Chapter 787: Holy Blood Amber

When Lei En was planning Gotham City, he had already prepared a residence for the Zhuo Er, designing it as a separate community only a little over a thousand meters from the Highland Fortress, making it the most central location in Gotham.

"This is your new home."

In front of a cluster of skyscrapers, Lei En smiled at the Zhuo Er and said.

The dark elves looked at the rows of tall buildings before them, like columns magnified countless times and planted in the ground, a spectacular sight.

Each tower had a dozen or more floors, each floor divided into individual rooms like a beehive, and many dwarves were currently renovating.

The open spaces at the base of these towers have been planted with flowers, grasses, and trees; the emerald lawns are paved with stone slabs forming walkways, and there are small plazas, gardens, training grounds and other amenities. The ground floor of each tower is uninhabited, built as taverns, restaurants, or left vacant for future conversion. In short, every detail was meticulously designed, all to serve the convenience of daily life.

The Zhuo Er had never seen such housing and were stunned.

They also found it extremely novel.

"Go in and have a look," Lei En said, and the dark elves rushed into the nearly finished community, touring everywhere.

Kuilu and Yizite stayed behind.

"I have prepared two duplex apartments on the top floor for you; the view and lighting are the best, and once the renovation is done in a few days you can move in," Lei En told them, noting that a Saint Rank elite naturally receives different treatment.

Yizite asked, "What about the others?"

"Lottery," Lei En replied. "Each apartment has a number; everyone draws lots to decide their house, purely by chance. If you think this method is unfair, you can reallocate—it's up to you."

"Oh, right."

Lei En paused, his expression turning serious: "The houses aren't free; the land and building materials are costly, and I still have to pay the dwarves for labor, so the Zhuo Er who receive a house must pay me the cost price."

The two Zhuo Er nodded repeatedly, feeling it was appropriate.

"After payment, the house becomes private property, and Gotham City Hall will register it and issue a property certificate."

Lei En smiled, "Additionally, to centralize waste collection, serve residents, and establish a guard unit, the community must set up a property management office. All this costs money, so each household must pay a monthly fee to maintain the community's security and environment."

Kuilu and Yizite didn't quite understand, but grasped the main point: paying money.

They exchanged a glance, suddenly feeling like they'd boarded a pirate ship.

"Lei En, are you talking about taxes?" Kuilu asked based on her understanding, "You just looted Mosuobulai, you shouldn't be short of this money, right?"

Lei En's face was solemn, "That's my money, unrelated to this."

Yizite asked cautiously, "How much must be paid each month?"

"The exact amount will be announced after Gotham City Hall officials calculate it. It won't be much, and we won't take your money for nothing—every copper li suo paid is worth it. Anyone who owns property in Gotham City must pay this, not just the Zhuo Er," Lei En explained patiently.

In fact, Kuilu was right; he indeed isn't short of this money.

The reason he makes the Zhuo Er pay for the houses and the property fee is to let them know that in Gotham City everything must be earned, no free rides.

Only things obtained through one's own effort are cherished more.

This also enhances the Zhuo Er's sense of belonging to Gotham City.

Not only the Zhuo Er, but also Blood Elves, dwarves, and humans—regardless of commoner or noble, ordinary person or transcendent—any race living in Gotham City must take part.

Work, paying taxes, and death are the three things every Gotham resident cannot escape in life.

Hearing that all races must pay, the two Zhuo Er felt relieved.

Kuilu isn't good at these matters and doesn't want to worry about them. She is concerned about something more important and asked, "I want to build a temple for the Dark Maiden in the community so followers have a place to pray. Lei En, do you think that's possible?"

"I don't oppose it," Lei En replied, "The God of Magic will become Gotham's primary faith. If you want to build a temple, you must report to the goddess and obtain Her permission."

"Alright, I understand," Kuilu nodded, deep in thought.

Lei En glanced at her; the God of Magic and the Dark Maiden could make her a double Divine Chosen, indicating the two deities aren't at odds, at least not enemies. A temple limited to the Zhuo Er community should not be refused by the God of Magic.

The three talked for a while, and Kuilu gave the Zhuo Er community a name: "Moonlight Garden".

Lei En, seeing nothing more for himself, left.

He entered the teleportation array of the Highland Fortress, but instead of returning to Ge La Mo Gen, he was teleported to the Obsidian Tower.

The top-floor hall of the Mage Tower was empty.

Reslin was secluding himself in the meditation chamber, racing against time to construct a Time Stop spell model, while the Hesse magical array set up inside the tower continuously ran, making rapid progress.

Upon reaching the ninth floor, countless golden treasures piled in every corner.

Several Thundercast Celestial Soldiers were inventorying the loot, identifying various precious gems, materials, and magical items, then sorting them into the Mage Tower's storage.

It is a massive task; it cannot be finished in less than ten days or half a month.

Lei En estimated that the gold alone was worth over ten million Gold Shields, and with other items, including several epic pieces of equipment, the total value easily doubled, possibly reaching thirty million Gold Shields! This sum could offset Gotham City's early investment, and the Mage Tower of the Highland Fortress could then be scheduled.

This doesn't even include the Legend Grade Soul-Eating Blade.

However, even adding the Soul-Eating Blade to the gold gems, materials, and magical items still doesn't compare to that artifact.

Lei En teleported to the magical testing lab on the seventh floor, where the entire room was tightly shielded by a rune array; unless one kills the Mage Tower's master or destroys the high tower, entry is virtually impossible.

Inside the magical testing lab, an egg-shaped amber floated midair.

Two Thundercast Celestial Soldiers guarded the artifact; when Lei En entered, they teleported to the ninth floor to join the loot inventory.

Lei En took the amber; when his hand touched it, it glowed and heated for a moment before returning to normal.

The energy accumulated over several hours was consumed in an instant.

The warm amber fit perfectly in his hand, feeling very comfortable; Lei En examined it with the naked eye for a while but saw nothing remarkable. Its texture was extremely hard, yet it gave no metallic feel, indicating it wasn't cast from metal.

"How should it be used?" Lei En frowned.

Generally, the simplest way to use a magical item is to infuse it with soul energy or imprint a mental seal inside, but this is an artifact and cannot be handled recklessly.

Since it's an artifact, it cannot remain obscure.

Lei En temporarily halted his research, opened the library on his phone, and searched for information on Dawnlord Losenda, but few results appeared.

The Dawnlord fell nearly four thousand years ago, and most records of Him have been lost. This deity was mainly active in the Third Epoch; His followers were few but widely scattered—elves, humans, dwarves, even trolls—without a single dominant follower race.

To this day, Ai Lun E Si has no followers of Losenda at all.

Very few people even know His name.

Lei En flipped through hundreds of books mentioning Losenda; the content was largely the same, offering nothing beyond the name and divine office. Some books even misspelled Losenda's name, and the divine duties and doctrines differed.

This is a deity who has almost completely vanished from the long river of history.

Even deities that fell even earlier would not be forgotten like Luosen Da; the cause of this situation is clearly the Sun God Ge Weng pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Just as Lei En was about to give up, he finally came across a book written in High Elf language.

It originates from Aoroan, was compiled at the beginning of the New Era, and mainly recounts the elves' history during the Abyss invasion at the end of the Third Epoch; a few pages mention Luosen Da, the content is brief, but several keywords caught Lei En's attention.

The book states that the Lord of Dawn, Luosen Da, forged two second‑tier artifacts for himself.

One is the Dawn Sword, powerful; Luosen Da used it to slay countless Demons and several Abyssal Lords. The other was crafted by Luosen Da from his own Divine Blood Essence, possessing many functions—storing divine power, suppressing evil, resurrecting the dead, granting Divine Techniques, and so on; it manifests when he bestows blessings on his followers.

Translated from High Elf, this artifact is called the Holy Blood Amber.

The Dawn Sword was destroyed when the Lord of Dawn fell, while the Holy Blood Amber was handed to a follower in a moment of crisis, after which its whereabouts became unknown.

"Holy Blood Amber!"

Lei En sighed inwardly, confirming it was indeed a second‑tier artifact.

The Lord of Dawn's fall occurred on the New Continent; the Holy Blood Amber was taken into the Dark Realm, and over the years, after passing through countless hands, it eventually fell into Banrimu's possession.

Storing divine power, suppressing evil, resurrecting the dead, granting Divine Techniques…

Obviously, the Holy Blood Amber is not an offensive artifact.

Although Lei En felt a bit regretful—offensive artifacts are more valuable, mostly being higher‑tier, but functional second‑tier artifacts are not inferior; after all, it is a genuine artifact and might even suit his own use better.

The book does not explain how to use the Holy Blood Amber; mortals, of course, cannot come into contact with an artifact.

Lei En can only rely on his own trial and error.

He can now only be certain of one thing: the Holy Blood Amber poses no danger, and after it has expended its energy, its risk is greatly reduced.

A thought flickers, and a Thundercast Celestial Soldier materializes before him.

He activates his Soul Eye, then slowly shifts his gaze to the Holy Blood Amber in Lei En's hand; instantly, a beam of light pierces his soul, causing his Lake of Stars to churn, the previously dim surface becoming crystal clear under dazzling sunlight, while the stars above vanish.

"Um…"

The Thundercast Celestial Soldier endures the soul discomfort, widens its eyes, and stares directly into the interior of the Holy Blood Amber.

The Lord of Dawn's Divine Blood rapidly expands before his eyes, layers of golden light spreading, revealing its core—a golden little sun.

The sun's rays are not intense, warm and gentle.

Countless mysterious and intricate runes orbit the sun, forming multilayered structures like a massive galaxy.

Lei En also witnessed this scene, feeling it resembled a transcendent's soul; the sun is spiritual essence, the runes are Elements, yet they are not naturally formed but forged with great power, and in both refinement and energetic nature they surpass a transcendent's soul by countless folds.

At this moment, the Soul Eye discerns these glittering golden runes.

A massive influx of information floods the Thundercast Celestial Soldier's mind, causing it to emit a painful groan.

Lei En simultaneously receives this data; each rune is a Divine Technique that can be activated with Holy Light Power. The Holy Light Power originates from the core sun, containing a strand of the Lord of Dawn's divine power source; using Divine Blood Essence as a furnace, it can convert roughly ten kinds of energy, including divine power, into Holy Light Power.

The Holy Blood Amber is an energy converter!

It can absorb energy and convert it into Holy Light Power for wielding Divine Techniques, and it can also grant Holy Light Power to followers, directly enhancing their strength.

If more Holy Light Power is expended, it can also duplicate Divine Techniques from the artifact to bestow upon followers.

Lei En's eyes widened instantly.

The Holy Blood Amber can almost do everything the Lord of Dawn can for his followers; with sufficient energy, one can use this artifact to impersonate the Lord of Dawn!

If someone else obtains the Holy Blood Amber, at most they can use it merely as a conduit for Divine Techniques.

Because the Holy Blood Amber can only be infused with energy after being touched, converting it into Holy Light Power. It cannot, unlike the MutatedPhone, absorb souls from a distance.

Even the Lord of Dawn, Luosen Da, cannot use it without limits; his divine power is finite.

But I am different!

Lei En inhaled deeply, his soul force surged, and the rose‑colored amber in his hand instantly glowed; his soul force, like a sponge soaking water, was instantly devoured. The phone battery drained as if a dam had burst, spilling away; in a few seconds it consumed thirty units of power, and he hurried to replenish it with the energy from his soul force pool.

The soul force pool's energy also began to drop, the Divine Blood within the amber rekindled its luster, its brightness rising, it started to heat up, resisting Lei En's hand.

Lei En remained unmoved, staring fixedly at the Holy Blood Amber.

The vast majority of his soul force was devoured and converted into Holy Light Power, but a small portion, under his control, entered the sun within the Divine Blood.

Deep within the sun's core lay a golden rune.

This rune differed from the others; it is the key to mastering the artifact.

Finally, after expending over two hundred units of power, Lei En used his own soul force to successfully condense a symmetrical rune within the core rune; the two merged into one, forming an indelible spiritual imprint.

The radiance suddenly contracted, and the temperature returned to normal.

Lei En released his grip; the Holy Blood Amber still hovered before him, but with a thought it whirled around him at high speed, its glow adjusting to his will. Without needing to look, he could sense its state and position, letting it traverse the void and return to his side at any time.

A golden light circled Lei En, flashing faster and faster, even his eyes could not keep up.

Lei En reached out and seized it.

Feeling the artifact's resilience, he thought to himself that even without other functions, using it to strike would have terrifying lethality; after full acceleration, its power would rival that of an electromagnetic railgun.

Of course, smashing people would be a wasteful misuse.

Lei En now fully understands the proper way to use this artifact.

(End of Chapter)