Sovereign of the Ashes

After chatting with Tourmaline for a while and handling some recent affairs at the Divine Tower of Ashes, Sein flew straight to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Although he had already established the Divine Tower of Ashes in the southern region of Ashenreach, Lorianne continued to grant him unrestricted access to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, along with his private residence on the upper floors.

This time, Sein no longer had to worry about being stopped outside by Jessica, the demigod-level mage.

Now that he had advanced to Rank Four, and with Lorianne's permission, he could bypass the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring's shield entirely and move freely in and out.

In fact, only he and Lorianne held that level of freedom within the entire tower.

All other visiting knights and mages, even those at Rank Four or higher, were still required to follow the standard protocol and request entry.

Given a divine tower's immense mana reserves and the law enhancements provided by the planar node, it could theoretically withstand a direct assault from a Rank Six creature for a short time once absolute defense mode was activated.

However, this kind of feature only became available once the tower was fully constructed.

Sein had no trouble meeting with his mentor.

Before coming here, he already knew that she had recently sent him a batch of seeds.

After thanking her, he immediately brought up the topic of White Sand World's invasion and conquest.

"A low-level plane with only two Rank Four creatures? It's definitely a worthwhile conquest target," Lorianne agreed.

After accepting Sein's invitation to join the campaign, she added, "Aren't you going to invite the other elders in the faction?"

The total resources of White Sand World were roughly on par with those of Eversurge, which the Verdant Flame Faction had recently conquered.

Bringing in so many Rank Four or higher beings was technically unnecessary for such a minor campaign, but Sein had to do it anyway.

"Of course, I'll notify them and Grandmaster Feylis," he replied with a nod.

Lorianne smiled in approval.

Even if the spoils of White Sand World were limited, expressing a spirit of unity and shared benefit was still important.

Back in Eversurge, Sein had received tremendous support from his faction and earned millions of magicoins with barely any effort.

Now that he had a proper conquest target of his own, failing to include the elders would only weaken the bonds he had with them.

Lorianne did not wish to nurture her apprentice into a tactless nerd, and judging by his response, Sein seemed tactful enough.

After chatting with his mentor for a while and leaving the gift he had brought from Reyno Star City, Sein took his leave.

Watching him walk out of the laboratory, Lorianne absentmindedly toyed with the green leaves of a sprout in her hand and smiled softly.

"That boy really knows how to win people's hearts," she murmured.

In addition to the Miracle Herb from the Green Lotus World, Sein had brought her another gift during this visit.

It was a jade-green agate bracelet, which was already resting on her wrist.

He had purchased the agate in Reyno Star City and crafted it into a bracelet after returning to the Magus World.

Though it offered little to no enhancement to dendro magic, it was still a beautiful and elegant piece of jewelry rather than a magic artifact.

Sein had not forgotten how his mentor once splurged on a whole set of magic artifact-grade accessories when she first made her fortune during an interplanar war.

He was simply catering to her preferences while picking out her gift.

***

Upon returning to Ashenreach, Sein resumed handling one matter after another.

He had not had a chance to focus on cultivation or experimental research in quite some time. There was quite a lot to take care of now that he had advanced to Rank Four.

Maya and Luna had returned to Centaurworld a few years ago to regroup and rebuild their tribe.

The late Hephaes' assets had indeed been divided up by the other centaur gods.

In recent years, Maya and Luna had done their best to reconnect with their former tribespeople.

Fortunately, with support from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring and the soon-to-be-completed Divine Tower of Ashes, the other centaur gods—especially those with ulterior motives—did not dare make any moves during this critical period.

In addition, with help from another centaur god, Hecam, Maya and her granddaughter managed to make good progress.

After regrouping, the Maya Tribe could now field at least twenty thousand centaurs, along with a hundred thousand minotaurlings to serve as cannon fodder.

More importantly, times had changed. Sein no longer needed to pay Maya and Luna any compensation as these two female centaurs were now fully under his wing.

After reviewing their report, Sein gave it some thought before contacting the God of Half-Beastmen, Eugene.

He was not asking Eugene to participate in the war effort—the White Sand World campaign did not require the involvement of so many Rank Four or higher beings.

Sein was merely hoping to hire a contingent of half-beastmen from Eugene at a low cost.

Eugene was not only surprised by Sein's promotion to Rank Four, but also offered his sincere congratulations.

Having fought side by side in Bouldrak World, Eugene gave Sein the lowest possible hiring rate.

The hiring fees for half-beastman legions were already among the lowest across the entire Magus Alliance. But Eugene pushed it down even further, to the point where Sein only needed to provide food for the half-beastman warriors.

As for actual compensation, a small bonus as a symbolic gesture would be more than enough.

Eugene was not being foolish by sending his own kin and children to war while barely charging anything in return.

This was his way of showing goodwill to Sein and expressing his gratitude for bringing Tourmaline to aid the half-beastmen last time.

The half-beastmen were a bunch of straightforward and principled people.

And Eugene, despite his generosity, was certainly not being taken advantage of. This Rank Five half-beastman was far more cunning than most would ever expect.

He would never agree to a deal that left him with nothing.

Among the generally less intelligent and impulsive half-beastmen, having such a sharp and shrewd leader was truly a blessing.

In addition to finalizing the contract to hire the half-beastman legion, Sein had also been busy notifying the other members of the Verdant Flame Faction.

Launching an interplanar war was not something that could be decided on a whim.

The major divine towers and knightly orders needed time to make preparations before they could mobilize, so the sooner they were informed, the better.

As for Sein's proposed invasion of White Sand World, both Grandmaster Feylis and Master Gregory politely declined the invitation.

Both explained that their divine towers currently lacked the resources to participate in another war.

Feylis suggested that Sein consider bringing Aelid along instead, while Gregory recommended that he consult Bernice.

Given that Aelid's Divine Tower of the Blazing Sword had only recently been established and was just beginning to gain its footing, a well-developed low-level plane like White Sand World would normally be a perfect opportunity.

Yet to Sein's surprise, Aelid also declined his invitation.

Unlike the previous two elders, who had declined out of practical concerns, Aelid's refusal felt more personal.

Sein chose not to dwell on it. Instead, he headed straight to Master Bernice to ask whether she would be interested in joining the campaign.