Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 468: Building the Laboratory

The 20,000 contribution points saved Duke a lot of time; each free attribute point requires a tremendous amount of time to grind proficiency.

Moreover, it’s not just about saving time because the free attribute points for skills are there, and you can eventually earn them by grinding.

Now, the Spiritual Power gained from consuming the Bewildering Heart Fruit does not conflict with these free attribute points.

This matter is just an interlude; Duke is now not far from the threshold of 150 points of Spiritual Power.

He estimates that it should take only a few months to gather the remaining points of Spiritual Power.

However, this is just the simplest step in the process of advancing to crystalization. Even if the Spiritual Power meets the standard in a few months, it may not necessarily meet the requirements for advancement.

Duke now conducts experiments every day, adjusting and optimizing his advancement plan based on the experiments.

He must ensure that the advancement plan is sufficiently complete and secure before truly proceeding with the advancement process.

Recently, Duke has started new experimental content, which is to conduct multiple simulation advancement experiments with ordinary elemental materials to eliminate all potential risks as much as possible.

To conduct these experiments, he specifically purchased various elemental materials, which, although not reaching the purity level of a Crystal Core, are not cheap.

For instance, a dense rock core containing faint Earth Vein Energy costs over ten thousand Level 1 Magic Stones.

More expensive are materials with the Light Attribute; materials with Light and Dark Attributes are extremely rare.

Therefore, even materials containing partial Light Attribute Energy are priced very high.

Duke purchased a high-quality Glorious Stone, weighing only about 700 grams in total, costing him more than 300,000 Level 1 Magic Stones.

This thing can only have some pieces chipped off for experiments each time, and it’s uncertain how long it will last.

If it runs out, more will have to be bought.

Fortunately, Duke now has nearly 40 million Level 1 Magic Stones, so he’s not too worried about expenses in this regard.

His Space Ring still contains a large batch of unprocessed resources from the Devourer Plane, which can be sold for at least 20 to 30 million Magic Stones.

Coupled with the shares from the Giant Rock Commerce Association and Black Sail, Duke doesn’t have to worry about insufficient Magic Stones shortly.

The expenditure on materials is a minor issue; Duke needs to build a dedicated laboratory for simulation experiments, with an estimated cost of at least ten million.

Building the laboratory requires not only preparing equipment but also setting up various Witch Arrays, which is extremely complex and a systematic project.

Duke needs to find reliable people to complete this work, so he contacted Merrick.

"It must be able to stably control elements and energy..." Merrick received detailed laboratory requirements from Duke. Clearly, this is an extremely complex laboratory that needs to simulate various situations.

It even involves the simulation of the mind’s spiritual power, which is not typically researched by ordinary Wizards.

Mental Power mind simulation experiments are indeed common, but they are generally conducted by Level 2, Level 3 Wizards.

Duke, who is just a Level 1 Mage, is already involved in such research work, which couldn’t help but surprised Merrick.

"This is no small project. Hold on; I’ll ask around for you." Understanding Duke’s needs, Merrick immediately got in touch with some Wizards he knew.

"Thank you." Duke wasn’t in a hurry; he thanked Merrick and then patiently waited while browsing the materials.

About half an hour later, Merrick sent a message: "My teacher has a team under his wing specializing in constructing high-standard laboratories and setting up Witch Arrays. The leader is a Level 3 Mage named Cliff, an expert in this field with extensive experience and a guaranteed reputation, though the fees... might not be cheap."

"The price is not an issue; I appreciate any introduction." Duke said.

"No problem, I’ve already sent your Wizard’s Mark to Mr. Cliff; he’ll contact you later..."

With Merrick’s help, Duke quickly established contact with the Level 3 Mage named Cliff.

Cliff appeared to be a silent, efficiency-oriented middle-aged man who carefully listened to Duke’s laboratory requirements.

Especially after hearing the core requirement to stably control six different, even opposing, elemental energies, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he didn’t ask more, only stating the need for an on-site investigation and detailed design.

Cliff and his team arrived at Duke’s deserted island; after a few days of surveying and design, a detailed construction plan and quotation were presented to Duke.

The quotation, as Merrick said, was indeed expensive, totaling nearly 12 million Magic Stones, not including some lab instruments and equipment Duke needed to prepare himself.

The laboratory is located underground on the deserted island, already below sea level.

Duke browsed through it, and the plan was meticulously done, from the reinforcement of the underground structure to the nesting principles of multilayer composite barriers, and the energy diversion design of the core experiment area, all reflecting high professionalism.

After continuous communication with Cliff for three days and settling all matters regarding the laboratory, Duke paid a 30% deposit, and the project immediately commenced.

In the ensuing days, Duke’s deserted island became lively.

Cliff’s team demonstrated extreme efficiency and professionalism. They deployed large Earth Elemental Life to excavate deep pits, pouring molten Magic Metal to cast the foundation and walls, and embedding various expensive magic conduit materials and stable crystal stones at critical points.

Duke spent most of his time observing from the side, occasionally discussing details with Cliff.

He saw the workers meticulously engraving layers of superimposed runes on the foundation and walls, with the outermost being a vortex energy-absorbing Witch Array to absorb and disperse shocks; the middle being an Elemental Calming Field Witch Array to pacify energy turbulence, and the innermost forming the base of a Spatial Lock Witch Array to ensure structural stability.

These are just the three main layers of Witch Arrays; in addition, there are over twenty small Witch Arrays nested within.

These large and small Witch Arrays combined can realize various complex functions, meeting Duke’s experimental requirements.

The core experimental area is the key focus, with large blocks of Silent Obsidian paving the ground and complex composite energy channels outlined above with Magic Metal, ultimately converging on a three-meter diameter circular platform at the center.

The platform itself is a single piece of expensive Void Crystal Stone, with excellent energy inertia and stability.

The entire construction process required high proficiency in Witch Array arts and Alchemy, and Cliff and his team were indeed very skilled.

Merrick visited once and was secretly stunned seeing the array.