[External attack detected, emergency increase in defense array strength!]
[50%...60%...80%]
[Activate spell turrets... Activation failed, all spell turrets are damaged!]
[Maximizing defense array energy!]
In the midst of battle, Sunan heard the mechanical voice of the fleshy orb, and he frowned in confusion.
External attack?
Who could it be?
The onlookers without keys?
But from the auxiliary intelligent lifeform's words, the intensity of the attack seemed significant. It shouldn't be possible with just those second-level wizard apprentices and legendary knights.
"Whatever, it works in my favor, draining the Starlight Tower's energy," Sunan muttered to himself, refocusing on the battle at hand.
In the hall, two secret puppet girls were locked in a fierce one-on-one battle with two Dark Golems.
The fight was evenly matched, with both sides having their moments.
Elsewhere, five Adamantine Golems, leading dozens of elite Iron Golems, besieged another Dark Golem.
Though slightly at a disadvantage, they weren't losing anytime soon.
Sunan himself faced off against a Dark Golem.
To conserve mental energy, he relied only on magical items and bloodline imprints.
After a barrage of over twenty Disaster Claws, the Dark Golem was riddled with holes, battered and bruised.
Sunan then activated the air blade imprint in his hand, unleashing countless sharp air blades that shredded the Dark Golem into pieces!
Compared to the numerous tactics of a third-level wizard apprentice, Dark Golems were relatively easier to handle.
With his opponent defeated, Sunan wasted no time in attacking the second Dark Golem.
Taking them down one by one, in less than twenty minutes, all four Dark Golems were vanquished.
Having dealt with the Dark Golems, the fleshy orb fell silent, offering no further response.
Sunan chuckled, knowing that this auxiliary intelligent lifeform had run out of tricks.
Strictly speaking, the Starlight Tower's defenses weren't weak.
Whether it was the eighteen spell turrets or the numerous golems, they could easily crush any third-level wizard apprentice.
But they happened to encounter him, someone with a "cheat."
The creators of the Starlight Tower, the [Dark Throne], probably never anticipated today's scenario.
Another fortunate aspect was that the battle occurred inside the tower.
Had it been outside, with the protection of the defense array, destroying the spell turrets wouldn't have been as easy. It would have cost several times, if not tenfold, the resources to defeat the Starlight Tower's defenses!
As he pondered, Sunan suddenly felt the sigil stone inside his robe heating up.
Realizing what was happening, he didn't hesitate to throw the sigil stone away.
Sure enough, in the next instant, the sigil stone vanished.
"Can't beat me, so you're trying to expel me?"
Sunan scoffed.
"Wishful thinking!"
[Wizard apprentice, we waive your trial fees, please leave the Starlight Tower immediately!]
The fleshy orb spoke.
Sunan ignored the inflexible low-level intelligent lifeform, scanning his surroundings.
With the Starlight Tower clearly unable to deal with him, it was time to think about acquiring the tower's resources.
Having paid such a price to defeat the Starlight Tower's defenses, he wasn't about to leave empty-handed.
Activating the levitation spell on his robe, Sunan rose into the air, flying toward the nearest metal door. With a wave of his hand, he shattered the door with over a dozen spell missiles.
However, behind the door was merely a small puppet factory, likely used for golem maintenance and charging.
Undeterred, Sunan continued exploring other metal doors.
As expected, most doors led to small puppet factories, except the largest metal door, which opened into a smaller hall.
On the white jade stone floor was an intricate magic array.
Sunan examined it and quickly identified it as an extradimensional creature summoning array.
The Goliath from earlier had likely been summoned using this array.
Seeing no valuable findings on this floor, Sunan looked downward. With a mental command, his metal storm swept forth, crashing into the floor!
Boom!
Even with a defensive array and a hardness surpassing magical adamantine, the floor couldn't withstand the full force of the magic core for more than ten seconds, shattering to reveal a massive gap.
Sunan leaped into the gap, descending to the floor below.
He found himself in a hall identical to the one above, but empty.
"Is this another trial area?"
After searching the area without success, Sunan continued to dig downward.
He explored twelve floors consecutively, each identical hall empty.
Sunan intended to continue, but encountered significant resistance.
Closer inspection revealed a faint glow on the white jade stone floor.
"A defense array... So this is the bottom layer?"
Sunan felt slightly disappointed, but turned his attention upward, returning to the initial hall and using his metal storm to breach the ceiling.
Again, it was a trial hall.
This time, he pierced through seven floors, reaching the eighth, which appeared to be a residential area.
Sunan paused, contemplating the gap below.
"Judging by this, there should be twenty trial halls, roughly matching the number of people entering the Starlight Tower."
"But why are all these halls empty?"
Sunan believed his speed in completing the trials far exceeded that of others; logically, they should still be undergoing trials.
Recalling the auxiliary intelligent life's earlier words, Sunan had a hunch.
The auxiliary intelligence had likely expelled everyone else from the Starlight Tower to channel all available energy to deal with him.
"No wonder the Starlight Tower suddenly faced a strong external attack—it's likely the Council of Truth and the Staff attacking the defense array."
Realizing this, Sunan smiled.
This worked in his favor, as the auxiliary intelligence would have to expend most of its energy maintaining the defense array, leaving little to counter him.
Returning to the task at hand, Sunan resumed exploring upward.
Though primarily for heritage, the Starlight Tower had basic facilities.
Besides the trial halls, there were residential, training, experimental, and cultivation areas.
However, due to a lack of maintenance personnel, the cultivation area had no magical plants.
After searching, Sunan found a batch of well-preserved magical plant seeds.
There were about two to three hundred varieties, with considerable quantities.
These were likely intended for the "slaves" who signed the oath contracts, facilitating magical plant cultivation.
Sunan promptly collected them all.
Continuing his exploration, Sunan was pleasantly surprised to find a library on the next level.
Rows of neatly arranged bookshelves, each filled with books, offered a dazzling array.
Delighted, Sunan started at the first shelf, quickly scanning the titles, his smile widening with each one.
The books covered all foundational subjects, from magical philosophy, world principles, and material science to applied knowledge like magical plant cultivation, scroll transcription, and potion basics.
They encompassed almost all essential knowledge for wizard apprentices from first to third level.
Including over thirty talent crystal models.
However, most were lower-level models, with only three intermediate models.
One of which was the 'Bone' model Sunan had seen before.
Though only three intermediate models, it was a decent collection.
Many third-level wizard apprentices in wizard factions could only access intermediate models.
High-level talent crystal models were typically reserved for core members and wouldn't be found here.
Additionally, some books contained knowledge accessible only after becoming a wizard, covering potions, spells, wizard tools, and high-level puppets.
"Though the Dark Throne has ulterior motives, they do invest in training 'slaves.'"
"Of course, slaves need enough power to generate more profit for them."
Sunan smiled, storing all the books in his spatial ring.
He had been worried about acquiring wizard-level knowledge upon becoming a wizard, but the Starlight Tower's provisions had solved much of his dilemma.
Ensuring nothing was missed, Sunan breached the ceiling, ascending to the next level.
This floor was a spacious, well-lit hall, with walls lined with tightly closed metal doors.
Above each door was a plaque labeled 'Metals,' 'Magical Plants,' 'Potions,' 'Gems,' and more.
Sunan's heart leapt with joy, recognizing he had finally found his true target.
This was the storage area!
Sunan immediately charged toward the door labeled 'Potions,' using his magic core to slice it into pieces, then striding inside.
Before him were rows of metal shelves, isolated by transparent glass, each holding bottles of various colored potions, numbering at least six hundred.
Vitality Potions, Dragon Blood Potions, Endurance Potions, Clarity Potions, Nightmare Potions...
Sunan examined them, finding the lowest were first-tier potions, and those of considerable value within that tier.
The second-tier potions included valuable ones like the Nightmare Potion, which could increase mental energy.
Reaching the innermost metal shelf, Sunan finally spotted Construction Potions.
His powerful mental energy allowed him to count them instantly, his lips curling into an uncontrollable smile.
Eighty-six bottles in total!
This was a huge windfall!
"With so many Construction Potions, I should have enough to synthesize a super talent crystal model!"
Sunan was overjoyed.
The Construction Potions alone had repaid his investment this time.
Regaining composure, Sunan swiftly collected all the potions, then explored the other storage rooms one by one.
The 'Metals,' 'Magical Plants,' and 'Gems' rooms were filled with materials matching their labels.
In the room labeled 'Others,' Sunan found over a dozen Psychic Pearls.
After a thorough sweep, Sunan's spatial ring was nearly full.
Looking at the myriad of spoils inside, Sunan felt deeply satisfied.
The total value of these items was immeasurable, many beyond the valuation of gold coins.
For instance, the Construction Potions were priceless!
He had undoubtedly hit the jackpot this time!
Returning to the central hall, Sunan ascended, breaking through the ceiling to reach the next level.
He was greeted by the vast expanse of the starry sky, a white jade stone floor beneath his feet, and an element pool not far away, with the familiar fleshy orb floating nearby.
Recognizing the familiar scene, Sunan immediately understood.
This was the control center of the Starlight Tower.
[Wizard apprentice, you have caused immense damage to the Starlight Tower. By regulation, you will be placed on the organization's wanted list!]
[Please leave the Starlight Tower immediately, return all plundered materials, and enter the detention area to await judgment by the organization!]
"Oh?" Sunan chuckled, asking casually, "When will they come?"
[The specific time is unknown, depending on the status of the dimensional barrier recovery!]
Dimensional barrier recovery?
Sunan raised an eyebrow in confusion.
What did this mean?
"What is this dimensional barrier recovery?"
However, the auxiliary intelligent life did not answer, repeating its previous statements instead.
"If you can't provide valuable information, then you're useless to me."
Sunan raised his hand, a bolt of lightning striking the fleshy orb, reducing it to char.
Unlike a tower spirit, which could exist in non-physical form, auxiliary intelligent life usually had a physical body.
For example, the crystal ball at the top of the Dragon Skeleton Tower was Butler No. 1's body.
And the fleshy orb was the body of the Starlight Tower's auxiliary intelligent life.
With its destruction, the auxiliary intelligent life of the Starlight Tower ceased to exist.
However, even without it, the Starlight Tower could continue basic operations according to pre-set programs.
The advantage was that Sunan no longer had to worry about the auxiliary intelligent life harassing him.
"This element pool is larger than the one in Dragon Forest, but unfortunately, I can't take it with me."
Sunan eyed the Starlight Tower with some envy, but it was destined to be beyond his control.
Without the tower's secret core, and uncertain if the [Dark Throne] had left any contingencies, claiming it was impossible.
However, the tower itself was excellent material.
In the future, should he decide to build his wizard's tower, he could dismantle the Starlight Tower for materials.
"Constructing the talent crystal model here would be faster than in the Dragon Skeleton Tower."
Sunan considered his options and decided to construct the talent crystal model here.
After all, the Starlight Tower no longer posed a threat, with all its combat capabilities destroyed, leaving only the extradimensional creature summoning array and the defense array.
For the former, he could station a secret puppet near the summoning array, eliminating any summoned creature immediately.
The latter now served as his protection.
The Starlight Tower would autonomously keep all intruders at bay.
Unless someone exhausted the tower's energy to breach the defense array, he could stay here undisturbed.
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