Chapter 309: Advancing to the High End

The owners of these bones had suffered horrific, inhumane torture in life. Their resentment had long since seeped into the marrow, fusing with the bones themselves. If the White Dragon Lord wanted to use them to forge magical puppets, he had to cleanse that resentment without diminishing the bones' intrinsic energy.

The problem left the White Dragon Lord in a tricky spot. Gentle methods had no effect on such deep-rooted resentment, while aggressive methods would cleanse the resentment along with the bones' energy.

"The essence of resentment is a type of spiritual energy."

Standing before the laboratory table, the White Dragon Lord muttered to himself.

"I need to find a method that targets spiritual energy."

Time slipped away quietly. A month later, the White Dragon Lord finally discovered a method to cleanse the resentment. By roasting the bones with a special magical flame, he could not only expel the resentment but also temper the material of the bone itself.

The skeletal monster's remains were, after all, Abomination Rank materials. The purification process was excruciatingly slow; cleansing a single bone would take several years.

But the White Dragon Lord could afford to wait. Right now, time was the one thing he didn't lack. In fact, he wished it would pass faster so he could reach the Ancient Giant Dragon Stage sooner. Once he possessed Abomination Rank strength, as long as he did not actively court death, he could roam freely and leisurely across the multiverse.

"Ding. Councilor Amos, you have received a message."

Tower Spirit Seven's voice rang out. The White Dragon Lord checked the newly received message. It was from Merlin Heavenly Principle, and its content was a single sentence: The problem is solved.

"As expected of the speaker!"

The White Dragon Lord was quite curious about exactly how Merlin Heavenly Principle had solved the problem.

...

The Necromantic Plane—the Plains of Withered Bones.

The Lord of Withered Bones looked at his ruined palace, wanting to weep but lacking the tears. Since his skills were inferior, however, he could only swallow his broken teeth and endure the grievance.

At this moment, the Lord of Withered Bones looked extremely miserable. His once-majestic, domineering dark-gold bone armor was mostly covered in scorched black marks, with cracks appearing in several places. Even his vigorous soul fire had dimmed.

A lingering fear gripped the Lord of Withered Bones. If that Spellweaver hadn't been wary of the big shots in the Cult of the Dragon, he might have already been reduced to a pile of magical materials.

Thinking of this, his hatred for the devil Hofusge deepened by several degrees.

"Hofusge! Don't let me ever run into you again!"

...

Shortly after receiving Merlin Heavenly Principle's message, Priest Sinod also sent one.

Priest Sinod requested a meeting. He had presumably also received a message from the speaker, considering the Rodoro Plane was jointly held by White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary.

They agreed to meet in Sky City, and the time was right now.

Cleansing Spell!

After using the Cleansing Spell to wipe away the lingering scent of magical materials from his body, the White Dragon Lord teleported to Sky City.

Inside a private room, the White Dragon Lord met a smiling Priest Sinod. After exchanging pleasantries for a moment, the two sides got straight to the point.

"Lord Amos, I arranged this meeting primarily to discuss the subsequent development of the Rodoro Plane. The supporting magic towers and the personnel stationed in the plane should all be put on the agenda."

"Indeed, I think so too."

The value of a Medium Material Plane was far beyond that of the sub-planes the White Dragon Lord had previously discovered, nor was it something that could simply be discarded once its resources were fully exploited. The Rodoro Plane would become a cornucopia, providing an endless stream of wealth for both White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary. Adequate security forces were absolutely essential.

Planes in the multiverse were as abundant as stars. Factions capable of exploring foreign planes were far from limited to the Nordhill Plane alone. There was no guarantee that another plane wouldn't discover the Rodoro Plane as well.

If the other party was reasonable, it would be fine. But if they were powerful and unreasonable, a fierce battle would be inevitable. When that time came, magic towers—which possessed formidable combat power and facilitated teleportation for reinforcements—would become one of the greatest reliances for the people of Nordhill.

In addition to other factions, there were also lone wolves who acquired the coordinates of material planes through various channels, entered to plunder, and fled immediately upon succeeding. Once a material plane was targeted by such individuals, it was nearly impossible to guard against them effectively. Magic towers were needed for protection in these situations too.

The number of magic towers required depended on the plane's total area. A Medium Material Plane like the Rodoro Plane generally needed at least twenty. Of course, these wouldn't be prohibitively expensive, custom-built giant magic towers like the White Tower, but rather ordinary ones.

The White Dragon Lord continued.

"Considering the special circumstances of the Rodoro Plane, once its high-value mineral deposits are fully excavated, it actually won't need an overly strong security force. We just need to build a single magic tower to facilitate teleportation and timely reinforcement. What do you think, Lord Sinod?"

Currently, the Rodoro Plane was still just a completely ruined Necromantic Plane. Aside from its underground mineral deposits, it held nothing else to attract powerhouses. It was essentially equivalent to an ultra-large sub-plane.

Therefore, the White Dragon Lord believed they only needed to strip the plane's mineral reserves and gradually construct the remaining magic towers while Elena purified the plane. That would be sufficient to meet their security needs.

"I feel that's too risky, but you do have a point."

Priest Sinod lowered his head in thought and eventually agreed.

"Very well, but the subsequent construction must keep pace."

The two parties reached a preliminary consensus and subsequently discussed the specifics of their cooperation.

"Lord Amos, while the Holy Sanctuary's High-Tier Legends might be stretched a bit thin, we certainly don't lack Master Tier combatants. Leave the plane's resource exploration to us."

Priest Sinod took the initiative to propose that the Holy Sanctuary handle the resource exploration. The White Dragon Lord did not object. A massive faction with deep foundations like the Holy Sanctuary possessed abundant manpower, whereas the recently established White Castle still fell short in this regard.

Naturally, the Holy Sanctuary's labor wasn't free. Their compensation would be calculated based on the labor's value, and the cost would be split evenly between the two factions. This was the foundation of their cooperation—clear and transparent accounting.

"Then leave the issue of resource extraction to White Castle."

White Castle also had its own advantage: the mass production of functional alchemical puppets. The White Dragon Lord took out an Excavation Assistant No. 1 and placed it on the table.

"Please take a look, Lord Sinod. This is the mining puppet White Castle uses for itself. Its efficiency is higher than any other mining puppet currently on the market."

As Priest Sinod picked up the puppet to study it, the White Dragon Lord explained.

"The Excavation Assistant No. 1 is..."

With the White Dragon Lord's in-depth explanation, Priest Sinod's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he looked at the puppet in his hands.

"Aside from the Excavation Assistant No. 1, White Castle also has Morel's Transport Cart..."

Priest Sinod set down the puppet. The models used by White Castle were indeed superior to those employed by the Holy Sanctuary.

"Lord Amos, you surely didn't go out of your way to explain all this just to show off in front of me. Tell me straight, how much for these supporting puppets?"

A "friendly" smile appeared on the White Dragon Lord's face.

"One hundred thousand gold coins for each Excavation Assistant No. 1, and five hundred thousand gold coins for each of Morel's Transport Carts... Of course, they can also be offset with magical items of equal value."

Even for the historically long-standing Holy Sanctuary, pulling out tens of billions of gold coins in cash all at once would be somewhat difficult. Therefore, paying the balance with equivalent magical materials or magical equipment was unavoidable.

Thinking of the Holy Sanctuary's specialty high-concentration holy water and their unique divine enchantments... the White Dragon Lord's smile grew even friendlier.

Ignoring the White Dragon Lord's "friendly," profiteer-like smile, Priest Sinod calculated the cost-effectiveness. He found that based on the given prices, the cost-to-performance ratio of White Castle's puppets was just slightly higher than that of the Emerald Tower puppets the Holy Sanctuary currently purchased.

So it had been premeditated all along!

Priest Sinod gave the White Dragon Lord a profoundly meaningful look.

"Lord Amos, the price you've given is quite hard for me to accept. After all, replacing the original puppets..."

After a round of haggling, the White Dragon Lord made a concession, offering the Holy Sanctuary a twelve percent discount.

"We'll take ten thousand units of Excavation Assistant No. 1 first, and one hundred of Morel's Transport Carts..."

"Deal. However, we don't currently have that many Excavation Assistant No. 1s in stock; it will take a year to deliver them. In return, I hope the Holy Sanctuary can provide White Castle with fifty thousand standard portions of holy water and ten thousand bundles of weapon blessing scrolls each year..."

After a single conversation, a business deal worth over ten billion gold coins was thus finalized.

Deducting the gold coins spent purchasing supplies from the Holy Sanctuary, White Castle would still have over twenty billion left in payment. Subtracting the costs of materials and labor, White Castle would net nearly ten billion gold coins—or equivalent magical materials—in profit.

Sure enough, international trade was still the most profitable, especially for highly technical, high-volume magical constructs like alchemical puppets. The White Dragon Lord couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The profit generated from this single transaction alone almost equaled half of the Afiaiv Kingdom's annual revenue.

Moreover, this was only the first transaction. In the future, once the Holy Sanctuary tasted the benefits of White Castle's puppets and the service life of their other constructs expired, they would replace all their functional puppets with White Castle products. When that time came, another massive sum of wealth would roll in.

Once the reputation spread, more and more factions would choose the puppets produced by White Castle, generating yet another endless stream of wealth.

For the longest time, White Castle's primary export goods had been specialty items like spices and seafood, commodities that required practically zero technical expertise.

The highest-tech category of goods they offered was magical accessories, but even those were purely the result of special magical materials yielded by the ocean's unique natural environment.

It could be said that White Castle had always made its living off the ocean's unique natural environment. Although they were the sole provider on the continent and the monopoly profits were lucrative, it was an indisputable fact that White Castle had always been at the bottom of the industrial chain.

The White Dragon Lord had always kept an eye on this issue. Now, these puppets would become the first product signaling White Castle's step toward high-tech, high-value-added industries.

White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary's joint development of the Rodoro Plane was the perfect promotional platform. Just as Priest Sinod had suspected, the White Dragon Lord had planned this for a long time.

Several years ago, the White Dragon Lord had already ordered the massive production of various magical puppets precisely for this very moment.

Priest Sinod signed his name on the contract and looked at the White Dragon Lord with a face full of smiles.

"Lord Amos, here is to a happy cooperation."

"To a happy cooperation!"

With both sides getting what they needed and the first transaction finalized, the atmosphere of their conversation grew increasingly harmonious. Soon, the location and specifications for the first magic tower were settled.

The first magic tower would be the main tower, so its supreme importance was self-evident. Its location was set at the center of the plane, and its specifications were the strongest among conventional large-scale magic towers. The construction costs would be borne equally by White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary.

After finalizing the discussion, the two placed an order with the Tower Spirit together.

"After calculation, the amount of points you need to pay is 41,204 points. Please confirm."

"Confirmed."

"Deduction complete. Your point balance is 843,257 points."

Watching his account decrease by fifty thousand points while still leaving over eight hundred thousand, the White Dragon Lord couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Back when he first built the White Tower, he had lived frugally and saved for several years just to scrape together a little over one hundred and ten thousand points.

The battle to defend Sky City, the various Council missions over the years, and the development of the sub-planes had all brought the White Dragon Lord a massive amount of points. In just a few years, he had saved up over eight hundred thousand.

However, points were never enough. Upgrading the White Tower into a Floating Tower alone would require over two million points.

"Soon!"

If things continued at this rate, the White Dragon Lord would be able to scrape together the two million points needed to upgrade the White Tower to a Floating Tower in a few years. When that time came, even if he went to the Blood War Battlefield and ran into trouble, he could call on the Floating Tower for support. His safety would be guaranteed.

In the forty years before heading to the Abyss, he might even be able to use the remaining points to exchange for some High-Tier materials and forge a high-quality, custom-tailored piece of equipment for himself.

Thus the White Dragon Lord thought to himself, before teleporting back to the White Tower.

After returning to the White Tower, the White Dragon Lord summoned Elena immediately.

Elena excitedly pushed open the door and saw the White Dragon Lord waiting on the sofa in the main hall.

"Oh! My dear elder brother! Do you have some good news to tell me?!"

"Of course, my sister."

The White Dragon Lord's face was full of smiles.

"The matters concerning the Rodoro Plane have been settled."

"Oh yeah! (^o^)/"

Elena spun in circles excitedly, her tail sweeping away the ornaments in the hall, sending them crashing with a clatter.

Startled, the White Dragon Lord hurriedly used his spiritual power to catch the objects before they smashed into the ground. Nevertheless, the wooden display racks and several highly valuable pieces of artwork were unavoidably shattered by the sweep of Elena's tail.

Realizing she had caused a disaster, Elena's excited cheering came to an abrupt halt.

Seeing Elena's awkward expression as she suppressed her excitement, the White Dragon Lord didn't have the heart to scold her.

"Forget it, they were just a few mundane items anyway. Just be careful in the future and don't be so reckless."

"Oh, got it."

Elena put on the appearance of an obedient child as the White Dragon Lord casually moved the rescued items onto the table.

"In a while, the Council will dispatch personnel to the Rodoro Plane to build the magic tower. When they do, you will accompany them and begin purifying the plane."

"However!"

The White Dragon Lord's expression turned stern.

"Make absolutely sure not to stray too far from the Council's group. Even after the magic tower is completed, do not venture too far from it. The coordinates of the Rodoro Plane have already been exposed, so we cannot rule out the possibility of powerhouses from other planes entering."

Feeling that the atmosphere was too serious, the White Dragon Lord changed his tone.

"Of course, it is safe within the magic tower's protection range, and if anything happens, we can provide timely reinforcement."