“This power… this power… is truly strong!”
“To think it’s such a powerful magical fluctuation, and it even contains such pure light energy!”
“Indeed, the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower itself is a key structure built by the forces of light to resist evil!”
At this moment, the Devotees from the Aiden Gaarde Kingdom standing beside Shen Mu were all whispering among themselves.
At the same time, their eyes showed extreme astonishment, as they had truly never witnessed a structure capable of unleashing such powerful light energy at the rule level.
In fact, the light energy they felt was akin to the extremely pure light fluctuations, brimming with magical power, that would gather in the great cities of the Aiden Gaarde Kingdom due to monasteries or holy strongholds.
Especially just now, they had already detected the magical fluctuations that appeared the instant the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower placed the magic scroll on the lectern.
What condensed within it was an extremely pure light and heat, belonging to light energy.
This was also why they turned their heads and looked towards the apartment buildings and residential buildings to the west, where the gray mist, as if directly evaporated and ascended, had completely disappeared.
This was because the gray mist itself represented the convergence of evil energy, which is naturally countered by light energy.
When light envelops, all evil will vanish like smoke.
This was a very common saying in their native Aiden Gaarde Kingdom, and it was also a near-prophetic vow highly recognized by their holy strongholds.
“It seems you all have gained a lot.” James also saw the astonished expressions on the faces of these Devotees, who had originally been quite arrogant, and couldn’t help but smile.
After all, before this, these Devotees, although they could discuss magic and other topics with him quite harmoniously,
and even taught him how to form magic structures,
James could still see the subconscious confidence and arrogance these Devotees possessed due to their origin in a high-magic world; it was simply impossible to hide.
Now, seeing these Devotees so surprised, a small smile naturally appeared in his heart.
Of course, this was a benevolent smile.
It was not mockery or sarcasm.
At the same time, looking at Shen Mu, James felt even more profound admiration for this legendary figure in his heart.
“Truly worthy of Lord Shen Mu.” James exclaimed sincerely at this moment.
However, Shen Mu was still immersed in his perception.
“So this is the power of the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower.” Shen Mu’s thoughts at this moment seemed to be connected to this Holy Light Torch Tower.
And looking at the Mount & Blade Rules permeating the area within a 1-kilometer radius, centered around the Holy Light Torch Tower, where everything was occupied by the power of light, meaning light and heat, his heart was also greatly shaken.
Because he could clearly feel that the entire 1-kilometer radius around them had completely become territory enveloped by Mount & Blade Rules.
Before, the Mount & Blade Rules only covered a small area within the low walls, within Deherim.
Beyond that was the territory contested by blue star rules or death spirit rules.
But now, the territory contested by blue star rules and death spirit rules has been forcibly occupied by Mount & Blade Rules, a small, sesame-sized piece of land, but it already signifies that Mount & Blade Rules have stepped onto the board and made their formal appearance.
This is a qualitative change.
“If I could possess many of these Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Towers, then I could form areas occupied by Mount & Blade Rules.”
Shen Mu pondered, and suddenly thought of the Great Wall in China.
These Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Towers need to be built in villages, towns, or castles.
But once these villages, towns, or castles with Holy Light Torch Towers are linked together, it means the light power of the Holy Light Torch Towers will fully integrate, directly forming a large area enveloped by Mount & Blade Rules.
It’s as if pounding nails into the Blue Star World; if all these nails are brought together, then eventually an spatial network belonging to Mount & Blade Rules will surely form.
Then, as the spatial network gradually merges and solidifies, it will form a larger area and territory enveloped by Mount & Blade Rules.
And Mount & Blade Rules will truly appear in the Blue Star World.
Becoming a new rule, in addition to the current blue star rules, spirit world rules, death spirit rules, Abyssal Demons, and Hell Devil, it will be Mount & Blade Rules.
A brand new rule.
And it is a brand new rule unique to Shen Mu.
“Unfortunately, I still don’t know how the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower can be built.”
Shen Mu pondered, saying in his heart, “But there should be a way, and I have already opened a trade route to Middle-earth. Based on what I understand now, the history of Middle-earth should still be in its early stages, with Sauron the Dark Lord still attempting to resurrect, and Saruman the White not yet fallen but already beginning to research dark power.”
And according to Shen Mu’s understanding, Saruman the White is still the chairman of the Holy White Council, still that lofty and powerful figure.
He has not yet exposed his evil side.
Moreover, according to the history of Middle-earth, Saruman the White exposed his evil power only in the middle of the plot.
Therefore, at this stage, he is still, at least on the surface, on the side of the righteous faction.
“However, Saruman the White is asking me for the corpses of Abyssal Demons for research, so perhaps he has already begun researching those evil Orcs, and started researching and modifying the Uruk-hai.”
Shen Mu stroked his chin, still pondering.
“Of course, he must be researching them. In the initial stages, he didn’t find any clues, which is why he needs these Abyssal Demons from me to provide him with some inspiration or help.”
In this way, Shen Mu would know that Saruman was still Saruman the White, still the chairman of the Holy White Council, and did not want to reveal the fact that he had begun to dabble in evil and fall.
“In that case, I can use the trade of Abyssal Demons’ corpses to ask Saruman for the construction blueprints of the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower.”
Shen Mu thought carefully.
And he believed that this method might actually be feasible, as his current status in all of the Mount & Blade Worlds is that of a legendary figure who helps the Mount & Blade World resist the world-ending crisis from other worlds.
He is equivalent to a savior.
So, for a savior to ask the forces in the Mount & Blade Worlds he saved for some key items or blueprints that can resist the evil power of other worlds is not impossible.
Moreover, the Holy White Council itself was built to combat evil.
Although for the Holy White Council, the evil they are fighting is Sauron the Dark Lord in The Lord of the Rings.
But in their perception, the evil Shen Mu is fighting in the other world is already a more cruel evil force than Sauron the Dark Lord, and to some extent, they even need to cooperate with Sauron the Dark Lord to resist a world-ending level of evil.
After all, if Sauron the Dark Lord wins, they would at most temporarily go into hiding and slowly wait for the power of light to accumulate again.
In the Mount & Blade Rules, even when light reaches its peak, there is still room for darkness.
The same principle applies: when darkness reaches its peak, there is still some space for light to exist.
The two sides are complementary.
Although they are in opposition, it is precisely because there is light that there is darkness, and similarly, it is only with darkness that the preciousness of light can be shown.
The two sides even have a subtle understanding.
But for the evil from other worlds, it is different.
Once the evil from other worlds completely invades their Mount & Blade World, the Mount & Blade World will be completely shattered, whether it is the light or darkness within the Mount & Blade World, or the forces and kingdoms and characters of their respective factions.
Everything will be annihilated.
That’s right, annihilation.
Everything will vanish into thin air, everything will turn into nothingness.
There is no light, nor is there darkness; it is about completely and utterly annihilating them.
Therefore, when facing the most fundamental threat, both the light and the darkness within the Mount & Blade World can subtly unite to fight against the evil forces from another world.
This is also why Shen Mu had the idea of raising his relationship with Saruman to the appropriate level.
After all, Saruman is currently between light and darkness.
As long as he increases his leverage, he can quickly improve Saruman's favorability, and then, through Saruman, obtain the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower blueprints, build it in the Blue Star World, and form his own Great Wall of Holy Light Torch Tower Rules.
“Alright, now that the Holy Light Torch Tower has been lit, we don’t need to stay here anymore.”
Shen Mu thought of this, and a smile appeared on his lips; he felt quite satisfied.
They did not continue to stay at the top of the Holy Light Torch Tower; after all, the wood here had already been lit, and the magic scroll had been used to activate the Holy Light Torch Tower’s own light power, successfully allowing this building to unleash all of its effects.
Now, they need to enjoy the true light under the Mount & Blade Rules that comes after these effects are activated.
After all, in this originally ordinary space of Deherim, Shen Mu’s heart and the depths of his soul now felt a warmth, as if sunlight had shone upon them.
It made him feel quite comfortable.
“Follow Lord Shen Mu, let’s go.”
Behind Shen Mu, the Holy Tree Knights and Swadian Sergeants immediately followed, descending the elliptical staircase back to the bottom of the library.
And James and the Devotees also followed, coming down the spiral staircase and returning to the library.
At this point, Shen Mu also instructed James, saying, “James, this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower is now entrusted to your management, so I hope you can take good care of the brazier at the top of the Torch Tower, ensuring it always has burning wood, and I also hope you promptly place magic scrolls on the lectern to replenish the Torch Tower’s magic consumption.”
After all, the brazier inside this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower cannot be extinguished, and the lectern also requires magic scrolls to replenish magic consumption.
It cannot be left unattended.
It was simply perfect to assign James, who had previously been dispatched by Shen Mu to the library to study magic with the Eden Guard Believers, to manage this Torch Tower.
“Understood, I will take good care of the Holy Light Torch Tower.” James nodded earnestly at this time, and at the same time bowed very respectfully.
He understood the importance of this Holy Light Torch Tower, and thus, being assigned as its manager, he took it quite seriously.
“And you, the Devotees from Eden Garde.” Shen Mu nodded at this point, then looked at the Devotees, a full 20 of them.
After a moment of contemplation, he said, “You yourselves are spellcasters, you understand magic fluctuations. At critical moments, I hope you can assist James in caring for this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, ensuring it doesn’t go out and doesn’t run out of magic. Can you do that?”
“Of course, Lord Shen Mu, we will do our utmost to assist Mr. James in taking care of this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower.”
These 20 Eden Guard Believers showed no intention of refusing; instead, they all responded earnestly, nodding solemnly to Shen Mu and bowing with hands over their chests.
“Very good.” Shen Mu nodded at this point.
James plus these Devotees—that’s double insurance.
If anything were to happen, they could react quickly, as the importance of this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower to Shen Mu now goes without saying.
After all, the entire space of Deherim and the outside world were able to return to normal thanks to this Torch Tower.
Or rather, through the Mount & Blade Rules released by the Torch Tower’s power of light.
Of course, the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, this extremely important medium, is also indispensable.
Therefore, Shen Mu attached great importance to it.
“Manid and Torres, come with me now.” Shen Mu gently shook his head at this point, looking at Manid and Torres, who were standing in the corner, still listening attentively.
“Lord Shen Mu.” Manid and Torres immediately replied.
“Let’s go, we’re returning to the Noble Residence.”
Shen Mu spoke, and led the Holy Tree Knights and Swadian Sergeants behind him towards the Noble Residence.
However, as he walked, he seemed to recall something, and thus instructed a Holy Tree Knight beside him: “Now I need you to send someone to find Bandak, and have him arrange a portion of elite soldiers to guard the base of this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, serving as sentinels and guards, and to follow James’s arrangements.”
“Understood.” A Holy Tree Knight immediately responded, then bowed and walked to the side to find Bandak and convey Shen Mu’s orders.
And Bandak was found very quickly.
Then, with a few commands from Bandak, 20 destroyers from the Lake Rat Gang separated, quickly arriving at the Holy Light Torch Tower’s warehouse, becoming its guards and sentinel outposts.
They also successfully isolated this Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower, making it a distinct and extremely important building.
Not everyone could enter and exit freely anymore.
Of course, these were not Shen Mu’s concerns; his orders had been given, and Bandak would naturally help him implement them.
This was the advantage of being the primary leader.
It was also a manifestation of power.
Upon returning to the Noble Residence, Shen Mu reseated himself at his head position, and also gestured for Manid and Torres to sit on his left and right sides.
At the same time, he looked at Torres and asked, “I see you brought back what appears to be dozens of carriages full of various goods this time. Now, I’d like you to briefly report on the specific situation.”
After all, Torres had traveled to the White Tower region of Middle-earth this time.
He also wanted to hear what Torres had seen.
“Oh, it’s like this, Lord Shen Mu.” Torres then, based on his memory, described everything he had seen and heard on his journey, the customs of Middle-earth, and the various things he had encountered.
Of course, the most crucial part was the goods in those full 50 carriages.
“You’re saying these are gifts sent to me by Saruman the White, through his subordinates?” Shen Mu raised an eyebrow slightly.
No wonder he felt something was a bit off when he saw such a large number of carriages; the amount of supplies loaded on them was simply too much.
After all, at the beginning, the caravan heading to the White Tower region consisted of only 20 carriages.
“Yes, they are gifts entrusted to me by Lord Saruman to deliver to you.” Torres replied, “And Lord Saruman also entrusted me to convey his respect and gratitude to you, and he hopes you can provide more Abyssal Demons’ corpses for him to research these evil creatures, so he can find their weaknesses and make it easier for the forces of light to target them.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Shen Mu nodded. Although he heard these words, he also understood that this was just a small trick of Saruman’s.
It was a kind of high-sounding official rhetoric.
After all, he knew that Saruman had already begun researching the evil power originating from Sauron.
How these Abyssal Demons’ corpses were used and researched was even more intriguing.
“However, if that’s the case, it seems I can provide him with more than just Abyssal Demons’ corpses.” Shen Mu pondered, “Those Hell Devil’ corpses also seem to be able to be provided to him, after all, Hell Devil are also evil creatures, and a different kind of evil creature from Abyssal Demons.”
Shen Mu seemed to have found a way to make money, and a smile appeared on his lips: “After all, if Abyssal Demons’ corpses can bring him research help, then who’s to say these Hell Devil’ corpses can’t bring him research help?”
They are all corpses anyway, and they can all be sold for a price.
For Shen Mu, it was recycling waste!