Chapter 298: Arcane Heart, Gathering Manpower

Just as Zongze was lamenting, the flickering light shield flickered fiercely.

"Bo!"

After a muffled sound, the light mask burst like a bubble.

"This damn mask is finally broken!"

The depression on Zongze's face was wiped away, and he opened his mouth with a smile.

It had been several days since he discovered this secret room, and it was also by chance. At that time, the wound left by the battle on his arm had not completely healed. When he was studying the light mask, the wound accidentally touched the light mask.

At the same time, a system subtitle appeared in front of him.

[Arcane Affinity—Advanced]

[Sacrifice blood to open the mask]

The tip is simple, this photomask seems to have tested his qualifications.

And it was a single arcane qualification. Zongze could even guess with his butt that the gray sphere in the mask was related to the so-called arcana.

As far as he knew, arcana should belong to a category of mages, just like the elemental category of water, fire, and thunder.

Arcane is a single element, but arcane is as mysterious and rare as time and space. Zongze only found out about this after asking the water mage's wife.

But no matter what, this gray sphere must be very complicated, otherwise it would not appear out of thin air in the middle of the mountain, and it is still made of high-grade magic stone as an isolation material.

Just these high-level magic stones, after being broken down into intermediate and low-level ones, can be exchanged for many resources in the market, so the value of this gray light ball makes Zongze look forward to it.

He doesn't have strategy tips like Zong Shen. There are only very vague tips for many things, and he needs to explore them step by step. Fortunately, he is really lucky. Among the many choices he has made since landing, he has always been in a smooth state. , coupled with his own fairly good strategic vision, this has kept his development progress at an upstream level.

The mask will be saturated after absorbing about a dozen drops of blood every day, and the mask will become dimmer every time.

Zongze also tried asking his soldiers or farmers to bleed, but without exception, they were all of no use.

After other people's blood drips on the mask, it will flow smoothly along the surface of the mask directly to the ground. Only his own blood can be absorbed by the mask, but only so much can be absorbed every day.

He had been bleeding for several days in a row. Every time the wound on his hand was about to heal, it was time for the bloodletting the next day. So he bandaged the wound on his palm every day, and he also had to suffer a small injury every day. The pain of flesh and blood.

The most important point is that seeing but not getting it makes Zongze very uncomfortable. He even feels like his days are like years and his heart is itching unbearably.

Now Zongze was finally able to get what he wanted. The sense of anticipation that had accumulated for several days was finally released today.

The moment the light mask disappeared, Zongze put his hands on the stone platform and stared at the gray sphere.

The shape of this sphere is very strange, and its external appearance is somewhat like an energy state, but also somewhat like a gas state.

The entire surface of the sphere is shrouded in strands of gray gas. They are constantly surging and appear very active, somewhat like rolling and restless dark clouds.

Zongze stared at the gray sphere. After just a few seconds, an inexplicable throbbing and desire appeared in his body. This sphere had an inexplicable and strong attraction to Zongze.

However, he could not find any information about the sphere. It seemed that the grade of the sphere had reached a certain unfathomable level, which further highlighted its mystery and made the desire in Zongze's heart even more intense. To be obvious

If Zong Shen is here, use the strategy tips to view the sphere and you will be able to see some useful information.

[Arcane Heart (Unknown)]

[The heart of a powerful arcane spirit born in the void between dimensions]

It's a pity that Zongze can't see this information, so he can only act on his own instinct.

He was seen staring at the sphere intently, and gradually the pupils disappeared from his eyes.

It was replaced by the same gray as the sphere, and a similar mist surged in his eyes.

Zongze's heart began to beat "bang bang bang", and the gray sphere also beat at the same frequency, and the two began to resonate.

In the end, Zongze still couldn't resist the attraction to the gray sphere. He gave up any hesitation and chose to follow the call of instinct. He slowly stretched out his right hand, pointed out a finger, and let his fingertips touch lightly. Go up.

The moment the two came into contact, a connection was completely formed.

"Buzz!"

The dazzling gray light erupted in an instant, covering the entire secret room. After a short breath, the gray light began to shrink, as if time and space were flowing backwards, and it converged as it exploded.

But where he was, Zongze's figure had disappeared, and the gray sphere on the stone platform had also disappeared.

Instead, a gray cocoon of light appeared next to the stone platform.

Obviously, the sphere has merged with Zongze and turned into a cocoon of light to wrap Zongze.

Above this cocoon of gray light, there is a countdown that starts at 12 hours.

As the countdown time continues to pass, the aura bred in the light cocoon is gradually getting stronger!

On the eve of the final challenge, Zongze finally unlocked the mask and got his own opportunity.

No one knows how he will change in the end, not even Zongze himself.

His consciousness has sunk into the endless void, and waves of arcane power are pouring into his body.

Everyone has their own path and their own choices, and Zongze is no exception.

…

Just when Zongze activated the gray sphere and accepted the transformation of the light cocoon.

Zong Shen has also led the team back to the territory.

Because of the emergence of the final challenge, his hunting trip ended in a hurry.

However, the soldiers were indeed a little tired. In the process of hunting the group of cave monsters, the soldiers suffered no major injuries, but minor injuries. Although those injuries were not fatal, they would cause pain, and they continued to attack. , which puts both the mind and body in a state of exhaustion.

Zong Shen allowed the soldiers who went on the expedition to disperse freely and rest on their own.

As for himself, he still has many things to arrange.

Today's territory is much deserted than in the past few days. The decrease in the density of monsters in the cave has resulted in fewer and fewer monsters wandering around, and the patrol team is also rarely at leisure.

The third fat man was leading the farmers in the training ground, punching and kicking the training dummies and sweating profusely.

The kobold chief, Dutra, led more than two hundred kobolds and Quit to collect stones outside the territory.

Mariel is not idle either. She is holding a book and sitting on the grass near the north entrance, reading. Reading can improve one's own attributes, and after reading some technical books, you can also master some skills, such as Cooking, medicine, etc. can all be mastered through reading.

If Zong Shen hadn't had much free time, he would have started studying a long time ago. Zong Shen's time every day has been fully arranged. When he returns to the territory every day, he basically washes and rests. He wants to squeeze out time. It is not easy to come to study.

But reading is also one of the effective ways to improve the attributes of intelligence and charm. When Zong Shen is free, he will inevitably increase the attributes of intelligence and charm through reading.

Zong Shen rode Bajie around the territory to get familiar with the layout of the territory again. At the same time, he also observed whether there were weak defensive areas in the four directions of the territory, because next he would have to target the current situation in a targeted manner. The territory's defense has been specially strengthened.

In fact, the defense capability of Zong Shen's territory is already very strong. It is surrounded by walls on all sides and there are many defensive buildings inside, not counting the fourth-level blueprints redeemed before and the elemental arrow towers occupied by the front lines of the crypt.

In the entire territory, there are 11 level 1 elemental arrow towers, 3 level 2 elemental arrow towers, 2 level 3 elemental arrow towers, 1 level 4 giant turret, and four ancient guardian trees. The defensive power is already strong enough.

The current inner city is relatively small, a square of 200 meters x 200 meters. Needless to say, the ancient guardian has a range of 20 to 1500 meters in the rooted state, which is enough to cover both inside and outside the territory.

However, the placement of other defensive buildings requires some care.

Now that the side length of the territory is 200 meters, the corresponding diagonal length is less than 283 meters. If it is placed evenly on the four corners, it can basically achieve full coverage of the area. In the direction where it is placed, there will be more coverage than in other directions. Higher territory extends range.

Including a level 1 elemental arrow tower with a range of 500 meters, which can also meet the defense of the entire territory.

Zong Shen took a look around and already had some ideas about the next defensive arrangement.

To be on the safe side, the previously redeemed Tier 4 drawings must be laid out first. The location is not important, because the range of Tier 4 defense towers can definitely meet the defense needs of the territory, and only the [Holy Light Tower] Special defense towers like the [Necromancer Tower] need to be carefully adjusted and placed in the main area where people are concentrated, so that they can play their greatest role.

The territory around the territory is quite flat, with no special terrain. It can almost be called a flat plain. If you want to perfectly deal with the advance of the monster group, it is best to dig some trenches and then arrange some roadblocks.

Because the territory area is not large, the difficulty and amount of construction work are not too large.

Zong Shen sorted out his thoughts and rode Bajie towards the north gate. Mariel was basking in the sun outside the north gate. Beside the north gate, there was a huge piranha with a thick root and a stem as large as an adult. The height of a person's waist reaches five meters. The two green leaves below are as big as a mattress. The main body of the flower body is blood red, just like the hoppers used to catch sand in the original earth.

It was definitely a huge creature, capable of swallowing up a person of Zong Shen's size in one bite.

In addition to the north gate, there are also two trees planted at the entrance of the lord's courtyard. These things look scary, but in fact, to friendly units, they are almost like ordinary flowers and plants.

These piranha flowers are responsible for the internal defense of the territory. They have not had a chance to bloom since they have matured.

However, these guys are easy to feed. Even though their name is deceptively named [blood-eating piranha seeds], they actually don’t have to eat live animals. They can also be watered with blood, or use public fertilizer in simple toilets. Applying to their roots will also sustain their growth.

Zong Shen rode Bajie out of the city gate. When he saw Mariel, he hugged his knees and sat on the grass not far away.

She was reading a book seriously, her fair and tender face reflecting the brilliance in the sun.

A good child is one who studies seriously.

"Mariel..."

Zong Shen called softly, fearing that the too sudden call would scare her.

When Marier heard Zong Shen's voice, she quickly turned her head and saw Zong Shen riding on Bajie.

"Ah, sir, you are back."

She closed the book, stood up and walked towards Zong Shen, intending to salute her.

Zong Shen quickly waved his hand.

"Okay, go and tell everyone to gather at the entrance of the courtyard."

"I have something important to confess."

"By the way, there is no need to notify the exploration team, the first wolf cavalry team, and the soldiers on the front line of the crypt."

"Everyone else, including the kobolds, must also be notified."

Zong Shen gave instructions, and then rode Bajie towards the territory. He also wanted to check the supplies in the storage box to see if there was anything else that could be used.

This kind of errand work is naturally left to the logistics secretary Mariel.

After riding Bajie back to the outside of the lord's courtyard, Zong Shen got off the pig and let Bajie go for a walk.

He quickly walked into the small courtyard and came to the territory storage box.

I skipped basic resources and various materials and started rummaging through items like props.

Not to mention, Tian Zongshen did accumulate a lot of miscellaneous things.

There were also some combat-related items that he had forgotten due to the backlog of items.

For example, [Random Water Magic Book × 2], [Ice Mammoth Mark], [Spider Web Monster Mark], and [Evil Eye].

In addition, there were some goblin alchemy potions that also attracted his attention again, such as [Intermediate Enlargement Potion] and [Intermediate Hardening Potion]. He actually brought some of these potions with him, but because he couldn't use them for a long time, they were also used by him. I forgot about it, but in fact, this kind of buffing potion can often come in handy at unexpected times.

He took out all these items, took them all with him, and walked outside the small courtyard.

At the same time, he also took out the 10 Storm Crossbows that were stored in the storage boxes of the territory, as well as the 10 Storm Crossbows that he carried with him that had been used to attack the gargoyles and fired the crossbow bolts, and placed them in the small courtyard. door.

At the same time, he also took out the recovered crossbow bolts, and took out ten additional sets of ordinary crossbow bolts. He was going to wait for the entire team to gather later, and then let the soldiers load all the Storm Crossbows that had missed the crossbow bolts.