Chapter 321: Teleportation and Construction

The teleportation array was already constructed by Lei En while he was in Mo Du; it is a hexagon with a fifteen‑meter diameter, and the base of the magical array is cast from mithril alloy, ten centimeters thick. The mithril alloy is infused with star stone and a large amount of magical materials, etched with intricate patterns and profound runes that dazzle the eye.

The ultra‑long‑range teleportation array alone cost Lei En over 50,000 Gold Shields in materials.

On top of that, activating the array requires the indispensable Arcane Energy Crystals—at least six of them—and each is worth more than 3,000 Gold Shields, adding another 20,000 Gold Shields of expense.

The teleportation array was disassembled into hundreds of mithril plates and shipped here.

Lei En must reassemble them.

The position of each mithril plate must be exact, and during assembly they must repeatedly test the rune array on each plate to ensure proper operation.

This is an extremely delicate task that only Lei En can accomplish.

Even the self‑proclaimed greatest archaeologist, BuLaiMiTe, was of no help; he glanced twice, shook his head repeatedly, withdrew with clear self‑awareness, and observed from the canyon.

By noon the next day, Lei En finally reassembled the teleportation array into a single whole.

"All right!"

Lei En exhaled, his eyes like radar scanning each mithril plate on the ground; he extended a hand to inject a strand of soul energy, and the entire magical array trembled lightly before settling into silence. He then activated the metal, causing the edges of the hundreds of mithril plates to fuse, making the teleportation array a seamless whole with no gaps.

The final step was to take out six Arcane Energy Crystals and embed them at the six corners of the teleportation array.

Hum…

The teleportation array reacted instantly, flashes of light flickering as arcane energy coursed through the runes and etched lines; the space above the array warped, and a reverberation echoed through the cave.

Hearing the commotion, BuLaiMiTe and Yisu rushed over, and several Extreme Warriors joined the excitement.

"Is the teleportation array ready?" Yisu asked impatiently.

"Almost there," Lei En nodded, stepped onto the teleportation array and stood in the center to continue adjusting.

Each teleportation array has a corresponding spacetime coordinate; to open a passage between two locations, two arrays must correspond with each other.

Before leaving Mo Du, he had already built another teleportation array inside the castle, and that was the primary array, equipped with an Astral Crystal Pillar; linking the coordinates of the two arrays was enough to activate it.

Under everyone's expectant gaze, the teleportation array's light suddenly contracted and vanished.

"Failed?" XiKaLiuSi exclaimed, his face full of astonishment.

"On the contrary, it succeeded," Lei En said with a smile, ordering, "Gather the brothers, prepare to return to the castle, and bring the prepared items back from the castle together."

A shout rang out, and sixty Extreme Warriors crowded outside the cave where the teleportation array stood.

Lei En fixed his gaze, raised his hand to draw soul energy and form an Arcane rune; instantly, the six Arcane Energy Crystals poured out a torrent of arcane energy that converged at the center of the array, growing brighter to the point of being unwatchable. Half a minute later, the space at the core of the energy vortex opened, expanding outward and gradually forming a towering light gate.

On the other side was a spacious hall, with vague silhouettes of several familiar figures.

When the teleport gate stabilized, Lei En was the first to step through, emerging inside the teleport hall of the Azure High Castle.

This teleportation array was larger, over twenty meters in diameter, and a dazzling column‑shaped gem hovered above the teleport gate—it was the Astral Crystal Pillar.

Outside the teleportation array, a large crowd stood guard vigilantly, prepared for any eventuality.

When Lei En emerged from within, they were overjoyed at seeing him and let out a sigh of relief.

"Lord!"

The petite and delicate AiMiLiSi bowed, and behind her stood several senior members of the Dragon Stone Mercenary Corps, the legendary swordsman ASiTan, the short Demon sorcerer DingLaJi, Wind Spirit FabiAn and others, as well as a dozen centaur warriors and a squad of silver‑armored knights, all shouting in unison, "Lord."

"Hmm, thank you all for your hard work this month,"

Lei En smiled broadly and asked, "Did anything happen in the domain while I was away?"

"No," AiMiLiSi replied immediately, "Everything is normal, Lord, please rest assured." She shifted her brows and whispered, "On the contrary, we were all worried; you have been gone so long, and no news has returned..."

She surveyed Lei En from head to toe but could discern nothing, his aura concealed by a blood‑red cloak.

"I was delayed by some matters, but they are all good; I'll explain later,"

Lei En gave a casual explanation, turned back and waved toward the teleport gate, "Hurry up with the actions, move all these supplies over."

This teleport hall was created by Lei En having several rooms connected and renovated; it sits at the very center of the castle, next to the training ground, covering over a thousand square meters. Before leaving Mo Du, he had prepared a large stock of building materials, daily supplies, and future base machinery, stacked in a corner of the teleport hall, ready to be moved to the base immediately.

Each time the teleport gate is opened, it consumes Arcane Energy Crystals; a delay of even a second costs dozens of Gold Shields, so no waste is allowed.

"Yes, boss."

With a loud chorus of responses, the Extreme Warriors passed through the teleport gate and appeared in the hall.

The castle folk were already familiar with the Extreme Warriors, yet when they saw more and more emerging—quickly surpassing the original thirteen, reaching thirty, forty... and still increasing—they were stunned.

The fame of the Extreme Warriors is now known to everyone in Mo Du.

Their battle record is so brilliant that rumors in Mo Du claim a single Extreme Warrior can hold a ten‑person cavalry unit; it sounds exaggerated, but those in the castle who regularly interact with Extreme Warriors know it may still be an underestimate.

The sudden surge of Extreme Warriors left AiMiLiSi and the others utterly shocked.

Forty, fifty, sixty!

Finally, after reaching sixty, the number of Extreme Warriors stopped increasing, yet it was still astonishing—their ranks had surged nearly fivefold in one go!

One by one, the tall, robust Extreme Warriors lifted the boxed supplies and walked into the teleport gate. Without waiting for Lei En's order, AiMiLiSi quickly had the centaurs join in as movers.

Lei En himself also joined in.

In less than five minutes, the entire teleport hall was emptied, and the massive materials and supplies were stacked in the canyon base, covered with oilcloth.

He left a few Extreme Warriors to guard the base, and Lei En immediately shut down the teleport gate.

This teleportation array has two modes of use: single‑person teleportation, where anyone who steps into the array with the correct soul imprint, or who carries a specially crafted rune badge, is sent to the opposite side; and opening a teleport gate, which, as just now, creates a persistent gate that anyone can pass through.

Regardless of the method, Arcane Energy Crystals are consumed.

Single‑person teleportation uses less energy, but during the process the Willpower and body are subjected to spacetime distortion, which ordinary people find hard to endure.

Opening a teleport gate is safer and more efficient for transporting large quantities of supplies, but each activation consumes a great amount of energy, and a batch of Arcane Energy Crystals can sustain the gate for at most fifteen minutes.

Each side's teleportation array requires six Arcane Energy Crystals, twelve in total, worth close to 40,000 Gold Shields.

Even with money in his hand, Lei En felt a pang of regret.

Returning to the castle after more than a month away, a long‑missed feeling rose in his heart; Lei En led the way out of the teleport hall and ordered, "FabiAn, have a grand banquet prepared for the newly arrived brothers, and for my friend Mr. BuLaiMiTe as well."

"Also, see to it that their lodging is properly arranged,"

"Yes, rest assured, my lord," FabiAn replied, his face alight with excitement as he hurried off to attend to it.

Walking through the castle, the servants and guards he met along the way all respectfully saluted, calling, "Lord." Then they stepped aside and, with curious eyes, regarded the lord he hadn't seen for over a month.

Lei En smiled and nodded in response.

He sent everyone away, leaving only Bu Lai Mi Te, who had intended to speak a few words with Yi Su, but found that he had once again disappeared without a trace.

The shadowy assassin had been idling in Astat for more than half a month; after hearing about Lei En's experiences during that time, he complained several times about being left out of such exciting events, and now that he returned to Mo Du, he vanished in an instant.

Lei En knew without asking that the fellow could no longer hold it in.

Walking through the castle, Bu Lai Mi Te couldn't help but sigh, "Now that we're here, I can truly feel that you are a human noble lord."

"So I wasn't a noble before?" Lei En couldn't help a wry smile.

"Not at all." The dwarf gave him a serious look, shook his head, and said, "I've seen countless nobles—elves, dwarves, and humans. You're unlike them; you lack that aura… Of course I'm not saying you're a nouveau riche, uh… how should I put it?"

Bu Lai Mi Te scratched his flaming red beard, momentarily unable to describe it accurately.

"Hahaha, I get what you mean," Lei En said knowingly; in truth he was a nouveau riche, for the nobles of Ai Lun E Si were a hereditary class with a long‑standing sense of superiority, and class differences unintentionally showed in many subtle ways.

He had been a noble for less than a year, his worldview already set, and habits were not easy to change.

Moreover, Lei En didn't want to change.

After returning to his bedroom to freshen up, he sat on the balcony to rest; a moment later, Bu Lai Mi Te came up, looking fresh as well.

"Are you planning to set up a training base in that canyon?" the dwarf finally couldn't help asking.

Lei En gave him a glance, nodded, and said, "Yes, I've named it Jin Gang Fort; it will be important to me in the future. Do you have any suggestions?" During the past two days of constructing the teleport array, Bu Lai Mi Te had been pacing the canyon repeatedly, looking east and west as if measuring, pausing several times as if about to speak.

"So it's called Jin Gang Fort," Bu Lai Mi Te laughed, "It must be sizable, right?"

"Hmm, it can accommodate up to five thousand people training simultaneously," Lei En replied honestly, "Bu Lai Mi Te, speak plainly; your hesitations aren't like you."

"Then I'll say it."

Bu Lai Mi Te rubbed his hands expectantly, "I see many Jin Gang Rocks in the canyon, perfect building material. For a fort that large, you should source locally; why not contract the work to the dwarves?"

"Contract it to the dwarves?" Lei En was a bit surprised.

Bu Lai Mi Te nodded rapidly, "Excavating stone to build forts or strongholds is what our dwarf craftsmen excel at; nowhere in Ai Lun E Si can you find better."

It was the truth; no one in the world could deny it.

The dwarves' architectural style is one of the world's primary sources of aesthetic art; at their peak they not only built underground strongholds but also erected towering stone structures on the surface—grand, majestic, ingeniously crafted, and still unsurpassed by humans today.

Lei En had personally seen a dwarf stronghold beneath Longshande, and it was indeed a breathtaking masterpiece of its peak.

He originally intended to find a construction firm in Mo Du to hire a crew, including a group of earth‑elemental mages working part‑time as architects, who could complete Jin Gang Fort's construction at the fastest speed.

However, keeping the crew secret was a problem.

Lei En didn't want Jin Gang Fort known to too many; even if a rune array concealed the canyon's sky so the crew wouldn't know their location, the fact that the Earl of Glamorgan owned a secret base would still leak out and attract prying eyes.

If dwarves handled the construction, the situation might be different.

"Having dwarves build the fort isn't impossible," Lei En mused for a moment, hesitating, "but the cost…"

"You can rest assured about that," Bu Lai Mi Te immediately pounded his chest, "I'm well acquainted with the Rongyanbao craftsmen's guild; the price will be perfectly fair, not a copper coin will be cheated from you. Do you have the base's design plans? I can give you an approximate price right now."

Lei En produced several pages of sketches he had drawn in his tent while camping at night recently.

Bu Lai Mi Te was evidently also an expert in construction.

He carefully examined the plans, finished within minutes, and calculated: "Thirty‑five thousand Gold Shields, give us three months, we guarantee your satisfaction."

"That fast? Is three months enough?" Lei En was surprised; he had expected at least half a year, and the price was much cheaper than anticipated.

Bu Lai Mi Te smiled confidently, "If it's not finished by then, we won't take any money."

Lei En nodded slowly, but did not agree immediately.

The dwarf's eyes flickered, and he laughed twice, "If you're afraid the dwarves will reveal Jin Gang Fort's location, I've thought of a solution."

Without waiting for Lei En to ask, he continued, "Rongyanbao also has an ultra‑long‑range teleport array that can connect to the canyon and transport directly, but the dwarves' teleportation fee must be paid by you. I will instruct the dwarves to operate only within the canyon where the fort is being built, strictly forbidding them from approaching the outer pond; that way they won't see Jin Gang Peak and can't determine the canyon's orientation."

"Hehe… Actually, even if they see Jin Gang Peak, few dwarves could recognize it. After all, as a well‑versed archaeologist like me, there are hardly any dwarves with such knowledge."

Bu Lai Mi Te wore a smug grin, not forgetting to praise himself twice.

Lei En looked at him with newfound respect; it turned out his wandering in the canyon these past two days had been spent contemplating these matters.

Thirty‑five thousand Gold Shields was a huge sum for dwarves; Bu Lai Mi Te himself had little greed for wealth, likely seeking employment for his hometown's dwarf craftsmen.

With the round‑trip teleport fees added, the price was very fair.

Lei En no longer hesitated, nodded, and said, "The job belongs to the dwarves now."

"Great!" Bu Lai Mi Te was overjoyed, sprang up, "I'll head back to the canyon now. I'll send a Fire Dragon to bring me back to Rongyanbao, and give me the teleport array coordinates. Within three days, the dwarf craftsmen will arrive at the canyon to start work."

"Alright, I'll await your good news."

Lei En summoned Tai Li En to accompany the dwarves; he carefully had Tai Li En keep the Lan Bo's Spear, lest some dwarf gunsmiths at Rongyanbao take advantage of it.

Just after seeing Bu Lai Mi Te off, a portal opened on the balcony, and a tall, graceful figure stepped out.

Still at Ka wen, if the second chapter isn't finished tonight, it'll be three watches tomorrow.

(End of chapter.)