All-Class Anti-Mage - - - - -

“Marshal! According to what you’re saying, we don’t quite understand. Since Princess Zixia has given us ten million gold coins, why is she still keeping the price of the composite scroll unchanged to suppress us? Her loss must be considerable as well.”

“Yeah, ten million gold coins just to keep the Blue Moon Legion from deploying for a month seems like a bad deal from any angle.”

“Fallen Guli from Borge Gorge questioned us today, asking why we aren’t sending troops. They seem quite anxious, as if something unfavorable has happened in the Beast Language Forest.”

“As far as I’m concerned, who cares about Princess Zixia? I don’t believe the Saga Empire truly dares to declare war on us. Even if the Holy City stays out of it, the Blue Moon Legion is not to be trifled with!”

The generals sitting in two rows engaged in a lively debate, splitting into three factions based on personal stances. One faction advocated for war, another for peace, while the last faction remained silent.

Marshal Anda sat quietly at the head of the table, allowing his subordinates to express their opinions. After losing the protection of the Empire and becoming independent, the Blue Moon Legion’s nature had fundamentally changed over a millennium. In this council hall, strict military discipline was less pronounced, but there was a stronger sense of familial bond among the members. Anda believed that everyone in the Blue Moon Legion was family!

“Our father is not worried about the Holy City’s stance, nor about whether the Saga Empire dares to declare war on us. The military spirit of the Blue Moon Legion over a thousand years is-‘never retreat in battle!’ The Blue Moon people have never been afraid of anything. However…” Joga hesitated slightly, then continued after receiving a nod from his father, “even if we aren’t afraid of a declaration of war from the Saga Empire, have our uncles considered the future of the Blue Moon Legion?”

As soon as these words were spoken, silence fell over the hall. No one was a fool; everyone could see that the series of measures taken by Bidel City, while benefitting the Firmament Continent, had driven the Blue Moon Legion to a dead end.

“No matter what happens in the future, we will obey the Marshal’s orders!”

“Right! Even if it means standing against the Holy City, the Blue Moon Legion will not back down!”

After a brief silence, everyone once again expressed their stance. The cohesion of the Blue Moon Legion was strong; even if Anda ordered them to commit suicide on the spot, few would refuse or resist.

“What if I were to issue an order for the Blue Moon Legion to submit to the Saga Empire?” After a long silence, Anda suddenly spoke. The room fell silent immediately, some exhaling quietly in relief while others clenched their teeth in silence. Most portrayed a resolute demeanor of obedience.

“Sigh…” Marshal Anda let out a soft sigh. Although they felt like brothers, there would undoubtedly be differences due to human nature in such matters. He himself did not want to reach this point, as the Saga Empire had always been the nemesis of the Blue Moon Legion.

“Do you know what I worry about the most?” Seeing everyone shake their heads in confusion, he continued, “I’m afraid that if Sean’s team manages to develop technology to replace magical beast hide with fabric scrolls, they might also come up with technology to replace the crystal core of the magical beast!”

The crowd erupted in murmurs; everyone knew that if such a technology were to emerge, the Blue Moon Legion would truly face obliteration. There would be no need for the Saga Empire to declare war-the Blue Moon Legion would become history. So, could “Sean” really develop such technology?

“Another failure. No building materials below the tenth level of the Mage Tower can support the miniature magic array. What other reasonably priced materials could there be?”

Yang Zhen looked slightly disappointed at the shattered stone in his palm. Despite his continued improvements to the miniature magic array, the materials that could bear it were not suitable for mass production as crystal core substitutes. Now, more than half a month had passed, and there were less than eight days left until the deadline to restrict the Blue Moon Legion’s deployment.

“Yang Zhen Guli, here’s your dinner.” Pipi walked into the cave with a plate of roasted meat. After placing it on the table, he curiously examined the runes on the surrounding walls. For the Orcs, the suitable subclass was beastmaster; the other three subclasses were merely dreams.

“Huh?” Yang Zhen patted the stone dust in his palm and looked at the white patch on the rough, dark gray stone plate that held the roasted meat. Picking up the heavy stone plate for a closer inspection, he noticed there were only two white areas: one small and the other relatively large.

As he researched materials to bear the miniature magic array, Yang Zhen casually chipped away at the larger white area. Using the silver broken blade, he shaped it into a twelve-faced round prism suitable for supporting the miniature magic array. During the cutting and shaping process, he could feel that the hardness of the white stone made it appropriate as a crystal core substitute. He just wondered if it could support the miniature magic array.

With a flick of his hand, he took out the specially made carving knife that Roland had sent him, and he meticulously began carving runes onto the small white stone, which was about half the size of his fist. Years of trials had made him extremely familiar with this process, and delicate, intricate runes began to flow smoothly onto the polished surface.

Each stroke and line was balanced perfectly. Initially approaching this with a “let’s see what happens” mindset, Yang Zhen felt energized after completing the eight-sided rune carving. The successful carving of the eight runes proved that this piece of white stone had reached the standard of rune stone from the sixth level of the Mage Tower.

As he finished the tenth rune, Yang Zhen’s focus intensified, and his carving became even more delicate. The Orcs could create stone plates from rocks containing white stone, indicating that the value of this white stone was not high. However, once the carving was completed and the magic array could be activated, the “crystal core substitute” plan would be considered a genuine success.

Pipi sat nearby, not daring to make a sound. Everyone knew what Yang Zhen Guli was trying to accomplish, and if he influenced him negatively, he could become a historical sinner for the Orcs.

The eleventh face was completed, and the white stone showed no signs of reaction. In fact, it felt solid in his hand, as if the eleven faces of the rune had yet to reach their limit. Yang Zhen’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down. His grip on the carving knife steadied, flowing smoothly along the edges to the last face!

With the completion of the eleventh face, the rune had started to absorb elemental energy. The white stone not only remained intact but also became increasingly smooth, exuding a subtle sense of transparency. The intricate runes became more pronounced against this surface. As Yang Zhen finished the rune on the last face, he elegantly guided it back to the starting point, completing the activation connection of the miniature magic array…

A dazzling light suddenly burst forth from the white stone, transforming it into a nearly transparent form that seemed on the verge of disappearing. If it weren’t for the solid feeling still present in his hand, Yang Zhen would have doubted its existence. In just a few breaths, the white stone reappeared, withdrawing its brilliance, while a delicate, life-like flowing light danced across its surface!

He succeeded!

After perceiving the white stone with his psychic energy, Yang Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had a hunch that the white stone had not even come close to its limit for sustaining the miniature magic array. Looking at the remaining small white area, which was considerably smaller, Yang Zhen did not hesitate to chip it off and once again shaped it into a twelve-faced round polyhedron the size of his thumb using the silver blade.

In what felt like just a few minutes, Pipi watched as Yang Zhen’s palm glowed brightly again, the small point of white stone radiating an even more dazzling light than before! The flowing light was livelier as well; Pipi couldn’t comprehend the reason behind it, but Yang Zhen understood perfectly.

For the second white stone, Yang Zhen intentionally enhanced the density of the runes. Without any pressure, he approached the task with a carefree mindset and completed the magic array on this stone. Compared to the first one, this white stone exhibited an even stronger capability for elemental absorption. Although it was carved with basic runes, its strength had already reached that of a third-tier magical beast’s crystal core!

“Where did you dig up this stone plate?” Yang Zhen hurriedly asked Pipi, unable to contain his excitement any longer.

“This is stone sourced from the sanctuary,” Pipi replied almost immediately after hearing the question.

“Is it common to find this kind of white stone in the Borge Gorge?” Yang Zhen asked, surprised, and pressed on.

“Well… I’m not sure. Maybe the elder knows,” Pipi responded, looking a bit embarrassed.

Seeing Pipi’s ashamed expression, Yang Zhen couldn’t help but smile. They had been driven out of the Borge Gorge for hundreds of years, so it was only natural that Pipi, at his age, wouldn’t know much about the situation there. He hoped the elder would be more knowledgeable.

Yang Zhen stood up, holding the broken stone plate, and walked outside with Pipi closely following behind. The two entered the elder’s thatched cottage. The elderly elder was nearing the end of his life and was already resting in bed by the time they arrived.

Just as Yang Zhen was about to step back out, he heard the elder cough violently. “Cough, cough… Is that Yang Zhen Guli?” After saying this, the elder struggled to get out of bed to bow respectfully, but Yang Zhen quickly supported him.

“There’s no need for formalities. I’m here to ask you something,” Yang Zhen said, cutting to the chase as he pulled out the stone plate along with some scraps of the white stone. “Is this type of white stone commonly found in the Borge Gorge Sanctuary?”

The elder took the scraps of white stone in both hands and closely examined them under the light of Pipi’s torch. He then said softly, “If I’m not mistaken, this should be material mined from the back mountain of the sanctuary years ago. There are many such stones in the sanctuary, and they come in various colors. Grey and white are the most common, while red and blue are rarer.”

“What did you do with the mined stone?” Yang Zhen asked, feeling a spark of hope. However, it would still be quite difficult for him to infiltrate the sanctuary alone. He had heard that each of the three leaders of the Beasts possessed eighth-tier strength and that their defenses were formidable. All he needed to do was find the discarded stone and did not necessarily have to venture into the sanctuary itself.

“The stones of this quality were cut and laid down on the ground of the sanctuary, while the rarer red and blue stones were used for decoration in some of the rooms,” the elder replied.

Yang Zhen’s heart sank upon hearing this; it seemed he had no choice but to infiltrate the Borge Gorge Sanctuary. He was aware of the caves that the orcs had mined years ago, inhabited by sixty thousand fallen orcs, and the three volumes of the Codex of Leaders were stored in the deepest part.

Regardless of the situation, Yang Zhen knew he had to investigate the Borge Gorge. Thousands of years had passed; who knew what it had become? He had heard that the Beast God statue was carved from the rarest green stone, which was likely destroyed by the fallen orcs.

If regular white stone had a strong carrying capacity, then how much more the rarer red and blue stones? Yang Zhen was eager to find out, but the dilemma he faced was how to sneak these stones out from under the noses of the fallen orcs and implement the “crystal core substitute” plan in mass production.

This was undoubtedly a colossal challenge!