Synthesis Wizard

“Two persistent devils!”

The traveler grimaced, his voice laced with pain, but his expression held no hint of panic.

After all, things were different now, with Su Nan by his side.

In the blink of an eye, the Magic Hand and the Blood Mouth reached the Dragon’s Bones Tower.

They stared at the tower for a long time, their eyes wide with astonishment at the sight before them.

“Control… center!” A muffled voice emanated from under the Blood Mouth’s gray robe.

“Most likely!”

A wave of excitement tinged the Magic Hand’s voice.

After discovering the ecological garden, he had contemplated bringing it under his control, but he had no leads. Now, seeing the Dragon’s Bones Tower, he knew that the key to controlling the ecological garden lay within.

Snapping out of his contemplation, the Magic Hand turned his gaze back towards the traveler. Two crimson bloodlights flickered under his hat brim, lingering on Su Nan for a moment.

“Who are you?”

“This is between the Eternal Society and that fellow. Unrelated people should leave!” The Magic Hand’s tone was harsh and rigid.

He had clearly noticed the acquaintance between Su Nan and the traveler, trying to scare Su Nan off with the name of the Eternal Society.

Unfortunately, he had miscalculated.

Su Nan chuckled disdainfully, “Speaking of which, I’m not exactly an unrelated person.”

After all, the Eternal Society’s Ugo had died at his hands.

But the Magic Hand misunderstood, scrutinizing Su Nan up and down, his tone growing colder, “You are also from the Mysterious Wooden Hut!”

When Su Nan ignored his question, the Magic Hand let out a cold snort.

“Since you are determined to seek death, I shall fulfill your wish!”

His black robe billowed, and countless black tentacles extended from beneath.

“Wizard apprentices’ flesh… so fragrant!”

The gaping maw on the Blood Mouth’s chest rumbled with a low, guttural sound. He then threw back his hood, revealing a wrinkled face with only one eye.

His icy eye fixated on Su Nan, radiating undisguised greed and cruelty.

Confronted with the unmasked murderous intent of the two, the traveler’s expression grew grave. The Azure Spirit branch in his palm began to emit a soft, green glow.

However, just as the battle was about to commence, the Dragon’s Bones Tower in the distance shuddered.

Immediately after, a mechanical, monotonous voice rang out in the air.

“Five bio-sources meeting the conditions detected. Initiating the Dragon Forest Ecological Garden inheritance program.”

“Ecological garden central key distribution in progress. The possessor of the complete key will gain ownership of the Dragon Forest Ecological Garden.”

The sudden voice instantly captured the attention of everyone present.

Upon understanding the mechanical voice’s words, all four of them were moved simultaneously.

The ecological garden’s key!

A shared surge of delight coursed through them.

Whoever obtained the key would control the entire ecological garden!

This was a place that had nurtured countless sub-dragon species and rare magical plants. It was an irresistible temptation for any wizard apprentice.

The Magic Hand and the Blood Mouth immediately shifted their focus, their eyes fixed on the Dragon’s Bones Tower in the distance.

Once they controlled the ecological garden, they could seal the entrance and exit, trapping the traveler and Su Nan like fish in a barrel, slowly finishing them off. A win-win situation!

Buzz!

The skeletal dragon head atop the Dragon’s Bones Tower suddenly unleashed a blinding light, and five dazzling silver rays shot out from the head towards the four cardinal directions, like meteors falling towards the distant horizon.

Almost instantaneously, Su Nan, the traveler, the Magic Hand, and the Blood Mouth all leaped into the air, each chasing after a silver ray.

At the same time, hundreds of meters away in the forest, a figure also sprang into the air, pursuing the fifth silver ray.

Catching a glimpse of this, Su Nan finally understood.

No wonder the voice had mentioned five bio-sources meeting the conditions; there was a fifth person hiding in the shadows.

Withdrawing his gaze, Su Nan activated a high-grade rune gem without hesitation. A layer of blue light instantly enveloped him, and his already swift, wind-like speed suddenly accelerated, propelling him forward like a meteor towards the silver ray.

After about four or five minutes, the speed of the silver ray slowed down, descending towards the ground.

Su Nan’s spirits lifted. He increased his speed, quickly reaching the spot where the silver ray was falling.

Looking down, he saw a deep pit in the ground. At the center of the pit lay a silver metallic piece, about the size of a coin.

With a thought, Su Nan instantly cast Master’s Hand, plucking up the silver metallic piece and letting it float into his palm.

“Is this the key to enter the Dragon’s Bones Tower?”

The silver metallic piece was covered with intricate and bizarre patterns, complex yet imbued with an air of profound mystery.

Its overall shape resembled a triangular metallic piece, with a recess on each of its three sides, like three interlocking slots.

Recalling the mechanical voice’s previous statement, Su Nan immediately understood.

This silver metallic piece wasn’t the complete key, but merely one-fifth of it.

The five silver rays represented five key fragments. Only by collecting all five fragments could they be assembled into the complete key.

“So that’s what the inheritance program is about.”

“We five wizard apprentices are made to compete against each other for the key fragments. The ultimate victor will inherit the ownership of the ecological garden.”

“I never thought the creator would leave behind such a program. Was it to ensure that the ecological garden he painstakingly built wouldn’t ultimately be destroyed?”

After a brief moment of contemplation without an answer, Su Nan shook his head, no longer pondering the matter.

The creator was already dead. He could no longer speculate on what the other party had been thinking at that time. His current task was to gather the five key fragments and claim ownership of the ecological garden!

With a plan in mind, Su Nan soared into the air, flying towards the location of the fifth person.

To his surprise, as he flew several kilometers, the key fragment in his hand emitted a faint glow.

Moreover, as he continued flying forward, the key fragment’s glow gradually intensified.

Su Nan’s mind raced, quickly understanding.

“This key fragment has a mutual sensing function!”

With this function, it would be much easier to find the other key fragment holders.

It was evident that the creator had gone to great lengths to ensure the smooth progression of the inheritance program.

Soon, as the key fragment’s glow became extremely bright, Su Nan’s vision caught sight of his target.

To his astonishment, it was the Magic Hand.

He was controlling a skyful of black tentacles, frantically attacking the fifth wizard apprentice.

Su Nan recalled the direction everyone had taken while chasing the silver rays, and combining that with his current location, he quickly deduced that the fifth person and the Magic Hand had met head-on.

However, the wizard apprentice’s strength was clearly mediocre. He was in dire straits under the Magic Hand’s attacks.

While Su Nan was contemplating, he was caught off guard by the Magic Hand. The black tentacles seized his limbs and neck, tearing him apart into several pieces in a display of brutal dismemberment!

Amidst the splatter of blood and flesh, the black tentacles precisely grabbed a silver light, delivering it to the Magic Hand.

“A foolhardy fellow. With such meager strength, he dared to vie for the key fragment!”

The Magic Hand accepted the key fragment, sneering at the mutilated corpse on the ground before turning his gaze towards Su Nan, a cold smile curling on his lips.

“The second prey has willingly walked into our trap.”

“It’s not clear who is the prey,” Su Nan flew forward slowly.

“Seems you have a lot of faith in your power,” the Magic Hand sneered, “Which member of the Mysterious Wooden Hut are you? The Scepter? Or the Black Forest?”

Su Nan chuckled with amusement, “I thought you would have investigated me by now. After all, my hands are stained with the blood of your Eternal Society members.”

Upon hearing this, the Magic Hand immediately realized.

“You are Su Nan!”

After learning Su Nan’s identity, the Magic Hand’s reaction was not one of alarm but rather joy, his laughter ringing out, “So it’s you!”

“Hmph, if you had stayed quietly in your own territory, I wouldn’t have been able to touch you. But now you’re here, alone, right before us. This is exactly what we wanted!”

“Kill him! The Starlight Tower key will be ours!”

The Magic Hand had contemplated dealing with Su Nan before.

However, based on his investigation, Su Nan spent most of his time at his base near Shining Light City or in the underground city of幽湖城 (Yōuhúchéng, a fictional city in the novel).

Both locations were Su Nan’s strongholds, heavily guarded by countless puppets.

Even he, the Magic Hand, wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he could kill Su Nan in his strongholds.

But now, Su Nan had ventured out from his territory, changing everything.

Thinking about this trip, which would not only allow him to obtain the Azure Spirit branch to solve the bloodline rejection problem but also the ecological garden’s ownership and the Starlight Tower key, the Magic Hand was ecstatic.

This was a truly bountiful harvest!

Overwhelmed by his joy, the Magic Hand’s black robe billowed violently, as if something were about to burst forth from within.

The next second, two black clumps, resembling viscous liquid, fell from his black robe. The instant they touched the ground, they rapidly expanded, transforming into two grotesque four-legged monsters.

The two four-legged monsters were each about seven or eight meters tall, resembling a blend of tiger and panther. They had sharp claws and fangs, but their entire bodies were pitch black, resembling black silhouettes.

As soon as they were formed, the two four-legged monsters roared and lunged at Su Nan, the wind howling as they attacked.

Simultaneously, the Magic Hand seemed to sink into the shadows beneath him, disappearing from sight.

When he reappeared, he darted out from the shadows behind Su Nan, his hands transforming into sharp black spikes, aiming at Su Nan’s back.

Thud!

A muffled sound, like a sharp blade piercing leather, echoed through the air!

The black spikes halted just two or three centimeters from Su Nan’s body, stopped by an invisible force field.

The Magic Hand wasn’t surprised. Any third-rank wizard apprentice would surely have one or two protective magic items on them.

But protection was ultimately limited. All he had to do was break through it!

The Magic Hand vanished into the shadows once again, seizing the opportunity while Su Nan was dealing with the two four-legged monsters, repeatedly bursting forth from unexpected corners to attack Su Nan.

However, gradually, he noticed something wrong.

“What’s going on?”

“This kid has taken so many attacks from me. Why hasn’t his protective magic item been broken?”

“Even a twilight-level magic item should have depleted its energy by now!”

The Magic Hand was filled with bewilderment and confusion.

This lapse in concentration gave Su Nan a chance to exploit his weakness. In an instant, a silver light flashed across his body, and countless metallic spikes materialized out of thin air, cascading down upon the Magic Hand like a torrent!

Almost instantaneously, the Magic Hand’s multi-layered protection, composed of magic spells, magic items, and shadow power, was shattered!

His black robe disintegrated instantly, revealing his inner form: a completely black, shadow-like, diminutive body.

The next second, the storm of metal relentlessly engulfed him.

The Magic Hand’s semi-shadow body was capable of withstanding most physical attacks but was utterly ineffective against magic emblem core attacks.

In a moment, he let out a soul-wrenching scream.

His black body violently throbbed like a lake surface under a heavy rainstorm, churning endlessly, fading before their eyes!

Hit with such a devastating blow, the Magic Hand’s fighting spirit quickly waned. The blazing murderous intent he had harbored earlier vanished, leaving only pure terror in its place.

He swiftly vanished into the shadows, reappearing hundreds of meters away in the shadow of a tree. He then propelled himself into the air, fleeing with no hesitation.

The terrifying defense and attack displayed by Su Nan had shattered his fighting spirit.

All that remained in his mind was the urge to escape.

Just then, two figures appeared in the distant sky, flying at breakneck speed from the east and south respectively.

It was the traveler and the Blood Mouth.

Both of them had obtained their key fragments and, relying on the mutual sensing ability of the fragments, quickly rushed to the scene.

Hearing the Magic Hand’s plea, the traveler paused in surprise, looking first at the Magic Hand fleeing in disarray, then at Su Nan, who was calmly pursuing from behind, a trace of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

What was going on?