Since the Mithril resource point mission was temporarily unavailable, Pierce decided to shift his focus back to attacking Turin fortifications.

  It just so happened that he had originally planned to earn some Merit Points to purchase a mining and smelting team anyway.

  After selecting his targets, Pierce had Sophia accept the missions. He then led the two of them out of the Mission Hall and headed toward the city gates.

  On the way, Sophia still seemed somewhat unsettled.

  "My Lord, is it really alright to let those from Red Lotus City take the mission?"

  Pierce didn't even turn his head as he replied, "What else could I do? They accepted the mission first. I can't exactly attack them to snatch it away, can I?"

  "But..." Sophia frowned deeply. "What if they actually manage to conquer the Mithril resource point?"

  Pierce chuckled. "Then let them have it."

  "There are plenty of resource points on the battlefield; that's not the only good one. If it's gone, we'll just find a new target when the time comes."

  "Besides, there is a high probability they will fail."

  Sophia and Payne grew even more puzzled, unable to fathom where Pierce's confidence was coming from.

  Seeing that Pierce had no intention of explaining, they could only bury their doubts in their hearts.

  Riding the Giant Eagles, the three soon arrived at their destination.

  With his strength having skyrocketed, Pierce acted with even greater swiftness and decisiveness.

  He ordered Sophia and Payne to find a place to settle the Giant Eagles, then leapt directly off his eagle's back, plummeting from the sky toward the castle like a meteor.

  In mid-air, Silver Star rapidly transformed into its spear form. Following that, fifteen Lightning Runes materialized in rapid succession, sinking into the spear almost simultaneously. Blinding lightning instantly illuminated the sky.

  The castle's defensive barrier had barely manifested before it was struck head-on by the lightning spear descending from the heavens. It shattered violently, dissipating into countless motes of light.

  The Turin Knights on the city wall stared at this scene, dumbfounded, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

  Before they could even recover their wits, an incredibly dense barrage of silver spikes rained down upon them like a torrential storm.

  Amidst agonizing screams, the Turin Knights fell one after another like harvested wheat.

  In the blink of an eye, the Knights and soldiers on the wall were completely wiped out.

  Four Winter Frost Priests rushed over, their eyes practically splitting at the seams as they beheld the ground littered with corpses.

  "Damned alien Wiz—"

  The leading Rank 2 Priest barely got the curse out of his mouth before a lightning spear tore through the air, piercing his body and sending him plummeting from the sky.

  All the divine defensive artifacts on his body were destroyed in a single instant, completely useless. The erupting lightning then entirely engulfed him.

  By the time the lightning dissipated, the Rank 2 Priest had long been reduced to ash; not even a trace of residue remained.

  The remaining three Winter Frost Priests watched the scene unfold before them, their faces instantly draining of all color.

  Sizzle!

  Another lightning spear tore through the air, piercing another Priest's chest and annihilating him instantly.

  Only then did the remaining two jolt awake as if from a dream. Without hesitation, they turned and fled.

  Unfortunately, they hadn't run far before they were killed by lightning spears striking them from behind!

  From beginning to end, the four Winter Frost Priests had been utterly powerless to fight back, crushed as easily as four insignificant ants.

  High in the air, the corners of Pierce's mouth curled up in a satisfied smile.

  After breaking through to the Liquid Phase and Tier 3 Legendary, Priests below Rank 4 were nothing more than ants to him, easily crushed with a flip of his hand.

  Looking down at the castle that had descended into total chaos, Pierce raised his hand. A wisp of black mist shot out, transforming into countless Fog Crows that swept downward, blotting out the sky.

  A new round of slaughter quickly commenced.

  By the time Sophia and Payne settled the Giant Eagles and rushed over, the battle inside the castle was already nearing its end.

  Looking at the annihilated castle, the two exchanged a glance and shrugged unanimously. Accustomed to the sight, they began to clean up the battlefield.

  As the final Turin Knight fell dead to the ground, the flock of crows converged once again, transforming back into Mist Raven, which landed on Pierce's shoulder.

  "It's a pity we can't find any crow-type magical creatures in Red Maple City, otherwise you could be enhanced alongside me."

  Pierce stroked Mist Raven's cool feathers, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

  Simply buying crow-type magical creatures for Mist Raven to devour wasn't a sustainable solution.

  After all, as Mist Raven grew stronger, the number of crow-type magical creatures it would need to devour would be staggering.

  Even buying out every single crow-type magical creature in all the shops in Aurora City wouldn't be enough.

  It would be best to assign someone to gather them long-term.

  Or perhaps find a plane with an abundance of crow-type magical creatures and capture them en masse.

  However, neither of these methods could be implemented until they returned to Aurora City.

  "You'll have to bear with it for now," Pierce said softly.

  Mist Raven let out a caw and rubbed its head against his palm.

  Once Sophia and Payne finished cleaning up the battlefield, the three mounted the Giant Eagles again and continued to the next destination.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Yes, the next one.

  Pierce had accepted three fortification assault missions at once and planned to complete them all today.

  It was likely that neither Red Maple City nor the Turins could have ever imagined that among the Rank 1 Wizards currently active in the buffer zone, there was an individual with combat strength reaching the Rank 2 Wizard level, treating fortification assaults as if they were leisurely sightseeing tours.

  The horizon gradually took on a dusky, yellowish hue.

  Having completed his missions, Pierce returned to Red Maple City and headed to the Mission Hall to hand them in.

  Not long after, under the incredulous gazes of the staff, Pierce strolled out of the hall, his crystal card now holding over 3,700 more Merit Points.

  Counting his previous balance, he now had roughly 3,900 Merit Points on hand.

  Arriving at the Exchange, Pierce walked straight toward the section displaying puppets and golems, ready to select suitable models.

  Strictly speaking, puppets were a branch of golems; they could be considered weakened versions of golems that lacked autonomous intelligence.

  Puppets primarily consisted of Wood Puppets, Earth Puppets, Stone Puppets, and Iron Puppets.

  The first two essentially had no combat power; even a random Trainee Knight could easily defeat a Wood or Earth Puppet.

  Therefore, these two types were typically used for heavy manual labor, such as transporting massive stones and timber.

  Stone Puppets and Iron Puppets were relatively more advanced.

  These two types already possessed considerable combat strength, roughly equivalent to Beginner and Advanced Knights.

  The City Guards were equipped with quite a few Stone and Iron Puppets, which were often used as cannon fodder in battle.

  Compared to puppets, golems possessed greater combat strength and autonomous intelligence, allowing them to execute simple commands.

  There was a vast variety of golems. Based on the materials used, they could be roughly categorized into Flesh Golems, Clay Golems, Stone Golems, and Metal Golems.

  Metal Golems could be further subdivided into Iron Golems, Adamantine Golems, Shadow Steel Golems, Diamond Golems, and so on.

  There were also special models like Deep Dark Golems and Strangler Golems.

  Generally speaking, the more precious the material, the stronger the golem produced.

  Among golems, even the lowest-tier Flesh Golem possessed combat capabilities equivalent to a Tier 1 Legendary Knight.

  Mid-to-high-tier golems like Adamantine Golems boasted terrifying combat prowess comparable to Tier 5 Legendary Knights and Rank 1 Crystalline Phase Wizards.

  As for the legendary Mithril Sage, renowned as one of the highest achievements in golem crafting, that was an existence on an entirely different level.

  Ordinary Wizards couldn't even come into contact with them.

  Naturally, the Exchange didn't carry such legendary golems.

  The highest-tier golem available for exchange was the Adamantine Golem.

  It was worth noting that in one-on-one situations, bulky golems were usually no match for Knights of the same tier, who were agile and possessed versatile combat techniques.

  However, on the battlefield, golems—which never needed to rest or eat, were entirely fearless, obeyed commands perfectly, and even possessed self-repair capabilities—were far more useful than Knights of the same tier.

  Because of this, given equal combat strength, the value of a golem was often higher than that of alien vassal Knights.

  A Flesh Golem cost 30 Merit Points, equivalent to a bottle of Resonance Potion.

  A Clay Golem, however, was valued at a steep 150 Merit Points, more expensive than even Unicorn Essence Blood.

  Going further up, the price of a Stone Golem skyrocketed to 800 Merit Points.

  Looking at the increasingly staggering prices of the mid-to-high-tier golems, Pierce couldn't help but shake his head. He settled his gaze on the Clay Golems.

  The more precise and sophisticated the golem or puppet, the higher its daily maintenance requirements.

  So he had no intention of exchanging for overly expensive golems; there was simply no need.

  Clay Golems were sufficient.

  They possessed strength approaching that of a juvenile Red Dragon and could carry objects weighing several tons. As long as they had sufficient energy supply and daily maintenance, they could operate indefinitely. They were highly efficient laborers and could play a massive role in mining operations.

  Furthermore, if a battle were to occur, Clay Golems could still hold their own.

  They possessed combat capabilities equivalent to Tier 2 Legendary Knights.

  Ten Clay Golems were enough to rout a Church Knight detachment in a head-on clash.

  Overall, Clay Golems were highly cost-effective commodities capable of both labor and combat; buying them was definitely a sound investment.

  "Twenty Clay Golems should be about enough."

  Pierce made a quick mental calculation. Twenty was just the right number.

  Any more, and the energy cores required to keep them running daily would become a significant expense.

  Anyway, he only needed the Clay Golems to help with mining labor and shoulder a portion of the resource point's defense. He wasn't trying to build an army, so he didn't need too many.

  Twenty Clay Golems cost 3,000 Merit Points.

  Pierce then exchanged for thirty Stone Puppets in one go, also for mining labor.

  These were extremely cheap; thirty Stone Puppets only cost 3 Merit Points.

  Following that, Pierce exchanged for a complete underground mining system valued at 100 Merit Points, which included mining tracks, transport vehicles, and power units.

  Lastly, he purchased a team of Hill Dwarf slaves skilled in mining and smelting.

  Slaves proficient in specialized crafts were vastly more expensive than those who only possessed combat strength—like barbarians, for instance.

  One Hill Dwarf slave cost 5 Merit Points.

  Pierce bought fifty of them in one go.

  After doing all this, he only had a little over 500 Merit Points left.

  Pierce thought for a moment and exchanged for twenty Level 2 Energy Cores.

  The golems he purchased came with Level 2 Energy Cores installed. These were the energy source for their daily activities and combat.

  Under normal circumstances, a Level 2 Energy Core could supply a Clay Golem with enough energy for daily activities for about half a year.

  But once a battle occurred, or if the golem sustained damage, the energy consumption would skyrocket drastically.

  Sometimes, after two or three mid-to-high-intensity battles, a Level 2 Energy Core would be completely drained.

  Therefore, it was best to prepare spare energy cores.

  Twenty Level 2 Energy Cores cost 400 Merit Points.

  After the exchange, Pierce only had a little over 100 Merit Points left.

  "To burn through over 3,000 Merit Points in a flash... with expenses this high, no wonder other Wizards have to form coalitions to develop a single resource point."

  With a silent sigh, Pierce casually gave Sophia and Payne 50 Merit Points each. The remaining points would be used to purchase supplies when the time came.

  Pierce didn't extract the goods immediately. Instead, he temporarily stored the purchased puppets, golems, and slaves at the Exchange, planning to transport them over only after he had conquered the resource point.

  He hadn't planned on relying on puppets or golems to attack the resource point anyway.

  Leaving the Exchange, Pierce headed straight for the spell laboratory.

  The deity statue and Eyes of Winter he had acquired today all needed to be refined into Faith Crystals.

  "I had six Faith Crystals left from last time, got three from Fortification No. 17, and the statue and Eyes of Winter I got today should yield eight. That's seventeen in total. It should be about enough."

  Breaking through to the Liquid Phase had consumed five Faith Crystals. Based on this trend, Pierce estimated that breaking through to the Crystalline Phase would require at least ten.

  And once he conquered the resource point, he estimated he could refine another two or three Faith Crystals from the loot. Regardless, it should definitely be enough.

  "Now I just have to wait for my mental energy level to reach 64."

  Omniscient Eye, scan my current status.

  [Mental Energy: 39.35] [Physique: 30.78]

  "I still have four Sprouts of the Holy Spirit left. Consuming all of them and purging the Power of Faith will take about two months, which should increase my mental energy by roughly 8 points."

  "Coupled with Resonance Potions to supplement my cultivation during this period, two months should be just enough to reach the Liquid Phase limit."

  A look of joy surfaced on Pierce's face.

  From breaking through to the Liquid Phase until now, it had been barely a month at most.

  Even adding another two months, going from Rank 1 Liquid Phase to Rank 1 Crystalline Phase in just three months was a terrifyingly fast pace.

  Even Rank 1 Wizards hailing from Bloodline Families likely couldn't match his speed of improvement.

  After leaving the spell laboratory, Pierce stopped by a shop on his way to purchase gemstone materials.

  Having advanced to Tier 3 Legendary Knight, his Physique had spiked dramatically, allowing him to bear a greater number of Magic Tattoos.

  "With my current Physique, I can comfortably bear seven Intermediate-Tier Magic Tattoos."

  Theoretically, a Wizard could have a maximum of seven Magic Tattoos, located on the head, chest/abdomen, back, both arms, and both legs.

  Pierce already had five tattooed; only his right arm and head remained.

  However, after careful consideration, he decided to abandon the idea of getting a Magic Tattoo on his head.

  It being too conspicuous was one reason. The other reason was that he really didn't want to cover his face in tattoos or shave himself bald.

  "Having one less Magic Tattoo isn't a big deal. I can always make up for quantity with quality."

  Pierce immediately decided that his sixth Magic Tattoo would be a High-Tier one.

  And he already had a target in mind. It wasn't the Agility Magic Tattoo (which enhanced speed) that he had almost chosen before, but rather the Fortitude Magic Tattoo, which enhanced Physique.

  For the current Pierce, increasing his Physique meant he could bear more Lightning Runes, which translated directly to increased combat power.

  Compared to the Agility Magic Tattoo, the Fortitude Magic Tattoo would undeniably yield a far more immediate and significant boost to his combat capabilities.

  "This is the one I'll choose!"