A fourth-level wizard scroll — regardless of its intrinsic value — the mere act of activating it could drain a gaseous-level
Of course, having consumed so much of Leilin's energy, the Construct Activation Spell's power was nothing to scoff at.
A ring of crystalline starlight swept out, enveloping the entire Wizard Tower. Countless runes flickered in unison, as if they had developed a life of their own, breathing together at a single shared rhythm.
Before Leilin's eyes, a translucent blue silhouette gradually took form.
"Master! The Tower Spirit is at your service!"
Having absorbed Leilin's Spiritual Power, the Tower Spirit bore his imprint from the very moment of its birth.
Moreover, it was one with the entire Wizard Tower, capable of helping Leilin perceive countless subtleties he would otherwise never have noticed.
"Good! My first command — accept and integrate it!"
A blue seed emerged from between Leilin's brows and swiftly sank into the Tower Spirit's translucent form.
Vast streams of data cascaded through the Tower Spirit's eyes. The sheer volume of complex information destabilized the newly formed phantom until it collapsed entirely into a ball of light.
Once everything stabilized, a mechanical voice issued from within the blue orb: "Digitization complete! Chip subsystem is at your service! Please select an appearance!"
"A little tree sprite!" Leilin had never been fond of humanoid managers.
The blue orb trembled for a moment, then reshaped itself into a sprite the size of a human head, blue through and through, with a pair of wings made of starlight on its back.
"From now on, I'll call you Number One!" Leilin nodded, very satisfied with the intelligent entity's chosen form.
"Understood! Number One greets its master!" The little blue sprite bowed respectfully, though its expression remained perfectly mechanical.
"Begin synchronization!" That very mechanical expression was precisely what pleased Leilin — what he needed was an absolutely rational manager, and an emotional subroutine had never been part of the design.
Upon his command, a Spiritual Power data interface instantly linked Leilin's Chip to the little sprite.
"Data synchronization initiated. Cleaning in progress."
The Chip emitted its voice.
"Detected three instances of disharmonious Spiritual Power fluctuations. Commencing purge!"
"Tower Spirit integration complete! Anti-detection Wards at full power!"
Notification after notification popped up, and the smile on Leilin's lips grew ever wider.
An ordinary Tower Spirit would never possess the Chip's terrifying computational capacity, and its management scope would be limited to the interior of the Wizard Tower.
But through Leilin's modifications, he could now remotely control every aspect of the Tower's interior while also thoroughly eliminating any hidden dangers that might have been planted beforehand.
Having merged with the subroutine replicated by the Chip, the Tower Spirit was now vastly more intelligent — capable of autonomously detecting and patching vulnerabilities, while all of its previous flaws had been completely erased.
Even if Duke
Because Leilin had already reformatted the original Tower Spirit and replaced it entirely with his own.
"呼..."
Leilin let out a long, deep breath.
With the Wizard Tower completed — and especially with both the positive and negative energy reaction pools now operational — the concentration of elemental particles inside had surpassed the outside world by more than tenfold!
The energy particles were so dense they were almost visible to the naked eye, and for a Wizard the sensation was far more vivid. Leilin felt as though he were submerged in an ocean of elements.
The particle environment of the Central Continent had always been exceptional, and the concentration within the Wizard Tower was leagues beyond even that.
Under these conditions, Leilin realized that even without any potions whatsoever, the progress of his Meditation Method would not be slow. More terrifying still, even those worthless apprentices with first- or second-tier Soul Qualification could potentially break through their limits and ascend to the rank of full Wizard if they studied and meditated in such an environment!
Upon recognizing this, Leilin made an immediate decision: from now on, unless something truly important demanded his attention, he would make his permanent home inside the Wizard Tower.
Outside the Wizard Tower.
Pike and the others did not perceive the effect as keenly as Leilin, but when the entire tower began to hum and emit a soft, diffused glow, a cheer rose from the gathered crowd. Even Gubule's eyes glistened with tears.
A Wizard Tower — on the Central Continent, that was the ultimate symbol of power!
With a Wizard Tower's support — particularly one as advanced as Leilin's — even ordinary crystalline-level Wizards would not dare trespass on this domain lightly. Moreover, thanks to the tower's wide-ranging surveillance capabilities, the crime rate within the territory would drop dramatically!
This meant Leilin's authority was now thoroughly cemented, in both the mundane and Wizard worlds alike.
It was no wonder that these vassals who depended on Leilin were so deeply moved.
*Boom!* At that moment, with the sound of a mechanism engaging, the tower's great doors swung open, revealing Leilin's figure.
"It's finally done. Come in and take a look around!"
"Thank you, Master!" Several Warlocks immediately bowed. For them, the completion of this Wizard Tower was partly their achievement as well, and naturally they wished to see as much of it as possible.
"The particle concentration!"
The moment they stepped through the entrance, they were stunned by the terrifying density of particles within.
"A tower built under the Master's personal direction — worthy indeed! If I could have studied in an environment like this in my youth, I might have broken through to liquidation by now."
Pike ran his hand along the cold, hard wall, his heart swelling with emotion.
"In the future, I will grant you all access privileges to the Wizard Tower based on your contributions. You will each be given your own bedroom and laboratory!"
Leilin looked at his subordinates and immediately offered this reward.
"Thank you, Master!" The Warlocks were deeply moved. In their wildest dreams, they had never imagined gaining access to such an elite Wizard Tower.
Pike, especially — though he had little hope of advancing further himself, his one desire was to pave the way for Shulubi. This treatment far exceeded anything he had ever anticipated, and he was visibly overcome with emotion.
Leilin, for his part, was perfectly nonchalant.
These Warlocks were his subordinates and deserved their rewards. Besides, with the Tower Spirit managing everything, they would pose no real risk.
He would only open up the guest bedrooms, living quarters, and a few laboratories to them. The core positive and negative energy reaction pools and the control room would remain firmly in his own hands.
Since Leilin himself might one day live and work here, Gubule and the others' feelings were somewhat different from the others'.
Leilin led them on a brief tour of the middle floors, passing through the lounge, bedrooms, and library, all the way to the Wizard Garden.
Inside the Wizard Garden, Leilin had employed ancient environmental design techniques. Though no flora or fauna had yet been transplanted in, the original flowers and rare plants were already growing vigorously.
Specks of green light drifted downward continuously — Life Energy accumulated during the tower's activation earlier — providing the plants with abundant nourishment and vitality.
"Thanks to the positive energy pool, the entire Wizard Tower's water circulation system uses the purest water-element particles condensed into purified water, reaching the highest possible standard of purity. Combined with the Wizard Garden's output, the tower at full capacity can sustain the livelihoods of several thousand people..."
Leilin explained, a note of pride in his voice.
With the Wizard Tower's support, he not only possessed power comparable to a crystalline-level Wizard, but could also house and sustain more than five thousand people within the tower!
Such strength, in wartime, would make this an enormously formidable fortress — and one that could be entirely self-sufficient.
The entire Wizard Tower was, in effect, a terrifying war machine, and its formidable power was enough to deter any force that might covet it.
"This... is where I will build my foundation from now on!" Leilin sighed inwardly, though a smile surfaced on his face. "To celebrate the completion of the Wizard Tower! Tonight I will hold a banquet at the Black Castle. Let us celebrate!"
A wave of intoxicating cheers washed over the entire space at once.
...
Night fell, and the entire Black Castle erupted in revelry. Singers, dancers, and musicians performed with all their might, while wave after wave of delicacies and fine wines flowed to the banqueting tables like a river.
Since this was a private feast, the rules were quite relaxed — even ordinary, common-born nobles had received invitations.
The Warlocks had formed their own circle, but they did not排斥 the commotion outside. Faces throughout the hall beamed with joyful smiles, filled with hope for the future of the territory.
Given Leilin's status, no one dared approach to disturb him. He merely drank a few cups, offered a few words of encouragement to his subordinates, and then quietly slipped away from the castle.
The bright moon hung high, its silver radiance pouring down. The night air carried a faint chill — just right for someone who had been drinking.
Of course, given Leilin's constitution, very few wines could intoxicate him these days.
He made his way to the vicinity of the Wizard Tower. Thanks to the Tower Spirit's detection capabilities, even the original guards had been relocated.
A ring-shaped symbol on Leilin's hand suddenly lit up. "I'm here. Come to me."
He spoke flatly, yet his tone carried an irresistible command.
A dark shadow materialized from the void and stood quietly beside Leilin.
"Follow me!"
The Wizard Tower's great doors swung open once more, welcoming their master.
Only after reaching the reception room did a trace of relaxation appear on Leilin's face. He settled into a sofa.
"Sit. You don't need to hide here. My Wizard Tower is equipped with powerful anti-detection Wards — even a Dawn Star Wizard's probes would be detected!"
The black-robed figure hesitated for a moment, then pushed back the hood to reveal a beautiful feminine face, adorned with a golden circlet upon her forehead.
"Master," she called softly.
This witch was none other than the fugitive Wizard leader whom Leilin had subdued in the Forgotten Land — Tannasha!
"Did you encounter any trouble on the way?" Leilin asked slowly as Tannasha took her seat.