragons loyal to their commands, not rebellious entities.
While Lize possessed several methods to control magical beasts, she doubted their efficacy on true dragons.
She couldn't help but wonder how the original creator of the Dragon Forest solved this problem.
"We'll table this issue for now," Lize finally said. "Once Sunan finishes his seclusion, I'll discuss it with him."
"Teacher is preparing for another breakthrough?" Artir asked, surprised.
From her experience, Sunan only entered seclusion when he was nearing a breakthrough or conducting long-term experiments.
"Indeed." Lize's expression turned complicated.
Even after witnessing it many times, Sunan's terrifying pace of power growth still baffled her.
It had been just over 200 years since he became a second-tier wizard, yet he was already on the verge of another breakthrough.
To put it in perspective, it had taken her 1,500 years to advance from second-tier gaseous to second-tier liquid—an already impressive feat.
Yet Sunan appeared likely to achieve the same in less than 300 years.
In the challenging environment of the Starshine Continent, such progress could only be described as miraculous.
After leaving the study, Artir met up with the automaton carrying her grimoire and teleported to the storage area.
Like Lize, her soul was bound to a grimoire, which served as her physical vessel. It was a custom-made artifact from her teacher, containing spells from zero-circle to second-circle for her convenience.
Upon arriving, Artir began inventorying high-grade materials for puppet crafting, intending to draft a plan to submit to Lize later.
As a spectral being unable to cultivate, she had ample time to dedicate to such tasks.
Once her work was complete, Artir exited the storage area, only to run into Tajana.
"Tajana, what a coincidence," Artir greeted with a smile.
"It's no coincidence. I came specifically to find you."
The drow girl smiled faintly, her silver eyes gleaming like precious gems.
Tajana had already ascended to become a wizard, making her the only non-human wizard in the Star Alliance.
As a result, her reputation within the Star Alliance was even greater than many other wizards.
"I came across a Frostshade Stone recently and remembered you mentioning its importance, so I thought I'd bring it to you," Tajana said, handing over a small, pale-gray stone about the size of an egg.
"A Frostshade Stone!" Artir exclaimed, startled.
She had read about this rare negative-energy material from books. Originating from the Frostshade River in the Shadow Realm, it was an invaluable resource.
More importantly, it was a critical material for reconstructing her physical body!
"Where did you find this, Tajana?" Artir asked, her eyes lighting up.
Noticing Artir's excitement, Tajana didn't keep her in suspense and explained, "I found it in a cave near Bank City in the Underground World. I later confirmed its identity with Professor Rose."
Artir recalled that Bank City was located at the southeastern edge of the continent, not far from Spider City.
"Thank you for the information, Tajana. You've been a great help."
Artir smiled and hugged Tajana lightly.
"I'm glad I could help," Tajana replied, returning the hug.
Following the sacrificial event years ago, the dark elf clan was left in ruins, and Tajana had severed ties with them.
Though she joined the Starshine Academy afterward, her status as a non-human made it difficult for her to integrate fully into her peers' circles.
In the entire Star Alliance, Artir was the only person she considered a true friend.
Thus, Tajana cherished their friendship deeply.
After parting ways, Artir hurried back to the study to report the matter to Lize.
"A Frostshade Stone?"
Hearing Artir's report, Lize immediately grew serious.
Reconstructing a body was a matter of utmost importance, and she treated it as such.
After some thought, she made her decision.
"Dispatch a team to search the area around Bank City, focusing on the cave where the Frostshade Stone was found. Report any findings immediately."
Once Artir had left to carry out the order, Lize gazed at the Frostshade Stone on her desk, deep in thought.
"Was this stone left behind by a wizard's legacy, or did it come from the Shadow Realm?"
If it was the former, Tajana's discovery was likely a coincidence.
But if it was the latter, the implications were far more significant.
Even though the Starshine Continent was still sealed off, and the Shadow Realm lacked the unique characteristics of elemental planes, it should have been impossible for it to connect to the continent.
However, if the Frostshade Stone had indeed come from the Shadow Realm, it meant someone—or something—had brought it over.
This could only mean that another entity had already infiltrated the Starshine Continent.
Such a scenario demanded immediate attention.
"If the Shadow Realm has truly connected to the continent, this might be an opportunity to gather materials ahead of schedule."
Lize's eyes gleamed with determination.
More than a third of t
he materials required for reconstructing a body were negative-energy resources.
And it was well known that the Shadow Realm was the richest source of such materials.
Whether her suspicions were correct would depend on the results of the investigation.
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