Chapter 704: Lord of the Obsidian Tower

Dark Region.

The sounds of slaughter in the cave gradually subsided, and the town beneath the Mage Tower was littered with corpses, stretching from the city gate out to the passages in all four directions, while blood stained the mushrooms in the fields red.

More than two thousand slave souls were fully absorbed; even though Lei En had consumed many of them, the total gradually climbed back up to over sixteen hundred units.

At this moment, Lei En's Mirror Image duration expired, turning into a bubble and dissipating.

Reslin's Mirror Image lasted three minutes longer, opening a series of portals that let the teammates enter and reach the top-floor hall of the Mage Tower.

Only at this point did they see the true form of the Eye Demon Elder.

Beilake circled the Eye Demon's corpse, his face full of disgust, pinching his nose as he said, "This thing looks way too disgusting!"

Yizite laughed, "The Eye Demon Elder already looks better than ordinary Eye Demons; it has a layer of keratin armor, unlike common Eye Demons that expose greasy skin, a mouth full of venom, and a far worse smell."

"Uh…"

Beilake stepped back a few paces, "But its power is indeed strong, having controlled so many slaves. If I faced it alone, surrounded by a slave army, I'd probably only be able to run for my life."

"No matter how strong, Lei En would have easily slashed it," Dao En Suosi exclaimed admiringly.

Axi Na looked at Reslin, her eyes full of concern.

She knew Lei En had already returned to Gela Morgan, and the soul contract sensed that Lei En had just undergone a Soul Transformation, ascending to Legendary High-rank, with his power surging dramatically.

Reslin gave a slight nod to the female giant, indicating that she could be at ease.

"What now?" Beilake asked, "What shall we do next?"

"Obviously we should take control of this Mage Tower."

Reslin replied, walked to the control console in the middle of the hall, reached out and pressed the crystal orb atop it, injecting a strand of mana.

In an instant, the control orb activated, and a surge of information entered his mind.

Among the data were extensive details about the Mage Tower, including a high tower log written in High Elf script.

Reslin skimmed through it quickly.

Sure enough, the tower's creator was not an Eye Demon but a Zhor mage named Ke Weisan, who began construction over six hundred years ago. Ke Weisan was a nineteenth-level mage, stuck at a bottleneck for centuries, unable to master even the first Nine-ring Technique, with no progress at all.

The ascending Grand Mage needed to construct three models of the Nine-ring Technique, yet he hadn't mastered even one, let alone three.

This left Ke Weisan utterly desperate for a time.

Later, he unexpectedly acquired an ancient text from the Third Epoch, originating from the ruins of an elf city on the New Continent, which described a method to use the Mage Tower to assist in constructing spell models, boosting efficiency and even increasing success rates.

Thus Ke Weisan searched the upper layers of the Dark Region for a tower site, ultimately choosing this cave.

Building a Mage Tower is no easy task; it requires countless resources and manpower.

The Dark Region's resources are barren and conflict never ceases; Ke Weisan, fighting alone, widened the cave, spending over sixty years gathering enough resources, gradually erecting the tower's main structure, then another thirty years arranging rune formations inside.

Ke Weisan named the tower "Obsidian Tower".

Obsidian Tower's scale is half that of a normal Mage Tower, standing just over 130 meters tall, with interior space only a third of a typical tower.

Even so, after more than thirty years, Ke Weisan still couldn't finish the tower's rune array.

The biggest problem was a lack of alchemical materials.

Many materials are extremely scarce in the Dark Region, some nonexistent, forcing Ke Weisan to venture to the surface for collection, or travel far to the human kingdoms of the Old Continent, disguising his identity to purchase them.

After nearly a century of effort, the rune array of Obsidian Tower was only about half complete.

Ke Weisan's high tower log abruptly ends here.

His final entry mentioned going out to gather a batch of important magical alloy, without stating the destination; in any case, he never returned.

Reslin couldn't help but feel a silent sigh upon reading this.

The log's wording reveals Ke Weisan's yearning for the ascending Grand Mage; this Zhor mage was a solitary explorer on the magical path, acting without any moral compass, employing cruel methods, showing no mercy to enemies or kin, and treating his enslaved subjects merely as tools, lacking any compassion.

His sole objective was the ascending Grand Mage.

But he failed.

Reslin speculated that Ke Weisan met an accident during that outing, likely perishing; otherwise he would never abandon the Obsidian Tower he had poured a century's effort into.

After Ke Weisan vanished, Obsidian Tower lay dormant for over three hundred and forty years.

Until a few decades ago, an ordinary Eye Demon broke into the cave, discovered the unfinished Mage Tower, and claimed it as its own.

This Eye Demon used Obsidian Tower's ascent to Legendary High-rank, becoming the Eye Demon Elder.

Then, like Ke Weisan, it enslaved subterranean creatures via the Mage Tower, built a slave army, seized territory, expanded its influence, and had the slaves gather resources to further perfect the tower. However, the Eye Demon Elder's magical knowledge was far inferior to its predecessor, its power several tiers lower; after decades of toil, it had only completed a minuscule portion of the rune array, making scant progress.

The Eye Demon left a massive amount of entries in the high tower log, hundreds of times more than Ke Weisan's.

Most of them were self‑praise, lauding itself.

Reslin, after reading, was speechless, deeply witnessing the Eye Demon's narcissism, and skipped ahead without further reading.

Beyond the information of the two tower masters, the log also contained the effects of the rune arrays already set in Obsidian Tower, its protective barriers, the spells it could cast, the functions of each floor's structures, and so on. Moreover, by imprinting a mental sigil with High Elf runes onto this crystal orb, one could become the new master of Obsidian Tower.

Reslin felt his spirit invigorated.

A Mage Tower stood right before them; no caster in the world would remain unmoved.

Even though Lei En's own body already possesses a Mage Tower, he wouldn't mind having another. Moreover, Obsidian Tower was built specifically to aid in constructing Nine-ring Technique models; its efficacy was still unknown, but it was worth a try!

Ke Weisan never seemed to have imagined losing Obsidian Tower; he left a rune array in the crystal orb to assist the ascent.

This massive and intricate rune array looked unmistakably ancient, originating from the High Elves.

Reslin, merely by feel, judged that the array was functional!

Ke Weisan had only completed half; it must merge with the entire Mage Tower to activate, and the alchemical materials for the remaining half are worth about four million Gold Shields.

To others, that is an astronomical sum; many alchemical components cannot be bought even with money.

But for Reslin, it was a trifle.

With a single command from Lei En, within two months the materials could be gathered, and the rune array arranged without anyone's help—Reslin could do it alone. He casts Mirror Image once every hour; twelve mirrors work together, boosting work efficiency severalfold, and every seven days he can cast a True Mirror Image, further increasing efficiency.

Reslin estimates he should finish within half a year!

Spending four million Gold Shields and half a year to perfect Obsidian Tower, as long as it speeds up his construction of three Nine-ring Techniques, is absolutely worthwhile.

"Reslin, do you have any questions?"

When everyone saw Reslin's hand pressed against the crystal orb and he remained silent for a long while, Beilake couldn't help but ask aloud.

"It's nothing."

Reslin released his hand, briefly explained the origin of the Mage Tower to his teammates, but did not disclose the rune array that assists in constructing the Nine-ring Technique.

"Master Kewisan!" Yizite exclaimed.

"Do you know him?" Reslin asked.

"Yes." Yizite lightly nodded and said, "Master Kewisan, like me, hails from Mosuobulai City, the largest city of the dark elves. He was once one of Mosuobulai's most famous legendary mages, with profound power and extremely extensive magical knowledge, not inferior to a Grand Mage, but he disappeared centuries ago; it turns out he went to the upper levels to build a Mage Tower."

A hint of regret appeared in the dark elves' eyes, "The Obsidian Tower has been abandoned for so many years; it shows that Master Kewisan failed, perhaps even died."

The teammates thought the same.

A caster would never abandon his Mage Tower; the reason would be either loss of freedom or loss of life.

Reslin said directly, "I will take control of this Mage Tower."

Without waiting for his teammates' response, he proposed a loot distribution plan: "The Mage Tower is extremely valuable; now that I control it, I will no longer partake in dividing other spoils. The mid-level storage of the Obsidian Tower holds a cache of treasure—gold, alchemical materials, and weapon gear collected by the Eye Demon through slaves. I will use the alchemical materials, and convert them into an equivalent amount of Gold Shields to split evenly among you; I want none of the magical equipment."

Yizite, Beilake, and Dao En Suosi exchanged glances, vaguely suspecting that Reslin might be withholding some information.

But aside from Reslin, there was no one more suitable to master the Mage Tower.

Only a caster can control a Mage Tower; the others could only stare in disbelief. Moreover, the main force that breached the Mage Tower this time were Lei En and Reslin; they merely slaughtered the slave army, and even with just Lei En and Reslin's Mirror Images they could accomplish it, without any assistance.

Even if Reslin seized the Mage Tower without consent, they would have nothing to say.

"Fine."

Yizite immediately agreed.

Beilake and Dao En Suosi echoed their assent, and Axi Na would have no objections whatsoever.

Reslin said no more, immediately pressed his hand onto the crystal orb again, using his mana to form a line of high elf runes, muttering incantations under his breath; the orb reacted at once, emitting a series of strange magical radiance.

The entire Obsidian Tower gently trembled, its rune arrays inside and out coursing with energy.

It lasted half a minute.

When the tower's tremor ceased, Reslin had already become its new master.

He established a link with the crystal orb, knowing the entire Mage Tower inside out; when he is inside the tower, a mere thought lets him channel the tower's energy to cast spells and perform any operation.

This crystal orb is not only the control core of the Obsidian Tower, but also an exquisite magical artifact.

Through it, the tower's master can unleash the Nine-ring Mind Control Technique, subjugating the minds of targets suppressed within the tower and turning them into slaves. Of course, casting the mind control consumes a great deal of the tower's energy, and the target's rank must be lower than the caster's; the number of targets is also not unlimited.

The stronger the Lord of the Obsidian Tower, the more slaves he can control.

The Eye Demon Elder used the Mage Tower to enslave a dozen Legendary Low-rank slaves and dozens of High-rank Transcendents; through these powerful slaves, he commanded even more slaves, expanding his territory outward.

Thus, when the Eye Demon was slain, the mind control failed and the slave army collapsed.

"Did it succeed?" Axi Na asked.

"Hmm." Reslin smiled, "I am now the master of this Obsidian Tower." As he spoke, he raised his hand and opened a teleportation portal before his teammates, "Let's go to the storage."

They passed through the portal and instantly arrived at the mid-level storage chamber of the tower.

A burst of golden light flooded their eyes, nearly blinding them; they then inhaled sharply, their faces filled with astonishment.

"Praise the Sun!"

Beilake shouted loudly.

Yizite and Dao En Suosi were not keen on wealth, yet they were also stunned by the sight before them.

Countless piles of gold lay before them, all melted into ingots stacked neatly like a towering wall, its value incalculable.

And this was only a portion of the warehouse's treasure.

Beyond gold there were vast amounts of magical alloys—mithril, refined gold, meteorite iron, and so on—as well as multicolored gems and crystals filling a dozen large chests. More alchemical materials were arranged on shelves, categorized by mineral, plant, and organs harvested from monsters, numbering at least a hundred varieties, dazzling the eye.

In addition there were dozens of magical gear—various weapons, armor, staves, wands, accessories, talismans, etc., roughly twenty to thirty items.

Seeing so much magical equipment together was truly spectacular.

"My god..."

Beilake stared dumbfounded, muttering, "Even the Dragon's hoard is no different; how much are these worth?"

"About 1.7 million Gold Shields," Reslin replied.

His teammates cast surprised glances; he explained, "This Eye Demon has a hobby of collecting treasure, tallying it daily in the tower's log. It has amassed decades of wealth, most of which is here; only a small portion was used to construct the Mage Tower."

There were some things Reslin did not say.

Although the treasure is abundant, the most valuable are the gold, gems, and alchemical materials; the magical gear is of average quality, not a single epic piece.

In the Dark Realm, magical items are the rarest, and epic gear never falls into the Eye Demon's hands.

Thus in previous battles it never wore lavish equipment.

Nevertheless, a fortune of 1.7 million Gold Shields is not to be underestimated.

Yizite and Dao En Suosi regained composure after their surprise, but Beilake's eyes barely left the scene; even as a Legendary High-rank Transcendent, he had never seen so much wealth in his life.

The Holy Spear Ranger looked at Reslin, his expression slightly hesitant, and asked, "Reslin, are you saying these treasures will be divided equally among us?"

(End of Chapter)