The stairs inside the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower were quite steep, but Shen Mu was still able to reach the top of the tower via the spiral staircase.
There, four or five Rodok Sharpshooters were on standby, each holding their sniper crossbow, looking unapproachable and watchful.
Of course, upon seeing that it was Shen Mu who had ascended, these Rodok Sharpshooters put away their sniper crossbows, respectfully bowed, and greeted, “Greetings, Lord Shen Mu.”
“Mm.” Shen Mu merely nodded in response.
Then he directly went to the center of the Torch Tower's top, next to a huge brazier, where a lecture platform built of pure white marble stood.
Shen Mu walked over and gently stroked the array patterns on the lecture platform, which were composed of various mysterious lines.
These patterns extended to the entire brazier, to the top of the Torch Tower around the brazier, and even into the walls of the entire Torch Tower, as well as the walls of the library and warehouse below.
They formed an array pattern that seemed like a single, integrated entity.
And this...
…was the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, capable of radiating for several kilometers around, dispelling all darkness, weakening all evil, and bringing light to people – a crucial effect!
“Light the brazier,” Shen Mu said slowly at this moment.
“Understood.” Beside him, the Rodok Sharpshooters stationed there, without the slightest hesitation, tucked their heavy sniper crossbows into their belts behind them, then bent down to retrieve a pile of straw from the corner, spreading it at the bottom.
At the same time, they brought small wooden strips to lay on top, and finally placed some thumb-sized wooden pieces.
But just as these Rodok Sharpshooters were about to take out the flints from their leather pouches to ignite the straw and thin wooden strips...
…from behind, the Eden Guard Believers below walked forward and said, “There’s no need to light it so slowly.”
“What?” The Rodok Sharpshooter, who had just struck the flint twice, producing a few sparks but failing to ignite the straw, was slightly stunned.
At the same time, around them, James, Manid, and Torres, who had all come up, also looked slightly astonished.
They didn't understand why this Devotees captain suddenly took a step forward and approached the brazier.
Only Shen Mu was also slightly stunned, then immediately understood.
So he nodded directly and said, “Very good. If you are confident, then ignite all the flames in this brazier in the shortest possible time. Be careful.”
“Understood.” The Devotees captain smiled confidently, then raised his staff, made of rattan, and pointed it at the brazier.
“Yang Flame Ray!”
Then, a faint white light appeared in the Devotees captain's eyes, and as he softly chanted, a scorching white ray shot directly from his staff into the brazier.
‘Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!’
The thumb-sized wooden pieces in the brazier, along with more delicate, tooth-pick-like wooden strips and the straw laid at the bottom, were struck by this white ray and immediately burst into flames with a whoosh.
This caused all the straw, wood shavings, and wooden strips within the brazier, which was about one meter in diameter, to instantly ignite.
“Is this the power of magic?”
“It actually directly ignited the wooden strips in the brazier, which would normally take quite a while to light with flint!?
“This power seems capable of burning through even leather armor!”
Immediately, expressions of shock appeared in the eyes of the surrounding Rodok Sharpshooters, as well as the Holy Tree Knights and Swadian Sergeants.
Before this, they had never witnessed the so-called power of magic.
Their minds were accustomed to the concepts from a fictional historical world.
They simply didn't have many thoughts about these extraordinary powers.
But now, when they truly and clearly saw the magic used by these Eden Guard Believers, directly igniting all the flammable materials in the brazier, causing them to burn fiercely...
…their hearts were indeed quite shocked.
Especially the Rodok Sharpshooters, as they were also representatives of ranged archers.
Now, seeing the immensely powerful so-called Yang Flame Ray that these spellcasters released so easily by merely raising their staffs, their shock was simply immeasurable.
Among those equally shocked were the Holy Tree Knights, who, coming from a low-magic world, had encountered the concept of “magic” only in legends.
At this moment, behind Shen Mu, these Holy Tree Knights exchanged glances, and in each other's eyes, they saw surprise and a certain speculation.
“This power of magic seems to have been mentioned by our mysterious guests.”
“That’s right. Before, I once followed the old commander to welcome those mysterious guests, and they also said that they possessed mysterious magic.
If we gained their approval, they would even teach it to us, the members of the Holy Tree Knight Order.”
“Moreover, those guests also said that in Pandora, there are actually terrifying forces from demons or devils hidden behind the scenes, and they also possess similar evil powers.”
These Holy Tree Knights whispered among themselves.
However, upon observing the power released by this Eden Guard Believer, and seeing that it did not trigger their internal vigilance or the attention of their Holy Tree Knight suits interwoven with mithril, they understood that these powers represented righteous allies and the forces of light.
Just as they had heard these Devotees say before, they represented the so-called forces of light and justice, absolutely irreconcilable with evil and darkness.
Therefore, they did not feel much repulsion or fear towards the magic unleashed by these Devotees; only a hidden reverence and envy.
Of course, the Swadian Sergeants still looked quite shocked.
After all, like the Rodok Sharpshooters, they also came from a fictional historical world.
“Lord Shen Mu, the brazier has been lit.” At this moment, the Eden Guard Believer captain's lips curled slightly, and he bowed again to Shen Mu with a smile.
He seemed quite proud at this moment.
After all, this was his Yang Flame Ray spell.
“Mm, very good.” Shen Mu also nodded, expressing his praise and commendation.
At the same time, looking at the straw and small wooden strips already burning fiercely in the brazier, he turned his head and continued, “Keep adding wood to make the flames in the entire brazier burn vigorously.”
“Understood.” The Rodok Sharpshooters, without the slightest hesitation, immediately pulled out several pieces of wood from the pre-split, bundled stacks, each about the length of a forearm, and threw them into the brazier.
Then, with a ‘whoosh,’ as the flames flickered, more intense and scorching flames began to rise.
The temperature at the top of the entire Torch Tower began to rise, and some sweat appeared on everyone's faces.
However, as the flames burned vigorously in the brazier, subtle changes began to appear throughout the Torch Tower.
These changes primarily originated from the array patterns inherently present within the Torch Tower.
It was as if these magic formations were beginning to activate.
Various righteous powers, embedded within the Torch Tower itself since its construction, seemed poised to be unleashed.
They began a kind of revival and a restless surge.
But all of this was at a critical point and had not yet manifested.
It was as if the crucial moment had arrived.
It lacked that final, sensitive stimulus to erupt.
“Mana Scroll.”
Shen Mu, as if by telepathy, picked up a light blue scroll from a nearby wooden box, meticulously crafted from fine linen and special parchment.
He slowly held it in his palm.
Then he saw the surface of the lecture platform, which was already emitting a slight heat, like a hot iron plate, due to the fierce flames burning vigorously in the brazier.
On that surface, mysterious runes began to appear, and with the burning of the fierce fire, a faint white light emerged.
It was perfectly flat, just as if the scroll had been opened and laid upon it.
“Perhaps this building’s mana nexus needs to be infused with mana to activate,” the Eden Guard Believers’ captain said at this time.
He was offering a reminder.
Of course, Shen Mu understood this as well.
“Mm.”
Shen Mu responded, then picked up the mana scroll and slowly placed it on the lectern, which was still faintly emitting heat.
‘Om!’ Immediately, an unexpected change occurred!
As soon as the mana scroll was pressed onto the lectern, the mana that was still subtly overflowing from the cracks seemed to find a vent, and it directly spread over the profound array on the lectern.
Then, a trace of white mana began to flow on the entire lectern’s array patterns.
And it directly opened the scroll, which was originally tied with a fine silk ribbon, as if manipulated by an invisible pair of hands.
Then, this light blue scroll was fully unfolded and placed on the lectern.
The dense content of the scroll, filled with various profound runes, was completely displayed before Shen Mu.
‘Om!’
However, just as these profound runic contents were displayed, the runes written in black ink began to melt with the heat emanating from the lectern.
Then, they completely melted into the entire scroll.
This transformed into even more white light, which was the mana inherent in the scroll itself, and began to spread into the patterns of this lectern.
This formed the mana source capable of activating this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower!
‘Om!’
And at this moment, this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower was completely and truly activated!
Powerful mana fluctuations began to spread from the lectern to the brazier.
On all the walls of the Torch Tower, the array patterns were filled with white mana fluctuations.
The magic array, which had been laid out during the building’s construction, was completely activated, and like a rushing flood, it began to release a powerful force, amplifying the mana fluctuations within the lectern and catalyzing the raging flames in the brazier, extracting the light and heat of light from within, with the power of the magic array.
‘Boom!’
It began to spread in all directions!
And in Shen Mu’s eyes, he could already see a substantial wave, with a white halo, beginning to rush in all directions.
It was as if a white magic circle was expanding unbridled in all directions!
And contained within it was the light and heat of light, as well as the mighty power of the Holy White Council!
And power from the Mount & Blade Rules!
And at this moment, a Mount & Blade System dialogue box had already appeared before Shen Mu.
【Item Name: Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower (Special Rule Building)】
【Item Description: This is the Holy Light Torch Tower built by the Holy White Council from ‘mount & blade: The Lord of the Rings Middle-earth’. It was blessed by the Maia Saruman during its construction, so as long as the torch at the top of the White Tower is lit, it can ignite a fire that illuminates the entire city, and has a dispelling effect on evil forces.】
【Item Effect ①: After lighting the torch, the town where this building is located will remain constantly bright, and all evil-aligned enemies will be universally weakened by -10%.】
【Item Effect ②: For soldiers of the order faction bathed in light, +20% mental resilience, +20% courage, +20% morale.】
【Item Effect ③: Where the Holy Light shines, it will dispel evil corrupting forces and enhance the harmony of nature, +10% plant and animal growth speed.】
【Usage Requirements: Sufficient firewood, and ‘sufficient mana scrolls’.】
【Hint: Mana scrolls are not uncommon among the Holy White Council or mage groups.】
The Mount & Blade System dialogue box was rapidly refreshing.
“Is this the power of the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower?” Shen Mu slowly spoke at this moment, his entire spirit invigorated.
Because as the white halo roared and began to rush in all directions, the cold feeling that had originally lingered in his heart completely disappeared.
This meant that the effect of the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower had already begun to activate.
And at this moment, his dialogue box also began to refresh.
【Ding! You have successfully activated the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower. Your current location, Deherim, will now maintain constant light. (Hint: Provided that the Holy Light Torch Tower’s flame never extinguishes.)】
“Of course, it certainly won’t extinguish,” Shen Mu said, looking at the content in the dialogue box with a slight smile.
At the same time, he looked at the building’s effects again.
Not only would the town where this building is located, which is the Deherim area, have eternal light after lighting the Holy Light Torch Tower.
It was like an artificial sun; darkness would no longer appear.
And as long as evil-aligned enemies appeared here, there would be a 10% universal weakening effect.
This meant that as long as evil-aligned enemies came here and set foot in the illuminated area, regardless of the reason, all their attributes would first be weakened by 10%.
Moreover, among his own soldiers, as long as they were bathed in this light, they would instead gain a 20% increase in mental resilience, 20% courage, and 20% morale.
This meant that as long as they encountered enemies, he would gain a 20% mental boost, and the organizational strength would also increase due to the rise in morale and courage.
And in the third effect, wherever this light shone, it would dispel evil forces, and also increase the growth rate of plants and animals by 10%.
This meant that his agriculture would receive another 10% boost.
A win-win situation.
‘Om!’
While Shen Mu was still looking at his building attributes, the white halo finally extended around him.
It seemed to have finally reached its limit.
After passing through the low wall, it extended a considerable distance further outside.
The overall range was approximately 1 kilometer, centered on Deherim.
It was basically covered by the Holy Light Torch Tower’s illumination range.
And a 1-kilometer radius was already a considerable area, and it was a circular range centered on the Holy Light Torch Tower.
Shen Mu stood at the top of the Holy Light Torch Tower at this moment, turning his head to look at the residential buildings on Bali River Street in Long City to the west, which were now enveloped by the range of his Holy Light Torch Tower.
He frowned slightly, as if he had discovered something.
Because in Shen Mu’s vision, traces of black mist appeared in those residential buildings, as if clear water had entered boiling oil, gradually sizzling and evaporating completely.
“Is it because of the Holy Light’s purification?” Shen Mu thought of the third function at this moment and nodded thoughtfully.
This really looked good.
He understood that the traces of black mist appearing in the residential buildings, which were gradually evaporating, were the darkness hidden within those residential buildings, and the gray mist emanating from the darkness, which was the death spirit rules, being purified by the Holy Light and disappearing completely.
This was truly a very good thing.
After all, this was why Shen Mu had been so careful with residential buildings and apartment buildings before.
As long as there was darkness, there would be gray mist; and if there was gray mist, it meant that the death spirit rules were quietly infiltrating.
Now with the Holy Light shining, even through buildings, the light and heat transmitted by the Holy Light directly dispelled the darkness and the death spirit rules within the darkness.
Allowing the Mount & Blade Rules to gain the upper hand.
This was, of course, a good thing.
Even if the light couldn't directly illuminate the depths of the buildings, as long as there were cracks in the buildings that allowed the heat of the flame to permeate, it meant that the Mount & Blade Rules had infiltrated.
With the help of the Holy Light Torch Tower, the Mount & Blade Rules had already firmly taken complete control of this 1-kilometer radius on Blue Star!
This was also a victory at the rule level!
A very solid first step!