Chapter 254 - 154: War Order, the Resolute Will to Forge Ahead

Chapter 254: Chapter 154: War Order, the Resolute Will to Forge Ahead

Pei Ze’s expression turned thoughtful.

As soon as the Turin Army had begun to bear down on them, Red Maple City issued a War Order. It called upon all Free Mages to join the war effort and eliminate the Turin People.

In return, Free Mages who participated in the war would receive the same treatment as the military’s Wizards. This included identical calculations for military merit and, more importantly, access to the same resource exchanges.

In other words, many rare resources that were previously exclusive to military Wizards and not available to the public could now be exchanged by Free Mages, as long as they participated in the war.

The moment this edict was announced, it attracted a great number of Free Mages.

To be honest, Pei Ze was also tempted.

At his current level of Spiritual Power, neither Resonance Potions nor the Sacred Spirit Bud had the same potent effect on his spiritual growth as they once did.

Furthermore, he could predict that their effects would weaken even more after he advanced to become a Second-level Wizard.

At that point, his spiritual growth rate would likely slow to a crawl.

—Even with the Visualization Secret Technique, his Spiritual Power already grew far faster than that of most Wizards.

Of course, there was a simple way to change this situation: exchange for more resources that could enhance his Spiritual Power.

However, the path of taking on external missions was now blocked. If he wanted to continue earning merit points, his only option was to answer the call to war.

Moreover, the exchange office had a limited variety of resources. If he wanted to obtain items more effective than the Sacred Spirit Bud or Resonance Potions, responding to the War Order was also his only path.

No matter how he looked at it, if he wanted to keep rapidly increasing his strength, he had to participate in the coming war.

Pei Ze didn’t hesitate for long. He had already considered this issue many times.

"I plan to answer the War Order," Pei Ze said in a low voice.

Yin Xue’s brow furrowed slightly. She had actually guessed what Pei Ze’s answer would be.

But hearing him say it, she couldn’t help but try to persuade him. "Junior, you don’t need to take this risk. With your talent and aptitude, you can advance to a Second-level Wizard quickly just by following the normal progression."

Pei Ze shook his head.

Advancing to a Second-level Wizard was no longer a problem for him.

He had already prepared all the necessary resources. In two months at most, he would successfully become a Second-level Wizard.

What he cared about was the path that lay beyond.

It was true that with the Eye of Omniscience, he could just cultivate safely and steadily. He would eventually advance to a Level 3 Wizard, and perhaps even higher realms.

But without sufficient resources, the time required to achieve that goal would surely increase a hundredfold, or even a thousandfold.

The higher one wished to climb on the path of a Wizard, the more resources one needed.

Without a massive supply of resources to support him, the Eye of Omniscience would at best allow him to become an ordinary genius. He could forget about making the kind of rapid progress he had been recently.

Pei Ze didn’t want that.

Or rather, he didn’t want to be so timid.

The path in pursuit of truth and power was fraught with hardship. Anyone lacking the unwavering will to cut through all obstacles would never reach the summit in this lifetime.

If he missed this rare opportunity for the sake of stability, he would most likely regret it later when his progress slowed to a crawl.

Besides, while the battlefield was certainly dangerous, hadn’t he desperately improved his strength and accumulated numerous backup plans and trump cards for precisely this kind of situation?

Even if he encountered true danger, he was confident he could find a way to escape.

Of course, there was no need to say any of this to Yin Xue.

Pei Ze just said calmly, "This is a rare opportunity. I don’t want to miss it."

Seeing the determined look on Pei Ze’s face, Yin Xue was taken aback for a moment, but ultimately said nothing more.

’This junior of mine has always had a mind of his own. Once he’s made a decision, I can’t persuade him otherwise.’

Noticing the somewhat stiff atmosphere, Pei Ze decisively changed the subject.

"I heard the Divine Body Golem from Bishui City was transferred here?"

Yin Xue nodded. "That’s right. It was transported into the city three days ago. With the Divine Body Golem, our chances of winning this war have increased."

The two then chatted a bit more about the war.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that Pei Ze got up to leave and headed back to his residence.

During this period, he had successively completed modifications on the first batch of Three-Ring Spells.

He had also finished calculating the metal combination needed for Silverstar to evolve into a Tier Four Witchcraft Artifact.

As expected, the new combination included many more incredibly rare Magic Metals.

A single standard unit of this metal combination cost over sixteen thousand Magic Stone Coins.

For Silverstar to evolve into a Tier Four Witchcraft Artifact, it needed to absorb at least thirty standard units of the metal combination.

All told, that would cost nearly five hundred thousand Magic Stone Coins.

To be honest, Pei Ze was shocked when he calculated this price.

In reality, however, a Tier Four Witchcraft Artifact was worth at least a million Magic Stone Coins.

And most of the time, they were priceless but unavailable; you couldn’t buy one no matter how many Magic Stone Coins you had.

Even including its previous consumption, Silverstar’s evolution into a Tier Four Witchcraft Artifact would only cost a little under six hundred thousand Magic Stone Coins in total.

The key was that it would be a top-tier artifact among its peers.

When he thought about it that way, five hundred thousand Magic Stone Coins was actually a great bargain.

’That may be true, but I don’t have that many Magic Stone Coins right now.’

Although Pei Ze still had nearly twenty thousand merit points, those were reserved for purchasing and inscribing the Alchemy Engraving.

’I’ll wait until after I’ve inscribed the Alchemy Engraving. If there are any merit points left over, I’ll buy the metal combination then.’

’Now, all I have to do is wait for the modifications to the Alchemy Engraving to be complete.’

...

Time flew by.

Outside Red Maple City, on the boundless wilderness, the Turin Army and the city’s defenders had been locked in a stalemate for over a month.

During this time, there were constant skirmishes and frequent small-scale battles, but a true, large-scale war never broke out.

However, this did not mean the situation was de-escalating.

According to reconnaissance from the Giant Eagle Knights, more and more Turin Army troops were arriving and merging with the main host.

The enemy’s strength was growing with every passing moment.

Red Maple City was not falling behind, either.

The Teleportation Array within the city ran almost nonstop, continuously operating every day to bring vast numbers of personnel and resources into Red Maple City.

Both sides were now frantically amassing power, preparing for the great war.

Once both sides finished their pre-war preparations—or if one side finished first and launched a brazen attack—an unprecedented war would erupt.

Under these circumstances, the atmosphere within Red Maple City grew increasingly tense.

Walking down the street and seeing the shuttered storefronts on both sides, Gu Lin felt a profound sense of urgency, the feeling of a great war on the horizon.

At his side, Annie was as composed as ever, even looking around at the scenery with great interest.

Bai Bing City was built on flat terrain with a relatively ordinary layout. It was nothing like Red Maple City, whose main body was built into a range of rolling mountains, giving it a unique, natural feel.

"The person who designed this War Castle had rather good taste," Annie remarked with a slight nod.

Gu Lin rolled his eyes. He wanted to retort, ’Is this really the time to be worrying about the designer’s taste?’

But then he remembered that the vampire beside him had likely lived for thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years. What kind of scene hadn’t she witnessed? He swallowed his words and asked about something else instead.

"Annie, are you really going to stay in Red Maple City?"

"Of course."

"Why? Didn’t you say you didn’t want to get involved in the war?"

"That’s true. But not getting involved in the war doesn’t mean I can’t do other things."

Annie glanced at Gu Lin, a red glint seeming to flash in her eyes. A bewitching smile spread across her exquisite face.

Unlike before, however, this smile held a faint, uncanny trace.

"Have you forgotten? I’m an Undead Creature."

Gu Lin’s expression froze.

’Right, I almost forgot. Vampires belong to the Undead Race. A battlefield teeming with death is no different from a Holy Land to them.’

Seeing Gu Lin fall silent, Annie smiled and changed the subject. "Didn’t you say you were going to find Pei Ze? Do you know where he lives?"

Gu Lin snapped back to reality and shrugged. "I don’t. But for a big celebrity like him, I can just ask anyone and find out."

Gu Lin scanned his surroundings, his gaze quickly locking onto a large, burly Knight. He strode over.

"Excuse me, do you..."

However, when he got a clear look at the man’s face as he turned, Gu Lin’s words caught in his throat.

’Such a familiar face!’

Gu Lin quickly recalled that this was one of the Knights who had been on the same team as Pei Ze during the suppression of the heretical cult. If he remembered correctly, the Knight’s name was Peng Yan.