The Synthesis Wizard

"If worse comes to worst, I'll have to use Forbidden Zone," Su Nan murmured, suppressing stray thoughts as he ventured deeper into the Lightning Elemental Plane.

Thunderstones, the key material he sought, were often found in areas densely packed with lightning strikes. The outer edges of the lightning element space were barren, forcing Su Nan to press further into the treacherous depths.

It wasn't long before Su Nan encountered his first Lightning Elemental Spirit.

Low-tier lightning elementals appeared as formless clusters of electric arcs, lacking even a vague humanoid outline. Only as their power grew did they develop more defined shapes, with Elemental Titans manifesting fully humanoid upper bodies while their lower halves resembled swirling arcs of energy.

The low-tier elemental before him barely posed a threat, and Su Nan dispatched it effortlessly with a single Magic Missile, reducing it to nothing but glowing dust.

The combat reminded Su Nan of the unique rules of this realm:

Infinite Energy: The Lightning Elemental Plane offered no scarcity of energy. Mana expended on spells rapidly replenished from the abundant energy particles in the air.

Elemental Restriction: The overwhelming dominance of lightning energy, however, rendered spells requiring other elemental particles nearly impossible to cast. Su Nan's arsenal in this realm was limited to non-elemental magic, tools like the Ring of Calamity, Inscribed Gems, and his Liquid Metal Weaponry. Lightning-based techniques like Black Thunder were useless here.

The elemental left behind shimmering dust upon its defeat—Elemental Dust, a material brimming with energy, valuable for enchanting and crafting magical items. Su Nan casually swept it into his Dimensional Ring.

Su Nan's presence in the Lightning Elemental Plane was as conspicuous as a beacon in the dark. The distinct aura of his existence, so different from the native elementals, attracted a constant stream of aggressive spirits.

Most were violent and charged at him on sight, eager to reduce him to ash. Only a handful remained indifferent, lazily floating in the air like drifting clouds.

He wisely chose to avoid provoking these passive elementals, instead focusing on eliminating those that attacked him.

As Su Nan ventured further, the air thickened with dense arcs of lightning. Streaks of electricity materialized like physical entities, dancing through the sky and ground. The elementals he encountered grew stronger and more humanoid in shape.

Recognizing the increased danger, Su Nan summoned his two Secret Puppets.

Unlike ordinary constructs, which were ineffective against intangible elemental forms, high-grade puppets enchanted with spells could deal devastating blows to these spirits.

With the puppets handling most of the combat, Su Nan could finally concentrate on his primary objective: collecting Thunderstones.

After some time, Su Nan spotted a dark, jagged stone nestled among scorched rocks. With a wave of his hand, the stone floated into his palm, crackling with potent lightning energy.

"A Thunderstone," he remarked, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

Encouraged, Su Nan meticulously searched the surrounding area, discovering several more Thunderstones. The effort invigorated him, propelling him to delve even deeper into the plane.

Time was a meaningless concept in the Lightning Elemental Plane, with no discernible day or night cycles. The endless expanse of electrified chaos made tracking progress nearly impossible.

By the time Su Nan finally paused, his Dimensional Ring held over 200 Thunderstones.

"This should be enough to craft three more Black Thunder weapons," he calculated.

Though weary, Su Nan was pleased with his haul. His puppets had also fared well, sustaining minimal damage despite frequent battles.

The lightning spirits he defeated left behind a considerable stash of Elemental Dust, though Su Nan lamented the lack of Elemental Cores, which were far more valuable.

He had glimpsed a Lightning Elemental Titan earlier but chose to avoid it entirely. Engaging such a formidable foe in its home domain was an unnecessary risk.

"Elemental Titans are classified as divine beings," Su Nan mused as he prepared to leave.

In the energy-dense environment of the elemental planes, divine characteristics could manifest naturally. This made lightning spirits one of the most common sources of divine energy, with their power increasing exponentially as they evolved into Titans, Elders, or even Lords.

"Perhaps someday, I'll try harvesting divine energy from a Titan," he thought.

For now, however, the risk was too great. Titans gained immense boosts in power within their native planes, while Su Nan's abilities were hindered by the elemental restrictions. The odds were unfavorable.

Having decided against further exploration, Su Nan opened a spatial portal and returned to the Dragonbone Tower.

In the weeks that followed, Su Nan devoted himself to his two priorities:

1. Crafting Black Thunder Weapons:

Within two months, he completed three new weapons, significantly bolstering his arsenal.

2. Improving the Magic Core for Puppets:

This project took nearly two years of intermittent research. By the end, Su Nan successfully modified the cores to function using energy particles, eliminating the need for spiritual power.

The upgrade reduced the cores' power slightly, but Su Nan resolved this issue through the Fusion Cube, enhancing their potency beyond the original design.

The final product, a Level 6 Magic Core, pushed the puppets' capabilities to unprecedented levels.

Now, the upgraded puppets were nearly equal in power to Su Nan himself, at least without his enchanted artifacts or Black Thunder. In their current state, they could even face the Half-Spider Divine Scion on equal footing.

The upgrades, however, came at a steep price.

Each puppet now cost 480,000 gold coins—equivalent to the expense of assembling a small army of automaton constructs.

"High-grade constructs will only become more expensive as their complexity increases," Su Nan reflected.

While his Fusion Cube offered unparalleled convenience, it also significantly inflated production costs. Materials that could be manually crafted for half the price required exorbitant resources to synthesize through the Cube.

Still, the Cube's ability to synthesize items that were otherwise impossible to create made the expense worthwhile.

Despite the financial burden, Su Nan's wealth was not the limiting factor. With control over the southeastern underground and the Starlight Empire as a trading hub, the Star Alliance generated tens of millions of gold coins annually.

The real bottleneck lay in resources.

Rare materials like Mithril, critical for crafting puppets, were limited by mining output. No amount of gold could increase the yield of existing mines.

This issue would only become more pronounced as Su Nan's ambitions grew.

As Su Nan stared out from the Dragonbone Tower, he considered the future.

With the southeast firmly under his control and the northwest steadily falling to his forces, it was clear:

The Star Alliance was entering its golden age.

The era of the Star Alliance had begun, and with it, Su Nan's reign over the Starlight Continent was inevitable.

In the absence of external trade partners, Su Nan was limited to the resources available on the Starlight Continent, rendering his vast wealth of gold coins less effective.

"Fortunately, the resources of the Starlight Continent are enough for me to construct a Wizard Tower," Su Nan mused, his gaze distant.

He shook off his thoughts and focused his efforts on crafting Secret Puppets. With the supply of Mithril still sufficient, he estimated he could create two more puppets before requiring additional resources.

Meanwhile, in the Northwest Underground Region, the recent conflict had left Mushroom Grove City shrouded in smoke. Bioluminescent stones above the cavern cast a pale light over the ruins below.

Clay Golems trudged tirelessly through the debris, collecting corpses and carting them outside for cremation.

Corey, battle-worn and dusted with blood, stepped through the devastation with a weary expression. His gray robes were stained and torn, a testament to the fierce battles that had unfolded.

The city had served as the final stronghold of the Northwest's remaining forces, and their resistance had been nothing short of ferocious. Corey, as the commander, had been forced to personally engage in the fighting, enduring an exhausting half-day conflict before claiming victory.

However, the effort was justified. With Mushroom Grove City taken, no organized resistance remained in the Northwest. The remaining scattered opposition was hardly a concern.

As Corey surveyed the ruins, a rare wave of nostalgia washed over him. He thought of Dragonwood, his home base, and the rumors of the newly established Starlight Academy.

"What kind of academy has it become?" he wondered.

Lost in thought, Corey arrived at the city's central pillar, a structure now serving as a storage area. As he entered, Ethan, a fellow wizard apprentice, emerged from within, his face alight with excitement.

"Judging by your expression, it seems the spoils were plentiful," Corey remarked with a faint smile.

Ethan nodded enthusiastically. "It seems the warehouses of several city-states were consolidated here. The haul is significant."

Corey's expression softened. The richer the spoils, the greater his contribution points.

After organizing the inventory and assigning guards to secure it, Ethan and Corey prepared to leave.

"Are we resting here for a couple of days?" Ethan asked.

Corey shook his head. "No. The remaining resistance is insignificant. We'll press the advantage and end this quickly. There's no reason to delay."

Ethan agreed. The campaign had stretched on for seven years, and he was eager to finish it and return to Dragonwood to focus on his studies.

The accumulated contribution points from this campaign would sustain both of them for a long time.

Climbing to an intact section of Mushroom Grove City's walls, the two apprentices gazed out into the distant darkness—the last fragment of the Northwest still outside the Star Alliance's grasp. On the military map, it was a minuscule area, accounting for less than one-fiftieth of the Northwest's territory.

In the grander scheme of the underground world, it was a mere speck.

Ethan broke the silence with a wistful sigh. "When I took up my post as a commander, I never imagined the Star Alliance would unify the underground world so quickly."

Seven or eight years ago, the Alliance had begun by pacifying the Southeast, conquering even the Spider God's stronghold of Demonweb City, before sweeping through the Northwest with unstoppable force.

Now, as the Alliance stood on the brink of unifying the underground, Ethan couldn't help but marvel at the transformation.

Corey, usually reserved, shared a similar sentiment.

He recalled the early days of being Su Nan's apprentice, when their base was nothing more than a humble settlement near Shimmer City. In less than thirty years, that settlement had grown into a behemoth poised to dominate the underground world.

To many, it seemed nothing short of a miracle.

"That's all because of Teacher," Corey said with conviction.

Ethan had long grown accustomed to Corey's near-reverent admiration for Su Nan and merely smiled in acknowledgment.

"I hear the Empire is preparing to invade the Northwest. Once that's done, the entire Starlight Continent will belong to the Star Alliance," Ethan said.

Corey nodded. "That day isn't far off."

Although it was technically the Starlight Empire expanding its reach, everyone understood the Empire's success was inseparable from the Star Alliance's support.

The Empire was effectively an extension of the Alliance, its rapid rise fueled by the Alliance's resources and expertise. To Corey and Ethan, the Empire's victories were tantamount to the Alliance's own.

This perspective wasn't limited to the two apprentices. It had become a widely accepted truth among the apprentices of Starlight Academy and the Empire's nobility.

While the Empire and the Alliance maintained an outward appearance of equality, those in the know understood this balance was conditional upon mutual strength.

In reality, the Empire relied far more on the Alliance than the reverse. Over time, the Empire's dependence would deepen, and it would inevitably become an extension of the Alliance's will.

Remarkably, this was a symbiotic relationship the Empire's leadership not only accepted but embraced. The Empire's nobles and even the Emperor himself were eager to strengthen ties with the Alliance.

"The future belongs to the Star Alliance," Ethan remarked, a grin spreading across his face. After a moment of thought, he added, "What do you think Teacher's next goal will be after unifying the Starlight Continent?"

Corey paused, considering the question. After a long silence, he said, "I've heard that ancient wizards enjoyed conquering other planes. Perhaps Teacher has similar ambitions."

Ethan's eyes lit up at the idea.

"That would be a worthy goal," he said. "I've always wanted to see other planes."

If the Star Alliance ever launched an interplanar expedition, Ethan was determined to join. Explori

ng otherworldly realms was a dream worth pursuing—but first, he needed to reach the rank of a Tier-3 Wizard Apprentice.

In the ever-expanding Star Alliance, a Tier-2 Apprentice was no longer sufficient.

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