Free Web NovelChapter 190: Chapter 123: Faith Crystal, the Plane Battlefield Where the Strong Get Stronger (Part 2)
The vast majority of these legions were stationed at the front lines, facing off against the great army of the Turin People from a distance.
However, this had little to do with Pei Ze. He gave it a cursory glance, committed it to memory, and continued scrolling down.
Next was the resources section.
Pei Ze focused his attention primarily on resources that could increase and refine his Spiritual Power.
For increasing Spiritual Power, besides slow-acting items like the Resonance Potion, there were quite a few with immediate effects.
For example, Unicorn Essence Blood.
This liquid, refined from unicorn blood, could significantly increase one’s spiritual energy level after consumption.
Despite its drawback of having a diminishing effect the higher one’s spiritual energy level was, its value was undeniable.
A single bottle of Unicorn Essence Blood was worth 100 merit points, more than three times the price of a Resonance Potion.
There was also the Sacred Spirit Bud.
This was a specialty product from the Turin Plane. It was said to be a plant cultivated by the Winter Frost Sect using Holy Water, containing rich energy and commonly used in the promotion rituals for Apprentice Priests.
After studying it, Wizards discovered that the Sacred Spirit Bud had the dual effect of strengthening both one’s constitution and spiritual energy level, making it even more valuable to Wizards than Unicorn Essence Blood.
However, this item also had a flaw—it contained the Power of Faith.
Each time one consumed it, they had to spend a great deal of time dispelling the Power of Faith.
Only after it was completely purged could one consume the next stalk.
Otherwise, consuming it multiple times in a short period could lead to corrosion by the Power of Faith, turning one into a fanatic of Lady Frost.
A Wizard becoming a fanatic of a Divine Spirit? If word got out, they’d be a laughingstock.
Despite this significant flaw, the powerful effects of the Sacred Spirit Bud kept its price high.
A single stalk of Sacred Spirit Bud was worth 300 merit points, far exceeding the value of Unicorn Essence Blood.
’Sacred Spirit Bud and Unicorn Essence Blood, huh... With these two things, I might be able to reach the Level 1 Vaporization Limit very quickly.’
Pei Ze’s spirits lifted slightly.
He had originally estimated it would take him four to five months to reach the Level 1 Vaporization Limit. Now, it seemed that with enough merit points, he might be able to cut that time in half, or even less.
’And then there’s refining my Spiritual Power.’
Pei Ze continued to read.
There weren’t many things suitable for a Level 1 Gaseous Wizard to refine their Spirit. The information Colin had provided only mentioned one.
Faith Crystals!
These were crystallizations of the Power of Faith, extracted from symbols of the Divine Spirits that the Turin People worshipped daily—including but not limited to statues, Sacred Artifacts, and so on.
’This stuff can be used to refine Spiritual Power?’
Pei Ze clicked his tongue in amazement.
’Sacred Spirit Buds, Faith Crystals... these are all incredibly tempting resources for a Wizard.’
’Especially the latter. There seem to be few substitutes, making them even more valuable to Wizards. And as it happens, any Divine Plane is bound to have a large supply of Faith Crystals.’
’On this point alone, Divine Planes are truly a treasure trove for Wizards. Not to mention, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There must be other precious resources I don’t even know about.’
Pei Ze was starting to understand why Wizards were so ’fond’ of Divine Planes.
’One standard unit of Faith Crystal... 1,000 merit points?’
Pei Ze grimaced as if he had a toothache. The price was more than three times that of a Sacred Spirit Bud.
But on second thought, items like statues and Sacred Artifacts were obviously guarded heavily by the Turin People. Obtaining them would likely be no easier than destroying one of their defensive fortifications, so such a high price was understandable.
Shaking his head, Pei Ze continued reading. After that were various resources like materials, potions, Magic Items, and puppets.
He scanned through it quickly before turning his attention to the information on missions.
Red Maple City currently offered a considerable number of missions to Free Mages, including killing Turin Scouts, eliminating outposts, destroying enemy fortifications, and guarding resource points.
Among them, killing Turin Scouts and eliminating outposts were the least difficult and could be completed by a single Wizard.
As long as one’s luck wasn’t too bad, there was basically no danger involved.
But destroying enemy fortifications and guarding resource points were far more dangerous.
The former was equivalent to voluntarily jumping into enemy territory where they were lying in wait. Without sufficient strength, storming such a lion’s den was no different from suicide.
As for the latter, with both sides desperately fighting to seize resources and build up their strength, its high level of danger was self-evident.
However, guarding a resource point came with a huge benefit that was hard to refuse.
Most of these resource points were various mineral veins seized from the Turin People.
Red Maple City needed large quantities of rare metals from these veins to forge golems and Magic Equipment. But because the veins were too scattered, they couldn’t spare enough manpower to guard them all. So, they established a rule.
Any Free Mage who guarded a resource point only had to turn over half of the resources extracted during their watch to Red Maple City. The rest was theirs to keep.
Whether they kept it for personal use or exchanged it for an equivalent value in merit points was entirely up to the guardian.
When this rule was announced, it caused quite a stir, and many Free Mages were tempted.
After all, it was half the income from an entire resource point!
A single month’s earnings could likely surpass what they would gain from a whole year of toiling on the battlefield.
However, tempted as they were, not many Free Mages were actually strong enough to take on this mission.
First of all, it was obvious that the resource points would receive "special attention" from the Turin People.
It was impossible to defend a resource point with just one or two Wizards.
Even if the guarding Wizard was powerful enough to single-handedly repel an attack from the Turin People, if the enemy decided to destroy the resource point out of spite, one person couldn’t possibly stop them.
The best method was to first earn enough merit points to exchange for a large number of puppets, golems, or foreign race retainers from the exchange, forming a sufficiently powerful army. Only then could one be confident in defending a resource point.
But accomplishing this required no small number of merit points.
In addition, the Wizard had to handle the development of the resource point themselves.
This meant they also needed to purchase a team of slaves for mining and smelting.
This was another significant expense.
Because of this, it was common for several Wizards to cooperate, jointly guarding and developing a resource point and then splitting the profits.
Although the profits were diluted, it was better than nothing at all.
’Resource points, huh...’
A glint flashed in Pei Ze’s eyes.
This was indeed a good way to earn merit points quickly.
He was starting to see that the Plane Battlefield was a place where the strong got stronger and the weak got weaker.
Those who were strong enough could earn sufficient merit points early on to buy puppets, golems, or retainers to bolster their forces. They could then continue to earn even more merit points, snowballing their power in a virtuous cycle.
But those who lacked strength could only struggle to earn a meager amount of merit points, not even enough to buy potions and materials, let alone build their own army.
In the long run, they could only ever complete low-difficulty, low-reward missions, forever struggling in the mud.
’In the end, the Plane Battlefield is also a place where power reigns supreme.’
Pei Ze sighed with emotion, put away the Crystal Ball, and began to contemplate his next steps.
Without a doubt, he was definitely going to take on the mission to guard a resource point.
After all, exchanging for Sacred Spirit Buds and Faith Crystals required a massive amount of merit points, and guarding a resource point was clearly the fastest way to obtain them.
’I have a large number of Magic Oak Seeds on hand. That’s my advantage.’
’I can use these seeds to form a small army right now.’
’But this amount of strength probably isn’t enough to guard a resource point. It would be best to buy some puppets or golems as well.’
Pei Ze quickly formulated a plan.
First, he would complete a few simple missions to earn enough merit points to build his own army. Then, he would accept the mission to guard a resource point.
One step at a time!
Having made his decision, Pei Ze’s expression immediately relaxed.
Putting away the Crystal Ball, he took out various rare metals from his Space Ring and placed them one by one on the table in front of him.
The Magic Stone Coins he had earned from selling Resonance Potions recently, aside from two thousand he kept for emergencies, were all spent on purchasing the rare metals needed to evolve Silver Star.
A total of four standard units.
He manipulated Silver Star to absorb all the metals, successfully strengthening it to ’+7’.
Looking at the liquid metal floating before him, a satisfied smile appeared on Pei Ze’s face.
A Tier Three Witchcraft Artifact required the Spiritual Power of at least a Level 1 Crystalized Wizard to control.
However, his Spirit Crystal had a larger capacity and a higher limit than that of an ordinary Wizard. As long as he reached an energy level of 24, he could still barely manage to control a Tier Three Witchcraft Artifact.
Before that, he could first strengthen Silver Star to its critical state (+17).
’With my current strength, I wouldn’t be afraid of facing a Level 1 Liquidation Wizard at all.’
’As for a Level 1 Crystalized Wizard... I’d have to fight one to know for sure.’
