Sovereign of the Ashes

In the twentieth year of constructing the Divine Tower of Ashes, Tourmaline came to visit Sein.

She had already returned to Magus World some time ago, but Sein had been too busy surveying various regions to visit her.

Tourmaline was quite pleased with Sein's decision to establish his divine tower in Darwell.

For one, the location was not far from Jewel Bay and the Boundless South Sea, making it convenient for her to travel between them.

Second, while the site Sein had chosen contained abundant pyro elemental law deep underground, the surface and surrounding areas did not have enough heat to make Tourmaline uncomfortable.

"Can I dig a lake here? I have always wanted to build a home of my own!" Tourmaline clapped her hands excitedly.

Given her size, if Tourmaline were to dig a lake next to the Divine Tower of Ashes... it would probably be called aseainstead!

Near Lorianne's Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, there was the breathtaking Jewel Sea.

Sein had always admired his mentor's sense of aesthetics and her talent for divine tower development.

Although he was not a Hydromancer and rarely delved into hydro elemental magic, he did not mind the idea of having an inland sea next to his own tower.

At the very least, it would give him something beautiful to look at between experiments and maybe even help him unwind a little.

Moreover, from what Sein knew, many full-fledged mages actually took the natural environment into account when choosing which divine tower to affiliate with, especially the academy mages.

Even those who studied the mysteries of pyro elemental magic often avoided settling near volcanoes or magma seas, despite their elemental affinity.

Of course, building an artificial sea came with a hefty price tag.

Perhaps because he was constantly being hounded by Master Wenger for payments, Sein had developed a habit of unconsciously calculating the cost of everything.

If he were to hire professional mages or knights for the job, the expense of creating a massive artificial sea would likely run into the hundreds of thousands of magicoins.

Back when Lorianne expanded the Jewel Sea near her tower, she had already spent more than ten thousand.

Fortunately, the commercial district around the Jewel Sea had already taken shape and had become increasingly prosperous in recent years.

Just the rental income alone was now enough to recoup Lorianne's original investment in the Jewel Sea.

As for the lake being dug near the Divine Tower of Ashes, Sein did not have to spend a single coin.

Tourmaline had no intention of using her own money either; she preferred doing the work herself.

When she revealed her true form on the dark, barren ground of the Darwell Region, her massive figure made her appear even more imposing.

Her sharp dragon claws had once struck fear into many extraplanar creatures.

Her sharp dragon claws that had once struck fear into many extraplanar creatures now seemed perfectly suited for digging and shaping the land.

Normally, excavating a massive artificial lake would be a tedious and monotonous task.

But for some reason, Tourmaline was full of enthusiasm.

Maybe to her, it felt like building a sandcastle on the beach.

She was completely immersed in the work, visibly happy and content.

As she said, she was building her own "home" this time.

Around that time, Master Wenger, who had been working deep underground surveying and calculating the foundation layout for the divine tower, returned to the surface.

He was startled to see Tourmaline and the massive artificial lake already under construction.

Although it was his first time meeting her, the powerful dragon aura and unique bloodline energy radiating from Tourmaline reminded him of a certain mermaid in the South Sea.

That creature had held significant status in the Magus World.

This dragon turtle must be her little sister.

Stroking his long white beard, Master Wenger nodded thoughtfully at his own speculation.

He had come to the surface to supervise the construction of the tower's upper section and to report the overall project progress to Sein.

After all, Sein was the owner of the Divine Tower of Ashes, and Master Wenger needed to keep him informed.

But before diving into construction updates, the old man glanced at Sein and said, "You shouldn't let that dragon turtle dig wherever she wants. Planar nodes might not shift due to surface-level geological activity, but changes in the surrounding elemental concentration can still affect how the elemental energy flows through the underground veins."

"I'll redraw a map for you so she has something to follow. That way, it won't interfere with your tower's absorption of elemental energies or the gathering of law power," he offered.

Wenger's comment, however, brought Tourmaline no small amount of dismay.

She had already poured in a great deal of time and effort, only for a single remark from him to render nearly two-thirds of her work useless.

Still, the design blueprints that Master Wenger eventually provided were nothing short of exceptional.

True to his reputation as the top divine tower architect in the Magus World, the artificial lake he designed surpassed even Lorianne's Jewel Sea in both planning and structural sophistication.

On top of that, he did not charge Sein any extra fees for the blueprints.

It was essentially a gesture of goodwill.

The final design featured an elegantly curved lake, with the Divine Tower of Ashes positioned at the farthest spot from its center.

From above, the lake resembled a crescent moon.

This design was deliberate, meant to prevent excessive moisture from disrupting the tower's ability to gather pyro elemental energy.

After all, Sein was a Pyromancer. If the tower were entirely surrounded by water, it would only affect his cultivation.

Tourmaline was thoroughly pleased with her newly designed "home". The shape of the lake reminded her of her homeland, Sea God Bay in the Western Archipelago, though this version was on a much smaller scale.

That familiar touch gave her a deep sense of comfort, and her resentment toward Old Wenger quickly faded.

By the later stages of excavation, Tourmaline was no longer working alone.

News had spread, and a large group of sea races migrating from the depths of the Boundless South Sea had come to help build Tourmaline's new home.

Among them were more than a dozen massive Sea Kings, whose sheer strength saved Tourmaline an enormous amount of effort.

When Wenger saw them, his eyes lit up. He immediately asked whether they could be borrowed for the construction of the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Given Tourmaline's connection to Sein, lending the Sea Kings for tower construction was, of course, not a problem.

Their involvement significantly reduced the construction time and saved Sein a substantial portion of his building expenses.