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"Finally, I see the target. Even without a key, open up for me!" The sword light flickered, and the massive door shattered into several pieces, revealing a vast room beyond.

Despite the passage of four or five hundred years, the magic supply here remained undiminished. As soon as the door opened, the magical lamps set up everywhere immediately lit up one by one, illuminating the entire hundred-zhang room brightly. Simultaneously, several ventilation and drying magic arrays activated, and dozens of small magic puppets began cleaning the dust. Soon, this place that had been untouched for centuries became clean and fresh, as if brand new.

The main hall was primarily filled with large magic platforms, each equipped with enormous metal magic devices. Unique metals and crystal components formed countless interlocking magic arrays, combining to create a three-dimensional magic system. According to Jin Luosha, these were tools used for processing various items, altering material properties, imprinting magic arrays, and infusing magic power. Back in Fontainebleau, I had seen the female mage Hai Ruo using alchemy, but she only drew some auxiliary magic arrays. As for the old Shaman in Blizzard House, he worked with just a small knife and his own hands. Compared to the technology in this centuries-old relic, the differences were stark.

The hall mainly contained dozens of magic processing devices, with many bookshelves lining the walls, filled with large magic tomes. Many boxes contained precious magic materials, and there were numerous half-finished puppets on the platforms. If any alchemy expert from the Mainland saw these things, they would undoubtedly be overwhelmed with excitement. However, for me, they were useless. Three Sword Saints guarded the entrance, and in seven days, the Magic Tower would return to the void. What I needed now was a finished puppet like a Crystal Dragon to help me break through the encirclement. No matter how many treasures there were here, they were useless if I couldn't survive to enjoy them.

I tried to ask the entity within Jin Luosha's headband, but it knew little about the laboratory and didn't know how to find something to counter the Sword Saints.

Releasing Jin Luosha, I wandered alone in the vast room, searching for anything that could help me escape. Originally, this Magic Tower was designed for two Sages to live and study in, not as an absolute trap. If my magic cultivation were sufficient, I could even control it to traverse the void and return directly to Fontainebleau. However, that would require at least half the magic power of the Twelve Sages, which I did not have. Alternatively, there were countless escape magic arrays and channels here. If I could activate any one of them, I could be transported thousands of miles away, leaving the three Sword Saints waiting in vain. But I couldn't activate either, as the entity in the headband lacked the power to start such powerful magic arrays. Thus, I had to find another way.

There were few finished products in the hall, probably because the two Sages had tidied up before leaving. After searching, I found only one female puppet body, four two-zhang-tall spider knight puppets, and a dozen crystal bottles containing strange creatures. There was no sign of the Crystal Dragon I hoped for. The secret method for creating Crystal Dragons was placed in a very conspicuous spot, and I found it easily, but I couldn't understand it. Even if I did, it would be impossible to create one within seven days.

"Sigh, am I really going to be trapped here? If all else fails, I'll have to kidnap some important people and see if I can break out." With a sigh, I gave up on further searching and casually pocketed a set of high-grade miniature wands, starting to make other plans for escape.

"Crash—" Just as I was hesitating, a sound of shattering glass echoed. I quickly turned around and saw Jin Luosha standing beside a row of crystal bottles, with a broken bottle at her feet and liquid spreading around. A beautiful golden beetle, like a crystal, was struggling on the ground.

"S-Sorry, Jin Luosha just wanted to take a look..." Jin Luosha stammered, apologizing while trying to pick up the golden crystal beetle.

"Jin Luosha, don't touch it!" I shouted, stopping her. The things left by the Twelve Sages were not to be trifled with. Despite my quick movement, I was too late. Jin Luosha's fingers had already touched the beetle, and instantly, it transformed into a golden glow, disappearing into her hand, leaving a golden pattern on her hand.

"Damn, it's a Companion Mark. How come I always encounter such rare things?" The glow was too familiar. When Icewind evolved for the third time, the light of the Companion Contract was exactly the same. However, I immediately thought of a terrible problem. During Icewind's evolution, it absorbed my essence for over twenty days. Fortunately, I had an inexhaustible supply of innate true qi to sustain its consumption. Otherwise, I would have been drained dry. But the total amount of true qi Icewind absorbed was almost a hundred times my entire true qi. Luckily, the Nine Yin innate true qi I cultivated with the Yi Jin Jing recovered extremely fast, replenishing all the losses within an hour. Otherwise, it wouldn't have kept up with its consumption. In this world, besides me, only Sword Emperors who had reached the elusive "Star Ocean" and obtained unlimited energy support, or mages above level ten, could bear the cost of a Companion Contract with a level nine beast.

To say that the Companion Beasts collected and modified by the Twelve Sages were merely low-level trash was unbelievable. If it started absorbing Jin Luosha's essence, it would likely turn her into a dried corpse in an instant. How could I not be anxious?

"Uncle, Jin Luosha feels dizzy..." As I rushed to her side, she suddenly collapsed into my arms, unconscious.

"Cursed thing, it's absorbing her mental energy!" Upon checking, I discovered that Jin Luosha's mental energy was being continuously drained by the Companion Beast. Although the speed wasn't too fast yet, it was accelerating. If this continued, Jin Luosha would be drained of her mental energy and become a fool within minutes. Moreover, this was the period when Jin Luosha's innate essence was converting to mental energy. The true qi I sent into her body clearly felt that the remaining half of her essence was also accelerating its conversion, ultimately being drained by the beast. Eventually, the beast's suction might even extend along the energy channel to drain her life force, making it impossible to save her.