Chapter 303: Advanced Earth Spells, Changes at the Baron’s Manor! (6200)

Cao Xing glanced at the figures of these thirty-odd mage apprentices.

Among these people, there were both men and women.

Aside from one elderly-looking old man,

everyone else looked quite young, around fifteen, sixteen to twenty years old.

They were all uniformly dressed in dark brown mage robes, with wide brown leather belts tied around their waists, and several small cloth bags hanging from them containing materials needed for spellcasting,

Compared to the fair skin of most races in this grand world, their skin was wheat-colored, looking very healthy.

Cao Xing nodded, then glanced at the stats of these mages.

[Earth Mage Apprentice: Patty]

[Race: Human]

[Affiliation: Yudia Mage Association]

[Level: Level 27 (Tier 3 Normal Creature)]

[HP: 16559 / 16559 (Pale Tree Blessing)]

[Magic Attack Power: 461 ~ 487]

[Armor: 183 ~ 213]

[Attributes: Strength 175, Agility 189, Spirit 257, Constitution 211]

[Skills: Intermediate Earth Element Mastery (Increases Earth element spellcasting speed by 20%.)

Earth Element Shield (Condenses mana to create an earth element shield around oneself, the shield has HP equal to Spirit * 5, lasts for 30 seconds, Cooldown: 80 seconds)

Earth Spikes (Summons 1 to 3 earth spikes, dealing 157% piercing damage to hit enemies, Cooldown: 60 seconds)]

[Talent: Mana Affinity (Only humans naturally sensitive to mana fluctuations can grow into mages)]

[Bonds: Earth Mage (When the number of earth mages acting simultaneously in the team reaches 10, spellcasting speed increases by 20%

at 20 people, spell cooldowns are reduced by 20%

at 50 people, spell damage increases by 20%

at 100 people, activates the additional skill 'Heart of Stone')]

(Character Introduction: An earth mage apprentice dedicated to cultivation, possessing decent combat capabilities.)

…

[Honorary Mage: Tyren Rockspeaker]

[Affiliation: Yudia Mage Association]

[Race: Human]

[Level: Level 28 (Tier 3 Boss Creature)]

[HP: 38112 / 38112 (Pale Tree Blessing)]

[Magic Attack Power: 1046 ~ 1107]

[Armor: 469 ~ 478]

[Attributes: Strength 352, Agility 348, Spirit 576, Constitution 473]

[Skills: Intermediate Earth Element Mastery, Earth Element Shield, Earth Spikes (Attributes same as above)

Summon Stone Golem (Condenses a massive amount of earth elemental power to summon 2 stone golems inheriting 120% of his attributes to assist in combat; stone golems possess skills such as 'Stone Skin' and 'Earth Stomp', lasting 120 seconds, Cooldown: 5 minutes)

Earth Devour (Connects one's own mana with the veins of the earth, causing the ground to split and create a fissure, making enemies fall into the fissure, then closing the fissure to devour the enemies;

the number of devoured enemies and damage coefficient are determined by the amount of mana released this time, with a certain probability of instantly killing them, Cooldown: 5 minutes)

Advanced Spell · Rock Rampart (Draws upon the power of the earth to make the ground ahead rapidly rise, quickly generating a large number of stone walls to block enemy attacks, stone wall durability is Spirit * 10;

if cast on a city wall, consumes mana based on the wall's area, increasing its armor by 300 and durability by 30,000 for 30 minutes, Cooldown: 1 hour)]

[Talent: Mana Affinity]

(Character Introduction: An honorary mage of the Yudia Mage Association who has meticulously practiced earth magic for many years and studied in the holy Mage Tower, mastering advanced earth spells that few mages can control.)

…

After reading the stats of these earth mages, joy gradually welled up in Cao Xing's heart.

Compared to mages of the same tier, their stats and skills were quite good!

The two skills [Earth Element Shield] and [Earth Spikes] balanced damage while also possessing self-preservation capabilities.

After becoming elite creatures, they could also learn the skill to summon stone golems.

And that boss-tier honorary mage was even more badass!

He actually possessed two overpowered skills: [Earth Devour] and [Advanced Spell · Rock Rampart].

The former balanced crowd control while also coming with a certain chance to instantly kill enemies.

That advanced spell of the latter was even more overpowered—it could actually be applied to city walls!

It directly increased armor by 300 points and durability by 30,000 points!

What kind of concept was this?

You must know that even intermediate frost city walls only had 240 armor and 6,000 durability!

With just this, it was more than a twofold increase!

It was way too fucking strong!

However, what worried Cao Xing slightly was whether this [Advanced Spell] could be blessed by [Eternal Power]?

If it could, that would be insanely awesome!

In the future, even if he casually built a primary city wall, it would be much more durable than an intermediate city wall.

Cao Xing decided to let this honorary mage named Tyren try it out later.

"Welcome, apprentices from the Yudia Mage Association. Let us build a territory full of magic together!"

Hearing Cao Xing's solemn voice, all these earth mages raised their heads.

Including that old mage Tyren, who was also looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

One of the mage apprentices asked cautiously, "I can feel extremely strong mana fluctuations coming from you. Are you also a mage?"

Cao Xing nodded. "That's right."

As soon as he finished speaking, he directly released the aura of mana on his body!

In an instant, the surrounding temperature plummeted by a huge margin!

The terrifying chill even made people feel a wave of stiffness in their bodies.

Seeing this scene, not only the thirty-odd earth mages present, but even the old mage Tyren, a look of shock appeared in their eyes!

These mage apprentices exclaimed in wonder.

"Goddess of the Earth above, this lord's mana is so vast. You must be a powerful ice mage!"

"Indeed, the aura on this lord is almost reaching the level of an Archmage…"

"That's wonderful!"

Being fellow mages, these earth mages felt a natural sense of affinity toward Cao Xing.

Coupled with a body full of powerful buffs, his current strength could indeed be regarded as that of a Tier 5 mage.

Seeing how well-behaved these earth mages were, Cao Xing also smiled.

"Starting today, you will be under the jurisdiction of these two mages. They will tell you the rules of this territory and help you familiarize yourselves with its environment."

Although that old mage looked very powerful and quite steady, having him lead would be best.

But in this territory, Cao Xing trusted these two mage wives more.

Upon hearing this, the mage apprentices successively cast their gazes toward Sylvia and Ellie.

One of the two women was eager to try, while the other timidly clutched her staff.

Those earth mage apprentices nodded again and said, "I can feel it, these two are also powerful intermediate mages!"

"In the future, please guide us well, Lord Mages!"

The personalities of these earth mages were relatively calm, and they were quite easy to talk to.

Therefore, among this group of people, there didn't seem to be any difficult troublemakers.

Even that old mage maintained his silence, seeming not to care much for talking.

Seeing this scene, Sylvia and Ellie also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Sylvia chuckled softly, "With our spell attainments, we might not be able to guide you too much regarding spell cultivation."

"However, if you want to learn more spells, you can follow us to the Mage Tower for meditation and advanced study."

Hearing this, the mage apprentices also looked behind them at the dozen-meter-tall, three-story giant tower.

In an instant, the gazes of all the mage apprentices were captivated.

"This is actually a Mage Tower! In our Yudia Mage Association, Mage Towers can only be occasionally used by adults above the intermediate mage level!"

"I didn't expect there to be one here as well!"

"Good heavens, what kind of territory have we come to?"

Even with their steady personalities, they couldn't help but exclaim in wonder at this moment!

And hearing what Sylvia had just said, they said pleasantly and surprised, "That's wonderful, we can actually go to such a sacred place for advanced study in the future too!"

"That's right, we'll be able to become junior mages soon!"

Just at this moment, the old mage wearing high-tier mage robes stepped forward.

He spoke for the first time, saying, "Fellow apprentices, I can understand everyone's astonishment at seeing the Mage Tower."

"But you should know that this kind of sacred building cannot be used casually. Even for me, I have to apply at the Mage Association to obtain a certain amount of usage time."

"Do not act presumptuously in front of these two Lord Mages and the powerful Lord."

This old mage had extremely high prestige among this group of mage apprentices.

Seeing this, the other earth mages lowered their heads one after another and replied in unison, "Yes, respected Lord Tyren."

Cao Xing felt somewhat puzzled.

"There are rules like this in your Mage Association?"

"Yes, respected Lord."

Then, that earth mage wife explained it to him.

Before these people were summoned over, they were all mage apprentices of the Yudia Mage Association.

Moreover, the power structure of each mage association was relatively complex.

In addition to the Council of Elders, the committee, and the logistics resource department,

it was composed of a large number of mage apprentices, junior mages, intermediate mages, senior mages, and even honorary mages.

Unlike Cao Xing and the others who could kill monsters to level up,

mages in this world could only improve themselves by constantly absorbing the mana between heaven and earth before joining under those lords.

But this speed certainly could not be compared with theirs.

Normally, if a mage apprentice wanted to promote to a junior mages, besides learning a large amount of spell knowledge, they also needed their mana to reach a certain level.

It would take at least four or five years.

The promotion from a junior mage to an intermediate mage was slightly shorter, because the foundation had already been laid during the mage apprentice stage.

But it still took about three to four years.

With the Mage Tower, their breakthrough speed would be greatly accelerated.

For all mages, the Mage Tower was an existence comparable to a holy land; they wished they could stay inside 24 hours a day.

But because meditation rooms were limited, those mage associations naturally couldn't let every mage use them indefinitely.

Mage apprentices shouldn't even think about it—they should just focus on building their foundation properly.

After listening, Cao Xing nodded in sudden realization.

Those mage associations had numerous personnel and tight resources, so restricting the users of the Mage Tower was a normal matter.

But it was different here at Cao Xing's; there weren't many mages in his territory.

Therefore, the meditation rooms in the Mage Tower were basically left vacant there.

Then he gave Sylvia a wink.

Realizing Cao Xing's intention, the female mage stepped forward and said, "You don't have to worry. In our territory, as long as you are a resident of the Lord, you can use the Mage Tower at any time."

"It doesn't even matter if you sleep inside."

However, upon hearing this, the group of earth-mage apprentices before her reacted as if they had heard some unbelievable fairy tale.

A junior mage named Marlene asked tentatively, "Lord, is what this mage adult said true?"

She knew who the person in charge here was.

Cao Xing nodded slightly. "That's right."

After receiving personal confirmation from the Lord, all the mage apprentices caught their breath momentarily.

Even with their usually calm personalities, they couldn't help exclaiming at this moment.

"Oh god, we might have really entered a mage's paradise!"

"To think that even mage apprentices like us can use the Mage Tower; this is simply too incredible."

"With the help of the Mage Tower, I feel like I could become a junior mage in a year or two."

These mage apprentices were extremely excited.

Even the old mage had a look of deep astonishment in his eyes.

Seeing their excited expressions,

Sylvia and Ellie smiled at each other.

They could understand these people's feelings; after all, they had also started out as mage apprentices step by step.

It was with the help of their Lord that they attained their current strength.

If they had been able to study in the Mage Tower back when they were weak, they would have become junior mages long ago.

Sylvia continued, "However, there is one thing I need to tell you in advance."

"Since the territory is currently still in its development phase, our Mage Tower is only a primary one, and there is still a huge gap compared to the Mage Holy Tower in the association."

"Don't be disappointed."

However, upon hearing this, the mage apprentices were not disappointed at all; instead, they cried out excitedly one by one.

"How could we be disappointed? A primary Mage Tower is already very powerful!"

"Yeah, yeah! Not only can we meditate inside, but we can also learn 'Flying Stone' and 'Stone Skin' in there!"

"I've decided to stay in the Mage Tower 24 hours a day from now on, haha!"

Listening to their excited discussions,

At this moment, Cao Xing interrupted, "You can continue your studies in the Mage Tower tonight, but tomorrow you will need to come out for a bit first."

"Don't worry, it's not that I won't let you use it, but because tomorrow I'm going to upgrade the Mage Tower to intermediate."

"Then, you will be able to learn more advanced magic inside and absorb more mana during meditation."

A look of blank confusion suddenly appeared in the eyes of all the mage apprentices present.

Even Ellie and Sylvia were somewhat puzzled.

Sylvia asked tentatively, "Lord… did you say you are going to upgrade the Mage Tower to intermediate tomorrow?"

"Yes."

Hearing Cao Xing's definitive reply, all the mages present caught their breath!

After a moment, Sylvia exclaimed, "Lord, didn't our territory just build the primary Mage Tower? Are we upgrading it to intermediate so soon?"

"Is this true?"

Neither of them knew when their Lord had managed to acquire blueprints for an even more advanced Mage Tower.

Cao Xing smiled and said, "Of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you?"

The two women looked at each other and nodded solemnly in unison.

Those mage apprentices were also completely shocked.

After all, having a primary Mage Tower for their unlimited use was already something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

And now, this Lord was saying that tomorrow he would upgrade the Mage Tower to intermediate!

Even some Mage Association branches didn't have a Mage Tower of this level.

Looking at the mage apprentices, Cao Xing continued, "And as for you all, as long as you make good contributions to the territory, not only will you enjoy the Mage Tower, but you will also enjoy other privileges of the territory."

"An intermediate Mage Tower is not the end point of this territory."

"In the future, we will also have advanced Mage Towers, and even Mage Holy Towers."

Hearing Cao Xing's personal promise, intense excitement filled the eyes of these mage apprentices!

At this moment, the old mage Tyren also snapped back to his senses.

He clenched his right hand into a fist, placed it against the left side of his chest, and then solemnly bowed to Cao Xing.

"Thank you, powerful and generous Lord. On behalf of all the apprentices, I express my gratitude to you."

"In the near future, this territory will definitely become a holy land for all mages!"

As he finished speaking, the other mage apprentices followed the old mage and bowed to Cao Xing.

[Due to your words and actions, territory member Tyren Rockspeaker's loyalty has greatly increased. Current loyalty: 75]

[Due to your words and actions, territory member Valentine's loyalty has greatly increased. Current loyalty: 76]

[Due to your…]

…

Over thirty system prompts appeared.

The loyalty of all the mage apprentices and junior mages present increased by a large margin!

A smile also appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

Then, under his indication, Ellie and Sylvia led this group of mage apprentices and the old mage into the Mage Tower to meditate.

As for Cao Xing himself, after finishing all this, he glanced at the time.

It was already 11:30 at night.

Ever since returning from the Tigern Mountains, Cao Xing had been digesting the gains from his trip.

Now he had digested almost all of it.

Although he still had a few things on hand to do, it wouldn't hurt to handle them tomorrow.

"Almost done, time to go back and rest!"

Turning around with a pleasant mood, he headed toward his magnificent Lords Manor.

The beauty had already prepared the bathwater.

And warmed up the bed, just waiting for Cao Xing to enter.

After taking a warm hot bath, Cao Xing crawled straight into the bedcovers.

He stroked Liu Muxue's smooth back. "You've worked hard, Muxue. Every day you prepare the bathwater for me and even warm the bed for me."

Resting her head on her hand, the beauty shook her head and said, "It's not hard work. Rather, this is part of my duty."

Cao Xing chuckled softly and kissed her on the forehead.

The two embraced and fell asleep.

Late at night,

Cao Xing held the beauty's fragrant shoulders, still feeling no sleepiness.

Ever since becoming a Tier 4 mage, Cao Xing felt exceptionally energetic.

Even if he only slept three or four hours a day, he would still be full of energy the next day.

Thus, as usual, Cao Xing browsed the chat among the Survivors and checked the World Forum.

On it, he found many interesting posts.

Ever since more and more Survivors started posting on the World Forum, the daily post volume had surged dramatically.

Most of the posts here were requests for help and discussions on survival techniques.

But there were also a fair number of posts meant for casual ranting and venting.

After all, as modern people, they couldn't live without entertainment.

Some meme players had even started filming short or long videos.

Therefore, the Survivors' usual entertainment activities were becoming increasingly rich and varied.

Moreover, due to the lenient nature of the World Forum without any censorship system, basically any video could be posted.

Of course, content involving gore, violence, lewdness, and the like was basically not open to Survivors under 18.

After all, the system was omnipotent; it could automatically recognize your age and grant you appropriate permissions.

Moreover, according to some Survivors' speculations,

as the system continued to update in the future, it might launch paid content sections to completely perfect the World Forum's functions.

Later on, many people would likely replicate the model on Blue Star, first producing various high-quality content on the forum to accumulate popularity.

Then appropriately release some paid content later.

Under the scale of billions of Survivors globally, just by running the forum, one could obtain a veritable mountain of resources.

By then, life on Blue Star might truly be completely forgotten by them.

Of course, these were not things Cao Xing needed to consider.

Nor did he need to accumulate popularity on the forum to become some sort of blogger.

After browsing for a while, Cao Xing closed the World Forum.

Then, out of bedtime habit, he eavesdropped on the situation over at the Baron's son, Fitz Walker's side.

For the past few days, this Baron's son hadn't had any special situations.

Life was nothing more than that: practicing swordsmanship with the group of knights by day, and practicing swordsmanship with the female slaves of the Baron's manor by night.

Furthermore, this kid played quite wild.

Throughout the entire Baron's manor, from cookmaids in their fifties or sixties to teenage maidens in their teens, almost none of them escaped his clutches.

Over the past two nights, Cao Xing had also discovered a secret of his.

That was, this kid would secretly sneak into the knight captain's room at night to steal his boots…

Even Cao Xing felt that this guy was a bit too perverted.

Sometimes, Cao Xing didn't even want to continue eavesdropping.

But tonight, he heard a slightly different movement.

Fitz Walker was hugging the knight captain's high boots in bed, completely intoxicated.

Right at this moment, a burst of urgent knocking suddenly sounded at the door.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

"Young master, something has happened!"

"The mistress wants you to get up quickly and go to the Baron's place…"

"It looks like he's about to not make it anymore!"

Hearing this, Fitz Walker was instantly startled.

He hurriedly threw away the boots in his hand, quickly put on his clothes, and dashed out the door.

Hearing this news, Cao Xing's expression also perked up.

"This Baron is truly resilient enough."

"According to this kid, he's been poisoning him continuously for over two months; even an elephant would have been poisoned to death."

"Yet the Baron stubbornly held on for so many days. He's probably a strong expert of considerable power."

It wasn't that Cao Xing hadn't considered secretly sending someone to tell the Baron this news and expose Fitz Walker's crimes.

However, leaving aside whether others would be willing to believe it,

there was another main reason—doing so didn't seem to have any benefits for Cao Xing.

If the Baron woke up, even if this guy executed Fitz Walker, he would definitely continue sending people to levy taxes in his territory later on.

But now, with the connection of Fitz Walker in place, Cao Xing could be said to have saved a lot of trouble.

Therefore, the current situation was even more favorable for Cao Xing.

Half an hour later,

after Fitz Walker returned to his room, he remained silent for a long time.

Yet Cao Xing felt a bit strange about it.

A moment later, Fitz Walker let out an uncontrollable laugh!

…