Starlight Calendar 1278, Scroll Month (August).
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The last independent city-state in the Northwest Territory fell to the Magic Puppet Legion, signifying the complete takeover of the entire region by the Star Alliance.
Thus, the Underworld welcod its first ruler in a millennium.
After the war subsided, the Star Alliance fully transitioned into a developntal phase. They no longer engaged in large-scale military operations, instead focusing on exploiting the Underworld.
Su Nan ticulously prepared a list of materials required for constructing a Wizard Tower, entrusting Carolina and Red Widow with the task of gathering them. Once he returned from the Black Forest, building the tower would be a top priority.
This was a massive undertaking, not sothing that could be accomplished overnight.
Even with ample resources and manpower, it would take decades to complete. Given the current state of the Starlight Continent, Su Nan estimated that a century would be a fast turnaround.
As the month drew to a close, with only three days left before Harvest Month (September), the energy of the Black Key finally filled up.
The instant the Black Key activated, Su Nan’s mind instantly conjured an image of a dense, gloomy forest teeming with black trees, and he instantly grasped its location.
“It’s quite a distance from the Spider City.”
The Underworld’s map was already etched in Su Nan’s mind. After a brief recollection, he identified the closest city-state to the Black Forest, then used Longlin’s spatial portal to reach it, swiftly flying towards the Black Forest.
Over a hundred kiloters vanished in a blink of an eye. Soon, Su Nan discovered a pitch-black opening within a secluded cave.
“A spatial portal.”
“Unlike the Starsea Tower, the Black Forest appears to be in an alternate dinsion.”
Su Nan wasn’t surprised.
If the Black Forest existed in the material world, his forces would have already discovered clues. Therefore, he speculated that the Black Forest was either an alternate dinsion itself or, like the Starsea Tower, could traverse between the material world and other dinsional planes.
This pitch-black spatial portal undoubtedly proved the forr.
Casting a defensive spell on himself and activating the Extre Protection Ring, Su Nan stepped into the spatial portal without hesitation.
His vision flickered, and when it returned to clarity, Su Nan found himself in a bizarre forest.
As far as he could see, it was filled with towering black trees.
The trunks were black, the branches were black, even the leaves were black.
Above him was a starry sky, with dim starlight showering down on the forest. From a distance, the black trees resembled clawing devils, casting long, eerie shadows on the ground.
The entire forest was shrouded in ghostly shadows, instilling a primal fear in anyone who gazed upon it.
A faint layer of gray mist seed to perate the air.
However, Su Nan knew it wasn’t mist, but rather negative energy particles, so dense they were almost tangible.
“Such concentrated negative energy particles.”
Su Nan marveled at the sight.
Unlike positive energy particles, negative energy particles couldn’t be used to strengthen the body. They instead caused harm.
Besides Wizards (Apprentices) specializing in Necromancy, few would voluntarily absorb negative energy particles. Prolonged exposure to environnts with high concentrations of negative energy particles would also damage the body.
“The Wizard organization that left this legacy is most likely part of the Evil faction.”
“First-Rank Wizard Apprentices and Knights below Legendary level would be corrupted into a pool of pus within a short ti in this place.”
“This Wizard legacy clearly has much stricter entry requirents than the Starsea Tower, and the assessnt thods are probably different.”
Su Nan had a hunch, but it required further observation to verify.
He extended his spiritual power, sensing the surroundings for a mont before heading towards a region with a higher concentration of negative energy particles.
If his assumption was correct, the Black Forest’s core should lie in that direction.
The starlight that fell into the forest seed to be tinged with a dark hue.
The surroundings were eerily silent, except for the sound of Su Nan’s footsteps. This, combined with the gloomy, dark environnt, created an oppressive atmosphere.
Su Nan initially hoped to find so rare magic plants, but after ticulously searching, he found nothing.
Just as he was about to give up, a flash of scarlet caught his eye.
Su Nan’s gaze flickered, and he cautiously approached.
As he drew closer, he realized it was a cluster of red roses.
Bright red petals were dotted with black and gold stars. The base of each flower was encircled by six-inch hollow thorns, blooming amidst ghastly skeletons!
Su Nan’s nostrils twitched, catching the sweet scent wafting in the air. It was subtly mingled with a faint, rotten flesh-like aroma.
Recognizing the origin of these peculiar flowers based on their shape and distinctive scent, Su Nan imdiately unleashed a Magic Missile, preemptively striking.
These were Magic Palace Roses, evil plants that thrived on corpses. They would attack any living creature that ca near, draining their blood and turning them into new beds for the flowers.
Upon realizing their exposure, all the Magic Palace Roses instantly unfurled their petals, fluttering like wings, as if a swarm of bees rising into the air, fiercely charging towards Su Nan.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The air filled with a dull sound like that of a swarm of bees flapping their wings.
Twenty or so Magic Missiles wiped out a good number of Magic Palace Roses, but many more surrounded Su Nan.
Su Nan’s expression remained composed.
A single Magic Palace Rose had the combat strength of a Knight. A large-scale infestation could pose a threat to a Great Knight, but that was all.
They posed no threat to him.
With four Burning Hands, Su Nan easily dealt with the remaining Magic Palace Roses.
However, this battle seed to have flipped a switch, and strange rustling sounds echoed from the darkness all around.
Rumble!
A deafening sound erupted from the left, as if giant boulders were rolling towards him, accompanied by the sound of trees collapsing.
A mont later, a giant, round, spherical object burst from the darkness, rolling towards Su Nan.
By the dim starlight, Su Nan quickly identified the true nature of the sphere.
It was a ball entirely composed of vines and branches, as large as a house, its surface covered in a sickly green cloud of spores. It didn’t look like sothing you’d want to touch.
“Pestilence Vineball!”
Su Nan’s brow furrowed. This was a Legendary-level, third-ring creature capable of spreading plagues. The pestilence poison clouds on its surface could instantly kill a second-ring Legendary Knight.
Simultaneously, a grinding of tal echoed from the front.
Tall, hulking figures charged out from the depths of the forest.
At first glance, these creatures resembled apes clad in black armor. Their faces were grotesque and ugly, and their long tongues, dripping with disgusting pus, protruded from their mouths. Snakes erging from their helts coiled around their armored arms.
“Rotting Dead King!”
Su Nan’s eyes narrowed.
Rotting Dead Kings were third-ring Legendary-level undead creatures. Besides their formidable combat strength, they could summon and command undead.
As the Rotting Dead Kings raised their axes and roared, the ground cracked and groaned, and one after another, undead creatures erged from the earth, their bodies rotten and riddled with exposed white bones.
More and more creatures erged from all around, surging towards Su Nan like a tide.
“Is this the Black Forest’s test?”
Even surrounded by countless monsters, Su Nan’s expression remained calm and collected.
With a thought, countless puppets appeared around him, marching in synchronized steps towards the onslaught of monsters.
A fierce battle erupted in an instant!
Roars and thundering sounds shattered the silence of the night!
Hundreds of elite Steel Magic Puppets and Mithril Magic Puppets ford a protective circle around Su Nan, like a sharp blade ripping through the encirclent of monsters, relentlessly pushing forward.
The density of the monsters surprised Su Nan.
Almost every step he took resulted in the death of a monster or puppet.
Looking down from above, the path he was carving was paved with blood and shattered tal.
“Sothing’s wrong.”
“This level of assault wouldn’t even be survivable for a third-rank Wizard Apprentice. It completely defeats the purpose of an assessnt.”
Su Nan was puzzled.
Perhaps the Black Forest was different from the Starsea Tower. It wasn’t intended to recruit qualified Wizard Apprentices?
But if that wasn’t the case, why would the Wizard force behind the Black Forest leave this legacy?
Or perhaps sothing had happened to the Black Forest?
Though confused, Su Nan didn’t hesitate. He continued to release spells to eliminate the few monsters that breached the defenses.
No matter what, he would reach the core of the Black Forest and see for himself.
The number of monsters in the Black Forest was ultimately limited.
As ti passed, Su Nan noticed a significant decrease in the number of monsters surrounding him.
He estimated that he had killed at least 1,400 to 1,500 monsters, at the cost of over a hundred destroyed Magic Puppets.
However, for Su Nan, who now had a vast fortune, this loss was entirely bearable.
Compared to Secret Puppets, Steel Magic Puppets and Mithril Magic Puppets were much easier to obtain.
He was willing to lose so puppets to preserve his strength for whatever awaited him.
Monts later, with a final wail, the last Rotting Dead King fell under the might of a Mithril Magic Puppet’s giant fist.
The monsters surrounding Su Nan were now completely wiped out. Aside from the pitch-black trees, there was no sign of any creature.
“Is it over?” Su Nan’s eyes flickered.
At that mont, the trees behind him suddenly swayed violently. Several thick branches burst from the earth, whip-like, and lashed out at his back!
Thud!
A muffled sound resonated as the branches were stopped re inches from Su Nan’s body by an invisible force field.
Su Nan whipped around, unleashing a bolt of lightning, incinerating the branches.
Crash!
A series of rhythmic clattering sounds of branches swaying filled the air!
In an instant, all the surrounding trees began to shake violently, countless branches erupting from the ground, densely packed like a raging storm, sweeping towards Su Nan and his puppets!
Creak!
In a flash, several elite Steel Magic Puppets were tightly bound by the branches. As the branches tightened, the tal bodies twisted visibly, emitting grating sounds, turning into scrap tal in a blink of an eye.
Su Nan didn’t hesitate, unleashing a blazing fireball. The surrounding puppets also unleashed flas, instantly turning the surrounding branches into ashes.
But the next mont, another clattering sound of branches swaying reached his ears.
Centered on Su Nan, the trees within a hundred ters began to tremble violently. Branch after branch shot out from the earth, like arrows, hurtling towards him.
The branches, which had just been cleared, quickly beca dense again.
Seeing this, Su Nan couldn’t help but frown.
Could it be… that all the trees in this forest are monsters that control branches?
Although the darkness obscured his vision, Su Nan had been using his spiritual power to sense the surroundings as he traversed the forest. He estimated that the number of trees in this forest couldn’t be less than four digits.
If all these trees were living creatures, then things would get tricky.
As Su Nan contemplated, the entire forest began to awaken like a slumbering giant.
The swaying of the trees spread outwards in waves, like a tide.
One after another, trees stirred from their slumber, pulling branches from the earth, whipping wildly through the air.
Seeing this, Su Nan didn’t hesitate. He swiftly retracted his Magic Puppets, levitating into the air.
At the sa ti, countless silver liquids seeped from his pores, encasing his entire body in an instant, quickly solidifying into a giant, ten-ter-long spike.
Boom!
With a piercing sonic boom, the giant spike shot forward like a bolt of lightning, spinning rapidly as it advanced.
Whirr, whirr, whirr!
Dense, black branches converged from all directions, an overwhelming force, lashing out with incredible force, but they were shredded into countless fragnts the mont they touched the giant spike.
For a ti, the giant spike was like a tank speeding across a highway, forcefully carving a path through the black sea, pulverizing countless black branches in its wake.
After an unknown amount of ti, Su Nan felt the pressure ahead ease.
He looked around and noticed that he had broken through the encirclent of branches and entered a vast clearing.
This clearing seed to have so kind of barrier. The branches could only thrash wildly at the boundary between the clearing and the trees, unable to enter.
Confirming that the branches posed no further threat, Su Nan retracted his liquid tal and turned his gaze to the center of the clearing.
A giant, spreading black tree stood silently rooted in the middle of the clearing.
The tree, estimated to be two to three hundred ters tall, was pitch black, almost blending seamlessly with the night. It seed to have the ability to block spiritual perception, so much so that Su Nan hadn’t noticed its presence until he entered the clearing.
The pitch-black tree stood motionless. Though its color was deep and profound, it exuded an eerie beauty, creating a stark contrast with the desolation around it. It was as if he was witnessing a real illusion, full of fantastic color.
“Shadow Demon Tree.”
Su Nan whispered softly to himself.
The previous experience, coupled with the sight of this colossal black tree before him, confird his guess.
He knew which Wizard organization was behind the Black Forest.
(End)
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