Chapter 567: Crystal Phoenix
Chen Rui felt a lot of strange things were added to his brain. His senses were suddenly sharpened by 100 times. His mind was extended from all directions; everything and every movement from the room to the entire palace were under his control.
This feeling did not consume his own spirit power, but it was an effect extended by the “network” of the central life crystal. It probably would disappear if he left this place.
This room was equivalent to the central control room of the entire castle. Judging from the surrounding conditions, it should also be an independent s.p.a.ce. As Chen Rui tried to control with his mind, countless square shapes suddenly arched from the metal ground with strange l.u.s.ter, and they quickly transformed into a smooth chair.
Chen Rui felt very comfortable as he sat on it. This is not an illusion. He couldn’t help being overjoyed. He tried again one by one and found that the things in this room could indeed change freely with his mind. This meant that he had successfully activated the central life crystal and became the master.
His spontaneous idea just now to risk wrapping the soul power with his spirit power was correct.
Chen Rui tentatively asked, “What’s your name?”
The female voice replied, “My name is Crystal Phoenix, do I need to change it?”
Chen Rui had determined that this was a living ent.i.ty that could interact, and he shook his head, “No. I ask a question. If my soul power can’t match, what will happen?”
“If the soul power fails to match, the intruder will be wiped out on the way into the control center; if it cannot be wiped out, the control center will self-explode. Now this control center has been printed with the spiritual imprint of the master which becomes an independent s.p.a.ce. Master can enter the control center at any corner of the castle with just a thought. Without the permission of master, it is impossible to break in even if the entire s.h.i.+ke Castle is destroyed.”
Chen Rui secretly wiped a cold sweat when he realized that he had a near-death experience, “s.h.i.+ke Castle?”
“The castle was originally called s.h.i.+ke. Do you want to rename the castle?”
Chen Rui felt weird in his heart. Why does it seem to be a prompt to enter a game? Anyway, the name “s.h.i.+ke” is too hard to p.r.o.nounce. He said, “Let’s call it City of Stars.”
“The renaming is complete! Please note that the City of Stars currently has a lot of damage and defects, and most of its functions are unavailable. It is estimated that 3,000 gremlin servants and 145 units of top-level energy essence will be required to complete the repair.”
When Chen Rui heard Crystal Phoenix mentioned “gremlin servants” which was just what he wanted to know. He asked, “How can we make gremlin servants?”
“After master provides enough energy, Crystal Phoenix will activate the Gremlin Factory. Through energy consumption, it will automatically manufacture gremlin souls and transform them into body materials to become gremlin servants. Each unit of top-level energy essence can produce 100 gremlin servants. For every 100 gremlin servants, a mutated gremlin supervisor who can control the gremlin servants to improve work efficiency has a chance to be born. It can manufacture and repair higher-grade equipment. Every 100 gremlin servants would consume 1 unit of top-level energy essence as food per month.”
Oh, I see! Chen Rui suppressed the surprise in his heart, “The energy is not a problem. What are the maximum amount of gremlin and other types of troops that can be produced?”
“The current castle is Level 2. With sufficient materials and energy, there can be up to 20,000 gremlin servants, 10,000 crystal beasts, 5,000 lamp spirits, 1,000 a.s.semble puppets and 100 giant crystal beasts. The castle can be further upgraded to increase the upper limit of each category and enhance its functions, but it requires a lot of rare materials.”
The castle can even be upgraded? Chen Rui’s weird “game” feeling became more intense, then he got the answer from Crystal Phoenix. The life created by the castle was alchemy beings, and the soul core of the alchemy beings was the central life crystal, Crystal Phoenix. Because of this, every alchemy being produced will fully obey the ruler of the castle. The life crystal’s soul control had a certain limit. If it exceeded the number, it would be uncontrollable and the production would automatically stop.
In the alchemy civilization, life crystal was the core that determined all alchemy beings. Perhaps it could be called the maternal body of life creation. The upgrade was to improve the texture and strength of the central life crystal, so that the crystal could control more and more powerful life ent.i.ties. In addition to the alchemy beings produced by the life crystal, there were a large number of human-like “aborigines” in alchemy civilization who gave birth to the next generation bloodline through the traditional mating method.
These aborigines could control the a.s.semble puppets to unleash powerful combat power, and the ruler was also born from the compet.i.tion. It was just that such “aborigines” in the current ruins had disappeared long ago. Otherwise, the “outsiders” like Chen Rui would not be able to benefit from it.
Chen Rui took a look at the materials required to upgrade the castle. Most of them are unheard of, and the quant.i.ty requirements are astonis.h.i.+ng. The top priority is to repair the castle first, “Then create 3,000 gremlin servants to repair the castle.”
“Yes. The castle has already stocked 2,470 units of top-level energy essence. It will cost 50 units to activate the Gremlin Factory, and 30 units for 3,000 gremlin servants. It will take about 5 days if we start manufacturing now. After the gremlin servants are created, the repair will start automatically. We need to find the corresponding materials with high consistency for the repair. If the materials are complete, it will probably take 2 months to completely repair the castle. If a gremlin supervisor is born, the time can be further shortened.”
2 months was actually not a long time. In terms of energy, it was not a problem for Chen Rui who owned the Star Garden. Once the castle was repaired, then he could repair all the crystal beasts and giant beasts. By then it was equivalent to having a powerful army that was enough to build a small empire in the Demon Realm.
Chen Rui suddenly thought of something. An alchemy castle is just equivalent to a small force in the alchemy civilization, but it has such a powerful combat power. One can imagine the power of the entire ancient alchemy civilization. Then, isn’t the Abyss Family who destroyed the alchemy civilization more…
Whether in the illusion at the inheritance test or in the underground altar of Town Ma.s.simo, the terror of the Abyss Family was still vivid in Chen Rui’s memory. What he experienced should be just a fraction of the Abyss Family. Judging from the Demi-G.o.d powerhouse, Satan’s tone of voice, the Abyss Family seemed to be sealed or isolated in a certain s.p.a.ce. For countless years, they had tried their best to break free from the seal.
It was just that these things were still far away from his current level. It was useless even if he was worried, so he didn’t think about it anymore. He asked, “What’s the matter with the territory kingdom?”
“This City of Stars is a territory kingdom, and the spiritual imprint has been transmitted to master. At present, master’s strength is too weak to fully integrate the imprint and control the territory kingdom.”
Chen Rui thought of the spiritual imprint he obtained previously, and his heart surged with ecstasy. The territory kingdom should be the power possessed by the Demi-G.o.d-level powerhouse. I can’t imagine that I can obtain it so easily. As long as I have enough strength, I can master this higher level power above the Demon Overlord realm!
Crystal Phoenix then sounded again, “Master can use the alchemy secret method to absorb the power of the lamp spirits to continuously strengthen yourself, then thoroughly integrate the spiritual imprint of the territory kingdom step by step. When master’s power is restored, master will be able to regain control of the entire kingdom.”
This sentence dampened Chen Rui’s ecstasy. The alchemy secret method that absorbs the power of the lamp spirits? I don’t seem to know it.
After consulting Crystal Phoenix repeatedly, Chen Rui determined 3 matters.
First, Crystal Phoenix was not the intelligent being that he thought of. The answers or solutions given couldn’t leave the scope of the life crystals “database”. She couldn’t solve anything beyond this scope. More precisely, Crystal Phoenix was just a smart tool. The real “brain” was still Chen Rui.
Secondly, his current strength was insufficient and he could only control this palace through Crystal Phoenix. Once his strength met the requirements, he could feel the entire castle in this “central control room” just like controlling his own arm, and he could remotely control the corresponding buildings and equipment.
Thirdly, the function of Crystal Phoenix was management, defense, production and development of the entire castle. It was impossible for her to give more answers about the training aspects of the territory kingdom. These should be things in the inheritance memory, but because the Demi-G.o.d soul failed to possess Chen Rui’s body, he only got some residual memory fragments, and he did not really get the so-called “inheritance.” Many things such as formulas and secret techniques were unclear. It was like he took over the inheritance in the name of the unlucky Demi-G.o.d. Although he got the inheritance, there was no key to open the safe. Taking out the treasure inside to use was still a difficult problem.
The Gremlin Factory would be activated soon. The process of manufacturing gremlin was an eye-opener to Chen Rui. The core of the soul was first generated, which was then placed in a petri dish-like crystal groove to condense the body. This process was not very fast, but the condensed form could be seen faintly. It seemed to be a kind of wonderful energy conversion process. This conversion was not done with energy alone; it required special materials which was one of the basic reserves of the castle. It was retained as a basic “working unit” in the castle.
As a senior gamer, Chen Rui couldn’t help thinking of the basic units of a strategy game. The first batch of gremlin servants was 100 which would take about 2.5 hours to complete. Chen Rui did not wait and he came to the busy lamp spirits.
The lamp spirits were using the aura fruit to make energy essence as well as cleaning and tidying the castle. Chen Rui approached Genie and asked, “Genie, do you know how to absorb the energy of the lamp spirits to enhance my power?”
Genie was stunned, and she replied, “The lamp spirits can directly absorb the energy essence. Master can use the secret method, s.e.xual activity, to extract life energy from the lamp spirits to strengthen your physique and power, but the lamp spirits will lower their ranks or even be annihilated forever.”
This is the so-called “secret technique”? The words “collect and replenish” appeared in Chen Rui’s mind, and he frowned.
Regardless of whether this method was good or bad, the “human” of alchemy civilization was still different from the training of ordinary humans or demons. They used the life energy of yin and yang. The lamp spirits were like a kind of cauldron that would be discarded after their “nutrients” were completely absorbed.
Compared with this method of harming others for self-interest, Chen Rui’s [Dual Training] technique was much more benevolent by benefiting both man and woman. It was just that [Dual Training] for Chen Rui was more within the scope of a.s.sistance and skill rather than the fundamental way to improve his power. The lamp spirits were special alchemy beings that were different from ordinary life ent.i.ties. The key of evolution was the heart lamp. They were unable to absorb [Dual Training]’s strength enhancement.
The golden-eyed lamp spirits were a little dim, yet she still spoke up without hesitation, “The energy in my body has reached the highest point now. Does master want to start absorbing it immediately?”
Chen Rui deliberately asked, “Your life will be in danger.”
Genie shook her head, “The fate of the lamp spirits is to dedicate everything, including life, to master.”
Chen Rui now understood the true meaning of “dedicate everything” as she said earlier, and he had a new understanding of the loyalty to these alchemy beings. It was a bit similar to the puppets controlled by the G.o.d-Eating Mask, but not exactly the same, their independent consciousness was stronger. They would be anxious or afraid of sacrifice, but they couldn’t defy the master’s order.
“Loyalty” was the first irreversible law that Crystal Phoenix instilled in the soul of these alchemy beings when creating them.
“Dedication and loyalty will do.” Chen Rui smiled slightly, “Although I have the inheritance, I have my own way of training. I don’t need to rely on absorbing your vitality. I won’t do it now and I won’t do it in the future either.
Genie’s eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance as a bright smile appeared behind the veil, “Master, do you need Genie to serve you? Or you want to add Gensha and Genlan together? We will try our best to meet all the needs of master.”
Seeing the lamp spirits with a hot body and s.e.xy clothes, another ridiculous scene in the illusion appeared in Chen Rui’s mind. He couldn’t help but feel a bit mouth dry. Fortunately, he experienced the test of [Refined Mind] and was extremely strong-willed. He immediately came to his senses and shook his head.
Chen Rui didn’t like s.e.x without emotion which was just succ.u.mbing to instinctive indulgence. Besides, there was no shortage of beloved women by his side which was already too much to handle.
(If I really indulge with more than 2,000 lamp spirits… Sooner or later my essence will be exhausted. Even the dragon’s physique will be useless)
“Master, please feel free to order us when you need it.” Genie didn’t think much. She asked again, “Master, can I tell the other lamp spirits about this news?”
Chen Rui knew that what Genie was referring to was his promise that he “would not absorb the vitality of the lamp spirits in the future”. For the lamp spirits, this was indeed good news.
Chen Rui smiled slightly, “Of course you can. Also inform them that after the first batch of gremlin servants are manufactured, 100 lamp spirits will be left to guard the castle, and the rest will leave with me to perform tasks in the outside world. Remember to give me the energy conversion machine, I can supply the top-level energy essence you all need at any time.”
“Yes.” Genie bowed respectfully. With a single tap, she floated toward the lamp spirits.
Soon, these beauties with alluring figures and exotic charm cast surprised gazes at him simultaneously. Their cheers burst out in unison which sounded throughout the whole underground castle.
TL: Luckily, the lamp spirits couldn’t go against their master, otherwise he would be sucked dry. This territory kingdom sounds much more convenient than the Super System to me?