In the days that followed, Pierce devoted himself entirely to improving his strength.

  Every day, aside from consuming Resonance Potions to assist his meditation, he busied himself with imprinting spells onto his Spirit Crystal. The cultivation of the Omniscient Breathing Technique was not neglected either. Additionally, he had to make time to install protective arrays and magical traps around the mansion.

  It could be said that, apart from eating, he was working twenty-four hours a day. Even sleep was replaced by deep meditation.

  In this fulfilling yet frantic state, his strength rose steadily and rapidly.

  Astral Calendar Year 14523, August 14th.

  Fueled by the backlash of vitality from his advancement to an Official Wizard, the progress of the Omniscient Breathing Technique advanced by leaps and bounds.

  After a month of bitter cultivation, Pierce successfully broke through to the third layer, advancing to become a Tier 2 Legendary Knight.

  In the center of the courtyard.

  Pierce, having just finished his routine, stood amidst rising white steam, his body radiating waves of intense heat.

  "Eye of Omniscience, scan my current status."

  [Spirit: 10.63 Energy Levels] [Physique: 7.51 Energy Levels]

  "Not bad."

  A smile touched Pierce's lips. Compared to a month ago, his Physique attribute had skyrocketed by nearly 3 Energy Levels.

  However, the vast majority of this increase came from the passive body reinforcement caused by his surging Spirit. The improvement brought directly by cultivating the Omniscient Breathing Technique was actually less significant. After all, his Physique attribute had always far exceeded the level of the breathing technique. During this period, the technique had essentially been 'chasing' his base stats.

  "The cultivation progress has slowed down significantly in the last few days. It should return to a normal speed from now on."

  Pierce exhaled a long breath of white mist. It shot out three or four meters like a solid arrow before slowly dissipating into the air.

  Composing himself, he looked at his Spirit attribute.

  For the past month, he had consumed a bottle of Resonance Potion every day. With such lavish, cost-no-object support, his mental energy levels had grown rapidly, increasing by more than 5 Energy Levels in a single month. For other Wizards, this would be the result of several years of bitter cultivation.

  "10.63 Energy Levels... For an ordinary Wizard, this is approaching the limit of the Rank 1 Gaseous Phase, yet I am not even at one-third capacity."

  Pierce sighed with mixed emotions.

  "After taking thirty bottles of Resonance Potion continuously, the resistance has built up. The effect has weakened to only increasing about 0.17 Energy Levels per bottle. At this rate, it will take at least another five months to reach the limit of the Rank 1 Gaseous Phase."

  Reaching the limit of the Gaseous Phase within six months of advancement was an absolutely appalling speed by normal standards. However, Pierce was still not quite satisfied. His goal was to break through to Rank 2 Wizard before the age of twenty.

  "Forget it. I will just do my best."

  Pierce looked at his task log.

  Over the month, he had mastered over twenty new spells and imprinted sixteen of them onto his Spirit Crystal. Additionally, Mage Armor had been added to his imprinted list. Now, Pierce's spell system had basically taken shape.

  Regarding Elemental Runes, he had analyzed three types: Fire Rune, Ice Rune, and Shadow Rune.

  He hadn't analyzed new Magic Tattoos, but he had completed improvements on the existing ones and added a new capability—Overcharge (Combustion)!

  This ability allowed him to 'burn' the Magic Tattoo on his body to drastically enhance its power.

  For example, he could burn the Blink tattoo to remove the usage cooldown for a short period. He could burn the Thunder Burst tattoo to unleash a blast several times more powerful than normal.

  The price, however, was the total collapse and disappearance of the tattoo. In other words, it treated the Magic Tattoo as a consumable item to unleash a devastating burst.

  "The new ability is excellent, just a bit expensive."

  "Materials for a Low-Grade Magic Tattoo cost over a hundred Magic Stones. A Medium-Grade one probably costs thousands. Burning one is literally throwing thousands of Magic Stones at the enemy."

  Expensive as it was, the Overcharge ability was a definitive trump card. Pierce was more than happy to have another ace up his sleeve.

  "The new metal combination for Silver Star has also been calculated."

  After evolving into a Tier 2 Arcane Artifact, the metal combination required for Silver Star's reinforcement had naturally upgraded.

  The new formula consumed a full 65 Energy Levels of mental power to calculate and required a large quantity of higher-value rare metals. A single standard unit of this metal combination cost over 3,500 Magic Stones—five times the previous cost.

  The key issue was that Silver Star needed to absorb eighteen standard units to evolve to Tier 3. Calculating it out, that was over 60,000 Magic Stones.

  When he estimated this figure, Pierce felt the corner of his mouth twitch. The total value of all the gifts he had received didn't even amount to half of that.

  The only consolation was that he had inquired about the price of Tier 3 Arcane Artifacts. Artifacts of that level were almost impossible to find on the open market; they were treasures with a price but no supply. At most, they appeared occasionally in auction houses.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The last one to appear was six months ago. That Tier 3 Artifact, which was only of ordinary quality, sold for a staggering 150,000 Magic Stones.

  Even counting previous costs, Silver Star would only cost around 70,000 Magic Stones to reach Tier 3—less than half the auction price. More importantly, once successful, Silver Star would be a top-tier Tier 3 Artifact, far superior in quality to the one sold at auction.

  From this perspective, sixty thousand Magic Stones was practically a bargain.

  "I spent several thousand Magic Stones setting up the mansion's defenses recently. I only have about 18,000 left."

  Pierce made a quick mental calculation and decided to buy three units of the metal combination first, reinforcing Silver Star to +3. The remaining funds would be used to purchase materials for brewing Resonance Potions and upgrading his Magic Tattoos.

  He had successively analyzed the formulas for Resonance Potion and Spirit-Guard Potion recently. He had also successfully brewed quite a few Spirit-Guard Potions; sixteen bottles now sat in his spatial ring, more than enough for emergencies.

  "As for Magic Tattoos... Blink, Sanctuary, and Thunder Burst must be upgraded to Medium-Grade. I need to analyze the corresponding patterns."

  "My current physique should be able to bear four to five Medium-Grade tattoos. I can add one or two more."

  Since he already had movement, defense, and attack tattoos, Pierce decided to choose enhancement types for the extras.

  For instance, the Alacrity Magic Tattoo for speed. The Giant Strength Magic Tattoo for raw power. The Focus Magic Tattoo for enhancing single-target elemental damage.

  If he could inscribe all three, activate them simultaneously during battle, and stack Second Circle buffs like Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, and Bear's Endurance, Pierce would transform into a literal war machine. Even a Tier 3 Legendary Knight would be flattened with a single punch.

  "I'll start with Giant Strength and Focus. The effect of Alacrity overlaps somewhat with Blink. I can wait until I break through to Tier 3 Legendary Knight for that."

  Pierce made his decision quickly.

  "Eye of Omniscience, analyze Giant Strength Magic Tattoo and Focus Magic Tattoo."

  [Task Created. Beginning analysis of Giant Strength Magic Tattoo. Estimated cost: 13.2 Energy Levels.] [Task Created. Beginning analysis of Focus Magic Tattoo. Estimated cost: 16.4 Energy Levels.]

  Pierce glanced at the task queue.

  [Task 1: Calculate secret technique for rapid mental power increase and refinement. Estimated cost: 469.5 Energy Levels.] [Task 2: Analyze Giant Strength Magic Tattoo. Estimated cost: 13.2 Energy Levels.] [Task 3: Analyze Focus Magic Tattoo. Estimated cost: 16.4 Energy Levels.]

  He had been dumping his remaining mental energy into the secret technique calculation over the past few days, but unfortunately, there was still a long way to go.

  Closing the interface, Pierce stood up and left the spell laboratory.

  The spell imprinting phase was temporarily over. Now, he only needed to maintain his daily meditation and breathing exercises, so his schedule was finally a bit more open. He planned to visit the trading firm to buy the necessary materials first, and then head to the slave market to purchase servants.

  The mansion was huge; it really needed a staff to maintain it. Moreover, the establishment of the magical garden needed to start, which also required specialized labor.

  Leaving the mansion, Pierce headed straight for Tallinn Pavilion.

  After purchasing the materials, he had only about four thousand Magic Stones left.

  "I wonder if it is enough to buy slaves?"

  Pierce cast a spell to send a letter to Tobin, then headed to the nearest slave market.

  In a multiverse where planar wars were prevalent, the slave trade was a massive market. According to incomplete statistics, hundreds of millions of slaves were traded across planes every day. In a twisted sense, it promoted cultural and racial exchange.

  In the Wizarding World, the slave market was equally prosperous, representing enormous profit. This chain of profit was firmly controlled by the Dawn Council and the major Wizard families. Unless granted a special permit, private groups or individuals were prohibited from opening slave markets.

  There were three major slave markets in Aurora City.

  Among them, the Myriad Realms Slave Market was operated directly by the Dawn Council, making it a 'state-owned enterprise'. The other two were nominally private but had Wizard families backing them.

  Pierce was heading to the Myriad Realms Slave Market. Backed by the Council, which controlled three colonial planes and harvested captives from various planar battlefields annually, it possessed the richest resources in the city.

  When Pierce arrived, Tobin was already waiting at the gate. Seeing Pierce alight from the carriage, Tobin immediately trotted over, fawning.

  "My Lord."

  Pierce nodded gently. "Thank you for waiting."

  Tobin looked overwhelmed by the favor, waving his hands hurriedly. "Not at all, not at all! It is my honor to serve you, my Lord."

  His reaction wasn't entirely feigned. Most Wizards he served were arrogant and dismissive, treating him like air. A Wizard as mild-mannered as Pierce was as rare as a phoenix feather.

  "Please follow me, my Lord."

  Tobin's expression became even more solicitous as he led Pierce inside.

  From the outside, the market looked like a large, walled compound. But after passing through the gate and a long corridor, a massive plaza stretching as far as the eye could see came into view.

  Countless large tents and wooden sheds were scattered across the plaza. Despite the crowding, there was an underlying order. Dense crowds shuttled through the aisles, the sound of haggling and hawking creating a deafening, lively roar.

  Pierce strolled through the plaza with interest, observing as he walked. The wooden sheds along the path were filled with ragged, haggard slaves, penned in like cattle. Most were Barbarians, Goblins, and Gnomes, their limbs bound in heavy iron chains.

  Noticing Pierce's gaze, Tobin explained diligently, "My Lord, those in the sheds are cheap labor, mostly bought for hard physical work. If you want servants for the mansion, it is better to choose from the tents."

  Tobin pointed to a cluster of tents nearby.

  Pierce turned and saw that the tent Tobin indicated was not only massive but also gorgeously decorated, standing out among the crude sheds like a crane in a flock of chickens. More strikingly, a stage was set up next to the tent. Slaves of different races took turns displaying their talents or performing, attracting a large crowd.

  "Let's take a look."

  Pierce turned toward the tent, and Tobin hurriedly followed.

  Currently, a Winged Serpent-kin was being displayed on stage.

  The Winged Serpent-kin was a creature with a human upper body, a serpentine lower body, and wings on its back. The vast majority of this race were female. They had relatively mild temperaments and disliked conflict. However, this didn't mean they were weak; an adult Winged Serpent-kin was no weaker than a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice and could cast innate spells.

  The one on stage was a female. Her hands were bound by anti-magic manacles. Her face was somewhat haggard, but her beautiful features and full figure still attracted many covetous gazes.

  A bald man stood next to her, shouting himself hoarse as he advertised her merits.

  "Winged Serpent-kin are not weak! Buy one, and you get a guard and a bed-warmer! They are gentle and submissive—no need to worry about rebellion! Only 30 Magic Stones! Buy ten or more for a 10% discount! Interested guests can enter the tent to trade now!"

  Many in the audience looked tempted, but few moved. Most visitors here were Wizard Apprentices or Grand Knights. 30 Magic Stones was a significant sum, requiring careful consideration.

  "My Lord, are you interested in the Winged Serpent-kin?" Tobin asked cautiously, seeing Pierce pause.

  Pierce shook his head.

  The combat power was too low; they weren't even as useful as the extraplanar creatures he could summon with Summon Monster. As for bed-warming... if he really wanted that, there were plenty of better choices.

  "Let's go inside."

  Pierce entered the main tent.

  The interior was spacious—effectively a large indoor plaza. Iron cages were spaced out evenly, containing various rare races. Wood Elves, Dryads, Fire Dwarves, Halflings, Hill Giants... all relatively rare and high-value species. At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred types.

  "Welcome, distinguished guest."

  A manager approached. His gaze swept over Pierce's white robe, and a warm, enthusiastic smile instantly lit up his face.

  "I am the manager here. My name is Lawson. What kind of slaves are you looking for?"

  Pierce glanced at him. "My mansion is short on servants."

  Lawson understood immediately. He thought for a few seconds, then pointed to an iron cage not far away.

  "My Lord, what do you think of those Corpse Maidens?"