Chapter 295 - 175: Explosive Insect Crystal, Entering the Shadow Realm

Chapter 295: Chapter 175: Explosive Insect Crystal, Entering the Shadow Realm

Anyone with spellcasting abilities, whether through Magic or spell-like abilities, could use a Memory Crystal Ball. Tining was no exception. After extending her spiritual tendrils, she began to browse its contents.

A moment later, Tining opened her eyes, her expression filled with utter disbelief.

"Are the Alien Insects... really that terrifying?" the Half Deer Maiden asked, her voice strained.

Pei Ze said calmly, "You’ve already experienced the combat strength of those Red Soldier Insects, haven’t you?"

Tining’s gaze immediately dimmed.

Just the vanguard of the Alien Insects had been enough to overwhelm her race and all the Magical Creatures in the Starry Forest. How much more terrifying would the full Alien Insect Army be?

Tining knew very well that if the Alien Insects were truly as horrifying and terrifying as the information described, the Ancient Forest Plane’s chances of defeating them were slim to none.

At this thought, her heart grew heavy.

Pei Ze saw this and said in a solemn voice, "I suggest you relocate your people and get away from those Alien Insects. Otherwise, when the Alien Insect Army arrives, you will have no way to resist them."

Tining’s expression grew even uglier. "But the Alien Insects are targeting the entire plane. No matter where we run, we’ll have to face them one day."

"If you don’t mind, I can find a way to move your people to Chenxi City."

Tining was taken aback by his words, looking up at Pei Ze in astonishment.

"Of course, I don’t have the ability to do it right now, but I’m certain I can in two or three years at most," Pei Ze added.

An interested expression immediately appeared on Tining’s face.

To be honest, she and her people had no great attachment to the Ancient Forest Plane.

The Ancient Tree Deer Spirit Race spent most of their time in the Starry Forest and rarely had contact with outside creatures.

If she hadn’t been in desperate need of help, she never would have used the Eye of the World to communicate with beings from other planes.

To describe them in terms from Pei Ze’s past life, the Ancient Tree Deer Spirits were basically a bunch of shut-ins with social anxiety.

As long as the environment was suitable, it didn’t really matter to them which plane they lived on.

After a moment of silence, Tining glanced at Pei Ze, her cheeks flushing for some reason. She stammered, "Pei... Pei Ze, why are you helping me so much?"

Pei Ze paused, taken aback. He looked at Tining’s expression and suddenly understood, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

’I didn’t realize the Half Deer Maiden was so boy-crazy.’

The reason he was helping Tining was partly because he had gotten the better end of their previous deal and felt a little bad about it, so he wanted to make it up to her.

On the other hand, he also valued the potential of the Ancient Tree Deer Spirit Race.

Yin Xue had once said that the Ancient Tree Deer Spirit Race possessed the blood of ancient creatures. If he could recruit this race, he might be able to use their blood to create a new Bloodline Mark—and it would be a long-term supply of materials, the kind that could be replenished whenever needed.

Furthermore, once he advanced to an Elemental Mage, Pei Ze would inevitably need to build his own Wizard Tower, which would certainly require many guardians.

Tining and her people were undoubtedly an excellent choice.

The Ancient Tree Deer Spirit Race was quite powerful in its own right; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to withstand the attacks of the Red Soldier Insect swarm.

However, it wouldn’t be appropriate to explain these reasons to Tining, so Pei Ze feigned a cough and said vaguely, "We’re friends. Of course, we should help each other."

The Half Deer Maiden naturally didn’t believe such a clumsy excuse. She just assumed Pei Ze was trying to hide his true feelings, and her face grew even redder.

"Then I believe you!"

"I’ll lead my people out of the Starry Forest tomorrow!"

"Good." Pei Ze coughed lightly and changed the subject. "By the way, I’ll be heading to the Shadow Realm next and might be away from Chenxi City for a long time. I’ll leave you the aura imprint of my mansion’s housekeeper. If you need Moonlight Orchids, you can contact her. I’ve already given her instructions."

Hearing that she wouldn’t see Pei Ze again for a long time, a flicker of reluctance crossed Tining’s eyes, but she still nodded in agreement.

"I understand."

...

After the meeting, Pei Ze brought the corpses of the Red Soldier Insects to the underground plaza, emptied them all out, and, casting Mage’s Hand, began to dissect them.

He planned to sell the material components from the Red Soldier Insects—such as their exoskeletons, mandibles, and sacs—to the shops in the trading district.

The Insect Crystals, however, had to be kept.

There would be many uses for Energy Crystals in the future, such as building a Wizard Tower, creating a Golem Legion, and so on. Naturally, the Insect Crystals couldn’t just be sold off casually.

More immediately, he could also use the unstable energy structure of the Insect Crystals to create powerful ’bombs’.

In fact, Wizards had invented this technology long ago.

The information he had previously looked up in the Library of Truth mentioned this very point.

Although he already had quite a few trump cards, Pei Ze didn’t mind having another ace up his sleeve.

"Omniscience, deduce a technique for refining Insect Crystals into a Magic Item with powerful explosive force—at least strong enough to severely injure a Level 3 Crystalized Wizard."

[Task created. Beginning deduction of Insect Crystal refinement technique. Estimated requirement: 2394.5 energy-levels of Spiritual Power.]

’Over two thousand energy-levels... that will take about eleven days.’

That wasn’t a long time. Pei Ze immediately made a plan.

He would refine two or three Explosive Insect Crystals first; it wouldn’t be too late to go to the Shadow Realm after that.

...

「Eleven days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Once the deduction for the Explosive Insect Crystal technique was complete, Pei Ze immediately began crafting them.

A single Explosive Insect Crystal required refining about a hundred Red Soldier Insect Crystals and neutralizing them with numerous rare materials. In the end, the cost to create one Explosive Insect Crystal was nearly twenty-five thousand Magic Stone Coins.

However, compared to the power of the Explosive Insect Crystal, this cost was practically nothing.

Previously, if Pei Ze were to face a Level 3 Crystalized Wizard, he would have had to burn several Alchemy Engravings to kill them.

And inscribing a single Alchemy Engraving cost thirty to forty thousand Magic Stone Coins, meaning three of them would cost over one hundred thousand Magic Stone Coins.

Now, a single Explosive Insect Crystal could directly inflict heavy damage on a Level 3 Crystalized Wizard. It was an incredible bargain.

Of course, a real battle would definitely not be that easy.

After all, Level 3 Crystalized Wizards generally had numerous trump cards and backup plans. Trying to eliminate an expert of that level with a single Explosive Insect Crystal would likely be difficult.

But if one wasn’t enough, he could just use a few more. In any case, it was more cost-effective than burning Alchemy Engravings.

In the end, Pei Ze created a total of four Explosive Insect Crystals.

’Everything is ready.’

Looking at the Explosive Insect Crystals in his Space Ring, Pei Ze nodded with satisfaction.

Now that all preparations were complete, it was time to set out for the Shadow Realm.

When he reached the front courtyard, Su Ya and Peng Yan were already waiting, fully armed.

Pei Ze casually sent the approaching Xiaoyi into the Fairy House, then strode out of the mansion.

"Let’s go."

Su Ya and Peng Yan exchanged a look and followed with solemn expressions.

Among the many outer planes, the Shadow Realm was arguably one of the most frequently visited by Wizards.

As a result, there were at least seven or eight hundred entrances to the Shadow Realm within Chenxi City, if not a thousand.

Some Wizards had even opened an entrance right in their own residences for convenient access.

It was precisely because of these ubiquitous entrances that some Wizards from the Pei Family had been able to escape into the Shadow Realm during the purge.

Pei Ze led Su Ya and Peng Yan directly to High Tower Academy.

Thanks to his connection with Mo Weng, coupled with his own fame and status, borrowing High Tower Academy’s entrance to the Shadow Realm was a trivial matter.

He had already contacted the academy and went straight to the underground hall of the general affairs building.

After glancing at the two large words "Shadow Realm" on the stone tablet, Pei Ze walked straight in.

The room’s layout was similar to the one that housed the Dark Well, also a woodland environment, but in the very center stood a silver Light Gate with a slowly rotating, swirling halo within it.

Pei Ze took a deep breath and strode into it.

Su Ya followed close behind, with Peng Yan entering last.

His vision was instantly flooded with a brilliant silver light, but it receded just as quickly the next second, and the feeling of weightlessness enveloping his body vanished with it.

Pei Ze opened his eyes and found himself standing in a desolate field.

Looking up, the sky was gloomy and overcast. There was no sun or moon, nor a canopy of stars—only a gray, hazy nothingness.