Sovereign of the Ashes

After pouring out two-thirds of the resources from the space conch, Sein finally stopped.

Although he had stored a wide variety of useful materials in his laboratory at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, he still preferred to keep some in reserve. That was just how he was—cautious by nature.

Even though it was only two-thirds of the total, what he had poured out caused the small hill on the scale plate to rise nearly two hundred meters high.

The sheer volume was astonishing.

And on top of that, there were almost no low-grade materials. Even the lowest-grade ones were still useful for Rank One mages.

"You can begin the appraisal. I need to know their value as soon as possible," Sein said, landing beside Todd.

With the Faceless Mask concealing his identity, Sein had no concerns about being recognized.

Anyone who happened to see him unloading the materials would have only seen a masked figure. They could not sense his life force, nor guess who he really was.

Todd immediately activated the Scales of Conservation's appraisal functions. As the massive scale began its analysis, his expression grew increasingly perplexed.

"Master, have you recently conquered a foreign plane that our Magus Civilization hasn't discovered yet?" Todd asked with a somewhat awkward smile.

"What's the matter?" Sein asked.

"Although the vast majority of what you brought has already been priced accordingly by the Scales of Conservation, there's a small portion of materials that are quite unique and have never been cataloged by the Magus Alliance. We'll need to identify them manually, one by one," Todd explained.

Todd was a Rank Three grand mage who had spent quite a long time working within the Capiche Business Alliance.

In his thousand-year career, he had only encountered a situation like this a handful of times.

The Magus Civilization had already recorded most resources across the Astral Realm.

Even if they were known by different names or took different forms on other planes, their fundamental properties were usually the same.

Yet in the enormous haul Sein had just unloaded, quite a number of materials were completely unfamiliar and had never been documented in Magus World.

This situation led Sein to suspect that the unfamiliar resources were likely connected to Faeloria's unique planar laws.

As a closed world with a special system known as the "Avatar Crisis", it made sense that the resources produced in Faeloria would differ from those found in other planes across the Astral Realm.

In fact, the overall resource richness of Faeloria should theoretically surpass that of many large-sized worlds.

After all, with so many deities residing in that plane, how could it possibly sustain them without a deep well of resources?

These thoughts about Faeloria briefly passed through Sein's mind before he turned to Todd and asked, "How long will it take?"

"It should be quick. I've already notified the mages from the Materials Department to assist," Todd replied.

Before long, several dozen mages arrived on the scene and got to work immediately.

Although most of them were Rank One or Rank Two mages, they were highly specialized. When it came to material appraisal, even some Rank Three mages might not match their expertise.

Sure enough, Sein did not have to wait long. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Materials Department, a detailed valuation report was soon delivered.

The total value was 4,317,622 magicoins!

Even though magicoins had steadily depreciated over the past few thousand years, over four million was still an impressive fortune by any standard.

And with nearly two million more in cash already on hand, Sein's personal wealth now exceeded six million magicoins.

"In a while, Master Lorianne and Grandmaster Feylis will also send over my share from Eversurge. When that arrives, I should have over eight million," Sein thought, rubbing his chin.

For a newly promoted Rank Four mage, Sein's financial standing was quite remarkable.

To put things in perspective, a brand-new, mid-tier standard space fortress cost about ten million magicoins.

With his current savings, Sein could already afford half of one.

And this was without factoring in the divine relics he had no intention of selling. If he were to do that, he would easily have the capital needed to begin constructing a divine tower, sparing himself from applying for a loan through the Magus Alliance.

The cost to build a standard divine tower was roughly ten million magicoins.

If he chose to construct it in the Alveroth Empire, though, those operational costs would be several times higher than in most other regions.

The thought of this left Sein a bit lightheaded.

In truth, it was not just the Alveroth Empire. Building divine towers in the heartlands of any major power across the Magus World meant gaining access to better resources and environments than most regions, but it also came with much higher operating costs.

It was a give-and-take situation. No one could get all the benefits without taking on some losses.

No wonder Master Lorianne had chosen to establish her divine tower in the Viridescent Land—a still underdeveloped and relatively unremarkable region at the time.

She was truly broke!

Sein's current financial position was definitely stronger than Lorianne's had been back then.

But even with several million in savings, he still did not feel confident enough to start building a divine tower in the Alveroth Empire.

"I really thought I could take advantage of the Alveroth Empire's abundant initiate pool and spellcaster-friendly environment... but I guess I was being a little too optimistic," Sein muttered with a sigh.

***

After completing the transaction at the Capiche Business Alliance, Sein stopped by the space fortress sales center to check out the newest standardized models.

It had not been long since Lorianne bought hers.

Although space fortresses in Magus World were constantly evolving, the upgrades were not all that rapid.

The newest models only had some minor upgrades compared to the one Lorianne purchased, but nothing drastically different.

Her fortress was still considered up-to-date.

However, when Sein asked about the latest space fortresses, the Rank Four mage in charge said, "We'll be launching a brand-new model of standard space fortress in collaboration with Sky City after the 25th Magus Alliance Conference."

"It'll have enhanced functions, lower energy consumption, and more durable armor. The price will only be a bit higher than the current generation," he added with a friendly smile.

"Is this in preparation for war?" Sein asked bluntly.

The Rank Four mage gave him a knowing look, then nodded. "Indeed, it is."