Chapter 293 Controlling Everything and Dominance

Although Shaoke was busy down below, he was worried about the situation above, because according to his designs, fully controlling the laboratory would require extensive consumption and a long time. He hadn't expected Mage Roman's first attempt at control to take this long. After the tedious matters below were completed, Shaoke returned to the top floor once more.

In front of the roughly two-meter-thick stone pillar, Mage Roman followed the method Shaoke had explained to control the pillar. The White-robed Cleric, after casting many support spells on her and taking a short rest, released a golden light into Mage Roman to replenish her consumption. Lan Wei'er, curious, observed the elemental pools; fortunately, the magic arrays here had been specially treated, so long-term observation wouldn't harm low-order beings. But even so, Lan Wei'er, who was only at the first tier, could only watch for a short while before resting and then continuing her observation. Mage Yisier, along with other sixth-tier mages, inspected everything inside to ensure there were no flaws or other issues.

Mage Roland continuously released his mental strength and magic into the stone pillar, enhancing his synergy with it. As Mage Roman infused her mental strength, the various magic arrays and magic script on the pillar began to emit faint silver or purple wisps of light. Once these lights completely covered the pillar, she had fully taken control of the entire laboratory. She could allow anyone in or use the magic arrays here to attack anyone, even those who had already imprinted their marks on the pillar.

After Mage Roman’s energy was depleted once again, with the help of the White-robed Cleric, she quickly recovered. She nodded to Shaoke, then took some of her own blood and poured it on the stone pillar to increase harmony. Once all this was done, the mages briefly toured the layout. Everything was normal, with no mistakes. This result pleased both Shaoke and the others.

"Xueye, I must reward you well," Mage Roman suddenly blushed and leaned close to Shaoke's ear, whispering, "You must come here tonight." She then lightly bit his neck and quickly moved away. The highly perceptive White-robed Cleric, however, blushed and looked at Mage Roman oddly, making her feel quite embarrassed.

Fortunately, Lan Wei'er exclaimed in surprise, "Mage Xueye, look! The elemental pools are changing again!" Her words eased the awkwardness for Mage Roman, as the White-robed Cleric shifted her gaze away. "Lan Wei'er, you should call him father, not his name," Female Mage Roman said, glancing at Shaoke with some concern, relieved to see no displeasure on his face.

"But mother, he's not my real father. You said so," Lan Wei'er replied, uneasily watching Mage Roman, sensing that her mother had become stricter as she grew older, often urging her to read many books instead of spending time enhancing her magic and mental strength. For this, she had secretly complained about her slow advancement.

"He is your father," the White-robed Cleric said gently, pulling Lan Wei'er into her arms and patting her back. "You now inherit your mother's bloodline, and since Xueye is your mother's husband, I think this form of address is perfectly fine."

Shaoke didn't care what Lan Wei'er called him; his attention was drawn to the changes in the elemental pools, along with the other sixth-tier mages.

The gray mist above the elemental pools was rapidly disappearing, while droplets of elemental water at the bottom slowly increased. By the time the mist completely vanished, a thin layer of water had already covered the bottom of the one-meter-radius circular pool. Over time, the water layer continued to increase, albeit very slowly, but the rate was more than twice as fast as that of a medium-sized laboratory! Then, a basin-sized stone platform slowly rose from the pools, stopping once it protruded slightly above the water's surface.

"Mage Xueye, if my memory serves me correctly, these stone pillars shouldn't be here," Mage Yisier frowned, pointing at the stone pillar covered with strange patterns. "I sense a familiar fluctuation from them." She then looked at Mage Roman with a furrowed brow. The White-robed Cleric also frowned, using mental strength to probe.

"My mental imprint," Mage Roman carefully sensed it and then answered. Faced with this sudden change, Shaoke and the others didn't know how to proceed. After observing and testing a few times, they found no peculiarities and temporarily gave up, as through the window they saw it was now night, and the guests Shaoke had invited would soon arrive.

The guests invited this time were all heads of major forces of the Blue Feather Empire in this area. Shaoke intended to take this opportunity to discuss some matters with them at the banquet, aiming to further increase his future income and other benefits.

Over the past ten years, the number of maids in the estate had increased significantly. The first batch of maids had stayed long-term, as some of them had gained the favor of high-rank mages and had become their private attendants. The maid who had once served Shaoke during his bath continued to do the same work, but she now served two or even more people, as sometimes Mage Roman and Mage Yisier would join Shaoke for such pleasures. That maid, arranged by Mage Yisier, had allowed the male mage (Shaoke) to enter her body. Of course, in a few years, these maids would leave, as they would reach marriageable age. But before that, they could earn enough money to support their families.

With the hard work of many maids, exquisite pastries and fine wines were delivered to the hall. Large wooden tables and chairs were easily arranged by the mages using spells. At this time, some guests began to arrive.

There were not many forces belonging to the Blue Feather Empire in the Fallen Capital, but they were very powerful. Including Shaoke's organization, only about a dozen forces remained here. The others had been completely destroyed by Shaoke and his allies, who seized everything from them. The eighth-order practitioners did not intervene in these matters, as they didn't affect the empire's high-level decisions.

The guests were not too numerous. When everyone settled down according to protocol, several eighth-order practitioners accepted Shaoke's invitation and arrived. The leader was the eighth-rank blue-robed female mage, followed by a few male practitioners. Most of them were warriors, with only one mage and one archer. Shaoke knew that the Blue Feather Empire had also dispatched an eighth-rank infiltrator here, but the latter rarely appeared, so he couldn't invite him.

Since the last gathering of major forces, the eighth-rank female mage hadn't seen Shaoke for over a year. Upon using mental probing, she quickly discovered that Shaoke was on the verge of advancing to seventh-tier mage. This result surprised her.

After all, Shaoke had only advanced to sixth-tier mage about thirty years ago. Typically, even genius mages took over forty years to advance; only those with extraordinary talent could advance this quickly.

After a moment of random thoughts, the eighth-rank blue-robed female mage sat down silently like the others. Shaoke didn't mind. After confirming that all invited guests had arrived, he stepped forward from his seat and said,

"Esteemed lords and friends," Shaoke was not used to such speeches, but it was necessary now. "Mage Roman's laboratory has been successfully completed today. For this success, let us raise our glasses in celebration!" He raised his glass first and drank.

The guests nodded and, following the host's request, drank the wine or honey-infused water in their hands. Then, one by one, they raised their glasses to celebrate the successful construction of Shaoke's laboratory, including the eighth-rank blue-robed female mage. However, the other eighth-order practitioners did not offer such congratulations, as their status made such congratulations unnecessary. Of course, Shaoke didn't mind; their statuses warranted such behavior.

After some casual conversation with the guests, Shaoke suddenly started a new topic: "Ladies and gentlemen, building this laboratory has consumed all my precious materials. However, there are still many parts of the laboratory that lack materials for construction. Therefore, I hope you can offer me some assistance."

As soon as Shaoke finished speaking, all the leaders of the forces opposed this. A middle-aged man dressed as a warrior stood up and said, "Mage Xueye, do you mean to ask us to donate magic materials to you? If you have enough gold and potions, I can trade with you for as much as you need." The warrior then sat down, grabbed a fruit, and bit into it fiercely.

"No, I don't need any of your magic materials. I just want to gain more controlled territory," Shaoke said, suddenly turning his gaze to a large, stout great merchant beside him. "The people of the Naxi Family are too foolish. I doubt they have read any books." As soon as Shaoke finished, the stout merchant sprang to his feet, his half-closed eyes staring at the host with a strange expression.