Chapter 286: Degradation Program

Aipusi closed his eyes, calculating the various connections of this series of events in his mind, and clarified the direction for his subsequent response.

First, the Star Dew Scepter, or perhaps the Plane Crystal, could no longer be handed over; the establishment of the Guidance Beacon had already been delayed for so long, and now that it was finally established, it could not be easily abandoned.

As long as his grandfather returned, everything could be settled.

He forced himself not to think about the possibility that his grandfather might have already died in an Other Plane; he believed that since his grandfather had left behind the guidance information, he must have been able to foresee the current situation, and perhaps this was his grandfather's test for him.

Opening his eyes again, Aipusi had already made a decision, "Tower Spirit, pause all non-essential functions, initiate the highest-level emergency response protocol."

And in a deeper connection with the Tower Spirit, Aipusi judged every function of the Mage Tower one by one, choosing the response program most suitable for the current situation.

At the same time, wherever there were people inside the Mage Tower, the Tower Spirit's voice rang out—

"Alert, the Tower of Time is about to enter a wartime state. To avoid accidents, all members must immediately stop their work and return to their respective residences."

"Arcane Garden closing—"

"Public Level closing—"

"Library closing—"

Hearing the alarm, Xia Duo, who was conducting a 【Levitation】 experiment in the Spell Laboratory, was immediately startled; he knew the Lord was "archaeologizing" in the Mythallar Ruins!

Did he encounter an Elf during the archaeology? And then get attacked by the Elf?

Xia Duo could not help but think this way; if there was anything near the Savile Territory that could threaten the Tower of Time, it could only be the mysterious Elf Mages in the forest.

But would an Elf really dare to attack a Mage Tower on human territory?

He was very skeptical, but the Tower Spirit's alarm could not be fake; at this very moment, the Tower of Time must have encountered an enemy, but what Xia Duo never expected was that the current Tower of Time was no longer in its original position!

It was in the Mythallar Ruins!

Soon, not long after the alarm sounded, the Balance Domain that combed and suppressed the fluctuations of the Magic Net in the Spell Laboratory disappeared.

Xia Duo had to pause the high-risk overall experiment and turn to more secure element experiments; even with the alarm, he did not feel the slightest panic.

Even if the sky fell, the Tower of Time would hold it up; he would continue doing what he was supposed to do, though he was a little worried that Lord Aipusi might settle accounts with him afterward.

As for enemies or the like, he did not take them to heart; the difficulty of attacking a fully functional Mage Tower was almost no less than a single soldier charging a fortress.

He sat comfortably in his chair and continued to study his spell.

Attacking a Mage Tower is indeed not easy, but if there is the assistance of a Mythallar, the difficulty drops significantly!

At the Plane Exploration Array Core, Aipusi listened expressionlessly as the Tower Spirit reported continuously where the Mage Tower was damaged and where it was being restricted.

His emotions did not fluctuate in the slightest; at this moment, he already knew who had come outside—an Elf High Mage.

Or more accurately, the soul of a High Mage who had controlled the Mythallar!

This made him feel pressure, but that was all; as long as he held on, there would be a glimmer of hope, and he believed that the opponent occupying the Mythallar was not without a price.

"Master, the Seventh Layer of the Magic Net is being isolated! The Wind Element Pool is damaged!"

"Proceed with the degradation program according to the contingency plan! Speed it up a bit more!"

"Master, the current degradation speed has reached the limit; any faster will lead to the loss of elements and cause irreversible damage to the Tower of Time!"

"Accelerate! As long as we survive this time, there will be plenty of time to repair it later!" Aipusi said calmly.

He knew the opponent's methods very well, or rather, any Mage Tower designed by a Great Arcanist had similar contingency plans; he just had to follow them.

The Elves' understanding of the essence of the Magic Net was indeed stronger than that of Netherese Mages, and the Netherese were not as deep in their involvement with the Magic Net.

But in the basic domain, the Netherese only needed the First Layer of the Magic Net to produce effects equivalent to the Eleventh Layer of the Magic Net.

This was the principle of the degradation program; without the degradation program, any Mage Tower facing an Elf isolating a certain layer of the Magic Net would eventually be unable to escape the fate of becoming a pile of rubble.

But through the degradation program, the Mage Tower's reliance on the Magic Net was minimal; as long as the First Layer of the Magic Net existed, it could retain the vast majority of its capabilities.

And the degradation program was also the most costly and complex item to construct during the building of a Mage Tower, besides the Plane Crystal!

Currently, the Tower of Time had already degraded to the 6th-ring level, and the progress of the external Magic Net being isolated had reached the Seventh Layer; Aipusi did not believe the opponent could keep isolating it down to the First Layer.

If the First Layer of the Magic Net were also isolated, then the foundation for the Mythallar's existence would not exist either.

And if the Mythallar did not exist, then how could the Magic Net be isolated!

As long as one degraded to a shallower Magic Net before the opponent isolated a certain layer, one could ignore this method of the opponent!

And even if the First Layer of the Magic Net were isolated, the main body of the Tower of Time still had a stone shell acting as the final barrier; why would the opponent be able to break it if they lost their magical power!

"Master, the Seventh Layer of the Magic Net has been completely isolated, accelerating degradation; the Alchemy Array in the residences of the Tower of Time members is damaged, and the Alchemy Array in the Public Level is damaged."

Sigh—

Aipusi sighed and adjusted his order, "Prioritize protecting the residences of the Tower of Time members!"

The residences provided by the Tower of Time for Official Mages did not include Alchemy Arrays; those were all added by the Official Mages themselves, and none of them were adapted to the Mage Tower's degradation program.

In the process of the overall degradation of the Tower of Time, those extra arrays would inevitably be damaged, but fortunately, all losses were still within Aipusi's acceptable range.

Just then, the Tower Spirit suddenly reminded, "Master, the Magic Net isolation has stopped!"

Upon hearing this, Aipusi knew the real contest was about to begin! Although he did not know in what form the next attack would come, he was fearless!

At this moment, the Mage Luolun outside had already reached his limit; although he could continue to isolate the Sixth Layer of the Magic Net, it could not play a decisive role.

Just now, in the process of isolating the Magic Net, he had also been constantly testing the capabilities of this Mage Tower, and the feeling was not good; this was a Mage Tower designed by a Great Arcanist.

Fortunately, there was no Great Arcanist inside, otherwise he would truly be powerless.

"It seems this is the only way!"

Luolun had now completely merged into the Mythallar; he knew he only had one last path left to take—to break through the opponent's defense at the cost of destroying the current Mythallar.

This Mythallar, which had just been repaired by him and even had the potential for further perfection, was now about to be declared destroyed after existing for only a short while.

Luolun felt reluctant in his heart, reluctant to destroy this supreme Psionic Creation, but as soon as he thought of the Star Dew Scepter and Feinuoweita still inside that Mage Tower, he had to do it!

Even if it meant the price of his complete annihilation!